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Satellite Images Show Russia Shelling; U.N. Working on Humanitarian Pause in Gaza; No Ceasefire in Israel Hamas Conflict; 13 Killed During Fighting in Ukraine Town; Interview with John Walsh; Cage Fighter Rejoins Israeli Army

Aired July 27, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday afternoon. I'm Ana Cabrera in today for Fredricka Whitfield. Our top story this hour.

The crisis in the Middle East, where at this hour there is no ceasefire in place. Hamas says it has agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire. But they're still firing rockets into Israel. Our sources on the ground tell us they are blaming a lack of commitment from Israel.

Meanwhile diplomats from the United Nations have been working with both sides to build some kind of a deal that will bring an end to this fighting, even if it is temporary. Yesterday Israel said it was unilaterally extending a ceasefire that had begun on Friday but Hamas initially rejected that extension so Israel has since resumed its military operations in Gaza after mortar fire from Gaza and the death of civilians have gone up.

Now we did speak just in the last hour -- excuse me, diplomats from the United Nations, as we mentioned, have been working to build the deal that would bring an end to this fighting, and just in the last few minutes the White House said that President Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and reiterated his support for Israel's right to defend itself but he also added concern for the rising numbers of civilian deaths in Gaza.

Yesterday Israel said as it was unilaterally extending the ceasefire that had begun on Friday and that Hamas had rejected that extension. So again, we're back -- this is a back and forth game between Israel and Hamas and the fighting is continuing there. More mortar fire from Gaza killed civilians today.

We want to go to Atika Shubert in the Mideast with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're about one kilometer from the Gaza border and all day today up and down the border we've been hearing and seeing the booms and explosions -- basically the sound of the ceasefire failing.

Now from this position here, we can actually see into Gaza, into the neighborhood of Beit Hanoun, and there we can see the widespread destruction that the Israeli military has brought. Whole buildings flattened, huge chunks there just raised to the ground. At the same time today, we've also been hearing and seeing rockets arching overhead from Gaza into Israel. Many of them intercepted but one of them actually making a direct hit on a house injuring a woman inside.

Now up and down the border here, we've seen a number of Israeli military patrols and they've been using diggers and excavators, bulldozers to look for those tunnels. Remember, one of the primary objectives is to destroy the Hamas militant tunnel network. And so they've been looking for areas in which they've been infiltrating into Israel and that's why we've been seeing these patrols on the Israeli side.

Now despite the calls for a ceasefire, this is all the activity we've been seeing today. It doesn't look like we're getting any closer to a truce.

Atika Shubert, CNN, on the Gaza-Israel border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: And now to Ukraine where more death and violence have been reported there in eastern Ukraine. At least 13 people, including two children, were killed today during the battle between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces.

Halfway around the world in Washington, tough talk today from the White House which is now pushing American's European allies to get tougher on Russia.

CNN's Erin McPike is joining us now from the White House.

Erin, what is the Obama administration saying tonight?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, what they are saying is that they have new photographic evidence from U.S. intelligence forces that show that indeed there has been some firing of weapons from inside Russia into Ukraine, along the eastern border of Ukraine. We're going to show you those images now. They show ground firing from inside Russia from these multiple rocket launch sites and also some impacts on the ground there in Ukraine.

So Ben Rhodes, who's a senior adviser to President, was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning. He was discussing how this photographic evidence should begin to convince the European allies of the United States that they need to clamp down harder on Russia with additional sanctions. Listen here to him talk about just that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN RHODES, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We think Russia has crossed the line and, frankly, President Putin has frequently said one thing and done another. The sanctions we've put in place have already driven down the forecast of Russia's growth rate down to near zero. We've seen nearly $100 billion in capital from the country. But if it's not been enough to change this calculus about the weapons going across the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Now, also, Ana, we just got a readout from the White House on a different matter. You were just discussing the situation in Gaza. I'm going to read part of this statement to you. The president spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today and this statement says, "The president underscored the United States' strong condemnation of Hamas' rocket and tunnel attacks against Israel and reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself.

"The president also reiterated the United States' serious and growing concern about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives as well as the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza."

So obviously there the president is now putting even more pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Erin McPike, we know talk is cheap. People want to see action. We'll see where this goes from here. Thank you.

Are hopes for a ceasefire completely dead? Karl Penhaul is joining me from Gaza. Clearly, we know right now there is not a ceasefire in place.

Karl, what have you witnessed there today?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, there is no ceasefire. Any talk of ceasefire really has collapsed as both the Israelis and Hamas resumed firing at one another.

But really that is not the news that's coming out of Gaza or Israel tonight. The main piece of news that we are tracking right now is a statement that is in the last few moments come out from the Israeli military where they do claim responsibility for that shocking explosion at a U.N.-run school. That was on Thursday. And according to the United Nations and according to eyewitnesses and medics, 16 people were killed in that explosion and over 200 others were wounded.

Now it's very important to get the language of the Israeli military statement right. The Israeli military accepts that a single errant Israeli mortar dropped into the school courtyard. But the Israeli military follows up by saying it is extremely unlikely anybody was killed in that explosion.

It also goes on to say it rejects the claim that people were killed. The Israeli military statement really rejects suggestions that people were in that United Nations shelter when the single errant mortar dropped into that school. That really flies into the face of what we at CNN have been reporting, what our reporting teams on the grounds saw that day. It flies in the face of what the United Nations says because the United Nations is quite clearly, and I've spoken to them again tonight.

The United Nations says that hundreds of displaced Gazans people were in that United Nations designated shelter at the time of that explosion. The United Nations has also said clearly that they appeal to the Israeli military twice in a single day, during the day of Thursday to allow those civilians to be allowed to leave. The Israeli military on Thursday and Friday said that it was aware that there were people in that school and it claims that it allowed those people to be evacuated but then suggested that Hamas was preventing them from leaving.

And now, according to the new Israeli military statement, it casts doubt on whether people were in fact there at all.

CNN teams on the ground saw a dead and wounded being taken to the hospital in the near vicinity. A separate CNN team then went down to the area after the school had been fully evacuated to look specifically at evidence about what caused the blast. The CNN team at the time when we reported this on air noticed a single detonation point. That would be consistent with a single mortar round.

We also observed a blast radius of shrapnel between 30 and 40 yards wide. That would also be consistent with a relatively small round that could include a 60-millimeter mortar, an 81 millimeter mortar. But certainly nothing larger according to our security consultants.

What our security consultants also add in this that they have not been spoken to by the Israeli, but CNN security consultants believe that because of the patent of the shrapnel blast that the mortars were set to air burst. That effectively means that the mortar would have exploded just a few feet off the ground rather than hitting the ground and then exploding. That technique is used to cause maximum damage to enemy soldiers or enemy fighters.

But again the Israeli military is not speaking now specifically to this except beyond accepting that a single errant Israeli mortar fell into that schoolyard on Thursday and -- but it does cast doubt on whether their own mortar round caused the civilian deaths and casualties that CNN and other major reported and that the United Nations confirmed -- Ana.

CABRERA: We certainly rely on you to be our eyes and ears as to the facts of the situation since we're hearing reports that are differentiating from -- depending on which side you're talking to.

I want to ask you if there has been any word or any kind of reaction to this conversation between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that we got word of here just a few minutes ago. Anything on that end or that side of things?

PENHAUL: No, certainly not during nighttime here in Gaza. Very few people stick their heads above the fire pits to make statements or analyze. A lot of people don't have access to those kinds of statements by the normal media because a lot of people don't have power either. And a lot of main Hamas spokesman, if we're looking to those people to react to anything, simply don't. But like I say, all eyes right now tonight focus on this Israeli military statement relating to the blast at that United Nations school.

In many senses, many people watching this war unfold believe that that explosion at United Nations school could be one of those defining moments that finally persuaded all sides in this war that enough is enough. But at the face certainly Israel accepting responsibility that it was their ammunition that exploded in that courtyard, but rejecting any sense that they were to blame for the 16 dead.

CABRERA: Right.

PENHAUL: Another 200 wounded in that explosion, contrary to what the United Nations and other media outlets including ourselves are reporting -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Karl Penhaul, thank you. Stay safe.

As the conflict intensifies there in the Middle East, we will hear from the leaders from both sides and what they have to say. Next, the prime minister of Israel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: In the ongoing fighting in Gaza, the body count keeps rising and each side is still blaming the other. Israel says Hamas is using people to protect its weapons and violating ceasefires. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked about this on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" tonight. Here's part of what he told our Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, STATE OF THE UNION: Mr. Prime Minister, your Defense minister recently talked about significantly broadening the ground operation in Gaza, asking soldiers, Israeli soldiers, to be prepared for that.

There's a member of parliament talking about, quote, "the next phase." What is that next phase? What does broadening the offensive mean?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Look, I'm not going to talk about specific military operations. But Israel is doing what any other country would do, and certainly the U.S. would do. If 80 percent of your population were under rocket fire and you had 60 seconds or 90 seconds to get into bomb shelters, if terror tunnels were dug underneath your border in order to come in and explode your kindergartens and massacre your people and kidnap American citizens, you would take action. If America was attacked by land, by sea, by air, you would take action.

So Israel is taking action to neutralize these -- this threat. And I'm not going to get into the specifics. Obviously, we hope we can get a sustainable quiet as soon as possible. I think the only path to do that is by adopting the Egyptian initiative that basically has unconditional -- has no conditions, except to try to begin to address, have a ceasefire, a cessation of all hostilities, and try to address the two underlining issues here, security for Israel, which means demilitarizing Gaza, and from all these rockets and tunnels and so on, and social and economic relief for the Palestinians.

I think the two are intertwined. I think you can't get social and economic relief for the people of Gaza without having a sure demilitarization, because otherwise all the money, all the concrete, all the cement that will go in will not be used to offer relief to the people of Gaza, but to build more terror tunnels and more rockets and more missiles. We need demilitarization. That's critical.

CROWLEY: Do you disagree with the characterization that Israel is thinking about significantly broadening its operation in Gaza?

NETANYAHU: Candy, we will take what action is necessary to defend our people.

CROWLEY: OK.

NETANYAHU: Both in the tactical sense and the strategic sense.

CROWLEY: So is the military goal here for Israel to shut down all of the tunnels and stop Hamas from its constant firing of rockets into Israel, sort of destroy their infrastructure, or is it something short of that?

NETANYAHU: Well, I would say we want to stop the firing of rockets, for sure. But we also want to dismantle the terror -- the tunnel -- the terror tunnel networks that we have uncovered. I don't know if we'll have 100 percent success. Our soldiers are dealing with that right now. Just imagine, I mean, these are -- you know what these tunnels are? I mean, Hamas received international aid from the Qataris and from others. They have received a lot of money.

And people said to us, enable concrete and cement to go into Gaza so they can rebuild -- build Gaza, build schools, build -- build hospitals and so on. They took all that cement and built this vast tunnel network penetrating into Israel, so they can come out under our towns, our cities, our schools and explode our children, explode our kindergarten. They took money that was -- cement that was used -- meant to build kindergartens for Palestinian children and used it to dig tunnels to explode our kindergartens.

So, obviously, this is -- this is just a nonstarter. It has to stop. And I think that one of the things that we are dealing with right now is how to dismantle this tunnel network that our forces are busily engaging in it. I don't think we'll have 100 percent success. I can't guarantee that, but we will have major success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Again, that was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Up next, we'll hear the Palestinian perspective on this deadly conflict in Gaza as both sides resume their attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Israel is defending its renewed offensive in Gaza saying it was needed after it endured an incessant round of Hamas rocket attacks. But the senior adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claims Israel has a secret agenda in Gaza. Mohammad Shtayyeh says Israel wants to, quote, "keep Gaza separate

from the rest of the Palestinian territory." He talked earlier with our CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: What is the Hamas responsibility here? And I ask you that because it does -- it has sent a couple of thousand rockets in Israel since this whole thing started. It does it rather routinely over time.

Have the Palestinians -- has the Palestinian Authority urged Hamas to stop the shelling? Has the Palestinian Authority said to Hamas, stop putting your weapons in schools, stop telling people to stay when Israelis told them to go? Is there a Hamas responsibility for this that the Palestinian Authority is doing anything about or urging them to do something about?

SHTAYYEH: Not only that. Not only that. President Abbas has actually come to terms with Hamas that they are accepting a two-state solution. They are ready for quiet, this long-term quietness. All what -- all what brings quietness to Israel is to really achieve peace. We have formed a Palestinian agreed-upon government with the blessing of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority here was taking over Gaza. So we were designing a very well-orchestrated Palestinian -- Palestinian reconciliation on the terms, on our terms, not on the Hamas terms.

The whole world welcomed the agreed-upon Palestinian government. The only country that has rejected it, that has worked against it, that has fought to destroy it, is Israel. And this is the -- the most important point in the Israeli hidden agenda. So --

(CROSSTALK)

CROWLEY: But has Hamas recognized that --

SHTAYYEH: You know, Hamas has launched 2,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel. I would like to ask the Israelis, how many civilian Israelis have been killed? One single person and the other person was an Asian worker? Thirty of those who were killed are Israeli soldiers. They were killed in Gaza. So let's not exaggerate the issue of, you know, the Israeli fear and they have 60 minutes to go into hiding and so on.

CROWLEY: So just quickly, sir, are you telling me that -- that the Palestinian Authority has said to Hamas, stop the shelling, stop putting your weaponry in schools and has it recognized Israel's right to exist?

SHTAYYEH: By all means, we wanted this situation to be very quiet. We wanted these and we wanted to come to terms with the Israelis. Unfortunately, I should be frank here and tell you that the Israelis who have totally pushed these talks to failure on the 29th of April. The Israelis who shifted the whole battle from the West Bank into Gaza, Israel wanted to get out of the political corner that it was put into by the international community, by the diplomatic offense that we have been faring at the international political arena.

Israel wanted to drag us into a security where a political square. So this is what is happening now. The Israelis wanted to sabotage the Palestinians. Palestinian reconciliation. The whole Gaza Strip has been under total siege for seven years. People have not been able to move out of Gaza.

CROWLEY: Right.

SHTAYYEH: Palestinians and Gazas don't know what Jerusalem looks like. Palestinians in Gaza don't know what the rest of the world looks like so there have been under tight siege. If you put any human being in a siege, he will react. So what is the way out for all of this misery is that Israel should end its siege on the Palestinians, whether in the West Bank or Gaza or Jerusalem, and allow these talks to continue.

Israel has to accommodate the Palestinian demands and aspirations for ending occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. That is the only answer. The Israeli aggression on Gaza does not bring peace to Gaza. We know that. Israel may enjoy another one or two years of ceasefire. That is not what we want. We want end of occupation.

CROWLEY: You want a larger peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Again, that was the senior adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine is keeping the investigators from getting to the crash site of the Malaysia Air Flight 17. A plane that crashed more than a week ago now. When will investigators be able to get there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us. I'm Ana Cabrera. It is half past the hour and here are some of the big stories we're following today.

The Costa Concordia cruise ship has reached the end of its final voyage. The ship was towed to an Italian port in the city of Genoa. It will be dry-docked and then scrapped. The ship ran aground in 2012, 32 people were killed, one passenger remains missing. It is the largest salvage operation ever. The price tag so far $1.5 billion.

We have now learned that a second American in Africa has tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus. The woman is an aid worker in Liberia who is helping a team that is treating Ebola patients there. And this comes just after word that an American doctor is also infected with Ebola. Thirty-three-year-old Dr. Kent Brantley is working in Africa, treating Ebola patients. Well, he is now being treated in isolation at an African hospital. The current outbreak of this disease is the deadliest ever in Africa. The group responsible for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls in

Nigeria has struck again. This time in Cameroon. According to Reuters the militant group called Boka Haram stormed the vice prime minister's home in the northern part of this country. They killed at least three people, they kidnapped the vice prime minister's wife.

And in eastern Ukraine, investigators really want to get to that scene of the crash where a Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down about 10 days ago. But deadly violence is getting in their way.

This is fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces. It killed at least 13 people, including two children, just today. This bloodshed comes more than a week after Flight 17 crashed killing all 298 people on board. A proper investigation has not yet started. Some bodies are still lying near debris.

Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is there in Ukraine.

And, Nick, I know you talked to observers today. What did they tell you?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was clear today that despite the fact that Dutch Police made potentially a very dangerous journey south from Kharkiv in north, they flew into -- bound to where I am in Donetsk. They couldn't continue all the way to the crash site simple because of the ongoing violence here. Now they said particularly there was artillery near the road as they try to travel down towards the crash site. I think about 40 kilometers from it, roughly, and that meant on two occasions they have to turn back.

Now I should point out to you, you know, we are in the middle of a civil war here that's picking up to a much more intense pace. In the last few days you mentioned (INAUDIBLE), before we spoke, that is the Ukrainian army pushing south towards this city of a million people and into the south of the city it seems like that the Ukrainian army is pushing towards the crash site itself.

So violence is intensifying around there but just let me, Ana, explain to you the scene here in Donetsk. The city of a million people on a Sunday night absolutely silent. I've seen three or four ambulances pass this way. They are silent, too. Their siren is off. A real sense of not siege but anticipation of something worse potentially happening.

Why is this massive for MH-17? Well, as this violence continues to rage, it just puts off at bay that these police and investigators can get anywhere near that crash site. And that's vital for the relatives of those who died in MH-17. They need them to get there to get the personal possessions, the wreckage, potentially, and I'm sorry to say, the human remains that may still be left there to get some kind of closure -- Ana.

CABRERA: And too much precious time lost.

Nick Paton Walsh, thanks. It's a grim anniversary today. It was exactly 33 years ago that the

young son of CNN's John Walsh was abducted and was later found murdered. Walsh tells us how this tragedy has changed the course of his life, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN WALSH, CNN HOST, "THE HUNT": I have decided to offer a $5,000 reward for information, any information about Adam's whereabouts in confidence. If people want to call the Hollywood Police Department here and offer information, we'll follow it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: This is one of those tear-jerkers. That was CNN's John Walsh 33 years ago. He was pleading for help after his 6-year-old son Adam was abducted in Florida. Two weeks later, Adam was found dead. Since then, John Walsh has helped catch criminals on behalf of others and he hopes to do so again using his new CNN original series "THE HUNT."

We talked about that today as well as today's horrific anniversary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: This is the date that our 6-year-old son Adam was kidnapped when he was with his mom in a store in Hollywood, Florida. So it was a -- it is a very, very tough day for us but it is also the day that President Bush signed the Adam Walsh Act which created the National Sex Offender Registry and allows law enforcement to go worldwide to catch the creeps who prey upon children. So it's a very bittersweet day for us but, you know, it's a day that we sort of reflect on what a wonderful, beautiful little boy that 6-year-old boy was.

CABRERA: I cannot imagine being a parent and going through what you have gone through with your son Adam.

Let's talk a little bit about this transformation in your career since that day, turning such a horrible tragedy in your life into something good, if you could say it that way. I know you were a marketing executive in Florida when Adam disappeared. But you decided to change careers after that. What was it that made that decision for you?

WALSH: Well, I didn't have much choice. I was a partner in a very successful small company, had three great partners, who were building a $26 million hotel on Paradise Island. Project of our dreams, I had a beautiful home in Hollywood, Florida, and a gorgeous wife and this incredible 6-year-old son.

I had the American dream. But after Adam was murdered, it is a place that I just can't describe. As my wife has said it many times, it's a color that she hopes no one will ever see and it's a color that's impossible to describe. So she was the one who really, I think, channeled us -- I couldn't work, couldn't function, you know, you just -- you just can't do anything. And all you have in common with your wife is this horrible murder of this little boy. But she was the one who said, we have to make sure we remember who the real victim was and that was Adam and to make sure that he didn't die in vain.

In '81, there was no help, there were no Amber alerts, no National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Very little media coverage. The FBI refused at that time to get involved in Adam's case. That was not part of their mission in '81. So I think we've tried very hard to make sure what we didn't have available to us is now available to other parents of missing children.

CABRERA: And you went on to star, to host, to -- "America's Most Wanted" and brought up all these other missing persons disappearance cold cases through that. Do you have any regrets about going in that direction with your career? I imagine it has to be very emotionally difficult to live and breathe these types of situations after what you've been through.

WALSH: But it was a great platform. You know, I was on "America's Most Wanted" for 25 years. We caught almost 1300 bad people of all different walks of life in 45 countries, 17 of them were off the FBI's 10 most wanted and we recovered 61 missing children. One of them being Elizabeth Smart. So it was an incredible platform. But my agenda has always been the legislation, to change laws. And you know, I took the last year or so off and just couldn't sit still.

I'm thrilled to be back in the saddle, you know, hunting these creeps down and with CNN, which is a great partner in, a great international partner. And tonight we're featuring one of the world's most wanted. He's wanted on the Interpol red list because he's been seen in many countries, Brad Bishop. And I've been looking for him for 20 years. But this show -- and this show gives me the platform where I still can try to lobby to change laws and make America and the world safer for children and women, primarily.

CABRERA: You're right. "THE HUNT" is tonight. And we look forward to your show. Before I let you go, because we want to honor your son's memory today, tell us a little bit about Adam.

WALSH: He was the most beautiful little boy. We waited a long time and wanted to be sure that we would be good parents. And he was a 6- year-old gorgeous little boy, so smart, so kind, so sweet. But we fortunately had three children since Adam. And we all -- they wished they had met Adam. But I think Adam's legacy is a good one. He was just that old soul, we call him, that beautiful little boy.

And that's -- you know, tonight I'm hunting for a guy who's alleged to have murdered his own children. I can't even conceive of that but I hope tonight on "THE HUNT" that the world will be a very much smaller place for Brad Bishop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: We hope so, too. And you can take part in all of this. Catch an episode of "THE HUNT WITH JOHN WALSH" starting tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN. And Israeli fighter took home a major victory here in the United

States last night in the ring. But now he is going from fighting in the cage to the front lines back home in Israel. He's standing by and will join me live, next.

But first, this week's CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEELA HAZZAH, CNN HERO: Sixty years ago, there were probably half a million lions in Africa. Today there's less than 30,000 lions in all of Africa. If we don't do something soon there are going to be no lions left maybe in 10, 15 years, who knows.

I spent a year living in the Maasai community to understand why people were killing lions. It brings a huge amount of prestige to the warrior. And they were killing lions in retaliation for livestock that were killed. They started opening up and telling me stories. That's when it clicked. If we want to conserve wildlife we have to integrate communities.

Our organization hires Maasai warriors and it converts lion killers into Lion Guardians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): Before I became a Lion Guardian, I killed eight lions. I realized that I don't benefit from killing lions.

HAZZAH: When we first hire Lion Guardians they don't know how to read or write. We provide all of that literacy training and technical training.

They track lions so they can keep very accurate ecological data on lion movement. The Lion Guardian model is founded on Maasai cultural values. And it is just being tweaked a bit for the 21st century.

We never really even imagined that we could transform these lion killers to the point where they would risk their own lives to stop other people from killing lions.

When I first moved here, I never heard lions roaring. But now I hear lions roaring all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: I want to bring you up to date once more of what's happening in the Middle East. At this hour, there is no ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. There was a fresh exchange of fire between Israel and Gaza overnight. And today, diplomats from the United Nations have been trying to broker some kind of peace deal.

Now just in the last hour, we've learned that the president, President Obama had a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Obama stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that would lead to a permanent end to hostilities there.

This deadly conflict happening between Israel and Hamas is very personal for one professional cage fighter here in the U.S.

Noad Lahat's family lives in Israel. He says his grandma has had to run for cover during this latest round of fighting and for that reason he says he must go back home and fight for her and his people.

And I want to bring him in Noad right now, getting ready to jump on a plane from California.

Noad, first of all, congrats on your win and your fight last night, and thanks so much for joining me.

NOAD LAHAT, UFC FIGHTER AND IDF SOLDIER: Thank you very much for having me.

CABRERA: Now let's talk about your next fight. We know you are a member of the Israeli Defense Forces or the IDF, a reservist, you tell me. How are you feeling about returning to your old unit?

LAHAT: Well, I'm feeling -- you know, I'm excited about seeing my friend and everything but I would prefer to go home in a different -- for a different reason.

CABRERA: I can understand that. I read you were dedicating your win last night to peace, not war. Why go back to battle then?

LAHAT: Yes. Because you can't achieve peace without being ready for war. These people are attacking you and they are not going to stop until you're dead and you have to go and fight. There's no other way.

CABRERA: Were you called back by the Israeli government?

(CROSSTALK)

LAHAT: Yes and no.

CABRERA: Or is this just by choice?

LAHAT: Well, it's by choice. They can't call me if I'm not there because if I'm not there, they can't call me but the second they call my friends, I right away I got my ticket and I said I'm ready to go back.

CABRERA: What do you make of what is happening there right now?

LAHAT: It's just another round of this -- of this ridiculous game. Hamas shooting at us, we try to respond but we can't because most of the world hold our hands and twisted it and don't let us finish the job and take Hamas down. So we stop and then they're shooting again.

CABRERA: You know, I think a lot of people would agree that, you know, Hamas is not necessarily a good organization. They are viewed as terrorists by the United States. That being said, a lot of people who are dying in the fighting are innocent civilians. A lot of lives have been lost there in Gaza. What's your reaction to that?

LAHAT: Well, first of all, you can't say they are not good and terrorists. They are terrorists that means they're evil. And, unfortunately, a lot of -- they're using their kids and they're using their schools and their hospitals and their women as a human shield. And that's why we got, you know, accidents.

In every war, there's accidents. And people die. Just like when England they bombed Berlin, the Nazi Germany, kids died and just like when the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A lot of innocent kids died. But that's what happens in war. There's casualties. Unfortunately they're using their tunnel. Their fighters are underground in tunnels and their kids are protecting their missiles. If they choose between our kids and their kids. There's nothing we can do about it.

CABRERA: If you do have to choose between your kids and their kids, you're saying you would choose your kids?

LAHAT: Of course. Every day. If someone's shooting at you, you have to shoot back. And we -- everything we do, everything, every attack, it's almost like a surgical plan. Every attack by airplane you see there's only the one room, the one car. Everything is after a lot of planning. There's no a lot of collateral damage like it usually happen. We try to pick our fight.

The only reason our troops on the ground right now is because we're trying to avoid a lot of heavy bombing, a lot of airstrikes that we could just do it from behind and keep our troops safe. But we risk our troops and lost a few friends right now in the round of fighting and just because we try and protect their kids more than they are trying to protect their kids.

CABRERA: I know your family is very important to you, as you've just mentioned. What is your message to them?

LAHAT: Be strong. We will win.

CABRERA: All right. Noad Lahat, thank you so much for your time.

LAHAT: Thank you very much.

CABRERA: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: We have now learned that a second American in Africa has tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus. This woman is an aid worker in Liberia who was helping a team that is treating Ebola patients. Now unfortunately, this comes just after word that another American, a doctor, is now infected with Ebola. Thirty-three-year-old Dr. Kent Bradley was working in Africa treating Ebola patients but now is being treated himself in isolation at an African hospital. The current outbreak of this disease is the deadliest ever in Africa.

The group responsible for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls Nigeria has struck once again. This time in Cameroon. According to Reuters, the militant group called Boko Haram stormed the vice minister's home in the northern part of this country and there they killed at least three people and they kidnapped the vice prime minister's wife.

A wildfire in California is now forcing about 1,000 people from their homes today. This is the Sand Fire burning just northeast of Sacramento. They're dealing with high temperatures, low humidity, strong winds, all making it very tough for firefighters. More than 700 of them who are on the scene.

Again, thank you so much for joining me for this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. It's been great to have you with us. That's all for me now. Let's head on over to Miguel Marquez and my colleague Deborah Feyerick holding down the fort in New York.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Miguel Marquez.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Deborah Feyerick. We want to welcome viewers watching here in the United States and around the world on CNN International.

MARQUEZ: Right now, two enormous stories only growing in scale and scope. Solving them, getting harder by the hour.