Diary Prequel Package — page 376

lex Witt; PBS back the released passengers who were already either on the way home or boarding connecting flights in order to get their contact information and pass out forms telling them what to do if they get fever or sxs. Sylvia asked me to be on conference call discussing this with Lisa Monaco, Sec. Jay Johnson of DHS, Leslie Dach, Jennifer Palmieri of White House Comms and NSC Rand Beers and Ned Price. Decision on first call was to find out the clinical judgment of the hospital staff as to whether this person might have Ebola. If they felt there was a risk, they would do Ebola PCR, which would take 2 hours for primary result and up to 72 hours for confirmation. Decided to wait for second call in 2 hours. In between calls I called Tom Frieden to offer to help him out. He was greatly distressed that the WH and Sylvia over-ruled CDC and called the passengers back since the CDC person on the ground felt that the man did not have Ebola. He said he cannot do his job if he is being second-guessed by the Secretary and her team. He even spoke about resigning. I told him that this was ridiculous and that I would try to help him by speaking with Leslie and Sylvia. Also, Sylvia and Sec. Johnson (DHS) want to institute entry screening with questioning and temperaturetaking. There is already exit screening at the West African airports and Tom is against repeating things just to make people feel good. Sylvia and Leslie want my opinion and I will speak with Leslie tonight about this. On the second call at 5:30 PM (beautiful Fall day in DC with clear skies and 70 F), it was disclosed that the Jersey hospital found that the patient had no fever or abnormal labs; felt good; and had had an episode of vertigo. The patient will be released without restrictions and the passengers will be told that all is clear. Tom is beside himself. Also had long conversation with Mike Gerson today briefing him on story he is writing about the complexities of doing a vaccine trial for Ebola - scientific and ethical issues. Press today → NBC Today Show Weekend Edition; MSNBC with Alex Witt; PBS NewsHour Weekend Edition Oct. 5, 2014 - It is interesting that with the 24 hour News Cycle has created its own dynamic. Today (Sunday) the national news was totally dominated by Ebola. Now the questions center around whether we should do entry screening as passengers get off the plane from West Africa even though there is exit screening at the west African airports with temperature taking and questionnaires. DHS and some Congressmen want temperature taking at the entry level also, which would only cut the window of vulnerability down by hours that the person is on the plane. Yet, there will be a meeting at the White House today to discuss entry screening. Frieden is against it, but he is going to lose the argument. Leslie Dach and Sylvia asked me yesterday what I thought about it. I told them that it would be for PR reasons only since it really substantively makes no difference. I went on the Sunday Shows today with FOX News with Chris Wallace and face the Nation. Tom Frieden did This Week and Meet the press and State of the Union. Questions were related to Rand Paul and Bobby Jindal saying that we should shut down flights from West Africa. I totally disagreed. Also, there was concern on Rand Paul's part that our 3000 to 4000 troops that we are sending to West Africa will get infected and