dr. garza, to you.there any precedent for this in this country in terms of having this debate over what to do with air travel in terms of restricting it? because that's the majority of questions we're getting and tweets we're getting is why are we allowing this to come into the country. it's just not that simple. >> right. so if you think back, at least in the last decade or so, there has been a couple of cases where this has been debated. one was with the sars epidemic coming out of the far east where we had cases come into canada. and the other one more recently was h1n1 where there was active debate on the hill. i was in homeland security at the time, whether to start restricting travel from countries that were en democratic with h1n1. but the point being is that disease is cubic which to us around the world. and as secretary napolitano used to say, if you build a 50-foot fence, they're going to build a 51-foot ladder. so it's not as simple as saying we're going to restrict travel from out of these c

dr. anthony garza. so dr. omeone who has had to put homeland security first, there is that articular friday the governors from the three states, who will say they are trying to prevent and protect the masses by imposing these mandatory quarantines. from the homeland security point of view, do you see their argument? i can seer their argument. the other side of the fence is we should be making loan cal and well-prescribed actions based on fact and the science. it's usually a culling together of those two worlds when you come up with best policies. it seemed we were on that path, checking temperatureses doing questionnaires, but then we took it to the tenth or the 100th degree and said we're going to flat-out quarantine all these medical works without any intervening thought. i can completely understand the argument of protecting the public good policy has to be based on fact. it seems like that this was a little too much in that direction of faulting security rather than thinking about it from a public health an

dr. alexander garza is a dean at the university of public college health and former chief medical officer at the department of homeland security. i'm also joined live here by dr. amar, a professor and infectious disease expert at new york university. i'd like to start with you, dr. garza, if i may. that's a chilling analogy, that it's the isis of infectious agents. does that mean it's that deadly or that dangerous or just that it needs to be treated with the same kind of strategy? >> i think it's a little bit of both, ashleigh. so if you think about ebola as an agent that spreads throughout and kills innocent people, it's directly like isis, right? it infects people and kills people. and so the response, if we're calling this a national security issue, needs to be equivalent to if this was a form of terrorism, meaning we'd have to attack the problem overseas, like we do with terrorism and leak the president is doing sending the military but we also have to protect the homeland, screening passengers and doing all of those other efforts to protect the american public. >> and doctor, if i co

dr. alexander garza. r first question is from a viewer who asks, there are several strains of the ebola virus. can mutations cause them to spread differently? dr. rodriguez, you want to take that one? >> well, mutations affect viruses in many difshferent way. a mutation can as easily make a virus less dangerous as it can a little bit more dangerous. so, we do know that there are many different types of strains of viruses, and some actually are much more dangerous than others. this one is -- has a morality of 50%. there's another type that has mortality of 90%. the answer to the question is yes, and we don't exactly know how that is going to be affected by mutations. >> and kathy also asks, is there proof that ebola is not airborne? and i think that is a question so many people want to know because it's spreading seemingly so rapidly. what do you say? >> well, it's important to understand a disease can spread rapidly even if it's not airborne. and in liberia, that's essentially what you're dealing with, a s

dr. garzalet me start with you. one thing that the cdc director said was that when it comes to disaster response, you need humility because clearly what they're dealing with is so dangerous and so deadly. how alarming is this particular diagnosis to you given the conditions as we know them? >> yeah. this is a very formidable virus, and so dr. frieden is entirely correct. you need to have a little bit of fear and a little bit of humility when you are handling both the patients and the virus, and so the news coming out of dallas as well as out of spain with health care workers now becoming infected from helping to treat these patients is a little bit concerning. >> when we think about -- when we think about how this did spread, look, you have -- mr. duncan was exposed to several people during the point that he was effectively contagious and the contact spread to the contact virus. this health care worker was with mr. duncan for a much shorter period of time. those he knew first were not dressed.

dr. alexander garza, dr. macgregor-skinner and juliette kayyem. the emergency management who seemed confident but reaching a lot of people with who he came in contact with. he could have come in contact with thousands of people. >> he could have, but, again, he's conscious and talking to authorities and he's really giving a lot of information of where he has traveled to and where he's been and light of parallels between new york city and what we experienced in lagos in nigeria. it's a megacity of 21 million people and when patrick sawyer arrived, that patient, again, we expanded this huge net of contact tracing in the nigerian government visited over 26,000 homes and families and talked to so many people and, again, there wasle 894 people from the 20 cases to do that contact tracing. what new york is doing is correct, it's right, it's the principles we use every day to fight ebola and find and detect early to ensure no one else gets this terrible disease. >> to dr. garza. let's talk about the flights that dr. spencer took. how much do we know abou

dr. garza, former medical officer for the department of homeland security. dr. garza, a panel of experts from the world health organization recently said blood plasma and whole blood transfusions should have priority for now. do you agree with this? >> well, i agree with anything that can improve the survival rate, and so as you mentioned in your opening remarks there, it has been used in many of the patients that were here in the united states, and they have all survived. and so it's still a small "n" as we say in scientific research, it's still a small number, but it still looks promising. let's not forget the case fatality rate for ebola is anywhere from 50% to 90% and when you have numbers like that, you're much more willing to try more aggressive measures to try and save lives. >> what is the science behind the blood transfusion possibly being something that's working? >> sure. so the science behind it is when somebody's exposed to a virus, they build up antibodies against it. and if the p

dr. garza, thanks for joining me., are the drills at hospitals enough to prepare them for ebola? >> well, it's a good first step. we have been dealing with ebola for most of the year. it's only become much more important here recently with the case diagnosed in dallas. and i think it was really a wake-up call for the rest of country we need to take this disease seriously and be on alert for it. so i think the u.s. hospitals are doing the best they can to be prepared for something that is very unusual. >> do you think the screenings at the airports will be effective, or is there something else that they should be doing instead? >> well, the screening at the airports are, i think designed for a couple things. one is to catch any potential cases that may have gotten past the screening in the airports from western africa. but i think they provided another thing, which is another level of comfort for the american people that the u.s. government is taking this seriously, and is covering all of their tracks. and this is what

dr. garza, i understand all of that. but it was the fear in suzanne's package, a better chance of this happening and that happening. it's the fear of the unknown. there's so much we don't know about ebola. that's what's driving this. >> yeah. you're exactly right. and that was a great piece to explain a lot of that. but we see this over and over again with things that impact our society. so whether it was h1n1 from 2009, whether it was the fukushima disaster and people were worried about radioactive clouds coming across the pacific, we see this again and again, but really it has to do with perception of risk. you know, individual risk. and these are things that people can't see, can't touch, can't feel but yet they know some of the consequences of these things that are out there. so really it's trying to jibe those two different worlds together that really sort of drives the social amplification of it's out to get me. >> juliet, i wonder, though, if it has anything to do with how health officials are handling this becaus

dr. alexander garza, doctor. thank you for your guidance. >> isis is making big advances in the province surrounding baghdad. up next, we will hear why the white house says, well, it's not worried. people with type 2 diabetes

dr. alexander garza, associate dean there at the chicago public school of health. >> thank you. >> thank you. we will continue right after this. nancial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. transamerica. an unprecedented program arting busithat partners businesses with universities across the state.

dr. garza, thank you so much for your time. >> absolutely. thank you. >>> my next guest does not think that ron klain should be the ebola czar and has ideas about how to stop others from coming into this country with ebola. he's california chair of the house foreign affairs committee. congressman, explain to me the beef that you have with ron klain as the ebola czar. >> i think it's the right step to point a czar. the question i have, why not appoint someone with a background in public health or an understanding of infectious diseases because it seems to me that many of the mistakes have happened here because we haven't been focused on the expertise from those who really understand pathogens and can put together a plan that has everyone on the same page. >> what about the argument that what we really need is a manager, not a medical doctor, someone who is wired, who knows the bureaucracy and can get elements working in tandem? >> well, think for a moment. what we need is a manager who is a medical doctor and there are many of them. there are

dr. alexander garza. dr., it's good to have you on our program. >> thank you. >> as a medical professional, when you encounter an unknown, what is the policy? because ebola hadn't come to the united states before it came to dallas. and you could argue as well that people just didn't know how to handle it or even what it was. what do you believe? >> well i think it is a combination of things. first off the initial handling of mr. duncan, clearly they missed him as a case of ebola. i think that's been pretty well established. but your next question of how do you take care of patients like this that have never presented to your facility before is a very fair question. and i think it's hard to fault institutions that were not given a proper training, a proper equipment and really just did not have the right set up to take care of a highly infectious patient such as mr. duncan. >> we have the new enhanced security checks now at the major international airport likes jfk coming into the country. if i am someone w

dr. alexander garza, associate dean at st.ity college of public health and social justice. mark omeara. the dallas prosecutor k considering filing charges? has he broke laws in texas? >> assault, requires criminal intent. they would have to show he knew he was infected but came over here with that team of intent. i think they're trying to show they're doing their job. like liberia doing theirs with their charges. no criminal intent for aggravated assault. there is criminal negligence standard. you don't get to that unless you can prove he knew or was completely reckless about knowing he was in contact with an ebola patient. no charges. >> sound like mark is saying intent here, dr. garza. key is intent. did thomas eric duncan knowingly go out and try to infkt peopect or try to get himself help and do the right thing here? >> right. i think that is the question you need to be asking. two questions. one is the legal question. one is the moral question. so, i am not an attorney, so i can't speak much on the legal aspects. but ther

dr. alexander garza, former assistant secretary for health affairs at the department of homeland securityks for joining us. >> thank you. >>> they are the dealing with ebola on the front lines. the cleaning crews responsible for cleaning residences and hospitals. coming up, how they're dealing with the new demand. and more on the other major story we're following, the grim discovery in charlottesville, virginia. why this may closing the book on the search for the missing uva student, hannah graham. helps you find a whole range andof coverages.ur price" tool no one else gives you options like that. [voice echoing] no one at all! no one at all! no one. wake up! [gasp] oh! you okay, buddy? i just had a dream that progressive had this thing called... the "name your price" tool... it isn't a dream, is it? nope. sorry! you know that thing freaks me out. he can hear you. he didn't mean that, kevin. kevin: yes, he did! keeping our competitors up at night. now, that's progressive. use steam to give you both crisp vegetables and juicy chicken... and you pour the sauce. healthy choice café steamers.

dr. garza, if i have it right, brian todd said there is no, no, air circulation. >> correct. >> if it is not air bern, wborn that necessary? >> it certainly isn't ape mu mu have. if you see in africa they're not wearing the equipment. it is not a must have. it is nice to have. so it is just adding an extra layer of security for people working on this patient. that's really all it is. >> uh-huh. ann toomie, president of allied employees, health professionals and allied employees, this brings light to the people, a whole lot of light on the people who put their lives on the line every day to treat people who, you know, under, under, incredible conditions. and i would imagine -- that there is at least, there is a lot of leverage now that our health care workers are protected as best as possible and has all of the training that they need or at least more training. going forward. >> and that's correct. i guess the point i would look to make is that health care workers really want to be in the mix in

dr. alexander garza, dr. amesh adalja. you have many times and we look forward to it again. >>> i think you got that one right, chris, good work. >>> the ottawa gunman was on canada's radar as a potential threat, this much we know because his passport was revoked. yettings, he was able to carry out a deadly attack. we're taking a closer look this morning at exactly how officials track terror suspects and how many they're tracking in the u.s. nineteen years ago, we thought, "wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad?" so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. visit angieslist.com today. ♪ a single ember that escapes from a wildfire can travel more than a mile. that single ember can ignite and destroy your home or even your community you can't control where that embe

dr. garza? >> right.s not wrong in saying all of that the diagnosis based on the case definition. and clearly. he met the case deaf ngfinition he showed up to the hospital the first time. it is tough to explain that away. as far as training and equipment with the nurses, goes, clearly, even if they met the letter of the law, it, it, it seems apparent that the nurses were not adequately protected with their garb. it is a good first step for the hospital to start addressing, some of the concerns. from the treatment of mr. duncan. >> uh-huh. and deborah, you know according to dr. sanjay gupta. one of the reasons, main reason. the nurse want to emory hospital. the nur nurses were going to le their posts for fear of ebola. this was actually the first i heard of it. nurses are more than willing to step up to plate to provide safe patient care. but they actually need the equipment the training the education and the practice using that equipment because this can be a life threatening disease. and it is not fair t

dr. alexander garza with us and gavin mcgregor skinner. juliet kayyem and dr. debbie, talk to us about this virus. you said the temperature depends on -- the fever depends upon your immune system. >> some have a low fever. some don't have fevers right away and some have high. so your body, your immune system is what creates the fever. there's a period you don't know if the patient is contagious or not. it depends. it could be there before it reaches high levels -- >> i want to talk to juliet kayyem. coordinating with hhs, also ron klain, a new ebola czar and also you heard the head of the cdc speaking at the press conference, the question all of this training they have been having here. they feel that they are prepared for it. new york city prepared it is prepared. they're activating its emergency operations system in brooklyn. all of these the right moves? >> absolutely. i think, you know, over the last couple of months, some of the sort of communications errors that have come out of the government are that they overpromised and underdelivered and saying it wo

. >> dr. garza, i'm hearing all of this and at the end of the day, given both sides, should she, would you, stay put? >> would i stay put? that's a good question. i think, to be put on the spot, i'm not sure if i would or not. and i was asked by my neighbor if i would have any problem going home after serving in liberia and i said as long as i was asymptomatic, i would have no problem staying with my children and being with my wife and being in my family. now, whether i would actively go out in public i think is another question. and for many reasons. one not so much that i feel like i'm at risk to other people but also trying to tamp down public fear and i think you heard that from the cameraman in the previous story that he didn't want to create anxiety at these public gatherings, therefore, he chose not to go. >> i just thought about that pumpkin patch full of 9,000 people. if i lived in providence and saw this guy's face slplattered all over papers, maybe he made the right decision. with regard

dr. garza, let's talk about protocol. look at the ambulance.waiting nina pham to get off the plane. there are reports, in spain, a patient is under on ser vaebser because they rode in an ambulance that carried an ebola patient. an ambulance that had not been decontaminated. if true, what would it moon how the virus is being transported. >> it depend a lot on the environment of the ambulance. clearly if the patient was transported in the ambulance, had left behind bodily fluid. the flew is was left on the surface. and a patient came in contact with it. then, that could be the mode of transmission right there. you would assume that, that that, ambulance would have been thoroughly decontaminated before anybody else would have gotten into it though. so it is a little built surpr-- surprising that did not happen. we are looking at the pictures. takes them a little while for them to get together and get off the plane. this, they arrived fairly quickly. commercial flight here, 3:30. but they did it in a short amount of time. of course different when y

. >> so dr. garza, what do you think? is that effective?now, i think it is sort of plus/minus. in one way it is xwood to always communicate with the public about the risk and the community, and on the other hand, listening to it, if i got a phone call on my machine saying that, i am not sure that would heighten the people being scared of the virus, and so, think it is plus/minus of whether or not it is an effe effective strategy. >> and you have hit on any one of problems that the experts have said to us, the the risk of someone in the united states contracting ebola is very, like in infinitesimal, and we understand that, but the fear of ebola is great at this point. >> right. >> and the fact as a public health expert, and you look at what has gone on in dallas, a you look at how it has been responded to, how would you fix it if we suddenly put you in charge? >> so, first of all, that would be a tough position to be in. secondly, i think that, you know, there is a dynamic here. so there's the health dynamic and the medical care of the patie

dr. alexander garza, he served as chief medical officer for the department of homeland security and is assistant dean for st. louis hospital public health. >> and we have dr. yoe self mccormick, he helped investigate the first ebola epidemic in central africa. dr. mccormick, let me start with you. the push from the white house to send in s.w.a.t. teams when a hospital is dealing with a case of ebola. good idea? >> well i think it will be helpful. but i don't think it's going to cover every hospital in the country. and so i think they're going to have to have a strategy for how they're going to address this. because we can't choose where ebola patients are going to appear. >> why don't you think it will apply to all hospitals. i thoughted idea was, if the hospital has to deal with a case he they get a team. >> but how dot hospitals prepare their staff. when you get a patient, and you get a s.w.a.t. team, they'll help. but you want a staff that's already trained, that's got some concept of what they're going to do, before the s.w.a.t. team ever gets there. that's where my concern is. >> even thoug

dr. alexander garza, former chief medical officer for the department of homeland security. dr. garza, welcome. >> good afternoon, how are you? >> i'm okay. i'm hoping i'll be better once i talk to you and we can fill in blanks. it's assuring reading this from doctors without borders. i know they are best of the best, just talking to doctors they've taken incredible precautions, especially africa. but let me quote one more thing from request doctors without borders. "as long as a return staff member does not experience any symptoms, normal life can proceed. family, friends, and neighbors can be assured that a returned staff person who does not present symptoms is not contagious and does not put them at risk." so quarantine is neither warranted more to recommended when a person is not displaying ebola-like symptom which is, doc, brings me to the situation we have here in new york city with dr. spencer. so given the fact that obviously things can happen, should that change? should that be a mandatory quarantine for any of these doctors who are coming back over here? >> well, i thin

dr. garza, thanks so much for joining us.he bottom line question is, do you think there should be automatic kwarn teens for any health care professionals, doctors, nurses, others returning from the so-call ebola infected hot zone if they were dealing directly with ebola patients there? >> i think if it depends on what you mean by automatic quarantine. i think we see on one end of the spectrum, the decisions made by new york and new jersey which was, you know, we take these people and put them in extreme isolation. that's one end of the fence. the other end of the fence could be a self-imposed quarantine where the medical works who have been at high risk do self monitoring and are able to report in to public health officials. there's a wide span between those two and i think the public health folks and the policy oriented folks have to get together and come up with a reasonable plan to benefits everybody, that benefits civil liberties as well as protects the public. >> as you heard from the white house, there's a consideration

dr. alexander garza speaking with me earlier. the u.s.rmy's 101st airborne division has officially taken over the u.s. mission to fight ebola in liberia. the change of command took place saturday in monrovia. the liberian and u.s. governments were represented along with various u.s. agencies assisting in the battle against the virus. the division is charged with building field hospitals to provide 1,700 additional beds plus several testing laboratories. >>> coming up here, a u.s. mayor talks about the horrifying school shooting that has devastated his town. hear from him and the students who fled for their lives as the shots began. >>> also, vigils across canada for the victims of two attacks in one week. we ask a security official what changes need to be made to keep soldiers from becoming targets. shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. >>> fired inside the cafeteria during lunch killing one student and injuring four others. he was a student there. two of fryber

dr. garza of people in the liberian community in new york city and they said the death of mr. duncan has actually frightened them. that they're not so sure that even if they do run a fever, that they're actually going to go to the hospital to get treated. that presents a whole another layer of issues in terms of trying to contain this, does it not? >> and i think that speaks to the whole idea of not trying to stigmatize that either come from these countries such as liberia, sierra leone, but also not trying to be a little bit overboard with going out and looking actively for ebola in those cases where it doesn't fit the case definition. so just because you're from liberia, if you haven't traveled there in the last three weeks, you don't fit the case definition for ebola. so there should be no reason for people to suspect that they are a case. >> although some of the people actually say that even if they get visitors, they're not necessarily going to let people know that either. so there are a l

dr. garza, welcome to the program. >> how are you?concerned as many new yorkers this guy was using the subway, went bowling in williamsburg, took a taxi back to manhattan. the critical question was whether dr. craig spencer was systematic when he did that, and therefore, contagious. when he turned himself in, his temperature was not 103 as previously reported, but 100.3. is that accurate? >> i had not heard that story about his temperature. let me address questions of him traveling around. clearly he was without symptoms as he was going about his daily routine, going to the bowling alley, taking subways, things like that. from the point of risk to the public, he is no risk of spreading disease to the population. he hasn't developed enough virus in his body to shed them. i would be concerned if he had more overt symptoms, throwing up, diarrhea, things like that. >> it's important to point out the fiancee of thomas duncan, good night who died from ebola in texas went through the full quarantine and was clear. it's not airborne, in other

dr. alexander garza dean at st. louis university college of public health and social justice. alexander, are the new measures enough. or taking temperatures and filling out questionnaires will that help anything? >> so i don't think it is really a question of is it enough? i think really the question is are we doing as much as we can. certainly with the addition of the screening from the incoming passengers from the affected country, is another layer of security that the united states government can provide to assure the public and also to look out for any more signs of ebola that could potentially slip through the cracks of the screening that happens overseas. >> van jones, you know it will start at jfk and expand to four major airports. newark, chicago, washington, dulles. and atlanta. why not do all the airports as soon as possible? >> well in some ways, got about 90% of the people from west africa go to the airports. it is probably the most efficient way to do it. i do want to point out though, this is probably more security theater at the end of the day than it is actual

dr. alexander garza. he's the associate dean for st. louis university's college of public health. >> doctor, for those who actually do manage to survive ebola, what are the complications? >> so a majority of them won't have lingering complications. but there are going to be a percentage of patients that will have some inflammatory reactions type of diseases. not diseases but conditions after they've suffered from ebola. so things like arthralgias, or pain in the joints. you can have problems with inflammation in your eyes. and there's even been cases reported where people have reported becoming blind in the after effects of ebola. >> and you say the prognosis isn't the same for everybody. do we know why it's different for different patients? >> nobody really knows why right now. and this seems to -- this matches a lot with other infectious diseases. there's other viruses and bacteria that can cause the same sort of immune response that can cause these chronic conditions. and it's really difficult to tell who is going to fall victim to t

dr. karen garza. it's at 7:00 p.m. at whitman middle school in alexandria.arza will be in the alexandria area of the county. garza will be hearing ideas and comments from parents, students and school staff and answering their questions. the superintendent initiated these tours last fall. the next tour date is in november at robinson secondary school. >>> if you're planning to vote in maryland or virginia next month, the deadline to register is tonight. both states are offering online registration with your driver's license, mva, dmv issued i.d. card numbers. in maryland, you need to sign up before 8:00. we have links to the registration sites on our home page, nbcwashington.com. just search vote. >>> a school bus driver facing dwi charges after the bus she was driving was caught on video swerving all over the road. one parent on board was so scared, she called 911. we've got her call for help, next. >>> targeted while pumping gas. this crime spree is spanning two counties now. thieves are stealing purses, even cars from unsuspecting customers at the pump. no