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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Israel, Palestinians Agree on 72-Hour Cease-fire in Gaza; Ebola Fears in New York City; Americans Infected with Ebola Improving; Officials: Mudslides, Torrential Rain Damage Homes, Trap Hundreds

Aired August 04, 2014 - 20:00   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening, I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks very much for joining us. I am broadcasting tonight from Ashkelon in Israel just a few miles northeast of the border with Gaza.

We are following two breaking stories tonight. Stories of hope and concern. On the left hand side of your screen, I want to show you a live picture of Gaza City, where some five hours from now, a cease- fire is set to take hold. All sides have said to agree to this, Israel, all the Palestinian factions. They say they're going to meet in Cairo, Egypt which brokered this cease-fire.

There's a lot of hope in Gaza City tonight that this cease-fire will take place and will in fact hold starting some five hours from now.

On the right hand side of your screen, live pictures of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City where there's great concern tonight where a man is in strict isolation, who has returned from West Africa with a fever. He is being tested for the Ebola virus. Not clear at this hour if he is in fact will test positive for that. We don't have word, but we'll have the latest on that situation in New York. That would be the first case of Ebola in New York, if in fact this man tests positive.

We'll also bring you up to date with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the two Americans who were flown back from West Africa. After testing positive, they are now being treated with a new and an untested treatment. And the good news is, the hope is, they seem to be responding to this treatment.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to join us for that. But we begin tonight here in Israel and in Gaza, reports from the entire region tonight. The scene in Ashkelon just a short time ago, as word of this cease- fire was starting to filter out, even though there was word of this cease-fire, it hadn't yet taken effect. And rockets came firing toward Ashkelon.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So we're just seeing the sirens have just started to go off and we've just seen some rockets going out to intercept something that's incoming. There you see there appear to be two interceptions. That's the Iron Dome system here in Ashkelon. But the sirens continue. Frankly, there's not really any place to run to around here so -- those are the two interceptions from several seconds ago. It just takes a while for the sound to actually get here. And now the sirens stopped. And people continue to walk around, go about their business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That took place just a short time ago, in the last hour here in Ashkelon.

As we said, there is hope and there is concern on both sides of this border tonight, after what has been a very difficult several days in Gaza, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): More chaos on the streets of Gaza, as Israel again fires nearby a U.N. school on Sunday. They say they're targeting militants operating nearby. At least nine others are killed, dozens wounded. The attack brings strong words of condemnation from the United States, saying it's, quote, "appalled by the disgraceful shelling," and calling on Israel to do more to avoid civilian casualties.

Israel says it's carefully reviewing the attack.

The conflict is entering into its fourth week and already more than 1800 Palestinians have died in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to local health officials. Israeli Defense Forces say 64 Israeli soldiers and three citizens have also been killed.

CNN's Nic Robertson spoke to the political leader of Hamas this weekend who said they're ready for a cease-fire.

KHALED MESHAAL, HAMAS POLITICAL LEADER (Through Translator): We don't want war, we want the war to end today.

COOPER: That same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the campaign until their targets are destroyed.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (Through Translator): We will regroup and arrange our forces in such a way that will enable us to defend our country. We will continue this operation until the goal will be achieved.

COOPER: One goal is to destroy Hamas' network of tunnels. Netanyahu says they're almost done with that job, but added the operation will end only when peace and security is restored to the citizens of Israel.

Just today in Jerusalem, two incidents occurred, when a man driving an earth mover overturned a passenger bus in central Jerusalem. One Israeli pedestrian was killed, the driver of the earth mover was shot and killed by police who called it a terror attack. Hamas praised the attack as retaliation against the Israelis. An Israeli soldier was also shot and severely wounded today in

Jerusalem after a man on a motorbike opened fire on him.

A 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire called by Israel brought temporary relief for residents in Gaza who ventured out of their homes to pick up supplies. But airstrikes continued in other areas, Palestinian officials say at least 18 were killed in Gaza City after a refugee camp was hit. This attack was not considered a violation of the cease-fire, according to the IDF because it happened just two minutes after it was declared and they say was already in progress.

Adding to the tension IDF soldiers in Gaza announced they found a fighting manual from the Al-Qasa Brigade, the military wing of Hamas with instructions on urban warfare and instructions on using civilians against the IDF. Proof, according to Israel that Hamas uses women and children as human shields.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And again the cease-fire is supposed to take effect some five hours from now.

Coming up, I'll talk to the spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev. We'll also talk to the PLO ambassador to the United States, both those for their perspectives on this cease-fire, but I want to go to our Martin Savage who is standing by live in Gaza City.

Martin, civilians were able in some parts of Gaza City to go out today for several hours during that cease-fire. What kind of response, what kind of a mood is there with word of this cease-fire now supposed to take effect some five hours from now?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really hard to gauge because a lot of this has happened of course after it got dark and night life, well, there just isn't much of a night life in Gaza. People find it safer to hunker indoors. And a lot of people don't have access to the media due to the power because of the power that just is pretty nonexistent in Gaza.

So how many people are aware of this deal, unclear at this point. Even if they were, many would probably be skeptical because as they say, getting a cease-fire apparently hasn't been the hard part here. They've done it a lot of times. This seems to be the ninth time, by my count. It is holding that cease-fire and that's the problem at this point.

I should tell you that what we're hearing right now, we have the drones overhead, those are almost always flying. And then on top of that you can hear the distant sort of rumble of jet aircraft, of course that's not Hamas. That would be Israel and that's something new that's been added. Two hours ago, we did see a burst of rocket fire that went out of here, probably the ones that went your way.

So these are always that nervous time when last -- each side may want to get in that last kind of statement and launch that last kind of attack before a cease-fire takes place -- Anderson. COOPER: And at this point, how long were people able to get outside

today? Obviously in some parts of Gaza they weren't able to at all because of ongoing military operations by the IDF in Rafah and some other areas. But how long were people in central Gaza able to kind of go out and do shopping and check up on their homes?

SAVIDGE: In the immediate area where we are, it seemed like from almost the entire time, it started at 10:00 a.m. and it went until 5:00 p.m., so there were a lot of people in this immediate vicinity that were out, they went to the stores, they went to the bank, they're using the ATM, they're going to get their medicines out of the pharmacy, I mean, all the things that people might normally do, even though this is certainly an abnormal circumstance.

But you're right. In other parts of the Gaza Strip, they couldn't get out at all or very limited, I mean, because it was not really a cease- fire, it was just an easing of fire. You've already mentioned Israel launching their attack. There were a number of rockets that were fired through the day. And there were mortar rounds as well. So we just saw the level of violence decrease, we didn't see anything cease -- Anderson.

COOPER: Martin Savidge, thanks very much.

Our Sara Sidner joins me here in Ashkelon.

You have been in Ashkelon now all day even in this region for quite some time. This cease-fire which was really unilateral, Israel called it, Hamas said this is a PR ploy by Israel to try to deflect attention from the strike near the U.N. school yesterday which was condemned by the U.S. and the United Nations. What was it like here today during the cease-fire?

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, in the initial one that Israel called for, that Hamas said no, this is a trick, we did notice a couple of hours of calm. And when you went on to the border and you started talking to people along the border, they would tell you that this is the quietest it's been for weeks, and that this has been the worst fighting over the past four weeks that they've seen in 10, 11 years. Something happened in 2008, there was a conflict in 2012.

COOPER: Sure.

SIDNER: But this has been the absolute worst. So there's this interesting combination of both disappointment from especially Israeli Jews who have been polled time and time again, who say, we want to see an end to this for good. We don't want to see this happen again two years from now. So they want the government in Israel to crush Hamas. They want the military to stop Hamas from being able to fire.

COOPER: There's widespread support among Israelis for Israel's actions in Gaza?

SIDNER: There is widespread support, but particularly from Israeli Jews. If you look at the other 20 percent of the population who are Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, they have not been polled. And when you talk to them, and we have, they are -- they have a much different view of this.

COOPER: Sure.

SIDNER: They do not want to see this go on, they cannot stand to see those pictures in Gaza, they cannot stand to see Palestinians being killed. Parents, children, mothers, places being blown apart, and they know, and so do the Israeli Jews who have been polled. They know that this can breed more hatred. And we've heard that today on the border from two mothers who said, we're more really concerned. This is just going to breed more revenge and down the line we'll be right back here again. They do not want to see that -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. Sara, we'll continue to check in with you. And again, less than five hours now until the cease-fire is supposed to take effect. And again how long it lasts, that is a big open question, it's supposed to be a three-day cease-fire agreed to by all the parties.

I'm joined now by Mark Regev, spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel.

Does this cease-fire as far as you are concerned mean absolutely no military operations? No operations against tunnels? No ongoing or continuation of ongoing operations? Everything ceases?

MARK REGEV, CHIEF SPOKESMAN FOR ISRAELI'S PRIME MINISTER: That's correct. The operation against the tunnels is winding up anyway. We destroyed -- located and destroyed those terror tunnels that allowed Hamas to send into Israel death squads to kill our people. And so our operation will cease at 8:00 tomorrow morning, but will be -- to be frank, will be watching very closely. We want to see if this is going to hold this time.

There have been about eight cease-fire proposals on the table. Hamas has rejected or violated them all. You can't blame us for being a little bit skeptical. We'll be watching closely. The army is not going to be -- what's the word? They're not going to be relaxing. They're going to be watching carefully to see if Hamas does in fact honor the cease-fire.

COOPER: How soon -- assuming the cease-fire is honored at 8:00 a.m. starting tomorrow morning, how soon would an Israeli delegation actually go to Cairo?

REGEV: I would presume very soon, the issue is on the table and needs to be talked about. Obviously the 72-hour cease-fire can be extended. Obviously that would be good if it could be extended. And according to the Egyptian initiative, the parties can bring their concerns to the table. And for us, the most important issue is to prevent Hamas from rearming and prevent Hamas from getting more rockets, from digging more tunnels. Because we don't want just to revisit this conflict in six months or a year, we want this to be over.

COOPER: As you know, there's huge distrust obviously on both sides. Palestinian officials say it was Israel who violated the latest cease- fire, the unilateral cease-fire that Israel called a few minutes after -- you know, after the start of that. There was a strike on a house in part of Gaza where supposedly there weren't ongoing military operations. It wasn't in Rafah, which is where ongoing military operations were said to be occurring.

They said that occurred after the cease-fire, and therefore Israel violated the strikes. So they have a lot of distrust of your willingness to uphold the cease-fire.

REGEV: When we announced that seven hour cease-fire from this morning, they automatically rejected it, even before it started. So I don't think anyone on their side has the right to talk about Israeli violations.

COOPER: They rejected it, though, as you know, because they said that it was basically a PR campaign that you were receiving tremendous criticism from the United States, from the U.N., for striking at militants who you said were riding a motorcycle near a U.N. shelter that was sheltering some thousands of people on Sunday, killing a number of people outside that shelter. So they say you're trying to basically distract from the criticism by the U.S. and by the U.N.?

REGEV: It's not true. We were -- we've repeatedly accepted humanitarian cease-fire proposals. We've accepted seven of them during this conflict. We understood the need to give a humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza, who we don't see as our enemy. Our enemy are the Hamas terrorists who have shot over the last three weeks more than 3,000 rockets into Israel, trying to kill our citizens.

But the people of Gaza are not our enemy, and that's why we repeatedly accepted humanitarian cease-fires. It was Hamas that either rejected those cease-fires or violated them. And this cease-fire that we hope will start tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., that Israel has accepted yet again is the same proposal that was on the table three weeks ago. It's important to stress. That means every life lost in the last three weeks is because Hamas rejected an offer that apparently it has accepted today.

COOPER: Mark Regev, appreciate you being on. Thank you.

REGEV: My pleasure, thanks for having me.

COOPER: Well, coming up, we'll also speak to a PLO ambassador to the United States a little bit later on the program. But when we come back, I want to take you to the United States where at a Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, as I said at the top of the broadcast, there is a man who's returned from West Africa with a fever. He is being tested for Ebola. If he tests positive, that will be the first time obviously in New York City.

We'll talk about what that might mean, and we'll give you the latest update on these two American missionaries who were flown back -- especially flown back to the United States, are receiving treatment at Emory University in Atlanta. And apparently responding well to some new treatments. All that ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back, we'll have more coverage from here in Israel and also from Gaza later on in the broadcast but I want to get you up to date fully now on the situation of Ebola, not just in West Africa, where we have a correspondent in Sierra Leone, you're going to hear from shortly. But also, in Atlanta where right now one missionary is being treated, flown from West Africa, who's tested positive. And another missionary is set to arrive tomorrow around midday.

They have received a new serum that has been tested in monkeys but not fully tested in humans. So we want to talk to our Dr. Sanjay Gupta about that but I want to begin with a situation that is developing now in New York tonight where a man came into an emergency room in New York with a fever. Not a big deal it would seem but he had recently returned from West Africa so the concern became that perhaps he could be infected with the Ebola virus. He is now in strict isolation at Mount Sinai Hospital.

And that's where our Jason Carroll is tonight.

What's the latest, Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, he is in strict isolation and doctors here are awaiting test results. Those test results should come in within the next 24 hours, so we could know, Anderson, as soon as tomorrow as to whether or not this patient has been infected with the Ebola virus.

In an abundance of caution, when he showed up here this morning, explained where he had been, explained how he was feeling, doctors within several minutes got him into strict isolation and that is where he remains.

I can also tell you that a New York City Health Department official, after speaking with officials here, after speaking with the CDC, that official, Anderson, believes that it is unlikely that this patient has been infected with the Ebola virus. Also the chief medical officer here echoing the same thing, basically saying odds are that it is not Ebola, but the simple fact of the matter is, until you have those test results, until they have that in their hands here, they just cannot be sure -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, I mean, you know, I don't want to get people all panicked when I first heard this, I thought, well, this is really disturbing, but I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've returned from Africa with a fever and, you know, feeling sick and ended up on antibiotics for something I picked up.

CARROLL: Yes.

COOPER: But the chance that it is Ebola is very, very slim. Do they have any other indications that you know about with this patient other than the fever?

CARROLL: Well, you know, you bring up and raise a very important point. There are a number of people, and in fact, Anderson, the CDC says that there have been several people who have come back from the region. Also complaining of having flu-like symptoms, those people were tested right here in the United States, those test results came back negative.

But I think what this shows is, I mean, when I heard people coming out of the hospital here, what's going on, what's happening here, and you hear about this potential case, it just shows you how sensitive the medical community is to this outbreak, how sensitive people are here just average people on the street, who heard about it, so I think that's why you have this abundance of caution here at the hospital.

I think that's why you have such an interest in whatever you hear about any potential case or even any confirmed cases.

COOPER: Yes.

CARROLL: Of people who have Ebola coming into the United States.

COOPER: All right. Jason, we'll continue checking in with you, as developments warrant.

I want to check in with Dr. Sanjay Gupta who's been following the case in Atlanta, at Emory University, where as I said one missionary is already being treated, another is set to arrive tomorrow. Both of whom we know are -- tested positive for the Ebola virus.

Sanjay, what's the latest on them? A, first of all, how concerned should people be? Because there's a lot of people freaked out in the United States about this.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think there's really any reason to be freaked out. I mean, one can understand the fears because all they know of Ebola is what they hear about happening in Africa -- West Africa. But the idea that it's going to cause some sort of spread, Ebola is going to cause an outbreak here of some sort, it's just -- it's not likely to happen at all. I mean, this is something that just doesn't behave that way. It doesn't transmit itself through the air. It transmits itself through bodily fluids when someone is already quite sick.

We've talked about this a lot, Anderson. It always bears repeating because of those concerns. And again, thoughtful people, curious people have these concerns, so we keep hammering down the science on this.

We know Dr. Kent Brantly has had a pretty good couple of days here. He walked off the ambulance, you remember. We know that he was able to speak with his wife through a glass wall for 45 minutes. So that was obviously some very good news. But it's been a rocky few days.

Not the least of which was the use of an experimental serum which was flown into Liberia, that may have saved him. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA (voice-over): Last Thursday, Dr. Kent Brantly thought he was going to die. It was the ninth day since he came down sick with Ebola. His condition worsening by the minute. He called his wife to say goodbye. But he also knew just hours earlier, a secret, highly experimental drug called ZMAb had been delivered to the clinic. The serum was delivered in sub-zero temperatures and with clear instructions allow the vials to thaw naturally before administering.

It would be an agonizing eight-hour wait. When it arrived Brantly told his colleague, Nancy Writebol, who was also sick, that she should have the first dose. But as Brantly's health deteriorated and he became more desperate, he asked for Writebol's now thawed medication.

It was a risk, the treatment had been tried in monkeys and it seemed to work. But never before had it been tried in a human. Not even to test safety. Dr. Brantly would be the first.

While doctors don't often use this term, they describe what happened next as miraculous. Within an hour of receiving the medication, Dr. Brantly's condition seemed to make a dramatic turnaround. His breathing improved. The rash over his trunk nearly faded away.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: I do hope that it was as impressive as being described because if it is, that bodes very well for that particular product.

GUPTA: By the next morning, Brantly was able to shower on his own before making the 6,000 mile transport to Atlanta.

Saturday afternoon, another first. Watch as Brantly walks off the back of the ambulance. He became the first patient infected with the Ebola virus to ever set foot in the United States. Or even this part of the world.

Tuesday, his colleague Nancy Writebol, who also received the ZMAb serum, will join Brantly at Emory University Hospital.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: I can't imagine having to wait, you know, eight hours watching this thing thawing out naturally as you feel like you're on the brink of death. How does this serum work? And how long has the U.S. government had it for? I mean, I've never heard of it -- of this at all.

GUPTA: Yes, this is really neat science. This is something known as a monoclonal antibody. And simply put, what they do is they take Ebola. They give it to some animals, in this case mice, they wait for the animals to make antibodies, to try and fight that virus, and then they basically take those antibodies and make this medication.

I'm simplifying here a little bit but that's what a monoclonal antibody really is. And by giving that, and you remember, never been given to a human being before, but by giving that to Dr. Kent Brantly they believe it caused this dramatic change in his overall condition. I mean, he had labored breathing, he wasn't doing well. And this within, again, as you heard, within an hour, seemed to really change things for him.

COOPER: Do you know why it was given to them? I mean, there have been other people who've had Ebola before, who have ended up dying? Do you know why the decision was made for them to get it?

GUPTA: It's a little unclear. I mean, this is a highly unusual situation. Because it had gone through the clinical trial process, it hadn't been tested for safety in humans, hasn't been tested for efficacy in humans. So this was really unusual. It seemed to be some communications between the organization that was caring for him and doctors with the NIH that made this all happen. But they didn't really know exactly what kind of impact it was going to have.

Now that this has happened I can tell you that there's already been some increase in funding for the Defense Threat Assessment Organization that basically assesses threats around the world and tries to figure out where to enhance resources, and this is an area that they're focused on. Could it be something that could be more mass used in Africa? That obviously a great goal, we're not sure if this would be the particular medication because of how difficult it is to administer in these hospitals, but something like this could show great promise and these two just may have been the first.

Dr. Kent Brantly was the first person in the world to receive this.

COOPER: Well, let's hope that they both continue to improve and I think it is something that can be used to help others. It's an extraordinary development.

Sanjay, thanks very much.

You know, where all this began, and we've seen outbreaks of Ebola over in the last many rears, but they're usually very isolated in remote areas and they usually burn out relatively quickly. But this is different. This has continued far longer than doctors anticipated. And frankly, in parts of West Africa, it is simply out of control and doctors are having a very real problem treating it, because a number of health professionals are dying. But also just keeping track of where people who are infected are going, and the fear is that they will spread it even further even to big cities like to the capital city of Nigeria.

Our David McKenzie is on the ground in Sierra Leone -- David.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: More now on the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, and also the treatment two Americans are going to be receiving in the United States. Dr. Kent Brantly arrived from Liberia, flown in over the weekend. The video of him emerging from that ambulance, fully in a protective suit.

He was actually well enough to be able to walk off that ambulance. Dr. Sanjay Gupta was reporting and as you're seeing there. Another missionary, Nancy Writebol, is expected to arrive tomorrow around midday. Unsure of exactly her condition, but she is also said to be improving.

They have both, as Sanjay said in our last report, received this experimental serum that has not been tested in humans yet, it has been tested in mice. Also right now, an American is a man -- is in intensive isolation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.

He has a fever after returning from West Africa, out of an abundance of caution, doctors put him in isolation to test him for Ebola.

But, I want to talk to our correspondent who is in West Africa. More than 700 people have died in Sierra Leone Liberia and Guinea so far because of this outbreak. And the outbreak is frankly out of control in a lot of areas in West Africa.

Let's go to our David McKenzie who is in Sierra Leone tonight. David, in Sierra Leone is the situation under control at all? Is this outbreak at all under control?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Anderson, what health professionals, particularly those from "Doctors Without Borders" have told me, it's out of control. They have an 80 bed facility here in the eastern part of the country, which is the epicenter of this outbreak, and all 80 beds are filled with patients. They can't take anyone more.

And some of the basic things that need to be done when dealing with an Ebola outbreak, like tracing the contact people have before they reach the hospital setting, that's not apparently happening to the degree it should be, and that's a very worrying prospect -- Anderson.

COOPER: Are people panicked about it there? How are people responding?

MCKENZIE: There is a sense of panic, but there's also a sense of fortitude, you know, we drove in from the capital toward the epicenter of the outbreak, and today in Sierra Leone, Anderson, they shut down the entire country. It's quite extraordinary.

No cars on the road, no people at school, no one going to work, and they said it was a day for reflection, for prayer, for people to internalize just how serious the situation is. One Red Cross official we spoke to said that the virus is everywhere in the east.

And there might be hundreds of people out there that haven't been contacted by a health professional. And so that means that this could go on for some time, at least six months, they say.

But there's no guarantee, Anderson, they can get it under control with the level of help that they're getting to it right now.

COOPER: Do they have enough health care workers, enough doctors or is that not the need? Is it more logistical help they need?

MCKENZIE: It's a good question. "Doctors Without Borders" said at least at this area, they have enough professionals, health workers to go in and deal with the patients themselves. MCKENZIE: There's a whole other aspect to try to stamp out an epidemic, lying trying to figure out who someone came into contact with, like going in and spraying the villages with a chlorine solution, to stop any more contact and more infection going-forward.

It's like a bush fire, if you don't deal with the embers in individual places the whole thing could spread out of control again. We thought we were done with this epidemic some months ago.

But it's now spreading into yet another country, Nigeria, and that's a very worrying prospect. Both for the region and global health concerns -- Anderson.

COOPER: David McKenzie, be careful, thank you.

Doctors keep stressing Ebola is not something that's spread through the air, you have to come in contact with a bodily fluids of an infected person. It's not that easy to spread in that sense.

That's why it's often health care workers or family members, who actually become infected from somebody else because they come in contact with bodily fluids.

The question, though, with air travel and the increasing air travel and the ease of air travel from West Africa to all around the globe, how possible is it for it to spread like that?

I want to check in with our Elizabeth Cohen, who is at Hartsfield International Airport where the CDC has actually an area set up to test people who are coming in.

Elizabeth, I mean, again, that is the fear where you have people flying from Lagos, Nigeria and from Sierra Leone and Liberia to places in Europe and to the United States. It's very possible, I mean, is there anything to really stop somebody from getting on an airplane who may be infected?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Anderson, it's going to be really tough, once you're infected with Ebola, you're not going to get sick for a week or two or even longer. So even though they are doing fever checks at many of these airports, that fever check isn't going to catch someone who hasn't gotten sick yet.

COOPER: And in terms of once somebody arrives in the United States, is there anything more being done on this end?

COHEN: Yes, absolutely. So if someone -- I actually today was in the isolation room here, the quarantine room here at Hartsfield in Atlanta is one of about 20 in the U.S. When someone comes through immigration, the Customs and Immigration officials are trained to spot people who look sick.

If you look sick, they're supposed to ask you questions and they are supposed to get the CDC officials, who are there at the airport to come and put you in this room if necessary. Ask more questions and if necessary, get you in an ambulance to an isolation room in a nearby hospital.

COOPER: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate your reporting.

Tonight when we come back, the latest on the situation here in Israel and in Gaza. We also want to look at the relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Obama White House.

Really interesting details emerged over the weekend. Conversations between the prime minister and Secretary of State John Kerry, and also allegations of spying by Israel on Secretary Kerry. All that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We're a little less than four and a half hours away from a cease-fire. Proposed cease-fire here in Israel and a few miles from where I'm standing, northeast of the border with Gaza.

All sides, Israel, all the Palestinian factions, even Hamas' military wing and their political wing are said to have agreed to the cease- fire that's supposed to take place starting at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning here in the region.

Supposed to last for 72 hours, the hope is that negotiations will start to take place in Egypt, that 72-hour window will actually be extended. There's a lot of hope, but also a lot of concern and mistrust on all sides of this conflict.

We want to take a look at the relationship between the governments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here in Israel and the Obama White House. on the surface, all is friendly, you often here praise from the Israeli officials, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, from the prime minister, and from the White House.

All sides publicly saying that there's a great or steadfast relationship. Behind the scenes, there are a lot of reports from officials on both sides that there is a lot of tension in the relationship, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not contradict this weekend reports that he told Secretary of State John Kerry never to contradict him or never to second guess him when it concerns relations with Hamas.

I want to talk about all this now with our David Gergen and also with Aaron David Miller from the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

Aaron, let's start with you. This report that the prime minister told John Kerry never to second guess him, what do you make of that?

AARON DAVID MILLER, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: I think it's authentic and it rings true for Netanyahu. He once told me, for example, don't second guess Israel, when it comes to security requirements, because you live in Chevy Chase, Maryland and I'm out here in the middle of a grim and dangerous neighborhood.

So yes, I can see the prime minister saying that and the reality is, these two guys sit in different places. In life, frankly, where you stand has a good deal to do with where you sit. I think unlike Lehman Brothers, I think this relationship is too big to fail. But there is, I suspect David will agree, a lot of dysfunction at the top.

COOPER: David, how cross do you think the relationship is and what kind of an impact does that actually have? I mean, how much do the -- does the personal effect the political and the security?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's probably the worst relationship between a leader of the United States and leader of Israel since all the way back to the Eisenhower days some 50, 60 years ago. These men haven't liked each other from the beginning.

Obama thinks that Netanyahu is bullheaded and Netanyahu thinks Obama is weak. Neither trusts the other. We have this incident a couple years ago, 2011, open mic Sarkozy couldn't stand Netanyahu, told Obama that, and Netanyahu's a liar.

And Obama returned to him and said, look, think about me. How frustrating? I have to deal with him every day and I think the relationship has gotten rockier over this period during the war. And the relationship with John Kerry has also moved.

At one time Obama played a good cop -- Obama played the bad cop to Kerry's good cop with the Israelis. The Israelis now think Kerry played something to the bad cop this time around as well.

But to go to Aaron's point, as much dysfunctionality is in their relationship, the two of them have actually -- in terms of conducting this war, the United States has been there for Israel a lot, and Netanyahu appreciates this.

You -- you open the program, Anderson, with the iron dome and seeing pictures of that. That was supplied, Obama had a lot to do with protecting Israel. And just today, he signed a bill, $225 million to further improve the iron dome for Israel.

COOPER: And Aaron, I mean, even though the United States has criticized particularly on Sunday criticized the way Israel in some places has fought back, they continue to resupply them with weapons?

MILLER: Right, and I think the basic relationship is going to remain intact as it has through any number of crisis. I mean, this is a dysfunctional relationship. Baker and Bush and Shamir had a tough one. The difference is, back then even though there was a lot of dysfunction, their relationship was functional.

Shamir Baker and Bush got a lot of stuff done. The real problem in this relationship, I think, is that two of these guys haven't found a project on which they can basically cooperate. I mean, they're trying to figure out a way to move forward on Iran.

But the Israelis have a different view obviously, the urgency of Iran's request for a punitive nuclear weapon. Clearly on Arab-Israeli stuff, there is a fundamental divide between Benjamin Netanyahu and the president.

One of the interesting points I think is that part of it may be generational. I work for both of Obama's predecessors and Bill Clinton and George W. Bush intuitively had an emotional affinity with Israel.

The reality is Barack Obama is 6 years old in 1967 when a lot of the pro-Israeli narrative following the 1967 was infused both the Jewish community and the non-Jewish communities. Obama's detached emotionally.

He's certainly not an enemy or an adversary of the state of Israel. Israelis like to be loved as strange as it may seem. It's really hard for the president to project that sort of emotion.

At the same time, Obama looks at Netanyahu and says, this guy doesn't respect American interests. There's no sense of reciprocity. The relationship really never got off to the kind of firm foundation that it should have.

COOPER: Aaron David Miller, appreciate you being on. David Gergen as well.

When we come back, mudslides in the United States and really devastating scenes that we saw. We'll give you the live report ahead.

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COOPER: Clean-up is underway in Southern California, where torrential rains and mudslides have caused havoc, making many roads impassable, damaging dozens of homes, stranding a number of people.

One person was found dead in San Bernardino County, when their car was swept into a creek. They were found dead inside that vehicle. Hundreds of kids and adults are need to be evacuated from a camp where they were stranded. Ted Rowlands has the latest.

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TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The San Bernardino mountains east of Los Angeles, the water and mud came so fast, some had almost no time to react.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a flash flood, I knew we were in the middle of it. We only had minutes to decide to turn around.

ROWLANDS: More than four inches of rain in less than two hours, turned roads into rivers of mud and rock.

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

ROWLANDS: Rescuers had to break windows to try to get into vehicles that were swept away. About an hour east of Los Angeles, a man died after his car was swept into a creek.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person was found inside the vehicle. The car was severely damaged, people forget that not only water comes down the hillsides but brings debris with it, oftentimes large boulders and logs. ROWLANDS: In Forest Falls, the mud flow is so deep it closed off the only road leading to parts of Forest Home, an 1800-bed Christian camp. A number of stranded campers slept on the floor of the dining hall while crews worked to clear the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no one who was concerned for their safety.

ROWLANDS (on camera): To give you a sense of how much mud came flowing through here, take a look at this handicapped parking sign. It's about six feet tall. Only about a foot or two is sticking out. Dozens of cars were left covered in mud. More than 40 homes suffered damage. While the rain only lasted a couple hours, the clean-up is going to take a very long time.

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ROWLANDS: And tonight all of the roads have been reopened, which has been great, because it's allowed those kids at the Christian camp to be brought back down and it has also allowed all of the heavy equipment, the backhoes and tractors to come up here in the mountains to help with the gigantic clean-up ahead -- Anderson.

COOPER: Did a lot of this occur because of the drought that's gone on there in California?

ROWLANDS: Some of it. Basically, this is an area that is susceptible to landslides and rock slides. That is exactly what you had over the weekend. We're talking about five inches of rain in just over an hour's time. There was no way for the ground to soak it up, and that's what created the slide.

COOPER: All right, Ted Rowlands, appreciate the update. We're live all through the next hour, 9:00 p.m. hour. I hope you stay tuned for that. I'll have the latest on the cease-fire now. A proposed cease- fire that all sides say they have agreed to. Will it hold and for how long? We'll be right back for more coverage.

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