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President Obama has asked Ron Klain, who served as chief of staff to both Vice President Biden and former vice president Al Gore, as his Ebola response coordinator, according to a White House official.

"He will report directly to the presidents homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, and the president's national security adviser, Susan Rice, as he ensures that efforts to protect the American people by detecting, isolating and treating Ebola patients in this country are properly integrated but dont distract from the aggressive commitment to stopping Ebola at the source in West Africa," a White House official wrote in an e-mail.

Klain, 53, is a longtime Democratic operative who served as Biden's chief of staff from 2009 to 2011 and as Gore's from 1995 to 1999. He helped oversee the Democratic side in the 2000 presidential election recount as its lead lawyer, a role that Kevin Spacey portrayed in the HBO film "Recount."

CNN first reported the news Friday morning.

Obama has beenunder pressurefrom Republicans for weeks to appoint an "Ebola czar" to oversee the federal government's overall effort to contain the disease. Thursday night, the president told reporters: "It may make sense for us to have one person, in part just so that after this initial surge of activity, we can have a more regular process, just to make sure that we're crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's going forward. "

"Klains role is consistent with the view the president articulated in the Oval Office last night that Monaco, Rice and others have done outstanding work in confronting this challenge so far but given their management of other national and homeland security priorities, additional bandwidth will further enhance the governments Ebola response," the White Houseofficial added in the e-mailed statement.

The move did not satisfy conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who said the staff change fell short of what is needed to contain the spread of the lethal virus on U.S. soil.

We don't need another so-called 'czar'; we need presidential leadership. This is a public health crisis, and the answer isn't another White House political operative," Cruz said in a statement. "The answer is a commander in chief who stands up and leads, banning flights from Ebola-afflicted nations and acting decisively to secure our southern border."

At Friday's news briefing, White House press secretary Josh Earnest praised Ebola czar Ron Klain's experience in the public and private sector, saying he is "the right person for the job." (AP)

But Klain's Democratic colleagues said he was well-suited for the assignment. Robert Bauer, who served as White House counsel under Obama and worked on the 2000 recount, said Klain has developed a reputation of having "taken on highly charged assignments where there were significant complexities, and managed them very well."

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Obama taps Ron Klain as Ebola czar

President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to remain calm about the Ebola virus that has thus far been diagnosed in three people in the United States and killed one, emphasizing that cautious practices on the part of health authorities as well as aid for the West African countries hardest hit by the disease are the best approaches to preventing it from spreading.

What were seeing now is not an outbreak or an epidemic of Ebola in America, Obama said in his weekly video address. This is a serious disease, but we cant give in to hysteria or fear.

We have to keep this in perspective, Obama continued. Every year, thousands of Americans die from the flu. The President also pointed out that five people who contracted Ebola in West Africa had been brought back to the U.S. and treated successfully without infecting others.

The Ebola outbreak has so far killed 4,500 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan, who was diagnosed with the disease in Dallas after traveling from his home country to the U.S., died of the illness Oct. 8. A pair of American health workers have been diagnosed after coming in contact with Duncan and are being treated for the illness. More than 100 people who have been in contact with Duncan and the two sick nurses are being monitored for symptoms. Ebola has an incubation period of up to 21 days and is only transmitted by direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person who is already showing symptoms of the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under fire for not adequately instructing medical staff in how to deal with Ebola patients, took steps this week to address those criticisms. Several lawmakers have also criticized Obamas handling of the crisis directly, with the President announcing Friday the appointment of a so-called Ebola czar to manage the countrys response to the virus.

Obama, however, warned against calls by some politicians to halt travel between the U.S. and West Africa. CDC officials and other experts have said cutting off the border would be ineffective because sick passengers can still take connecting flights through third countries, and it would make it harder to know who was entering the country and perform contact tracing if travelers later showed symptoms of the virus.

Obama also argued that stopping travel would halt the flow of health workers to West Africa, where they could help contain the disease. We cant just cut ourselves off from West Africa, Obama said. Trying to seal off an entire region of the world if that were even possible could actually make the situation worse.

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Obama on Ebola: We Cant Give in to Hysteria

By Greg Jaffe and Amy Brittain October 18 at 2:41 PM

President Obama on Saturday sought to tamp down fears of an Ebola outbreak and defend his administration from Republican critics who have called for a more aggressive response to the disease, including sealing off U.S. borders to visitors from countries battling widespread outbreaks.

We cant just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging, Obama said in his weekly radio address. Trying to seal off an entire region of the world if that were even possible could actually make the situation worse.

Such actions would make it harder for American health-care workers, soldiers and supplies to reach stricken areas, Obama said. It could also cause residents of countries in West Africa where Ebola is still spreading to try to evade screening on their way to the United States or Europe.

The presidents main message was one of calm, coming came at a time of growing worry in communities throughout the country. We cant give in to hysteria or fear, because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need, Obama said. If were guided by science the facts, not fear then I am absolutely confident we can prevent a serious outbreak here in the United States.

As Ebola fears have spread, some urgent care clinics have taken steps to identify red flags, such as recent travel to West Africa, before patients ever set foot in the clinic. AFC/Doctors Express, a national chain of more than 130 urgent care clinics, with facilities in Alexandria, Woodbridge, Edgewater and Towson, fields some of its patient calls through a national call center thats designed to screen symptoms before patients show up to see a doctor. On Friday, the call center developed a new Ebola fact sheet and script to ask patients about their travel history, said Dr. Glenn Harnett, the chief medical officer for AFC/Doctors Express.

Posters on the clinics front doors and signs in its waiting rooms ask patients to notify personnel if theyve recently traveled to West Africa. Over the past four days, Harnett estimated that his clinics had seen about eight to 10 false alarms. Patients may have concerning symptoms such as fever and vomiting, but Ebola was ruled out because they had not traveled to any affected areas.

More often, the clinics have seen cases of irrational fear. Some patients have requested Ebola tests even though they arent ill, Harnett said. He told the story of one patient who had recently traveled to Mobile, Ala., and requested that he be screened for Ebola, despite having no symptoms nor any interaction with someone who was sick. The patient had grown concerned because of Mobiles position as a port city and felt that he might be vulnerable to exposure.

Wed probably have lines down the street if we had an Ebola vaccine, but so many more Americans will die of influenza, Harnett said. I find that somewhat frustrating as a clinician, but people are people, and theyre going to have the fears that they have. We need to be able to respond to those fears in a calm matter.

Obama on Saturday stressed that an outbreak of the disease in the United States was, at best, a remote possibility. He noted that Ebola is much harder to contract than the flu, and could only be spread through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is showing symptoms of the disease. He also emphasized that U.S. health-care officials had established protocols to fight the disease and prevent its spread.

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Obama: We cant give in to hysteria or fear of Ebola

U.S. President Barack Obama said he remains reluctant to ban travel from the countries in West Africa where Ebola has killed more than 4,500 people because such a step could actually make the situation worse.

Obama used his weekly address to the nation to discuss Ebola, capping a week that included canceled campaign events, emergency meetings and the appointment of an administration official to coordinate response to the disease.

Republicans and some Democrats in Congress are pressing Obama to prohibit entry to travelers from the region after a Liberian man was diagnosed with Ebola shortly after arriving in the U.S. Two nurses who helped treat him in Dallas were infected, causing fear of an outbreak in the country.

We cant just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging, Obama said in his address. Trying to seal off an entire region of the world -- if that were even possible -- could actually make the situation worse by causing people to evade screening.

Obama again sought to reassure the public that Ebola was difficult to catch and the likelihood of an epidemic was low.

Ive met with an Ebola patient who recovered, right in the Oval Office, he said. And Im fine.

After canceling two days of campaign events, Obama yesterday appointed Ron Klain, a former chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, as the administrations Ebola response coordinator amid increasing concern from the public about whether the government is equipped to prevent an outbreak.

As part of the administration effort, Obama also plans to assign senior personnel to serve on the ground in Dallas, including an experienced FEMA coordinator and a White House liaison, to make sure all of the regions needs are being met, according to a White House statement yesterday.

In his address, Obama said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deployed staff to Dallas where both nurses worked, and to Cleveland, where one of them traveled before becoming sick. He also highlighted new airport screening measures for people arriving from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, where the disease has struck hardest.

Obama, who this week authorized the Defense Department to mobilize military reserve troops to assist with prevention efforts in West Africa, said fighting Ebola at its source remained key.

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Obama Says Travel Ban for Ebola May Make Situation Worse

Vulnerable Democratic lawmakers scramble to avoid Obama
As President Obama #39;s star continues to fade and approval for his handling of issues both domestic and foreign fall to all-time lows, vulnerable Democratic lawmakers running for re-election...

By: dcexaminer

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Vulnerable Democratic lawmakers scramble to avoid Obama - Video