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One American Dead, 15 Wounded In Afghanistan; Seventh Cease- Fire Under Way In Middle East; Second U.S. Ebola Patient Arrives In Atlanta Soon

Aired August 05, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. We do begin with breaking news this hour. In Afghanistan, a terrible incident, a terrible tragedy has gone down. Terrorist dressed up in Afghan military uniforms opened fire on American troops, 15 Americans wounded, one dead.

Jim Sciutto has been following the story. What more can you tell us about this, Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Just more the conditions of this attack, the circumstances of this attack. This is a major training base for Afghan officers of the Afghan National Security Forces, Camp Qargha inside Kabul. You have a tremendous presence there.

This is an enormous priority for coalition forces, for U.S. forces as they prepare for the withdrawal, training up Afghan forces so they can take over the security responsibility that's been born by U.S. and coalition forces.

So you have an attacker, I'm told, dressed up as a member of the Afghan military, who turned his gun, a light machine gun on American forces there carried out this attack.

Still unclear whether this was actually a member of the Afghan military who turned his gun on them or whether it was a terrorist or a member of the Taliban, an attacker who dressed up in the uniform. Both of those kinds of attacks have happened in Afghanistan before.

In fact, they've become an increasing problem there although they were down slightly last year. Again, just repeating the numbers you said. I'm told by the Pentagon, one American soldier killed, 15 wounded. They are still assessing the conditions of those wounded. So we're going to keep you up to date on the total numbers there.

But this is a very severe attack. I believe, told by my colleagues, that the deadliest day for U.S. forces before this was December last year when a Black Hawk helicopter went down killing six.

But again, today, a bad death toll, a bad injury toll for Americans there but also bigger picture, an alarming problem because remember, Carol, you and I have talked about this a number of times. You know, Afghan security going forward depends on the trustworthiness and the effectiveness of Afghan security forces in taking over the security responsibility from the coalition.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. I know you are going to find more about that. Jim Sciutto reporting live for us this morning. Two other big stories we're following this hour right now.

We are tracking the plane carrying American Ebola patient, Nancy Writebol. She's flown from Liberia to Maine and now she's just minutes away from landing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. From there, she'll be transferred to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta is there. We'll be tracking Writebol's movement throughout the morning.

But first let's head to the Middle East and a cease-fire in Gaza that seems to be holding as Israeli troops move out. In fact, we are now eight hours into the Israel-Gaza cease-fire and so far all is quiet. People are out on the streets, heading home, shops and market places are open.

It seems like this 72-hour cease-fire might be the one that actually holds. But it didn't look that way just minutes before the truce took hold when Hamas fired several rockets into Israel, a show of force before the calm. The signs of a month of fighting obvious.

In the past month, more than 40,000 homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, causing more than $6 billion in damages, today's truce marks the 9th cease-fire in three weeks. The shortest one so far had lasted only minutes.

So Israel is keeping forces along the Gaza border just in case, but they pledge to send a delegation to Cairo to discuss a long term solution if this cease-fire holds. Anderson Cooper is near the Israeli-Gaza border with more. Hi, Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": Hi, Carol. Yes, it is 5:00 now here in the afternoon. It is nine hours since this cease-fire began and it is holding and that is certainly the big headline here because clearly a lot of folks here in Israel also in Gaza are looking very carefully, watching that clock very carefully, counting the minutes, the hours that this cease-fire holds.

It's a 72-hour cease-fire. Supposed to allow time for all the factions, all the parties and Israel to gather in Egypt around a negotiating table and start a dialog. They are going to have to obviously try to extend the cease-fire if it does hold for more substantive talks to take place.

But it is certainly good news for those who support a cease-fire that it has lasted this long. What makes this cease-fire different, as you point out, is Israel has withdrawn all their troops from Gaza. They have troops now in what they say are in defensive positions on the Israeli side of the border.

They have stop operations against the tunnels. There are no rockets being fired across and they are not conducting offensive operations in Gaza. So it certainly has lasted longer than any of the other previous cease-fires. We are going to continue to watch it very closely over the next 72 hours -- Carol.

COOPER: All right. Anderson Cooper reporting live from along the Israel-Gaza border this morning. Tonight, be sure to tune in to CNN to check out a special "AC360" live from Jerusalem at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Let's talk more about Israel's long term military strategy and whether this temporary cease-fire is likely to hold. I want to bring in Retired Major General Amos Yadlin. He is the head of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Welcome, sir.

MAJ. GENERAL AMOS YADLIN (RET.), INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES IN TEL AVIV: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. General, are you hopeful this current cease- fire will hold?

YADLIN: I think the likelihood of this cease-fire to hold is very high. Finally, Hamas military wing, the terrorist group that conducted the war, have decided after five times that they refuse for cease-fire that it's about time to stop. They figure out that all their strategic efforts against Israel is not succeeding.

They failed to launch rockets efficiently against the Israeli home front, and they failed with the tunnels, the terror tunnels that were destroyed by IDF. The fact that Israel rolled back after completing the tunnel destruction also took from them the chances of having Israeli soldiers as prisoners.

So by now they will start to listen to the civil society in Gaza that is very upset with the destruction that Hamas brought upon them and the people in Gaza decided they don't want to be human shields anymore for Hamas.

COSTELLO: The tunnels, we hear that 31 tunnels have been destroyed. Are there more of them? How many more are of them?

YADLIN: We have destroyed all the tunnels that we have found. Before the operation, we didn't know about 31. We knew about 20 or a little bit more. The chances that one or two tunnels were left undestroyed is there.

But strategically once again what is important is we took the capabilities of Hamas to hit Israel strategically at a very high level into the normal low tactical level of one terror event that we are living with in the last 66 years.

COSTELLO: Do you think that this was -- you know, if all the tunnels are not gone, was this still successful in the end or was this more of a conflict that was meant as a deterrent?

YADLIN: Say again, please, Carol. COSTELLO: We've heard all different kinds of end results that Israel wants. We heard that it was to destroy all the tunnels, to crush Hamas, this conflict broke out from Israel's point of view to be a deterrent. In your mind what was the end goal, what is the end goal?

YADLIN: Israel never initiated this war. It was initiated by Hamas. The prime minister set very modest goals. Back to quiet. Back to tranquillity, reshaping and reinforcing deterrence and hitting Hamas military wing very strongly. I think by now these goals were achieved.

However, during the conflict, the prime minister added another two goals. One is to destroy the tunnels. This was absolutely achieved. And another one, which is very difficult and very into the long run, it's disarmament of Hamas military wing and bring Gaza to be a demilitarized zone.

This goal is still ahead of us. It may be discussed in Cairo as we speak in the direct agreement between Israel and Hamas that the Egyptians are facilitating.

COSTELLO: Major General Amos Yadlin, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

While the halt to shelling and rocket fire may seem promising for those living in Israel, the United Nations estimates as many as 485,000 Gaza residents have been displaced by the fighting. That's roughly a quarter of the territory's population.

This is what Gaza looks like right now. The after math of a war zone, buildings completely crushed by incoming fire, people struggling to walk down the streets littered with concrete and rubble.

So let's bring in CNN's John Vause. He is in Gaza City this morning with more on the conditions there. Good morning.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. You know, there really is just a sense of relief here right now that after all of the cease- fires, the humanitarian windows that have come and gone that maybe this time it might be different, it might actually last.

And what is incredible, especially here in Gaza City, when you look out, there's a sense of normalcy of routine, which has quickly returned here. The streets are busy, the shops are open. They are stocking up on groceries. That's despite everything that's happened.

There's no electricity here. There's hasn't been electricity here for a week. As you mentioned, thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed. There's that incredible death toll as well.

We went out to the market place. We've spoke to a few people there and we asked them what they were thinking right now. Many were trying to make sense of all the death and destruction over the past few weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We cannot forget what has happened. The people killed and the property damage. I'm expecting a victory from the resistance. We will win this war. We are all preparing the festivities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The cease-fire is a good step. A lot of people are returning to their homes to see the damage and see if their relatives are alive. No one needs war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And in many areas, Carol, which were in fact pounded by Israeli artillery and tank fire as well as air strikes they have spent most of today digging out dozens of dead bodies. They have been under the rubble there for weeks. Some have been indeed. Obviously many those have been decomposing, many of them are in fact badly mutilated as well.

COSTELLO: John Vause reporting live. Stay with us. We'll talk more about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza later this hour with the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross. I'll be right back.

Actually still to come, we'll also going to talk about Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. It is ready and waiting to receive the second American patient with Ebola. CNN's Sanjay Gupta is live outside of Emory.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It should be any time now, Carol, that the patient, Nancy Writebol, arrives here. She will join Dr. Kent Brantly in that specialized isolation unit. We'll have updates right after the break.

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COSTELLO: More breaking news to pass along your way this morning. British Airways has told CNN that it is stopping its flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia temporarily because of a deteriorating public health situation. Of course, as you know, that's because of the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa.

This news comes as we wait for American aid worker, Nancy Writebol, to arrive at Dobbins Air Reserve Base outside of Atlanta after her flight stopped to refuel in Maine.

It all comes as we're learning that a Nigerian doctor has tested positive for Ebola in Nigeria. It's the second confirmed case in the capital of Lagos. CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us. He is live at Emory where he is also on the faculty.

What do you think about British Airways deciding not to fly to Liberia and Sierra Leone?

GUPTA: Obviously, these are decisions that are made with taking all the facts that they have at their disposal. You remember that the CDC, our Centers for Disease Control, also recommend no non-essential travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea as well.

We asked the CDC director about that specifically, and I thought the reason was sort of interesting. His thinking was not so much that someone would be likely to contract Ebola if they were simply walking around the streets of these countries.

But if somebody did get sick for some reason in one of these countries, for some other unrelated reason or was involved in a car accident or something, they might end up in a hospital where Ebola maybe getting treated. So that was the thinking there.

I'm not sure what British Airways thinking is exactly. I don't think this is a big surprise. We're even hearing some of the same comments from our own Centers for Disease Control.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Let's talk about Nancy Writebol. She is expected at any time now actually within the next hour I think. Do we expect her to walk out of the ambulance like Dr. Brantly did?

GUPTA: I tell you, Carol, when I saw Dr. Brantly walk off the ambulance, I was pretty surprised. Especially given that we heard a day or so earlier that his condition had been grave. I don't know what the situation is with Mr. Writebol. We know that obviously she's medically stable enough to fly.

That's criteria number one for a medical evacuation like this. But you know, if she's going to walk or be carried out in a gurney, some of that could have to do with, you know, how well she's doing overall. But also she's older than Dr. Brantly is.

She's obviously a little delayed in terms of the evacuation here. So we're just going to have to wait and see and that's going to happen as you mentioned pretty shortly.

COSTELLO: Yes, we just showed the air reserve base where that plane is going to land and she will be transported by special ambulance to Emory University Hospital. She also took this serum that Dr. Brantly took. Is it working as well for her?

GUPTA: Well, Dr. Brantly seemed to have a pretty dramatic improvement by reports when he got the serum. We heard with regard to Ms. Writebol that the first dose did not have the same sort of traumatic impact, but the second dose had more of an impact and clearly, she was again stable enough to fly after having taken these two doses.

So I think, yes, it had an impact, but maybe not quite as much as Dr. Brantly. In the end, Carol, worth reminding, they are the first two patients in the world to receive this. So this is, you know, you can't draw conclusions yet based on just two patients, but you get a little bit of an idea by seeing how they are doing.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. And I want to get into this one more time because many Americans are still a little worried that Ebola is now officially in America. Should they be worried?

GUPTA: You know, one can understand the fears given what people have heard about Ebola, which typically is not that much. They just hear about this disease in African countries that has caused these problems, but the science of this is important.

I think the idea that it doesn't transmit through the air, the idea that it doesn't spread easily, you have to be in close contact with a sick person to get potentially infected.

Carol, I'm standing right outside the hospital, the first patient that's ever been in this part of the world with Ebola is in that building right behind me. Business as usual around here. We know the doctors that go in to take care of them will go into those space suits that you have seen.

They are trying to cover up every inch of their skin so no bodily fluid gets on their skin. For everyone else around here, even in the hospital, not taking care of the patient, I think the risk is really small. I think that's really worth underlining and putting a punctuation mark on.

COSTELLO: Me too. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. We'll be checking in throughout the morning as we get closer to Nancy Writebol's arrival. It should arrive in just about an hour and of course, she will be transported to Emory University Hospital. I'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: There is quiet right now in Gaza, but while this latest cease-fire continues to hold, the sounds of humanitarian crisis are resonating throughout the densely populated strip of land.

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived in Gaza today to get a first-hand look at the destruction. Joining me now on the phone from Jerusalem is Cecilia Goin. Welcome. How dire is the situation in Gaza right now?

CECILIA GOIN, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (via telephone): Well, after almost a month working of fighting, the intensity of the fighting was escalating dramatically, particularly in the last two weeks, the humanitarian situation has been going really bad.

Unfortunately, there are over 400,000 people who are not to live their houses and they are displaced right now. We have almost 2,000 people dead and 10,000 people were wounded. So now what we are trying to do is to see -- to assess the situation. As well as on one hand about the population for their needs and other

hand about the infrastructure that was severely, severely damaged, particularly water, sanitation, and electricity.

COSTELLO: How have you been able to deliver critical supplies?

GOIN: Well, what we do is we have on office in Gaza. We've been there for many, many years. We have following up the needs of particularly the hospitals in terms of health needs of disposable material and drugs. We manage to bring them during the conflict, drugs and materials.

The fact is the intensity of the combat it was very difficult for us and for any other humanitarian organization to be able to provide the assistance to those in need while the fighting was taking place.

So we're just today the population is going back to their homes, back to bury their dead relatives and to see the situation for them for the future, for us it's the same thing. Now we're going to be allowed to do better assessment of the needs. Right now, the president of International Committee of the Red Cross is today in Gaza.

COSTELLO: The state of medical care right now, are the hospitals overwhelmed?

GOIN: What can I say is that they are working under lots of pressure, as you can imagine, there are times when the fighting is really, really very hard. There are lots of people wounded, lots of people in need of medical attention, in hospital as well as any other medical facility.

So only when the country slows down or when the fighting stops that's the only time that the hospitals and any medical center they have a little bit more time to see what their needs are. It's true that the doctors, nurses, paramedics are working under a lot of pressure and around the clock.

COSTELLO: Cecilia Goin from the International Red Cross, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, could the current cease-fire pave the way for peace in the Middle East? We'll have that discussion ahead.

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