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At This Hour

Gaza Hospital Complex Damaged in Attack; Americans in Africa Test Positive for Ebola; How Is Obama Handling World Crises; Time Running Out for Congress to Handle Border Crisis; Palin Creates Sarah Palin Channel; John Kerry Talks Cease-Fire

Aired July 28, 2014 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We do have breaking news on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Over the last several minutes, we've been showing you pictures of the hospital complex in Gaza. These pictures showing some damage and some people clearly hurt there in this complex. The question is, who fired whatever hit that complex. Well, now we have a statement finally from the Israel Defense Forces and they essentially say, it wasn't us.

Let's go to Martin Savidge now in Jerusalem.

Martin, what can you tell us?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. It's a brief message but it does come from the IDF. They are essentially saying it was not a strike by Israel that caused the explosion there at the hospital in Gaza City. What they are saying it was apparently a rocket attack or an attempted launch of rockets against Israel that fell short, so they are essentially laying the blame on Hamas saying it was a rocket that was being fired meant to hit Israel but instead fell short. They will not say how they know that. That is the brief statement that's been given out so far.

At the same time this event has been going on in Gaza, emergency services in Israel, near Gaza say that there has been a mortar strike coming from Gaza and hitting Israelis. It is said to be quite serious. There are unofficial sources now, Israeli television, that are reporting that there are a number of casualties, including four dead and six wounded. Again, CNN is working to confirm that number, but that would be a very serious attack that is apparently coinciding with the timing of the events that are going on in Gaza -- John?

BERMAN: Martin, stay on this for us. We want to get more details as soon as we can.

But the news, the IDF is denying that they struck this hospital in Gaza. Saying it was an errant missile from Hamas.

Thanks, Martin.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: No response from Hamas. We'll wait to see if that happens. We want to return now to Africa. We've been getting disturbing news about American aide workers that are on the ground in Liberia. A second worker has tested positive, both Dr. Kent Brantley and Nancy Wrightbol became infected after treating Ebola patients in Monrovia. Both work for the Serving in Missions Samaritan's Purse Team.

BERMAN: What's scary, health officials say the current Ebola outbreak that started in Guinea and in other African nations say it is the deadliest ever.

Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen joins us.

These Americans likely knew how do all the things supposedly to protect themselves, so how do they end up with Ebola?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know, John. This is a very experienced group so it makes it very disturbing how it happened. We just don't know. There are a couple of possibilities. Let me be clear. I'm not saying this did happen. I'm saying here are possibilities for how infectious diseases spread even when you're trying to protect yourself. Is it possible that their gloves tore and that's how they got Ebola? Is it possible that it is incredibly hot in all of that protective gear that they are supposed to wear, and maybe people are trying to cut corners? That sometimes happen. But we do know that Ebola is spread with contact with bodily fluids. It's not as if they were standing next to someone sneezed. That wouldn't have done it. It's contact with bodily fluids.

PEREIRA: Both have been working there since 2013. The one thing that was really great to know, this Dr. Brantley, he sensed there was something wrong, maybe he was coming down with something, and he isolated himself. They are saying getting quick treatment and quick diagnosis is really key. But, Elizabeth, talk to us here about the spread. It is spreading so quickly, why is that? What do we know?

COHEN: One of the reasons it's spreading quickly is really human behavior. Health authorities are going out to places where there might be Ebola, and saying, look, if you have these symptoms, isolate yourself, just like this doctor did. But people are not trusting the government and they are not trusting hospitals, and that's really causing problems.

PEREIRA: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much. This is a story we're keeping an eye on. We need to be aware about this and care about this.

BERMAN: In two hours, we'll know more about a tentative deal to reform the V.A. Just days before the Congress goes on its August recess, the chairman of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, they agreed on this measure.

PEREIRA: It is expected to address short and long-term needs of the agency exposed by CNN and the waiting list scandal. Not a done deal though. Both the Senate and the House must approve it. Count on CNN to stay with that story.

BERMAN: Ahead for us @THISHOUR, so many conflicts ranging across the world right now.

PEREIRA: Do voters think we put the right man in the White House to handle them all? We'll explore it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Crises raging overseas this hour: Israel, Hamas, Iraq, ISIS, Russia Ukraine, the civil war in Syria. So just how do Americans think the leader of the free world is handling all this mayhem?

BERMAN: It may not be how he's handling overseas, but it does speak to his disapproval rating. A recent CNN poll shows if voters had the 2012 elect to do over again, they would put Mitt Romney in the White House. Look at that, nine-point margin.

Meanwhile, there's been some criticism of the president for doing some fundraising while these fires have been raging. Listen to what his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA, GPS: Charles Krauthammer said the world is going to hell and President Obama is playing golf. Is he playing too much golf while all these crises are coming up?

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: No, I think that's an unfair comment to make. I know from my own experience with the president, where we worked so closely together, and as I write in the book went from being adversaries to partners and friends, that he is constantly working and thinking, but he also wants to do what will make a difference, not just perform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We're joined now by political commentator Reihan Salam. Also, Bernard Whitman is here. He's a Democratic strategist.

Bernard, you know, generally speaking in this day and age, foreign policy rarely drives approval ratings. Usually it's the economy. Iraq affected George W. Bush over time. Do you think the foreign policy issues, do you think this is dragging down the president?

BERNARD WHITMAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR & DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think there's no question it's dragging down the president. I think what the American people are frustrated with is less how he's handling but the result.

I think Americans like to be in control situations. We like to think we can actually run the world and we can't. There are a lot of things that are out of our control, Iraq, the Palestinian situation, what's going on in Ukraine. I think what we can be happy about and support the president on is the fact that here we've got someone who actually taken the time to reflect, strategize, consult with allies. I think we can applaud the administration, Secretary of State Kerry for what he's trying to do in Gaza. And I think with respect to Russia, for example, we've got to be very vigilant because there are shades, as I said, for a number of years, of -- in Putin, signs of Hitler. And I think we have to remember and recognize that, 75 years ago, Germany invaded Poland. And I think we need to keep a very strong watch on where Putin is going with respect to Ukraine.

PEREIRA: Reihan, I think of the laundry list that I started out this segment out with. There is so much unrest going on in the world. We were thinking earlier in the show, I don't know there's been this much of intensity conflict and death tolls around the globe happening simultaneously. Yet, we saw the results of the poll. Could Mitt Romney have been doing any better of a job?

REIHAN SALAM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's certainly true that Mitt Romney talked about a number of things during his campaign. He talked about the threat posed by Russia. He talked about how unrest in Libya was spreading throughout West Africa. He talked about many issues that actually have come back to bite us. I think he certainly did anticipate many of these crises. And his view was that it's very important for the United States to be very consistent because that creates a stability of expectations for our allies. And I think there is a concern that this president has sometimes, for example, drawn a line in the sand and then not actually responded as forcefully as he had intended or as he had projected, and that actually does not reassure our allies in many cases.

BERMAN: You know, it is interesting because this CNN/ORC poll, we also asked the question who would you vote for if the elect was today and it was between Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney, and the results, wow, I mean, Hillary Clinton just crushes Mitt Romney. She beats Romney by 13 points. So if you're keeping score at home, Romney beats Obama but Hilary Clinton beats Romney. To me, that says it's personal. They are rejecting, the voters in our poll, the president, not necessarily overall Democratic policies.

WHITMAN: I think what it says is the voters are looking forward to 2016. Americans tend to be very impatient. The president has been office in for six years. They are weighing their options for who is going to be president. I think it's clear Mitt Romney won't run again. I think it's clear that Hillary Clinton is going to. I think she presents the most formidable opponent that the Republicans could face. There's a hunger and a desire for some change. The one thing that's in Hillary's favor is her call for more bipartisanship and to lower the decibel level of partisanship in both foreign policy and domestic.

BERMAN: Well, there will be time to talk about 2016. I think a lot of it. But first, we got to talk about the now and the crisis at the border.

So guys stick around.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: The big question now, will they or won't they? Congress has got five days before they go on their month long recess. Will they reach some kind of agreement on how to deal with this border crisis?

Then there's this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Welcome to a new project. This is a news channel that really is a lot more than news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Sarah Palin launching her online channel. She's taking on the mainstream media. We're taking a look at it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Time is running out for Congress to take action on the border crisis before leaving for the August recess. They have like four and a half days left.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Tens of thousands of children have arrived from Central America since January looking for asylum.

PEREIRA: A White House official says it will be alarming if lawmakers don't approve the request for emergency funding. Some of the money would deal with problems these kids are fleeing from in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Joining us once again are our political commentators -- we kept them seated -- Reihan Salam and democratic strategist, Bernard Whitman.

Reihan, we'll start with you.

Any chance, any chance that we'll get any sort of border bill passed before the August recess?

SALAM: I'm skeptical because there are a variety of different positions that are very hard to reconcile with each other right now and the fundamental issue on the Republican side is that -- think about what happened with the Senate immigration bill a few months back. What happened is that because of some of the president's steps on Obamacare in terms of how he was implementing the law, there was this belief if we pass this law, we don't know how the president is going to actually implement it. That contributed to a lot of the distrust around a measure like this that is being pushed in this fashion.

BERMAN: Bernard, you're the political strategist here. I don't get the politics for either side. How doing nothing could be better than doing something? Even a not great something in this case seems better than nothing.

WHITMAN: I agree with you, John, a complex disaster. I fault the Senate Democrats for being intransigent on changing the laws to allow for immediate deportations from these countries just like we have from Mexico and Canada. We ought to do that. That's not going to happen. What I think will happen, by the skin of our teeth, is to get a funding bill passed. We've got to provide more money for processing and to allow these deportations to happen. And it's unfortunate. I think the president made a good step forward in his meeting with Honduras. I think any time we can try to get the middlemen out of this, the human traffickers, who are exploiting these families and children, that's a good thing, but I think we got a long way to go.

PEREIRA: The House majority whip said on the Sunday shows he's going to stay working. We'll wonder if any of his colleagues will stay.

Let's move on to another topic I know you're eager to talk about, Sarah Palin jumping into the TV game. Launching her own TV show, creatively called the Sarah Palin Channel.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: She's saying she'll give an alternative to mainstream TV here, speak the truth.

Reihan, what are you expecting out of it? Do you think they'll give FOX News a run for their money?

SALAM: I think that media entrepreneurship of any kind is healthy and a good development. It's great to have a lot of different voices out there. It is worth noting that FOX News, like many of the news networks, serves a somewhat older audience. You're looking at new start-ups, Glenn Beck among others, that are trying to reach a non- traditional audience. I think that's all to the good. We need the competition. Not necessarily her biggest fan all the time, but I think that, you know, she could do some good.

BERMAN: Let's talk about Sarah Palin in general, shall we, because Sarah Palin has been one of the people over the last several weeks suggesting that President Obama should be impeached. I've said that, and there are dozens, if not hundreds of establishment Republicans yelling at me, pointing their fingers at the TV screen, saying no one's talking about impeachment except people like Sarah Palin and Democrats for whom this is actually a political opportunity. I guess back to Palin, Bernard, does she help Democrats? Are you glad Sarah Palin's out there talking?

WHITMAN: Frankly, I'm surprised anybody is still listening. I actually thought she was hunting moose from a helicopter, something like that. My theory is this. She wants $9.95 per month for subscribers. I've got Netflix for $9 a month. I think I'd have a better value watching "House of Cards" on Netflix. She is so yesterday and the day-before's news. I can't imagine anybody is taking her seriously or listening.

PEREIRA: It's interesting you say maybe this will reach a new audience, this new media landscape, acquiring younger demographics. We know certainly the Republican Party is looking to broaden the scope instead of the Republican party of years past. Is Sarah Palin the one that's going to get those eyes?

SALAM: Would I make a large-scale investment with my life savings in the Sarah Palin channel?

PEREIRA: Wait for it. What's the answer?

SALAM: Probably not.

(LAUGHTER)

But, do I celebrate every person out there trying a crazy idea? Yeah, I do celebrate those people.

BERMAN: Making a brave stand in support of entrepreneurship.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Look, there are people who have been counting Sarah Palin out for a long time. On impeachment, our poll found 35 percent of people, only 35 percent of people, support it. The vast majority think it's a crazy idea. But 35 percent is still a lot of people. There are people out there who support what she says.

WHITMAN: It's enough people to completely derail the Republican's chances. I was around for -- when the Republicans successfully impeached Bill Clinton in 1998, which, what did it do? It led to the biggest defeat for an opposition party in the six-term mid-term election since the Civil War. I would say, thank you, Sarah Palin, bring it on.

BERMAN: That's why Democrats are out there talking about it, fund- raising off it. More certainly than most elected Republicans in either chamber of Congress right now.

Great to have you, gentlemen. Been fun having you.

SALAM: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Ahead @THISHOUR --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SQUEALING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Sorry. I should have warned you about that squeal of excitement. Just too much excitement for this poor pooch to take. The viral video of the dog that, well, kind of had an odd reaction after reuniting with his owner. We'll show it to you and let you listen to it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Moments ago, Secretary of State John Kerry speaking on the ongoing situation and turmoil in Gaza. He was speaking from the State Department. Let's take a listen.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: You all know I just returned from the Middle East and from Paris where I had a series of discussions aimed at deescalating the conflict, ending the rocket and tunnel attacks against Israeli civilians, and easing the suffering of innocent people everywhere, in Gaza, in Israel, in the West Bank. Today, we are continuing to work toward establishing an unconditional humanitarian cease-fire, one that could honor, which begins now, and could stop the fighting, allow desperately needed food and medicine and other supplies into Gaza, and enable Israel to address the threat, which we fully understand and which is real, the threat posed by tunnel attacks, and to be able to do so without having to resort to combat. That is what could come from a cease-fire.

We believe the momentum generated by humanitarian cease-fire is the best way to be able to begin to negotiate and find out if you can put in place a sustainable cease-fire, one that addresses all of the concerns, the long-term concerns as well, begin to talk about the underlying causes of the conflict in Gaza. Though, those obviously will not all be resolved in the context of a cease-fire, a sustainable cease-fire discussion. But it's important to begin to build, move in a process, and that's what we're trying to achieve. That's the only way, ultimately, this conflict is going to be resolved.

Hopefully, if we can make some progress, the people of this region who deserve peace can take one step towards that elusive goal by stopping the violence which catches innocents on all sides in the cross fire and begin to try to build a sustainable way forward.

We also believe that any process to resolve the crisis in Gaza in the lasting and meaningful way must lead to the disarmament of Hamas and all terrorist groups. And we will work closely with Israel and regional partners and the international community in support of this goal. So we continue to have these discussions.

Our discussions over there succeeded in putting a 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire in place.

BERMAN: Watching Secretary of State John Kerry talk about his efforts to find some cease-fire arrangement between Hamas and Israel.

PEREIRA: We'll hope those efforts continue.

That's it for us @THISHOUR.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Pamela Brown starts now.