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Nina Pham, the 26-year-old nurse who became infected with Ebola after treating a patient with the disease at a Dallas hospital, will be transferred to a high-level containment facility at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said in testimony before a House committee that Pham will be admitted to the NIH tonight.

There she will will be given "state of the art care" in a high-level containment facility, he says.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where Pham is being treated and also where she contracted the disease, said transferring Pham was the "right decision."

Testimony from Texas Health Resources Regarding Ebola Response by KERANews

"With many of the medical professionals who would normally staff the intensive care unit sidelined for continuous monitoring, it is in the best interest of the hospital employees, nurses, physicians and the community to give the hospital an opportunity to prepare for whatever comes next," the hospital said in a statement.

Officials have said Pham's condition is good. Another nurse, Amber Vinson, who also cared for index patient Thomas Eric Duncan has also contracted the disease. Duncan died from the disease last week.

Dr. Daniel Varga, a top official from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where Duncan was treated by both Pham and Vinson, acknowledged the facility's mishandling of the original diagnosis and subsequent handling of the situation.

"We made mistakes," Varga said in a video link with lawmakers.

Varga's testimony comes as President Obama, for a second day, canceled out-of-town trips to stay in Washington, D.C., and monitor the response to the outbreak. The president had planned to travel to Rhode Island and New York today.

By late afternoon, Obama announced he was meeting with his cabinet again and issued an order giving the Pentagon the power to call up reserve National guard troops if they were needed to help fight the outbreak in West Africa.

NPR's Scott Horsley said this did not indicate a mass mobilization, but was instead the authority to "call up people with very specific skills— e.g. engineering, communications and Chaplains."

Duncan first sought treatment at the hospital on Sept. 26 but was sent home with antibiotics despite a high fever and having told a nurse of his recent travel to Liberia, an Ebola hot spot. Two days later, he returned to the hospital, was placed in isolation and subsequently diagnosed with Ebola. That's when officials believe Pham and Vinson, 29, became infected.

In his testimony, Varga acknowledges that the hospital did not correctly diagnose the disease on Duncan's first visit. "We are deeply sorry," he says.

After treating Duncan but before she exhibited symptoms, Vinson traveled by commercial airliner to and from Cleveland. That has raised questions about why she was allowed to travel with the public and whether anyone in an official capacity cleared her to do so. Her reported temperature was below the threshold set by the agency, and she had no symptoms, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman David Daigle, who talked to The Associated Press. The CDC has said that the likelihood of her passing the virus to a fellow passenger is considered very low.

By Thursday afternoon, however, CDC officials in Ohio began to make contact with passengers on Frontier flight 1142, which Vinson took from Dallas-to-Cleveland.

According to NPR member station WKSU, Dr. Chris Braeden, the head of the CDC team in Ohio, said the widening investigation had to do with the CDC's evolving definition of symptoms.

In an interview with CNN, Dr. Marguerite Erme, the medical director for Summit County Public Health, explained that through interviews, the CDC found out that Vinson may not have been feeling well days before she tested positive for Ebola.

Vinson, Erme said, is believed to have presented with "non-specific symptoms" earlier than first thought, so the people on her flight to Cleveland and those who may have been in a bridal shop while she was there are now considered "contacts."

In a statement issued early Thursday from Texas Health Presbyterian, the hospital responded to allegations by National Nurses United that protocols and equipment were not up to the task of treating Duncan. The hospital says it followed CDC guidelines at the time.

Texas Health Presbyterian also said it would offer a special room "to any of our impacted employees who would like to stay here to avoid even the remote possibility of any potential exposure to family, friends and the broader public," according to a statement late Wednesday, adding, "We are doing this for our employees' peace of mind and comfort. This is not a medical recommendation."

Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC, is also expected to testify before the House subcommittee. In prepared remarks, he calls the current epidemic "the biggest and most complex Ebola challenge the world has ever faced."

Frieden confirmed that after Vinson cared for Duncan and while she was being monitored for symptoms, she called the CDC and asked for guidance on whether she should take a flight from Dallas and Cleveland.

"I have not seen the transcript of the conversation. My understanding is that she reported no symptoms to us," he said.

Obama has made ramping up efforts to respond to Ebola a priority and wants to make sure what happened in Dallas doesn't happen elsewhere across the country. He said efforts are being taken very seriously at the highest levels of the government.

"As soon as somebody is diagnosed with Ebola, we want a rapid response team, a SWAT team, essentially, from the CDC to be on the ground as quickly as possible — hopefully within 24 hours — so that they are taking the local hospital step by step through exactly what needs to be done and making sure that all the protocols are properly observed; that the use of protective equipment is done effectively; that disposal of that protective equipment is done properly," Obama said after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

President Barack Obama

According to Navajo law, Navajo Nation presidents must speak the Navajo language to hold office. Chris Deschene is a strong contender for the position, but there's a problem: He's not fluent in the language.

The challenge to Deschene's candidacy has become a window into how the Navajo Nation views itself and its cultural future, as well as how Native people continue to define themselves in the face of cultural change.

In August, the Navajo Nation held primaries for candidates hoping to become the next Navajo president. The two men with the most votes were Dr. Joe Shirley Jr., a two-time former president; and Deschene, a military veteran and member of the Arizona State Legislature.

However, within weeks of clearing the nation's primaries with 19 percent of the vote, Deschene was challenged by another candidate who hoped to have him disqualified for lack of language competence.

Fifty years ago, almost 90 percent of Navajo first-graders spoke Navajo fluently. Now, just over 7,000 tribal citizens are monolingual Navajo speakers, and fewer than 30 percent of first-graders can claim some level of language fluency.

Today, the Navajo Nation, much like the rest of Indian Country, faces the prospect of language loss. While the Navajo language is still spoken widely across the Southwest, it's threatened, and Deschene has come to represent that fact for people on both sides of the language divide.

"It's a really personal issue to me," says Melvatha Chee, a Navajo language instructor at the University of New Mexico. "I would like to vote for [Deschene], but I feel like I'm voting against myself if I support him. If I support a nonspeaker, I feel like I'm voting against my own work."

Others feel that they can support their language and Deschene's candidacy.

"If Deschene is told that he can't be president because he's not Navajo enough because of language, that's like telling a lot of young Navajo people that they're not good enough either because they don't speak the language," says Meredith Moss, a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University who has focused her studies on Navajo language and sociolinguistics.

At the heart of the matter for Deschene, according to Moss, is the need to use English in the context of being a representative to other nations and groups, but also being an authentic, trustworthy voice at home who can represent the positions of the Nation's elders. It is a struggle between an older generation that is genuinely Navajo and a new generation of tribal members who may see themselves more closely represented by Deschene than by his opponent.

"I think many feel that the youth are being told they're not good enough," said Moss. "They're not Navajo enough, and supporting Deschene is kind of like moving toward the new guard and saying, 'We really are Navajo; we can have that authenticity while moving forward together.' "

For many, language is the embodiment of culture, and tribal languages contain history, cosmology, traditional values and identity. Supporters of the language requirement argue that without tribal languages, Native Americans are lost, and distant from the ancestors who came before them.

But for much of history, this loss of language was not a choice. For centuries, the policy of churches, educators and government officials has been to stamp out tribal languages, through education, abuse, and any other way possible. As the saying went: Kill the Indian, save the man.

By federal government standards, there's no question that Deschene is Navajo, regardless of language. He is a citizen by blood quantum standards. He was born, raised and lives within the borders of the Navajo Nation. He is a participant in cultural events, from social dances to ceremony.

Deschene is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Marine Corps veteran. He has earned a law degree. Yet his lack of fluency in the Navajo language may disqualify him from becoming the next president of the largest Native nation within the United States. And people like Chee think that's fine.

"How do we approach teaching Navajo language to children so that we can actually produce speakers?" said Chee. "If I support a nonspeaker then I'm saying, 'You're invalid because Navajo language is not needed.' That there's no reason for it. It's not used."

Deschene himself has spoken out about efforts to disqualify him. "These decisions have sent a message to our young saying despite all your accolades, success and everything you've done to help our people, you're not welcome," he said. "It's separating, dividing and isolating ... and the people deserve better."

As of now, Deschene has been officially disqualified as a candidate by Navajo officials after a series of closed-door hearings. However, election officials have refused to remove his name from the ballot, and early voting is already in full swing in the Navajo Nation. A spokesperson for Deschene says it is unlikely the situation will be cleared up before Nov. 4 and that it's unclear what will happen should Deschene win the majority of votes for Navajo Nation president.

"The people get to decide what their standards are," said Deschene. "For me, as an individual, I know I'm a member of the Navajo Nation. I know I'm a member of our people."

In the Silicon Valley arms race to lure the top talent with the best benefits, Facebook and Apple are adding egg freezing for female employees. The two companies may be the first to pay for the procedure for women who choose it to delay child bearing.

The addition of egg freezing to the benefits plan comes as tech companies face mounting pressure to hire more women. And it's a perk that some women may find attractive.

Brigitte Adams started a community forum called Eggsurance, where women can share information about the procedure. Adams paid for the procedure herself. "I froze my eggs at 39," she says, "and there was nothing out there that was specific to egg freezing."

The American Society of Reproductive Medicine only lifted the experimental label from egg freezing two years ago. Adams, a marketing executive at a tech start up, says the addition of coverage for the procedure definitely would give extra weight to a job offer.

Freezing Eggs To Make Babies Later Moves Toward Mainstream

No Longer Experimental, Egg Freezing May Appeal To More Women

"I would equate it to reimbursement for an MBA program," she says, "or adoption assistance, or, you know — it's not the be-all and end-all, but it's definitely a nice perk."

And an expensive one — the benefit covers $20,000 worth of procedures, typically two rounds of egg retrieval. Then again, rich Silicon Valley companies are notorious for high-end benefits that can include gourmet food, dry cleaning, and massages.

Cali Williams Yost, who consults with companies about work/life balance, says covering the cost egg freezing as an elective procedure could help keep some good women employees. (The benefit also is available to employees' spouses.)

"By offering to pay for women to freeze their eggs, I think Silicon Valley is responding to what some of the young, talented women in their workforce want," she says.

But, Williams Yost says enabling female employees in particular to delay having children isn't all that's needed: At some point those workers will have children, and also will need the right benefits then.

"They are going to need the direct supports, the flexibility, the care-giving" she says, "leaves and benefits that actually help them combine work and life. Egg-freezing is a great small piece of a much bigger puzzle."

Facebook told NPR that its offering this benefit because employees were asking for it. In a statement, Apple also said it wanted to make certain its women employees could "do the best work of their lives." Both companies have paid parental leave policies and on-site healthcare. Facebook also subsidizes day care costs.

But Marcy Darnovsky, Executive Director at the Center for Genetics and Society, says that expanding benefits to cover egg freezing could put pressure on women to delay childbearing so that their employer can get more hours out of them. Darnovsky is an advocate for the responsible use of reproductive technologies.

"When you're in a situation of your employer offering you a choice," she says, "you really have to be careful that you're distinguishing between something that's an expanded option and something that's actually subtle or even explicit pressure to do what your employer wants you to do."

But, Darnovsky believes there is also a virtue in egg freezing because it does give women more choices and control over their lives.

Egg freezing is no guarantee of having a child, though. Studies indicate that women who have three rounds of egg retrieval at around $10,000 per round have a slightly more than 30 percent chance of giving birth if they are 25 or younger when the eggs are frozen. The closer women get to forty, the lower the likelihood of success. If women limit themselves to the two rounds of egg retrieval covered by the new benefits, that also will reduce the odds.

Eggsurance forum founder Briggitt Adams froze her eggs when she was 39. She says that she didn't do it for career reasons, but to give herself as many options as she could given the circumstances of her life, and that that's why many women she knows did the procedure.

"We're doing it maybe because our life didn't take the course we expected it to, she says, "and we're older and we want to have children and, hey, there's this new technology that may help us do that."

Adams is currently single and she says freezing her eggs has made it easier for her to look for the right partner without feeling as much pressure from her biological clock.

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I've been traveling to Hong Kong since 1997, when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule. Reporting on the pro-democracy protests in recent weeks, I've been struck by a change in the people here. Many are no longer willing to give their full names when talking about politics and the current protests.

A couple of nights ago I was interviewing a real estate agent in a pinstripe suit on an elevated walkway as police battled and pepper-sprayed demonstrators in the distance.

The man, 27, wasn't a protester, but supported the pro-democracy movement and explained why. When I asked him for his name, he only offered his surname, Wu. I asked him why he didn't want to be identified.

"The speech freedom is just fading out," he said. "I was very confident in Hong Kong 10 years ago, but things change very quick. Everything is getting worse. I have to protect myself at this moment."

Then I asked if I had interviewed him 10 years ago about politics, would he have given me his full name then?

"Maybe," he said. "Maybe, yes."

In the protest tent camp below, I ran across a man named Abe, who was helping to build desks from scrap wood. The main camp stretches across Harcourt Road amid the glass-and-steel towers of Hong Kong's Admiralty district. Using the highway's concrete divider, protesters have built an open-air study hall so students can keep up with their homework.

"I have no experience in carpentry," said Abe, who is Hong Kong-Canadian. "A lot of this is just volunteerism. I see people picking up garbage and I just volunteer."

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One System, Two Media: How China, Hong Kong Are Covering The Protests

When I asked Abe for his full name, he also declined. He is in marketing and travels to China, where he works with manufacturers.

"I like to go to China and they will put me on a watch list," he said. "A few of the outspoken and more famous leaders in the Democrat party or other parties aren't allowed to go back to China."

Abe may be overly cautious, but he said many people feel the same way.

"I think as Hong Kong is having more economic ties with China, a lot of people are employing self-censorship," Abe said. "That's the bottom line. A lot of people are self-censoring."

Maya Wang, a researcher for the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, says under British colonial rule, Hong Kongers tended to speak their minds.

"I think freedom of expression and freedom of the press were freedoms that were taken for granted in Hong Kong," says Wang, who lives here. "It was just part of daily life."

When Hong Kong returned to China, Beijing promised the territory could keep its way of life for 50 years, but Wang says free speech and a free press are under threat. She cites the case of billionaire Jimmy Lai, the owner of Apple Daily newspaper and a huge, pro-democracy supporter.

A car rammed into Lai's home last year and someone left a meat cleaver and an axe outside his front gate. This week, crowds surrounded Apple Daily offices at times and tried to block the newspaper's delivery. The Wall Street Journal noted that the demonstrators came on charter buses, pitched identical new tents at the scene and appeared to be a rent-a-mob.

The case of journalist Kevin Lau is more frightening. A hired assailant nearly hacked him to death this year with a meat cleaver.

Lau is a Beijing critic and the highly respected former editor of Ming Pao, a daily newspaper that has heavily covered the pro-democracy movement. Lau insists he was attacked for his journalism.

"These two incidents against Jimmy Lai and Kevin Lau are very chilling ... to the Hong Kong people," says Wang, the human rights researcher. "If you have lots of money and you speak on democracy, you could be subjected to these kinds of attacks. What happens to the small, ordinary people who have neither the money nor the fame to protect them?"

The answer: They're more careful about what they say and more reluctant to give their full names – just like people across the border in mainland China.

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Hong Kong

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