By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone )

NOTABLES

• TIME FOR A CZAR? President Obama said last night that he is open to appointing what would essentially be an Ebola czar to deal with the ongoing situation with the deadly disease in the U.S. "It may be appropriate for me to appoint an additional person," to be the point person, the president told reporters at the White House after meeting with his Ebola response team for nearly two hours, as new information continued to develop about how health care workers at a Dallas hospital may not have been given proper training and equipment to deal with an Ebola patient there. "I understand that people are worried. This is a disease that is new to our shores," Obama said. But he underscored the limited scope of the outbreak right now, and that Ebola is a "very difficult disease to catch." http://abcn.ws/1wNRXF0

• OBAMA - A TRAVEL BAN IS NOT THE WAY TO GO: The president also said he doesn't have a philosophical objection to the idea, but he said that a travel ban is less effective than screening. Implementing a travel ban may actually backfire by prompting travelers to hide their travel history or seek treatment, Obama said. The president also said he spoke with Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio yesterday about the Ebola situation. "When we have tight propocols with respect to the treatment of patients, our health care worker remain safe," Obama said.

• HAPPENING TODAY: ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS is hosting a live town hall with Dr. Richard Besser starting at 1 PM ET on a livestream at GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo. Leave your questions here for Dr. Besser : on.fb.me/1ns1fXE

THE ROUNDTABLE

ABC'S JEFF ZELENY: President Obama urged Americans not to panic in the wake of the Ebola scare, saying: "I want to assure the American people: We're taking this seriously, but this is something that's really hard to catch." He was speaking from the Oval Office last night, but it was hardly a high-profile address. He was simply making remarks after meeting for nearly two hours with his Ebola team. It was striking that he waited until almost 8 p.m. to speak - or be seen at all yesterday. His words were weighty, but they received far less attention than if he had delivered them far earlier in the day, when he canceled his trip to stay at the White House to oversee the situation. It's clear the West Wing is devoting considerable time and attention to Ebola, but one thing is still missing: the unparalleled presidential megaphone of reassurance.

ABC's RICK KLEIN: If Democrats suffer a wipeout next month, they may look back and realize they spent too much time running the last campaign and not enough time focusing on this one. Democrats, of course, have brought back the "war on women" argument that worked to great effect in minimizing their losses in 2010 and maximizing their gains in 2012. Surely it's an issue with continued resonance. But to an average voter in, say, Colorado or New Hampshire, does debate and TV ad overload on abortion and contraception feel in tune with the times? When ISIS and Ebola are dominating the headlines - and making their way into Republican ads and arguments? Colorado - where Mark Udall has been dubbed "Mark Uterus" by one local - is the place where the strategy might see its biggest backlash. The biggest problem for Democrats is that - hope as they might - the Todd Akin/Richard Mourdock role has been left vacant by a savvier Republican Party this time around.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SENATOR BATMAN: PATRICK LEAHY ON HIS CAPED CRUSADER CAMEOS AND CAPTURING HISTORY WITH HIS OWN CAMERA. Over the course of a nearly 40-year career in the Senate, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has toured the world, dined with presidents and brokered legislative deals - all while snapping photographs every step of the way. Born blind in one eye, Leahy has used his front row seat to history to capture some of the most unique photographs of politicians and world leaders. Leahy gave "The Fine Print" a tour of some of his photos on display at Georgetown University Law Center at an exhibit curated by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. Leahy, who also is president pro tempore of the Senate, a position third in the line of succession to the presidency, captured a rare photograph of then-Sen. Barack Obama as he spoke in a private room to his Democratic colleagues shortly after he was sworn into office. "I was the only camera in the room," Leahy told "The Fine Print's" JEFF ZELENY as he reflected on the photograph. WATCH: http://yhoo.it/1vDUSTL

THE BUZZ with ABC's KIRSTEN APPLETON

POLL: MOST AMERICANS BACK SCOTUS ON GAY MARRIAGE - INCLUDING IN THE AFFECTED STATES. Most Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll support the recent U.S. Supreme Court action allowing gay marriages to go forward in several states - including a bare majority in the 11 states in which such marriages have begun in the past week and a half, according to ABC's RYAN STRUYK. Overall, 56 percent of Americans support the court's action, while 38 percent oppose it - exactly matching opinions on whether or not gay marriage should be legal, asked in an ABC/Post poll in June. These results reflect the public's dramatic shift in support of gay marriage the past decade. By declining to hear several appeals, the high court cleared the way for gay marriage in five states - Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Three others in the same jurisdictions followed suit (Colorado, North Carolina and West Virginia), and gay marriage bans in three additional states, Idaho, Nevada and Alaska, were rejected by other courts in the past week. http://abcn.ws/103MSi8

JOE BIDEN'S SON HUNTER BIDEN DISCHARGED FROM NAVY AFTER POSITIVE COCAINE TEST. Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy in February after testing positive for cocaine, according to a person familiar with the case, ABC's LUIS MARTINEZ and ARLETTE SAENZ report. The person said Biden had failed a urinalysis test administered in June 2013 before he was discharged from the Navy. "It was the honor of my life to serve in the U.S .Navy, and I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge," Hunter Biden said in a statement distributed through his lawyer. "I respect the Navy's decision. With the love and support of my family, I'm moving forward." The person familiar with the case said he "was treated no different than any other sailor." Biden, 44, had needed an age waiver to join the Reserves because of his age as well as a second waiver because of a drug-related incident while a young man. http://abcn.ws/11y7bob

MEET OBAMA'S EBOLA COORDINATOR LISA MONACO. The woman coordinating the Obama administration's response to the nation's first Ebola scare in history has no background in public health or managing an outbreak. Lisa Monaco, the president's homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, is a lawyer with a background in federal law enforcement, criminal prosecution and crisis response. ABC's DEVIN DWYER reports she was formerly assistant attorney general for national security and spent years working inside the FBI. For several years she served as counsel and chief of staff to then-director Robert Mueller. The White House says she is a "highly competent individual" with experience coordinating federal agency responses to national security threats, which include Ebola. http://abcn.ws/1sXof2t

'UNACCEPTABLE' EBOLA HOTLINE WAIT TIMES PROMPT EXTRA HELP. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, claiming that people calling its Ebola hotline had to wait as long as 108 minutes for someone to pick up the phone. "A properly staffed Ebola hotline is needed. When a constituent called the CDC hotline today the wait was 108 mins. That's unacceptable," Portman tweeted Wednesday. According to ABC's FREDA KAHEN-KASHI, the CDC added 20 more operators to answer phones that it has been encouraging the public with questions and concerns to call. ABC News placed a few test calls to the number and tracked the results. http://abcn.ws/1suQfrC

SECRETARY JOHN KERRY FORCED TO FLY COMMERCIAL AGAIN. At least he's racking up the frequent flier miles. For the second time in three months, Secretary of State John Kerry has been stranded on a foreign tarmac by his Air Force jet and has had to catch a commercial flight back to Washington, ABC's ALI WEINBERG reports. Kerry was trying to get home from Vienna, Austria, after a day of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program on Thursday. But his plane had "mechanical problems," according to a spokesperson, so he had to ride home with the masses. http://abcn.ws/1sXfQfn

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

WHY MADELEINE ALBRIGHT IS ON A WHEATIES BOX. What do Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Madeleine Albright have in common? They've all been featured on the front of a Wheaties box, ABC's KIRSTEN APPLETON reports. The former secretary of state tweeted a picture of her photo on the cereal box. General Mills told ABC News that Albright's photo was placed on a commemorative Wheaties box. Albright is a champion as far as Wheaties is concerned. http://abcn.ws/1nqF7wT

WHO'S TWEETING?

?@ItsDavidFord: Fusion's @JorgeRamosNews Named Best News/Public Affairs Host of 2014 by @CableFAX for role anchoring @ThisIsAmerica http://bit.ly/1CvJ3xT

@jonathanweisman: Gas Prices Plunge but Candidates Keeping Quiet http://nyti.ms/1FaZvHW Repubs, who say Obama is holding back energy dvlpt, stay mum. So do Ds

@llerer: How the World's Top Health Body Allowed Ebola to Spiral Out of Control - Bloomberg via @BloombergNews http://bloom.bg/1zebwMk

@bpolitics: "It's gonna be a turnout issue there" @BillClinton to @MarkHalperin on Georgia Senate race http://bloom.bg/1swrUBH

@donnabrazile: Today, join me in changing the channel or the dial from the music of despair to the sounds of hope. Hope in its most powerful sense.