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Arrested four men suspecting of plotting terror attacks. Our Senior International correspondent Nic Robertson is joining us live from london. What can you tell us, nic, about these arrests, the possible terror plot . Reporter the police are saying these are islamistrelated terrorism offenses and say these four men were suspected of being involved in commissioning or preparing or instigating an act of terrorism. Theyre not giving more details other than that. But what we know, Counterterrorism Police conducted the arrests this morning. And they also used on at least one of those arrests armed police. That is unusual for the uk. So it does give an indication that the police were concerned about the men that they were arresting, how they might respond. One of the men, a 21yearold, we understand, was tasered by the police. The police say that no one was actually injured. These are all young men. Two of them are 20, two of them are 21. Theyre being questioned by police at Different Police stations in the center of london. And investigations continue in locations in the west and center of london as well as investigations of some vehicles that the police have also taken into their custody, wolf. I know the british Prime Minister a few weeks ago announced that britain was raising its Terror Threat level because of concern, i assume these arrests may be part of that increased Terror Threat level, is that what youre hearing . Reporter you certainly get that impression, wolf, although the police arent saying that specifically. The fear has been now that the threat levels been raised to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, that this plot may be one of those that was feared if it turns out to be an active plot. But we have heard on the radio this afternoon, the head of the metropolitan police here saying they have to take a more interventionist policy. In the uk traditionally, the police and Security Services will monitor a terror group for quite some time and wait till they go operational generally before making arrests because thats the way they get convictions. If, however, and we saw terror arrest about a week and a half ago, as the police chief in london now says, if they are taking a more interventionalist approach to potential terror suspects, maybe they got in early with this group before they got to an actual operational stage, wolf. Im sure more information will be coming out shortly. Nic, thanks very much. Lets move on to the battle raging for the key town of kobani, right along the syrian Turkish Border. The u. S. Now confirming there were five Coalition Air strikes on isis targets around kobani overnight. One antiisis fighter telling cnn, quote, finally they are hitting the right places. But just in the last few minutes, the turkish Prime Minister has said he believes kobani is, quote, about to fall and the casualties there are clearly mounting. Humanitarian groups telling cnn more than 400 people have been killed on both sides since the battle began in mid september. The fear now is that an isis takeover could lead to a slaughter within this predominantly kurdish city. Isis wants the city because it would give them a clear path between the Turkish Border and their selfdeclared capital of raqqa in syria. Coalition forces also conducted, by the way, several other air strikes overnight as well as today. They were targeting isis positions in other parts of syria as well as in Northern Iraq. Phil black has been following the fighting along the border. He reports now on the fighting hes seeing firsthand. Phil . Reporter wolf, as i speak to you, i can hear the sound of a fastmoving aircraft in the air. On the horizon behind me, the hill to the south of kobani, you can see a smoke cloud. It is this combination weve been hearing and seeing in pretty quick succession over the course of the day. Big explosions on the periphery of kobani. The people, fighters inside kobani, are confident these are Coalition Air strikes believed to be hitting key isis targets around thatperimeter of the city. Theyre pretty happy about it and believe its making a difference. But inside the city, the fight is increasingly desperate. Isis is advancing. It is intense street fighting and the cuddish fighters go out of their way to resist them. Kurdish fighters believe they are still outnumbered and outgunned with isis having more powerful and more advanced weaponry and equipment including, for example, nightvision equipment as well. So an increasingly desperate fight. The kurdish fighters believe they can hold on for a while longer, longer than they think isis believes they can. Its their territory, their streets. They know it well. They believe that gives them a Tactical Advantage but they believe they cant hold on indefinitely unless they get more of the sort of the support weve been seeing around the city today. They want more Coalition Air strikes. They believe that is pretty much the only thing that could potentially delay, perhaps even prevent the inevitable, isis taking control of the city. What they say would be then a massacre of the thousands of fighters and the few civilians who are still waiting behind. Wolf . Phil, thank you. Phil black reporting from the scene, a very dangerous scene indeed. What do we expect to happen next in kobani . Let me bring in cnns military analyst, Lieutenant General mark hurtling, retired commander general of the u. S. Army that led the u. S. Task force in Northern Iraq back in the late 2000s. General, the kurdish fighters inside kobani are working hard, trying to save their city. Doesnt look by all accounts very promising. What if anything can be done to save those people in kobani . Well, i think what youre seeing, wolf, all indicators are that the isis fighters are reinforcing all forces from the east, south and west of the city of kobani. Theyre trying to pour as much combat effort into that as possible. I think the comments about hearing bombs dropping, those are hitting the reinforcing soldiers as theyre gathering to come into kobani. But theres still going to be the street fights in the city itself. As you know, this is a city o about 40,000 people. Its a key Border Crossing post. Isis want this is post because it will allow them to bring jihadists in from turkey and to export oil on the black market outside. So its a critical point. There will be a lot of housetohouse, streettostreet fighting as the report said. The kurds know this area better than isis does. But they dont have the combat power to do that. The battlefield geometry isnt in the kurds favor right now. But their will and desire to win is helping them out in the short term . The town right along the border with turkey which is a key nato ally, taking kobani could clear that path all the way to their stronghold in raqqa. Why arent the turks getting more aggressively involved in preventing a slaughter, preventing isis from taking over this key town . Well, truthfully, wolf, this is extremely disappointing to me as a former commander of u. S. Army in europe to see the turks standing by with a massive amount of firepower and not doing anything. As we said the other night, this is going to be a decision on turkeys part. Are they going to support the kurds, someone they dont like in an area that has been expanding lately, or are they going to support an extremist terrorist group to their southern border . They have to make that call. Unfortunately, thats the call they have to make. I would hope they would go in support of the kurds in this particular area. If not, reinforcing the town, at least allow continued kurdish escape into the across the Turkish Border. You know the criticism thats being leveled at the turks. No great love between the turks and the kurds. Turks never liked the kurds to begin with, whether in turkey itself or in syria or iraq or anyplace else. And theres one argument, an allegation, that the turks are sort of willing to stay on the sidelines and let these kurds suffer in the hands of isis. You think thats a fair criticism of turkey . Im not sure its a completely fair criticism, wolf. I know there have been some refugee camps established as arwa damon has reported and as nic has reported. But its just not enough. The turkish government would certainly rely on article 5 to ask other nato nations to join them if isis crosses into their border. And it just concerns me right now that this is the same kind of humanitarian issue that we saw in the sinjar mountain with the yazidis. You would think the turks would contribute to assisting the kurds. But they are distrustful of the kurds. Theres no getting around that fact. Theyve had problems with kurdish terrorists. But unfortunately thats not what were seeing in this city. Were seeing a good group of kurdish citizens just trying to be saved. General hurtling, thanks very much. Its an awful situation. Well watch kobani very closely. The signs arent very encouraging and a lot of people could be dead as a result of whats going on there right now. Thanks very much, general. Well watch this situation closely. Also were watching the reaction to a new book written by the former defense secretary, leon panetta. That book is being called by a Washington Post columnist, quote, a stunning level of disloyalty to president obama. Were going to tell you why. Our own Gloria Borger just spent some time with secretary panetta. Also, ebola and air travel. The Obama Administration is working on ways to tighten airport screenings. Well have details straight ahead. So guys its just you and your honey. The setting is perfect. You know what . Plenty of guys have this issue, not just getting an erection, but keeping it. Well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. And you only take it when you need it. Good to know, right . If ed is stopping what you started. Ask you doctor about viagra. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. To avoid longterm injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. Stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. Ask your doctor if viagra is right for you. That selsun blue is tough on dandruff. And shell love that its gentle on your hair. Selsun blue invigorates your scalp and moisturizes your hair. Bring on the blue. Were following several major developments in the ebola epidemic. A Norwegian National working for Doctors Without Borders has now been diagnosed with ebola. The staff member had been working in sierra leone. Was placed into isolation sunday after developing a fever. Also a nurses assistant in spain is the first person known to have contracted the disease outside of africa. Shes being treated now at a hospital in madrid. She previously helped care for a spanish priest and a spanish missionary who contracted ebola in west africa. Both of them died. Hospital Officials Say theyre monitoring three other potential ebola cases, including the nurse assistants husband. Here in the United States, president obama says he considers ebola a Top National Security priority. But he says the chances of an outbreak in the United States, in his words, are extremely low. The president says the white house is developing procedures for enhanced screenings at airports. Some people have even called for banning flights from countries affected by ebola. Take a closer look at the Obama Administrations latest response to this ebola crisis and what enhanced airport screenings might involve. Our aviation correspondent, rene marsh is here with us in studio today. What are you hearing about what the administration potentially wants to do . We know that the president has met with cdc, health and human services, the department of defense and in his own words, he truly looks at this as a National Security threat. He said there are economic implications, political implications. So what we heard from the president and the administration yesterday was essentially they are looking at a plan to strengthen screening. There has been a lot of criticism from both passengers, even lawmakers, saying that the approach right now when people arrive from these ebola hot spots, its just too passive. So we do know that the enhanced measures could at the very least include two things. Take a listen to what we heard from the cdc earlier this morning. What the president was talking about was considering the possibility of giving an extra layer of entry screening upon arrival in the United States. What that would look like is under discussion. But likely retaking the temperature and asking some additional questions so that you have screening both at the exit and at the entry end. Thats the thing thats on the table right now. And thats really what were hearing, wolf. Those two key things getting the temperature taken here in the United States once they arrive and getting that Detailed Health questionnaire. Two things that are not happening as i speak to you right now. We know the process at this moment is if youre arriving from an ebolaimpacted country, customs and Border Protection officers simply look at you. If you look okay, youre free to go. They may ask you additional questions about the contact theyve had. But theyre not doctors. Theyre not there to diagnose. So they really want to step this up a bit. But speaking to two sources, nothings changed so far. But we know the focus is going to be there. Because i saw the interview with dr. Anthony fauci on new day this morning here on cnn. He made a valid point. Somebody leaves monrovia, liberia, or guinea or sierra leone showing no symptoms whatsoever, flies to brussels, eight, ninehour flight, has a threefourhour layover in brussels and flies eight, nine hours to Washington Dulles International airport. During those 20 hours or so, those symptoms could develop, a fever could develop and it sort of makes sense that once they arrive at washington Dulles Airport, they check the temperature of all the individuals coming from west africa, for example, the most impacted socalled hot zone. Then they have to figure out if somebody does have a temperature, what do they do at washington Dulles Airport . Youre right. Taking the temperature once they get here on u. S. Soil, the thinking is this can close that gap. If youre taking a flight like that, it could be more than a 24hour trip. You may not have the symptoms when you are departing but you could develop them during this very long trip. Theyre trying to close that gap between the time when you look perfectly fine and then all of a sudden things change. But its worth noting nothing is foolproof. We know the incubation period is 21 days. So etven if they have the best screening, they all are very transparent in saying it is quite possible we will see someone else arriving on u. S. Soil who may have ebola and just at the time they were at the airport did not show any symptoms. What im hearing is theyre going to start screening people at International Airports coming in from passengers coming in from west africa. They want to make sure that they didnt develop the symptoms on that 24hour flight coming over to the United States. Thanks very much for that, rene. Still ahead, Harsh Criticism from one of the biggest players in president obamas cabinet. The former defense secretary of the United States, leon panetta, he speaks to our own Gloria Borger about his new book. Its releasing today. Hes got sharp words for the president. Why is he speaking out so candidly . Well tell you. And the veteran administrations huge wait list scandal, a story that was broken right here on cnn. Now it appears the v. A. Is cracking down on some serious wrongdoing. Want to change the world . 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. [ male announcer ] join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring americas future engineers. Energy lives here. Woman what do you mean, Homeowners Insurance doesnt cover floods . [ heart rate increases ] man a few inches of water caused all this . [ heart rate increases ] woman 2 but i dont even live near the water. What you dont know about Flood Insurance may shock you including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as 129 a year. For an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. Its a fresh approach on education superintendent of public instruction Tom Torlaksons blueprint for great schools. Torlaksons blueprint outlines how investing in our schools will reduce class sizes, bring back music and art, and provide a wellrounded education. And torlaksons plan calls for more parental involvement. Spending decisions about our education dollars should be made by parents and teachers, not by politicians. Tell Tom Torlakson to keep fighting for a plan that invests in our public schools. The ultimate arena for business. Hour after hour of diving deep, touching base, and putting ducks in rows. The only problem with Conference Calls eventually they have to end. 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That pittsburgh case, its two years in the making. We reported back in 2012 about an outbreak at that hospital that was covered up. Five veterans died. Only now is that administrator being let go even though shes been on paid leave since june. Pretty shocking stuff. What about the hospital in phoenix, arizona, the leadership there . Is the v. A. Taking action there . You did a lot of reporting on what was going on in phoenix. Reporter that was the epicenter of the scandal when it broke, the secret wait list. Sharon helman was the director. Shes been removed. Shes been on leave since the time we reported on that wait list. Theyre trying to remove her. But its a lengthy process. As far as we can tell, helman is still getting paid. Two other officials there placed on leave, as far as we can tell, still getting paid. These bad administrators, many of them who aver saw these wait lists, allowing vets to be placed on hold for their medical care, theyre literally on sort of a v. A. Firing wait list now that the v. A. Is just now trying to process. So big picture, drew, does it appear that the v. A. , the Veterans Administration, is now starting to try to clean house . Reporter yeah, i think this is a big change of direction for the v. A. The new v. A. Secretary, bob mcdonald, going at it, trying to weed out this bureaucracy that allowed this systemic meltdown within the v. A. But it does take a lot of time to remove them. But i would sense were going to see dozens and dozens more of these administrators basically kicked out, forced to retire or just let go from the v. A. Drew, thanks very much. Drew griffin reporting for us. Major changes happening over at the v. A. Coming up, hes part of a growing number now of former Obama Administration officials criticizing the president of the United States and his policies. Leon panetta, the former defense secretary, the former cia director talks to our own Gloria Borger about the problems with president obamas decisionmaking. Ameriprise asked people a simple question in retirement, will you have enough money to live life on your terms . I sure hope so. With healthcare costs, who knows. Umm. Everyone has retirement questions. So ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. Now you and your ameripise advisor. Can get the real answers you need. Start building your confident retirement today. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. Then i got a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if youre eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. Call now and find out about an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. 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Remember, all Medicare Supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free decision guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer reporting from washington. Leon panetta was among the biggest players in the Obama Administration. He was the head of the cia, then the secretary of defense. Now in his brandnew book just outdoor today entitled worthy fights, panetta is giving an explosive assessment of president obamas errors in the war on terror. Gloria borger sat down with the former defense secretary. Shes here with me right now. Hes very, very candid, the secretary of defense. He is very, very candid. Surprisingly so. And you know this very well, in the washington power grid, leon panetta was among the biggest players in the Obama Administration. Hes also spent 40 years in public service. And hes now written a memoir thats really full of clear respect and admiration for president obama but contains very blunt criticism on Foreign Policy and of the president s leadership style. I asked him about the war against isis and whether the president should have ruled out ground forces. Take a listen. I take the position that when youre commander in chief that you really ought to keep all options on the table, to be able to have the flexibility to do what is necessary in order to defeat this enemy. But to make those air strikes work, to be able to do what you have to do, you dont just send planes in and drop bombs. Youve got to have targets. You have to know what youre going after. To do that, you do need people on the ground. Reporter panetta argues that president obama is making up for lost time in going after isis now because of the complete withdrawal of u. S. Forces from iraq in 2011. Would isis be as much of a threat today had we left some force behind . I do think that if we had had a presence there, it might not have created the kind of vacuum that we saw develop in iraq. Reporter he blames former iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki and a passive white house. You describe a white house that this is your word that frustrated you, that didnt use the leverage and that is your word, too, leverage, that we had in the United States to try and keep a force in iraq. What im saying is that maliki was the kind of leader that you had to constantly put pressure on to direct him in the right direction. We had with iraq made a commitment with regards to military assistance, f16 fighter planes, other types of military aid, that i think if we had said, look, if youre not going to give us the agreement that we need to maintain our force there, we may not provide this kind of assistance. In other words try to push him. Reporter a threat . Of course. You need to threaten guys like that who wont come along. And everybody knew that. Reporter but you wrote that the president s active advocacy was missing. Are you saying he didnt give it the push . I think the kind of push and direct involvement that i think could have had an impact simply never developed because the sense was if they dont want it, then why should we want it . Reporter panetta describes a similar scenario on the question of arming the Syrian Rebels in 2012. As defense secretary, he made the case to do it, as did most of the National Security team. But the president never signed off, arguing the weapons could wind up in the wrong hands. Its understandable, but at the same time, if were going to influence the rebel forces, if were going to try to establish a moderate element to those forces that it was important to provide this kind of assistance in order to have some leverage over what they were going to do. Decision. To a large extent, it wasnt that the president kind of said no, we shouldnt do it. The president kind of never really came to a decision as to whether or not it should happen. Reporter what do you mean by that . Never came to a decision . I think it basically sat there for a while and then got to the point where everybody just kind of assumed that it was not going to happen. Reporter is that the right way to do things . I think it would have been far better had he just made the decision, were not going to do it, so everybody knew where we stood. But we all kind of waited to see whether or not he would ultimately come around. Reporter and it didnt happen. Reporter and you talk about hesitation and half steps. Is that what youre referring to . Yeah, it was just that kind of hesitation to really do what needed to be done. Dont get me wrong, i think he was very strong in terms of the war on terrorism. And he made some tough decisions. But there were these decisions that basically never were confronted that i think in many ways contributed to the problems were facing today. Reporter finally the president is taking action, panetta says, albeit a bit late. Hes made the decision to put troops on the ground in iraq to try to help the security forces. Hes made the decision to arm and train rebel forces in syria. And hes made the decision to conduct air attacks. So in many ways, hes made the right decisions. Now, i think those decisions should have been made two years ago. To no ones surprise, the white house is less than thrilled by this assessment from panetta. And in the second part of my interview with the former defense secretary, he talks about the portrait he paints of obama. Well see it in a moment. Well see if that portrait is positive or negative. Stand by for that. Also ahead, a nurses assistant in spain is now the first person known to have contracted ebola outside of africa. Were going to talk with an Infectious Disease specialist about what this means, what could be done to stop the spread of ebola. I was out for a bike ride. I didnt think id have a heart attack. But i did. Im mike, and im very much alive. Now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Doctors have been prescribingdecade, nexium to patients just like you. For many, prescription nexium helps heal acidrelated erosions in the lining of the esophagus. 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He relies on the logic of his presentation with the hope that ultimately people will embrace that logic and then do whats right. You know what . In 50 years, my experience is, logic doesnt work in washington. You have to basically go after people and make them understand what they have to do. And that means you create a war room. You go after votes. You have to push people. Reporter did you have a sense that the president found that distasteful or that it wasnt something he wanted to do or was comfortable doing or i think it offended him that people would not really get serious and work on the issues. And i think as a result of that, he just felt, how can i deal with people that simply dont want to do the right thing for the country . Well, the reality is if you want to govern in this country, you have to deal with people you dont like. Reporter and you have to keep your word, which he argues the president did not do when syria used chemical weapons against its own people, violating the president s clearly drawn red line. The president very clearly should have said, you have crossed that red line and were not going to allow that to happen. And i think initially my sense was they were going to do exactly that. But somehow they backed away from it. I think that was a key moment in time in terms of sending a message to the world that there was a question mark as to whether or not the United States would stand by its word. Reporter panetta tries to reconcile the president who vacillated over syria with the decisive obama who gave the bin laden raid a green light. A president that made the decision to go after bin laden and made a very gutsy decision to do that. And i really respected that decision. I just could not have imagined him not making the same decision when it came to the credibility of the United States on drawing that red line in syria. Reporter to no ones surprise, the white house has not warmly welcomed this version of history. Former Administration Officials as soon as they leave write books, which i think is inappropriate. Reporter does he have a point there . You know, im of the view that you dont put a hold on history. History is what it is. I would say right now, i recommend the president and Vice President biden take the time to read the book because i think when you read it, its a pretty balanced presentation of what happened. Gloria, pretty strong words from the former defense secretary. Why are so many of the Obama Administration officials now while the president is still in Office Writing these memoirs . I think in the 24 7 cycle in which we live, people rush to get out their version of history as it were. And i think as you pointed out, you saw that with bob gates and you saw that with hillary clinton, to a degree. Leon panetta. But its not new, wolf. Youve covered washington an awfully long time, as have i. And weve seen these books come out of administrations that dont make president s happy. However, in the end, of course, you can assume that president obama is going to write his book. Joe bidens going to write his book. So theyll have their whack at it. And this is going to be used by the president s critics, republicans, especially, going into these midterm elections. Well, because lots of republicans make the case that the president did not use the leverage he had when he could have in iraq to keep a residual force behind. And they argue, as does panetta, that that would have helped scuttle some of what we see with isis right now. So, of course, its going to add to that argument. I think panetta is well aware of it. I did ask panetta how hard he argued for his point of view within the administration . And he said he argued they had tough arguments but when the president makes a decision, you accept it and you move on and he also said to me that he never gave any thought to resigning. But one of the most damning things we just heard you report on this is that sometimes the president failed to make a decision right. That was awkward moment. Right. He kept saying, we kept waiting and waiting and then it was sort of like inertia. More on this later in the situation room. Gloria, thanks very much. Still to come, its been more than a month. Still no public sign of the north Korean Leader kim jongun. Is he still really in power . Brian todd is investigating. Also, the government plans to strengthen ebola screenings at u. S. Airports. But will that help . What is going on. . Well talk with an Infectious Disease specialist. At tmobile get four lines for just a hundred bucks with unlimited talk, text and now up to ten gigabytes of 4g lte data. Want phones with that . Hook up everyone in the family with the Samsung Galaxy s5 for zero down get four lines for 100 dollars and the Samsung Galaxy s5 for zero down so make the switch to tmobile today well even buy you out of your Service Contracts we have just learned new information about that freelance cameraman being treated for ebola in nebraska. The hospital says ashoka mukpo is being given the same drug as thomas eric duncan, the ebola patient now in Critical Condition in dallas. And a nurses assistant in spain is the first person known to have contracted the disease outside of africa. She helped care for two ebola patients who were infected in west africa, both of those patients unfortunately died. Infectious disease specialist doctor is joining us from new york. Thanks very much for joining us. Lets start with this infection of the nurses assistant in spain. Obviously there must have been, i assume, some sort of breakdown in the system. How concerned should all of us be . I dont know if concerned is necessarily useful for most of the american public. But i think if youre running a hospital or if youre a Public Health administrator in a big city, you should definitely be concerned by this. It seems like theres been, i think in any case like this, there must have been a failure and seems like there was a failure in getting the right kind of equipment. According to some stories, they say the gowns she was using were permeable and werent fastened to the gloves very well. I think what were seeing, whether it was the gown or some other mistake was made, what were seeing is even if teams know what theyre doing, theres a protocol, theyve ordered the right kind of suits, people have to be wellversed in practicing this. This is about drill, practice and preparedness. Would it be smart for the u. S. To start secondary screenings of incoming passengers whether at Kennedy Airport in new york, Washington Dulles International airport, would it be smart to start screening passengers arriving in the United States . I think thats a tricky question. But youre going to get a huge number of false positives. Lots of people come back from holiday or come back from business overseas with a temperature. Thats the main way of screening. If were going to start isolating all of those people, its going to real slow airports down and make travel very difficult and it probably isnt going to completely prevent ebola entering the u. S. Someone could be asymptommatic for 21 days. So in the end, if we really want to keep ebola out of the u. S. , the best place to focus is on rolling it back in west africa. And all the screening measures, which now, of course, look very politically expedient, i dont think theyre going to make a huge difference, to be honest. The place to screen thats very important is before people get on the plane. Because what you dont want is contagious people on planes because its a very, very, you know, confined crowded environment, could easily spread on a plane. I think it makes sense before you get on the plane, once youre off the plane, i dont know how much difference its going to make. Unless youve got the symptoms during a 20hour flight, lets say, from liberia, stop in belgium and continue on to washington or dallas or whatever. That potentially could make a significant difference. And im a little confused on how contagious ebola is. Sometimes they say youve got to exchange bodily fluids, if you will. Sweat, Something Like that. On the other hand, if youve been within 3 feet contact of someone we bow ith ebola, you ce in trouble. Explain the difference there. The question youre asking is. Theres a point we have to say this is very difficult to know. And the reason its difficult to know, if you imagine how hard it is to get this information. Its been relatively little transmission of ebola in all of human history. And as you collect the data on how each person caught it, it is very, very hard. We have to speculate. Its even hard to determine how long the virus lives outside the body in different conditions. You can find the virus on surfaces, whether or not its infectious at that point isnt clear. So the best of our knowledge what wed say is people in order to catch ebola off someone, you have to get bodily fluids on to a mucous membrane or get it into an open sore or cut. And bodily fluids would be saliva, blood, those kind of things. We do have cases people catching ebola wearing the protective gear. We do have to admit that everything we say about the transmission of ebola is to the best of our knowledge. You know, this is still something were studying. All right. Doctor, well continue this conversation. Unfortunately, the story is not going away. Thanks very much. Still to come, in north korea, the speculation mounting right now just days ago. The surprise visit to south korea, but highlevel north korean officials also missing from that group, of course. Countrys top leader, kim jongun hasnt been seen in more than a month. Well discuss. Over the weekend, three highlevel north korean officials made a surprise visit to south korea for unplanned talks. Earlier today, an exchange of fire between north and south korea after a north korean patrol boat crossed into disputed waters. No injuries were reported. All this happening with the north Korean Leader kim jongun. Apparently nowhere to be found, at least publicly. Its been more than a month since hes been seen in public. And thats raising all kinds of speculatio speculations. Is he sick . Has he been toppled . Brian todd is looking into the story for us. What are you hearing . Wolf, from experts, from intelligence officials, its been widely reported now that kim jongun probably very likely has some kind of a health problem. Hes he might have gout. That runs in his family, might have an ankle problem. You see him limping in this video. That was some of the video was taken over the summer. Hes last been seen publicly on september 3rd. Its more than a month now hes not been seen publicly. And some of the last video of him in public was showing him limping. So it is widely reported hes got some kind of a health problem. Gout, high blood pressure, diabetes run in his family. And could be hes clearly gained weight. Thats also clear. Hes clearly gained weight since he took power in 2011. So there are reports that maybe a combination of those factors. Hes seeking some kind of treatment. But also, wolf, whats fueling speculation is i spoke to a prominent defector a few days ago. He told me that kim has been pushed aside. That a Shadowy Group called the organization and Guidance Department is really running things behind the scenes. Now, u. S. Intelligence officials and analysts we spoke to say we have no evidence of that. Again, between the limp in public more than a month ago, the fact he hasnt been seen in more than a month, reports of his health problems, plus now this speculation about a possible coup or Something Like that behind the scenes fuels wild speculation about whether hes really in control of the country. And analysts we speak to right now say, look, we just dont know. Were trying to figure out from analysts and defectors what is going on. But it is hard information to come by right now. And the surprise visit by three north koreans to south korea. These are two of the three men that went down there or right underneath kim jongun. One of them is basically the head of the military. And another is a gentleman who deals with all of their relationships with south korea. These its very, very rare that people this high up go to south korea. Also, a south korean official told me a short time ago, they were shocked, they were surprised that these guys were coming. They only gave them one days notice before they showed up at the closing of the asian games. And then they had highlevel talks about possibly having further talks down the road about, you know, just some of the how the relationship can be improved. So it was a constructive visit, wolf. But fuels the speculation as to whats going on, why would they be there. One analyst said because kim is not in control and these men had to go and basically say to the south, the militarys running things and this is the way it is right now. Or it could be that kim jongun sent them there. Hes simply recuperating and said, look, you have to go and were going to try to smooth things over and normalize relations a little bit better. And so that could be whats happened. Well see if he shows up, kim jongun, the 69th anniversary of the founding of the workers party. More coming up later in the situation room. Ill be back 5 00 p. M. Eastern. For our international viewers, amanpour is next. For our viewers in north america, newsroom with Brooke Baldwin starts right now. And here we go, im Brooke Baldwin, thank you so much for being with me. Youre watching cnn. The u. S. Spent the night dropping bombs on isis fighters. But despite the strikes, turkey, which shares a border says the city is about to fall. And according to one kurdish intelligence official, it could happen any minute now. Thats the latest were getting. He also tells the atlantic that if that happens he predicts a quote unquote terrible slaughter by isis. Expect to have