Transcripts For MSNBCW Weekends With Alex Witt 20141004

Also in texas, Health Officials now say ten people who came in contact with mr. Duncan are at high risk for developing ebola. That is down from possibly 100. And the apartment where he stayed with his girlfriend has been decontaminated. She, her son and two nephews have been moved to a new home. A county judge who personally drove her and the family to their new place tried to reassure the public at a press conference last night. Im a married man with a little girl who will have her ninth birthday next week. Im wearing the same shirt i was when i was in the car with that family. If there are any risks, i would not expose myself or my family to that risk. But there is zero risk. These people are asymptomatic. Zero risk of that. Health officials from the federal government also say the National Response to ebola is under control. Nbcs mark potter is in dallas for us. Mark, with a good day to you, what do we expect to hear from this News Conference . Reporter well, were hopeful that we can hear more about the condition of the current patient and any other information about the procedures here that were used to bring him in and to treat him. I do have new information to pass on from the family. Its not official information. Officially Thomas Eric Duncan is still listed here in the hospital as being in serious condition. But family members in North Carolina tell us that they have learned that he is currently on a ventilator. Josefhus weeks, his nephew, said in calling to the Isolation Unit to speak to them today, mr. Weeks said he was told by the nurse in charge that mr. Duncan is intubated, on a ventilator. Thats deeply concerning to the family because on tuesday, family members say wednesday, thursday and lastly on friday morning, they were actually able to talk to him. But now theyve called and are told that he can not speak because he is on a ventilator. The family is concerned. But we dont know what that means medically. We just called the hospital for any court of clarification, guidance on that and we couldnt get through. But a spokesperson said they could only talk about his stated condition, they couldnt say anything more and that his condition would be reported later this afternoon. Thats where we are. Any reaction to the family, mr. Duncans girlfriend and the other three that have gone to this home described as in a gated community there. They have to stay quarantined for some three weeks . Reporter a total of 21 days, yes, three weeks, since they were first put under quarantine. We havent heard from them. We do know that county officials, city officials are saying they are asymptomatic. Theyve shown no signs of any problems whatsoever related to ebola. But they are being monitored carefully. Theyre in that group of ten that you were talking about earlier who are being monitored closely. The house is supposedly in a gated community. Theres a lot of acreage surrounding the house, lots of area for people to go outside. They can do that. But they have to stay close and be monitored. Theres another family in a nearby apartment complex of six people, two adults and four kids. They are in conditions that seem to be more spartan. One of our producers talked to them. They say theyre running out of food. The Health People come by once a day to check on them and their condition. Theyre not comfortable. And its a tough situation. They, too, are under this same isolation or quarantine rule. There are others as well, 40 more, a total of 50 including the ten. 40 more who are being watched because they may have had contact. So theres a group of people that are being watched. But, again, officials are saying currently none of them have shown any signs of infection, any symptoms related to ebola. But, again, they are being monitored. Officials are working really hard to assure people the city is safe, people around this area are safe and that the people that are being watched are no danger to the public. Okay, nbcs mark potter covering things from dallas for us, thank you very much for that. Joining me is dr. Amy edwards, an Infectious Disease specialist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in cleveland. Dr. Edwards, with a thank you for joining us, lets talk about the symptoms of ebola which are similar to other illnesses like the flu. How are hospitals like yours prepared to distinguish symptoms of ebola from other illnesses . On the level of symptoms, you cant really establish a difference between Something Like malaria, typhoid fever, the flu, ebola, so it really comes down to taking a very careful travel history, a very careful contact history whenever you have a patient who is exhibiting symptoms in an emergency or outpatient setting that might be concerning. We all have to be a little bit more on our toes and making sure were taking those very thorough contact and travel histories on all our sick patients right now. Dr. Edwards, the latest update we have on the ebola patient is that he is in the hospital and hes on a ventilator. What does that tell you about his case . It tells me that he is getting sicker, which is not unusual in patients with ebola virus. The virus is very aggressive. It can attack a lot of different body systems including the lungs, the kidneys, the liver, the heart. And the things that we can do are limited. We can support these body systems by using a ventilator for the lungs, by using dialysis for the kidneys but the body has to fight off the virus and repair itself. So that tells me he was probably having trouble with his oxygen levels, maybe having trouble breathing. So theyre just helping him out. And it is concerning but its not completely unexpected. Dr. Edwards, is it reasonable to suggest that the sooner one gets treatment for specifically ebola, the better chance one has at fighting it . I think thats hard to answer because there is no definitive treatment. Certainly we think with antibiotics and antiviral medicine that the earlier you get it, the better. But with ebola, its only Supportive Care that we can do. And certainly if we can keep them wellhydrated and keep their body as healthy as possible, then maybe they would have a better outcome. But we dont actually know there have been so few cases of ebola before this outbreak that there really isnt a lot of research. But it makes sense to assume that, yes, the earlier you get treatment, the better you might do. But thats hard to say. Dr. Edwards, im going to ask you to stand by, if you dont mind. Were going to have a News Conference from the cdc shortly on an update on the ebola virus and the situation here in the United States. Id like to get your reaction to that News Conference. In the meantime, were also going to hear in the n. I. H. s dr. Anthony fauci about the vast differences between our ability to tackle the crisis here in the u. S. As opposed to how its being handled in west africa. Outrage and words of retribution over the brutal murder of british aid worker alan henning, beheaded by an isis terrorist in a new video released late yesterday. Prime minister David Cameron spoke out this morning. It is abhorrent, senseless, completely unforgivable. The fact that this was a kind, gentle, compassionate and caring man whod simply gone to help others, the fact they could murder him in the way they did shows what we are dealing with and this is going to be our struggle now, that with others, we must do everything we can to defeat this organization. Joining me now from london is nbc newss kelly kobiella. [ ] he was a taxi driver who decided to go there to help out as an ambulance driver. Kelly, hold that thought. Were just being told the cdc News Conference is beginning in atlanta. Lets go there live. What is happening in atlanta, on the ground and also in the United States, we wanted to update on what has been done, what is happening in atlanta, on the ground and also address questions that have been arising and answer questions that you may have. The first case of ebola is obviously both scary and unprecedented. Ebola is a deadly disease and we know that the images from africa remind us all of the severity that ebola can cause in a community. Everything weve seen until now reinforces what weve known for the past 40 years. We know how to stop outbreaks of ebola. In this country, we have health care and Infection Control and Public Health care systems that are tried and true and will stop before theres any widespread transmission. The core of that, the way to stop ebola in its tracks is Contact Tracing and followup. And i really want to salute the folks in texas who are doing a phenomenal job of organizing their response, addressing this unprecedented situation, working in a highly structured, highly efficient and effective way and addressing the needs of the patient, the contacts and the community. It is wonderful to be working with them and we value the partnership greatly. At this point, weve been saying for a couple of days that were in the process of assessing contacts. And let me be really clear about what that involves because in Public Health, we do Contact Tracing all the time, every day around the year. Whether its for tuberculosis or a sexually transmitted disease or meningitis or measles or other things. Its core activity for us in Public Health. And in Contact Tracing we expect that there will be some adjustments, some changes from day to day, the numbers may shift by one or two from one day to the next as further interviews may identify that someone thought they had a contact and didnt or someone may remember they had a contact that wasnt initially remembered. But at this point, well give you information about what we know as of today and Going Forward each day, we will update that information. We will always have the fundamental principle that we will share with you any information that we have that you may need to know and that may be relevant for understanding the outbreak and our response to it. So as of today or as of yesterday, ill say, because today happens hour by hour an minute by minute. So well give you the information as of the end of the day yesterday. We had assessed 114 people who may or may not have had exposure to the patient. Weve done the assessments in all 114. But theres still a couple where were sorting out whether or not they are actual contacts. At this point, we have identified in conjunction with the folks on the ground in texas nine individuals who were pretty sure are definite contacts with the source patient with the index case, as we refer to him. That includes family members as well as some people in the health care profession. In addition, there are about 40 other people and the numbers may change by one or two per day that we cant rule out had contact. We dont know that they had contact. But because were not certain that they did not have contact, we will be monitoring them as well. As of yesterday, that number total was 46 and we have been able to reach and monitor the temperatures of all but one of those 46. All were normal. All were healthy. All of the nine who had definite contact, we were able to reach. So we are confident that none of those with definite contact had any symptoms related to ebola. None of them had fever. Well be watching that very closely, particularly for those nine individuals in the coming days, understanding that the peak period after exposure is about eight to ten days. But it can be as long as 21 days. So for up to 21 days after exposure, well be monitoring all of those roughly 50 people and any others if we identify other contacts and providing the information daily on the proportion that we have reached and the status of any individuals and whether or not they are ill. That group of 50 does include some individuals who traveled in the ambulance after the index patient. And when we reviewed with the ambulance staff all of the details there, we couldnt be 100 certain that other people in that ambulance may not subsequently, other patients may not have been exposed. And therefore those individuals, although theyre not considered to be definite contacts, will also be monitored for the 21day period. In addition to Contact Tracing, i just want to mention two other issues before turning it over to our colleagues in texas. First, the issue of other cases in the u. S. As we anticipated, the arrival of the first ebola patient in the u. S. Has really increased attention to what Health Workers need to do in this country to be alert and ensure that a travel history is taken and that if people have fever and a travel history or other symptoms that are consistent with ebola and that travel history is very specific. Were you in these three west african countries in the past 21 days . And in that case, we would, of course, do rapid testing. If that testing is negative, we actually repeat the test if its a highrisk patient or a highprobability patient after 72 hours, unless its become clear that thats not their illness because it can take 72 hours for someone whos being tested to test positive. We have already gotten well over 100 inquiries of possible patients. Weve assessed every one of those with state and local Health Departments, with local Health Departments and hospitals. And just this one patient has tested positive. Weve helped a dozen laboratories around the u. S. Do highquality ebola testing so that that testing doesnt all have to come to us here at cdc and can be done more rapidly as is being done in austin, texas. And we expect that we will see more rumors or concerns or possibilities of cases until there is a positive Laboratory Test that is what they are, rumors and concerns and in fact we want to see more concern. But we want that to be appropriate. We want the concern to be for someone who has symptoms, fever and who has traveled to guinea, sierra leone or liberia in the last 21 days. Were also looking at this point at people from nigeria but we think transmission there and the two cities that had transmission has ended. In addition, i know there have been a lot of concerns about the process of monitoring people when they come into this country. And i just want to make a couple of key points about that. The first is that our number one priority is the safety of americans. Full stop. Second, that we need to look at different suggestions that are being made. Weve seen a lot of suggestions made in the media, by the public, by members of congress. And were going to take a hard look at that and were quite open to seeing what can be done to ensure that if there are ways to reduce the risk, we implement them and implement them well. We also, i do believe, have to recognize that we are all connected. And although we might wish we could seal ourselves off from the world, there are americans who have the right of return, there are many other people who have the right to enter into this country and that were not going to be able to get to zero risk no matter what we do unless and until we control the outbreak in west africa. And thats what were working very intensively to do. And were beginning to see some progress there. But its going to be a long, hard road. And finally, in terms of the entry process, we really need to be clear that we dont inadvertently increase the risk to people in this country by making it harder for us to respond to the needs in those countries by making it harder for us to get assistance in and therefore those outbreaks would become worse, go on longer and paradoxically something we did to try to protect ourselves might actually increase our risk. Ill end with just one example along those lines from the time that i was in liberia. The African Union is quite willing to send hundreds of Health Workers in to help fight the outbreak in these countries. And they today have folks on the ground caring for patients. And thats a terrific development. But their ability to get there was delayed by about a week because their flight was canceled and they were stuck in a neighboring country. So that neighboring country has taken senegal had taken that action to try to protect themselves. But that action ended up making it harder to stop the outbreak in liberia and elsewhere and potentially increased the risk to that country. So, number one, to protect americans but not to do things that might inadvertently make it harder to protect americans. Ill stop there and Barbara Reynolds will introduce the next speakers. Were listening to dr. Tom frieden, the director of the cdc. And they are introducing, i believe, dr. David lakey, the commissioner of the Texas Department of health to be followed by judge Clay Lewis Jenkins of Dallas County, texas. We are certainly moernitoring that. Dr. Frieden said, we are all connected here. The fact is we cannot guarantee 100 success here in the United States despite our efforts here on behalf of the cdc and everyone here to help americans first, to make sure that we dont have any ebola come anymore into this country. You cant do it until things have been conquered in those three west african nations. He did interestingly say that there are after 114 people being assessed as possibly coming into contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the man in dallas who is currently suffering from ebola, only nine have been established as definite contacts. Those being family members and Health Care Officials who actually treated him firsthand. There are another approximately 40 or so now that they cannot rule out coming into some level of contact. All these people, the nine as well as the potential 40, have been cleared at this point of any kind of symptoms. Theyre asymptomatic at this point. But they will be followed up on a daily basis to make sure they dont develop fever, chills, temperatures, nausea, those kinds of indicators of ebola virus. Were going to go right now and listen to dr. David lakey, the commissioner of the Texas Department of health. Lets take a listen. A lot of work taking place to refine those numbers, make sure that all the information is accurate. That takes a lot of discussion with individuals and meticulous analysis that is taking place. Looking at any way that anybody could have been exposed to this initial individual. The other work that were doing here in dallas right now is making contingency plans. Making sure that if something happens, that were ready for those type of events, whether if another individual becomes ill, how would the individual be cared for . A variety of things that could happen, making sure we have those type of plans in place for this situation right now thats going on in dallas. Were doing everything we can do. A lot of folks working really hard to make sure that everything that we can do to ensure the publics safety is taking place. So, again, echoing some of the comments of dr. Frieden, Public Health work is taking place using practices that have been developed over many, many years that have been successful in containing a wide variety of other Infectious Diseases and those plans are being implemented here in dallas. Triedandtrue measures that have been shown to be able to control Infectious Diseases. And, again, we look forward to working with our partners throughout the federal, state and local areas. Thank you. Thank you, dr. Lakey. Our final speaker is Dallas County judge Clay Lewis Jenkins. Judge jenkins . Thank you. Yesterday, i moved louise and three brave young men from their apartment in dallas to a secure location that was provided by a member of the Faith Community on a request from me that was followed up by mayor mack rawlings. Mayor rawlings and i visited with i drove the family to their new temporary home, which is a place where i would put my own family and be happy if the person in my position put my family if i were in mr. Duncans situation and my family were in lieu weez and the three young mens situation. Just to give you a feel for the situation on the ground, louise and those other three individuals who have not been identified are brave, good people who are concerned about the Public Health and obviously concerned about their own health. Its important to remember for the public to remember that the people who are being monitored are people just like your family. Theres a lot of not because of the media, but theres a lot of misinformation and erroneous fear along with the real information and understandable Public Health concern. But the people that are being monitored are real people, too, who need your prayers and are handling this in a very brave way. Our First Responders, our county and City Employees have acted heroically. Those individuals have heard a lot of the same misinformation that members of the public have. Ive even had First Responders who have no medical training expressing concern for me yesterday before i got into the truck and having to get the medical staff to explain to them theres zero risk to me to help this family. So were doing what we can here to keep you safe, not just locally here with our 2. 5 Million People in Dallas County, but to keep this from spreading and to keep you safe nationally. We are working together seamlessly. It is a very fluid situation, and so we continue to improve both in capability and communication on a quarterhourly basis. And were going to do everything necessary and remove any obstacles to keep you safe. Thank you for your support and your help in getting the Accurate Information out to the public. That concludes a cdc briefing there. Dr. Tom frieden, director of the cdc started out. Then dr. David lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of health followed by dr. Clay jenkins, a judge there in dallas, texas. I want to return to dr. Amy edwards from university Case Medical Center in cleveland. I think his situation is the most unique and interesting. This is an elected official there in Dallas County who literally himself drove the woman he identifies as louise, the partner of mr. Duncan whos current in the hospital, and three other male youths that he said were brave souls. Hes pretty brave, too. He took a situation, drove them to this house where theyre being isolated for 21 days. Talk about that and the message that his actions send. How do you interpret that . I think that the message that he sends and that hes sending with these actions is that when a patient is asymptomatic, there really is no risk. Thats something weve all been trying to reiterate over and over again. But this disease is so scary that understandably a lot of people in the public arent hearing that message. So he took some very bold action and put his money where his mouth is, as the saying goes, and showed that there really is no risk to Contact People who do not currently have symptoms. Yeah. And can it go underscored, the amount of responsibility, lets say, that the media has, in addition to Health Professionals like yourselves, to get to information out there . Information is power. There is a lot of misinformation out there, so the fact that we are spending so much time on ebola, this is a very, very dangerous virus. But it can be contained with the proper treatment, correct . Absolutely. I think you said it correctly, we have a responsibility to get the information out there because it is a scary virus and its just not something that the American Public has had to deal with before. And so the amount of fear and anxiety is completely understandable. But we have to combat that fear and anxiety with the proper information. Dr. Amy edwards, thank you for helping us deliver the proper information. Coming up ahead, tense moments at Harvard University after hundreds of students receive a threatening email overnight. We have new information from the investigators coming your way next. I have the worst cold with this runny nose. I better take something. Dayquill cold and flu doesnt treat your runny nose. Seriously . Alkaseltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms plus your runny nose. Oh, what a relief it is. Then a little time to kick back. Earn double Hilton Honors points with the 2 x points package and be one step closer to a weekend break. Doubletree by hilton. Where the Little Things mean everything. Trying to mislead you about the effects of proposition 46. Well heres the truth 46 will save lives. It will save money too. Im bob pack, and im fighting for prop 46 because i lost my two children to preventable medical errors and i dont want anyone else to lose theirs. The three provisions in 46 will reduce medical errors and protect patients. Save money and save lives. Yes on 46. Welcome back to weekends with alex witt. An emotional plea from a desperate mother and father, the parents of peter kassig, the kidnapped american aid worker threatened in the latest isis propaganda video, have released a video Statement Today asking for mercy for their son. Our son is abdul raqman, formerly known as peter. We implore his captors to use their power to let our son go. Dear son, we hope you will see this message from me and your father. We are so very proud of you and the work you have done to bring humanitarian aid to the syrian people. Joining me now, nbcs kelly c cobiella in london. We only hope those holding him are listening. Reporter the same for the family of alan henning, who was latest shown on the isis video being murdered yesterday, that video being released yesterday. The henning family is griefstricken today, numb. Friends, family, aid volunteers all speaking out about this today, as well as imams in this country all condemning the killing. Hennings wife said in a statement that she and her family are absolutely devastated. They said, this is the news we hoped to never hear. Alan was a decent, caring human being, his interest was in the welfare of others and he will be remembered for what he did for the syrian people, for what he achieved and the people he helped. Family and religious leaders, some very conservative, appealed for henning to be freed in the past week and weeks. And today the leading imam in manchester condemned the killing calling it an insult to islam. Of course, now we know all of those pleas went unanswered. Henning was kidnapped in december of last year while in syria helping to distribute aid. Today a fellow aid worker who was with henning on that mission said that the British Government could have done more to save him. He said that voting to join u. S. Air strikes a week ago may have sealed hennings fate, alex, and hennings brotherinlaw actually echoed that today. Which is exactly what isis is hoping for, that that sentiment will permeate society. Thats what theyre putting out there. Thank you very much, kelly. Back in the u. S. Now, Voter Registration in ferguson, missouri, has surged since the Police Shooting death of Michael Brown. More than 3,000 people have registered to vote since august 9th. Residents are calling it a wakeup call in a city where five of Six Council Members are white while 70 of the population is africanamerican. Joining me from st. Louis is usa todays reporter whos been covering the fergusonrelated stories. We welcome you. Did this come about organically or has there been a coordinated drive to register people . I think in some cases it came about organically. I talked to a man who said he started registering people to vote after seeing Michael Browns body on the ground for four hours. He said it was natural for him to want to register people to vote. He said later on he got a booth and talked to the naacp who said theyve teamed up with some fraternities and sororities. Its a concerted effort by people to change the political structure of ferguson. So i think now you see people kind of organizing and saying, im going to have a booth from this time to this time. In terms of changing things, voter turnout in ferguson in the past has been pretty low. The 2013 municipal election, just 12 of eligible voters cast a ballot, which was up from 2012 when 9 turned out. What do you think has been driving this, though . Can you directly point to ferguson and the shooting of Michael Brown . I think so. I think that i asked for the numbers from august 9th, 2014, because i wanted to know not just how the numbers are going. I wanted to know how have the numbers been going since all the protests, since Michael Brown lost his life. This was just the numbers for the window of time when the protests began. So i think thats huge. The idea is you had 3,287 voters registered that are just ferguson residents and you had only about 4,800 for all of st. Louis county. This is a huge chunk of the new voters that are registering in st. Louis county. So i think it definitely is directly related to the shooting of Michael Brown. Yeah, thanks for putting the numbers in perspective there. The 3,000 versus the 4,700 that had been there. As you well know, theres a long history of Voter Registration as a means of civil rights progress in this country. Will this have an impact on the alienation that so many have described feeling . I think so. I talked to a lot of people and asked them the question, how is Voter Registration going to change the conditions that you think created Michael Browns death . And they said, we really want people to understand that we matter and that our concerns matter and that any politician that comes into ferguson is going to have to ask us, what do you think about police brutality, what do you think about racial profiling . So i think people think if they change their leaders, if they get a county executive that understands what the Africanamerican Community in ferguson cares about, then their issues will matter and things will change. I think they really think that the police and the alienation that they feel when they have these encounters with the police and the alienation they feel with having a political structure that is largely white, they think thats really going to change if they register to vote and really turn out. Thanks so much. The secret service is cleaning up its act. But does the buck stop with Julia Piersons resignation . Some say no. Thats ahead. So now weve turned her toffee into a business. My goal was to take an idea and make it happen. Im janet long and i formed my Toffee Company through legalzoom. I never really thought i would make money doing what i love. We created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. Go to legalzoom. 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When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. Jeh johnson says he will name the members of the secret service independent review board in a matter of days. Secretary johnson discussed what he expects from the panel tasked with reviewing the current spate of security failures. I do believe we need to ask the hard questions. The secret service has never been the subject of an outside, independent review. Its an organization that needs to have the unqualified confidence of the president , the congress and the public. And the american people. To do its mission. Joining me now, democratic congresswoman eleanor holmesnorton, member of the oversight and government reform committee. Welcome, maam, nice to see you. My pleasure, alex. Youre well aware that department of Homeland Security is a massive unit. Its 250,000 people strong. Do you still have confidence in a bureaucracy like the department of Homeland Security to handle such a Critical Agency as the secret service, given this size . Well, i dont think the problem is where the secret service is located. I think it is what jeh johnson, the secretary, just said. And isnt it amazing to hear that theres an organization thats more than 150 years old thats never had an outside review . Its been treated like a secret society. I think we assume that since they have responsibility for the president and since we always saw them doing their job, since we saw them as heroes, they must be all right, the responsibilities certainly with the congress as well, which had made that assumption. It seems clear that this is an oldfashioned organization, a 20th century secret service. If it could not handle one mentally ill veteran who got over a fence, can they possibly assure us that they can handle a coordinated attack when seven or eight try to get over the fence and get into the white house . I doubt it. Thats why we need an informed, really outside review, people who have nothing to do with the secret service who can tell us whats really going on. The last straw, alex, for the Personnel Matter and the fact that we had to have some changes there and the secrecy of the organization is that at the hearing that we had last week and even when we went into secret session, the director did not tell us about the incident in the elevator where the president was in the elevator with an armed person. Now, when that doesnt even come out in a secret session of congress, this secret Service Takes its secret part much too seriously. So i guess next question in terms of the resignations, does the buck stop with Julia Pierson . Do the repercussions have to go higher up the chain . Or are you willing to be patient and wait till the results of the independent review . I think that congress has to sit back and say what it doesnt know, which is almost nothing. Alex, youve heard of gao reports. Have you ever heard of a gao report, which pries open an agency . I think most of us would be talking out of left and right field if we tried to secondguess what we now dont know. In fact, frankly, im anxious to know something about the secret service. Is the secret service fit to take care of the first family and the president . Have we had too much confidence in the secret service . Has the department of Homeland Security ever looked at the secret service . Why not . Well, i think what youre going to see now is not only this outside review but periodic oversight of the secret service. If something happened to the president , that would be like something happening to the country itself. In addition, maam, there is always the fear of an assassination attempt on the president. That fear is much higher now given that president obama is our first africanamerican president. There was a New York Times article this week. It was printed on tuesday written by peter baker in which it quoted some of your congressional leagues who have said that their africanamerican constituents have come to them and expressed concerns that this president is not being protected as well. Have you heard comments like that from your constituents . The Africanamerican Community is astounded by the criticism of the president. There has been greater fear in that community which feels a special closeness to the president. But we dont have any reason to believe that the secret service would be taking this matter anything but seriously. I can tell you that according to the reports at the beginning, this president had had three times the number of threats of any president before him. But those have subsided. And i think we ought to take some comfort in the fact that those have subsided and give some credit to the secret service. Were not saying the secret service is falling apart. Were not saying that theyre not doing its job. We are saying that we saw them not doing their job when the door was not even locked, where nobody could stop this veteran, when there were bullets fired into the residence and it took a staff member, not the secret service, to uncover it. Is that systematic . Were those unusual events . We need the outside, totally independent investigator to tell us the truth. That last one you were talking about remains one of the more shocking situations. Four days later basically, a housekeeper there at the white house found 97,000 worth of damage to the residence. Shocking. Very good to speak with you as always, congresswoman. Thank you. My pleasure. Back to the other big story of the day. The arrival of ebola in the United States. The message from the white house and government officials has been loud and clear, dont panic when it comes to the outbreak in west africa. It seems like calls for concern, though, cant get loud enough. This week, Time Magazine tracks the disease on both fronts. The editor at large joins us. David, thank you so much for being here. As youre aware, right now, Thomas Eric Duncans family is isolated, effectively quarantined for another couple of weeks at least. In your article, you write about how the isolate, van cass and observe protocol has been a successful strategy in nigeria and senegal where outbreaks of ebola were extinguished this year. But you add, it is only as good as the frontline caregivers who are the point of the spear. And in dallas, the spear should have been a bit sharper. Why dont you expand on that . With every new detail we learn, it seems that cant be stressed enough. Yeah. The most proven way to knock down potential epidemic disease like this is to immediately identify patients when they present to their primary caregivers, whether thats a doctor in the office or a doctor in an emergency room. Isolate the patient and then figure out who theyve been in contact with and keep an eye on them, potentially isolate them. That works. Its the Gold Standard for dealing with highly contagious disease. In dallas, mr. Duncan presented on a friday. He mentioned that he had traveled to the United States from africa and there was no followup to determine that in fact he came from liberia, which is one of the hot spots of the ebola epidemic. And he was presenting symptoms of early ebola which then over the weekend blew up into the fullblown disease. And now we have people scrambling all over dallas trying to identify those that came in contact with mr. Duncan. So if there had been better communication on that friday, he would have contacted fewer people while he was contagious. This would be a smaller outbreak. I think its right that we dont need to panic about whats going on in texas. But i hope that this will elevate the level of attention to whats going on in west africa where this disease is in danger of blowing up into a pandemic. I want to big up on what the Dallas Morning News said today. Instead of sending a blood specimen for immediate testing for ebola, as suggested by the guidelines from the cdc, local Health Officials spent the next 24 hours doing other bloodwork and trying to rule out other causes. If you put this in perspective, this is the fourth largest metro areas in this country. One of four cities to carry out ebola diagnostic testing. If these mistakes are happening in dallas, human error, as simple as it may be, what does that say about our readiness on a national level, if it can come down to lack of communication between nurses and doctors that this man had traveled from liberia . Right. It says that we were not ready. It says that we have grown complacent about this very dangerous disease, ebola, which has been cropping up from time to time on the african continent and weve successfully knocked it down each of those times. And it hasnt come into europe, into the United States. But as we always say, this is now a highly interconnected world where problems in one place can become problems every place. And we need to raise our game. We need to realize that the patient in the emergency room in dallas on a friday could have been in monrovia taking an ebola sufferer to the hospital two days earlier. We have to pay closer attention. David, thank you so much. Thank you. What the lolive garden says about the middle class. Apology accepted. Im watching you soup people. Make it progresso or make it yourself. Oh boy, this always happeyoure clean. Ther. You got that right bam just gotta check your bag. Huh, charmin ultra strong. Youre cleaner than i thought. Charmin ultra strong cleans so much better it meets even his highest standards of clean. With a soft duraclean texture, charmin ultra strong is 4 times stronger. And you can use up to 4x less. Are you good to go hun . Cleaner than ever. Rotorooter approved. Charmin is clogfree or its free. 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 . The september jobs report is in. The Unemployment Rate fell to 5. 9 last month, the lowest level since july 2008. That decline was driven in part by a steady stream of hiring. 248,000 new jobs added. In his speech at Northwestern University this week, president obama addressed the gains that had been made since the recession and the difficulties which remain. So it is indisputable that our economy is stronger today than when i took office by every economic measure, we are better off now than we were when i took office. At the same time, its also indisputable that millions of americans dont yet feel enough of the benefits of a growing economy where it matters most, and thats in their own lives. Joining me now is annie lowery, Economic Policy writer for new york magazine. This unemployment number gets all the headlines. But interestingly, you write in your latest piece that its become less and less relevant. Why is that and whats your read of this jobs report . Its become less relevant because there are a lot of workers sitting on the sidelines of the economy who if the recovery got a little bit better, if hiring picked up, would probably flush in. Thats one reason. The other reason is that to a certain extent even the workers who are working, theyre not seeing raises. They are not theyre still very scared. Theyre not leaving their jobs. And their incomes arent growing. And this has become in some sense, if not a bigger problem, at least as big a problem, given that thats affecting a whole tens of millions of families. And so its just that that 5. 9 rate is great news, not to say it was a bad report. But a lot of families have other concerns than unemployment. Theyre not feeling their pocketbooks growing. Still economically timid. You make the point that even the Federal Reserve chairman, janet yellen, she makes a lot of statements. People who lose their jobs and say, were not going to get back in it theres a big demographic shift happening thats going to drive that rate down. Thats the baby boomers retiring. So theyre leaving the labor force and heading into retirement. But even if you just look at prime age workers, the Labor Force Participation rate is going down there and its especially going down for men. And theres a feeling the slack economy and the fact that wages arent growing, the fact that jobs remain pretty difficult to get is forcing men out of the labor force. Theyre increasingly going on programs like disability. And theyre just kind of increasingly not working. And thats really, really troubling, especially for those prime age male workers. Getting back to what the president said at northwestern on thursday, he noted that Many Americans arent feeling the benefits of the recovering economy. You wrote about this in an article that is about olive garden, the restaurant chain. What can neverending pasta bowls tell us about the middle class . Olive garden is having a lot of problems and a lot of those have to do with its own business and its own business practices. Theres currently a hedge fund thats trying to replace the board at olive garden and drive it in a very different Strategic Direction that put out this report revealing a lot of their noncompetitive practices. One thing that a lot of hay got made of is they dont salt their pasta water and that they overcook their pasta. But on top of that, that entire retail sector, the stores you see in malls, the middle market, sitdown restaurants that offer affordable meals like olive garden, red lobster, all these businesses are having huge problems. Its because the middle class are so squeezed. They arent spending more money on things like meals out because they havent seen wage growth in decades. So thats kind of the macroeconomic factor afflicting these restaurants and these stores. Not since the 1980s, you report. Are there any policy proposals for middle class wages out there . Not specifically. Raising the minimum wage would help a lot of families. If you have somebody whos making on a salary position but not person on a perhour position, raising the minimum wage could help. But stronger growth is needed to lift that number up. There was median wage growth in the expansion of the 2000s. It just didnt get as high as it did in 1999. And right now, were hovering in real terms about where we were in 1989. So the numbers just arent great. But, yeah, a stronger economy, more generally, a more educated workforce, more exhorts, more investment and infrastructure, all these things would hell. But they tend to be fairly long term. And with congress being congress, its not passing anything that would hypothetically help these families. Annie, thank you for your help looking at this issue. Ahead, cause for concern or a sick hoax . Authorities at Harvard University investigating Death Threats sent overnight. And later, the new law in california thats expected to curb oncampus sexual assaults. Could we see more laws like it across the nation . This third shift is rough. Its just a few more weeks max what are you doing up . Its late. I just wanted to have breakast wih you. I have 40,ney do you have in your pocket right now . 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. Well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years, that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. Ebola emergency, new information from the cdc in just this past hour about the patient in texas. How authorities are trying to keep the virus from spreading. Also, a new message from the family of an american held hostage by isis, this after the terror group executes a fourth westerner. Plus, yes means yes on College Campuses. The new law in california that reexamines what consent really means. Ill talk to a student to see if she thinks it will help prevent sexual assaults. Good day to all of you. Welcome to weekends with alex witt. Lets get to whats happening right now. Breaking news on the ebola emergency. Nine people are believed to have come in direct contact with ebola patient Thomas Duncan but theyre showing no symptoms so far, according to the centers for drz control director Thomas Frieden who spoke moments ago. He says theyre still monitoring 50 people in total who may have come in some sort of contact with mr. Duncan. There are a lot of issues that have come forward with the first case in the u. S. Its definitely possible to take care of patients with ebola safely. But its not easy. And there are lots of issues from drawing blood to how blood is handled to what care is given that are quite challenging and our role is to provide support to Health Care Facilities so that they do that effectively and safely. And dr. Anthony fauci from the National Institutes of health says that the missteps of the texas hospital where mr. Duncan is being treated is a lesson for the medical industry. I spent several years in an emergency room myself. And i can tell you, i doubt if theres any emergency room or clinical physician right now today who when a person comes in and says they have symptoms that are suggestive of ebola that they wont ask them if theyve been to west africa. I cant imagine that not happening. On the one hand, its unfortunate we had this misstep. But in some respects, its a lesson learn thats going to have a positive effect. Everybodys going to be headsup about this now. Nbcs mark potter is in dallas for us. Mark with a good day, what do we know about Thomas Duncans condition right now . Reporter what we know officially from the hospital is the same as we knew yesterday, that hes in serious condition, listed in serious condition. There were some references to him at the News Conference, the basic theme is hes having a rough go. This is a tough time and that sounds like the continuation of the serious condition. However, we have heard from his family in North Carolina from a nephew specifically, josephus weeks, who says hes concerned because when he called the Isolation Unit today to speak to mr. Duncan as he has in the past, he was told by the nurse in charge that that could not happen because mr. Duncan is now intubated, he is now on a ventilator. The reason that causes concern for the family is that on tuesday, wednesday, thursday and lastly on friday morning, the family was able to speak to him. Duncan was able to speak to them. But as it turns out now, that situation has changed. And so the family is very concerned about what that means. Weve called the hospital for an explanation. We have not gotten an answer back. But this morning when we called before we learned we heard from the family, we were told all they could say right now is hes in serious condition, that they would have an update on that condition later today. And what all led to mr. Duncans girlfriend and those three youths or gentlemen, i should say, being moved to a private home, a gated community . Reporter why were they moved . They were in a very tough situation. They were in this small apartment that they had shared with mr. Duncan. So the possibility of infection was there. There was media outside. The people in the apartment complex were worried about having them there. So there were social reasons, medical reasons, humanitarian reasons to move them out. The problem was that the city and county couldnt find anyone who would take them. Finally, county Officials Say they leaned on someone that they were close to, someone in the faithbased community, as described, who had a facility in a gated Community Inside the dallas city limits with lots of acreage around the house where they can now go. Its a good facility. And theyre there now. And they can walk around. The county judge here actually drove them to the facility to the house and has been making the point that they are asymptomatic, that he has a child, that he had no fear of getting an infection from them, that they are no threat, that they are concerned about their own health but also Public Health. So they cooperated fully in making this trip. But thats why that was. They were in a tough situation and many people were questioning, how could they have stayed there all those days without being moved . And the answer being given is that at first, they couldnt find anyone who would take them, people were afraid. Okay, mark potter, thank you very much for that live report. As we continue to cover the condition of Thomas Eric Duncan and whats being done to trace and contain any potential ebola exposure he had in dallas, hospitals across the country are watching and learning. Maggie fox is a Senior Health writer at nbcnews. Com, tracking this story extensively for us. With a welcome to you, maggie, weve seen the hazmat teams cleaning the Duncan Family apartment. We have a picture to show you from the nbc news website that shows the car in which he was transported to the hospital. That car now wrapped up in plastic. Lets talk about the precautions being taken inside the hospital. What do you know about that . Well, its all very frightening to see these kinds of precautions being taken and to hear with one ear that you have to wrap up a car in plastic and with the others, officials are telling us the virus isnt going to spread and the public isnt at risk. Hospitals know what strict precautions they have to take to keep any Infectious Disease from spreading. And there are wellknown protocols for containing ebola. What will be happening in the hospital where mr. Duncan is is mostly protective gear for the personnel. Hell be isolated. Hell be kept away from other patients. Any of the hospital workers who come in and come in contact with him, like a nurse or technician who has to draw blood, like a physician, will be fully gowned and gloved. Theyll be covered from head to toe. Theyll have something over their eyes to keep fluids from splashing in their eyes. Theyll be wearing two pairs of gloves, wearing something on their feet. Theyll be covered from head to toe. Those precautions are usually considered adequate to keep ebola from infecting anyone else. Its not an airborne virus. When you think ebola, think wet stuff. Think large amounts of blood, vomit, diarrhea, large pools of sweat. Those are where the dangers are. And if the hospital can keep those things from coming in contact with anybody or anybody coming into contact with these kinds of fluids, theyll have the situation under control. Maggie, what about patients who present symptoms of ebola that walk into any hospital across the country . Is just any hospital capable of taking the proper containment measures . Thats what the cdc tells us. Now, of course, its kind of hard for people to believe that when they hear about the mistake that happened at the hospital in dallas. The patient, as everybody now knows, came in, said he was sick, said he had a fever, said he came from liberia. That should have set off a red light. He should have been whisked into isolation immediately before any further testing was done. As we know, that didnt happen. That said, the cdc says, you know what, now everybody really does know that. And any hospital should be able to isolate him. You dont need a special negative pressure room. You need just the facilities that any hospital should have for keeping a sick patient away from others because, again, ebola doesnt spread in any ways that arent understood. Its body fluids. And if you can just keep a patient in a room where theyre not in contact with anyone else and if all the staffers know what gear to wear, yes, any hospital should be able to deal with this. You talk about negative pressure room, thats part of the ventilation system where the air can come into the room but doesnt go back out. Youre saying they dont necessarily need that kind of special room . Thats not needed with ebola. Ebola is not airborne. Again, people are really scared because its a frightening virus thats killing half the people who get it. But it doesnt spread in any mysterious ways. Flu, measles, smallpox, those diseases all did spread or do spread through the air and in ways you cant see. Ebola is not like that. It has to be in a warm liquid like blood, vomit, like somebodys diarrhea. As long as youre not in contact with that, youre not in any danger. Nbc news Senior Health writer maggie fox, thanks so much. Well have a lot more on the Ebola Outbreak ahead for you. Ill speak with a doctor about these latest revelations from the cdc and separate fact from fiction about the virus coming up at the bottom of the hour. Meantime, a new message today from the family of an american being held captive by isis militants. The parents of peter kassig pled for their sons life in a new video they released just a short time ago. We implore his captors to show mercy and use their power to let our son go. Please know that we are all praying for you and your safe return. Most of all, know that we love you and our hearts ache for you to be granted your freedom so we can hug you again. Kassig appears live at the end of a new video released by isis. That same video shows the execution of british aid worker alan henning. Joining me here in studio is nbcs ayman mohyeldin. Isis threatens to kill peter kassig at the end of this video. What details do we know about peter . We know he was a former u. S. Soldier, had served in iraq in 2004 when he enlisted in 2004 and 2007. When he was discharged from the military, he took it upon himself to start a Relief Agency to help syrians and began taking in Emergency Relief Supplies into syrian territory, particularly in an area where we believe he was taken ultimately. Not sure if at the time he was taken by isis fighters or perhaps other groups that ultimately sold him to isis as weve seen in the past. But one of the more disturbing things is i actually saw peter on one of his trips in beirut and had lunch with him before he went to syria. So this is a bit of a personal connection and a troubling one. Did peter express concern at all for his safety when you had lunch . At the time we were with a group of journalists and we all expressed our concern that he was taking these reliefs into syria. Mostly because he was doing it on his own. And we knew his background, that he had been an american soldier. We actually advised him against doing it in the way that he was doing it. But he assured us that he was working with a network of people that he trusted, that he was not going to be spending a lot of time in there. But it seems that unfortunately luck ran out. Yeah. Four westerners now beheaded in the most gruesome way on video. And we see it. Why does isis persist in doing this . What is their point that theyre trying to make by doing this . What do they hope to accomplish . I think theyre trying to send a disturbing message to the western countries leading this coalition. In this case, with the beheading of a British National again today, i think the message was directed towards the uk government, that they are trying to deter them from taking further action in iraq and in syria against isis. I think theyre trying to scare the public, scare the governments from further action saying they are willing to demonstrate this kind of cold calculation. Essentially when you look at the messages theyre sending out along with the videos, they are saying that this is in direct response to u. S. Military and british involvement. Ayman mohyeldin, thanks for joining us here in studio. Were going to go to the weather. A fourday heat wave is sizzling southern california. Today is expected to be the hottest yet with temps reaching as high as 106 degrees. The weather channels keith carson is here with that forecast. Thanks, alex. Cool across the northeast. Trough digging down allowing the cool air to move in. But the bigger story is going to be the rain. Moisture coming in on the east side of this system. The front driving in. So showers, rain today. Just a lot of clouds. Even when its not raining, going to be an unsettled day from boston down to new york city up in through parts of maine. Thats how its going to be continuing through the evening. The heaviest rain will move through boston tonight. And then in through maine later on this evening. But the good news is you will get clearing through philadelphia, through new york city. If youre out later on tonight, the rain will be over, start to clear out and set us up for a fantastic day on sunday. Today, about an inch or so of rain. Maybe 2 inches in the higher terrain in maine, New Hampshire and vermont. After that, temperatures stay cool, not only today but tomorrow as well. So even though were going to see the sunshine on the back end of this system, temperatures still in the low 60s. 61 in boston, 62 in new york. Keith, thanks much. A dramatic swing in Voter Registration in ferguson, missouri. What tangible effects we could see from this increase coming your way next. Il cold and flu ls dont unstuff your nose. Really . Alkaseltzer plus night rushes relief to eight symptoms of a full blown cold including your stuffy nose. breath of relief oh, what a relief it is. Thanks. Anytime. Today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about longacting levemir®, an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. And levemir® helps lower your a1c. Levemir® is now available in flextouch® the only prefilled insulin pen with no pushbutton extension. Levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration. Thats 50 longer than lantus®, which lasts 28 days. Today, im asking about levemir® flextouch. female announcer levemir® is a longacting insulin, used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes and is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not use levemir® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause symptoms such as sweating, shakiness, confusion, and headache. 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It will save money too. Im bob pack, and im fighting for prop 46 because i lost my two children to preventable medical errors and i dont want anyone else to lose theirs. The three provisions in 46 will reduce medical errors and protect patients. Save money and save lives. Yes on 46. Officials in st. Louis county are looking into allegations of misconduct involving the grand jury in the Michael Brown shooting investigation all stemming from this tweet sent out this week saying, quote, i know someone sitting on the grand jury of this case. There isnt enough at this point to warrant an arrest. The grand jury is tasked with determining whether a crime was committed in the august 9th incident when an officer shot unarmed teen Michael Brown. Joining me now is ben jealous. Ben, good to see you. Glad youre here to talk about this. The author of this twitter account said she did not send out this tweet. Overall, whats your reaction to this . I think its a real concern. Who knows if she did it or not . Seems odd somebodys twitter account would be hacked in this way. But you for now need to take her, i guess, at her word. Whats clear is that if the grand jury does not indict, we will come back to this as a factor. The crowds and the protesters will come back to this as a factor and will point to this. As a sign that things did not go the right way. That the process was infected in some way. Heres something thats interesting. Ferguson, as you know, is experiencing a Voter Registration surge. In fact, more than 3,000 people have signed up to vote since Michael Brown was killed on august 9th. In ferguson, five of the six city Council Members are white. 76 of the population are africanamerican. What kind of tangible changes could come from this voter increase . This is a very good sign. This is people saying we need to make democracy work for us. When we arent involved, when we let somebody else choose whos in control of our community, things apparently dont go so well. What you see in ferguson is what happens when, quite frankly, you have people in power who dont actually represent werent actually put there by the people in their city. So this is a good sign, this is a sign that the people of the city intend to take their city back. Theres an oral on msnbc. Com this week titled Supreme Court could weaken Voting Rights again. How might that affect the balance of power especially in the senate . Were in a critical time. The very big picture, whats happening in our country is our country will within the next 30 years be a nation only of minorities. What does it mean . Well all be minorities. A lot of folks who are used to being in power will find themselves having to actually get along with other groups and figure out how to govern in a very different way. And the Supreme Courts right at the center of it. Their weakening of Voting Rights protections right now which theyve done in consistent and powerful ways lets people who shouldnt be in power hold onto power longer because it creates an environment in which its easier to suppress the vote. I want to ask you, ben, about a new article in the New York Times which addresses the growing concerns, specifically within the Africanamerican Community, about the secret service protecting the president. Missouri congressman Emanuel Cleaver telling the times, quote, it is something that is widespread in black circles. Ive been hearing this for some time, well, the secret service, theyre trying to expose the president , you hear a lot of that from africanamericans in particular. Im curious, have you heard similar concerns . What are people telling you . These concerns go back to the very beginning. I can recall being in springfield when he first said he was going to run and, of course, he had not been appointed secret service at that point. There were very real threats on his life. At the same time, i personally have no concern that the secret service isnt doing the best job that they can do or certainly not treating him like other president s. I was here in 94 when a cessna landed on the white house lawn and people had real concerns about the secret service back then. So the secret service is not perfect. I dont think that they are racially biased. We have a lot of black men in this country whose lives are in danger because of bias in law enforcement. The president at this point i dont think is one of them. At the same time, those concerns are real because they come from a history of people knowing that whether it was malcolm x and his guards who seemed not to be there taking care of him or was the fbi who was not protecting dr. King the way they should have at that time, there is a history here and theres a reason that people have these concerns. But i would say they have more to do with the past than the present with regard to the president. With regard to what is coming, department of Homeland Security jeh johnson saying theres going to be an external independent review of the secret service. Are you confident that will result in palpable changes that will help improve secret service . Certainly. We all need the secret service to function. They have not been functioning up to par. I dont think thats because of the president s race. Its because of something thats happening inside of the secret service and that needs to be taken care of. Jeh johnson is on the job. He will make sure this president is protected. Thats what you would hope to hear from one . Jeh johnsons job right now. Ben, thanks very much. The anger simmering on the streets of hong kong as protesters stage another massive defiant rally. Watch this. Sam always gives you the good news in person, bad news in email. Good news fedex has flat rate shipping. Its called fedex one rate. And its affordable. Sounds great. [ cell phone typing ] [ typing continues ] [ whoosh ] [ cell phones buzz, chirp ] and we have to work the weekend. Great. More good news its friday woo [ male announcer ] ship a pak via Fedex Express saver® for as low as 7. 50. [ male announcer ] ship a pak via Fedex Express saver® your customers, our financing. Your aspirations, our analytics. Your goals, our technology. Introducing synchrony financial, bringing new meaning to the word partnership. Banking. Loyalty. Analytics. Synchrony financial. Enagage with us. Police at Harvard University are stepping up their presence on campus today despite early indications that Death Threats sent to 500 students were likely a hoax. Campus police doubt the credibility of the emails they believe were sent from overseas reportedly to mostly asian women. Students had mixed reactions to the news of a possible threat. Its very scary. But we dont know what tomorrow is going to bring. Dont have too much concern. Im sure the Harvard University Police Department will manage it very effectively. In addition to heightened security, Harvard Police say they will continue to aid the fbi in its investigation. Meantime, thousands of protesters in hong kong have taken to the streets overnight chancing democracy now in the threats of warnings of a government crackdown. It follows yesterdays violent brawl. Joining me from hong kong is nbcs ian williams. Reporter thousands back out on the streets of hong kong this evening, in spite of overnight attacks on some protesters, attacks that continued this morning in one area of this city. Unidentified men wearing surgical masks burst through barricades, pushing, shoving and assaulting some protesters, which left several injured. Protest leaders have described them as hired thugs, sent in to try and intimidate the protesters. The police themselves appear to confirm that today by saying that several of those arrested last night for attacking the protesters had links with organized crime. The triads. Now, as a result of those attacks, the students say they will no longer meet for talks with the hong kong government. Theyre still demanding that hong kongs leader, its chief executive, resign, although hes showing no sign of doing that. Theyre also threatening to step up the protests, to start occupying government buildings and a large crowd this evening is outside hong kong Leaders Office just a short distance from here. Harder to say, though, precisely where this protest goes. But certainly if the purpose of last nights violence was to intimidate the protesters, that hasnt happened. Back to you. Ian williams, thank you very much for that update. New information just in this past hour about the ebola emergency. Ill speak with a doctor about these latest revelations from the cdc next. Your pocket right now . I have 40, 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. Well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years, that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. Started using gain flings,fe their laundry smells more amazing than ever. sniff honey, isnt that the dogs towel . dog noise hey, mi towel, su towel. More scent plus oxi boost and febreze. Its ou best gain ever i thought itd be bigger. dad theres nothing i cant reach in my subaru. vo introducing the allnew subaru outback. Love. Its what makes a subaru,a subaru. Welcome back to weekends with alex witt. Its now 34 minutes past the hour. Time for your fast five headlines. South korean media has reported that pyongyang has agreed to a second round of talks. Authorities in pennsylvania found more clues in the case of a survivalist accused of killing a state trooper three weeks ago. Searchers found a campsite that appeared to have been abandoned quickly by eric frein. The site had food and ammunition. Researchers believe it was a great white shark which attacked a surfer off the coast of california. It happened thursday. The shark bit a 28yearold mans knee leaving him with puncture marks. Three beaches in the area are closed until tomorrow as a result. The flight 93 National Memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania, is open today less than 24 hours after a fire destroyed three nearby buildings at the headquarters. Officials are trying to determine what sparked the fire. And the head of the faa toured the Chicago Air Traffic Control Center that was sabotaged by a fire last week. He said everything is on target to restore air traffic back to normal conditions by october 13th. Those are your fast five headlines. New developments from the family of the texas ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan remains in Critical Condition in a texas hospital but his nephew tells nbc news that his uncle is on a ventilator. More reassurances from federal Health Officials. Cdc has done two broad things. One is to work within the affected countries to strengthen exit screening there with thermometer screening as well as questionnaires and visual inspection of individuals. That screening alone since we began it has resulted in 77 people not boarding airplanes who had attempted to board, including 17 in the month of september. Nothing that we would have done either in liberia or in the u. S. Would have changed the course of the Current Situation because he did not have symptoms during the time that he was boarding or until four days after he had landed. Joining me now is dr. Natalie azar, a rheumatologist at nyu langone medical center. With regard to the conference there that you heard those details, in addition the fact that there are about 50 people who are being monitored regularly, those nine who came in direct contact with the patient, another 40 or so they believe may have had some contact. Right. Whats your takeaway of the situation this morning . Theyre doing the appropriate thing. The number seems to be getting lower as the days go on. Theyre going to quarantine and monitor those patients for 21 days with fever checks twice a day. The number of nine in close contact with the patient is actually a very manageable number. This is the prime example of how with knowledge and education and awareness, we can contain this. This is one case. This is very, very different from whats happening in liberia on many levels. And the fact that mr. Duncan is on a ventilator, what does that tell you about his current status . Not knowing the details of the case, a ventilator could mean there just needs to be some respiratory support, that theres been some respiratory compromise. That isnt shocking and it could be just precautionary. Sometimes it means the heart and lungs have failed. Not knowing the exact details and what led to him being intubated, i cant comment specifically on how critically ill he is. But i wouldnt say thats necessarily the worst signal for us right now. Does it stand at all to reason that the sooner a patient whose battling the ebola virus is treated for ebola the better off that patient will be . 100 . Not talking about medical or pharmacologic intervention. We dont have medicines. This is just experimental that were doing, zmapp, et cetera. Were talking about a patient who develops symptoms and presents to the hospital immediately. If the patient is going into renal failure, they can start supporting the kidney function, clotting abnormalities, giving clotting factors. This is basic Supportive Care. And in western industrialized nations, we take these kinds of things for granted, which is why the fatality rate drops dramatically in facilities and areas capable of handling a pathogen like this. Does the u. S. Military support in west africa, does that reassure you that officials over there are going to be able to control this virus . Its personnel and its bodies. And we do need that. If were talking about the whole idea of containing this epidemic via Contact Tracing, certainly i think our u. S. Military can go from home to home, if theyre properly protected and measure fevers and get the word out that way. It doesnt you dont this does not require the highest level of training, lets say, to do that kind of groundwork. Its such a lowtech lost the word. Something so low tech intervention that were doing, i think these people can certainly handle that. Speak to your interpretation of the Dallas County judge, essentially commissioner there, who physically drove mr. Duncans significant other, partner, louise, and the three men living inside that apartment hes the one who drove them to the secure location . Yes. What does that tell you . I think what it tells me is that he has an appropriate understanding of the risk of transmission of this particular virus. So he understands that simply by shaking a hand in someone whos asymptomatic, not ill appearing, not vomiting and not having a fever that the risk of transmission is that low. So i think it sets a good example for the rest of the state and the rest of the country that simply bumping shoulders with somebody or being in the same environment with them is not likely going to result in infection. Remember, remember, this is not a respiratoryborne illness. Its not that easy to contract. Its just once you do, its very virulent and you can get very sick very quickly. Doctor, thank you so much for going through all the details. Weve gotten a few tweets that have been coming in after asking you, do you fear ebola . Here are some of your tweets. One says, yes, theres no vaccine against it. Media also need to stop spreading panic with suspected cases, report only confirmed cases. Thats one opinion there. Another tweet says, i dont fear it. I really feel that hospital in dallas dropped the ball. Im an older nurse. Another tweet, who doesnt . Keep talking to me. Unlikely allies, how congressman cummings and issa are seeing eye to eye on the recent secret service lapses. ss like my homemade. Its our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. Apology accepted. Im watching you soup people. Make it progresso or make it yourself. But now were karate parents. One day i noticed her gi looked dingier than the other kids. So i used tide plus bleach alternative and now shes all. Pow she looks as sharp as a serpent strike. 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Nfl mobile is now free with the more everything plan from verizon. I have verizon download it, you can watch the game right here. Come on, lets boogie oh, helen. For the first time watch live local sunday games on nfl mobile. Included with the more everything plan exclusively from verizon. Ring ring progresso i cant believe im eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sisters wedding. Well its only 100 calories, so youll be ready for that dress. Uhhuh. You dont love the dress . I love my sister. 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. As the Obama Administration grapples with crises abroad and at home, welcome news for the president. The Unemployment Rate dropped below 6 for the first time in six years. Nbcs Kristen Welker is at the white house. What is the president saying about these latest numbers . Reporter alex, good afternoon. The numbers exceeded expectations. So he is happy about them. 248,000 jobs added last month, a clear indication the economy is getting stronger. But its really the timing of this report that is also so significant. It comes as president obamas trying to rebound from low Approval Ratings. And just as democrats are fighting to keep the senate. For an administration hit by one problem after the next, finally some good news. The lowest Unemployment Rate in six years, a fact president obama touted at a Steel Manufacturing plant in ohio on friday. Its been a rough year for the president , criticized heavily for his foreign policy, the governments response to ebola and with the secret service under siege. Republicans fighting to pick up seats in the house and win back the senate in november downplayed the news. In a statement, House Speaker john boehner said, every day i hear from people in my district who say, no matter how hard they work, they still struggle to make ends meet. But democrats called it a clear victory. Still, they acknowledged Many Americans are focused on other issues right now. A lot of people are so concerned about ebola, and then of course with isis theyre also concerned. So i think the economy i think weve sort of taken for granted that the economy is going to get better. Reporter political analysts say the jobs report may not be enough for democrats in tough congressional races. Democrats can take comfort in these job numbers but theyre not going to get a huge boost from them in part because republicans can repeat back that average voters arent feeling it. Reporter but the president may benefit as he hits the home stretch of his presidency, if jobs keep coming back. His Approval Rating has already stabilized in part because the public supports his response to isis. So it has ticked up a little bit. And this could only help. Reporter democrats are encouraging the president to talk about the economy and to keep making the case to voters that democratic policies deserve credit for the rebound. The ongoing weakness, though, in all of this positive news is that stubbornly high number of longterm unemployed. And that has been a big topic of conversation on capitol hill. It sure has. Thank you so much, Kristen Welker. The recent security lapse ps at the secret service have created unlikely allies on capitol hill. Darrell issa and Elijah Cummings have sent a letter to je johnson dema to demand a review of the agency. First of all, these problems did not start with director pierson and they will not end with her resignation. I think that were going to have to take a clear look. Thats why we sent the letter to secretary johnson. Were going to have a clear look from the top straight on down to the bottom to try to figure out what is going on in this organization. This is a transformational moment, alex. When i say that, what i mean is that we have now seen some of the problems with this agency. But you know what im really worried about . I worry about what we havent seen. So when were talking about the security of the president of the United States family and all the other people that the secret service have to guard, weve got to make sure that we get it right. We dont have room for error because error can lead to harm, error can lead to death. As youre well aware, sir, the department of Homeland Security, this is a massive it is a massive agency. Yes, it is. Is there any sense that a division as critical as the secret service may be getting lost in the bureaucracy . You have 250,000 people at d. H. S. Thats a great question. It used to be under treasury. Thats one of the things that were also asking this independent panel to look at. I emphasize we want an external panel looking at this. To see whether it was a mistake after 9 11 to transfer it from treasury to Homeland Security because youre absolutely right. Its very big. Another thing we have to look at is we have to figure out whether the secret service is doing too many things. Keep in mind, it does many things beyond just guarding the president and his family. So we may have to reduce its responsibilities and shift some of its other responsibilities over to other agencies. But, again, this is a transformational moment and we do not take advantage of this. We do not address these problems and have a clear looksee and then address those problems, it can only get worse. Theres always the fear of an assassination attempt on the president. That fear is much higher now, given that president obamas our first africanamerican president. As i look at this New York Times article written by peter baker out on thursday, it mentioned that many of your africanamerican constituents have come to you with concerns that hes not being better protected. Some even sharing suspicions it might be deliberate. Talk about what youre hearing from your constituents. 80 of the people that come to me ask me, do you think this lax security is because the president is africanamerican . And i tell them, no, i dont believe that. The reason why i say that is because i think these problems go even further back than when president obama became president. Its just that now you have this culture in the agency where these whistleblowers are now telling all the things that are going on. Telling all of the things that are going on. Were going to be were looking at some information now that shows these problems go way back. And thatll be coming out shortly. So thats why i said, we got to really dig deep and weve got to have an expert independent panel to say, you know what, these are the problems we have to address. One other problem they need to look at, too, is technology. We dont even have the most recent technology, and its amazing. I think sometimes people have Better Technology in their homes than we have at the white house, so we have some issues to deal with. Part of my conversation with Elijah Cummings. Secretary johnson said he will announce the names of the secret Service Review panel within days. When yes means yes, the new law aimed at ending Sexual Violence on College Campuses in california. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the United States, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. Coube a breakthrough wayrip to get immediate and long lasting sensitivity relief instead of sensitivity toothpaste . Find out, with new crest sensistop strips. Just apply to the gumline of sensitive teeth for a quick 10 minutes. The special ingredient forms a lasting barrier that provides immediate relief and up to one month of protection. Crest sensistop strips. A whole new way to treat sensitivity. Thats 1 strip. 10 minutes. And up to 1 month of protection. Satisfaction guaranteed. Life opens up when you relieve sensitivity. Bonjour. Comment ce va . Bonjour. Comment ce va . Due cappuccini, per favore. Domo. Arigato . Arigato united flies to more destinations than any other airline. Namaste. Over 5100 daily flights to nearly 60 countries. Namaste. Plus, over 230 us cities. Dessert . Peecan pie. Pecan . Yeah. Okay. In any language, thats. Gateway to the world friendly. Big news across campuses in california this week in the fight against sexual assault. Governor jerry brown signed a bill making the state the first in the nation to define when yes means yes. It reexamines the meaning of consent and sets requirements that colleges must follow when investigating college assault reports. We have a ucla student with us. Savann savannah, i know you have a story that leads up to your participation in this and really being passionate about it. We are so used to hearing the common refrain, no means no. This twist on the language, how does it change things . Essentially, it does something for simple. It gets rid of when a survivor is not saying anything, that can be used against them in the adjudication process. There are some critics, as you know. The law is a bit abstract. What do you think of that . I disagree. It is getting rid of that no can mean yes clause. When you go through the hearing in court, when a survivor says i was too scared to say no, that cant be used against them. Okay. But critics are taking issue with this portion of the law that requires the repeated consent at each stage of a sexual encounter. Thats to make sure both parties are in agreement. Is that unrealistic, that expectation . No. Consent can be very sexy in the way you go about it. You can ask for it in many different ways. People think it is like a contract you have to sign next to your bed and thats not how it is at all. I want to hear about the group you founded, 7,000 in solidarity, without being too detailed. I was sexually assaulted. He was prominent within student government. Afterward, i didnt feel like i could say anything. The year after that, i made my organization 7,000 in solidarity. So of the 28,000 undergraduates, 7,000 will be survivors. Many survivors are part of my organization, and its created a lot of change. Interesting. I want to get to this one point. When you honestly talk about your situation, you do say you had too much to drink. Many campus assaults involve alcohol. Talk to me about the alcohol is not consent campaign. Most sexual assaults on campuses are by someone you know and there is alcohol involved. So what we did was we created an ad campaign called alcohol is not convent, where we had survivors and advocates show up in pictures and use their own stories. Most of those are survivors using their own stories of how they were assaulted and debunk the myth that alcohol can be consent. Savannah, you are a very impressive young woman. Thank you very much for coming on and speaking with us. 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