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Israel: Terror Attack On Bus In Jerusalem; Israel Declares Humanitarian Cease-Fire; U.S. Sends Israel Billions Yearly In Aid; Secret Serum Likely Saved Ebola Patients

Aired August 04, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin with breaking news in the Middle East. At least one person was killed and five people injured after a terror attack in Jerusalem. That's according to Israeli police.

This video shows the aftermath of the scene. Officials say an earth- moving vehicle, similar to that of a bulldozer, slammed into a passenger bus and overturned it. The driver of the tractor, who was still behind the wheel when Israeli police arrived, Israeli police shot him dead.

We're also learning about a separate incident in Jerusalem involving a man in a motor bike, who opened fire in a tunnel. Israeli police tell CNN that at least one person was severe wounded in that incident. All of this happening as a temporary humanitarian cease-fire declared by Israel expires this hour.

Let's head straight to Jerusalem now and Anderson Cooper to tell us more. Hi, Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": Hi, obviously, tension is high here in Jerusalem with two incidents that you have talk about. The shooting of a man on a motor bike, on one of the main roads heading from the Dead Sea into Jerusalem, opened fire, according to Israeli police, shooting a young man who was walking by on the street.

Local media have shown a picture of an Israeli soldier laying on the ground with what appeared to be with a stomach wound. It is believed that is the victim in this shooting. Not clear on what the condition of the person who was shot is and if that was the only person in fact who was shot.

According to Israeli police, the gunman escaped on a motorbike heading toward East Jerusalem. Also from East Jerusalem this morning, that is where a driver of this backhoe, this tractor, which basically attacked a passenger bus. The bus was largely empty according to Israeli authorities.

The bus driver was injured, was taken to the hospital. A civilian passerby pedestrian was apparently killed by this backhoe and the driver as you mentioned of the tractor was shot to death by Israeli police. His body was laying next to the backhoe while Israeli police investigated. They have now taken away that body and they are starting to clear the entire area. As I said, as you mentioned, this cease-fire, the seven- hour cease-fire that Israel instated over the last seven hours, that is now officially ending.

So we will see what happens in the course of this hour, but I want to give you a report from the scene of the incident with the backhoe. Sema Mohsin is standing by there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the area in Jerusalem that a driver. Now what we understand happened is a driver on board of a tractor drove down from this direction up this main road through the neighborhood and he hit a car on his way, and then hit the Number 291 bus and overturned it.

There was only one person on board. That's the driver. He's been injured, but in that process, one pedestrian from the local area has been killed. Now as you can see the area has been cordoned off. There are at least 80 security officials here. Police officers and border police are heavily armed. They are

guarding the area they are trying to now remove the bus from this main road. They have just managed to get it upright.

What we're being told now is that the police -- there were two police officers in the area on patrol at the time. They had an encounter with the man on board the digger, and they shot him.

Police officials say that they are at liberty to shoot when there is a life-threatening situation. They killed him and just a short while ago, they removed his body from this street. We're being told he is an Israeli-Palestinian from the area. Saima Mohsin, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Carol, as you know, the cease-fire, which Israel called for the last seven hours was not agreed to by Hamas. Israel says that Hamas fired at least three rockets into Israel during this time. For their part, Palestinian officials have criticized Israel saying Israel struck a house 20 minutes into that cease-fire.

A charge which Israel denies and also Palestinian officials say Israel call the cease-fire to divert attention for the condemnation that they received from the U.N. and United States for the attack on a U.N. shelter at that time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Initially over the weekend, Anderson, we thought Israeli troops were withdrawing. Now we're not so sure. What are you hearing?

COOPER: Well, I talked to an Israeli government spokesman several hours ago, who said the operations against the tunnel areas continue. Once those are complete, they do anticipate pulling back to what he called defensive positions. The exact location whether some of those would be in Gaza, he was not clear on that. But they said that they would be pulling back to defensive positions, though, they will maintain their posture and their ability to strike. They are not really calling it a pull out at this point. We'll have to wait and see what happens and if and when they say these operations against the tunnels are over.

COSTELLO: All right. Anderson Cooper, many thanks. Anderson reporting live from Jerusalem. Also tonight on CNN, be sure to check out a special "AC360" live from Jerusalem. That's at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

As the United States has said many times, Israel does has the right to defend itself and there's no doubt Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel makings lights that are frightening.

We want to bring in again, Avital Leibovich. She is the director of the American Jewish Committee at Israel. Thanks for being with me again. I appreciate it.

LT. COL. AVITAL LEIBOVICH, DIRECTOR, AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE IN ISRAEL: Hello, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi. What do you make of these two incidents this morning? This bulldozer knocking over a bus and also this motorcyclist carrying out some sort of attack?

LEIBOVICH: Well, we know that there are radical influences of Hamas and other Jihadist movements also in the west bank. This is not a surprise for us. The early 2000s we have suffered severely with many suicide bombers coming from those areas and exploding themselves in Israel. So these attempts actually we have seen before. We are not surprised. I think it's some sort of identification with maybe the Palestinians in Gaza.

COSTELLO: Are you afraid these types of attacks will continue to escalate?

LEIBOVICH: It may well be like that because we have seen different events, which escalate the situation. Last operation, it was, I think, pillar of defense twos year ago, we have seen similar escalation in the West Bank and we've also seen cries of joy actually when Israeli soldiers were killed.

It is often that we see Palestinians go on rooftops on the West Bank and express their joy and happiness of these kinds of situation. It's a brutal way, vicious. It's not humane in any way.

COSTELLO: This morning, the U.S. State Department criticized Israel for its attack on a suspected Hamas militants near a U.N. school saying when innocent civilians are dying, there's more that Israel can do to hold themselves to their own standards. Can you respond to that?

LEIBOVICH: I think we should look very carefully at U.N. standards since you brought up this important question. I remember that in 2007, I released video, footage of two terrorists firing mortar from a boys' school. That was the first time we saw this involvement, and now we have three different cases in which rockets were found in shelters and the fourth case in which underneath the clinic there was a tunnel.

Now, nobody saw those huge rockets, nobody heard for three years that a tunnel has been dug? So I think we need to make sure that there is no double moral standard here and who exactly is the U.N. representing here? Hamas, the Palestinians and by the way, where did these rockets that were found in those shelters go back to? Did they go back to Hamas?

COSTELLO: Do you think that Israel has been completely responsible when it comes to the attacks it's carried out in Gaza then?

LEIBOVICH: Look, I think that when we facilitated, when Israel facilitated concrete and cement to housing projects, which was supposed to go that purpose, then we found them in tunnels under ground, then there are many questions we have to ask ourselves. Because at the end of the day, you expect the U.N. body to be a very

objective one and not someone who gives room for storing rockets. Something is not right here.

COSTELLO: What do you think the end game is at this point? Because Israel, the military says that it's taken out most of the tunnels.

LEIBOVICH: Well, you know, the end game would be to restore new era of security because those tunnels, what are they all about? The first tunnel that was found, the idea was to send 30 or 40 Hamas terrorists from the tunnel and reach into the nearest Israeli community on one of the holiest holiday we have.

It's the Jewish New Year and go into a massacre journey inside the community. So the idea behind the tunnels, attack tunnels. First of all, we have to clear. It's true that most of the tunnels have been found, but still it's not complete yet.

In some other areas, there are strongholds of Hamas or manufacturing sites and we have to take care of those as well. So the end game needs to provide stability, peace and quiet for the Israelis, which have been suffering from this 13,000 rocket threat since 2001.

COSTELLO: Avital Leibovich, thanks again for joining me. I appreciate it.

LEIBOVICH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: When we come back -- you are welcome. Thank you so much for being here. I'm going to take a break. We'll be back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: As the ongoing fighting between Hamas and Israel rages on, you may be surprised to learn both Israel and the Palestinians receive U.S. government aid, but there's a big difference between how much each entity gets, I guess. CNN business correspondent, Alison Kosik, is here to break it down. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Here are some of the numbers, U.S. Foreign aid to Gaza and the West Bank, so far this totals $440 million, Carol. That doesn't include a $47 million emergency humanitarian aid package that is also going to those areas as well.

The way the State Department puts it, why does it give this kind of money, it creates an atmosphere that that creates negotiation. Israel gets so far this year, $3.1 billion. Why this disparity?

The Congressional Research Service says there happens to be a strong level of support from Americans and from Congress for Israel although many administrations haven't necessarily agreed with all of the policies from Israel.

The reality stands that Israel is a vital partner of the region, of the U.S., and you are seeing that support come out with money. Here's the irony in this, though. There's a former Israeli ambassador to Washington who says it's not necessarily the figure that matters.

It's what it means politically because what this figure, meaning this aid package often shows is that support that U.S. has for Israel and that support is vital sort of as a stance in the region.

COSTELLO: So millions of U.S. dollars also goes to Gaza?

KOSIK: Right.

COSTELLO: But we don't negotiate with Hamas and we recognize them as a terrorist organization.

KOSIK: Right. And here's part of the reason why you are seeing Israel have this seven-year blockade on Gaza and that is impacting their economy. The World Bank says 40 percent of those in Gaza, 1.8 million residents are living in poverty.

One in out of every three workers is unemployed there. But as we've seen Gaza's economy contract, there has been this shadow economy. These tunnels that we heard about being dug and what they originally were supposedly for were to smuggle in goods.

But what has essentially happened is Hamas is smuggling weapons and attacking Israelis. It's a big reason why you are seeing Israelis trying to shut that down.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, an experimental drug that had never been used on humans before is given to the two Americans suffering from Ebola and it is working. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The sound of air strikes and shelling over the last few weeks is a constant reminder of the escalating violence for people living in Gaza. Officials there say more than 1,800 people have been killed and more than 9,000 injured.

Take a look at these satellite photos. They show some of the destruction in Gaza before and after the air strikes. There they are. You can see buildings completely wiped out.

Let's bring in Mohammed Omer. He was a Palestinian journalist. He was also born and raised in Gaza and he joins us from Gaza this morning. Good morning, Mohammed.

MOHAMMED OMER, PALESTINIAN JOURNALIST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Can you describe the situation on the ground now?

OMER: Well, right now in Gaza city, it's relatively quiet. It's -- we have the humanitarian cease-fire which is taking place in most parts of the Gaza Strip with the exception of Rafa. I would say there hasn't been -- all the breaks in the early morning, which happened about 10:00 and 18 minutes a.m. was when a bomb shell hit a house in the west of Gaza City, injuring 29 people and killing one.

This is the only breach for the cease-fire so far. People are rushing in and outside of the city trying to bring many things they need. People are going to bury their relatives and some of them are also taking them to hospitals. Hospitals at the moment are still ill equipped in most parts of the Gaza strip.

Apparently in the south part of the Gaza strip as one of these hospitals that have been under heavy bombardment. Therefore, the ambulance crew had to bring all the cases into the Kuwaiti hospital in the west part. It is still ill equipped and cannot help people any further.

Estimate of people is 1,000 is injured. More than 300 were killed in the last three days in Rafa. I hear also some of my colleagues in Rafa where my family is based that there are still bodies lying on the ground and the ambulance crew are unable to evacuate these bodies and bring them out.

I spoke to the mayor and he informed me that 30,000 to 40,000 people have no access to water in Rafa and he's calling the international Red Cross to intervene, but they are not able to convince the Israeli military to allow teams to fix the damage to the water lines and electricity.

COSTELLO: Mohammed, I want to ask you about this, Israel is claiming that an earth mover was used to carry out a terror attack in Jerusalem and a man on a motorbike is suspected of terrorism. Israel is saying Hamas is to blame. What are you hearing?

OMER: We don't hear much about that. The Gaza front, every journalist is in Gaza, we are not focusing much what's happening in Israel. Israel all the time try to distract the attention from the Gaza strip by saying something has gone on outside the Gaza strip.

This is not something, which I have been following so I don't know much information about that, but I know that the situation in Gaza is. There are people who wanted the cease-fire. Not all the banks in the Gaza strip have way outside.

It's only one bank have been opened today and the rest have been shut. People in other areas they don't feel secure to get outside and have supplies they need, things that are quite essential for people in the south. I was talking this morning to my grandmother in Rafa and she said to me this is exactly the same scenes we have seen in '48.

This was exactly the same scenes, which was surprising to hear from a 79-year-old woman in Gaza who is describing the situation as the most grim in her entire life.

COSTELLO: Mohammed, do you see any scenario where the people of Gaza would rise up and overthrow Hamas?

OMER: I don't think this is actually going to be the case because after all we should recognize that in 2006, Hamas was democratically elected if you like. It's the one the people who want to get rid of is the long occupation and the oppression.

Before Hamas became into power, it was Israel who make life difficult for the Palestinians. It's Israel who does not allow people in and outside the Gaza Strip. It's Israel who make people not be able to go for medical supplies for the Gaza strip and not allow doctors to come into the Gaza strip.

They are not able to because it's not possible. It's not really Hamas to get rid of. People are not going to rise against Hamas at this stage. In fact, I have seen an increasingly popularity of Hamas in Gaza because it appeared after the decline, in the seven years of governance in Gaza, which I see as quite justified.

People were not happy about Hamas' performance, but now Hamas is able to resist and fight on behalf of Palestinians and people say that the role that Hamas is playing is much more important than the role of Mahmous Abbas. After all, Israel has lost quite a credibility for achieving nothing.

Here we say the United States has not put enough pressure on Israel to give something for Mahmoud Abbas in order to make him succeed in his negotiations. Hamas is going to be much stronger in the coming period and you ask us about --

COSTELLO: I have to leave it there, Mohammed. Thank you so much. Mohammed Omer, thank you so much.

CNN has learned that two Americans suffering from Ebola have been given a secret serum that had never before been used on humans. A source familiar with details says it likely saved the life of Dr. Kent Brantly.

He was given the experimental treatment known as z-map when his condition to a turn for the worst last week while he was still in Liberia. He is now in Atlanta receiving treatment in an isolation ward at Emory University Hospital.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live at Emory where he is on the faculty. Hi, Sanjay. Tell us about this serum.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. We got some of these details just over the past several hours. It is an experimental serum as you mentioned. Something that had not been used in human beings before. It's something that needs to be kept at sub- zero temperatures.

It was flown in and had to be thawed out there in this more remote area where both Dr. Brantly and Ms. Writebol were being treated. I give you these details because I find them all pretty extraordinary. Originally the medication was to be given to Ms. Writebol first.

While it was thawing out, Dr. Brantly's condition apparently really worsened to the point where himself thought he may not survive. His breathing became quite labored. The rashes were all over his skin, up his trunk.

They decided to go ahead and take the medication that was waiting for Ms. Writebol and give it to Dr. Brantly within 20 minutes to an hour or so of administering the medication, he had complete recovery from his symptoms.

His breathing improved. The rash went away. He felt incredibly better. By the next morning, he was able to stand up and shower before flying home in that pre-arranged evacuation.

Medication never before tried before on human beings, flown into Liberia in this particular purpose. In this story seems to have had a tremendous impact on likely saving the doctor's life.

COSTELLO: Where did it come from?

GUPTA: Well, there have been several different labs, manufacturers around the world really that have been working on both medications as well as vaccines for Ebola. None of them had been ready for human trials as of yet. There was one that was supposed to start in September.

This is one of those companies, it's a medication called z-map. It's known as a monoclonal anti body. They take those anti bodies and create the medication. I'm simplifying, Carol, but that's sort of the gist of what a mono clonal anti-body medication is and how it works.

Again, typically it takes some time to have some effect. If this bears out, this would be an example of it working within an hour and actually reversing someone's symptoms.

COSTELLO: So why don't they test it out on these people who are dying in West Africa, people with no hope of survival?

GUPTA: Well, that may be the next step, and again, you know, we're talking about this realtime now. Carol, this is all that we're telling you has just happened over the last couple of days now. So I think typically the process is you put these through a trial process.