Obama: U.S. ready to take the lead in Ebola fight

By Jen Christensen and Kevin Liptak, CNN

September 17, 2014 -- Updated

(CNN) -- After an in-person briefing from the staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced a "major increase" in the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The United States will send troops, material to build field hospitals, additional health care workers, community care kits and badly needed medical supplies.

Countless taxis filled with families worried they've become infected with Ebola currently crisscross Monrovia in search of help.

They scour the Liberian capital, but not one clinic can take them in for treatment.

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