Chad’s Morning Brief: Travel Restrictions Set for Those Traveling Back From Ebola Countries, Obama Says Fleeing Dems Were With Him, and Other Top Stories

 Here is your Morning Brief for October 22, 2014.

Ebola Travel Restrictions

It's not a ban, but the administration on Tuesday imposed new travel restrictions on passengers flying into the U.S. from Ebola ravaged countries according to FOX News.

The change comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for a travel ban from those countries -- Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. While administration officials continue to resist that step, the Department of Homeland Security said the new restrictions will go into effect starting Wednesday.

The change means all travelers from those three countries will have to arrive at one of the five designated airports: New York's JFK, Newark, Dulles, Atlanta and Chicago.

DHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month implemented "enhanced screening measures" at those airports. According to the department, the five airports already account for about 94 percent of travelers from those countries. Also, there are no direct commercial flights from West Africa to the United States.

However, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson cast the changes as an additional protective measure. "We are continually evaluating whether additional restrictions or added screening and precautionary measures are necessary to protect the American people and will act accordingly," he said in a statement.

The new requirement means that people traveling from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea who were not originally passing through one of those five airports will have to rebook their flights. "We are working closely with the airlines to implement these restrictions with minimal travel disruption," Johnson said.

Passengers from the Ebola hot-zone traveling through those airports are subject to additional screening measures, including having their temperature taken.

You can read the entire article by clicking on the link above.

Obama Calls Out Democrats Who Are Running Away From Him

Obama didn't help out any of the Democrats who have been attempting to flee his shadow. According to FOX News, President Obama called those Democrats strong allies who supported him.

The president, during a radio interview on Monday, claimed Democratic candidates who are avoiding him on the campaign trail nevertheless are “strong allies” who have “supported my agenda in Congress.”

The comments once again provide GOP ad-makers with fodder to tie Democrats to the unpopular president. This comes after Obama declared several weeks ago “every single one” of his policies is on this year’s ballot. And like last time, Republicans quickly parroted the president’s latest remarks.

“All of the Dem candidates running from Obama ‘are all folks who vote with’ & ‘have supported’ his agenda,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted, as his press shop dutifully circulated Obama’s comments.

The president addressed the issue on Al Sharpton’s radio show, as he tried to explain why he was staying away from some races.

“A lot of the states that are contested this time are states that I didn’t win,” Obama said. “And so some of the candidates there — it is difficult for them to have me in the state because the Republicans will use that to try to fan Republican turnout.”

He added: “The bottom line is, though -- these are all folks who vote with me, they have supported my agenda in Congress.”

He listed several agenda items, from minimum wage increases to infrastructure spending, and said Democrats were on the “right side” of those debates, with him.

“This isn’t about my feelings being hurt,” Obama said. “These are folks who are strong allies and supporters of me.”