This in its tracks in the u. S. But i also have no doubt that as long as the outbreak continues in africa, we need to be on our guard. Other questions in the room . Can you give us a number or to the scale of how big this team from the cdc is going to be and who that directly entails . Doctors that are going to be in the hospital . Or are these going to be people who are going to be expanding out into the community . Can you give us a little more information on that. I can get back to you with the exact size of the team. We provide heepidemiologists or disease experts as needed in the situation. And every cdc staff whos there, or the 130 who are in africa are tied tightly to our experts here who provitd backup 24 7. [ inaudible ] we defer to the local and state Health Departments, theyre there on the ground, theyre the leead and were thee to support. In the room. On the phone . The next question comes from lauren nearguard of ap, your line is open. Thank you. Do we know, can you even say if this is an american or is this a visit visitor . And then has the Health Department already reached any of those contacts as that. Appear to visit family who live in this country, further detailsdetail details, i think, are to be identified in the coming days or relevant or not, well see. In terms of Contact Tracing, were just beginning the process, and investigation just began today but the Health Department had already been forward leaning on that so were locating information for individuals so that that can begin immediately. On the phone . The next question comes from maggie fox of nbc news, your line is open. I know that you have been extremely clear that people dont spread this virus unless theyre showing symptoms, nonetheless, i think Everybody Knows that the reaction in the United States has been disbelieving of this. So im wondering what steps you might take to reassure people who fear they may have traveled on the same plane with this patient or passed through the same airport with this patient that they are not at risk . Well, people can always call us at cdc info, they can also check on our website. The flight in question is a specific flight departing liberia on the 19th and arriving in the u. S. On the 20th. So that would be a very small number of people that would have that level of concern. But really, i think its important that we understand a lot about ebola. Ebola is a virus, its a virus that is easy to kill by washing your hands, its easy to stop by using gloves and various precautions, the issue is not that ebola is highly infection. The issue with ebola is that the stakes are so high. Thats why at the hospital in dallas, texas, theyre taking all the precautions they need to take to protect people who are caring for this individual. People who are infection with ebola when theyre sick. In fact think of it this way, when we beginni doing testing o people when they become sick, even in the initial phases of the illness, when theyve got a fever, sometimes the most sensitive tests in the world dont pick it up because theres so little of the virus that they have. And itch patients dpi from ebola, they can have very large quantities of virus there. So there is no risk from having contact with somebody whos either recovered from ebola and i went to the region myself and embraced people with ebola or with people who were exposed and are not yet sick from it. Hi, thank you. Y i know you cant give many details about the patient, but this is a male and i dont know if theres any age range you can give. And also just wondering is this the first ever case in the United States and if not was there one previous case diagnosed if ever . This is the first patient diagnosed outside of africa to our knowledge with this particular strain of ebola. And as i mentioned earlier, we have had other patients with hemorrhagic fever including a patient in 2007 with marberg which is a virus very much like ebola. This person went through surgery before being diagnosed and did not result in the spread to any other individual. So this is the first case of ebola diagnosed in the u. S. And as far as we understand, of this strange of ebola diagnosed outside of africa. I think we have referred to the patient in any way that we can to far. Next question on the phone . Hi, thank you. Im just wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about the Contact Tracing process and how thats done and how you can assure that you have, i guess, reached all the people that that person was in contact with when they were sick . Contact tracing ask a Core Public Health function and we do it by a very systematic manner, we interview the patient if thats possible, we interview every Family Member, we identify all possible names, we outline all of the movements that could have occurred from the time of possible on set of symptoms until isolation, then in a cascading manner, we identify every other individual who can add to that information and with that, we have put together a map, essentially, that identifies the time, the place, the level of the contact and then we use a concentric circle approach to identify those contact who is might have had the highest risk of exposure, those who have an intermediate risk and those who may possibly have had an exposure even though that is unlikely. And we always err on the side of identifying more contacts rather than less. We mentioned in lagos, in 20 cases, working with the nigerian authorities, identified nearly 900 contacts and monitored all of them every day for 21 days, in senegal, we also identified a single patient who came in, had exposures at two Different Health care facilities and in the community, we monitored more than 60 contacts every day, none of them became ill. So this kind of context tracing is really the core of Public Health, its what were doing day in and day out and its what we will do here do make sure there isnt any possible spread or any other chains of transmission. I have two questions, first i just want to confirm the timeline. My understanding is the patient arrived in the United States on the 20th, initially sought treatment on the 26th, im assuming was then sent home and came back again on the 28th of september and was admitted. The second question is, will you be offering this patient any congre convalesce end sere rule. As far as possible experimental therapies, thats being discussed with the hospital now and with the family and if appropriate would be provided to the extent available. The last question on the phone . Thanks very much. I think that people have touched on this, but i would just like to ask this anyway, in case we can get any more clarity on it. Was this, can you tell us if this person is an american citizen . Will you be releasing the flight information and is it correct to assume that he was staying at a home with Family Members rather than in a hotel . The patient was visiting Family Members and staying with Family Members who live in this country. We will contact anyone who we think has any likelihood of having had an exposure to the individual while they were infectious. At that pointat this point, that does not include anyone who might have traveled with him because he was not infectious at thattime. And you asked a third question which i dont remember. I asked if hes an american citizen. Hes visiting family who live in this country. Do we have any other questions in the room . A followup on that, will you identify the flight information . We will identify any context where we think there is a risk of transmission, at this point, there is zero risk of transmission on the flight. The illness of ebola would not have gone on for 10 days before diagnosis, he was checked for favre befo fever before getting on the flight and theres no reason to think that anyone on the flight that he was on would be at risk. I want to end with just a bottom line before we stop. Ebola is a scary disease because of the severity of the illness causes. And were really hoping for the recovery of this individual. At the same time, were stopping it in its tracks in this country, we can do that because of two things, Strong Health care Infection Control that stops the spread of ebola and strong Core Public Health functions that trace contact, track contact, isolate them, if they have any symptoms and stop the chain of transmission, were stopping this in its tracks. Thank you very much. You have been watching a news briefing from the head of the centers for Disease Control and prevention, dr. Tom freeden, about the first diagnosed case of ebola here in the United States. Well go live to john roberts at the cdc in just a moment. Were also following another breaking news story. Confirmed, a new security crisis for the u. S. Secret service. A conflicted felon with a gun on an elevator with president obama in atlanta. Well have a report from Mike Emmanuelle coming up. Back to ebola and what we have just been listening to, the first confirmed case of ebola in the u. S. John roberts is at the cdc in atlanta, what do we know. Reporter there are aspects of this case that are both troubling and reassuring. Lets go over the reassuring part. This patient is in isolation, and this patient was put in isolation literally upon admission into the hospital. He travelled from liberia, he is a liberian, he has come to the United States to visit family here on an airplane. He left on the 19th, he arrived on the 20th. The good news, he was not symptomatic, not showing any signs of ebola. Troubling news, he sought medical help initially on the 26th, then apparently went back home and wasnted a nitted to is hospital until several days later. So this is a window of opportunity potentially infeblting other people. Dr. Tom freeden said it is likely that one or more people may come down with ebola as a result of close contact with this patient. He also said that there is still a mystery surrounding the patient that the origins of the disease, which again speaks to the need for a massive Global Response to eradicate it in west africa. Hires what he said. I have no doubt that we will control this importation or this case of ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country. It is certainly possible that someone who had contact with this individual, a Family Member or other individual could develop ebola in the coming weeks, but there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here. Now kind of the worstcase scenario, look at what happened in nigeria, when american Patrick Sawyer travelled from liberia to nigeria, died a couple of days later from the ebola virus, infected 19 other people along the way. However dr. Freeden said he believes that will not be the case here in the United States, that our treatment and Disease Control will be contained. I talked with Anthony Fauchi from the National Institutions of ineffectation disease just a short time ago, he said this is what everyone has been waiting for, so he does believe that Health Authorities across the country are ready to respond to this. But this will raise another question. British airways has suspended until the end of the year all flights out of liberia and sierra leon. Will there now be pressure on american carriers to do the same thing. Well hear more about this as the night wears on and of course in the next few days. John roberts in atlanta. Just breaking right now, the white house saying that the president has been briefed by the cdc about this story from dr. Tom freeden who you just heard from about the first ebola case here in the u. S. As we were saying, back here in washington, breaking news. A crisis for the secret service. Were learning about another possible security lapse on top of last weeks major incurse into the white house by a man with a knife. This time in atlanta. Mike emanuel is live on capitol hill tonight. Reporter there was a Security Breach two weeks ago when president obama visited the cdc in atlanta. A security contractor with a gun and a criminal record was allowed on an elevator with the president of the United States violating secret service protocols. Whistle blowers came forward and utah republican congressman jason chafen calls the incident outrageous. He notes a convicted criminal because within arms reach of mr. Obama and the secret Service Never did a background check. That was three days before the recent fence jumping incident at the white house. An intruder walked in the front door of the white house and that is unacceptable. Republican chairman darrell issa and the House Oversight committee sought answers from the secret as much as about a september 19th incident, when and was eventually detained on the crosswalk hall outside of the green room by an offduty member of the Counter Assault team. Issa wanted to know why gonzalez wasnt stopped sooner. We have an Automated System that can lock down the white house. 800 million a year and that door was unlocked with no one standing at it when mr. Gonzalez came through it, is that correct . The door was unlocked at the time of mr. Gonzalez entry, thats correct. Perhaps where lethal force is necessary, and i want those secret Service Agents and officers to know, at least this member of congress has their back. Reporter Julia Pierson said a variety of agent whos suspected of suffering from ptsd before the White House Incident and yet he still got through. Its clear that our security plan was not properly executed. This is unacceptable, and i take full responsibility and i will make sure that it does not happen again. A democrat only the panel says the agency needs an overhaul. The time is right for a 21st century makeover of the secret service. And i wish to god you had protected the white house like youre protect your reputation here. Reporter another incident involving shots fired at the white house which the secret service didnt question text for days. You dont go through every inch of that residence, you explain to the jury why a housekeeper found evidence of the shooting and your agency did not . Its difficult to see at night. How about hear . Can you hear at night . Reporter a Florida Republican offered a simple solution. Have you ever heard of these guys . After a closed door classified session, chafe fits sounded this alarm. The more i learn the worse it is and the more it scares me. Clearly many lawmakers think the problems are systemic and not just mistakes. The secret service is not responding to this gun in the elevator story. I have been in contact with them, they said they are checking it out but they have not gotten back to us as of show time. Still ahead the terrorism name game and what the president knew and when he knew it about the threat. A night for breaking news here on special report. Dont go anywhere. Whos going to do it . Whos going to make it happen . Discover a new energy source. Turn ocean waves into power. Design cars that capture their emissions. Build bridges that fix themselves. Get more clean water to everyone. Whos going to take the leap . Whos going to write the code . Whos going to do it . Engineers. Thats who. Thats what i want to do. Be an engineer. [ male announcer ] join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring americas future engineers. Energy lives here. Ugh. Heartburn. Did someone say burn . Try alka seltzer reliefchews. They work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. Mmm. Amazing. Yeah, i get that a lot. Alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. Enjoy the relief. Correspondent catherine hairgs is here with what he heard this afternoon. Thank you, brett, the more we learn about the khorasan terrorists, the leadership also known as the al qaeda core is decimated. On monday, fox news asked if the al qaeda leadership and khorasan are relocating to syria, the state Department Spokesperson insisted there was no connection. Theyre affiliated with, so i wouldnt characterize it that way. Reporter but last night the state department tried to clarify his comments confirming that khorasan includes al qaeda extremists who share a history of training operatives, facilitating and the secretary of state recently told cnn that khorasan included members of the al qaeda senior membership just under a different name. And that was the explanation at todays pentagon briefing. He considers these groups one and the same. But they selfidentify as khorasan and so were referring to them as that. Reporter again today, sake stuck with her original explanation that plays down the connection. I said it was an example of an affiliated group of dpigters, that has tied to al qaeda but is not a part of core al qaeda. So thats how youre reconciling the two. I guess im that is what our position is on khorasan and al qaeda. Counter terrorism analyst says that psakis statement seem to be we still do not know when president obama was informed of any of this and the president is not saying. Reporter meeting with indian Prime Minister today, president obama skipped the usual tradition of taking questions from the media. As republicans continue to press for answers on exactly what the president knew and when he knew it about the growing threat from isis after telling cbs and 60 minutes that the director of National Intelligence had underestimated the threat and overestimated