CDC's Tom Frieden to Testify on Capitol Hill
UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: We never talked about Ebola and we probably should have.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never talked about it prior to Mr. Duncan arriving?</s>UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: No. We never had a discussion. They gave us an optional seminar to go to, just informational, not hands-on. I just don't think any facility in this country is prepared for that at this time.</s>MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Sean Kaufman, we appreciate it. Hope to stay in communication with you in the coming: That was a colleague of the two Dallas nurses now infected with Ebola after treating a Liberian man who lost his battle with the virus. That nurse claims inadequate training, sparking serious questions about the federal agency charged with managing Ebola in the United States.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: @THISHOUR the man who has become the face of the federal response is gearing up to face questions on Capitol Hill. CDC director, Tom Frieden, is scheduled to testify at noon before a House subcommittee. As of now, at least two Republican Congressmen are calling for his resignation.</s>PEREIRA: But is that the solution? Joining us, are political commentators, Reihan Salam and Sally Kohn. Good to have you both here. I was thinking, Reihan, it seems we go to the head and say "off with their heads" and find a new leader. Is that the right answer here?</s>REIHAN SALAM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's about accountability. Whether or not you're directly responsible for what happened and this is a very challenging situation, it's a why of demonstrating that you're the captain and you're going to take the hit. I think it does make sense for that reason.</s>BERMAN: Sally, one of the things that's happened here is the response has stumbled at best. At this Texas hospital, he was turned away, Thomas Eric Duncan turned away, then admitted. Once admitted, two health care workers infected. People say it didn't go as it was supposed to go. They have lost faith in the system that we were told was in place beforehand. So if you are the president now, how do you restore that faith?</s>SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Let's be clear -- and there's reasons we don't want to overreact and spread panic. We should be clear in Nebraska and in Atlanta, they have handled these cases well. So to say there's an outbreak, to say there's a danger, we need to be doing more. We are doing more. Let's be really careful and temp down the panic, number one. Number two, if we're going to talk about the politics of this, we have to be clear that conservatives have for 40 years been bashing and slashing government and then suddenly are complaining when it's not there and up to the task. So there is -- is a repercussion of a culture. We had Ted Cruz in an op-ed for CNN said Americans don't really trust government to be there in a crisis. Well, no crap, they don't. He's been telling them not to trust government ever since he got in office. If we want government to be here, it's called a public health crisis for a reason. The private hospital failed. If we want government to work, we have to invest in government and believe in government and not be kicking and passing it.</s>SALAM: But past legislation called for spending to be $300 million higher than President Obama requested for the CDC. There are plenty of conservatives that believe government is bloated. They also believe there are certain core functions of government that ought to be undertaken with great seriousness and ought to be done well and they are willing to fund those sources. In fact, many people complain that Republicans are very happy to finance defense, right, and spend vast sums of money on it and also on things like the CDC because that is a core function of government. When you expand too greatly, you actually neglect those core functions.</s>SALAM: -- what a Republican Congress passed --</s>PEREIRA: No surprise. They don't agree on this one. I'm wondering if they'll agree on this issue. We've heard some voices calling, in fact, John Boehner, pushing for a travel ban from West Africa. I'm wondering if you think, Reihan, it's the right thing to do. I'll start with you, Sally. Is it the right thing to do or is it perception versus reality? Is it going to make people feel better or put people at risk of being cut off from the supplies, et cetera?</s>KOHN: Public health experts and public health economists, they all agree this is a risky thing to do, not only because it is an impediment to people going there to actually help, but you start to further cripple the region economically. We should know countries like England, France, that have a higher likelihood of seeing people infected arriving in the country, to impose a travel ban. It also incentivizes people to lie about where they've been. They can go to other countries, people who have means, who want to come to countries where they can get better care. We don't want that to happen. Let's not over react. Let's not start calling for heads and drastic measures and over politicizing this issue.</s>PEREIRA: Riehan?</s>SALAM: I think airport screening tends to be very expensive and very ineffective. I think many hawks, like myself, believe you ought to fight ISIS in Iraq. Simply you have to fight Ebola where the crisis is raging. I think that's the way you have to think about it. I agree the travel ban is not the idea.</s>PEREIRA: You agree!</s>KOHN: I agree with that.</s>BERMAN: Thank you guys for being here.</s>PEREIRA: All right, less than an hour from now, the CDC Director Tom Frieden is due to face the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee. We'll be joined by a key director at the National Institutes of Health and several other administration officials at the helm of the Ebola fight. That will start around noon eastern. CNN will bring it to you here live.</s>BERMAN: Also ahead this hour, we'll take a look back at a very personal journey from a very awesome person who comes from a very awesome family. Learn the story behind Christine Romans.