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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Attacks in Jerusalem; Experimental Drug Saves Doctor With Ebola; Mudslides Trap Campers in Southern California

Aired August 04, 2014 - 12:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So proud of you.

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BERMAN: Thanks so much for watching. "Legal View" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.

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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Israel ends a shaky seven hour cease- fire as it fends off attacks from Gaza and harsh new criticism from its foes and allies around the world.

Also ahead, did a top secret serum made with mouse blood and tested only on monkeys save two Americans who were stricken with Ebola? The fascinating details just coming in to CNN.

And thousands of people, including 500 church campers, stranded by the fast-moving floodwaters and massive mudslides, as well as torrential rains which are making a cruel mockery of the drought in southern California.

Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It is Monday, August 4th, and welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

Israel is now saying it did bomb a refugee camp in Gaza City today, two minutes into a seven-hour self-declared humanitarian truce. The Palestinians say an eight-year-old girl was killed and many other children hurt in an attack on a family home. Israel says it was targeting Islamic jihad and thus did not violate that truce.

Later in the day, the Israeli prime minister vowed the Gaza campaign, quote, "will only end when quiet and security is established for the citizens of Israel for a prolonged period," end quote. Benjamin Netanyahu spoke after a man on a backhoe drove into a city bus in Jerusalem, killing a pedestrian before the police killed him. And separately, a man on a motorcycle shot and badly wounded an Israeli soldier near Hebrew University.

We're going to have a whole lot more on those attacks live for you in just a moment from the Middle East. But first, I want to go right to Gaza where officials now say 28 days of hostilities have killed more than 1,800 Palestinians. More than 9,000 others have been hurt. On the Israeli side, 67 Israelis are dead. All but three of them soldiers.

I want to go live to Jake Tapper, who's standing by to talk to us live from Jerusalem about some of the -- what are being called terror attacks that just happened, all within minutes really of the end of this cease-fire.

Jake, could you get me up to speed on the severity of these incidents? When they happen, they break quickly and the details start to roll out later. What do you know?

JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "THE LEAD": Well, the details are still coming in, as you note, Ashleigh, but the first incident here in Jerusalem -- this is separate and distinct from the violence that went on in Gaza, in northern Gaza at that refugee camp that you alluded to. But here in Jerusalem, about three miles from here in downtown Jerusalem, earlier today an Israeli Arab named Muhammad Jabas (ph), according to Israeli police, attacked a bus with a piece of heavy machinery, much like a front loader. He struck the empty bus, according to the Israeli police, about five to seven times before toppling the bus. Thankfully, the bus was empty. But at least one citizen, one individual here in Israel, a 25-year-old orthodox Jew, was severely injured and later died from his injuries police say. Police responded to the scene and shot the man, Muhammad Jabas, and killed him. So there is a casualty count of two, including the driver of this machinery.

Hamas later praised the attack, but they did not claim any responsibility for it. We're still waiting for details about this man. Israeli police are calling this a terror attack. But we're still waiting for more information about his motivations and whether or not he was motivated by extremist ideology to a degree.

Then, of course, Ashleigh, the other incident to which you refer here in Jerusalem, an IDF soldier who was at the campus, the Mt. Scopus (ph) campus, I believe, of Hebrew University, there are two different campuses here in Jerusalem, he was shot by an unknown gunman on a motor bike we're told near a tunnel to a main artery here in Jerusalem. The soldier did survive. His wounds were considered serious. And so far, as of now, we believe that the man on the bike, the gunman, has escaped. We're told that he went into east Jerusalem. But again, all of this information developing very quickly and we're not sure exactly where his whereabouts are right now and we're not sure if police know about it -- know his whereabouts either, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So all of this, Jake, at the same time the Israeli prime minister has made an announcement -- and I'm not sure I quite understand it. Maybe you can give it a little bit of clarity for me. Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that what's about to conclude is the IDF's tunnel campaign. This has been a campaign that's been going on for decades. I'm not entirely sure I understand what it means by that's about to conclude, only when there's restored security for a lengthy period. Does anyone know what that means there?

TAPPER: Well, in the last few weeks, the Israel Defense Forces claimed that they found 31 tunnels from Gaza into Israel. We were down in southern Israel earlier today near the location of one of these tums. So far, these tunnels have been used by militants in Gaza to attack Israel Defense Forces, but the Israeli government and citizens of Israel did not believe that the IDF are the only intended targets.

In any case, the IDF has been saying that they are destroying -- in the process of destroying these tunnels mainly through activities in Gaza. And they are saying now, Netanyahu, that shutting down these tunnels, at least the ones they know about, appears accomplished.

We're also -- when we were out today near the border with Gaza, we saw a lot of tanks and armored personnel carriers, armored vehicle carriers, moving from the region. It's seemingly an indication that what we've heard from Israeli politician that the ground campaign in Gaza is coming to a close. That would seem to suggest -- provide evidence of that, although you can never be sure, of course. This is a region where a cease-fire does not necessarily mean anyone is actually ceasing fire, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: It also means, at least in the bottom of the band aid, I call it, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, it's one of the most attacked and energized war zones in the world at any given time, not just now but regularly. It's a tiny spot, but that spot, Rafah, is a regular cat and mouse name with augers looking for the tunnels and constant attacks on those auger, as well. I can't imagine that's ever going to stop because they're always one step ahead of each other it seems.

But you're doing a great job. Jake, thanks for your reporting. Do appreciate it.

I want to scoot over to Gaza, in fact. It is one of the more dangerous assignments and it is not a good place to be right now and yet Martin Savidge from CNN, as well as our crews and our teams are there to bring us the reporting.

You know, your image right now, as I look at you live, Marty, it belies the reality of what's going on behind you. Set the scene for how this day went, which was supposedly a cease-fire.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was a day, you know, that really had kind of mixed visuals, mixed sounds. It started early this morning. I was sleeping. I had worked overnight. And shaken out of bed by a violent explosion right next to where we were and suddenly I realized that - I thought it was incoming. Actually others said, no, it was outgoing rocket fire. So that was before the cease-fire came in. 10:00 a.m. local time is when it started.

There was never a cease-fire on either side. There was more an easing of fire. So certainly the level of violence today was down. But that all ended about two hours ago. And since then, especially in the last half hour, we've had the steady thump, that would be the indication of incoming artillery. We've seen the area of Shiji (ph), which is just off in that direction, an area that has been pounded before is getting hit once more.

Then we've seen a burst of rocket fire going out. In fact, there was a whole series of them. And immediately we could see, even from here, the Iron Dome system in Israel beginning to intercept. You had explosion in the air.

So there's been a lot of activity, most of it violent, as we get ready for the sun to go down. It belies what you can hear, which is traffic, people out there, children playing. It is still -- most of this day was a time for people to go out, try and get food, try to get water, try to get the basic supplies for their families, get money from the bank and get their prescriptions refilled because most of them have been sheltering in place or sheltering in wherever they can find some place. And at the same time, human rights organizations, the Red Cross, as well as the United Nations, pushing to get humanitarian supplies in. And then we don't even touch the issue of how severe the humanitarian crisis is shaping up, even once the fighting stops. And we don't know when that's going to be, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: No, and that image behind you, just showing the sunset at 7:00 at night, it just looks so bucolic. And I hope - I hope you and everybody there behind you is going to be OK throughout this night, but we appreciate your work. And, obviously, you know, that's not - that's not a good place to be. So be careful. Thank you, Marty.

So we're going to continue our coverage there as well, but we have another big story out today. An American doctor being treated for the deadly Ebola virus receiving an experimental serum for the disease. It is called Zmapp (ph) and up until now it's only been tried out on monkeys. Want to know how well it worked? You're about to be amazed right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The Ebola outbreak in west Africa continues to spread out of control. Here are the very latest numbers that were just released by the World Health Organization. So far, Ebola has claimed the lives of 887 people and more than 1,600 people have now been infected with this virus. All the while we're now getting some good news this morning that a top secret serum may have saved the lives of two American aid workers who were infected with the deadly Ebola virus.

Dr. Kent Brantly was reportedly in grave condition in Liberia and the secret serum dramatically changed his prognosis. Brantly arrived on American soil on Saturday. He was able to walk by himself into Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

A second American infected with Ebola is expected now to be flown back to the United States tomorrow. Officials in Liberia say Nancy Writebol will depart with a medical evacuation team. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is all over this story. He's live with us this morning from Emory University Hospital.

Sanjay, you've been talking to the staff there and I know you've got some exclusive details about this remarkably mysterious serum. Take me from soup to nuts, what is it, why so mysterious, and how dramatically these effects?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's quite an extraordinary story, Ashleigh. This serum, it's a serum, really, a medication, was flown into Liberia. It's something that has to be stored at subzero temperatures. So it was flown in very carefully into Liberia and -- with explicit instructions that it could be given to these patients but it had to be thawed out naturally. It couldn't be -- have heat administered to it. And that would take several hours to thaw it out. That detail became very important.

What had happened after that was Dr. Brantly said, you know, Miss Writebol should get the medication - the first dose of the medication because he was younger and he thought he'd have a better chance to recover. While it was thawing out, Dr. Brantly had a deterioration in his condition, as you mentioned. He became grave in terms of his health. His breathing became labored. The rash that's associated with Ebola really was covering his entire body. And he himself thought that he was going to die. He's a doctor. He was telling that to his health care colleagues there in Liberia. And they brought the medication that was waiting to go into might Writebol and gave it to Dr. Brantly at that point.

Over the next 20 minutes to an hour after receiving this medication, he had a significant improvement in all of his symptoms. His breathing straightened out. The rash went away. His vital signs all -- everything returned to a more normal state.

The next morning, he was feeling so well he was able to get up and shower before getting on the plane, the prearranged plane that medevaced him out of Africa.

So it was quite extraordinary, the way it was described to me. He was sick, he thought he was going to die, got the medication and had this dramatic improvement.

One of the doctors in the room called it miraculous. It's not a term scientists like us throw around very often, but that gives you a little bit of a sense of what the feeling was around this medication, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: It's a spectacular story, especially I heard your reporting earlier on Carol Costello's show that this had never been tested on humans. It had only been tested for monkeys.

And yet they just went for it because what else were they going to do? But at the same time, it made me wonder, if you were my doctor, I'd ask you, is it possible this is a temporary fix? Are there side effects that could be more dire? Or do they know any of this?

GUPTA: That's the thing about when you do a medication like this that's never been used before in human beings, it's never gone through clinical trials. We don't know. Only the monkey data, it's just hard to answer the questions.

How durable is it? What are the potential side effects? Don't know. The reason that it's given in a situation like this, often, is because mortality rates are so high. There are no other good options.

So, as you say, you just sort of go for it, thinking that it may offer some benefit, under sort of a compassionate use sort of thing.

But, look, this is unfolding literally in front of us, Ashleigh. There have been so many firsts surrounding this story. Dr. Brantly is the first patient with Ebola to ever be in Atlanta, to ever be in the United States, to ever be in this part of the world.

He is also the first to ever receive this medication, and we now for the first time get an idea of how profound an impact it could have. He is just one patient. What do we do with this information? How do we prove this?

And how do we, most importantly, make it available to people who need it right now? Because there are obviously people still suffering who could still be helped, if not saved, by a medication like this if it works.

BANFIELD: Listen, I'm just back from vacation in Canada. Now I'm hearing the Canadians are looking into the possibility this could at one point become an airborne virus, which is absolutely terrifying to people who have been watching the story and are realizing with all the reporting that it's bodily fluids only, but the airborne notion scares, you know, the living you know what out of so many of us.

I want to ask you about that later, Sanjay, and then I also know later you're going to be talking with one of the doctors involved in the patient's treatment. So if you could stick around, we're going to check in with you a little bit later. You can give us an update on how everything's going.

Thank you, Dr. Gupta, great work. Thank you so much for that.

GUPTA: You got it, thank you.

BANFIELD: An unbelievable story, so we've got lots more on that. And Sanjay is going to stick around for that as well.

And then there's this, hundreds of campers, kids trapped by deadly mudslides. Those mudslides are slamming into Southern California. The rain is absolutely drenching.

Take a look at the pictures, and now imagine if your kid's at camp. This has created a lot of problems for a town that has been shut down by the storm damage.

We're going to take you there, we're going to show you what happened, and we'll update on you on the situation with the children there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: California mudslides have now caused one death and have left hundreds of people trapped. In Forest Falls in San Bernardino County about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, there are torrential rains and rapid mudslides that have just shut down that town. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything slides down. And it's just this rush of rock and water and mud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black as can be, blackest I've ever seen, I knew it was a flash flood. I knew we were in the middle of it. And we only had minutes to decide to turn around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That may sound bad, but they were the lucky ones, because more than 500 children and adults are, right now, trapped at a church camp. Happy to report they are safe. But crews are using bulldozers and heavy machinery to try to reach them. It is not an easy task.

One person died in Mount Baldy about 45 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The crews found the body inside a vehicle that had been swept off the road and into the creek. Of course, the floodwaters almost unimaginable at this point.

Chad Myers has been this picture. He's watching the weather map as well. He's in the Weather Center.

And our Ted Rowlands is joining us live as well. He's on the telephone. He's with us in San Bernardino County.

So, Ted, to you real quickly, with the current situation on the ground and the circumstance of all those kids?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yeah, Ashleigh, the good news is that bulldozers have been able to open up the roadway to get to these kids. And these are middle school, high school kids, so they were fine. They had food. They had adult supervision. Scared, I'm sure, but they are fine. And the process now of getting them out will begin.

But it is a mess. It's an absolute mess. You see the pictures. Just walls of mud came down so quickly. And you heard those talking about how it was a split-second decision for some to go one way or another.

Unfortunately, there was a fatality. An individual had his car completely overwhelmed. And that individual did perish. That is the only injury.

And you look at the video, it's just amazing more people weren't caught up into this. And they did get out.

There are cars just completely filled with mud, a lot of clean-up ahead. But the good news is those 500-plus children and adults at the camp have now access to start the process of leaving.

BANFIELD: I'm sure that's amazing news for the parents who have been, you know, trying to get into contact and find out the circumstance for their kids. Stand by, Ted, for a moment. Chad, you know, the last you and I talked, it was one of the worst droughts, considered to be, in that state's history. As I've now come to understand, the drought is so bad that thieves have been stealing water and then this happens. So take me through this.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, the drought's still there. Six inches of rain in four hours doesn't stop the drought because all the water does is just wash away, Ashleigh.

Take you back to about noon yesterday. Right here, Forest Falls, this is the area. It's mountainous here to the east of L.A., and the rain just never stopped. People talked about it like it was a hurricane. It just kept coming down.

Here's L.A. Here's San Diego. I'm going to fly you realistically on this Google Earth to what the topography looks like in this canyon, and the road goes right up the canyon, the camp up here, and the flooding and the mudslides down here. There's only one road in, one road out. That one road, at least, was closed for a while.

Now, good news, Ted's saying at least they got the dozer through that road and got some of the mud out of the way, so people that are up the canyon can get down and get out.

But it rains on this side or it rains on this side, water is going to come down into that canyon. You always have to watch out if you're camping. Watch above you. Watch above you. Higher elevations, if that's getting a lot of rain, that could come down to get you, even if it's not raining where you are.

Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: And I feel for those people with the heavy machinery too, because that's a very dangerous job too.

Chad, keep an eye and let us know when things change. Thanks for that.

Chad Myers and Ted Rowlands, thanks to both of you.

I want to take us back to the top story right now. It is the crisis in the Middle East. As Israel and Hamas fight it out in Gaza, Hamas may end up being the least of Israel's worries.

Is Israel winning the battle and potentially losing a different kind of war? I'm going to explain that in just a moment.

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