and we continue on. you're watching cnn, i'm brooke baldwin. opening the door to embedding u.s. forces within iraqi units fighting isis. >> our military advisers will help the iraqis conduct campaign planning. arrange for logistics support. if we reach the point where i believe our advisers should accompany iraq troops. i'll recommend that to the president. general martin dempsey, joint chiefs chairman and defense secretary chuck hagel there spent much of the senate hearing today trying to define the role of americans in iraq and syria. for now, we're told to think of

them as close combat advisers. what does that mean, how might that evolve over time. let's discuss with the chief national security correspondent and cnn military analyst. gentlemen, welcome, and jim to you. just, okay. it gets complex. what are exactly these advisers trained to do, and at what point might their roles change. might they have to go up to the front lines. >> well, to this point, their role has been limited to being at these joint operation centers that have been set up in irbil and northern iraq and in baghdad where they are in a big center, but inside a base and helping to coordinate intelligence targeting, et cetera, but not anywhere near the front lines. the possibility that general dempsey raised today and said that he might ask the president for is to move them closer in the front lines. even in his opening remarks, he said, listen, if i see

circumstances if they would fight alongside iraqi fighters, for instance, against isil targets, he may ask for that to happen. if the air campaign was failing and i needed forward air controllers, ground controllers, special operations forces to help direct those air strikes, he might ask for that. he described, as well, if iraqi forces tried to take back mosu, the isil stronghold, he might have close combat advisers that are outside of those joint operations centers and close to the front lines. those things are not specifically, and the general will know this much better than me, they're not combat troops and they're not taking up firing positions. they're very much in combat. and it really is. it does appear to be parsing the definition of combat pretty thinly. >> is that not general -- just weigh in on what jim just said, and also, in combat, words matter, don't they? >> yeah. they do, brooke. and jim has got it exactly right. i don't see general dempsey who

i know pretty well contradicting the president at all. what he's suggesting is, this could evolve to the point where after these advisers advise within the operations centers. they say, hey, here's the kind of intelligence that might help you out on the battlefield as they turn to their iraqi or peshmerga counterparts. here's what we might be able to do to contribute to better synchroni synchronizetion of forces. and may require assistance on the battlefield itself. that's not a closed combat troop in the fight. you know, the president has said we will not have close combat troops fighting. and the way i read it as a former military guy, he's talking about large formations of americans. if you have your counterpart, and we've done this a lot in the last 14 years, your u.s. counterpart is right next to the iraqi or peshmerga counterpart, giving advice on the front

lines. that's a little bit -- i guess it would be consider close combat advising, and that's the difference. >> so i hear you that it's not contradictory. but you can understand why and certainly in situations like these, you're nimble and situations evolve based upon events on the ground. but you can understand why american lawmakers and certainly the american public would have questions before the u.s. gets into this. >> no question. and that's part of the problem. because as you say, words do matter. and it's the president who has gone out here and said so definitively that there will be no ground forces. and there was an interesting moment in the hearings when general dempsey was pressed. and he said that the president had said to him and general dempsey's words to come back to him on a case-by-case basis as to when he as the commander might need u.s. forces in a more forward position. i think we could say that.

they've said no ground forces, no combat whatsoever. but here you have them describing roles, the general describing roles that go beyond what officials have said in public so far. and that is a change. and those troops will be in danger even if they're not firing guns, you know, exactly at the enemy. one story i'll share. during the iraq invasion, i was embedded with u.s. special forces in northern iraq. and i was with u.s. special forces embedded with kurdish peshmerga basically playing the role of combat support advisers. and i'll tell you -- >> okay. >> during that invasion, we were getting shot at a lot. it felt to me i was in combat. there were bullets flying over our heads. when you're in that role, you do face more risk. >> hmm. and so, general, can you just, if and when that has to happen as the u.s. moves forward both with iraq and syria, what would

those decisions look like behind closed doors between, you know, top brass and the president? >> it would look something like this. i think general austin might call general dempsey and say, hey, boss, we've got the opportunity. so we want to put a lot of air power on something or ensure the iraqi or peshmerga force really concentrate their efforts and really defeats the enemy. can you get the president to allow me to do that? and general dempsey will probably say, hey, that's an option. and if it's such a good option that general dempsey does take it to the president, then the president makes the calls to commander in whether he wants to take that risk or attempt to mitigate it more. >> thank you. thank you, both, very, very much here. and as we stayed on this, you know, it's a frightening development in the fight against isis. it's just where that fight is taking place. when you look at the geography very close. we're talking very close now to the capital of baghdad.

when you look at a map, you see the red areas here on the periphery. these are places isis fighters tightly controlled and will quickly defend. then you see that chunk of yellow kind of in the middle of the screen, the highlighted area. that's what experts are calling isis support zones. and that's where those fighters are relatively safe to travel around without facing a fight. to the u.s. air strikes yesterday, they targeted isis positions southwest of iraq's capital. and they're the closest that american air strikes have been to baghdad since this campaign against isis began. and that is very significant. to baghdad we go. who is there live. and talk about just a real shift in tactics. the u.s. has gone from, you know, what initially was billed as this humanitarian mission to directly taking the fight to isis. >> certainly. and brooke, we're just receiving word from central command saying there were additional air

strikes also today in that area southwest of baghdad. so we're really starting to see that expansion that president obama was talking about last week. one geographically. if you look at the focus earlier in the northern part of the country. and now, we're seeing this operation, the mission. really expanding into other parts of the country. in addition to that, the scope of the operations as you mentioned being broadened here in cases like this. they say it is too to help and enable iraqi security forces to go on the offensive against isis. that area southwest of baghdad where these air strikes took place. this is an area that has been of concern, the southern baghdad belt where isis is really active. iraqi security forces there have been engaged in intense battles there for the past couple of months. and we've seen an increase in attacks in recent weeks targeting iraqi security forces. so these air strikes, this air cover is much needed by these forces to facilitate their

mission to allow them to make advances. but. >> we'll keep in close contact with you as this news is developing. thank you so much. coming up next, adrian peterson, he's facing child abuse charge, and now reports he was investigated for a different case with a different child of abuse, as well. he is responding to the claim, and today, another nfl player making headlines for how he says he disciplines his 1-year-old daughter. we'll play that for you. that's next. and, in about 45 minutes from now, i'll keep a close eye on the clock today because we're waiting for big news from nasa. nasa making a major announcement about how it will send american astronauts into space. hear the agency's new plan and what impact russia had on the news today. stay with me. ♪ [ male announcer ] "west" didn't end where columbus landed.

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as a pro player, ray rice knows all about watching the clock. but today's countdown is unlike any in his career. because this guy has until 11:59 p.m. this evening to appeal that indefinite suspension the nfl has imposed on him. after tmz released that footage of ray rice knocking out the woman who would become his wife. it is expected that the nfl players association is going to appeal.

as we watch the clock, let me bring in sports superagent we'll call him. lee, great to have you back. >> good afternoon, brooke. >> so, as the deadline is approaching tonight, basically midnight for ray rice, what is -- what is your, you know, from a superagent perspective. what is your advice to this man? >> there never really was any rational basis for commissioner goodell to do more than what he did with the two-game suspension. it was ridiculously light and it shocked and offended the conscience that it would only be two games. but no new facts came forward. he had every fact he needed by just reading the police report that said defendant punched victim in the face and knocked her out. and then he had rice's own words that he knocked his then fiancee out. the second tape, you cannot

punish someone twice with the same facts and a punishment. >> interesting. n i hear the point that the nfl had the facts. a lot of players have been convicted of crimes, and many of them have not been suspended, maybe, maybe they're making ray rice, you know, this example here. i mean, there wasn't even a domestic violence policy until a couple of weeks ago. if he appeals, would he have a case? >> i think he has a case. harvey levin and tmz don't make policy. the fact that the nfl should've had a domestic violence policy some time ago and that the commissioner should've acted decisively at the time he gave him two games doesn't give him the ability to go back because he flubbed it and keep repunishing the same player. so this is the case that rice has. and that's how badly the nfl has

mishandled this entire sequence. >> nothing coming from you. as we wait to see what happens there. let me pivot to another player who is in sort of a different kind of trouble spotlight. adrian peterson. he was just indicted on that alleged child abuse after he disciplined his son. and i just want you to listen to something. i want you to listen to detroit lion reggie bush voicing his support for adrian peterson and spanking a child. >> i got what we call -- you know, for me growing up, it was normal. i most definitely discipline my daughter. i have a 1-year-old daughter. i definitely will try to -- will obviously not leave bruises or anything like that on her. but i definitely will discipline her harshly depending on what -- again, what the situation is. >> there are a lot of -- i'm watching you shaking your head. he's not the only professional athlete coming forward, retired or current. i mean, if you're advising these

guys, these players who are commenting on adrian peterson, how would you advise them? >> i would advise them to not say a word. the specter of the strongest physical people in this society taking a branch off a tree and beating a helpless 4-year-old to the point that a week later he has physical bruises all across his body including hi genitals is sickening. they have a special responsibility whether it's a woman or a helpless child to understand what their strength is and the fact that they do no harm. we're blowing a real opportunity here for nfl athletes to lead the way in standing against domestic violence and standing against abusing young kids. they could be setting a great

example instead of being the abusers. >> should be examples, i agree with you. thank you for coming on. love to hear your perspective on these sports stories. coming up next, definitely a heated debate on capitol hill today over how the u.s. plans to fight isis, taking the fight to iraq and syria. secretary of defense asked a lot of questions, including, how do you explain arming rebels in syria. how would that not spiral out of control. take a listen. >> will we repel assad's air assets that will be attacking him? >> ahead the senatanswer to sen mccain. plus, at the top of the hour, nasa is awarding a major contract. next, who is in the running for

the multibillion dollar contract and why there is controversy brewing about these finalists. stay with me. ♪ eenie. meenie. miney. go. more adventures await in the seven-passenger lexus gx. see your lexus dealer.

iwith something terrible to admit. i treated thousands of patients, risked their lives, while high on prescription drugs. i was an addict. i'm recovered now, but an estimated 500,000 medical professionals are still out there, abusing drugs or alcohol. police, airline pilots, bus drivers... they're randomly tested for drugs and alcohol... but not us doctors. you can change that: vote yes on proposition 46. your lives are in our hands. in less than an hour, nasa says it is going to be making a quote unquote major announcement. and it means we could be seeing a little bit more of this.

>> all three engines up and burning. two, one, zero, and liftoff. the final liftoff of "atlantis" on the shoulders of the space shuttle. >> space shuttle atlantis, and there she went. that was bittersweet for all of us there to cover that. since that final launch more than three years ago, u.s. astronauts have had to hitch a ride, if you will, on russia's soyuz spacecraft to get up to the iss, but that will be changing. nasa's expected to announce it's awarding both boeing and space x these contracts to get u.s. astronauts to and from the space station from the u.s. starting in 2017. so to capitol hill we go to senator bill nelson of florida. senator, nice to have you on. >> thanks, brooke. >> so, you are not just a member of congress. a lot of people may not realize you have been to the space station. you were a payload specialist back in 1996, which is awesome. and a whole other conversation i'd love to have with you.

but when you hear this news, there's your picture. when you hear this news finally this comes back to the u.s. that we get to get our men and women up to the iss, what does that mean to you? >> well, of course, the interim is tough. but we had to shut down the space shuttle, the investigation of the last destruction of columbia mandated that. and they said replace it with a safer rocket. and if you look at the designs of these two that are being announced today by nasa, you will see the crew is in a capsule on the top of the rocket. so that you could have even an explosion on the pad, and you can save the crew because the capsule separates to a safe distance, and then either parachutes or comes in under its own power. >> okay. so that's how this would work and safety is, of course paramount.

think about the space shuttle itself. and these different companies who will be helping get these men and women up there. both boeing and space x. in terms of space coast jobs, that's a really huge deal. a lot of them lost because the shuttle program was shuttered. how will this affect the people back in florida? >> well, it means more jobs. they're spending upwards of $2 billion, redoing all the infrastructure right now at the kennedy space center. we're going to have one pad that is all commercial rockets. we're going to have another pad for the monster rocket that, by the way, one of its engines will be tested later this year. the capsule will fly for the first time in december. so all of this is going on concurrently with this award that's being announced today for the commercial companies to take our astronauts to and from the

international space station. >> okay. >> so we will watch for the official announcement from nasa happening at the top of the hour. before i let you go, i can't, without just asking. favorite space memory, senator? >> well, of course, what's emblazoned on my mind's eye is looking back at earth. and it is so beautiful. and yet it looks so fragile. and to me, as a politician, i looked and i didn't see any political divisions. i didn't look and see any religious or ethnic divisions. i saw the planet that we call home. and we're all in this together. >> hmm. i could think of some groups of people who sounds like space could do them some good. thank you so, so much for coming on. we appreciate it very much from washington for me today. just into us here at cnn, a grand jury will review the tony stewart case. the nascar driver who hit and killed another driver at that

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i've got news into us here on cnn. tony stewart's deadly racetrack crash case is going to a grand jury. the news coming into us from ontario district attorney's office. remember, he was involved in this deadly crash last month that killed fellow racer kevin ward jr. joining me with more is cnn's jean casarez. and before we get to the new news going to the grand jury. remind us, august 9th, dirt car track race. >> right. a lot of cars were going around, and the decedent in all of this, the victim, kevin ward, his car was struck by this nascar champions car who now this case is proceeding to the grand jury, tony stewart. and so, kevin ward gets out of his vehicle. tony stewart's vehicle veers toward and the vehicle strikes, allegedly, kevin ward and then he is taken to a hospital and is dead upon arrival. and a lot of people were

surprised by this. because when the sheriff's department of ontario county, new york, was investigating this, the sheriff said we deponent see that any crimes have been committed. that's why people are surprised. >> now what's happening? >> well, amazingly enough, there is a forensic enhancement video being reported by cnn that was done by new york state forensic authorities, which really will show the devils in the details, right? the car, tony stewart's car that veered towards car. was it intentional? was it reckless? and i think that video will be shown to the grand jury. and i think that's the issue here. and obviously, the prosecutor didn't have to take this to a grand jury. he is. what does that mean right there? >> jean casarez, thank you so much for the update there. we'll follow it certainly. coming up next, the secretary of defense gets pretty tough questions asked of him by congress on the united states' plan to try to battle isis both in iraq and syria. one of the main sticking points.

arming syrian rebels. can the u.s. trust them to fight both enemies? that's up next. [ male announcer ] momentum has a way of quietly exploding onto the scene. ♪ the new ram 1500 ecodiesel. with 28 highway miles per gallon, 420 pound-feet of torque. ♪ guts. glory. ram. sfx: ambient park noise, crane engine, music begins. we asked people a question, how much money do you have in your pocket right now? i have $40, $53, $21, do you think the money in your pocket could make an impact on something as big as your retirement?

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if u.s. troops head to the front lines to fight isis in iraq, who will do the job in syria? the subject of arming and training so-called moderate and syrian rebels is perhaps the stickiest subject of all facing

the administration right now. a lot of questions out there like exactly who are these people? what, exactly, would they do with those arms? take a listen. >> you don't think that the free syrian army is going to fight against bashar assad who has been decimating them? you don't think these people you're training will only go back to fight against isil? do you believe that, general? >> what i believe, senator, is that as we train them and develop a military chain of command, we can establish objectives that defer that challenge into the future. we do not have to deal with it now. >> that's a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire concept and motivation of the free syrian army. it is bashar al assad that has killed many more than isil has. >> i agree. >> joining me now, global news editor, gideon, great to have you here. what do you make of senator mccain's point there?

>> i think he has a point. he's sort of saying you're really putting off the problem you're going to have to deal with down the line. these rebels have been trying to fight against the regime the whole time. you're now telling them, okay, you can't fight him anymore. you've got to fight the other guys. and then after that, maybe we'll talk. i think that, it's tricky to see how you could not bring that into the calculation right now. but it's also admittedly hard to see how you can factor it all in in one go. it'll be a complicated long-term strategy. >> what happens then, though? if that happens just to reset. basically the u.s. has to essentially arm and train the moderate syrian rebels who have been fighting assad all this time. would the u.s. be in a proxy war with assad? >> i think what assad is hoping that the u.s. will solve his isis problem for him and help

him get rid of isis. i think what the u.s. is hoping, by the time it has finished pummelling isis, assuming that it can, which is a whole separate question. assuming that it does that. it is hoping by that stage the rebels will have been sufficiently armed and reinforced that assad. it's no longer really possible for assad to simply steam roll them. and that some kind of court has to rise or assad will have lost so much credibility by then, he can be forced out and others can reach an agreement with isil. maybe the long-term goal. >> i was talking to professor david lest, he's written a book on assad, "house of assad," he has met him multiple times. and i was saying to him, if you could crawl into his mind, what do you think he would be thinking? and he was saying, maybe he'd be thinking, all along the u.s. and syria were natural allies, somehow we could compromise, which he said it would be ridiculous to think of that.

what do you think assad is thinking? >> i think that he is, as i said, i think he's making maybe this is an opportunity for h him -- >> an opportunity. >> to find a new way to get out of this sort of stalemate he's fought himself into. where the u.s. is going to concentrate its air strikes has been in isis' hands for a year or more. it's -- and the air base which was nearby which was taken over last month, what a big, big defeat for the syrian forces. and so it's a loss of face and power for the regime. it's an opportunity for him to do a bit of a reset and maybe find a way where he can work his way back into being, if not a friend of the u.s., then at least a tolerated international dictator. >> tolerated international dictator. >> yes. and then, and reach some kind of status quo. remember, the u.s. was, you know, under huge pressure to bomb the syrian army when this whole conflict started. >> right. >> and said, no, we're not going to get involved. and maybe assad thinks with any luck, i can go back to that

status quo. >> thank you so much for joining me today. i really appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up next, rihanna lashes out at cbs for pulling her song from the network football coverage. now the network has responded. rihanna may be regretting her decision. we'll explain. [ female announcer ] this is our new turkey cranberry flatbread

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the nfl is enlisting female advocates to tackle the issue of domestic violence. the others are leaders in the battle against sex crimes and domestic violence. the goal is this, to develop and implement the nfl's policies. so while the nfl is turning to these four women to help the league through this crisis, the fear is that they have already turned off many others. here was espn's hannah storm. >> here's a question. what does all of this mean for the future? what does it mean for female fans whose dollars are so coveted by the nfl, who make up an estimated 45% of the nfl's fan base. our fans and families, are we as pare

parents, are we supposed to separate a violent game on the field from violent acts off the field? and if we do, what message does that send? >> joining me now, cnn money correspondent christina aleshi. and we know the league dealing with all kinds of fallout from women, in particular. you know, alienating female fans at the time when the league needs them the most. >> that's right. the league has been chasing this segment of the market for a number of years, taking out advertisements in women's fashion magazines. they've sponsored an entire clothing lines, even make-up lines. just to be in front of this audience. and now what we're seeing on social media, especially, is a huge backlash. you know, one of the most prominent examples is this cover girl ad that's been photo shopped to show the model with the black eye that's just been viral on social media. and not to mention the fact that you have women's groups like ultra violet flying planes above stadiums in cleveland and new

york and indianapolis during the games calling for goodell's head. so clearly, this is not great for the league's image with women. >> but still, planes in photo shop is not stopping all these people tuning in watching the games. wasn't last thursday's one of the highest rated in the last eight years? >> highest rated since 2006. so it seems like fans are still watching. but what we don't know are the numbers behind those merchandise purchases. that is a significant revenue stream for the nfl. so will women stop buying the, you know, tight-fitting jerseys that the nfl has been selling? that's a major question. and as you played, hannah storm mentioning 45% of the fan base are women. not to mention, 33% of the viewing audience for the games are women. so it's going to take a little bit of time for the numbers to actually show up for the ripple

effects to show up. but there's one thing that's for sure, the league has to address this somehow. you know, this social responsibility team that they've put together. a lot of critics are saying this is just window dressing. we'll have to see. and not to mention the fact that there's another big controversy brewing. the buffalo bills cheerleaders are suing the team for wage theft. we're going to have to see how the team responds. apparently, there's already a countersuit on those women. that cannot be a good thing. and the league is probably going to have to weigh in on that one. >> wow. christina, they have their hands full, looks like. thank you so much. i appreciate that. and here we are, sort of staying on this with regard to football. you know, in the midst of this ray rice controversy. there was another one brewing for cbs sports. it was set to premiere its thursday night football franchise with the special show that included this musical collaboration from jay z and rihanna. ♪

♪ only thing that's on my mind is who's gonna run this town tonight ♪ >> so the network yanked that spot last week as this uproar over ray rice exploded. the network said, listen, it was about tone. but rihanna didn't take too kindly to that move. she unleashed her anger on twitter today tweeting cbs you pulled my song last week and now you want to slide it back in this thursday. bleep you, y'all are sad for penalizing me for this. and two more words, the audacity. now we are hearing from cbs and jay z's label. for that and a little bit more, let me bring in our senior correspondent host of "reliable sources." so, first, what is cbs saying? >> well, cbs put out a statement a few hours after the tweet. once your business partner is cursing at you on twitter, you've got to kind of cut them loose. here's the statement, we'll be moving in a different direction with some elements of our thursday night football open.

they're going to bring on a different theme song instead and not have her on for the rest of the season. but but rock nation which owns the rights of the song say they sort of caused this, they pulled the rights away. they said, due to the misuse and misrepresentation of rihanna's name and participation in connection with cbs's thursday night football, cbs was not allowed to license and utilize the song. i think cbs did the right thing. they couldn't have broadcast that song and the whole entertaining aspect of it because they had to cover the news. they did the right thing last week. but they were in a bind. there was no right call today. once she's cursing at them on twitter, they had to move on. >> do you think in the end that's going to hurt her? she's got like -- >> i think it creates negative noise. >> i would think she would want the 20 million viewers to hear

her voice over these next 16 weeks. a little surprised by that. the number one show in the united states last week was sunday night football. number two was thursday night football. number three was monday night football. so it's a reminder about the strength of these franchises, regardless of what the news is at the moment. >> thank you for perspective. >> thank you. in moments, president obama will be revealing exactly how the u.s. is helping to fight the spread of ebola. this as the u.s. and the west were criticized for that initial response. stay right here. ♪ honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now? [ male announcer ] whether you're new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. it's up to you to pay the difference. so think about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

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moments from now, these are live pictures in atlanta, president obama will be addressing the threat from the ebola virus. he's been under all kinds of pressure to really just do more to fight the spread. the president speaking today in atlanta at the centers for disease control. he'll be talking about his plan to send 3,000 military personnel to west africa to help construct treatment centers to house up to some 1,700 ebola patients. president obama also plans to ask congress to approve an additional $88 million in support. before leaving washington, president obama did meet with dr. kent brantly at his office. here's the picture from the oval office. he's one of the american aid workers who recovered from the ebola virus after receiving that experimental serum.

senator lamar alexander gave a dire warning today from the senate floor. >> i believe that we should treat the ebola epidemic as seriously as we treat the danger of isis. >> we bring in physician, dr. ford vox. welcome. >> thank you. >> when you look at the numbers, we know ebola has already killed at least 2,400 people, thousands more are infected. do you agree with the senator there? is the spread of ebola something the world really needs to make a top priority? >> it should. just a month ago, we were talking about numbers that were half that. about a month ago, we were talking about 1,000 people dead. 2,000 affected. the w.h.o., the world health organization, at this point is telling us that the virus is spreading exponentially. there are a number of world threats but i think senator alexander and other senators are

right that it's important that we step up the response at this point. that's what we're seeing from the white house here in a few minutes. >> clearly the white house is stepping up. but who else, doctor, other nations should step up as well? >> i think that this is a global problem. the united nations has asked for about $1 billion worth of global response from this. there is a silver lining. we actually are starting to see other nations step up. at this point, china is a global power. they'll have about 200 experts on the ground there shortly. china's also sending out a mobile laboratory. so the united nations is really requesting that the global nation step in. and we're starting to see some of that. >> that's good. a piece in "the new york times," director of the centers for infectious disease research and policy at the university of minnesota says, something being talked about in private are fears that this virus could mutate, could spread through the air.

how likely is that? >> that op-ed was very powerful in the prescription that he laid out which is very similar to what we're seeing from the white house today. that particular aspect of his op-ed talking about a potential of this virus becoming airborne, that would require quite a lot of evolution quite quickly. it is not the opinion shared by the majority of the microbiology establishments. >> that's important. >> laying out that concern is perhaps something he was helping to bolster his case that we better get on the ball. it's scary. it's theoretically possible but not the main issue. >> so even without a mutation, is the threat from this current strain -- how dire is that? >> in the fashion in which it's spreading now, centered in west africa, we are seeing it effectively double in a month. could double in another month. we're expecting tens of thousands of west africans to

die before this infection right starts to literally die down. in the course of that, there are some big unknowns. this is a virus that can lay dormant in an affected person for three weeks with no symptoms. other major international cities could be affected by this. this is why we're scanning people at airports and so on. if it did reach a major city where new york or berlin or so on, it would not be like what we're seeing in west africa. it would be perhaps a handful of people affected. but nevertheless this is a legitimate concern. >> dr. vox, thank you so much for coming on. i appreciate it. as we mentioned, those live pictures up again, president obama has left washington and he is expected to speak any moment now. this is the centers for disease control in atlanta on adding support for all of these people who are infected with this at times very deadly ebola virus. stay with us on cnn. you can watch us here. i'm brooke baldwin live in new

york. thank you for being with me on tuesday. i'll be back tomorrow. in the meantime, to washington we go. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. it kills indiscriminately, americans are terrified it could come here to our shores and the president is about to announce ground troops to combat it. not talking about isis. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." national lead, minutes from now, the president will speak live from the centers for disease control unveiling his plan to send thousands of u.s. troops overseas to join the battle against the worst ebola outbreak in history. also. >> the president has ruled out sending american boots on the ground to be engaged in a combat role. >> i would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of u.s. military ground forces. >> well, which is it? boots on the ground, no boots on the ground? the problem of defining the mission as al qaeda jumps back in the fray and urges warring terrorist f