Against the west. The money lead, theyre coveted by advertisers and they make up an estimated 45 of the nfls fan base. But have the leagues abuse scandals alienated women fans . Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the lead. We begin with the national lead. President obama set to speak in moments from the centers for Disease Control in atlanta where he will reveal u. S. Steps to stop the spread of ebola, the deadly disease that has already killed at least 2,400 people. So how will this plan help stem the outbreak . Joining me now, our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, and cnn white house correspondent, Michelle Kosinski. Michelle, lets start with you. Break down what the president s strategy will be this afternoon . Reporter this is an unprecedented outbreak michelle, president obama is coming out right now. Were going to start. Tom and his team just gave me an update on the Ebola Outbreak in west africa. Our efforts to help mobilize the International Community to fight it and the steps that were taking to keep people here at home safe. Tom and his team are doing outstanding work, between the specialists they have on the ground in west africa and here at headquarters, theyve got hundreds of professionals who are working tirelessly on this issue. This is the Largest International response in the history of the cdc. After this, ill be meeting with some of these men and women including some who recently returned from the front lines of the outbreak. And they represent Public Service at its very best. So i just want them to know how much the American People appreciate them. Many of them are serving far away from home, away from their families. They are doing heroic work and serving in some unbelievably challenging conditions, working through exhaustion day and night. And many have volunteered to go back. So we are very, very proud of them. Their work an our efforts across the government is an example of what happens when america leads in confronting some major global challenges. Faced with this outbreak, the world is looking to us, the United States. And its a responsibility that we embrace. Were prepared to take leadership on this to provide the kinds of capabilities that only america has and to mobilize the world in ways that only america can do. Thats what were doing as we speak. First and foremost, i want the American People to know that our experts here at the cdc and across our government agree that the chances of an Ebola Outbreak here in the United States are extremely low. Weve been taking the necessary precautions, including working with countries in west africa to increase screening at airports so that someone with the virus doesnt get on a plane for the United States. In the unlikely event that someone with ebola does reach our shores, weve taken new measures so that were prepared here at home. Were working to help flight crews identify people who are sick and more labs across our country now have the capacity to quickly test for the virus. Were working with hospitals to make sure that they are prepared and to ensure that our doctors, our nurses and our medical staff are trained, are ready and are able to deal with a possible case safely. And here ive got to commend everybody at Emory University hospital. I just had the opportunity to meet with members of the team here and the nurses who sorry, doctors, having been in hospitals, i know theyre the ones really doing the work. And i had a chance to really thank them for their extraordinary efforts in helping to provide care for the First Americans who recently contracted the disease in africa. The first two of those patients were released last month and continue to improve. And its a reminder for the American People that should any cases appear in the United States, we have world class facilities and professionals ready to respond and we have effective surveillance mechanisms in place. I should mention, by the way, that i had a chance to see dr. Brantly in the oval office this morning. Although he is still having to gain back some weight, he looks great. He looks strong. And we are incredibly grateful to him and his family for the service that he has rendered to people who are a lot less lucky than all of us. As we all know, however, west africa is facing a very different situation. Especially in the hardesthit countries. Liberia, sierra leone and in guinea. Tom and others recently returned from the region and the scenes that they describe are just horrific. More than 2,400 men, women and children are known to have died. And we strongly suspect that the actual death toll is higher than that. Hospitals, clinics and the few Treatment Centers that do exist have been completely overwhelmed. An already very weak Public Health system is near collapse in these countries. Patients are being turned away and people are literally dying in the streets. Heres the hard truth. In west africa, ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before. Its spiraling out of control. It is getting worse. Its spreading faster and exponentially. Today thousands of people in west africa are infected. That number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands. And if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us. So this is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security, its a potential threat to Global Security if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. That has profound effects on all of us even if we are not directly contracting the disease. And thats why two months ago i directed my team to make this a National Security priority. Were working this across our entire government, which is why today im joined by leaders throughout my administration including from my National Security team. And weve devoted significant resources in support of our strategy with four goals in mind. Number one, to control the outbreak. Number two, to address the ripple effects of local economies and communities to prevent a truly massive humanitarian disaster. Number three, to coordinate a broader global response. And number four, to urgently build up a Public Health system in these countries for the future. Not just in west africa, but in countries that dont have a lot of resources generally. This is a daunting task, but heres what gives us hope. The world knows how to fight this disease. Its not a mystery. We know the science. We know how to prevent it from spreading. We know how to care for those who contract it. We know that if we take the proper steps, we can save lives. But we have to act fast. We cant dawdle on this one. We have to move with force and make sure that we are catching this as best we can given that it has already broken out in ways that we have not seen before. So today im announcing a major increase in our response. At the request of the liberian government, were going to establish a military command center in liberia to support civilian efforts across the region, similar to our response after the haiti earthquake. Its going to be commanded by Major General darryl williams, a commander of our army forces in africa. He just arrived today and is now on the ground in liberia. And our forces are going to bring their expertise in command and control, in logistics, in engineering. And our department of defense is better at that, our Armed Services are better at that than any organization on earth. Were going to create an air bridge to get Health Workers and medical supplies into west africa faster. Were going to establish a staging area in senegal to help distribute personnel and aid on the ground more quickly. We are going to create a new training site to train thousands of Health Workers so they can effectively and safely care for more patients. Personnel from the u. S. Public Health Service will deploy to the new field hospitals that were setting up in liberia. And usaid will join in a community compare campaign to distribute supplies and information kits to hundreds of thousands of families so they can better protect themselves. Were also going to build additional treatment units including new isolation spaces and more than 1,000 beds. And in all our efforts, the safety of our personnel will remain a top priority. Meanwhile, our scientists continue their Urgent Research in the hope of finding new treatments and perhaps vaccines. And today im calling on congress to approve the funding that weve requested so that we can carry on with all these critical efforts. Today the United States is doing even more. But this is a global threat and demands a truly global response. International organizations just have to move faster than they have up until this point. More nations need to contribute experienced personnel, supplies and funding thats needed. And they need to deliver on what they pledge quickly. Charities and individual fla philanthropists have given genero generously. And they can make a big difference. So were not restricting these efforts to governmental organizations. We also need ngos and private philanthropies to maximize the impact of our response. Th next week, ill join u. S. Secretarygeneral ban kimoon to continue mobilizing the International Community around this effort. And then at the white house, were going to bring more nations together to strengthen our Global Health security to help prevent and respond to future outbreaks before they become epidemics. This is actually something that we had announced several months ago at the g7 meeting. We determined that this has to be a top priority. This was before the Ebola Outbreak. We anticipated the fact that in many of these countries with a weak Public Health system, if we dont have more effective surveillance, more effective facilities on the ground and are not helping poor countries in developing their ability to catch these things quickly, that there was at least the potential of seeing these kinds of outbreaks. And sadly we now see that our predictions were correct, it gives more urgency to this effort, a Global Health initiative that we have been pushing internationally. Let me just close by saying this. The scenes that were witnessing in west africa today are absolutely gutwrenching. In one account over the weekend, we read about a family in liberia, the disease had already killed the father. The mother was cradling a sick and listless 5yearold son. Her other son, 10 years old, was dying, too. They finally reached a Treatment Center but they couldnt get in. Said a relative, were just sitting. These men and women and children are just sitting, waiting to die. Right now. And it doesnt have to be this way. The reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better. But right now, the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. Right now, the world has a responsibility to act, to step up and to do more. The United States of america intends to do more. We are going to keep leading in this effort. Were going to do our part and were going to continue to make sure that the world understands the need for them to step alongside us as well in order for us to not just save the lives of families like the one i just discussed but ultimately to make sure that this doesnt have the kinds of spillover effects that become even more difficult to control. So thank you very much to the entire team thats already doing this work. And please know that youve got your president and commander in chief behind you. Thank you. President obama speaking at the centers for Disease Control and prevention in atlanta, georgia, talking about the ebola crisis, trying to tell the American People that he did not think that the chances of an outbreak in the United States were strong but that what is going on in africa, especially western africa, could be dire, talking about potentially hundreds of thousands of africans being infected. Right now, we know 2,400 africans have died from the disease, saying if that were to happen, it could create create, political and economic problems difficult to solve. Lets go to elisabeth cohzabeth Michelle Kosinski to digest all this. The president said the world knows how to fight this disease. Is that true, elizabeth . What Public Health experts tell me is we knew how to fight the earlier Ebola Outbreaks that were in remote and rural areas. You go in, isolate the sick people. You do that cycle over and over again. This is in many ways a different disease. Yes, its the same virus. But it has gotten so out of control, there are so many people who are sick. This Contact Tracing process has broken down in many areas that fighting this disease is very different than the ebola that we knew how to fight in the past. Certainly americans are as he said are up to this challenge. But it is a different disease in many ways than the ones that weve been successful against in the past. Michelle kosinski at the white house, lets talk about exactly what president obama announced he was going to be doing. First of all, there is this command center in liberia that will be headed by the commander of sent. Com, major darryl williams. What else is the president proposing . Reporter you heard him lay it out there. There are many, many components to this new expanded plan. But to put in it broad and practical strokes, supply these countries with what theyre severity lacking right now, money, personnel, training and facilities. These 3,000 military personnel will be based in africa and theyll coordinate not only the u. S. Effort to supply those needed things but the International Aid effort as well. Theyre going to build a hospital. Theyre going to be building Treatment Centers that will supply more than 1,000 beds which are badly needed. Just to add to what elizabeth was saying, we just heard a Senate Subcommittee hearing on this subject. And it was fascinating. They had some updated numbers and they were talking about how u. S. Officials and World Health Officials have been able to contain ebola pretty well in various outbreaks over the last several decades. They were talking about in east africa there was one outbreak that was contained to one single person. So there has been success. Its just that this has been so unprecedented and so big, they were talking about the latest numbers now are just under 5,000 diagnosed cases and about half of those were just reported in the last three weeks, jake. Thats stunning. Michelle kosinski at the white house, Elizabeth Cohen at the cdc in atlanta, thank you so much. We want to continue with this conversation with dr. Alexander van tullikan, former with doctors of the world and the world health organization. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us. Lets talk about why this is such a problem in western africa in particular. I heard from i was reading something in vanity fair, an author who was talking about how the communication breakdowns in the region slowed the International Response that there would all of a sudden be these Health Workers coming into a town and the people didnt trust them, didnt know who they were. Do you think u. S. Troops are a solution to this problem . I think actually the president s plan is really impressive. And i think the u. S. Ordinarily what he laid out is difficult for other countries and other organizations to stomach. But hes right. The u. S. Military is the only organization in the world that can deliver these kinds of resources. But this is a region ravaged by war. And people have a very wellfounded distrust of men in uniform with guns. And its really important this is not perceived as a security crisis in liberia but as a Public Health crisis. On the one hand, yes, the president s plan for a big logistics operation to deliver equipment and supplies is essential. But on the other hand, this is also about education and behavior change. Lets talk about the behavior change. One of the things that i just became aware of that is a problem in this region is that apparently its not uncommon for once somebody has died, for not just an open casket funeral but for people to lay arms on this person who has died. And in that process many individuals are thought to have contracted this disease because it can be it can come from bodily fluids such as sweat. Is that one of the problems . What are some of the other behaviors that need to change . Id say that west africa is such a different region to almost the entire u. S. That its hard to conceive the differences. There is really no functioning Health Care System that can deliver anything the care these people need. There are certain rituals that would expose you to bodily fluids. But literacy rates in sol regions will be close to zero. So you have a population that are hard to educate about things like handwashing, the germ theory of disease would not be widely understood in large regions of the country. So this is why the president s got a very difficult job of selling americans on the idea that on the one hand, it cant come here. And on the other hand, we should contain it there. To reassure americans is to say how difficult the Health System here is. Doctor, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Coming up on the lead, al qaeda extending an olive branch to isis. Could the terrorist Groups Join Forces . Plus, a highprofile hire for the nfl as a former white house official is tapped for a leadership position within the football organization. Will she be able to help turn things around . Turn the trips you have to take, into one youll never forget. Earn points for every flight and every hotel. Expedia plus rewards. Big day . Ah, the usual. Moved some new cars. Hauled a bunch of steel. Kept the supermarket shelves stocked. Made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. Whats up for the next shift . Ah, nothing much. Just keeping the lights on. laugh nice. Doing the big things that move an economy. See you tomorrow, mac. See you tomorrow, sam. Just another day at norfolk southern. Whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts thats when expertise happens. Mfs. Because there is no expertise without collaboration. Then boom. What happened . Stress, fun, bad habits kids, now what . Lets build a new, smarter bed using the dualair chambers to sense your movement, heartbeat, breathing. Introducing the sleep number bed with sleep iq™ technology. It tracks your sleep and tells you how to adjust for a good, better and an awesome night. The difference . Try adjusting up or down. Youll know cuz sleep iq™ tells you. Only at a sleep number store, mattresses with sleepiq start at just 999. 98 know better sleep with sleep number. Welcome back to the lead. From one horrible threat to another in the world lead, isis terrorists today say theyve shot down a Syrian Military fighter jet so you can pick your lesser evil there. Isis madmen who kill innocents or the military who serves the syria regime. Also kills innocents with chemical weapons. Theres a hazily defined coalition of nations to help extend the fight against isis, there was an air strikes close to baghdad, the closest since they began. U. S. Central command says these are the first strikes in direct support of iraqi forces on the ground. Isis was originally al qaedas branch in iraq but main al qaeda leadership cut ties in february after isis supposedly disobeyed orders. Among the groups isis is fighting in syria is an al qaeda affiliate called the al nusra front. But other al qaeda branches are calling on these two terrorist forces in syria to take a hard look in the mirror, put aside their differences and focus on whats important to them, hating and killing westerners. Lets bring in pamela brown on this. Explain what is going on here. Is al qaeda feeling irrelevant . Well, i think it appears if you look at this letter that al qaedas trying to stay relevant and actually trying to build bridges with isis after cutting ties earlier this year. This joint letter from the two al qaeda branches, its unprecedented. Theyre calling on isis and al nusra, the al qaeda affiliate in syria, to kiss and make up, to bridge their differences after months of fierce infighting between those two groups. The letter urges the two groups to come together and focus on the real enemy, america. The letter condemning the u. S. Bombing campaign on isis saying the u. S. Is waging war on muslims. One part of the letter says, quote, then here is america, the head of infidelity and the symbol of aggression and tyranny. It is leading a Crusader Campaign to fight islam and the muslims under the excuse of striking the Islamic State and then the letter goes on to say, stop the infighting between you and stand as one rank against americas campaign. So asking them to be a united force against the u. S. I know al qaeda has written to other terrorist groups before when it was al qaeda in iraq headed by zarqawi. They wrote to him. How unusual is this particular move . I think this joint messaging strategy is unusual, a joint letter by these two branches in particular, the one in Northern Africa and then the one in yemen. So i think that thats unique because it took a certain level of coordination. And also this is pretty, i think, important because theyre extending the olive branch to isis, a group that they cut ties from, as you pointed out, in early february. Now it appears theyre sort of softening their stance toward isis as isis continues to sort of rise up the ranks in this Global Jihadi Movement which means theyre getting more fundraising, having an easier time recruiting as a direct result. Interesting to see this dynamic at play now. Fascinating and terrifying both. Thank you so much. When we come back, what has the Top Republican on the senate Armed Services committee saying the president is flatout not telling the truth about part of his isis strategy . Ing 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. Join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring americas future engineers. Energy lives here. 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[ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. So i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. Welcome back to the lead. The top military men in the Obama Administration earlier today went before the senate Armed Services committee to answer questions about the president s plan to degrade and destroy the terrorist group isis, repeatedly the administration has vowed, as you know, no u. S. Combat troops, no boots on the ground, so to speak. But joint chiefs of staff chairman Martin Dempsey at the hearing today appeared to leave the door open on that if the coalition is not effective. My view at this point is that this coalition is the appropriate way forward. I believe that will prove true. But if it fails to be true and if there are threats to the United States, then i of course would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the u. S. Of u. S. Military ground forces. And joining me now is senator jim inhoff, republican from oklahoma. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. Weve heard repeatedly from the Obama Administration there will be no boots on the ground, no u. S. Combat troops in this operation, yet general dempsey appeared to leave the door open to at the very least recommend u. S. Ground troops in the future. How did you interpret that moment . Well, first of all, the president is just flat not telling the truth. We already have boots on the ground there. He knows we have to have boots on the ground. Lets admit were in a war. You dont win a war by not fighting. If we have guys doing air missions and theyre shot down, are we going to have troops down there to save these guys . And he said, yes, we will. I think he made it very clear that the president is just making that statement for political purposes. You asked in another comment you made today in your opening statement, you asked what does a defeated or destroyed isil or isis look like . Did you get a satisfactory answer to that question . No. Im a little more blunt than most people. I would just rather say complete annihilation is what it would look like. We didnt get that. There was left room for the other countries and their participation i didnt think that was as direct an answer as i would like. I have to say this, though. I think secretary hagel did a better job this time. He always does a better job when john kerrys not hanging around. Secretary hagel was asked during the hearing what kind of Message Congress would be sending if it does not ultimately approve the president s request for 500 million to train moderate Syrian Rebels as well as to give the Defense Department permission to train them. Heres our secretary hagel responded . That message would be very, very seriously misunderstood and misinterpreted by our allies, our friends, our partners around the world and our adversaries. If the congress would not agree to that request, it would be a pretty devastating message that we send to the world. Pretty devastating message. He said, i dont know if it would be a misunderstanding. I think the enemy and our allies would understand perfectly the u. S. Congress is not willing to put any of its skin in this game. Whats your take . First of all, thats not the message. We have skin in the game already. I think every time the president makes a request for money, when you look at it real carefully, ends up hes got his other agenda in it. And i just dont trust him to come out and say, this specifically is what its for. And that is what were supposed to be doing on the senate Armed Services committee. So he was not specific as to what it would be spent for. We want to see a plan look, heres the problem with the president. He doesnt have a strategy. Hes never had a strategy in the middle east. He doesnt have a strategy on isis. And youve got to have a strategy as to what youre going to try to do. Well, of course, thats what the hearing was all about. What took place today should have been in our Committee Hearing where we could look and see what is it going to take to defeat this war out there when we are threatened . By the way, i have to say this, im really proud of the American People who finally understand that isis is actually a threat to our homeland. And recently as you well know, there have been two polls that show that 70 of the people understand. Senator, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, jake. Coming up, they make up nearly half of the nfls fan base and their purchasing power makes them gridiron gold. But could the nfls handling of Domestic Violence issues put it in jeopardy with female vans . And just two days before a vote, are the nays or yeas winning in scotland . Create things that help people. Design safer cars. Faster computers. Smarter grids and smarter phones. Think up new ways to produce energy. Be an engineer. Solve problems the world needs solved. What are you waiting for . Changing the world is part of the job description. Join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring americas future engineers. Energy lives here. For over 19 million people. [ susan ] my promotion allowed me to start investing for my retirement. Transamerica made it easy. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. Transform tomorrow. [ telephone rings ] [ shirley ] edward jones. This is shirley speaking. How may i help you . Oh hey, neill, how are you . How was the trip . [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors. [ shirley ] hes right here. Hold on one sec. [ male announcer ]. Youd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. Kevin, neill holleys on line one. Ok, great. [ male announcer ] and we do. Its how edward jones makes sense of investing. Welcome back to the lead. Time now for the money lead. How about 10 billion . Thats what the nfl attracts with its millions of fans around the world. So it is no wonder that the nfl is now scrambling to recover from whats seen as an embarrassing and potentially even a costly start to the 2014 season thanks to backtoback scandals involving two of the leagues marquee players. Minnesota vikings running back Adrian Peterson who indicted last week for allegedly abusing his son has apparently been investigated for child abuse in the past, according to cnn affiliate khou. Peterson was investigated by Child Protective Services last year for an incident involving another one of his sons who was just 4 years old at the time. No charges were filed. In an emotional Statement Released yesterday, peterson denied he was a child abuser and said he only meant to discipline his kids. But many are wondering why, given the seriousness of the charges, peterson will still be allowed to take the field again on sunday . Particularly given how badly the league fumbled its handling of Baltimore Ravens running back ray rice. Rice, as you well know, suspended for the season only after video came out that showed him viciously hitting his thenfiancee, nowwife. Fans, players and members of the media such espns hannah storm questioned why the league was so slow to give rice the stiffarm. I spent this week answering seemingly impossible questions about the leagues biggest stars. Mom, why did he do that . Why isnt he in jail . Why didnt he get fired . And even yesterday, why dont they even have control of their own players . So heres a question, what does all this mean for the future . What does it mean for female fans whose dollars are so coveted by the nfl who make up an estimated 45 of the nfls fan base . So could these vivid images of violence and the nfls reaction alienate female fans and ultimately hurt the leagues bottom line . Joining me now is cnn money correspondent cristina. How important is the female fan base to the nfl . So important. Roger goodell last year himself said in a report that women are critical to the nfls future and just to put some numbers around this, you heard that 45 figure. But 33 of the viewing audience are women. And last year for the first time ever, sunday night football, it was a huge win for the nfl. Now it seems like that very precise market that the nfl was chasing has some is giving the nfl a really hard time, at least on social media weve seen the cover girl ad that advertises the nfl makeup line basically photoshopped with an image of the model with a black eye. Thats been tweeted thousands of times not to mention the fact that a womens group, ultraviolet flew planes over games in indianapolis and new york calling for Roger Goodells head and the fans that were in the seats, at least the women fans, were retweeting that, too. So it seems like this is some fallout on the social media end of things. Do we know whether all this activity on social media is actually having any sort of impact . Thats an excellent question because if you actually look at the numbers, thursday night football had reported fantastic numbers, the best since 2006. So it doesnt seem to be coming through in the numbers. But what we really have to Pay Attention to is the sales of that merchandise that the nfl is marketing. In fact, if you look at the September Issue of vogue, theres a fullpage ad for merchandise that the nfl is selling, specifically to women. So will women stop buying that specific merchandise . Thats a big part of the revenue that the nfl generates. Look, the league is trying to respond to these concerns. They put together this social responsibility team. One of the members is a former prosecutor. Some will question whether or not this is window dressing because for many people out there, there does seem to be a simple fix to this. But at the end of the day, the nfl has to address this very, very carefully and theyve got another potential controversy on their hands. Those are the cheerleaders out there that are suing teams for wage theft. And well have to see how the teams how the specific teams respond and how the nfl responds as well. Cristina, thank you so much. The nfl does not have an image problem just with female fans but also potentially with its sponsors. Anheuserbus anheuserbusch, a company that spent 34 million on the super bowl and just for the ads last year, theyre taking the league to task. A statement just posted on the companys website says, quote, we are disappointed and increasingly concerned by the recent independents that have overshadowed this nfl season. We are not yet satisfied with the leagues handling of behaviors that so clearly go against our own Company Culture and moral code. Yes, you heard that right, thats from anheuserbusch. Joining me now is sports columnist kevin blackstone. Do you think the perception of the league and what many perceive to be a Domestic Violence problem is in tune with the reality of how widespread these issues are in the nfl . No. I just wrote about that the other day for the american journalism review. Its certainly not in line with the truth of the matter. But clearly that doesnt matter. Perception is reality in this case in the nfl. It should have a problem certainly for the way its handled this. If it is performanceenhancing drugs or illegal drug use, they have steps they go through in terms of discipline. But when it comes to personal conduct matters such as these, they dont really have those steps. It showed with the handling of the ray rice situation where at one point hes suspended for two games, which is quite frankly what Roger Goodell has done in the past to players who have been involved in Domestic Violence situations. The next thing you know, hes out of the league indefinitely. And in between, of course, they came out with a new Domestic Violence policy that said firsttime offenders would get suspended for six games. So clearly the nfl didnt have a handle on how to deal with these matters. Anheuserbusch released a statement a few minutes ago bashing the nfls handling of Domestic Violence issues. But heres an interesting response from Houston Texans running back aryan foster, he tweeted, Domestic Violence and alcohol damn near synonymous. He said it was an interesting high horse for anheuserbusch to be on. I guess this is a risk for those who come out and try to be aggressive on this issue. You better make sure you have a clean house yourself. Exactly. Im surprised aryan foster was so on point with that comment. But hes absolutely right. Weve all talked about the mixing of alcohol with highintensity, emotional sports. And quite often the outcome is not very good. So, yeah, hes absolutely right on that. Thats somewhat disingenuous maybe from anheuserbusch. The nfl announced that it hired four women to help shape its Domestic Violence policy. Were putting their pictures up right there. What do you make of that move . Clearly optics which is what this has all been about in terms of the nfls reaction, the optic of the second part of the videotape of ray rice slugging janay rice sent this story to another level. I think its odd that Roger Goodell would find four white women and could not find any women of color or quite frankly any men, as if men are not a part of this entire problem, to handle this new front that hes going to have going on Domestic Violence, particularly in a league that is over twothirds black and where the incidents of Domestic Violence with black women is 35 higher than white women, 22 higher than anyone else and where black men are 62 more likely to be involved in these sorts of things as well. The important thing, i think at least that ive gotten out of talking to people who deal with Domestic Violence victims and are trying to get a handle on this entire problem, is not to kick people out, not to shun them, but to get them treatment and to find out why it is they abuse once and abuse again and abuse again. And so just simply to go through the rosters in your league and kick players out who have abused is not necessarily the best tactic. Professor kevin blackistone, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Ahead, its moved into the bargaining stage. British leaders making new promises to scotland. Please dont leave, if voters choose to stay in the uk. But in this super close race, will these pledges work . Big day . Ah, the usual. Moved some new cars. Hauled a bunch of steel. Kept the supermarket shelves stocked. Made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. Whats up for the next shift . Ah, nothing much. Just keeping the lights on. laugh nice. Doing the big things that move an economy. See you tomorrow, mac. See you tomorrow, sam. Just another day at norfolk southern. Sea captain theres a narratorstorm cominhe storm narrator that whipped through the turbine which poured. Surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. Chipmunk theres a bad storm comin narrator the internet of everything is changing how energy works. Is your Network Ready . Who would have thought masterthree cheese lasagna would go with chocolate cake and ceviche . The same guy who thought that small caps and bond funds would go with a merging markets. Its a masterpiece. Thanks. Clearly you are type e. You made it phil. Welcome home. Now whats our strategy with the fondue . Diversifying your portfolio . E trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. Are you type e . Suddenly youre a mouthbreather. Well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38 more than cold medicines alone. So you can breathe and sleep. Shut your mouth and sleep right. Breathe right. Welcome back to the lead. Im jake tapper. It was one of the trickiest issues when lawmakers were debating obamacare. In the end, the Affordable Care act squeaked through congress after lawmakers crafted a delicate compromise about abortion coverage, customers who wanted to purchase a health plan that covers Abortion Services would be required to send a separate check to their insurers for that coverage. That way, the theory went, no taxpayer money would be used to subsidize abortion. But a new study by the Government Accountability office surveyed 18 insurers and the report said all but three insurers indicated the benefit is not subject to any restrictions, limitations or exclusions, which means the federal government could have been subsidizing plans that pay for abortion, that compromise notwithstanding. The Administration Says its done nothing wrong but will provide guidance in the coming days. In world news, voters in scotland go to the polls thursday for an unprecedented vote whether to leave the united kingdom. A yes vote would mark the end of more than 300 years of union and would lead to a host of questions about issues ranging from the use of the british pound to the basing of Nuclear Submarines there opinion polls right now are split down the middle. And its impossible to predict which way undecided voters will break. The tight race has drawn leading british politicians north of the border where they are offering perks into the scots vote to stay. Cnns max foster is in britain. What is the British Government offering if the scottish people agree to stay and vote no . Reporter not just the British Government. Thats the extraordinary thing. You have the leaders of all the political parties, including the opposition leader, in this pledge published on the front page of a newspaper promising an alternative to independence. What theyre offering is greater powers. Many government powers, shifting from london up to edinburgh. Powers over spending, particularly powers over the national Health Service, which sounds random, but its held in very high regard here. And theres a great deal of concern about national Health Service. So what london politicians are saying is you will have control over that. This is really their lastditch attempt at retaining the union because the yes campaign spearheaded by alex salmons is appealing to peoples hearts saying, youre scottish, youre celtic, you should have the power of your own destiny and should be based in edinburgh, not london. Apparently a chilly reception today for the man who would be the british prime minister. Does that indicate, you think, the growing strength of this Independence Movement . Reporter well, yeah, and it really sort of proves their case that the london politicians dont really care about scotland and theyre only coming up at the last minute. A Shopping Center just around the corner, was due to make a statement there but was absolutely heckled by the yes campaigners and all his aides got quite frightened. And they were quite shaken by the experience. But it was an absolute disaster, chaotic scenes. And they just dont want any of these london politicians here. But there are extreme elements of the yes campaign. For the last few years, its been wellnatured. And the beauty of this whole effort has been this separatist movement has emerged not out of conflict but out of debate. Thats why the rest of the worlds been watching, journalists from all over the world from different countries, canada, china, india, have all come here to see and gain inspiration for their separatist campaigns, if i can say that, from whats happening here in scotland this week. Fascinating. Max, thank you so much. Follow me on twitter. Check out our show page at cnn. Com thelead for video, blogs, extras. You can subscribe to our magazine on flipboard. Thats it for the lead. Im jake tapper. I turn you over to wolf blitzer whos next door in the situation room. Happening now, combat troops in iraq. Americas top military officer leaves the door open to using u. S. Ground forces against isis. Is he on the same page as the commander in chief . Ill talk to natos supreme allied commander. Boots on the ground to fight ebola, president obama will send 3,000 u. S. Troops to west africa to battle the deadly virus. Is it really a serious threat right now to the United States . Ferguson deadline, a grand jury gets more time to decide whether a Police Officer should be charged for the shooting at the time of teenager michael brown. And raging wildfires. Thousands have been evacuated with fires destroying a church and burning more than 1 h