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Kerry Pushes Cease Fire As Deaths Mount; Youngest Victims Overwhelm Gaza Hospital; Dempsey: Can Putin Contain Crisis?; 750 U.S. Citizens Fighting With Israeli Military
Aired July 25, 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: In the meantime, US officials say the FAA could reinstate the ban on flights to Israel at any time. The danger highlighted just this morning as an Air Canada flight reportedly had to circle Ben Gurion Airport while trying to avoid rocket fire. A CNN crew caught the iron dome in action shooting down a rocket over the skies of Tel Aviv.
We'll cover the stories from both sides. Wolf Blitzer is in Israel. Karl Penhaul in Gaza, but first I do want to take you to a hospital in Gaza devastated by the dead and wounded in yesterday's attack on an U.N. shelter. CNN's Dan Rivers has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They had come here seeking refuge, but today, the war came to their school. The playground peppered with shells. The results were devastating. A few minutes later, we watched the first casualties arrive at the local hospital, child after bloody child. This boy reeling in shock as doctors lost the battle to save a member of his family. For more than 30 minutes, the ambulance crews flooded this tiny hospital with more and more victims.
(on camera): They are running out of room in this triage center as ambulance after ambulance has arrived with dozens of injured people including many children.
(voice-over): One of the youngest, this six-month-old baby boy has shrapnel in his back. There's no time for anesthetic as doctors pluck out the shards of metal to make room for the next patient.
Nearby, the baby's father is hysterical. The father of 6 tells me his family was waiting in the school playground to be evacuated by the Red Cross when suddenly the shells rained down. He said his children were blown away like pieces of paper. Everywhere we looked, faces contorted in pain. Terrible, for many, it was too much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to tell me that this is the responsible thing? Is this a responsible thing to kill the children, the old women, the children? What?
RIVERS: The mayhem of this day will never be forgotten by these people. For many, the injuries will be life-changing. Agony too for those yet to live theirs. In the end, the injured children were being treated on floor so great they were in number. And most with the same injuries, shards of metal, lacerating their tiny bodies.
(on camera): How many children have been brought in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So much.
RIVERS (voice-over): The price of this war is etched on each and every face here, staring blankly back in shock, the innocent victims of this relentless conflict.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Thanks to Dan Rivers for that report. Both Hamas and Israeli military blame each other on the attack on this school that was acting as a U.N. shelter. For more on this, let's bring in Wolf Blitzer who is live in Jerusalem and Karl Penhaul who joins us from Gaza City.
Wolf, is there any indication on who was responsible for the attack on this school?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, Hamas clearly blames the Israelis for this attack and they make no qualifications at all. What Israel says, what the IDF, Israel Defense Forces says, they are investigating right now. They say it's possible it could have been an errant Israeli missile or shell, but they also say it's possible, it could have been a Hamas rocket that landed short.
It was aimed towards Israel, but landed inside the Gaza Strip. They say there have been many examples of that over these past couple of weeks. They say they are investigating. Everyone agrees it's awful and the pictures are devastating. It underscores, Carol, the need for a cease-fire and the Israeli security cabinet, the eight members of the security cabinet, led by the prime minister, they are in Tel Aviv, meeting in an emergency session right now.
They are considering this latest proposal that was conveyed to the prime minister by Secretary of State John Kerry last night. We'll see what they decide. There is division. We know that from within the Israeli cabinet. We'll see what the majority though decides to do and we'll have to see what Hamas decides to do.
They are under some pressure from Qatar to go along and accept at least a week long cease-fire. If that happens, if the Israelis accept it and Hamas accepts it and it works during that period they can begin the process of dealing with some of the other long term issues. That's not going to be easy by any means. There's no guarantee it will work, but it's a very tenuous moment right now.
COSTELLO: Karl, I'd like to ask you about these demonstrations on the West Bank. This is outside of Gaza. These are Palestinians and they are becoming more and more angry. There is a danger of this turning into a larger, regional war. Is that what Hamas wants?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly would be what Hamas wants because Hamas right now has sucked the Israelis into a ground war in Gaza. Few people thought based on the experience of 2008-2009 that Hamas would have that much fight in them given that the Israeli military is one of most advanced, sophisticated, well prepared military forces in the world.
And yet Hamas and other militant factions have clearly spent money and time training and developing new tactics and they have had a devastating effect on the Israeli military, inflicting more casualties now, three times more in fact than they did in the 2008-2009 confrontation and now we see these uprisings in the West Bank as well.
It says several things. That Palestinians, regardless of their political affiliations, either with Hamas or with Fatah or other Palestinian factions seems to think that the root cause is Palestinian rights and that seems to be opening up a second front on the West Bank. That means that the Israelis will have their hands full to contain that as well.
And the longer that goes on and the more there is a popular uprising, then that is something that Hamas could exploit and feel emboldened by that and maybe that means they won't be looking in a hurry for a ceasefire -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Karl Penhaul, Wolf Blitzer, thanks so much.
Tensions are ratcheting up too this morning as the border between Ukraine and Russia seems increasingly tested. Just a couple of hours ago, Moscow accused Ukrainian forces firing about 40 mortars into Russian territory. That claim comes amid another serious development.
Washington now says it has proof that Russia is not only arming rebels in Eastern Ukraine, it's actually firing artillery from Russian soil. As hostilities escalate, America's highest ranking military officer had some sobering words about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL MARTIN DEMPSEY, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: If I have a fear about this, it's that Putin may actually light a fire that he loses control of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Let's bring in Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Disturbing words from General Dempsey.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the most calm circumspect officers in the U.S. military ever. For him to say something like this, that reflects deep worry. All the intelligence on all sides right now, Carol, indicates this is a situation that's not getting any calmer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): U.S. intelligence is scrutinizing these photos, believed to be taken near the Russia-Ukraine border thought to show Russian artillery used to fire into Ukraine. CNN has learned U.S. intelligence satellites and radars have monitored repeated artillery fire from the Russian side of the border for the last several days.
MARIE HARF, DEPUTY STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions.
STARR: With a maximum range of 20 miles on some artillery, the Russians are moving their forces closer to the border so they can hit targets inside Ukraine. They may be stepping up the hostilities to protect the Moscow-backed rebels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are being pushed back in a couple of key cities and I think they are getting -- Russia is getting very concerned about this.
STARR: The U.S. considers Russian President Vladimir Putin to be in firm control of his forces, but the U.S. questions whether the Russian leader has an even more aggressive military plan in mind.
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RETIRED), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I certainly hope that Russia does not use these forces to say, we're going in this area and secure the ground because Ukraine has not done that, and use it as an excuse to occupy territory.
STARR: U.S. intelligence also sees evidence, even more Russian forces are flowing to the border region. With indications that the troops include Special Forces and vehicles for rapid movement across that border, if ordered.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: So where are we right now? Well, U.S. intelligence currently estimates there are about 15 distinct Russian military formations on the border with up to 1,000 Russian troops and each of them, that shows you how much the tensions are rising -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Barbara Starr reporting live for us at the Pentagon, thank you. More solemn journeys today as the Netherlands receive two planes again filled with the remains of those killed in last week's crash. The Dutch lost nearly 200 people on the flight. In moving attributes to all victims, at least 200 experts will now work on identifying the remains so they can eventually be returned to their loved ones. I'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: For the third day in a row, the Netherlands is going about the grim task of receiving victims from the crash of Malaysia Airline Flight 17. The images so moving as Dutch citizens line the streets to pay respects and share their heart break with the world. Now that international grief is mixed with anger, much of it pointed at Russia and its support of the rebels who it is believed shot down that airliner.
"Newsweek" shows a photo of Vladimir Putin, and has the titles the pariah. Its cover also calls him public enemy number one of the west. "Time" magazine pronounced it's Cold War too and it says the west is losing Putin's dangerous game. Not a lot of (sales) in either of these, right?
So let's talk about it. With me now is Brian Stelter, our senior media correspondent and host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES." Good morning, Brian.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
COSTELLO: What do you think about these magazine covers because I actually enjoyed them?
STELTER: There sure is no subtly lost in these and it's a narrative of sorts we're seeing. A west versus east narrative that some people have described as cold war two. It could be history repeating itself or it could be just lazy journalists falling back on to old metaphors. Re-using them after many years.
COSTELLO: I'm probably a lot older than you, so I can well remember the cold war and it sure feels that way to me, so I don't know about the lazy journalism part.
STELTER: And yet, we don't live in the world where there were only two big super powers. Now the U.S. is the only super power. Russia is not a global power even if it may try to act like it sometimes and the threats the U.S. faces are from many different directions, the challenges from many different directions, not just Russia. To me, cold war doesn't seem it captures where we are now. Am I wrong?
COSTELLO: Although, you can argue President Putin is certainly causing a lot of trouble right at the moment because nobody seems to know how to rein him in.
STELTER: Well, some of it is about different sets of facts. You know, what the Russian public learns about President Putin is different from what the American public learns about him. Someone compare him to Ronald Reagan. The Ronald Reagan of Russia. To the Russian public that sounds quite right. I was watching the Russian cable channel and what you hear there is so different.
The sets of facts are so different from what you hear in the U.S., in many cases, of course, not supported by evidence, but it can contribute to the sense that he's very popular there, even though I think the word pariah is appropriate here on the cover of "Newsweek."
COSTELLO: I wanted to read an op-ed. This is how they are writing about him on Russian control media. Here's the spin war verdict. The current Malaysian Airlines tragedy, the second in four months is terrorism perpetrated by pro-Russian separatists armed by Russia and Putin is the main culprit, end of story.
Anyone who believes otherwise, shut up, why? Because the CIA said so, because Hillary, we came we saw he died, Clinton said so. Because crazy Samantha RTP power said so. Thundering at the U.N., everything dual printed in the neo-infested "Washington Post." STELTER: It all gets to be kind of incomprehensible after a while, if you live in that bubble and you don't look outside of that bubble, you can be persuaded.
COSTELLO: Maybe so. I'm sure you are going to talk a lot more about this this weekend, right?
STELTER: Absolutely. The information wars we're seeing two of our big stories. It's both Russia and Ukraine and also in Gaza and Israel. These aren't physical battles or political battles. There are also media battles and we see that happening every day now.
COSTELLO: All right, Brian Stelter, thanks so much for joining me and be sure to tune in this weekend for CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" at 11 Eastern on Sunday morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, as the battle intensified between Hamas and Israel, hundreds of Americans risk their lives to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. CNN's Dan Simon brings us their unique story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: All right, this news just into CNN, Pope Francis is preparing to make his very first visit to the United States. The pope has accepted the invitation of an American archbishop to attend a conference in Philadelphia next year and Philly may not be his only stop.
The Catholic news service says the pontiff is also considering invitations from New York, the United Nations and Washington. I'm sure there are more cities on that list, but as far as we know, in 2015, the pope will definitely be visiting Philadelphia. We'll keep you posted.
Bloody battles rage on in Gaza. More than two weeks of fighting leave nearly 1,000 dead among them two American soldiers. Steve Carmeli and Max Steinberg were part of 750 U.S. citizens voluntarily fighting with Israel's Defense Forces, only requiring a high school diploma, lack of a criminal record and fluency in Hebrew to serve.
Dan Simon spoke to a former American IDF member who tells us why he chose to serve in the Israeli military.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of U.S. citizens join the Israel Defense Forces. They are called lone soldiers. What makes them do it? Why not join the U.S. military? We spoke to a former member of the IDF. David Meyers is a 47-year-old who today is working in sales in Silicon Valley.
DAVID MEYERS, FORMER IDF MEMBER: As much as I'm an American and a proud American, there's an incredibly deep and long connection that I personally have both to Israel, to its history, to its people from relatives that survived the holocaust, relatives who helped establish the state of Israel, both from within and outside of Israel and that connection runs extremely deep.
I was in the IDF from 1987 through 1993. So it's the period right after Israel's first Lebanon war. People are definitely surprised. Americans are surprised that I joined the IDF because it is hard to digest that concept of how it is that you can love the United States and be a proud American and yet go fight in another army.
You feel that if you don't do that then who will? And that state needs to be preserved and needs to be defended, and that the U.S. with its strength and size perhaps isn't quite as needing of your abilities and your efforts.
Hearing the news of all the soldiers who have been killed is heart wrenching. The fact that they did volunteer, that they did leave the safe and secure life makes it just a little bit harder to digest. At the funerals of those guys, there have been literally tens of thousands of people who have come to show their appreciate appreciation and love for those families.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was Dan Simon reporting. Still to come to the NEWSROOM, the FAA has lifted its ban on U.S.-based flights traveling to Tel Aviv, but depending on the situation on the ground that ban could be reinstated at any time. I'll talk to a rabbi whose flight was actually grounded because of that ban. We'll get his thoughts on the matter. We'll talk to him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. While Secretary of State John Kerry works to hammer out a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel, the FAA says it might consider reinstating the flight ban to and from Tel Aviv for all U.S.- based carriers. One Israeli official says Ben Gurion is absolutely safe and places like LAX are much more dangerous for air travellers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: You welcome the decision by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to reinstate flights to Israel, that was a major setback in Israel.
YAIR LAPID, ISRAELI MINISTER OF FINANCE: It was. And it was wrong. Listen, LAX is ten times more dangerous than the Israeli Ben Gurion Airport because the traffic is so big comparing to us.
BLITZER: But there are no rockets flying around LAX.
LAPID: There are no rockets flying around the Ben Gurion Airport.
BLITZER: There was one landed --
LAPID: There was one landed more than a mile away. The minute we presented the FAA with the details and the facts of the matter, they say OK you can go back and fly. It's totally safe to fly Israel and I recommend it by the way to everyone who wants to come in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
