response in west africa. it's a credit to our country that we're leading the effort to end the epidemic in west africa. the early results from liberia indicate that our efforts and the efforts of our partner countries can milwauky s caies . but there's much work to do. i want to acknowledge all of the medical professionals who are doing that work. in particular, say a few words about dr. martin s ya. we learned yesterday that dr. salia, who had been flown to nebraska for treatment after developing ebola while working in sieree sierra leone died fr disease. we sent condolences and acknowledge his bravery in helping fight this disease. west africa is balanced on the edge. if our efforts and the efforts of the world health organization are not successful, millions of people in these countries faying a looming humanitarian crisis will continue to suffer. i am grlad that mr. isaacs is here to give the perspective of the international aid community on the west african outbreak. mr. isaacs, your group and other grou

, cdc is both here in our country and also in west africa. to also fortify, strengthen domestic capacity to treat ebola with treatment centers available in every state and the appropriate personal protective equipment for caregivers, like our very valued and treasured nurses. we also have money in here to develop new tests for treatment and vaccines, which would be a total of 3.12 billion for hhs. so, state is talking about 2.9 billion. hhs 3.12 billion. 112 for department of defense and right now, homeland security says it's okay but it needs a lot of flexibility. now the reason i talk about my colleagues to focus on not only the money, but on funding in an emergency, i say to my colleagues, we face infectious disease emergencies before. one under president bush in 2006 and the other in 2009 under president obama. we worked on a bipartisan basis to do this. in 2009, we were faced with the h 191 -- h1n1 flu epidemic. we provided 6.4 billion and designated that as emergency spending. the bipartisan emergency response in 2009 mired what he we d

, cdc is both here in our country and also in west africa. to also fortify, strengthen domestic capacity to treat ebola with treatment centers available in every state and the appropriate personal protective equipment for caregivers, like our very valued and treasured nurses. we also have money in here to develop new tests for treatment and vaccines, which would be a total of 3.12 billion for hhs. so, state is talking about 2.9 billion. hhs 3.12 billion. 112 for department of defense and right now, homeland security says it's okay but it needs a lot of flexibility. now the reason i talk about my colleagues to focus on not only the money, but on funding in an emergency, i say to my colleagues, we face infectious disease emergencies before. one under president bush in 2006 and the other in 2009 under president obama. we worked on a bipartisan basis to do this. in 2009, we were faced with the h 191 -- h1n1 flu epidemic. we provided 6.4 billion and designated that as emergency spending. the bipartisan emergency response in 2009 mired what he we d

response in west africa. it's a credit to our country that we're leading the effort to end the epidemic in west africa. the early results from liberia indicate that our efforts and the efforts of our partner countries can milwauky s caies . but there's much work to do. i want to acknowledge all of the medical professionals who are doing that work. in particular, say a few words about dr. martin sal ya. we learned yesterday that dr. salia, who had been flown to nebraska for treatment after developing ebola while working in sieree sierra leone died fr disease. we sent condolences and acknowledge his bravery in helping fight this disease. west africa is balanced on the edge. if our efforts and the efforts of the world health organization are not successful, millions of people in these countries faying a looming humanitarian crisis will continue to suffer. i am grlad that mr. isaacs is here to give the perspective of the international aid community on the west african outbreak. mr. isaacs, your group and other gr

this is a challenge for west africa. each of the facilities caring for patients needs to think of ebola in a country and countries where malaria is endemic and the symptoms aren't easily distinguishable. that's infection control, quarantine. on the detection side laboratory and related services to find infections and find illnesses as soon as they occur. that relates to some of the u.s. funding which would allow us to work with companies and other parts of the u.s. government to optimize testing modalities and surveillanc surveillance. we are tracking what's going on. and training of health care facilities to identify cases so they are found, isolated, cared for and don't cause outbreaks. then response. the core pub p lick health activities of contact tracing, training of health care workers, surveillance, public health education and outreach, rapid response teams and support to ministries of health so we don't need to be there long term. >> what, if any, public health infrastructure was in place in west africa. >> there

, cdc is both here in our country and also in west africa. to also fortify, strengthen domestic capacity to treat ebola with treatment centers available in every state and the appropriate personal protective equipment for caregivers, like our very valued and treasured nurses. we also have money in here to develop new tests for treatment and vaccines, which would be a total of 3.12 billion for hhs. so, state is talking about 2.9 billion. hhs 3.12 billion. 112 for department of defense and right now, homeland security says it's okay but it needs a lot of flexibility. now the reason i talk about my colleagues to focus on not only the money, but on funding in an emergency, i say to my colleagues, we face infectious disease emergencies before. one under president bush in 2006 and the other in 2009 under president obama. we worked on a bipartisan basis to do this. h1n1 flu epidemic. in which nearly 3,000 died. we provided 6.4 billion and designated that as emergency spending. the bipartisan emergency response in 2009 mirrored what we did to help pr

and west africa, our major is not environmental contamination. not have people coming to say that we think they were infected from the virus that seeps into the groundwater. on think we do need to focus the person-to-person interaction. >> next question. feel a little bit of a split personality here. my name is petty, the director for environmental health and safety and providing support to the emory unit. cochair for the iso development of an international standard, which the next g off your the next . few weeks. in addition, i am the global director for a nonprofit who does work in africa -- aand i actually worked with nigeria setting up their response to evil. so -- ebola. so, as a bio management geek, seeing this panel appears phenomenal. it is exciting to see the efforts and the enthusiasm looking at some of the science and technology that is going into it. in my former life, is to do pharmaceutical research. dr. howard, with regard to compound handling -- there is one group that is not at the table, and that is the usda. if we look at our c

. >> he's trying to keep the focus on the front lines in west africa, where the disease continues to spread in at least three countries. >> please join me in turning our attention back to west africa and ensuring that medical

those will be in place in west africa. similarly, our work will be in here. >> i've spoken with the new hampshire public health officials and they have been very appreciative of the close working relation shcship with te thatnd n.i.h., so i hope will continue and i'm sure it will. let me ask, when you talk about thingspitals, one of the that i have heard from hitchcock, which is the designated hospital in new hampshire, to be the state's ebola critical referral hospital, they have indicated troubley're having getting the personal protective equipment, that it is not available. to make is being done sure that that equipment is available to hospitals that need it and therefore personnel? differentre three things that we're doing to make sure that equipment is available. with the is working manufacturers to make sure they are producing as much as they possible can. are nowfacturers working 24/7 and we're working directly with them through the assistant secretary for preparedness and response. the second thing, we actually goi

we want to thank them for their work in west africa. we also want to thank those in our own country, who not called american --sity university of maryland, john hopkins, will be ready to deal with. we have witnesses from our major government agencies to present testimony. for the mosts senior cabinet member to testify first. in my out-of-the-box way of thinking, i want to do with the problem rather than focus on protocol. sometimes in the senate there is a lot of compensation stance. i want to dispel with it. have organized the testimony is to really start internationally to hear from the department of state, and then mr. rockton from the department of defense, and then going to .ur ports of entry we would hear from deborah terry -- deputy secretary of state, usaid, who would tell how we will do this in west africa, and not only in those three countries, but in contiguous countries. we will begin with the assistant secretary of defense, we know that he is the official a bullet coordinator designated by secretary hagel. he is accompanied

sometimes unfortunately still the rustic settings that we have in west africa not what we want them to be but just what we have with the capacity right now. and some of these are really much less treatment centers but just places for someone to go, hopefully get more rehydration solutions, some tylenol and a place to die out of circulaticirculati on cannot infect other people. so when we have this sort of setting and then we contemplate something where we're going to do studies, where we need to draw blood samples every four hours and have a electrolyte and the sorts of things, it's not that they can't because i don't me to say that this can't be set up but i think we need to be realistic about some of the challenges that are ahead of us. this is another photo. this is a treatment center in sierra leone. of course, again not really -- i'm sorry. this one here is sierra leone. this is in guinea. again not really how we would want this to be. we don't like to all these bits together to we would like to have separate rooms but this is the sort this is the swordplay this is the sort of wis

there's both exit screening from west africa. someone comes up to get on a plane in liberia, sierra leone or guinea, they are questioned as to whether or not they feel sick, their temperature is taken and then they are asked if they've come into contact with anyone who has had ebola. when they get on the plane and they get off the plane at one of the five airports which are the only airports that people from that part of the country can come to, they have what's called entry screening, same thing. temperature taken, questioned if they have any symptoms. if there's any question, they get put in a separate facility. watched. let me give you an idea of some of the numbers. is there a large influx of ebola people infected with ebola who are trying to get in the united states? the answer is no. if you look at august and september of 2014, 36,000 people went to the airport in one of those three countries to get out. of those, 77 were denied because of a health reason. of those 77, none had ebola. most had malaria. so, yes, duncan got i

army africa along with ten other soldiers quarantined in italy after returning from west africa. joining us today, former nato supreme allied commander, dean of the fletcher school at tufts university, admiral james stavridas. admiral, first of all, thanks for being here. but turning to the first question, i would like to get your reaction to this white house response to the quarantine issue. >> the department of defense has not issued a policy related to their workers that have spent time in west africa. i know there was this decision made by one commanding officer in the department of defense but it does not reflect a department-wide policy that i understand is still under development. >> why is there no uniform policy, even the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general dempsey, has said 21 days and here we are sending our military into an ebola hot zone. >> lou, i'm for 21 days. i think it's prudent. i think it's conservative. i think it makes a great deal of sense. we ought to implement that quickly. these are soldiers, sailors, folks who are used to long deployments. i

with a trial in west africa. at the same time we have now gone ahead and invested in the advanced development of three other vaccine candidates and additional ways of scaling up and making the therapeutics so that we never put all of our eggs in one basket. we want to do better and we will continue to do that through the investments. we support the support from congress, barta, and bioshield in this regard. >> i'm all out of time and i want to thank the panel today. i'm waiting for our second panel. >> i yield back and recognize the chairman for ten minutes. >> congressman green didn't want to brag, but he has a family member who is active at nebraska. we appreciate his family being on the front lines. i think it is your daughter? isn't it your daughter that works up there? so, we want to welcome our witnesses and from the second panel, dr. leahy from texas. we're glad that you're here. my first question i'm going to acting surgeon general. i believe we should treat this as a health issue and not as any other kin

west africa. >> and big point.

is in west africa. i spent a good part of seven years back and fourthrth. ten of our workers died because of lack of personal protective equipment. they didn't have it. one of my concerns in listening this morning is that we have had a few cases in the united states. at this point every hospital in the united states has bought personal protection equipment that they probably will never need which has made the pipeline to west africa dry up. we are about to send several teams to work on ebola in liberia and we are having trouble finding enough personal protective equipment to get there. i wanted to add that to the discussion because we need to think about where we need this equipment and make sure it gets there. the second thing i was thinking about is all of this information is wonderful research and i wonder how it will translate to places that yv spent time in where we are lucky we can get bleach sometimes. if we can translate how we could safely dispose of waste, equipment, bodies on a much more simp

happening this hour, a new york doctor diagnosed with ebola after treating patients in west africa is getting out of the hospital. health officials say dr. craig spencer is now ebola-free and is no public health risk. he plans to return to his apartment in the manhattan neighborhood of hamilton heights. spencer was diagnosed with the deadly virus last month and has been in isolation at new york's bellevue hospital. cnn's deb fay feyerick is outsi the hospital. good morning, deb. >> reporter: dr. spencer will be making a statement but we're told he's not going to take any questions nor does he intend to do interviews, he just wants to get back to his life as a doctor at a different hospital. but this right here, bellevue, is where he spent the last three weeks in isolation. he did receive a transfusion from another ebola survivor, nancy writebol, an aid worker in liberia. dr. spencer returned from guinea where he had been treating a patient there. he was home for about 11 days before he himself began to experience symptoms. he was widely criticized, randi, as you may remember, because

the crisis continues in west africa. we're so thrilled that dr. spencer is well. that's not a cause for complacenc complacency. it's a time to refocus our efforts and find more brave people like him ready to go and serve. two weeks ago governor cuomo and i announced a new program to encourage health care professionals to help address this challenge at its root in west africa. we're going to support all health care professionals to step forward so we can end the crisis once and for all. second, as i've said many times. help the health care professionals of this city. if you're an everyday new yorker that says is there anything i can do to help? you can help support folks who will going to fight the battle on the front. i'm going tell you about it. one other thing you can on that level. the everyday thing get a flu shot. the simplest thing in the world. because it will help you not get the flu. it's good to begin with. it will help our health care community to not have to spend time looking at symptoms that are just the flu when they're looking for other challenges.

there were more cases in west africa in october than there were in september. though the numbers decreased somewhat in liberia we believe, there are still so many cases that we're not able to do the kind of outbreak control that's needed. there are so many communities that have not yet had cases and that need intensive control measures. in fact, in october west africa had more ebola cases than all other recorded ebola outbreaks over the last 40 years combined. we have a long way to go, but we have proof of principle and tremendous commitment to society. my team was describing how many communities themselves were taking action. they're remote. services haven't gotten there. isolating care with ebola. they track the contacts so they would be rapidly isolated and wouldn't further spread disease. there's a lot of progress. i did want to share with you -- this is actually outdated because it's from yesterday. i have an updated slide from this morning. one additional case has been confirmed. this is just an example of the kind of rapid assessment we're doing for the

credit is true there is no way to bring this to west africa. that is the only choice regardless if you're interested in american health or west african health so that point, thank you for making that. it is very difficult to just find public health sweet spots, without panic and without people going overboard so now you are a hearing on the radio that every hospital in the united states has to have their an ebola treatment units and is not realistic but every hospital does need to be prepared. that is a big struggle we are having. how do we find that right place for preparation in the united states without overspreparation that is not only diverting our energies that diverting resources from where they are most needed in west africa. we also need to be careful we don't get the solutions to be so high tech that we price ourselves out of it, logistically difficult we can implement them where they are first needed and our major problem is not environmental contamination. we don't have people who come and are infected by a virus that seeped into th

this is an overview of the situation in west africa. so let me draw your attention down here to the frequency, this is the incubation period. contact between index case and the onset of disease. you can see a nice curve here. 21 days as i cut off. there are a few cases which appear to occur after that. you'll recall the criteria for calling a country free is 42 days. everybody has always known that this is biological and there are some occasional outliers. is e numbers appear -- this 9.4 days average for incubation.. that is -- incubation period. with a paper by tom. again, this is titers come in this case, of days post onset. nice data there. again a nice curve. followed by john towner's paper. is based on pscl -- a of the data ement -- but again you can see the curve is starting low and going up as the disease progresses. the open bars represent those who survived. you can see there is a strong correlation between viral load and the outcome of disease. the assessment and risk of virus from bodily fluids -- then can explain a little bi

>>> a desperate plea for thousands more health workers to fight ebola in west africa, as it becomes more divisive in the u.s. defence secretary says the syria policy is at risk of unravelling >>> why was a rocket that exploded on takeoff using a soviet engine from the '60. i'm antonio mora, this is "consider this". those stories and more ahead. >> this disease can be contained and defeated. >> is free of the virus. main. >> the governors of new york and new jersey stand by their mandatory quarantine. >> it is commonsense, we are not moving an inch. >> is this about politicians appearing tough at the expense of individuals. >> a private, blunt memo. >> taking exception with the president obama's administration own strategy. >> regarding syria. >> this is a complicated issue. >> big bang reverberating through the catholic church. >> pope francis says evolution reflect. >> the magic religion you say we are part of - that's not what we are. >> oh, god. >> n.a.s.a. officials are trying to figure out what caused an explode. >> we begin with president obama firing back against states requiring

what are the main priorities on the ground in west africa? and what resources are needed to accomplish those efforts? >> so if i may just add something to what you said, we're been there for 11 years. the disease broke out in march. so we have a large footprint. we have 350 staff, about 20 ex-patriots, we have a lot of capacity in the country. and when the drz broke out, we 100% focused on fights it. what we are seeing today that we think that other resources are needed for, this is very practical, but you know what, logistics are everything. there's a lot of discoordination and confusion right now between the u.n. players, unhos and the dod about gaining access to air lift. there are no protocols in place about moving blood samples. so if cdc goes to an area and there's 12 people that test positive. they call us in. we're not able to take the blood samples out. we have to move them out by land. a rapid diagnostic test is one of the greatest things needed there. and i think frankly that if the u.s. military was running the coordination cell,

. >>> new developments in the ebola crisis, a doctor infected while treating patients in west africa died in a nebraska hospital. he passed around two days after being hospitalized. >> the ebola virus claimed another life: dr. martin salia flown to nebraska hospital from sierra leone next extremely critical position and was possibly sicker than the other ebola patients successfully treated there. >> we are gearing up. the 44-year-old resident spent much time in sierra leone with he was chief medical officer at a christian hospital and talked about the motivation of treating ebola virus patients in april. >> i took this not because i want to but i believe it was a call. >> he was infected last week. his wife, an american citizen who lives in maryland, agree to reimburse the u.s. government for the medical evacuation his son holding out hope until the end. >> you he is a very strong guy emotionally and physically. he is strong. i have in doubt he will come out. >> despite progress fighting ebola in liberia more cases are reported in sierra leone and there are growing concerns of the sp

africa so you don't have cases exploited out of west africa. mr. duncan came here and we did , and toize he had ebola help protect our health care workers with the proper equipment. trials are being planned for the affected countries. in an ideal setting, a placebo-controlled child would be conduct it. is that applicable when some promising therapies have already been used? absolutely. it would be unethical not to do a controlled trial. when you are dealing with a vaccine you can be giving the vaccine that you have no idea if it works and no idea if it has harmful effects, you are going to be giving it to normal people. essential youly do a trial in a manner that you get the definitive information as to whether it works or if it is harmful. the only way you can do that is with a controlled trial. this is such a serious disease vaccinesjust give out or unproven drugs. that is absolutely not the case. how concerned are you that so many ebola therapies are being used without clear evidence that those therapies are safe or effective? is the reason

there's both exit screening from west africa. someone comes up to get on a plane in liberia, sierra leone or beginny, they are questioned as to whether or not they feel sick, their temperature is taken and then they are asked if they've come into contact with anyone who has had ebola. when they get on the plane and they get off the plane at one of the five airports which are the only airports that people from that part of the country can come to, they have what's called entry screening, same thing. temperature taken, questioned if they have any symptoms. if there's any question, they get put in a separate facility. watched. let me give you an idea of some of the numbers. is there a large influx of ebola people infected with ebola who are trying to get in the united states? the answer is no. if you look at august and september of 2014, 36,000 people went to the airport in one of those three countries to get out. of those, 77 were denied because of a health reason. of those 77, none had ebola. most had malaria. so, yes, duncan got

of west africa. those volunteering to fight the epidemic. >> our soldiers are well prepared to do this. >> its soldiers specifically deployed for their ability to speak the language. >> we know they won't be directly providing care too folks who have contracted ebola, but we expect them to have some language support for that mission. >> the soldiers will enter a different kind of battle. many signed up for active combat, but it's humanitarian work. washington served in the marines. for him, whether terrorist in the middle east or ebola in west africa, it's about serving your country. >> it didn't matter whether our function was to be previsional company or to do humanitarian work. >> the danger doing humanitarian work in west africa is just as real, and no one knows that better than a veteran. >> it's your duty to go to where they send you and that's where you have to go. >> and go they will this spring and their leadership has the confidence in the world in the six soldiers selected. >> if they can

the doctor who caught ebola in west africa was released from a new york hospital today. dr. craig spencer is ebola-free, and so, now, is the united states. he was the last patient. spencer had a message for the nation today, and here's dr. jon lapook. ( applause ) >> reporter: dr. craig spencer walked out of bellevue hospital this morning and into a media frenzy. after thanking the staff who took care of him, he made this plea. >> please joining me in turning our attention back to west africa and ensuring that medical volunteers other and aid workers do not face stigma and threats upon their return home. >> reporter: spencer has been a case study in the public's reaction to ebola. his travel on the subway and trip to a bowling al headline lead new york and new jersey to establish a quarantine policy for health care workers returning from west africa. 16 states now have some form of a quarantine. guile traveled to guinea with doctors without borders. now back in the u.s., she just finished a 21-day quarantine. >> my family had planned a trip to cape cod, and my family member,

. >>> a stanford doctor who went to west africa to fight eat bow law virus left his home for the first time in three weeks. state guidelines require the isolation. after getting errands done he checked out the ebola simulation lab. >> tracking patients is being made easier with an app. two brothers created it and a bay area technology journalist helped broker a deal to get smartphones into the hands of aid workers in west africa. >> i landed here on a thursday. on friday we said we want to help. >> app developers just moved from south africa to palo alto to do business. but what they have been doing isn't making them any money. jay the biggest issue -- gite biggest issue is getting information faster jie. they created the ebola care app. >> i added people they came in contact with. >> it allows health care workers to share patient information immediately. but you can't use an app without a smartphone. >> we were limited by the number of phone wheeze could donate. we donated around 30 phones. >> enter this tech journalist. he met with the brothers the same day amazon announced it was lo

weekt to west africa for a to oversee the elements of response. i visited all the countries where it is endemic, as well as an neighbor countries encasing a case. when i came back, that was the week when there was a lot of media coverage. there was an understandable palpable fear and communities where my kids go to school in washington, d.c. parents wanted to know if i was go to soccer games. people now see that a science-based guidelines that the president has put forward, in terms of if you are at all at risky, you will get actively monitored. i was actively monitored by a wonderful local d.c. public health official who called me twice a day to get my temperature. i did not have a temperature for 21 days. i followed the protocol. i did not need to be quarantined. you have to follow the protocol. the protocols are science driven. they are intended to keep a sacred day are intended to make sure that if you get a fever after you've been to west africa, we know you are. we have contact with you. a public health official can trace you and your contac

to keep us tended safe,, and if you get a fever after you have been in west africa, we know who you are and we have contact with you. so, these particles are very important to maintain a science evidence-based protocol they safe at home, be calm and collected. and can encourage health workers to continue to go to africa and come back safely and security at no risk for themselves or the community. moving s talk about forward, this outbreak -- this is the first time it has happened in this region. have you learned from dealing outbreak which you take to deal with al outbreaks? >> i believe those important be learned from the community, global health security is national security. at a time when there is a flight all over the world, and keeps is all strong ed, we need a international public system they can protect communities all over the planet. that is why before the ebola a tbreak president sent global health security saying that this is an issue when to concentrate on. at the white eting house saying, what have we learned from ebola and how can we reshape the international system. a da

this is an overview of the situation in west africa. so let me draw your attention to the frequency this is the integration period between the index case and the onset of the disease. you can see the nice curve here. 21 days is the cut off. there are a few cases that occur after that and you will recall that who criteria for calling the country free is 42 days and that is exactly the reason and we've always known that this is biological and there are some occasional outliers. and the numbers appear this is 9.4 days average. we have the shedding of the viral load with me start with the paper from the outbreak in 1995. so this goes up very quickly and again, this is on the days on the onset of the number of samples at the adage and then the curve that is in the paper. this is based on the refinement of the date the data the data "-begin-double-quotes he that it's starting low and going up as the disease progresses. and importantly, here, the dark bars represent a fatal outcome in the open bars are those that survived. and you can see that

as you go to these hospitals in west africa? package get the information? >> this is a great question. i'm a writer and i love talking about writing. i'm supposed to be an area expert in ebola, but i'm an expert in writing. i've been teaching classes here at deal. it's been a lot of fun. and this particular instance, this is nonfiction writing. this is what we call a narrative nonfiction. i typically spend huge amounts of time with my subjects. i get to know them as individuals. very often people that i've written about over the years become lifelong friends. as one of those things that happens. when you spend a lot of time so somebody, taking a lot of notes, you end up learning a whole lot more about the human being the human being that never ends up in print. all the skeletons in the classic come out. you find all about whatever medical problems they have. typically i never write about a person's medical issues must as part of the story itself. i get the kids have their voice in my head until i can here them immensely. i hear my subjects talk to me. and a

we need to go back to the laboratory in west africa and see why there was a negative. >> it was also tweeted that this experimental drug -- but anything more have been done to save him? >> we have been hearing in the u.s. there was no more, and then suddenly we heard on saturday evening that dr. salia was being treated with that and received convalescent plasma, which is the best we can do at the moment. using those drugs so late in the stages of this disease, it was still a lot. >> many doctors and nurses are reluctant to go to west africa to help in the fight against ebola. you have been training health workers in tennessee. what do you tell them about the risks involved? >> it is very difficult to get ebola. it has to get in the eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound. with the protection and intense training we give nurses and doctors here in the u.s. and overseas, we know we can create a safe working environment. we have many people who want to go to west africa at the moment, but can i get the money for the flights. that is a challenge for us. >> we are seeing a new outbreak in mal

in this case i did not go to west africa. i did all of my reporting at mit and also at an nih laboratory in maryland, and i never went to africa. i will be going to africa for the course of the research on this book. and i never met humar khan, and i never saw the kenema hospital. but what i did do was i got to know members of his family. he has siblings, brothers and sisters, who live in the united states. and it's an extraordinary family. and i got a real kind of feel for this guy just by talking to the people who loved him. so that's how i did this particular piece of research. i don't know if that's an answer orbit. and i love to talk about writing -- or not. and i love to talk about writing. >> okay, thank you. >> yeah. >> i was woppedderring if you could comment on -- wondering if you could comment on the ability of the world to be prepared for this outbreak and whether you think, think that its failure was primarily maybe a scientific one to underestimating the virus or maybe an anthropological one to underestimating t

. >>> a stanford doctor who went to west africa to fight eat bow law virus left his home for the first time in three weeks. state guidelines require the isolation. after getting errands done he checked out the ebola simulation lab. >> tracking patients is being made easier with an app. two brothers created it and a bay area technology journalist helped broker a deal to get smartphones into the hands of aid workers in west africa. >> i landed here on a thursday. on friday we said we want to help. >> app developers just moved from south africa to palo alto to do business. but what they have been doing isn't making them any money. jay the biggest issue -- gite biggesissue is getting information faster jie. they created the ebola care app. >> i added people they came in contact with. >> it allows health care workers to share patient information immediately. but you can't use an app without a smartphone. >> we were limited by the number of phone wheeze could donate. we donated around 30 phones. >> enter this tech journalist. he met with the brothers the same day amazon announced it was losi

to satellite terminal affected areas and west africa. the programs comes on the heels of a 25 million dollar donation last month by ceo mark zuckerberg and his wife to the centers for disease control. u.s. airlines will carry 24.6 million passengers are in the thanksgiving holiday season. airlines for america forecast 1.5% more than last year because an improved economy. be novemberday will 30, the sunday after thanksgiving. that is a look at the top stories we're following. the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives just wrapped up his first news conference since republicans one full control of congress. he outlined where he is willing to work with the white house and where he is not. >> a news conference with john boehner not offering much of an olive branch toward president obama and his comments. even less so from mitch mcconnell yesterday. what we heard from john boehner is a lot of this is in the president's court. he has to play ball with congress, specifically on the issue of immigration. he given a pretty stern warning not

he has a message to keep the focus on west africa. tomorrow, a tiny craft will try to land on a comet hurtling through space at 34,000 miles an hour. welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. it sounds almost implausible but after 200,000 deaths and four years of brutal civil war, the human mediator for syria is expressing hope that the violence can now be stopped. in an exclusive interview, he tells the bbc the syrian government may now be opened a freezing fighting with some rebel groups because of the common threat of islamic state. >> four years into a punishing war, the cost is clear. devastation, millions forced to flee. shot on his first visit here. having a peace plan would be ambitious and revolutionary but we do have an action plan. an action plan from the ground. stop the fighting, reduce the violence. that is why we are talking about a freeze, not a cease-fire. cease-fire can be broken by one fire and a freeze is de-escalating the violence and , giving some type of hope to the people. is

what are the main priorities on the ground in west africa? and what resources are needed to accomplish those efforts? >> so if i may just add something to what you said, we're been there for 11 years. the disease broke out in march. so we have a large footprint. we have 350 staff, about 20 ex-patriots, we have a lot of capacity in the country. and when the drz broke out, we 100% focused on fights it. what we are seeing today that we think that other resources are needed for, this is very practical, but you know what, logistics are everything. there's a lot of discoordination and confusion right now between the u.n. players, unhos and the dod about gaining access to air lift. there are no protocols in place about moving blood samples. so if cdc goes to an area and there's 12 people that test positive. they call us in. we're not able to take the blood samples out. we have to move them out by land. a rapid diagnostic test is one of the greatest things needed there. and i think frankly that if the u.s. military was running the coordination cell,

. >>> personnel from japan's air self-defense force will transfer protective gear to west africa to help combat the ebola outbreak. >>> and cinema fans in china are hailing the late japanese actor ken takakura for inspiring them through some difficult times of their own. >>> japan's coast guard officials say a crackdown on suspected chinese coral poachers appears to be working. for two months, they've been monitoring and warning crews off islands south of tokyo. now they say the boats have all gone. nhk world's keiko yamamoto reports. >> reporter: coast guard officials stepped up night time patrols over the ogasawara islands, 1,000 kilometers south of tokyo. they were keeping track of chinese crews taking advantage of the darkness to enter japanese waters. the officials first noticed the boats in the middle of september. then they saw a dramatic increase late last month of more than 200. >> translator: poachers clear out the coral completely leaving nothing behind. i don't know when we'll be able to harvest coral like we used to. >> reporter: the chinese crews are believed to be targetin

right now they have about 2,200 service members in west africa. this afternoon 80 of them came back to west virginia. and they arrived at noon, immediately started a week-week isolation at joint-base ulysses. none are showing symptoms of ebola as they would be able to walk with or talk to their loved ones on the phone and the computer during the quarantine. >> they plan to conduct trials of ebola treatments next month and no vaccine for ebola. it's killed 5,000 people in west africa. >>> the senator mitch mcconnell will have a new title. he's the senate majority leader. right now he's still the minority leader, but that would all change last week when they would need to take control of the senate. and asthma jr.ty leader, they will need to set for coming next january. >>> and mcconnell will work with house leader to secure their third term in that role today. once confirmed in j boehner will preside over the largest majority since world war ii. and there could be trouble ahead as they would believe that they came to rest in the shadow of the eclip