john. >> erin mcpike, thank you. >>> islamist fighters are hitting a border checkpoint. the city of kobani is on the edge in danger of falling in the hands of the isis fighters. that kurdish city on syria border with turkey has been under siege for weeks. on friday, isis fighters took a kill overlooking the city. now kurdish fighters are said to be looking for a way out. our arwa damon joins us from the border of turkey and syria. arwa, how close is this city to falling to isis? >> reporter: it seems to be getting closer to that as every day goes by, john. isis now evntrenching itself. there were clashes focusing on the streets, then at one point, it end with quiet. the kurdish fighters who thought they had an advantage because they know the city and from this city and inflict severe casualties. when it came to the battle with isis, they found themselves at a disadvantage. one fighter says the isis militants were equipped with night vision ability on top of the sniper rifles. a lot of others were thinking it was their last chance to flee or stay and fight until the very

let's bring in erin mcpike who joins us live from the white house. anbar says it is being overwhelmed by 10,000 isis fighters. it is asking for american boots on the ground. the air strikes why aren't they targeting more forces, more troops, to try to stall their advance? what's the white house say? >> reporter: well, deb, again, these cries for american ground troops are coming from officials in anbar province local officials, not coming from the centralized government in baghdad. the u.s. has been working closely with the iraqi government on those air strikes and they're continuing those air strikes. there were more air strikes overnight. the air strikes continue in both iraq and syria. but what we're hearing from the white house is simply as they said before this is going to be a long fight. they know isis is very brutal, has very brutal tactics, and they warned at the beginning that this could go on for several years. and so right now what they're simply doing is digging in and sticking to the strategy that they laid out so far, deb. >> so, if an

joining me now, cnn's senior international correspondent ben wedeman in baghdad and erin mcpike at the white house. ben, i want to start with you. detail for us these attacks that we've seen in baghdad most recently. >> reporter: victor, what we saw last night were two very large car bombs in baghdad itself leaving more than 40 people dead, many more wounded. now earlier today there were three bombs outside of baqouba, one was a suicide bomber, one was a remotely detonated car bomb and a third a suicide car bomber. that left more than 20 dead. and the situation in anbar continues to be grim. last night the head of -- the chief of police in ramadi or for all of anbar province was killed in an ied attack and now ramadi, which is a town that is sort of half under the control of isis, half under the government, we're told at least in the government areas it is under a 24-hour curfew, so the situation there grim and getting grimmer. as far as the capital of baghdad goes, apart from those car bombs last night, the defenses seem to be holding. u.s. officials, iraqi officials are confident tha

erin mcpike is there live. >> fredricka, u.s.he u.n., samantha powers has traveled to the west after kaj nations to send a message that it's okay for workers to go there and volunteer. more on that, next. do you have the coverage? you need? open enrollment ends december 7th. don't put it off 'til later. now's the time to get on a path that could be right for you... with unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. call today to learn about the kinds of coverage we offer, including aarp medicarecomplete plans insured through unitedhealthcare. these medicare advantage plans can combine parts a and b, your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and extra benefits... all in one complete plan... for a low monthly premium, or in some areas no plan premium at all. unitedhealthcare doesn't stop there. you'll have $0 copays for preventive services... like an annual physical and most immunizations. other benefits could include routine vision and hearing coverage -- and the pharmacy saver program gives you access to

cnn's erin mcpike joins us from the white house and candy crowley is also live in washington.'s start with you. what message does ambassad baba power hope to send during this visit? >> reporter: first it's largely symbolic just like it was for president obama friday when he was seen hugging nurse nina pham in the oval office after she was cleared of ebola. they are trying to say health workers can go to the countries in west africa and got knot get ebola and trying to send the message to other countries that they, too, need to go to the region and get involved, that's a message that we've been hearing from secretary of state john kerry for quite some time now. but the biggest message is to destigmatize this and calm the hysteria. she said to nbc news before leaving essentially that new york and new jersey new rules are haphazard and not well thought out, and she also made this point, we cannot take measures here that are going to impact our ability to flood the zone. we have to find the right balance between addressing legitimate fears that people have and encouraging and ince

but that was erin mcpike reporting from washington. of course that red mass, no particular reason why it's red. >> we looked it up. >> we did check. it just happens to be red. that's why it's red mass. and with that we'll take a short break here. when we come back, olympic superstar michael phelps, he's also taking a break from swimming. that's after he got stopped for dui, driving under the influence. we'll tell you what he plans to do with all that free time he now has. [ female announcer ] we lowered her fever. you raise her spirits. we tackled your shoulder pain. you make him rookie of the year. we took care of your cold symptoms. you take him on an adventure. tylenol® has been the number 1 doctor recommended brand of pain reliever for over 20 years. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir®, an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. and levemir® helps lower your a1c. levemir® is now

erin mcpikes that had story. >> reporter: jesse matthew has been in contact now for two weeks, the last person to see hannah graham before she disappeared four weeks ago. police have linked him also now to morgan harrington. a source with knowledge of the investigation says police have seized a taxi cab owned by matthew. law enforcement sources say they have already linked matthew to harrington's disappearance. last month, harrington's parents say they want to prevent another tragedy. >> we're not joyful. there's no celebration here. we're kind of stunned but we also are, you know, devastated that it has come through hannah graham being missing. >> reporter: in 2005, matthew got a business license to drive a cab in the city of charlottesville. state and federal investigators believe matthew was driving a cab for a new defunct company called access the night morgan went missing. fellow drivers remember matthew. >> our understanding, again, is that he was driving a cab the night that morgan harnirington s abducted. >> reporter: her body was found in 2010, ten miles last seen from where sh

let's go to erin mcpike at the white house now. erin, these quick strike teams, is this simply to send a powerful message, or do they believe these teams can really be trained and properly a help to hospitals? >> they are going into training. the pentagon has approved this. it's a 30-person team. it will be five doctors, and 20 nurses in the specialized training equipment, and once they are called to deploy, if there's a case of ebola, somewhere within the united states, they will go and help that local hospital train and figure out how they can really deal with this case. they first have to go to texas to train xshgs then they will be on call for 30 days. they will be able to deploy anywhere within the united states within 72 hours. >> white house official tells us he has not yet started. he hasn't had day one on this job yet, and he will be at all of those meetings. the vice president was there. the secretary of health and human services, the secretary of homeland security. many others, national security advisors as well, and they

john and christine. >> erin mcpike, thank you. >>> european foreign ministers meet today with the eyehe need for ebola. david cameron calling for the eu to put $1.3 billion and 2,000 aid worker into the fight against the disease. in spain, nurses aid teresa romero ramos was cleared of having ebola on sunday. she will remain in the hospital for at least a few more days to recover from the ebola-related chest infection. >>> the scammers are cashing in on growing ebola worries. products claims to prevent or cure ebola are popping up. an unfortunate trend when a disaster happens. the fda is asking everyone to remember there is no cure for ebola. any product that claims otherwise is a scam. the better business bureau warning of fake fund-raisers. several web pages have popped up. scammers have started telephone campaigns. >>> time for an early start on your money. u.s. stock futures pointing higher which could be a good week after last week's crazy ride. the dow finished for the week down 1%. >>> positive identification could come as early as today on human remains found over the weekend t

with erin mcpike.ng. you'll remember after the president took office in 2009, it was ron klain who was the point person responsible for overseeing the distribution of the funding and that is the point that the white house is making, that ron klain has a lot of experience in government. well, listen here to white house press secretary josh earnest press that case yesterday. >> i think what you can assume mr. klain's role will be will be an important high level implementation role and ultimately it will be his responsibility to make sure that all of the government agencies who are responsible for aspects of this response, that their efforts are carefully integrated. he will also be playing a role in making sure the decisions get made. >> earnest also made the point that klain has a lot of good relationships on capitol hill but, of course, that was no consolation to republicans. we got a number of statements very quickly after they confirmed this pick that republicans were upset that he didn't have this b

thank you very much. >> erin mcpike is at the white house.ama held a high-level meeting there last night on this very issue. erin, who was there? >> reporter: well, christi, as you said, it was a high-level meeting. many cabinet officials, high-ranking administration officials as well. they also had a meeting friday evening as well as last night. friday and saturday evening, back-to-back meetings. vice president joe biden, secretary of defense chuck hagel, the deputy national security adviser to the president, also dr. tom frieden, the director of the cdc, some 20 names or so, both nights. few different names for these two nights but these meetings were all about dallas, what happened in dallas, contact tracing of other potential people who could have been affected and also the state and local measures that are being taken in dallas and what kind of help they need from the federal government. i want to read to you a little bit of the readout of that meeting so the meeting conclude with a discussion of broader steps to increase the preparednes

erin mcpike, thank you very much.l to come in the newsroom, the latest on the strange case of a chicago teenager arrested for allegedly trying to join up with isis. the young man is not a threat to the u.s. ♪ want to change the world? create things that help people. design safer cars. faster computers. smarter grids and smarter phones. think up new ways to produce energy. ♪ be an engineer. solve problems the world needs solved. what are you waiting for? changing the world is part of the job description. [ male announcer ] join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring america's future engineers. energy lives here. helps you find a whole range of coverages. 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, h

and erin mcpike. let's start with alison at jfk. airport to unveil the screening, what's going to happen there? >> reporter: what's going to happen today, victor, today is the first day that that additional screening will be happen for passengers on flights originating from three countries stricken with ebola. i'm talking about guinea, sierra leone and liberia. the idea, victor, to catch people with the warning signs of the virus, stop them from going and leaving the airport into the general public. so what will essentially happen is, when those flights come in here, those passengers will go to a designated area where officials with the cdc and border protection will go ahead and take their temperatures with an infrared thermometer that's placed close to their forehead. now, if they show signs of having a fever, they will be moved on to a cdc official who is here at the airport to have further evaluation. in no red flags are spotted, what will happen, those passengers will be asked to give their contact information. they'll be asked

here's cnn's erin mcpike. >> reporter: the supreme court's docket is dominated by one momentous, sociallyharged issue, whether gays and lesbians have a nationwide equal protection right to wed legally. the justices expected to decide in coming weeks whether to put same-sex marriage to the constitutional test. >> in theory the justices can avoid deciding any question, particularly when there's no division, and there isn't about same-sex marriage yet. but this is just too important. they can't stay out. it would be ridiculous for the nation's highest court not to decide this issue. >> reporter: 31 states ban same-sex marriage. and while homosexual couples seeking the right claim their relationships deserve full legal recognition some say courts should stay out of the fight after their citizens have voted to preserve traditional marriage. >> when a court on such an issue where there are very strong opinions on both sides like this, this is a huge issue of social change in our country, when the court steps in and makes it into a constitutional issue, it makes the court look significantly more

erin mcpike is at the white house.tuation in baghdad right now, do you feel the city -- do the people there feel the city is secure? >> no, they don't. but it's not a threat from outside from the possibility of isis forces invading or taking over the capital. the worry here is of things like car bombs. there were two car bomb last night in the northern -- two northern suburbs, kill more than 40 people, wounding many others. and this is long been the concern of iraqi security forces. isis -- baghdad is not fertile territory for isis. it has a shia majority but there is a city where there are sleeper cells, people sympathetic to isis who ared to to conduct this bombing come pain in the iraqi capital. outside of the capital, the situation is increasingly grim. overnight the head of police in anbar province was killed in a roadside bombing. now ramadi, the city where he operated out of, is under a 24-hour occur to y24 24-hour kecurfew. isis has also surrounded the town of haditha on the euphrates river. as we heard yesterd

erin mcpike, we appreciate it. >>> now to the brutal beheading of british aide worker alan henning in syria. he's the fourth western captive to be killed by isis since august. now the terror group is now threatening to kill american aide worker and iraq war veteran peter kassig. president obama and british prime minister david cameron are vowing to go after isis and destroy it. arwa damon joining us now from the turkish/syrian border. arwa, we've said this morning you met kassig in 2012. he calls himself an idealist. expound upon that for us? >> and he really was, victor. he, like alan henning, like the three others, four others, who were beheaded beforehand, whether aide workers or journalists, went to syria because he had a profound belief, the sense of responsibility he took upon himself to make some sort of a difference. we met him in the summer of 2012 and he was volunteering at a hospital in northern lebanon in tripoli helping to treat wounded syrians. a few months earlier because of his medical background th

our erin mcpike is at the white house with more on that. erin. >> reporter: john, as you know, the mid-term elections are one month away and the ebola crisis is a campaign issue. the white house is trying to manage the fear. listen here to white house senior adviser dan ffeiffer yesterday. >> we need to make sure people understand how hard it is to contract ebola and understand there is no country in the world better prepared than the united states to deal with this. the best public health infrastructure. >> reporter: there is a slightly different message coming from the cdc. the director dr. tom frieden held a briefing yesterday and in that briefing, he made the point that he wants health care officials and workers to have a healthy respect for any kind of lapse in protocols that that is a big risk. he wants officials to be very meticulous even though officials are warning that an ebola outbreak in the united states is extremely unlikely. he said that anytime there is still an outbreak as in africa, there is a potential risk everywhere. he

first, let's go to erin mcpike. what do you have coming up?well, we learned from the obama administration overnight on the decision in new york and new jersey on quarantining, the white house is still evaluating whether to take that approach. >>> coming up here at the cdc, we'll talk to you about contact tracing. the biggest challenge for medical detectives in trying to stop the spread of the ebola virus. you're watching cnn "new day saturday." right when you feel a cold sore, abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. you could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva.com don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. with abreva. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, s

erin mcpike has more from the white house. >> reporter: john and christine, despite the fact the administrationts on ebola, they are getting growing criticism. the first is the choice of ron klain as the so-called ebola czar. republicans say he is a political pick because he has no experience in public health. the second is that there are growing calls for a travel ban. something the white house has largely dismissed. listen to republican senator ted cruz on the "state of the union" on sunday. >> the first part doesn't make since because it doesn't work in the 21-day incubation period. they say a travel ban would prevent health care relief workers from arriving in west africa. no one is talking about banning flights into west africa. physicians and nurses and health care workers are allowed to go in there on charter flights or c-130 aircraft with appropriate safety precautions. that's very different from saying commercial airliners should fly day after day after day with hundreds of passengers connecting with thousands of passengers coming from around the country. the arguments they are giving

. >> erin mcpike reporting there. >>> one nurse condemns the policy after returning from sierra leone. she was put in quarantine and has no indication of what's going to happen next. >> i heard from my mother last night who called my concerned and said governor christi jue j said in an interview that are you quote-unquote obviously ill. this is frustrating. firstly, i don't think he's a doctor, and secondly he's never ladies on my, and thirdly, i have been asymptomatic since i've been here. i feel physically completely strong and emotionally exhausted. but for him to say i'm obviously ill, what does that mean? i don't understand what obviously ill means. but i am here to tell you that i am completely final physically and being held here is just, i -- >> and what is your understanding about how long you, what have they told you about tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that? >> caller: this is the other concern that i have. i have not been communicated a clear plan. my quarantine order, written by the new jersey health commissioner and even to this day no one has told me

our erin mcpike is there with the latest. erin? >> reporter: jake, howard university hospital has admitted a patient who is exhibiting ebola-like symptoms in the last day. that patient is currently in isolation and is being monitored and undergoing testing. all we know from the hospital is that that patient has recently returned from nigeria but they are not naming that patient. of course i can tell you, though, that security around here, especially, has been very tense as we await those results. just north of here at the shady grove hospital, there is another patient who is admitting what the hospital said was flu-like symptoms. that patient is still under isolation but the testing came back negative. that particular patient has a travel history that would suggest that ebola could be a risk. but they did not name the country that that individual traveled to. in both of these cases, the hospitals say that they worked closely with the cdc to monitor those patients and are following very specific infection protocols. >> erin, thank y

has to send in ground troops. >> erin mcpike at the white house.e streets are filling up in st. louis right now. stephanie elam is live. >> reporter: we are out here and you can see people are starting to gather here. a lot of people hugging it out. a lot of people talking, coming together. very diverse group of people. we'll tell you more about what's going on in st. louis as this weekend of resistance continues. >>> right now, passenger screenings for ebola are beginning at jfk airport in new york. the fist of five airports that will get enhanced screenings around the country. public health officials trying to prevent ebola from entering the united states. allison is at jfk and who are exactly are they looking for? somebody like duncan would not have even been caught. so who are they looking for? >> they are looking for anybody whose on a flight or conducting flight that came from one of the three countries, considered the hot zones of ebola. incident guinea or sierra leone or liberia. and to screen before they get into the general population. wh

erin mcpike at the white house. thanks so much. >>> all right. some unusual diplomacy happening in south korea today. top officials from north korea made a surprise visit, the first such high-level trip in five years. and they delivered a message. pyongyang is willing to hold another round of new high-level meetings this month or in early november. meanwhile, kim jong-un remain mysteriously out of sight. officials say he has been suffering from what they call discomfort for nearly a month. paula hancock is in seoul, south korea, on more on what happened. >> reporter: this visit was both surprising and significant. the man considered to be second in command in north korea after the leader kim jong-un popped down to south korea for a last-minute visit. he's a vice marshal in the military and he was accompanied by two more very high-level officials the from north korea. on the face of it, they were here to attend the closing ceremony of the asian games. the north korean delegation, the national security chief, and the prime minister. the president a

erin mcpike is latest in charlottesville, virginia with the latest. >> good morning.rst went missing, the police chief here said it was a legitimate question to raise. whether these two cases were linked. but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. but now the connections are impossible to ignore. jesse matthew has been in police custody for two weeks. the last person known to have seen hannah graham the night she disappeared four weeks ago. police have linked him to another missing girl, virginia tech student morgan harrington, who vanished in october 2009. now police have found a second possible link connecting matthew to harrington's death. a source with knowledge of the investigation says police have seized a taxi cab owned by matthew. law enforcement sources say they have already linked matthew to harrington's disappearance with dna evidence. but no charges have been filed. last month, harrington's parents told cnn's anderson cooper they just want to prevent another tragedy. >> we're not joyful. there's no celebration here. we're kind of stunned. but we also are,

>> erin mcpike, cnn, washington. >>> the oldest sitting member of congress is recovering after a carccident in texas. here is ralph hall, flown to a hospital near dallas after the wreck in fannin county saturday. he was a passenger in a car hit by another drive. the congressman's office said he's expected to make a full recovery. he's finishing his final term in congress and when he leaves in december he will have spent 32 years representing texas there in washington. >>> michael phelps said he's taking a break from swimming to focus on himself. the olympic champion announced the news in a statement on his facebook and twitter account sunday. the decision comes after he was charged last week with driving under the influence of alcohol, excessive speed and crossing double lanes on a baltimore interstate, the second dui charge in maryland. phelps said in part, "i'm going to take some time away to attend a program that will provide the help i need to better understand myself." he was arrested for drunking driving in 2004 and pleaded guilty, sentenced to 18 months probation. >>> a small

let's bring in erin mcpike at the white house. reporter: deb, they are. in fact, white house press secretary josh ernest said in a briefing yesterday, the white house did not want an ebola, they wanted a expert. the white house does not have particularly good relationships on capitol hill, and if at some point the white house needs to have more funding, claimed relationships could be helpful there. they also point out that he has managerial experience in government. you may remember klain from 2009, after congress passed the stimulus package. the administration tapped klain to oversee the distribution of that stimulus funding. that was unpopular with republicans, but valuable experience for klain. >> one of klain's challenges will be tamping down fear. the person who is the czar is going to have assuage all americans and say, it's okay, we've got this covered. how big of a part is all of that? >> well, it's a very big part. so far, the white house has used some trial and error in their messaging, over the past couple of months, we

let's turn now to erin mcpike for the latest. what can you tell us? i can tell you is that security has been extra tense around here this afternoon, as we await the results oh of a test to see if that patient does, in fact, have ebola. howard is not naming that patient, just saying the patient has shown some ebola-like symptoms and recently traveled to nigeria. i also say that howard university's president sent out a campus wide e-mail earlier today saying that, as you know, washington, d.c. is a major gateway for international travel, so they're taking all suspected potential cases very seriously, but called this patient low-risk. there was another suspected case also today in nearby rockville, maryland. but that was dismissed. the test results came back negative and that patient has some other illness. we are still waiting for the results of this test. i would say that in both of these cases, both hospitals said they worked closely with the cdc to monitor those individuals and following all the infection protocols very closely. >> they are airing on

joining me now, senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, as well as correspondent erin b mcpike at the white house. elizabeth, i want to start with you. i know you spoke with that nurse in new jersey. what is she telling you? >> reporter: she's telling me that she wishes that governor chris christie would stop saying that she is, quote, obviously ill, because she says she's fine and she's being detained against her wishes and she's feeling just fine. she does say that this whole ordeal sometimes makes her spirits very low. >> that everyone keep asking how are you feeling physically, and of course i feel fine physically. bull but i don't think most people understand what it's like to be alone in a tent and to know that there's nothing wrong you and that decisions are being made that don't make sense and that show no compassion. >> hickox hired a lawyer and he plans to go to court to get her a hearing. said, look, if you're going to detain someone, you have to give them a hearing. it's the government's place to describe why they've taken her civil liberties away. >> i wanted to as