our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has our report. >> reporter: a study in a european journal "annals of oncology" found that the benefits of taking aspirin outweigh risks when it comes to preventing cancer. analyzing more than 200 studies the authors found a significant decrease in the number of cancers of the digestive system, esophagus, stomach and colorectal. the biggest benefit was for people between ages 50 and 65 who took a daily low-dose aspirin for at least five to ten years. but some experts we talked to today question whether it is right for everyone. it is a small pill that could have big consequences. internal bleeding is a well-known and serious side effect. so here is a starting off point for the conversation with your doctor. how much aspirin should i take? at what age should i start? when can i stop? what are the risks? and of course, make sure to discuss any family history for cancer. that family history should allow everyone to individualize the pros and cons of whether to take aspirin. and

in a moment we'll go to dr. nancy snyderman who will take us through the war room set up for this at cdc headquarters in atlanta. first tonight, however, to nbc's kate snow, who continues to monitor the two americans confirmed to have the virus. kate, good evening. >> good evening to you, brian. the second patient is due here tomorrow. meantime, the first, dr. kent brantly, is said to be doing better, improving. his fever has come down. he's in stable condition. doctors believe that may be in large part because of an experimental medicine that both patients have gotten. when dr. kent brantly walked out of that ambulance on saturday, his family rejoiced. just two days after news choppers followed him through atlanta streets, his wife amber, was preparing for the worst. brantly told colleagues in liberia he was dying. his wife asked friends to drop everything and pray. but by the time he landed saturday, he'd made a remarkable improvement. after one dose of a rare, experimental drug never before used on humans. >> it re

dr. nancy snyderman is the chief medical editor. good morning. we heard a lot of assurances there. are you confident there's risk of this getting out? >> i'm not only confident, lester, but there are dozens of ebola that have been in the country before. it's related to yellow fever, cousins, if you will. it is true, ebola has never been diagnosed in this country before. that's precisely why such unbelievable precautions are being taken. from the time this patient leaves liberia to the time they are admitted at emory, there will be no human contact with anyone. the only way to get ebola is by transferring fluids, that's vomit, diarrhea and feces. that is not going to happen. >> stephanie walked us through the precautions in terms of transportation. ebola, first time. this has been done before in terms of transporting infectious patients, correct? >> it has been done. that's why it's been thought out and well planned. the worst thing anyone could have done is say we have to get these people out.

dr. kent brantly and nancy writebol are deteriorating. yesterday an experimental serum arrived in liberia but only one dose. >> dr. brantly heard that, he asked that it would be given to nancy and not to be given to him. >> reporter: franklin graham is head of the relief organization. >> he's a tremendous individual. >> reporter: however, dr. brantly did get some help, a blood transfusion from a 14-year-old ebola survivor, one of the many people dr. brantly has saved. >> this is the toughest ebola outbreak we've ever had to face, and ebola itself is a dreadful and merciless virus. >> reporter: and to date the centers for disease control issued a level 3 travel alert for americans urging them to avoid all nonessential travel to guinea, sierra leone and liberia. so what was your tipping point to raise the travel advisory today? >> we were concerned that if you traveled there for a nonessential reason and had to go to the hospital, that might be a problem. >> reporter: in brooklyn park, minnesota, home to america's largest liberian community,

. >> reporter: aid workers nancy writebol and dr. kent brantly fighting for their lives in liberia may soon both be home. one of them arrives tomorrow and will be rushes here to emory university hospital in atlanta in this specially equipped isolation room. >> the reason our facility was chosen for this is because we are only -- we are one of only four institutions in the united states capable of handling patients of this nature. >> reporter: the medevac is a tightly controlled process led by the u.s. state department and the cdc. dr. brantly and writebol will be flown separately on noncommercial planes like this one. with multiple layers of protection to contain the virus, the gurney will be placed within a secured plastic tent. the patient enclosed in another layer of plastic. and anyone in that part of the plane covered head to toe in a hazmat suit and gloves. the flight will land at dobbins air base not far from the hospital. the facility is similar to nebraska medical center's biocontainment unit. where drills like this are regu

and if that's the case, not allow people to have international travel. >> dr. nancy snyderman, thank you. >>> much more on the ebola outbreak on "meet the press." david gregory's guests will include dr. tom frieden and dr. toby cosgrove. >>> turn now to an entirely different health concern tonight. it's a toxic water situation in ohio that prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency today and a warning to hundreds of thousands of people not to use the water. it's happening in and around toledo. nbc's miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: the camps waited three hours with 60 other desperate families to finally get what they came for. one case per family of clean drinking water for 4-year-old todd jr. and his 1-year-old sister, michelle. they live in toledo, ohio, where tonight families are waiting in line and living in a state of emergency. >> orderly fashion please! >> reporter: the water here isn't safe to drink. >> i am very concerned for my kids because i don't want them to get sick. >> reporter: the run on water started just after 2:00 a.m. when

. >> reporter: i'm dr. nancy snyderman at hartsfield-jackson atlanta international airport where 250,000 people pass through every day, including a daily flight from lagos, nigeria, the latest hotspot in the western african ebola outbreak. for anyone arriving on an international flight. u.s. customs and border protection is the first line of defense. if someone appears ill, cdc quarantined officials will bring them here. this is the cdc's isolation room in atlanta. one of 20 like it around the country where infectious diseases are looked for and sometimes treated. in this refrigerator, anti-toxins to malaria, diphtheria, even botulism. but it's now ebola that anyone's worried about. anyone with fever, vomiting or diarrhea is put in a super isolation room. in addition to passenger surveillance, there are public health messages throughout the international terminal so that everybody knows what to look out for. a reminder tonight that ebola is still very rare, and unless you're working or fighting on the front lines

dr. nancy snyderman, as always, many thanks to you. dr. shafner, appreciate your expertise. also nbc's sara dalap covering this story for us on the ground. we of course will bring you all the latest as we get information on the developments there at emory. let's go right now to the big breaking hours from the middle east. as israel continues its bombardment of gaza in response to the apparent capture of one of its soldiers, the palestinian death toll has climbed to more than 1,670. hamas' military wing says it never captured the soldier. it bleaelieves the 23-year-old officer may have been killed in a battle with hamas fighters it joining me now, saeb erakat, just returning from his meeting with khaled meshaal, the leader of hamas. sir, thank you for joining me. >> thank you, alex. >> all right. let's talk about what news you heard from khaled meshaal this week. the question to you asked, where does he stand on things right now? >> as a matter of fact, i spend two nights in doha. i was in touch with president abbas of course, with the egyptian foreign minister. i was with th

dr. nancy snyderman tonight on the pros and cons. >>> and the bond. where the older brother goes the younger one is never left behind. their unforgettable story of challenge and triumph. "nightly news" begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >>> good evening. i'm lester holt in for brian. tonight, as millions of americans begin a long holiday weekend, homeland security officials say they are not aware of any specific domestic threat from islamic militants. that question came into sharp focus today when great britain abruptly raised its domestic terror threat from substantial to severe. britain's prime minister, david cameron, today declaring there is no doubt that isis is targeting western europe. though uk officials also say there is no specific threat. this latest development comes as the obama white house spent much of the day on damage control trying to clarify the president's remarks yesterday about battling isis. the isis threat is one of two major foreign policy crises the pr

our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has the story. >> reporter: detroit, a modern day desert of abandoned homes and seeping poverty, a place where fresh produce is hard to come by. >> within about a mile of where we are right now there are about 110,000 people living, and there's not a full service grocery store. but there is eastern market. >> reporter: on a summer saturday it's one place where the city is bustling and bountiful. >> community garden, small farm plots. >> reporter: as i look at the people walking by today, what percentage of these people are on food assistance? >> we know that in the state of michigan it's about 17%, for the city of detroit it's close to double that amount. >> reporter: orrin is the founder of the fair food network and has created an innovative way to bring locally grown fruits and vegetables to michigan residents living on food stamps. the program is called double up food bucks. >> if you bring your snap card here to eastern market and spend $20, you will get an additional $2

this is unprecedented. >> what is the hope for this extraordinary serum that was used on both dr. nancy writebol and dr. brantly? >> there's a lot of secrecy around this. we don't know, it's from a biotech company in california. it's a medication, if you will, antibodies against ebola. the dosage which seems to be three different doses, but it was split up in this case. brantly got a dose, writebol got a dos and there was a word they got another dose once they left liberia and came to the united states. here's the interesting thing. this has never before been tested in human beings. only tested for safety reasons in primates. i'm not sure it's been given correctly in these two patients, but it was given, frankly, in a hurry, in a foreign country, and now i think the cdc and the fda, the nih are probably all huddling trying to figure out how do we move forward. this is not a medication that came out of clinical trials. this is a medication that is truly experimental and this is rather unprecedented for something to be used like this. >> thank you so much, dr. nancy snyderman. we'll be lo

joining me to discuss, dr. nancy cass from johns hopkins who wrote about this ethics debate in the annals of internal medicine. i want to talk about this decision today to discharge dr. kent brantly and earlier to discharge nancy writebol. how delicate of a decision is that for the team of doctors. what was likely involved? >> my guess is what they had to determine was whether there was any chance that these two americans were contagious. we have to assume that they used all measures possible to determine that, and they were squarely saying that there was no chance that these two americans were infectious to others, including their families with whom they are presumably going to have very clois contact. >> and they did go to great lengths to emphasize again and again they are no longer infectious, no longer an ebola presence in their blood stream. you've been looking at the ethsical implications. you highlighted three big questions. should the two americans have been lifted out of liberia when others were not? should

dr. nancy snyderman tells us why parents should be cautious. >> reporter: in this hectic world you may feel you're on call 24/7, but your doctor is not. >> i work in the health department and i see people every day that don't have access to medical care. >> reporter: it's that frustration retailers are banking on as more are opening low-cost, in-store medical clinics. and today america's biggest retailer walmart opened two new clinics in georgia. making a move to deliver primary care to its 5,000 u.s. stores. >> walmart is focused on opening these clinics in rural areas where there isn't as much access to care. >> reporter: with walk-in visits costing patients and their insurance companies just $40, analysts say these clinics could be a game changer. >> these could have ripple effects and also challenge hospitals and doctors to reconsider their pricing as well. >> reporter: there are merely 2,000 retail clinics in stores like target, walgreens, and cvs. they are staffed by nurse practitioners o

dr. brantley and nancy rhibald. >> there was a controversy concerning dr. brantley, concerned that they would bring the virus to the united states, the first american on american soil to be infected. and we're watching the door because we're waiting for him to walk through. >> many americans are concerned, and i wouldn't say that it's incurable, but it's not airborne. if somebody has ebola, the virus can't travel through the air from one person to another. you can only get it if you come into contact from somebody suffering from ebola. if you come into contact with, in some way, with their bodily fluids. which is why the two aid workers fell victim to the disease because they had been working alongside of so many victims in west africa. >> that's why nancy writebol was dispatched without any fanfare without anybody knowing. >> according -- >> what we did know, her husband, david, under observation, he has been looked after because the incubation period is 21 days, and he has been looked at very strictly, and it turns out that he doesn't have ebola either, d

. >> dr. nancy, i'm glad you're here. you have talked about this multiple times this week as the story has made front page news. what are the chances the virus could spread? >> i would say zero to none. this is why. this patient has been assessed in liberia. has been found to be stable. is being transferred on a special plane with a special staff, in a special containment unit in barrier suits and will go in a military kind of transit to a military kind of hand-off straight to emery to a special kind of isolation room. this patient will not have any human contact with any person in any part of this procedure. that's important. the only way someone can get infected is with direct contact to vomit, diarrhea or blood, and that is not going to happen. once this patient gets well, it's game over. this is not an infectious virus. can't be spread through the air, which means other people at the university and the public, they are safe. >> and people will be concerned about anybody traveling from one of these four west africa an

dr. nancyan wants more. >> when you need to see a doctor, waiting is the last thing you want to do to get an appointment. >> i work in the health department the. i see people every day that don't have access to medical care. >> so now more and more retailers are banking on that frustration, opening low cost, in-store medical clinics. on friday, america's biggest retailer, walmart, opened two new clinics in georgia, making a move to deliver primary care through its 5,000 u.s. stores. >> it is focused on opening in rural areas where there isn't as much access to care. >> with walk-in visits costing patients and their insurance companies just $40, analysts say these clinics could be a "game change"er. >> these could have ripple effects and challenge hospitals and doctors to reconsider their pricing as well. >> there are nearly 2,000 retail clinics in target, walgreen's, and cvs. they are staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants. most are open seven days a week. some have evening hour

we expect that later today. >> all right, dr. nancyank you so much for your time this morning. >> you bet. >> earlier i spoke with dr. tom frieden, director of the centers for disease control, and i asked him as nancy was just talking about, about the outlook for dr. brantly at this point. >> well, it's encouraging. he seems to be improved from the reports we got earlier. ebola can be deadly, but in people who are healthy, the case fatality rate may be lower than the ones that we're usually quoting because people like this doctor are much healthier going in than many of the people who unfortunately are still getting ebola in africa. >> right. and he was working in western africa in liberia. when you look at some of the precautions that are taken, especially outfitted plane for him to be contained, the medical units on site from the airport to his transport to emory and then in a containment unit at emory. is this an unacceptable risk to bring somebody with ebola back? >> well, first off, we have to say that he was coming home, and the

dr. nancy snyderman is here to grow up the rising confusion and here about the deadly virus spreading here at home. >> it is safe. it is smart. it is prudent. it does not put people at risk. >> hacking the senate. the cia is caught in the act. spying an the intelligence committee's computers while the committee was investigating the cia's interrogation techniques after 9/11. >>> we'll talk to one of the senators now calling for the cia director's resignation. >>> good day. i'm andrea mitchel le iell in . a cease-fire ended less than two hours before it began. both sides blaming each other for attacks leading to an outburst of violence. israel has intensified shelling in rafa where at least 35 palestinians have been killed today. israel is now searching for one of its soldiers who they say has been captured by hamas. i'm joined by nbc's ayman mohyeldin in gaza and in tel aviv, martin fletcher. secretary kerry issued a very unusual statement on his way back from new delhi where he announced the c

dr. nancy snyderman tonight on the pros and cons. >>> and the bond, where the older brother goes the younger one is never left behind. their

dr. nancy snyderman tonight with the big medical headline. "nightly news" begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >>> good evening. the centers for disease control ni

dr nancy day was interested in reaching out to young women and helping to train them in science. >> weexcellent undergraduates at u.c.l.a. , but petra. >> she plays songs on her perch. >> she brought some of her background from working in robotics so we could have a cage that would serve a multitude of functions. that is her cage. to have petra's promote recognised above and beyond that was beyond my imagination. >> so my parents, mum and dad, have been unbelievably, incredibly inspiring. dad, since i was superlittle would take me to lectures at caltech and encourage me to ask questions. i am really active at school. i'm the president and founder of a club called red talks. like a mini version of the ted talks. we invite speakers to come in and talk about what they do, how they got to where they are, and what it's like to be a researcher. i got the opportunity to meet professors and it's amazing to meet amazing whim like dr white and dr jay. it enabled me to see myself in a lab. it unables me to see myself in -- enables me to see myself in science when i grow up. >>> so, first of all,

we get more on this tonight from our chief medical editor dr. nancyderman. >> they have long waiting lists. you can always call us back. >> the sudden death of robin williams has ignited a national conversation about depression, substance abuse and suicide. are calls up today? >> they are up today for a variety of reasons. >> reporter: at one of the nation's busiest suicide prevention hotlines, calls have been nonstop all morning. >> if you hear someone say the word, is that a sign to take it seriously? >> absolutely. any time someone is mentioning thoughts about suicide or wishing they were dead or wanting to not be here tomorrow or thinking about killing themselves. we want to take that seriously. >> hey, is that the door? >> reporter: the manic brilliance that marked robin williams' distinguished career was countered by a darkness that friends say he struggled with for years. fellow comedian and actor chevy chase wrote, robin and i were friends, suffering from the same little known disease, depression. for someone in crisis, connecting with a human

dr. nancy snyderman is joining me. good morning to you, dr. nancy.e were watching the doctor walk with that minimal assistance. why did that impress you so much? >> well, i think it was stunning because we expected, as is usually the case, for a patient to be transported from an ambulance to a hospital on a gurney. and i think they did it this way for a couple of reasons. obviously dr. brantly was strong enough to walk 20 yards and it minimized the press getting any shots from him. i thought about this a lot overnight. we saw two people in suits. one, the person to the left was the health care worker and dr. brantly to the right. i don't believe they put him in that suit because he was a risk. i think they put him in that suit so there would be no external pictures from him and it afforded him patient privacy. i suspect there was a gurney inside that back door and he was put on it right away and then taken into isolation. >> brantly seems to be improving but qualified it by saying that ebola is such a deadly disease. how do you interpret that? >> her

kent brant ly and dr. nancy writebol have rejoined their families. >> people have no confidence in his ability to be fair and impartial. >> an israeli air strike has killed three senior commanders of the hamas military wing. >> the super bowl is looking to sell the senate start for an undisclosed amount. super bowl xlix. >> we begin with the growing 3rd to america and the west from the islamic state group in syria and iraq. at the pentagon thursday defense secretary chuck hagel, warned that i.s. presents more of a threat to america. >> they are beyond a terrorist group. they marry ideology, traffic and military prowess. they are tremendously well funded. oh, this is beyond what we've seen. >> hagel's comments after officials say delta force command os, failed ocapture james foley, held by i.s. terrorists for almost two years. video showed foley beheaded by a british i.s. being commando. p.j, once the u.s. started pounding i.s. force he in iraq with air traction an strikes. and i.s. beheading which we will not sh

our dr. nancy snyderman has a look at the pros and cons. >> reporter: when you are need a doctor waiting in line is the last thing that you want. >> i work in health department and i see people everyday who don't have access to medical care. >> reporter: now and more and more e retailers are banking on the frustration, offering low cost in-store medical clinics. on friday, america's biggest retailer, walmart, opened two new clinics in georgia, making a move to deliver primary care to the 5,000 u.s. stores. >> you will have to have an op pointment to get all of these things done? >> no. >> reporter: opening up clinics in the rural areas to where there is not as much access to care -- >> reporter: and with the walk-in care costing average $40, this could be a game-change canner. >> it could have ripple effects and challenge hospitals and doctors to consider their pricing as well. >> reporter: there are nearly 2,000 retail clinics in target, walgreens and cvs. they are staffed by nurse practitioners o

kent brantly and dr. nancy writebol received. it's called z-map. >> it's certainly encouraging and a reason to go forward with these kind of studies. >> reporter: dr. dr. sapphire said it brought a tear to her eye when she saw dr. brantly get out of that ambulance and walk under his own power into the hospital. that gives her encouragement this cocktail is working. but because there was no control and these were the first two people ever to get a trial version of this drug, she says that more trials need to be done, more studies so they can get more information and hone this drug as necessary so that more people can benefit and more lives are saved. stephanie elam, cnn, la jolla, california. >> thanks, stephanie. we get more now on this new ebola serum. arthur kaplan is the director of medical ethics at new york university's langone medical center. he was nice enough to join us from vacation via skype from denver, colorado. or steamboat springs, right? >> that's right. >> thanks for being with us. the interesting thing, we've hear

both dr. nancy writebol and dr. kent brantly took the experimental drug and appear to be improving.we know it is working? >> what we know -- this drug contains proteins, antibodies. these things actually target the ebola virus and actually attack it directly. so far this drug has only been tested in animals. so we really don't know exactly how it is going to happen in terms of the treatment of humans. people are going to be watching this very closely. because this is something that just hasn't been done before. >> so, is it a shot? is it a blood infusion? how do they take it? >> this is actually an intravenous infusion that the patient takes. and normally in the animal studies it's been delivered 24 to 48 hours after exposurexposu. one thing that we know about dr. brantly and nancy writebol is they were given this drug days after they started to experience the actual symptoms. so, it's really -- hard to tell what's going to happen in this case and what the effect of the drug will be. >> ers are on high alert across america. should americans be concerned? half a dozen people have bee

dr. nancy snyderman tonight on the pros and cons. >>> and the bond.re the older brother goes the younger one is never left

were about five or six massive blasts and they hit the residential area in the biggest district dr nancy near the supermarket and at the bus stop there were no self-defense forces for sure. oh you mean time moskos where you have to sponsor the sanctions recently imposed by the west later this hour we'll look at one option reportedly on the table which could see european airlines losing up to a billion dollars in three months. in justifying their stance they're citing all sorts of what they see as international precedents in cost of the upcoming referendum in scotland but the response that they're hearing from the one is that what you're saying is illegitimate but what we have been doing is still full of life in america if you break into there still good luck america does is right rules are made for other people for centuries like russia or countries like this trade. back whatever america does is right because america doesn't. choose your language. skills and. the consistency of. the opinions that you think great to. choose the stories that impact your life choose the access to. well agai

dr. kent brantley and nancy writebol have been staying and a getting treatment. we're expecting to hear any moment now from dr. kent brantley. he is the first known ebola patient in the united states at that hospital in atlanta where he's been treated over the past few weeks. they are planning to release him any second now. they have done a series of tests, two blood tests in particular, and those two blood tests have come back negative for the deadly virus. what is surprising to us, though, is that the other u.s. missionary we followed her voyage as well, nancy writebol, she was already released. apparently she was released on tuesday. want to show you some live pictures at emory university hospital in atlanta. a news conference is expected to start soon. brantley and writebol both contracted that ebola virus while working for religious charities in liberia. they were treating people that had been sickened. they both as you'll recall received that experimental drug zmapp and recovered quite quickly. you'll remember, that brantley and writebol were very, very ill.

people of prayer and really people around the world lifting them up in prayer. >> how is nancy doing? we saw dr we haven't yet heard from her. can you tell us? >> absolutely. i've been able to talk with nancy, as well as her husband, david. nancy's voice sounded strong, had a good conversation with her. it was classic nancy, just expressing great gratitude and appreciation for all those that have helped her. in talking with david, wehile se is healthy and free of the virus, she's weak. this is a very devastating virus. takes a lot out of you and so, she is resting and recoup rating. >> and sanjay gupta was just saying they received the ultimate vaccine, dr. brantly and nancy writebol, they are vaccinated. would she ever go back? i know this may sound crazy but she was risking and dedicating her life to help others. would she consider that now that she's immune? >> you know, i wouldn't be surprised if dr. brantly and nancy and their families, their spouses return to liberia to be able to help in the fight against ebola. it's that kind of spirit that they have demonstrated when they were there. t

dr. nancy snyderman tonight with the big medical headline. "nightly news" begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >>> good eng

dr. nancyising confusion and here about the deadly virus spreading here at home. >> it is safe. it is smart. it is prudent. it does not put people at risk. >> hacking the senate. the cia is caught in the act. spying an the intelligence committee's computers while the committee was investigating the cia's interrogation techniques after 9/11.

with us now, nbc news chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman.ing worse. everyone's attention including the cdc's yesterday is because this is now the longest and deadliest ebola outbreak in human history. and we're talking not just about west africa, but little cases that seem to be popping up all over the globe. and that's why a lot of people are considering this a global threat. in geneva this morning, an emergency meeti ining of the wo health organization as experts determine whether the ebola outbreak now qualifies as a public health emergency. this as the cdc's emergency operation center elevates its response to the highest level. level one. reallocating staffers to focus on containing the outbreak. now spreading throughout west africa where the w.h.o. reports over 900 people have died from the disease. the outbreak started in march in guinea moving to liberia and sierra leone. then jumping to nigeria's capital of lagos. ebola's reach now extends beyond west africa. in saudi arabia a patient suspected of having ebola died wednesday after tr

dr. kenneth brantly and nancy wri writeboll were released from emery hospital. both of them were given an experimental treatment that schad never been tested on humans. meanwhile the outbreak with ebola continues to get worse globally. the world health organization says there have been hundreds of more deaths in the last few days. they're putting it at around 1,300 people. angry crowds tried to escape an area that's been quarantined. the director of the institute's allergy and infectious disease center. and arthur kaplan, the director of the public health department in atlanta. doctor, let me start with you, i heard so many people say when the news was revealed that these two people had been cured. in just three weeks, here's you've had this medical break through. what are your thoughts today? >> i don't think you can call this a medical break through because i don't think we could definitively say at all that it was the medication that they got that made them better. because remember, about 50% of people survive ebola anyway, even under conditions that are not

kent brantly and dr. nancybol contracted ebola when working with a humanitarian group. >> the plane is equipped with an isolation pod designed to handle infectious diseases. >> incredible efforts they're making. how much of a risk is it bringing both victims to the u.s.? we want to bring in the world health organization spokesperson, tariq yasaravich. how are you, sir? thank you for joining us. can you tell us anything about the shape of these two victims an how they are doing right now? >> thank you very much for having me. i don't have precise information on these individuals but i would just like to touch a little bit on what you were saying before. what we have seen so far, more than 100 health workers have been infected since the beginning of the outbreak, 60 of them died. this really shows how important it is we train health workers, equip them properly and that we have enough health workers on the ground so they can do reasonable shifts, that they are paid and take care of themselves and take care of the

our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has the very latest on the crisis and how the u.s. government plans to respond. good morning. >> good morning. the cdc is now issuing an order for 50 people, disease detectives if you will to be deployed to west africa to try to start to get this epidemic, this outbreak of ebola under control. but in the meantime, they were also at the epicenter of an extraordinary operation. that required the coordination of the state department, cdc, white house, fbi, the doctors and nurses at emory and even patients on the ground. people on the ground, if you will to get dr. brantley safely from liberia to the united states and admitted to the hoital. it was a military operation that took every precaution. >> well, the disease continues to ravage parts of west africa, the death toll now over 700 and climbing, chances of an ebola outbreak in the united states are slim. but the government says it's ready. >> here are the three main reasons why. >> number one, government on alert. only the cdc can confirm ebola cases in the united states. and they hav

dr. brantly is expected to speak but take no questions. as for nancy, doctors plan to update on the status of her discharge. >> by the way, hats off to the folks at emory university hospital who did such a great job taking care of them. gabe, thank you. >>> new revelations are emerging this morning tied to the execution of american james foley by isis militants. we've learned the group tried to secure a massive ransom. and the u.s. military attempted a top-secret rescue mission. nbc's chief foreign t chard eng in turkey along the syrian border. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, tamron. isis is still holding dozens of foreign hostages for ransom and political pressure. and now we're learning new details about a failed u.s. military operation to free james foley earlier this summer. isis, the group that executed american reporter james foley, is still holding dozens of foreign hostages for ransom and political pressure. the pentagon said at least one attempt was recently made to rescue foley and the others. officials say special operation

dr. brantly and nancy writeboll, both their families and dr.imself have really tried to bring attention to the pligtd of the people in west africa. they say their thoughts and prayers are with them as these ebola outbreak seems to be getting worse. >> air strikes, indictment and courtroom drama. israeli air strikes killed three hamas leaders in the gaza strip today. hamas admits they did kidnap three teens that provoked a violence that led to the war in gaza. richmond republican bob mcdonald is back on the stand in his public corruption trial. the republican governor is about to testify about his frayed marriage and how his wife accepted $165,000 in gifts and loans. he talked about it on his way to court moments ago. >> when i got into public service i never thought i would ever have to testify in front of the white house. >> virginia's former first lady marine mcdonald is not expected to testify. >>> and another republican governor, this one from the lone star state will focus his attention on the southern border today, this a day after he ple

dr. brantly and nancy writebol count their blessings. tonight, they are reunited with their families and asking for prayers for this other side of the world. for "nightline," i'm steve osunsami, in atlanta. >>> up next, i get to sit down with some of the hollywood heartthrobs who mount a passionate defense of all of the sex and violent in "sin city," the second time around. mary has atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts her at a greater risk of stroke. rome? sure! before xarelto®, mary took warfarin, which required monthly trips to get her blood tested. but that's history. back to the museum? not this time! now that her doctor switched her to once-a-day xarelto®, mary can leave those monthly trips behind. domestic flight? not today! like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem that doesn't require regular blood monitoring