right now on andrea mitchell reports -- ebola czar. the president picks joe biden's former chief of staff as the man to run the nation's ebola response. cracks in the system -- one more person involved in the ebola case in dallas, is allowed to travel. this time, on a cruise ship to the caribbean. the dallas nurse first diagnosed with the disease, meanwhile, arrives in maryland. at midnight, walking on her own steam, to be treated at the national institutes of health. and doctors report today, she is doing well. >> i said she was in fair condition. which implies that she does still have some symptoms. and she's a really terrific person. we fully intend to have this patient walk out of this hospital. >> even as the dallas hospital hires a p.r. team releasing this video. >>

. >> i have never felt. >> we're following all protocols. >> i have never once in my life felt unsafe on this campus. >> if fact dallas hospital, two nurses were infected with ebola, hiring one of the biggest pr firms in the country. travel ban, some lawmakers say the answer is simply to ban travel from west africa. we'll talk to one of the critics. >> we do not have to leave the door open to all travel to and from hot zones in western africa. >> it needs to be solved in africa, until it is, we should not be allowing these folks in, period. >> this committee should consider forwarding to the full house a request that we have a vote on travel restrictions. because people are asking us to do that.

>> i'm andrea mitchell in washington, not far from the national institutes of health where the first dallas nurse to contract ebola is receiving treatment. our nbc team around the country has this covered. craig melvin is in texas presbyterian hospital in dallas. gabe gutierrez is in atlanta at emory university hospital where amber vinson is being treated. we turn first to luke russert at the nih campus in bethesda, where this morning dr. anthony fauci updated reporters on nina pham's condition. luke? >> hey there, andrea. nina pham is in fair and stable condition. and she apparently is responding well and interacting with staff. she left texas in good condition. the reason why she was in fair was not publicly disclosed. there is some speculation that after a long plane ride for someone who has ebola it could make her fair or perhaps the medical professionals here at nih, the premiere hospital in the country noticed something different. all that being said, she has a team of 20 nurses assigned to her. two nurses in the room at any

given time. we're told that she's enjoying some of her creature comfort, she has her ipad and she's been suffering the web. obviously she's in a very frail state. but dr. fauci believes that she will one day walk out of that hospital and that is what they are trying to do here at nih. they're trying to rid her of the virus, rid her of the disease to get her on her way. >> nih is one of four hospitals in the country to have a special biocontainment unit, especially created to treat people who have these types of diseases like ebola. they're very happy she's here, not only because they feel they can give her the best treatment. but also because of the data that she will give to nih, which is their specialty, that research, that perhaps the next time this happens in the united states, which could very well be a possibility, considering how we have some traveling around here. that in fact they might be better equipped to deal with the next patient. the good news is nina pham, interacting with her nurses, stable condition and the

prognosis from dr. fauci looks like it will be good eventually. andrea? >> from bethesda to dallas, we're learning that a lab worker who may have handled ebola samples is now quarantined on a caribbean cruise. people are raising questions about missteps, why she was permitted to travel. craig melvin is joining us outside the hospital in dallas. i know the hospital has no patients remaining in dallas. we have approaching the end of the 21-day period for those who dealt with thomas eric duncan. sunday would be 21 days. and none of them yet showing any signs of illness. >> not yet. and andrea, again, this is the first time in almost three weeks where there hasn't been someone with ebola at the hospital behind me. texas presbyterian. and going back to nina pham for just a second here. i can tell you yesterday as she left the hospital heading to love field to take the plane to bethesda and nih, it was

heartening to see that the number of nurses and colleague who is were holding posters and holding signs, cheering her on as she left in that hazmat suit in the ambulance. it was also heartening to see and hear just regular folks on the roads, honking their horns, they sent out this massive social media, this message and object the radio stations, this he told folks to honk their horn if they saw the ambulance. a lot of folks did that. so nina pham is in good condition. here in texas, this morning, it's very interesting. because there was an agreement reached between texas city health officials and the number of workers, all the workers who are being monitored right now. at least for the next couple of days, being morn tored, folks who came in contact with thomas eric duncan. an agreement reached between the workers and health officials to not take buses. to not take airplanes, to not take cruises, to not even go in public places where there would be large numbers of people

gathering. we at this point are still trying to find out precisely how many of those workers have actually signed the agreement. finally, i can tell you a lot of folks have been interested in nina pham's dog, bentley she of course lived alone, just her and the dog bentley, city officials tell me that bentley is also doing just fine. eating well, playing with lots of new toys. andrea? >> thanks so much to you, craig melvin. now on to atlanta, we have an update on amber vinson, second nurse who contracted ebola after treating thomas eric duncan. flown to emory hospital in atlanta. gabe gutierrez is outside the hospital. gabe? >> hi there, andrea. amber vinson's uncle released a statement saying she was stable. although emory university hospital is not getting details into about her condition, citing patient privacy. the cdc is scrambling right now to try to identify all the commercial airline passengers that may have come into contact with amber vinson when she flew

to ohio over the weekend. the cdc saying it's possible they're looking into whether she may have exhibited symptoms of ebola as early as friday. earlier than first thought. several of the friends she visited while in ohio are under supervision. the bridal shop she visited has also been closed. and as a precaution. but the mayor of akron says she did not exhibit any symptoms while she was in ohio over the weekend. again, the cdc is looking into this. her family says if she followed all the protocols, that she called the cdc on monday before she was to fly back to dallas again she self-report thatd temperature of 99.5 degrees. and that temperature was below the risk threshold of 100.4 degrees. her family stressing she did everything she was supposed to. andrea? >> thanks so much, gabe. and did the cdc give amber vinson the go-ahead to travel despite exposure to ebola. members of congress were grilling the agency on thursday.

>> she was told by your agency, she could board the plane. is that right? >> that is my understanding. i have not reviewed exactly what was said. but she did contact our agency and she did board the plane. >> joining me now is colorado congresswoman diana degette, the ranking congresswoman on the subcommittee. you've been demanding that congress hold hearings for weeks. are you satisfied with the apss you got from agency leaders yesterday? >> i think we still have some questions outstanding. and one of them is, what were the protocols for these folks? who came into contact with mr. duncan for traveling? it seems unclear. and i'm sure it was unclear to them as well. dr. friedan told me that miss vinson apparently got the go ahead to fly. we don't know from whom, we don't know when. and we don't know what those rules really were. were they supposed to fly or not supposed to fly? there were a lot of other questions that we still need to

gel get follow-up answers from as well. >> we're hearing that ron klain, the former chief of staff to both joe biden and formerly to al gore when he was in the white house, ron klain is going to be named the ebola czar. does that fix a problem, the gap between coordinating amongst these agencies? >> i think what it may do is help with the communications gap. i have a lot of faith in the cdc and the nif. to take the appropriate health care responses. i'm concerned because of course as we know, ebola is not easily transmitted like some other flu diseases, other types of diseases. and we want to make sure that we're having a really robust public health response. but at the same time we don't want the american public to become overly anxious about this. so having this person who can coordinate between the health care providers, the health care agencies and the communication with the public, i think that may really help.

and it's a gap that i think could be a good gap to fill. >> what about a travel ban from west africa? the president indicated a different response on that last night. saying that well, if we could prove that it didn't make things worse. but -- >> the bottom line is, we have to control the spread of ebola in west africa. the world health organization estimates that if we don't, 1.2 million people might get this disease. in the next year or so. and if that happens, travel bans aren't going to stop infected individuals from going around the world. including to the u.s. so the first thing that needs to happen is the international community really needs to focus on africa. some people have said that travel bans could make it harder to detect people from ebola going around. and so i think both dr. friedan and the president have said that if a travel ban could work, they wouldn't be adverse to it.

but nobody should delude themselves thinking a travel ban will solve this problem. if we don't deal with issues in west africa, ebola will be coming to the u.s., as well as every place else in the world. >> according to the "associated press," the head of the world health organization, the u.n. agency has admitted or acknowledged, having messed up on the response the initial response quote, we botched, this is from an internal memo, we botched the response to the ebola outbreak, the agency says nearly everyone involved in the response failed to notice the potential for ebola's explosive spread. this from an internal u.n. world health organization memo. is that your conclusion as well? >> well, ebola has been kicking around west africa for several decades now. and they've had, they've had an outbreak and then it's contained. i don't think the international health organizations really anticipated what would happen if

ebola went into some of the urbanize areas. as it has. in these countries. and then you have the exponential increase. some of these countries have very fragile governments. very fragile health care infrastructures. and i think that the rest of the world has been slow to respond to that. i'm hoping now that people realize the threat that they'll be able to focus as an international community on treating those patients there. and tamping down the explosive effect of ebola coming out of those countries. >> congresswoman diana degedte, thank you very much. we're watching developments from bermuda, where hurricane gonzalo is expected to make landfall within hours. the storm's winds are expected to bring widespread damage and power outages. we'll be getting more in a live report from bermuda later this hour. so stay with us. and we're also watching tropical storm ana in the pacific. the forecast there, for hawaii's big island is looking a lot better now. that storm is expected to

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there is no part of our doctors, nurses or technicians body that is exposed when they go in and see the patient. we have a very strict system of getting dressed, with someone watching you. going in, coming out, getting undressed, with someone watching you. we have a limited amount of time when the person can be in the room, so that they don't get fatigued. that's what keeps our health care workers safe. >> dr. anthony fauci, speaking a short time ago at the nih on caring for the facility's first ebola patient, nina pham. pressure is building on congress for a u.s. travel ban from west africa. congressman and dr. michael

burgess pressed the cdc director on safety protocols on thursday's hearing. and joining me now is texas congressman and doctor, michael burgess, who completed part of his residency and served on courtesy staff of texas presbyterian. so you're familiar with that hospital. thank you very much, congressman. what would a travel ban accomplish? >> thanks for having me on. >> explain you know, what you think the purpose would be in banning travel from west africa. >> well first let's take a step back and recognize that in 2005, the cdc and the national institute of health in conjunction did produce a pandemic plan when we were concerned about avian influenza coming into this country. chapter 5 of the pandemic plan deals with travel and borders. and in that plan there is acknowledgement that you cannot always stop a disease at the border. you about you may be able to slow it down in order to give your country enough of an

opportunity to react. so i really think that's what we're looking at, as an ability to pause what's going on as far as new disease coming in. we have to deal with what we have. you know, there was another patient who almost made it on a plane before he succombed to ebola right at the end of july. and that patient was holding a ticket to minneapolis. so we could have had the index patient in minneapolis and unfortunately what you and i don't know is someone sitting in a waiting room right now, asymptomatic and ready to board, even though they have the virus on board themselves already. ebola is unlike the bird flu. the bird flu could have come to this country through a migratory pathway. there's no way in the world for the fruit bat from western africa to fly over the atlantic ocean. the only way can you get ebola is if someone goes over, gets it, and bring it is to you. so that's why a travel ban or a slowing down of the travel documents that are issued by the state department would have such a profound effect.

and the president actually has the authority to do this. that was granted in the pandemic plan. and in fact my understanding is they amended the pandemic plan in july to cover the hemorrhagic viruses of which ebola is one. so that authority exists. and there are a lot of people who question why in the world are you letting 150 people a day in from western africa when that's an area which is endemic with the illness. >> the president last night addressed that and said that he would consider that if he could be persuaded. that it wouldn't make things worse. he's getting counterarguments. what would you say to the president about this? >> well, look there's no reason in the world we cannot have a generous aid package to those countries that are affected by this outbreak. you heard from the world health organization, the other day that the case rate may be as high as 10,000 a week. in just a few weeks' time. so there is clearly need to help and continue the ongoing

on-the-ground aid. the president has made a commitment of our military to those countries that are affected. to help in building infrastructure. to get the clinics so that they'll be available to treat the people. i have no argument with that. but for heaven's sakes, can we not at least put a pause on the issuance of visas for people coming from those countries where the disease burden is so high. >> rick perry, governor perry returned from his trip and had a briefing moments ago and he agrees with the travel ban. i want to play a little of that for you. >> i believe it is the right policy to ban air travel from countries that have been hit hardest by the ebola outbreak. >> and so -- you think that the travel ban might help. what do you think what could congress do? congress could come back from holiday. you at least were part of a hearing yesterday, or vacation

or whatever you want to call it. the recess, the election recess, i should call it. but do you think congress also has responsibility here to take some action? >> well that was my recommendation in committee yesterday. to the chairman of the subcommittee. that i hope we would forward to the floor of the house a recommendation that this travel ban come to a vote before the congress. my opinion is we should do that now. rather than wait until sometime after november 12th. because this situation is only going to get worse. and in western africa and delaying is not really a great strategy. and let me just stress, we're not asking liberia to ban flights. we are saying to the state department, let us stop the issuance of visas for people who want to travel from western africa to the united states. an american citizen who is in western africa, clearly they will be allowed to return to america. they may be required to spend a portion of time in quarantine. but it's not to restrict

american citizens who are abroad. but at the same time, someone who today is say gee, i'd like to go travel to america, maybe this isn't the best time to do that. >> and congressman, finally, are you satisfied. i know you're familiar with the hospital, you did some residency there years ago. are you satisfied with the performance of the personnel at the dallas hospital and the protection for the nurses there? because we've heard from at least one nurse, that there were real gaps in the protective clothing. >> sure. you know, clearly the hospital has problems for which they're going to have to answer and i can't answer for them. i think if you watched the hearing yesterday, i showed a picture of what the cdc recommendation for protective devices were. and then i showed a picture of what dr. friedan wore when he was in western africa, visiting an ebola ward. and they were vastly different. the fact is, the cdc was telling

us to prepare for this virus, the same way we might prepare to take care of a patient with hepatitis a. but andrea, i'm telling you, the disease is different. this disease is different. the viral load, the disease burden in a patient who is near the end of their struggle with this disease -- it's like anything anyone has ever seen before. so the virus may not be airborne, but it can be everywhere in the room, because there's just so darn much of it in a patient who is unfortunately at the end of their clinical course. >> thank you so much, congressman burgess, thanks for being with us today. and we have breaking news from arizona, where a federal judge has declared the state's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. the judge ruled that his decision should take effect immediately. this brings the number of states where same-sex marriage is legal to 31. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. grandpa.

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today out on the trail, could become independence day on election day in south dakota. where a senate race once thought to be safely republican is now a free for all. in large part because of the independent challenger, former republican senator, larry presseler. and larry pressler joins me now. we've spent many years covering you in your service here in washington. then you were a republican, now you're an independent. tell me why you've become an independent. why are you running again? >> well, in part so i could write letters as i did this morning to president obama, although i voted for obama i sent a highly critical letter of the way he's handling the ebola thing. particularly in the way of leadership. it's my opinion he should go on tv and say i'm the czar, i'm in charge. and i think he made a classic mistake sending american troops to africa without having the involvement of other countries. and but this is chance for the

president to lead to revive his presidency out here in south dakota. much more important than my campaign. people are yearning for leadership from the president. and he should meet with members of congress, even on saturday afternoon like bill clinton used to. for a time here to get the support of congress. but this is the hour that president obama can revive his presidency. but he has to go on tv just once and then say, i'm going to lead, i'm the czar. i'm going to fire anybody in my administration who doesn't take orders. and i'm in charge of this. and here we go. and i'm going to get congress on board by meeting with them, by going up to capitol hill and meeting with them. i'm not going to be going around the country making speeches. but this is the hour for president obama. as one who voted for him and i've been disappointed in him. but this is, he's got a quarter of his presidency left. he can revive himself and also of course help the world. but he should not have gone into africa with troops, without other countries. i served 18 years on the foreign relations committee.

he's made the classic mistake of committing u.s. ground troops, or troops without, if he could have done as george h.w. bush and gotten a coalition. but every country in the world has an interest in this. and if they haven't got troops there, and then finally he should tell the american people that some of our troops will get ebola and they will have to be brought back to the united states. >> well president obama is -- >> he needs -- >> let me just say, president obama is not on the ballot, you're running against mike browns who has been endorsed by the tea party express by the way. what do you have to say about your opponents, mike browns and rick mike rounds and rick browland. >> we're going to have one from kansas, possibly and myself. and we may well have an independent caucus to end the poisonous disputes between republicans and democrats. the congress is getting nothing done on the budget. and the congress is other than talking about ebola, congress could play a major role in that.

if the senate were functioning. >> would you caucus with the republican or the democrat? >> i'm taking senator king's advice and waiting until i get there to declare. but it's very, most po be that i'll be part of a new independent caucus. the senate rules provide for independents. and it appears that we will have at least four independents, plus the centrist foundation has suggested there could be a caucus of moderate senators, such as mrs. collins of maine, mrs. nunn of georgia and others on both sides. it's time we have to break the republican/democrat/special interest money control of the senate. because it's just paralyzing and it can't do anything on ebola the way it's operating. >> let me just say, just to clarify, there are still two major parties and the senate organizes according to the major parties. if it's a determination as to

whether the democrats or the republicans control the senate. and you hold that vote in the balance. which way do you go? >> well, i would vote for, i would go into the caucus where i felt i could get assured of fundamental roll call votes on issues i'm interested in. and i'm really an issue-oriented politician. and i would meet with the, with both caucuses, and find where i could get assurances that we would have basic roll call votes and do something in the senate. and if i couldn't get those assurances, i may well stay independent. i suspect i'll join one caucus or the other, based on that criterium. >> thank you so much, larry pressler, a former three-term center and independent candidate in the south dakota race. >> i voted for obama and i'm not running against obama. but i sent him a letter today, urging that we not send the troops unless we get other nations to join in that force. to africa. >> thank you very much. duly noted.

and up next, the global response to the ebola outbreak in west africa. where experts say there could be 1.4 million cases in the next three months alone. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america.

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[ male announcer ] great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle, see how much you could save. breaking news from the world health organization, it now reports that the death toll from the ebola outbreak in western africa in guinea, liberia and sierra leone has climbed to 4,546, out of more than 9,000 cases of infection. while some countries like senegal and nigeria have been able to contain the deadly virus, others as we've just mentioned, there's no end in sight to the devastation. today both uk prime minister david cameron, and the secretary of state, john kerry, had tern words for countries not stepping forward and taking action. >> we're doing a huge amount and i think it's time for other countries to look at their responsibilities and their resources and act in a similar way to what britain is doing in sierra leone, america is doing

in liberia and france is doing in guinea. >> there is no country that is exempt from being able to do something to be able to contribute to this effort and help make a difference. >> nbc's kier simmons joins me from london. >> what president obama says $1 billion is necessary, according to the u.n. and we're only a third of the way there in terms of countries stepping up to the plate. >> absolutely. and at the same time, andrea, europe is trying to fashion a response in terms of putting in screening at airports. and up until today, just britain, france and the czech republic had that screening in place. and remember, many flights from west africa come to europe. or go to america through europe. so i meanvy been to sierra leone many times and it's just a six-hour flight from london to there. some of the flights have been canceled over the crisis, but

those flights continue. the screening in the uk is being extended across the euro star, gat wick airport in london. birmingham and manchester. one of the things that the british prime minister was saying is he thinks the screening ought to be extended across the continent. if it feels like there has been a struggle to fashion a coordinated response in the u.s. you can imagine in europe, a collection of independent states, it's even more challenging to get a coordinated response. and worldwide, it really does feel and many of the people you're talking about are saying this -- it really does feel as if the world is just waking up to the kind of response that's needed. >> keir simmons, indeed, thank you so much. and now to our daily fix. this afternoon first lady michelle obama making her latest campaign appearance in florida. for republican turned independent turned democrat, who

could charlie crist, standing alone on stage for seven minutes as governor rick scott refused to show up. refusing to appear because crist had brought along an electric fan. finally the governor did cave in and walked out on stage. >> i would ask you, governor kricht, why did you insist on bringing a fan here when your campaign knew this would be a contentious issue? >> why not? you know, it's, is there anything wrong with being comfortable? i don't think there is. >> and governor scott, why the delay coming out over a fan? >> i waited until we figured out if he was going to show up. he said he wasn't going, he said he was going to come to the debate. so why come out until he's ready. >> why indeed? joining me for the daily fix, chris cillizza, managing editor of postpolitics.com. awkward and also a symbol of everything that's kind of wrong with our politics.

>> yeah. >> that here you've got this debate and somebody should win or lose the debate based on how they handle the fan? everybody who knows charlie crist knows he's been carrying this fan around with him for maybe ten years. >> i mean it has its own twitter feed. so it's not a new thing that he, in his words, what's wrong with being comfortable? which is an amazing explanation. but i mean, the smallness -- we've talked about this, the smallness of our politics at the moment is -- >> it's like two kids arguing. >> it's not just florida, it's across the country. there's a smallness in this election that really does not fit the times either domestically or internationally. they do, it's clear they don't like one another. they didn't like one another before this fan incident. they're not going to like one another -- talk about the governorship of florida, andrea. this is a huge state with all sorts of both problems, challenges, you know it's a big incubator on immigration, on many, education. on many other issues.

and we're debating whether or not the former governor can have a 12-inch fan blowing up on him during the debate. i -- it's literally a truth is stranger than fiction situation. >> and jon stewart and samantha bead take on this last night. i can't show it on daytime televisi television. >> we couldn't run it on my blog, either. >> the tampa bay news poll had both of them underwater on the question of, are they honest or ethical. one was at 58% unethical. one was at 59% unethical. >> this race, it got lost amid all the focus on the fan. but center for public integrity did a breakdown of ad spending across the country in high-profile races. this is the place where the most money has been spent on tv ads, andrea, $62 million on, just tv ads. in florida. so you know -- there are many

things happening here, the fan seems to me to be while unbelievably amazing and amusing, not a center issue. >> ebola has become now the october surprise if you will. politically. the president having to cancel political trips, fundraising trips, all week. this was the president last night, a a hastily called oval office moment where he was responding to congressional criticism about the travel ban. >> 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. the problem is, is that in all the discussions i've had thus far, with experts in the field, experts in infectious disease, is that a travel ban is less effective than the measures that we are currently instituting. >> so does a travel, does an ebola czar now help the problem, communication problem? he's not a medical doctor.

>> no, ron klain is not, but we know him from politics. he's a manager, he's an overseer of this thing. it serves the same purpose that a travel ban would, politically speaking. it shows the president acting. i'm on this, i'm taking action to try to make this better. the medical debate and the policy debate is something else. it gets to the same purpose and the reason why you saw a lot of politicians calling for a travel ban probably buys him a little bit of time in making a decision on a travel ban. which he does not seem as those comments reflect, does not seem keen on doing at the moment. >> and in our daily fix, michelle obama will head back to iowa and campaigning for bruce bailey or braley. >> braley with an "r" big race, maybe the key race in the senate. the office of vice president biden is not commenting today on the discharge of his youngest son, from the u.s. navy earlier this year. senior u.s. officials tell nbc news that hunter biden tested positive for cocaine last year

and was discharged in february. as first reported by "the wall street journal" last night. the 44-year-old yale educated lawyer is a married father of three. he was a naval reserve officer. he enlisted at the age of 34. he chairs the world food program, interviewed him here on that subject. the navy says biden was treated just like any other sailor. or enlisted officer, you're watching "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc. but it doesn't hold me back. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. non-24 is a circadian rhythm disorder that affects up to 70% of people who are totally blind. talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com.

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great. this is the last thing i need. [ hand ] seriously? the last thing you need is some guy giving you a new catalytic converter when all you got is a loose gas cap. let's take this puppy over to midas and get you some of that good old midas touch. hey you know what? i'll drive! i really didn't think this through. [ male announcer ] get the midas touch maintenance package including an oil change for only $24.99. and here's a deal, use your midas credit card and get a rebate of $25. oil. tires. brakes. everything. trust the midas touch. what a difference two years makes. re-elected on a promise to break the gridlock in washington, the president's popularity has taken a nose-dive since then. is the president letting us down, or are we setting the bar too high? aaron david mill certificate a distinguished scholar at the wilson center and the author of "the end of greatness: why america can't have and doesn't want another great president." discuss. why not? >> well first of all let me make

something clear -- this is not a republican thing or a democratic thing. >> understood. >> i voted for rs and ds, it's an american thing. we have to get a grip and be much more sober and realistic number one about what our presidents achieve and what we expect them to achieve. that's really the problem here. we set the bar so high. we want these guys in one day, a woman hopefully to be a mix between harrison ford in "air force one" and "superman." given the nature of politics, the job itself -- >> don't the candidates themselves create that expectation by personalizing everything in the presence of one person? >> the nature of our system compounds it 535 representatives in the legislature, nine supreme court justices. it's a lot easier to personalize one guy, his wife, the pets, the family, and personalize the story. and we've been doing it for a

very long time. despite my efforts to get people to think more soberly on this subject, buckle your seat belts, within a year or so we'll be expecting the quote-unquote one to emerge again. >> is it like pogo, just to paraphrase the problem is us? >> well the problem is us. >> we can no more give up on the presidents, that's not my prescription. you give up on the presidency, the most resilient agent of change in our political system. we give up on ourselves. i'm asking, forget great, try to settle for good. good in the sense they're competent, effective, morally sensible and remain within the law and good in the sense that they're emotionally intelligent. they know what they're the can did and they're at peace with themselves. those presidents who are comfortable in their own skin and this guy, barack obama, i suspect is. he's got that emotional intelligence. >> what you write in the book is that obama certainly wants to do big things behind his detached

demeanor, is the combustible drive of a man who seeks greatness, but that kind of ambition require as leader to see the world clearly as it is, before trying to refashion it the way he wants it to be. not reading the terrain accurately. failing to assess whether his administration had the muscle to negotiate it and missing what the public expected and wanted, can lead to unhappy consequences. >> are you thinking about your old, your old focus, the middle east? >> that's going to remain a relatively hopeless area for a long time to come. i'm thinking about the fact that if the president sets a frame of reference, you arrive into washington, recreating part of lincoln's journey from springfield. you're sworn in on the lincoln bible. the inaugural lunch is served on mary todd lincoln's china. you create a level of expectation. the reality is the gap between trying to be a transformative president, he wanted to transform the social fabric of the country and transform

american foreign policy it's transactional, how you get stuff done, consistent with what can be done. and that's really tough. >> just one thing, he never had a functioning partner. even when the democrats controlled congress. there was always a divide. partly because he never connected to congress. >> i suspect they probably did want him to fail. you can't then go ahead and promise post-partisanship. you're going to move beyond the stale and dry politics as he promised in his inaugural. readle the real estate correctly was tough to do and i'm not sure he did it. >> aaron david miller, the book is "the end of greatness: why american can't have and doesn't want another great president." >> thanks so much. what the next 24 hours may bring the normally beautiful scene in bermuda. you're watching msnbc. 24/7 it's just i'm a little reluctant to try new things. what's wrong with trying new things? feel that in your muscles? yeah... i do...

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and this breaking news, texas governor rick perry said

today that health officials are now actively monitoring eight people who had close contact with an ebola-infected nurse, amber vinson. the eight were all passengers who were on the flight from ohio back to dallas. they were in close proximity within three feet of vinson. over the next 24 hours we're going to be tracking major storms on the pacific and atlantic oceans. in the worst case, on the atlantic. nbc meteorologist dylan breyer has more. >> hurricane gonzalo has been downgraded to a category 3 storm. we're on the western edge of bermuda here and we're expecting the storm still to pass just a bit to our west. by about 20 to 50 miles. the surface of the water is starting to get roughed up. and for the first time we've begun to notice the winds increase here. we're looking at natural defenses, we're a small little speck here in the atlantic. but bermuda actually has a reef that surrounds it that is going to cut back the storm surge that

we so often see in the major hurricanes. we're high up in elevation. so while there will no doubt be some coastal flooding, inland areas aren't going to see the flooding that you see on the roadways. that will protect it. however, we'll notice strong wind gusts. any high in elevation, will actually increase those gusts. so we are going to see 115-mile-per-hour winds, sustained for a long period of time later this afternoon. the height of the storm is expected from about 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. it's in that time where we will most likely see most of our damage. from the people we've spoken with. they say they're going to hunker down with their families, they're going to stay indoors, naturally and they're going to pray that the storm doesn't hit as hard as it certainly looks like it's going to. >> thanks to dylan dryer in bermuda. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." before we go, i want to apologize for a tweet that was shown earlier in a segment.

it did have offensive language. world bank president jim yung kim and the aspen institute's walter isaacson. and "the new york times" melinda cooper. join us online, on facebook and twitter. and my colleague rona ferrell joins us with what's up next. keep. >> keep it here everybody at home. comments from a cdc official are going viral in a big way and we follow up with that official in just a couple of minutes. plus an interesting tech story, a $3 billion reason why one famous musician thinks he can take on apple. by going into his high-tech lab. no. it's called grid iq. the 4:51 is leaving at 4:51.

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the white house is naming an ebola czar today. controversial move there. that will be ron klain, he served as chief of staff to vice president bidens and gore. we're keeping an eye on the white house briefing room now where we should be getting more details any minute. over at the state department, secretary of state john kerry said this morning that more help is needed. >> no one country, no individual group of nations is going to resolve this problem by themselves. this is going to take a collective global response, all hands on deck. >> nina pham, the first nurse at texas presbyterian hospital to contract ebola left dallas last night amidst cheers from supporters. just before pham taped this video message with hospital staff.