dr. nancy snyderman. thank you. as always. >> you bet. >> we are back in a moment with an emergency on a train platform, no time to think, and the people who stood there and did the right thing. >>> human kind has only landed >>> human kind has only landed on so many extraterrestrial body but never a comet until now. the european space agency's "rosetta" spacecraft has traveled ten years and 4 billion miles to get to a comet hurdling through space at 35,000 miles an hour. they're flying in tandem now prior to what is hoped to be a gentle landing on the comet in november. what could go wrong? the comet is 2 1/2 miles wide and has its own gravitational pull. >>> eroni kumana has died. and without him the united states might never have had a president named john f. kennedy. when kennedy's navy patrol boat, pt-109, went down in the pacific, 1943, kumana and another man from the solomon islands found j.f.k. struggling to survive in the water. the two men risked japanese attack by delivering to the allies a message for he

dr. nancy snyderman. thank you. as always. >> you bet. >> we are back in a moment with an emergency on a train platform, no time to think, and the people who stood there and did the right thing. think, and the people who stood there and did the right thing. a woman who loves to share her passions. grandma! 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. so mary is free of that monitoring routine. f

dr. nancy snyderman. kate snow before that. our team covering this in atlanta. thank you both. >>> another big story we're keeping an eye on tonight is the weather. out west, that means a powerful deluge tearing through southern california, a wall of water that triggered mudslides, cutting off communities, including hundreds of children at a summer camp. nbc's jacob rascon has our report. >> reporter: in minutes the shallow stream became a rushing river. more than four inches of rain pounded southern california in under three hours. dry, compact dirt collapsing into mountain communities. 31 homes buried in debris. overnight thousands left stranded. in forest falls, doug could hear the mudslide. >> it sounds like a freight train. >> reporter: then he saw it. >> we ran for our lives. >> reporter: the wall of mud and boulders came crashing into doug's home, leveling his shed and tossing his propane tank 20 feet into a tree. the only way into town blocked by boulders the size of cars. hundreds here stranded overnight. down the mountain, the town of oak glen split in

dr. nancy snyderman in atlanta. kate snow before that on our coverage tonight. thank you both. >>> we continue to monitor the weather. two tropical systems churning in both the atlantic and pacific. two systems are now making their way toward hawaii. hurricane iselle which is expected to weaken before hitting hawaii as a tropical storm. tropical storm julio right behind it. being called a double whammy for hawaii, which has been hit by just eight named storms since the 1950s. in the atlantic, bertha has now weakened to a tropical storm. moving on up the east coast. not expected to be a threat to land but it will make for rough surf and dangerous rip currents. just at a time when millions are vacationing at beaches all along the east coast. >>> tonight over 1,000 firefighters battling two major fires burning in california. homes have burned. hundreds more are threatened. nbc's miguel almaguer got a bird's eye view of the danger. he has a report tonight from burney, california. >> reporter: over 1100 firefighters on the front lines. the backbreaking work of contai

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 the city announced tap water was dangerous to consume. store shelves went empty

dr. nancy snyderman starting us off. thank you, as always. >>> overseas tonight, some hopeful news just late tonight between israel and hamas. secretary of state john kerry traveling in indiana announced a 72-hour cease-fire to begin friday morning and he said israeli and palestinian negotiators will head immediately to cairo for further talks. one thing that hasn't changed in this, earlier today, the israeli prime, minister benjamin netanyahu, vowed to destroy the network of tunnels that hamas uses to terrorize israel, something he said would be done "with or without a cease-fire." israelis living near the gaza border live in constant fear of tunnel attacks from beneath their homes and towns and farms. our veteran middle east correspondent martin fletcher tonight gets a rare firsthand look. >> reporter: attack tunnels, hamas' secret passages for the fighters to penetrate israel and to kill and kidnap israelis. here, three days ago they surprised soldiers at an army post and killed five, dug through clay and sand, the tu

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

dr. nancy snyderman for some answers. >> how contagious is ebola? it requires direct contact with vomit, diarrhea or blood. and when a patient is symptomatic. this is not something that is airborne like influenza. you can't catch this casually. you're not going to get it by being on an airplane. you can't get it by breathing the air. this is a disease passed from infected person to another person. another question is about symptoms and how easy this is to diagnose. symptoms can come on any time between two to 21 days after exposure and includes sudden fever as high as 104 to 105, weakness, sore throat, headache. and the body can then become very ill. nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and in end stage kidney failure and hemorrhage. there's so much concern about a person with ebola coming to the united states, but the reason these patients are coming is because the american medical system is so sophisticated that their lives can be saved. every precaution is going to be taken so that this ebola will not spread to health care workers or anyone else in the cou

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 $20 of double up food bucks to spend on michigan grown fruits and vegetables. >> reporter: it's one

dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, detroit. >>> when we come back, a different type of campaign for a potent) if you have type 2 diabetes, you may know what it's like to deal with high... and low blood sugar. januvia (sitagliptin) is a once-daily pill that, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar. januvia works when your blood sugar is high and works less when your blood sugar is low, because it works by enhancing your body's own ability to lower blood sugar. plus januvia, by itself, is not likely to cause weight gain or low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). januvia should not be used in patients with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. tell your doctor if you have a history of pancreatitis. serious side effects can happen, including pancreatitis which may be severe and lead to death. stop taking januvia and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area which may be pancreatitis. tell your doctor right away and stop taking januvia if you have an allergic reaction that causes swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, or affects your breathing or c

dr. nancy snyderman is back and she's here now to answer some of your questions. dr.is as you might expect. the first question comes from victoria leach who asks has ebola been in the usa before? and also, how fast can it spread if it somehow got exposed to others? >> biela has not been in the united states before but its cousins have, dengue fever and yellow fever. that ice has been isolated and it burned out as they're supposed to and that's what will happen here. >> we also hurt from daphne on facebook. she asked how the doctor became infected. she knows we've seen this video of everybody, the caretakers being covered head to foot. how did the doctor and missionary get infected? >> we won't know until we talk to nancy writebol and dr. brantly, but we presume that it was probably a slip of human error. let me explain how that happened. these suits and everyone's seen them do protect you and cover you from head to toe. but these people are in the field with 100 degrees with normal clothing on. then you put on the suit and the internal temperature can get to 106 degre

dr. nancy snyderman reporting. walmart is launching the pilot program in three states that denied expand medicaid. those states also had a high concentration of uninsured residents. >>> if you didn't buy your labor day supply yet, get ready for a bigger price tag. pork is higher priced this year. you'll pay 10% more for it than last year. steaks also more expensive. and hot dogs up 7% as well. chicken is the winner here. 3% more expensive. i guess if you want to save the money, got to eat the bird. >> prices going up. temperatures going up as well. quite the labor day we have. >> heat and humidity. it's all returning. >> absolutely. summer unofficially comes to a close, the temperatures, it's not going to feel like that. >> doesn't make sense, does it in. >> absolutely not. notice how many 90s there are when you see the temperatures. it will also be humid. with the heat and humidity comes shower and thunderstorm chances. is this holiday weekend going to be a washout? absolutely not, but there are some rain chances

dr. nancy snyderman nbc news, new york >> the cost of raising a child is soaring.t's behind the increase? new government reports show the economy is doing a lot better. has it really improved for the average american? that's next. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. peanuts! peanuts! crowd cheers! nobody ever stomped their foot and asked for less. there's a reason it's called an "all you can eat" buffet... and not a "have just a little" buffet. because what we all really want is more. that's why verizon is giving you even more. now, for a limited time, get more data! 1 gb of bonus data every month with every new smartphone or upgrade. our best ever pricing with the more everything plan and 50% off all new smartphones. like the htc one m8 for windows or android. built to inspire envy. come get your more with verizon. wherever morning takes you, take along nature valley soft-baked oatmeal squares. oatmeal. cinnamon. softly-baked. nature valley soft-baked oatmeal squares. . >>> it turns out the economy is doing a lot better than expected, but is

dr. nancy snyderman. you have been working around the clock on this. there's a lot of conflicting information. a lot of fear and a lot of it is unnecessary. if you can clarify why, for all of us, we're being asked. why would we bring an ebola patient to the united states. >> let me start with the fact that ebola belongs to hemorrhagic fevers. you get infengted with a virus and if you die there's hemorrhage before death. this is related to dengue fever and other things we've had in the united states and we've always been able to put out the flame. if you look at western africa, it's like a wildfire that's out of control. and unfortunately, ebola has to be contained and put out of control -- put, really, put out and that's the way to contain it. why bring patients home? two reasons. one, these are americans. one is a doctor. one is a missionary. second thing is, they are sick. and they are in liberia where the health care system is quite poor. the real question people are asking is, are you now bringing an infection here that's never been here before? be

dr. nancy snyderman. we'll be looking forward to all your reporting throughout the day and on "nbc nightly news." >>> the sad journey home. the remains of army general harold greene returning home this morning. the army's chief of staff was on hand for the dignified transfer of greene's remains at dover air force base in delaware. the two-star army general was killed in an insider attack tuesday in afghanistan. this is . setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain... when jamie says... what's that like six pills today? yeah... i can take 2 aleve for all day relief. really, and... and that's it. this is kathleen... for my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve. get all day arthritis pain relief with an easy-open cap. (vo) ours is a world of the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo

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. >> they have long waiting lists. 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 voice at a call center like this, can somet

dr. nancy snyderman and -- last thoughts from you, dr dr. safner? >> i would agree 100%. i think we can indeed be proud. as nancy said, this is going to be happen rigorously, 24/7. we're going to do our best to provide excellent medical care. and it will be done safely from the point of view of the health care providers, as well as the general community. we know how to do this. we're going to do it right. >> and all the people who have said, why bring them home? we bring them home so we can save their lives. that's what doctors do. >> and we should all share in that pride. >> right. >> i think we all do, especially if there's a positive outcome for dr. kent brantly here. 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 on

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 snyderman, nbc new york. >>> if you know someone, you might want to take a trip to wales for high flying fun. and for those who prefer to keep your feet on the ground, there issing? for you, too. anibal roberts got in on the fun. >> three, two, one! >> reporter: some people find this fun, hanging from the wire, hurtling through the air 500 feet off of the air above a slate quarry and a bird's-eye view of stunning wales is something, but then on what was most certainly not just another day at the office, it was my turn. the wait was agonizing. my heart is going ding, ding, ding. still. it should be fun, because there is a nice view anyways. i have my eyes open. standing on the edge -- and i mean the edge -- you will get strapped into a dangling harness head first. try to remember the instruction s. hold on, knees straight and look up. and then they will measure the wind speed and give the all-clear. and -- >> three, two, one! >> woo! >> reporter: it's a bird, a plane -- no, it is me! this zipline is nearly a mile long which is a mile of monster speeds, mega drop and bustling winds,

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

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

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. 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 have 20 quarantine stations at a

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dr. nancy snyderman joins us on how agencies are trying to get ahead of this deadly outbreak. >>> one-twohawaii's first hurricane in 22 years. iselle is set to hit tonight. hurricane julio is nipping right at its heels. >> from this point on, to the latter part of the weekend through late sunday to deal with both of these tropical systems and whatever they're going to throw at us. >>> good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. it is a food fight. vladimir putin's ban on chicken imports from america and fruit and vegetables from europe in response to western sanctions. but is putin taking food off the table of his own people? former ambassador to russia michael mcfaul is an nbc contributor now at stanford and joins me. thank you very much. let's talk about putin and whom he is hurting because he's banning food from the u.s., about $1.3 billion a year. i've talked to a chicken producer here and oer

dr. nancy snyderman is here to grow up the rising confusion and here about the deadly virus spreading heret. 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.

dr. nancy snyderman talking about how carefully this hospital prepared. ou said earlier separate air ventilation systems for the unit. kate? >> reporter: right. right. that's right. i would just note, dr. snyderman told me that technically an ebola patient does not need to be encased the way you saw her encased in a hazmat suit. that may be in part for her privacy. these families have asked for privacy at this point. you can imagine, you know, her son is in there. actually we think both of her sons but i know for sure one of her sons is here and they haven't seen her. jeremy writebol said he wants to tell her i love you and how much he's been praying for her and how he's faithful she's going to be well. this is a woman who's a deeply faithful person. she's been a missionary over in liberia. she jumped into action to help patients over there. to save lives of lie beberialib fell ill herself. her organization says that they feel very deeply about the people of lie brieberia and not sight of the fact that everyone's putting their attention on her and dr. bran

dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. >>> if you are an adrenaline junkie or know someone who is, take a trip to northern what i will whales. if you prefer to keep your feet on the ground, there's something there for you, too. we got in on all the fun. >> three, two, one -- >> reporter: some people find this fun, hanging from a wire, going through the air 500 feet off the ground. a birds eye view of stunning north wales. then certainly not just another day at the office, it was my turn. the wait was agonizing. my heart is going ding, ding, ding. should be fun. it's a nice view anyway. if i have my eyes open. standing on the edge and i mean the edge, you get strapped into a dangling harness, head first. try to remember the instructions. hold on, knees straight and look up. then hang around. they measure the wind speed and give the all clear. and -- >> three, two, one -- >> reporter: whooo! it's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's me. this zip line is nearly a mile long. that's a mile of monster speeds, megadrops and winds. it's over in a flash. >> how was that? >> amazing. after traveling at

dr. nancy snyderman has more. good morning. >> yes, the cdc has ramp etted up its warning level. now this is the longest and deadliest ebola outbreak in history. while normally contained, this one popped up in enough countries now we are talking about it as a global threat. in geneva this morning, an emergency meeting of the world health organization as experts determine whether the ebola outbreak now qualifies as a public health emergency. this as the cdc emergency operations center elevates its response to the highest levelful level one, reallocateing staffers to focus on containing the outbreak, now focuses where the w.h.o. reports over 900 people have died from the disease. the outbreak started in march in guinea, moving on to libberia and sierra leone then jumping to lagos, a major population center and an international travel hub. ebillion la's reach extends beyond south africa. a patient died wednesday after traveling back fromcy rfrom sierra leone. they are now receiving treatment in the u.s. and a spanish missionary priest who tested positive for ebola was medevac'ed fro

dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: is there really any stuff that you should be looking at? >> dr. t. >> reporter: dr. nancy took me to see nbc's chief medical doctor. let's face it, guys can be stubborn. research shows we're 24% less likely than women to regularly visit our doctors. when you go to see your doctor for your 60th, what should you be expecting? >> some of the routine things that you might have seen before. so blood pressure, weight. you'll likely have your blood done. what your doctor decides to do depends on you and your risk factors. >> reporter: i've also got to be concerned about diabetes. african-american guys have almost double the risk of white men. it's also recommended that men my age get a one-time screening for hepatitis c. at 60 years old, am i done with getting shots? >> unfortunately not. flu shot every year pretty much for everybody now. a tetanus booster is one that a lot of people miss. you feed it every ten years. the one that's specific to age 60 is the shingles cceporter: as get shingles each year, and half of us are over 60. what is shingles

dr. nancy snyderman talking about the airports and isolation rooms.eard about how the staff was ready when they had a patient walking if from west africa and exhibiting the symptoms of ebola. within seven minutes they had that patient in an ice lakes room as well. while it may not be a huge threat, i wonder how prepared the united states is in terms of dealing with something if it were to reach our shores? >> i think the medical system if general is well prepared. we have great hospitals here, they know what to do. they know how to isolate a patient and how to deliver good care to a patient. the africa you have 30 people with ebola, one doctor, one nurse. here in the united states if anybody showed up, first of all the major hospitals have perfect capably to get that patient fully isolated. second, they would surround that patient with doctors and nursing staff. there would be a whole team working on that patient around the clock to save the patient's life anditis late them from other potential victims. >>> so, yeah the doctors are good here, we reque

dr. nancy snyderman.n this faces of his parkinson's disease, right? >> that's right. we won't really know anything until the coroner continues and completes and releases the data about the autopsy and that includes toxicology reports. it's one thing to be diagnosed early on with early symptoms that may or may not interfere with life and another thing to see if there were substances in his body, alcohol, cocaine, you name it, or even medicines that could treat parkinson's. so until that is out, we really don't know. but i think it's very important right now, while we have had a moment with robin williams' death to really seriously talk about mental illness in this country. depression, manic depression, bipolar disease and suicide in a way that perhaps we haven't talked about before. if or if he did not have parkinson's, i worry that the real concerning issue of mental illness might get derailed a little and i just want to warn people, we won't know until we know and until then, we should keep the bigger co

dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor. nancy, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> there are questions and they began to come up immediately after this revelation that robin williams was in the early stages of parkinson's. we have a neurological disorder in parkinson's and in depression a f ml illness. do they have som inng common? >> sometimes if they crisscross, people with parkinson's are known to have slightly increased risk for depression. but i think it's very, very important that while robin williams' death has allowed us to have a national conversation about depression and mental illness and manic depression and what that means, whether or not he had parkinson's and whether that might have been an add-on factor to other issues going on in his life, i think it gives us a chance to have two conversations. but i really worry that it might be seen as, well, that's the real explanation behind everything. we certainly knew he was battling depression. and we won't know for sure until the toxicology reports are i

dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor.ancy, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> shortly after the news broke that one or both of these americans we presume are coming to this country to get treatment as they battle the ebola virus. questions started.arted. a lot of them on social media.l. is this a safe policy? policy? does it put the u.s. population at risk? at risk? how do you answer the question?? >> it is safe, it is smart, it is prudent. prudent. it does not put people at risk. it does not put pe right now there's an evaluation of two patients, the two the t americans we've talked about.ed. they have fluctuated in how well they're doing. they're do grave but serious.inserious. the health care system in stem liberia is rudimentary at best.. if you can safely transport ans someone to a high-tech fabulous someone to a high-tech fabulous medical center where they're medical center where they're isolated from the general gener population in a really contained room and save their lives, sav that's what doctors ar

dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor.rning. >> hey, tamron. >> there's a lot we don't know. let's go with what we do know. she was rushed to the hospital with respiratory arrest. what does that mean? >> well, if she were having a procedure or diagnostic look with a scope going down to her vocal cords, she was likely sedated. the oxygen saturation, your breathing, those things are all being monitored. sometimes the medicine used to sedate someone, the age of someone receiving the medication. elderly people can be more sensitive to the medications. and sometimes just putting the scope down can trigger where a person stops breathing. this isn't necessarily a major cardio puarrest. but the really important thing here is every time you think you're going to have a procedure no matter how minor, you have to constantly remind yourself that although things are rare, they can happen. >> all right. thank you very much. >> and one more thing i should say, make sure your doctor has admitting privileges to the local hospital. because

dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor.good morning. >> hey, tamron. >> there's a lot we don't know. let's deal with what we do know. joan rivers was rushed to the hospital with what's described as respiratory arrest. what does that mean? >> well, if, in fact, she were having a procedure or diagnostic look with a scope going down to look at her throat or her vocal cords, she was likely sedated. in that case, your blood pressure or heart rate, your breathing, the oxygen saturation, your breathing, those things are all being monitored. sometimes the medicine used to sedate someone, the age of someone receiving the medication. elderly people can be more sensitive to medications. and sometimes just putting the scope down can trigger an event where a person stops breathing. this isn't necessarily a major cardiopulmonary resuscitation where a patient codes. it means the patient stops breathing. but in that instance, the whole procedure is stopped and the patient is given oxygen and everything is assessed. the really important thi

dr. nancy snyderman, good morning. >> good morning. >> you hear the word depression and it's such a puzzle. here's the guy who was always the life of the party. he experienced such highs, but he also apparently experienced such lows as well. >> i think for those of us who followed him for so long, that sort of bipolar aspect of him, that manic genius and the lows of the lows really sort of defines mental illness in a way we are reluctant to talk about. today we are talking about mental illness the way we talked about breast cancer years ago. there's still a hush hush. why can't we talk about mental illness the way we talk about cancer? we aren't quite there yet. and yet when we have heath ledger dying, robin williams dying. these brilliant flameouts of extraordinary talents. we talk about it for a short period of time and then we shove it away. hopefully this is the turning point we really talk about mental illness in a different way. >> you didn't hear him talk necessarily about depression, but he did talk openly about his troubles with addiction. how are those linked? >> well, so many ti

dr. nancy snyderman, it's the first time this serum has been used on humans. some 1300 people who have died as a result of this latest ebola outbreak. but this certainly should give medical professionals, researchers some hope seeing the progress with these two people. >> they kind of put themselves up as guinea pigs to further knowledge. so hats off to them. >> unfortunately getting that serum is not so easy. we've reported that there have been shortages on that. so hopefully they start stepping up production somehow and can get what they need there to africa. >> how about the job emory university hospital does. three weeks ago, what are you doing? >> don't bring them here. >> and now they're walking out of the hospital. big credit to them. >> absolutely. >>> this next one is -- yeah. i don't even know where -- >> do you smell desperation? >> we found -- well, al pointed this out to us earlier. >> yeah. >> i guess this video has gone viral. >> my kids told me about it. >> this new song "anaconda." and it's causing a lot of controversy. just when you think you

dr. nancy snyderman is back and here to answer some of your questions.e have a lot of reaction to this, as you might expect. the first question is from victoria. has ebola been in the usa before. also, how fast can it spread if it got exposed to others? >> it has not been in the united states before but its cousins have, yellow fever. four or five cases. in each case, that person has been isolated and the case burned out as they are supposed to. that is what will happen here. >> we heard from jackie who wrote in on facebook. she asked about how the doctor became infected. we have seen the video of everybody, the caretakers covered head-to-foot. how did the doctor and missionary become infected? how did the d[ man ]nd orta, when my wife calls remind me to tell her happy anniversary. [ cortana ] next time you talk to caroline, i'll remind you. [ siri ] oh no, i cannot do that. oh, and remind me to get roses when i'm near any flower shop. sure thing. remind you when you get to flower shop. i can't do that either. cortana, it's gonna be a great night. [ beep

dr. nancy snyderman for some answers. >> how contagious is ebola? it requires direct contact with vomit, diarrhea or blood. and when a patient is symptomatic. this is not airborne like influenza. you can't catch this casually. you're not going to get it by being on an airplane. you can't get it by breathing the air. this is a disease passed from infected person to another person. another question is about symptoms and how easy this is to diagnose. symptoms can come on any time between two to 21 days after exposure and includes sudden fever as high as 104 to 105, weakness, sore throat, headache. and the body can then become very ill. nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and in end stage kidney failure and hemorrhage. next. just moments ago hamas's military wing said it does not have a live israeli captive and all of its fighters involved in the attack were killed by israeli fire. brian. >> richard engel in gaza city tonight with those drones audible in the background. >>> also tonight, this imagery from gaza. it's digital photography. it was taken earlier in t