Else from the hospital. That now has certainly changed a number of the medical personnel who worked on Thomas Duncan are being observed to see if they possibly come down with anything. Its very possible this could have spread to others if this was some sort of a mistake in the protocol that well use or in the protecti ivive gear that used. They have not been able to determine how she contracted the virus at this point. You can imagine its concerning to those nurses there at the hospital. Thank you so much. Were going to continue this discussion after the cdc press conference. And let me bring in an Infectious Disease and Public Health specialist. As we heard anderson talk about, there has been a blood transfusion given to fam from kent brantly. We know he was infected with ebola and has recovered. How can this help her treatment . When someone gets an infection, your body immune system secretes antibodies that essentially bind the virus particle, thereby neutralizing it and also recruiting other immune cells to come help fight infection. So the idea is that brantleys blood has the right antibodies to fight off the ebola virus infection. And so by essentially giving her his antibodies, she might be able to recover, as well. And its important to note here because i think a lot of people are asking, well, why didnt duncan get the same blood transfusion . I guess their blood types werent a match. So fam is really fortunate in that she was a match. Shes very lucky because not everybody is going to be a blood type match. However, i do agree that it doesnt look very good esthetically so to speak that duncan did not receive a blood transfusion while all of the americans who were able to access it did so. How critical do you think i mean, i know that as weve talked about, theres no cure for ebola. But how much does Something Like this, like a blood transfusion. How much of a difference can that make . Well, it could make a tremendous difference. One of the reasons that ebola is so deadly is that the vast majority of people are not able to secrete, produce the right antibodies to fight off the infection. And so if you have somebody who luckily did and youre able to assist others be giving them that persons antibodies, it could make a big difference. I want you to walk us through, the gear. The protective gear that these doctors are supposed to wear. Hopefully we can show the video. Sanjay gupta right here actually putting on the gear. And you can see, theres a lot of room for error here. It doesnt completely cover his entire body as we work toward that video. Whats your take on this . Well, i think in general, should this be protective enough . Well, we thought so up until now. One of the key issues is when you take off this equipment that theres the potential that you take the gloves off incredibly so you actually get bodily fluids on your hands as youre taking them off. You could have had some bodily fluids that get on to the mask. And the mask is the last thing thats removed. So you could be contaminating your fingers after you take off the mask and maybe touching your face. So theres a lot of room for error. Some have suggested using hazmat suits and there are problems with that, as well. One of the advantages of that approach is you might be able to decontaminate somebody with bleach, for example, before they remove the hazmat suit, which this you cannot do. If you did it with this, youd be at high risk for splashing them on whatever skin is still exposed. I would think, and correct me if im wrong, youre the expert, the hazmat suit would be a better option and provide more protection, right . I mean, we saw his neck and hair was exposed there and, in fact, he got chocolate syrup on there which was supposed to mimic. Right. Right. Well, part of the issue here is that not every hospital has hazmat suits. And as were moving towards possibly centralizing care for ebola patients, which is one thing being talked about now, we have only four biocontainment units in the country. However, one of the suggestions has been perhaps we need a Specialized Treatment Center in each state, for example. And those could potentially be geared up with hazmat suits. Theres a lot of training thats involved in the appropriate use of a hazmat suit. And we wouldnt want to make things even more complicated for the average Health Care Worker in terms of possible contamination and removing something. Because it all comes down and seems to me, the way you remove the gear, the protective gear, we know nina fam has contracted the virus. Apparently, she was following all the protocol. What is your assessment of what might have happened as we try to figure this out . Well, i think the two key parts of the removal so to speak that are very high risk are the gloves. So you have two sets of gloves youre wearing. And theres the way that sanjay showed on the screen where he pulls off the gown and then turns the gloves inside out as hes pulling off the gown. Thats one approach the cdc recommends. Theres another one we call beaking so to speak where you pull and form sort of a beak out of the glove thats covering the palm of your hand and pull it off inside out over the hand. Thats not something thats Standard Practice among Health Care Workers. This is something thats very specific to care of ebola patients. So it requires very specialized training. Something that i think a lot of people want addressed is whether hospitals really are adequately prepared to handle ebola patients. And in the wake of what happened with Thomas Duncan and then nina fam. What do you hope to hear from this press conference . Well, im hoping to hear, one, that we have a plan for more specialized regionalized Treatment Facilities in the country. I think that practice makes perfect. And that if you have people who are really charged with caring for these kinds of patients who have intense training, i think will have better outcomes. Both for the patient as well as for the health care providers. I think one of the problems that were facing in a lot of hospitals is you have some people very concerned. Why do i really need to Pay Attention to any of this . So if you really charge certain people certain facilities with having to care for these patients, they know that theres a high likelihood they will be responsible. Like at emery in atlanta and elsewhere. Because, i think thats been something thats been brought up and dr. Frieden sort of talked about yesterday saying that, you know, they are exploring the option of transferring ebola patients to facilities that specialize in this. And i think what some people might not understand or, you know, take into account is that the cdc cant force these hospitals to follow the procedures to take certain steps. They can only provide the guidelines. Is that right . Its really up to the states, is that correct . Yeah. So the cdc does not have Regulatory Authority over the hospitals to follow their guidelines. Theyre providing information. It really comes down to the hospitals to take responsibility for training their staff. So, you know, there is a loophole there you could say in terms of things happening as they should. All right. And as we await this press conference with dr. Frieden from the cdc, were going to take a quick break. But stay with us. More to come. Body. It hugs you. [jeffery] i dont have to think about how to get comfortable anymore. [evie] this zips off so i can wash ityes, please. [robert]dude,tempurpedic is killing it. [kevin] no more tossin and turnin, trying to find a comfortable spot in bed. [christi] its really cool to the touch. [chelsea] my tempurpedic. Cuddles better than my husband does. But,thats just between you and me. [announcer] visit your local retailer and feel the tempurpedic difference for yourself. Dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future. You. Thank you for being my hero and my dad. Military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa Auto Insurance could be one of them. If youre a current or former military member or their family, get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. Were just getting word that isis militants have surrounded another iraqi air base. One of the largest in anbar province. And were also hearing Iraqi Security forces are fleeing for the second day in a row there. Isis fighters are moving deeper on the syrian turkish border. New pictures here right after the u. S. Carried out the biggest number of air strikes since the war on isis began. All this as president obama hunkers down in a secure facility along with top defense chiefs from 22 different nations. Were going to be following this story, more on that in a minute. First, lets go to the cdc press conference talking about ebola. Take a listen. Were helping with all aspects of the response. In dallas, what weve done over the past 48 hours to improve Infection Control there is send a team into the field. And weve sent cdcs most experienced staff, people who have worked on ebola outbreaks for decades. People who have stopped e bola outbreaks in very difficult situations in africa. People who are experts, leading the world in everything in laboratory science, Infection Control, hospital administration. And were working hand in glove, side by side with the folks at the hospital and with the teams from the Health Departments in texas as well as the county leadership and the state. Some of the things that the teams are doing to improve safety are looking at every step in the procedures. And those experts are making immediate enhancements in whats being doing. Ill mention the three in particular, although three of just a large series. The first and most important is ensuring that every hour of the day, there is a sight manager there who is overseeing aspects of Infection Control. That individual makes sure that the personal protective equipment is put on correctly and taken off correctly. In fact, in our work, stopping ebola in africa, this is a single most important position to protect health workers. A single sight manager who is expert and oversees every aspect of the process. Second, were enhancing training. Ongoing, refresher, repeat training, including by two nurses from emery who have cared for ebola patients and assisting and training nurses and other staff at the hospital in dallas. And third, were recommending that the number of staff who go in for care be limited. Providing care that they can become more familiar and more systematic in how they put on and take off protective equipment and they can become more comfortable in a healthy way with providing care in the isolation unit. Those three general steps are very important. And were also doing many other things, looking at everything from the type of personal protective equipment used to the procedure for putting it on and the procedure for taking it off. Ive been hearing loud and clear from Health Care Workers from around the country that theyre worried. That they dont feel prepared to take care of a patient wit with ebola. That theyre very distressed that one of our colleagues has contracted ebola and is fighting the infection in dallas. A single infection in a Health Care Worker is unacceptable. And what were doing at this point is looking at everything we can do to minimize that risk so those caring for her do that safely and effectively. There are certain additional things that we will be doing going forward. One thing we want to make sure is that whatever is done with where care is provided, every hospital in the country needs to be ready to diagnose ebola. That means that every doctor, every nurse, every staff person in an Emergency Department who cares for someone with fever or other signs of infection needs to ask where have you been in the past month . Where have you been in the past 21 days . Have you been to liberia, sierra leone or guinea . Thats important. That will reduce the risk that someone will come into a hospital and not be diagnosed. The fact is that usually infections and Health Care Settings spread from someone who has not yet diagnosed. We have to shore up the diagnosis of those who have symptoms and have traveled. The second thing well be doing starting today is establishing a cdc, Ebola Response team for any hospital anywhere in the country that has a confirmed case of ebola, we will put a team on the ground within hours with some of the worlds leading experts in how to take care of and protect Health Care Workers from ebola infection. That will include experts in Infection Control, in laboratory science, in personal protective equipment. In management of ebola units. Experts who will assist with experimental therapies, Public Education and environmental controls. We have at cdc, some of the absolute best experts in the world. Theyve devoted their lives to stopping ebola. Many of them like myself are trained in infection diseases and Public Health. Others are specialists in outreach, everything from Contact Tracing to ep deemology. They will look at everything from the physical layout of care to the personal protective equipment used. They will bring supplies of personal protective equipment. They will assist with transport of patients should that become necessary. They will assist with Waste Management and decontamination. In addition, for training of Health Care Workers throughout the country, we will be ramping up webinars, conference calls, outreach, support through hospitals, hospital associations, professional associations, state and local Health Departments and more. Id like to now turn to the situation in dallas in terms of Infection Control. And im sorry, in terms of contacts. And outline where we are. First, our understanding is that the nurse remains in stable condition, and were thinking of her i am thinking of her constantly and hoping for her steady recovery. For the first patient, the index patient as we call him, there were 48 contacts. Those contacts have now passed more than 2 3 of their risk period. Theyve all passed more than 14 days. And while it wouldnt be impossible that some of them would develop the disease, theyve not passed through the highest risk period. And its decreasingly likely that any of them will develop ebola. Second, for the nurse who is now hospitalized, there was one and only one contact. That is a representation of what happens when you do active monitoring, when you do Contact Tracing, and when you encourage people to come in for care promptly. For the first patient that had ebola in the u. S. , 48 potential contacts and in the second, one potential contact. And that individual had contact before the nurse was severely ill. The nurse is not severely ill now. And generally, people are not highly infectious at that point. So we will hope he does not develop infection. Third, since the nurse did develop infection, we cant rule out that other people who cared for the individual the first patient, the index case had exposure. Our teams have been working very hard to cast a wide net and identify everyone who might have been exposed. In that circumstance. That includes anyone who went into the room and that includes people who might have handled specimens of blood that were taken from him. The team has identified 76 individuals who might have had exposure all will be monitored for fever or symptoms on a daily basis actively. I know its in the media, and there have been several evaluated. Dr. Lakey will outline the results of those evaluations. I will share with you, it is very anxiety provoking to have been had a potential exposure to ebola. When i got back to west africa, id gone into treatment units. And every time i had the slightest sore throat or headache, i was concerned. And thats what we want Health Care Workers to do. Be concerned about their health if they are in this group of 76 individuals and if so, come in for care rapidly so they can be assessed. Potentially get sicker and potentially exposes others. So thats the system as it should work. We want people to come in if they have any symptoms. Given there was one patient, the the second patient, the nurse did get infected, its possible we will see other people become ill, we hope that wont be the case. And i dont want anyone to take out of this there were 76 exposed people. Theres 76 people who had some level of contact and therefore are being actively monitored. So ill stop there and turn it over to dr. Lakey for details of those individuals and anything else youd like to say. David . Good afternoon, everyone. Its been 14 days since our first case of ebola was diagnosed in the United States. And weve had a very busy time here since the passing of mr. Duncan, we have unfortunately, had one additional case. And we know thats one too many, and we knew thats a possibility. And if shes listening, again, were thinking about you and doing everything we can to make sure you get the treatment that you need. We have a force here on the ground in texas to make sure this is contained. And we have state leadership here on the ground in dallas teams from the cdc, the hospital and local partners all working together to confront this. Our top priority is their safety and the health of everyone in texas. I had the opportunity yesterday to go to the hospital and talk in detail with the team there on the ground at presbyterian hospital. That team consists of the cdc, individuals from the state, state epidemiologists from the local health department. Were fortunate to have two nurses from emery right here on the ground. And working in concert with the hospital. They have the best International Experts on the ground at the presbyterian. The group of people originally identified as contacts, the 48 individuals have passed the critical period the good news is that they continue to do well. The one close contact of the Health Care Worker diagnosed this weekend is also doing well. That person is being actively monitored. We are also caring for and monitoring the Health Care Workers dog. That is going well. We are actively monitoring a group of Health Care Workers as dr. Frieden noted who were previously monitored. Theyre all doing well. But if symptoms are detected, those individuals will be isolated and very likely will be tested for ebola. Now, we really do want to err on the side of caution. When people im going to ensure no individual cases of ebola have been detected. And detect a case as quickly as possible. And we will quickly announce any positive results. And were committed to giving you that information. We have a large number of individuals now under active surveillance. But that seems to be going well due to the partnership between the federal government, State Government and local government working with the hospital. Its our singular focus with experts across the state and country with that, dr. Frieden, id like to hand it back over to you. Thank you, and well now take questions starting within the room. How many of the 76 were Health Care Workers . All the people exposed to the second patient were Health Care Workers, except for the ones close contact. Im sorry, i said that wrong. The 76 were all exposed to the let me say it again so we get it all right. There are a lot of numbers and lets get it straight. First off, the index patient had exposures or potential exposures to 48 people. Second, once he was hospitalized, there were at least 76 people who might have come into contact with him or his blood and who are being monitored now. We may identify a few more people and identify other information, but thats the number who may have participated in some way in the care of the index patient. Theres one individual who is exposed to the second patient before she was isolated. Janice mcdonald, we understand each hospital has to be able to diagnose an ebola patient. Why not then transfer them to one of the highlevel Containment Centers . Were looking at all of the options, looking at the possibility of transferring patients when necessary. Thas thats one of the things the Response Team would consider. Doug stoter with nbc news. Its our understanding that the nurse infected received heifer certification for Critical Care nursing about two months ago. Are you comfortable with that level of experience treating ebola patients. I think what we what we are dealing with is a disease thats unfamiliar in the u. S. Its hard. Ive thought often about it. I wish we had put a team like this on the ground. The first patient was diagnosed. That might have prevented this infection. But we will do that from today onward with any case anywhere in the u. S. On the phone . I think on the phone lines if youd like ask a question, press star one and record your name clearly. To remove yourself from the queue, you may press star 2. And one moment, please. Our first question comes from meg terrell with cnbc. You may ask your question. Hi, guys, im just wondering are you concerned about Health Care Workers . You know, feeling safe and well prepared on the job concerned at all that folks will be afraid to come to work . We are concerned that if Health Care Workers are afraid to come to work or patients are afraid to go to hospitals or Health Care Settings, we can see wider health care impacts. Thats why its so important that we focus on what will work here. We know how to stop ebola. We know that care has been provided and hospitals throughout africa without infections. We know its hard. And we know that a single breach can cause an infection. We know the single slip can cause an infection. Thats why were looking at every aspect of the procedures so we can make them safer and were empowering her with information. When youre concerned about something, you worried about it, i find its always helpful so you can understand it more fully. When we understand that ebola doesnt spread from someone whop doesnt have symptoms, that helps us understand where the risk is. Health care workers get the fact that gives them the tools to protect themselves. And for the Health Care Workers caring for the nurse in dallas concrete information on what they can do keep their risk to the absolute minimum can address that fear and keep us able to respond to the needs of the community. Next question on the phone. Thank you, next question comes from cnn medical news. You may ask your question. Hi, one clarification and a question. Did you say the 48 of the 48 people in contact with the patient because theyre past the 2 3 mark, past 14 days that theyre unlikely to get ebola . Yes, 2 3 of the incubation period is far more than 2 3 of the risk. Most cases happen within the 8 to 10 day window. Doesnt rule out cases, but it would be unusual. Your kwi. Question . Next question comes from jackie with newsweek, you may ask your question. I had, id like to find out what if anything the cdc has learned from the response in west africa by organizations like Doctors Without Borders . In fact, we have undergone and participated in and replicated their Training Course here. Weve worked side by side with them in africa. We have a very Close Partnership and relationship with them. One of the challenges is that health care. Things down routinely in africa in ebola wards arent necessarily transferable to the environment in the u. S. We think they do a terrific job and work closely with them. Next question on the phone. Thank you, everyone. Appreciate it. I wanted to find out, have you been able to identify the breach in protocol that led to the nurse. Exactly how were you going about figuring that out . We have not identified a specific interaction that resulted in the exposure and infection of the nurse. The way we do that is to review in great detail everything that occurred. Shes been terrific at assisting our investigators and going through the steps so we can all Learn Together how to keep Health Care Workers safer against the virus. Its something that we dont always come to a conclusion, but we always identify things that we can do to improve the process and improve the safety of Health Care Workers there. Dr. Leahy, anything youd like to add to this . I dont think so, dr. Frieden. Again, the patient has been working with the team, looking at the procedure. Theres no specific error that has been identified. I think they were looking closely at the protocols and how we can maximize the ability to contain the virus. Theres been no identify ed item at this time. Thank you. Thank you. Next question on the phone. The next question comes from alice park with time, you may ask your question. You mentioned that let me bring in now, an Infectious Disease and Public Health specialist and senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Great to have you both with us here. We heard from dr. Frieden there from the cdc, and he made additional points about what the cdc is doing now in light of what happened with Thomas Duncan, the ebola patient who died and now nina fam, this nurse who has contracted the virus after caring for duncan. I want to go to Elizabeth Cohen first to talk about this. Dr. Frieden broke down some numbers for us, elizabeth. And something that stuck out to me, he said 76 people were in contact in some way or fashion with duncan or his blood once he was hospitalized. First of all, that seems like a lot of people, and secondly, he said that some of them have come in and some of the Health Care Workers have come in because theyre concerned about their health. I can imagine they are frightened. What are you hearing there on the grown . Right, pam. What he said is that 76 people at the hospital, hospital workers may have had some level of contact with her. I know that sounds like a lot. But when you think about it, think about how many people are involved. Its not just the doctors, its not just the nurses. Its techs, its janitors because theyre handling your waste, your gowns, your sheets. Its a lot of people. And they were casting a wide net. Ill tell you, this nurse becoming infected is a huge black eye on the Public Health system of this country. This is the kind of thing that happened in africa. Not the kind of thing that happened in the United States. Were supposed to be able to protect our Health Care Workers and we didnt. And so they are going to be extremely careful. And what i heard dr. Frieden saying in effect was, look, when we first got to dallas, we thought about protecting people outside this hospital. We let the hospital kind of take care of their own workers. But no more. We are going into that hospital as cdc workers, and we are going to help them protect their own employees. Yeah, makes you wonder if, perhaps, we were overly confident about how capable hospitals are in dealing we bow with ebola patients. Yeah, they have been saying exactly that. Too much confidence that just any hospital could handle, number one, an ebola patient and number two, the Health Care Workers assigned to take care of them. Folks at the cdc said to me months ago. Look, we put out guidelines, we held webinars, they should know what to do. One of the things were learning in africa and the u. S. Is having things on paper, having webinars is not the same thing as actually doing something. They are completely different things. And i want to turn now to dr. Gounder. You said there was one person in contact with the nurse. That is perplexing because we hear these numbers thrown out that, you know, she was one of the 76 who was dealing with duncan. So what about her colleagues . How is it just one person in contact with her . It is very surprising. Even if she led the life of a hermit back at home, she has a lot of coworkers she has at the hospital. Nurses, dietitians, janitors, so on. Im a little surprised theyre claiming theres only been one contact to date. Do you think well ever find out how nina fam contracted this virus . That is the big question mark that was not addressed in this press conference that we heard before. We may never find out how she herself was infected. All we can do is go through the protocols systematically and figure out how can we strengthen our systems to prevent this kind of thing from happening. But, unfortunately, its not as if we had a video of her taking care of the patient where we can then do a play by play and see where the contamination occurred. All right. I want to bring in now dr. Robert murphy, director for the center for Global Health at northwest university. You have said the way texas is handling all this is the way it should not be done. If you would explain that. Well, basically from the beginning, they made mistakes every step of the way. People first, they had a patient come in. Obviously similymptommatic, coue ebola, written down and nobody looks at them. The patient is sent home with inappropriate medication and comes back three days later so sick hes in an ambulance. Hes home exposing his family and people in his house. He comes back exposing people in the ambulance, although they had some protection on. And finally gets diagnosed in the hospital. So that was step one. Then, once he got to the icu, he was i had thought until just the other day that everything was going really well. Its a very good hospital. They know how to run an icu, and he most likely got very good care in the icu. But meanwhile, his family and friends where he was staying have a court order against them. Theyre not allowed to leave, the place is not decontaminated and theyre sitting there in this contaminated apartment for four days. That was another mistake. Thats not the hospitals problem, but its a system problem. Okay . And now, what we have is the nurse gets infected, and i agree with the other guest here that we may never know really how she was infected. It could end up being a mystery. And thats, of course, so troubling for those Health Care Workers that are right now at the hospital in dallas caring for fam who contracted the virus not knowing how she did is obviously very concerning. And what i think sometimes we lose sight of here, dr. Murphy, is that cdc is only responsible for making recommendations when it comes to safety guidelines, not enforcing what these hospitals do. Why isnt there a Central Authority here. A centralized authority dealing with this . Who is really in charge here when it comes to ebola in the u. S. . Well, in the United States as well as in africa and all around, who is in charge in a crisis like this . The cdc as you just said. I mean, what they are responsible for is providing guidelines, they can do laboratory backup, they can they can bring support teams in, which theyre going to start as of today, i guess. From what i just heard. Thats what they can do. The Public Health is really up to the state. The hospital also takes its own responsibility and is governed by state rules as well as federal rules. The cdc actually doesnt have the authority to just march into a hospital and do something. They have to be asked to come in. I doubt anybodys going to refuse them. But thats just the way our system is set up here. And, you know, in a crisis like this, maybe theres something wrong. It gets even worse in africa. You have the europeans now arguing about who is going to pay for flying an infected volunteer Health Care Worker back to europe. They cant get their act together. You know, they ended up contracting an American Company to fly the person back to europe to get treatment. So its really everywhere. Probably the only place where the organization is starting to come into play is the military response we have in liberia. And what i heard today from dr. Frieden, i was really very encouraged. Its too bad it didnt start 14 days ago, but it has started. And it looks like if this is the approach thats going to be taken, i really dont think we have too much more to worry about. Hes talking about implementing a buddy system where doctors can watch each other. Doctors dealing with ebola patients and training, and sending a team of experts to hospitals where ebola patients are. So some new measures in place in the wake of what weve seen with Thomas Duncan as well as nina fam the nurse. Robert murphy, thank you so much for coming on and talking with us and sharing your perspective. And were also following major developments out of iraq at this hour. Isis terrorists have surrounded another iraqi air base and preparing to launch an attack. This while president obama meets with leaders of 20 other nations on how to deal with a terrorist group. This is cnns special coverage. [ male announcer ] you wouldnt ignore signs of damage in your home. Are you sure youre not ignoring them in your body . Even if youre treating your Crohns Disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. And if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. Learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis. Com. And then speak with your gastroenterologist. With the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis. Com. But parallel parking isnt one you do a lof them. Ings great. Youre either too far from the curb. Or too close to other cars. Its just a matter of time until you rip some guys bumper off. So, here are your choices take the bus. Or get Liberty Mutual insurance. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Call Liberty Mutual insurance. Of. Breaking on cnn, isis militants have surrounded another iraqi air base. One of the largest in anbar province. Iraqi Security Forces are fleeing for the second day in a row. And in syria, isis fighters are moving deeper inside the city of kobani on the syrian turkish border. And lets take a look at new pictures right into cnn after the u. S. Carried out the biggest number of air strikes since the war on isis began. All this as president obama hunkers down at a secure facility along with top defense chiefs from 22 different nations. Joining me now to discuss this, jim acosta, senior white house correspondent. And from baghdad, ben wedeman, cnn, Senior International correspondent. Ben, im going to start with you. What are you hearing about this assault on an iraqi air base . And how far is this from baghdad . Reporter yeah, pam, this is the air base, a very large base about 110 miles to the northwest of baghdad. According to police and security sources, it is currently surrounded by isis, which we are told are attacking from two sides on the base. Were told also that already some of the soldiers on that base have fled. Now, whats important to note is that just yesterday, the heat military base, which is not far from there was also abandoned by iraqi forces. Those soldiers fled to this other base. One of the last remaining strongholds of the Iraqi Government in anbar province, which according to our sources is at this point 80 or more under the control of isis. So yet another possible disaster for an army that since june has registered quite a few. Pam . And, jim, with that in mind, you know, we have isis advancing in kobani. Now in a good position to take another airport in this area not far from baghdad has been mentioned. Do you think the white house is premature in saying that the strikes are actually succeeding . Well, it may be, pam. But at this point, the white house is looking at this as a glass half full. The president is meeting with some 21 International Joint chiefs of staff, the equivalent of joint chiefs of staff. We have here in the United States. Martin dempsey, the joint chiefs chairman is at that meeting right now over at Andrews Air Force base. But the white house says at this meeting, the president is not looking at adopting a new strategy when it comes to degrading and destroying isis. They believe that the strategy, this approach is working, and the White House Press secretary said as much earlier this afternoon. Heres what he had to say. Yes, were in the early days of the execution of that strategy. But certainly the early evidence indicates that this strategy is succeeding. Now, one thing that josh ernest went on to say after saying that is that he doesnt want to leave anybody with the impression that the air strikes are going to result in a victory overnight. They say theyve been very upfront about that. And they say this is going to be a longterm struggle. But no question about it. What you saw in kobani overnight, pam, is pretty striking, 21 of the 22 air strikes in syria were in and around kobani. We asked whether or not this is some sort of new escalation, some sort of new pivot point for the u. S. Led coalition in syria. He said,. But i did ask josh earnest, does the president believe he may have to escalate this air campaign and he said that the president reserves the right to do this in the future. I would say very much this is a work in progress. Pam . Jim acosta and ben we, thank you. Back after a quick break. Ss mod. Find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ]. That secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store that reminded the man to buy the milk that was poured by the girl who loved the cat. [ meows ] the internet of everything is changing everything. Cisco. Tomorrow starts here. Ever since we launched snapshot, my life has been positively craycray. Whats snapshot, you ask . Only a revolutionary tool that can save you bigtime. Just plug it in, and the better you drive, the more cash youll stash. Switching to progressive can already save ye 500. Snapshot could save ye even more. Meat maiden bringeth to me thine spiciest wings of buffalo. Are the largest targets in the world, for every hacker, crook and nuisance in the world. But systems policed by hps Cyber Security team are constantly monitored for threats. Outside and in. Thats why hp reports and helps neutralize more intrusions than anyone. In the world. If Hp Security Solutions can help keep the Worlds Largest organizations safe, they can keep yours safe, too. Make it matter. Her push to end her life as started the debate of do you have a right to die . Maynard wrote an opinion piece calling for more states to adopt laws to allow terminally ill patients to have a write to a medication. If anyone wants to save my life so i can have children with my husband, you know, i will take them up on it. I think until anyone has walked a mile in my shoes and knows what they are facing and has felt the just bonesweating headaches that i get sometimes or the seizures or the inability to speak or the moments when im looking at my husbands face and i cant think of his name and most of my sadness centers around how much i wanted a family. And it feels like for me, that was always how you created was through your children and sort of inedadvertently, theres a legacy in creating it this way. Im not ashamed to attach my name to what i think is the right that should belong to all terminally ill patients. I really do. Maynards current drugs have caused her face to swell. She will end her life sometime after her husbands birthday on act 26th. Well, all this week, cnn anchors are digging into their roots. Erin burnett found her own in scotland along with a famous distant cousin with a name a lot of us are familiar with. It turns out Ronald Mcdonald has done work for the imf and a significant player in Scottish Independence. I buy a newspaper and im reading about Scottish Independence and theres a prominent economist named Ronald Mcdonald. I guess thats a common name around here. And then i get to sky and they say, well and youre the most famous person in scot. And im like, oh, my gosh, hes the Ronald Mcdonald. Ronald really wanted to show us one particular picture, a picture that he had taken of our land. This is where we are all from. This is basically where we are all from. Right about here. So when you took this picture, you obviously knew we were from here . Yes, i did. Ronald is one of the most accomplished economists in the world but i had originally started in business journalism so i felt a kinship with him. Its such a joy for us to meet you. Erin burnett joins me now to talk about this. Erin, youre finding out so much on this journey, the fact that youre related to scotlands most famous economist, did you ever think youd find out off relative like this . You know, that was the most amazing thing about the roots project. I knew i was scotirish. And i have russian blood. Maybe im related to vladimir putin. I didnt know anyone was still related to anyone on that island. I knew scotland but i probably would have assumed i had no idea it was an island and people were still there and they really care about their genealogy. Theyd have a list and say, this is how were related. They knew. It was very close and present to them and as a way as an american, you know but you dont know the specifics. Right, you may know that youre scotirish but not the specifics. Right. The people there are so friendly and i can imagine, as they said in the piece, when you visited sky they were so excited to have you there and how did they receive you coming in to visit . Well, at first there was trepidation. There was one man who own as hotel and he was sort of a phantom. We finally met him and hes like, wait, dont have a camera. And another guy they call goldfinger. He owns the car dip and they all feel that he kills them on the car deals. There were some people hesitant to meet us but basically they embraced us and a lot of them are in the pub business. Thats not surprising. Something else in the special, we see your parents packing up your childhood home. Tell us about that. That was emotional. Thats my mother. We they live i have lived on this farm on the Eastern Shore of maryland for nearly 50 years and we found out we have this roots project on a wednesday. I was going home that weekend because they were moving on monday. Oh, wow. And they are now living with my sister and they were moving away from the farm. It was our last weekend together that we were able to film this. So it was actually i have to say, pamela, it was a wonderful gift to be able to have that moment memorialized with my parents and for my parents. Its a blessing i would never have expected to have happen. What do you think our viewers, in watching this special, may learn about you or take away from this . Well, i think they might be i guess its always interesting to find out where people come from. Im so fascinated in everyone elses stories because i knew them as adults and completely developed in what they care about and where they came from. I came from the middle of nowhere. Im certainly interested to see it. Thank you for chatting with us and i love to know that you have a relative named Ronald Mcdonald. Watch the full hour at 7 00 on cnn. Thank you so much for watching. The lead with jake tapper starts now. There could soon be as many ebola cases per week as we have seen during this entire outbreak so far. Is anyone listening to this World Health Organization warning . Im jake tapper. This is the lead. The national lead. The nurse who caught ebola while trying to save Thomas Duncans life sends a message from isolation thanking her colleagues while we wait to hear the fate of another close patient who had close contact with her. All of this as another victim in europe dies. The world