10-6-14 News Notes

• Ebola: Latest
• Duncan “fighting for his life”
• Frieden: Ebola in Dallas “teachable moment”
• Fauci: Not another “insidious way” to transmit

• Video shows ISIS beheading British aid worker
• U.S. strikes targeted French agent who defected to al Qaeda
• Intel services won’t talk
• SCOTUS: One brake light! Cocaine! Double standard?
• Midterm Madness: Ax – Obama’s remark a “mistake”
• Judge: Release Guantanamo force feeding videos
• Obama honors disabled veterans
• Hong Kong protests: Deadline passes

Ebola: Latest

• Sunday, police and sheriff’s deputies located a missing homeless man who may have been exposed to Ebola through the first patient to be diagnosed with the virus in the U.S. He had shared an ambulance with Thomas Eric Duncan. The man has been put under monitoring (WSJ, NYT, me)
• The man is one of about 48 people that are being monitored, officials said Sunday. That includes 10 people – seven health-care workers and three people from the community – who had close enough contact with Duncan to be considered at risk of contracting Ebola, said Tom Frieden, director of the CDC
• Only four of the 48 – Louise Troh, the woman Duncan was staying with, and three others at her apartment – are under quarantine after they failed to comply with a request to stay put. They’ve been moved to a spacious house to wait out the incubation period
• Reached by telephone Sunday, Troh said, “I’m frustrated, but I’ll be OK.” She said she hadn’t spoken with Duncan since his condition had been changed from stable to critical

Duncan “Fighting For His Life”

• Sunday, Frieden described Duncan as “fighting for his life” and said any decision on giving him an experimental treatment or plasma from a survivor of the West African Ebola outbreak would be up to the patient, his family and the team caring for him
• Frieden said the CDC has been receiving 800 calls and emails a day from concerned citizens. But he reiterated that he’s confident the disease won’t spread in the U.S. “There’s no doubt that we can stop Ebola in this country.”
• The Dallas hospital that’s treating Duncan changed its story Friday evening on why it released Duncan the first time he came in. Thursday, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital essentially blamed a flaw in its electronic health records system. It said there were separate “workflows” for doctors and nurses in the records
• But on Friday evening, the hospital effectively retracted that portion of its statement, saying that “there was no flaw” in its electronic records system. “The patient’s travel history was documented and available to the full care team in the electronic health record, including within the physician’s workflow. (what the heck went wrong, then?)
• Meanwhile, there’s a shipping container packed with donated medical supplies that’s been sitting idly on the docks at Freetown, Sierra Leone since 9 August. The govt won’t pay the small shipping fee, despite having received well over $40 million in cash from international donors to fight Ebola. Corruption and mismanagement in the health ministry is rampant

Frieden: Ebola in Dallas “Teachable Moment”

• Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr Thomas Frieden on CNN Sunday acknowledged mistakes in how the first U.S. Ebola patient was handled in Dallas, calling it a “teachable moment.” “The bottom line here in Dallas is contact tracing, making sure we’ll stop this in its tracks,” he said. Frieden briefs President Obama today on Ebola
• Frieden admitted that Ebola was spreading so fast in West Africa that “it’s hard to keep up. That’s why it’s terrific the president has deployed the Dept of Defense there in support of the disease control efforts. This is exactly what’s needed and its going to make a difference but it’s going to take time.”
• Frieden said during a Saturday presser that there’s been a spike in reported cases in the U.S. “We have gotten well over 100 inquiries for possible patients … this one has tested positive. We expect we will see more rumors, concerns, possibilities of cases.”
• He said that a travel ban to the countries facing an Ebola outbreak could paradoxically make the problem worse. He said that recently African Union aid workers were delayed “by about a week because their flight was canceled and they were stuck in a neighboring country.” (Hill, TPM, Fox, Politico, WaPo, NYT, TRNS, CNN, TRNS, me)

Fauci: Not “Another Insidious Way” to Transmit Ebola

• Dr Anthony Fauci, who directs the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Institutes at NIH, on CBS Sunday pushed back on comments from Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) who had said authorities were underestimating the transmissibility of Ebola
• “I don’t think that there’s data to tell us that that’s a correct statement, with all due respect. We have had experience since 1976 with how Ebola is transmitted. And it is clear that it’s transmitted by direct contact with body fluids, blood, diarrhea, vomit, or what have you,” Fauci said
• “And there’s no indication that there is another insidious way that it’s transmitted that we’re missing because of the experience that we’ve had. So, we’ve really gotta go with the evidence base.”
• Fauci said the U.S. troops who are going to Liberia are “well trained. They will not be in direct risk in the sense of contact with individuals.” (how do you know?)
• On Fox News Sunday, Fauci said it was incredibly unlikely that terrorists would use Ebola as a bioterror weapon as it would be “inefficient.” Also, “I wouldn’t be worrying about illegal immigrants coming from southern borders when we have an issue right now with Ebola in West Africa. That’s a hypothetical that’s very far-fetched.”

• On 60 Minutes Sunday, FBI Director James Comey likened Chinese hackers “to a drunk burglar. They’re kickin’ in the front door, knocking over the vase, while they’re walking out with your television set. They’re just prolific.” (AP)

Video Shows ISIS Beheading British Aid Worker

• An internet video released Friday purported to show an ISIS fighter beheading British hostage Alan Henning, the fourth such killing carried out by the extremist group. In a statement, President Obama strongly condemned the “brutal murder.” (AP, BBC, Politico,TRNS, me)
• The video ends with a militant threatening a man they identified as an American named Peter Kassig. An NSC spox confirmed that Kassig is being held by ISIS. Saturday, Kassig’s parents released a video pleading for their son’s release
• Henning, 47, a taxi driver from the north of England, had been moved by the plight of the Syrian people and had joined a Syrian aid convoy then was taken captive on 26 December. Dozens of Muslim leaders in Britain have urged ISIS to release Henning. One leader called him a “British hero.”
• Kassig, 26, is an Indiana native and former Army ranger. He traveled to Lebanon in May 2012 to work as a volunteer medical assistant and was detained on 1 October 2013 on his way to eastern Syria. He has converted to Islam while in captivity and prefers to be known as Abdul-Rahman

• Kassig’s parents have released a letter he’s written in captivity which they received in June. “I am obviously pretty scared to die but the hardest part is not knowing, wondering, hoping, and wondering if I should even hope at all.” (BBC, me)

U.S. Strikes Targeted French Agent Who Defected to al Qaeda

• A former French intelligence officer who defected to al Qaeda was among the targets of the first wave of U.S. air strikes in Syria last month, according to people familiar with the defector’s movements and identity (McClatchy, me)
• Two European intel officials described the former French officer as the highest ranking defector ever to go over to the terrorist group and called his defection one of the most dangerous developments in the West’s long confrontation with al Qaeda
• The identity of the officer is a closely guarded secret. McClatchy’s withholding the name, pending confirmation. He apparently survived the assault on the Nusra Front, which included strikes by 47 cruise missiles
• European officials said the former officer had defected from either French military intel or from France’s foreign intel agency, theDGSE. The former officer, according to one rebel source, is an explosives expert who fought in Afghanistan and in Syria with al Qaeda and had assembled a group of about five men that was operating out of a mosque inIdlib• It’s unknown whether the former officer’s al Qaeda sympathies were missed during the French vetting process or manifested themselves later (awkward either way)

Intel Services Won’t Talk

• When reached for comment on the situation, a U.S. intelligence official categorically refused to provide an information but also requested that McClatchy withhold the man’s name and cited national security considerations. Three attempts to discuss the matter with French intelligence services were rebuffed
• An intelligence official from a third country said the situation represents an “epic nightmare that we have so far been spared.” He said they’d heard of Arab countries losing well-trained people to those groups, but this is the first he’s heard of by “someone with legitimate security clearance and Western-style vetting and training.”
• Syrian rebels, who are already furious at the U.S. for not notifying them in advance about the strikes and for not including Assad govt facilities among the targets, expressed puzzlement at why the U.S. govt hadn’t approached them about trying to seize the man
• But a European intel official said the decision to try to strike the defector with a missile rather than capture him was in part to keep the French agent’s existence a secret. “Perhaps some problems are best buried forever under a pile of rubble,” he said

• VP Joe Biden apologized to both Turkey and the UAE over the weekend for remarks he had made implying that those countries have been supporting al Qaeda fighters through funding and arming extremist group. Both countries were absolutely furious

SCOTUS: One brake light! Cocaine! Double standard?

• Chief Justice John Roberts begins his tenth year at the head of the court today, and the fifth with the same lineup of justices. They passed up their first opportunity last week to add gay marriage to their calendar, but will have several more chances in the coming weeks (AP, TRNS, me)
• Today’s argument involves the North Carolina traffic stop that led to the discovery of cocaine in NicholasHeien’s Ford Escort. A cop pulled the car over when he saw the rightbrake light wasn’t working, although the left one was (happens to the best of us)• Typically, evidence found in a car pulled over for a valid reason can be used against a defendant. But North Carolina’s quirky traffic laws mandate that only one brake light on a car be working (really?)
• The case tests whether the cop’s mistaken understanding of the law makes the traffic stop unreasonable and the ensuing search a violation of Heien’s constitutional rights. Among Heien’s arguments is that citizens can’t plead ignorance of the law when they’re charged with a crime, so there shouldn’t be a double standard for police (sounds right)
• A divided state Supreme Court said the mistake was reasonable enough to justify the routine traffic stop (oh come on)
• Graphic: the changing landscape of same-sex marriage by state (WaPo)

Midterm Madness: Ax – Obama’s Remark a “Mistake”

• Former WH senior adviser David Axelrod said Sunday on NBC that “it was a mistake” for President Obama to say in a speech last week: “I’m not on the ballot this fall … but make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot – every single one of them.” (Politico, Hill, NYT, me)
• Ax could be right. Already, Sens Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and NH Senate candidate Scott Brown are using the soundbite in attack ads
• RNC chair Reince Priebus said Sunday on NBC that it would be “fair” to call it a “failure” if Republicans don’t capture the Senate. “We’ve got to win the Senate and we will win the Senate. The question for us is, will we win it with six, seven or eight seats?”
• In a NYT/CBS News/YouGov online panel of more than 100,000 respondents, Republicans lead by at least four percentage points in enough races to finish with 50 seats. But the data suggest Democrats retain a clear, if difficult path to victory – Colorado and Iowa
• Hillary Clinton is planning a midterm blitz that focuses on helping Senate candidates and includes visits to a half-dozen states, including KY and presidential early states IA and NH. She’s wanted to balance spending time with her daughter and newborn granddaughter, Charlotte
• The economy gained 248,000 new jobs in September and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% from 6.1%, according to data released from the Labor Dept. The unemployment drop marks a six-year low (TRNS)

Judge: Release Guantanamo Force-Feeding Videos

• A U.S. federal judge on Friday ordered the public release of 28 videotapes that show the force feeding of an inmate on hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The videos show a Syrian detainee, Abu Wa’el Dhiab, forcibly removed from his cell and fed through a tube inserted through his nose into his stomach (AP, Guardian, me)
• Judge Gladys Kessler of the Washington DC District Court ordered that all faces other than Dhiab’s be obscured. Kessler found that the govt’s arguments that keeping the tapes under seal was necessary to protect national security were “unacceptably vague, speculative, lack specificity or are just plain implausible.”
• An argument that the detainees would learn how to develop “countermeasures” to defeat force feeding – to which they’ve been subjected for months or years – “strains credulity,” Kessler wrote. In a court filing, Dhiab wrote that if the American people “truly believe in human rights, they need to see these tapes.”
• Opening arguments in Dhiab’s effort to stop the force feedings and cell removals are expected today. Govt challenges on Kessler’s ruling on the partial release of the videotapes may prompt a delay
• Rear Admiral Richard Butler argued that exposing the videos would violate the U.S. obligation under the third Geneva convention to “protect detainees from public curiosity.” Kessler wrote that under Butler’s argument, “Article 13 would become a means to shield from public view treatment that Mr Dhiab (and undoubtedly other detainees) view as inhumane.”

Obama Honors Disabled Veterans

• President Obama paid tribute Sunday to America’s disabled veterans, saying the country must “move heaven and earth” to make sure they get the benefits they deserve and warned against rushing into war unless it’s absolutely necessary (AP, me)
• Obama, speaking at the dedication of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, didn’t overtly mention the VA scandal over wait times for accessing care or his decision to open up a military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria
• “In the United States of America, those who have fought for our freedom should never be shunned and should never be forgotten,” Obama said, standing near a reflecting pool with a flame in the middle that’s part of the memorial, which sits adjacent to the Botanic Garden
• “If you want to see the character of our country, look at these men and women,” Obama said to the 3,100 people gathered on a sparkling, fall day, many of them in wheelchairs or with lost limbs. At one point he asked those who have been wounded in battle to stand or raise their hands; hundreds of people did so
• The memorial, which has been 16 years in the making, is the first in the country to specifically honor disabled veterans. Eighteen quotations from veterans and their families are etched into the glass panels, bronze sculptures and granite walls

Hong Kong Protests: Deadline Passes

• Hundreds of pro-democracy campaigners remain camped out on the streets of Hong Kong today as a govt deadline for them to leave passed without incident. But their numbers dwindled overnight and civil servants have returned to work in the govt’s headquarters (BBC, South China Morning Post, me)
• The protesters are angry at China’s plans to vet candidates when Hong Kong holds elections in 2017. They’re demanding that the central govt in Beijing allow a fully free vote for the territory’s leader
• While there’s little chance of Beijing agreeing to offer any concessions, the number of students still on the streets suggests they will not give up as easily as the authorities had hoped. Alex Chow, SecGen of one of the main protest movements, told reporters, “People need rest, but they will come out again.”
• Over the weekend Hong Kong chief exec CY Leung had called on the protesters to end the demonstrations, warning that police had a responsibility to take all actions necessary to resume social order. (er, right. They have signs like: “We’re fighting for democracy. Sorry for the inconvenience.”)
• Protest groups had said they’d agree to the govt’s offer of talks if the attacks on them were investigated and protest sites were not forcefully cleared. But discussions about opening a formal dialogue faltered after the sides failed to agree on basic principles on which the talks should be heldSign up here for TRNS News Notes______________
  Victoria Jones

TRNS’ James Cullum, William McDonald, Shane Farnan, Celina Gore, Paayal Zaveri and Washington Desk contributed to this report