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National Leadership Shows Support for Israel; Palestinians Hope for Cease-Fire Agreement; Fugitive Featured on "The Hunt" Killed in N.Y.; John Walsh Reacts to Mozdir Killing; Downing of MH-17 A War Crime?

Aired July 28, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

A bipartisan show of support in Washington today for Israel. Live pictures. House Speaker John Boehner up at the podium. This is the National Leadership Assembly for Israel. It's a gathering of hundreds of nationwide Jewish community leaders, as well as a number of high- ranking political figures from both sides of the aisle. All there, at this one location voicing support for Israel as it takes military action against Hamas in Gaza.

And our correspondent, Joe Johns is there, our senior Washington correspondent, outside this event in D.C.

And, Joe, so truly a bipartisan issue for, as we say, Democrats and Republicans.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right. Support for Israel is a bipartisan issue. But it's pretty clear from just reading the tea leaves that different Jewish organizations have disagreements, certainly, over the proper approach. There are the hawks. There are the doves. This is a standing-room-only crowd here at the National Press Club, certainly showing solidarity with Israel that coincides with a rally being held in New York. And it's what one would expect. A number of speakers, including national security adviser, Susan Rice; Speaker John Boehner; other congressional leaders, praise and encouragement for the United States to stand with Israel. Of course, the undercurrent here is about how much the national security adviser can support the administration's position and the secretary of state's efforts and bolster confidence in the administration, even though there are some others who quietly, behind the scenes, on Capitol Hill say the administration hasn't been doing enough -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: OK. So certainly, as you pointed out, disagreements on the approach, but bottom line, support for Israel in Washington.

Joe Johns, thank you so much.

And while these politicians talk at this conference, Palestinians are clinging to the hope that Hamas and Israel can reach a permanent cease-fire but, for now, they wait and pray the next missile or rocket to hit Gaza will not kill more civilians.

Fadi Elsalameen is a senior adjunct fellow with The Security Project, a commentator on Arab/Israeli affairs. He joins me from Washington.

Mr. Elsalameen, welcome.

FADI ELSALAMEEN, SENIOR ADJUNCT FELLOW, THE SECURITY PROJECT & ARAB/ISRAELI AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: So I just want your response to the fact that, you know, you have Democrats and Republicans, very top-ranking members of Congress, attending this national Jewish leadership conference in the city from which you join me now, supporting Israel. Your response?

ELSALAMEEN: First of all, there's nothing new here. It's obvious Republicans and Democrats support Israel. But what's really missing is the Jewish voice that is also very pro peace. You have -- first of all, the American-Jewish community does not stand for children being murdered in Gaza, does not support women being killed, does not support a whole population being under siege. This is a Jewish voice for -- that is very clear. What I'm hoping for -- this is a humanitarian crisis before it is a political issue -- that this Jewish voice is heard as well among Republicans and Democrats, and this is a legitimate and growing voice. There are Jews trying to volunteer, to send humanitarian aid to Gaza. This is -- not everybody agrees with what prime minister of Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing, not everybody agrees with this. And this should be noted and clear.

BALDWIN: I'm glad you bring up the point of peace, absolutely excellent point. Since you bring up children, do you think Israel is deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza?

ELSALAMEEN: I think what is happening now is beyond any doubt that there are children that are dying. It doesn't matter what their intentions are. It doesn't matter who is to blame. What the facts are the facts. There are children that are dying, and we must stop this catastrophe. This is a humanitarian crisis. There are children and women dying. There are people that have nowhere to go. There are people that have no food, no water. We need to do something about it. And I'm hoping you allow me to use this opportunity as an appeal to the American people, to American generosity, to support organizations like the United Nations groups that are helping people. I have been in touch with friends in Gaza. They have one clear message. And I have talked to them before coming on your show. I said, do you have any message to the world? And their message is this. We want to live. We want to live. So please, help us help them.

BALDWIN: But Fadi, I just have to push you and be fair on the other side, as well. Because Israel's number-one argument is that it is Hamas placing these civilians, placing these children, in harm's way on purpose to make Israel look heartless. Your response to that?

ELSALAMEEN: My response is this. First of all, playing the blame game does not -- doesn't yield any results.

BALDWIN: Both sides are blaming both sides. ELSALAMEEN: I understand. But that doesn't help anybody. If you --

if you want to look at this from an American perspective, forget the Israeli and the Palestinian. You had Secretary of State John Kerry, President Obama, pushing for a cease-fire from day one. They worked on a peace agreement. When Prime Minister Netanyahu frees 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return for one Israeli soldier that Hamas captured and refuses to engage on any kind of prisoner swap with Secretary of State John Kerry, this is a clear message that Netanyahu likes to engage with Hamas. That's the partner he prefers to deal with. How else do you explain him not allowing Secretary of State John Kerry to succeed in his efforts?

BALDWIN: I can't explain it, because I'm not Secretary of State John Kerry, nor am I Benjamin Netanyahu. The question, though, for you is, what is the priority? When we talk about -- you bring up peace, the goal for a permanent cease-fire. What is it that number one, what is it that Hamas wants? To stop this.

ELSALAMEEN: The priority right now -- I've spoken with some of the Palestinian and the Egyptians who are involved in putting the cease- fire together. There's a Palestinian delegation that is coming under the leadership of President Mahmud Abbas to Cairo. The Israeli's will be involved in this, the Egyptians, and apparently there is some kind of agreement is being formulated towards an immediate cease-fire, immediate cease-fire, that will be followed up with political -- with political results, meaning, that satisfied both needs. Hamas are asking that some of the siege is to be lifted. So there will be some opening in the crossing on the Egyptian side --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So it's border crossings, correct, the blockades would be priority number one, open them up?

ELSALAMEEN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

BALDWIN: OK. What about the tunnels? What about the tunnels. Because you know, you hear that they certainly -- depends on the perspective. You have to look at both sides. On one side, they say absolutely, they're trying get in foot and water and necessary essential elements to get in for the civilians of Gaza. At the same time, weaponry, arming Hamas. Which is it? Or both?

ELSALAMEEN: Look, when there is a -- when there is one Palestinian state that is strong, you have to have a monopoly on force, and you have to have a monopoly on borders. When you have no control over borders, people can't bring in food, water. They can't move. Hamas is trying to answer its needs and other people. Everybody knows, those tunnels don't always bring --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But what is their primary purpose of those tunnels?

ELSALAMEEN: They serve two purposes. Everybody is -- it's very clear. They're bringing weapons and they do also food and water and other necessities, because the borders are not open.

BALDWIN: And that is the priority number-one for Hamas, to open those borders. But we wait. The world waits.

(CROSSTALK)

ELSALAMEEN: No, it's just Hamas' priority. Sorry, it's not just Hamas' priority. It is a Palestinian priority. You have two million people under siege. How else are you going to live?

BALDWIN: I understand. I know. I understand. I understand.

Fadi Elsalameen, thank you so much for coming on, and sharing your voice with us. I really appreciate it.

ELSALAMEEN: Thank you so much.

BALDWIN: Breaking news here into CNN. One of the fugitives profiled on CNN's "The Hunt" has just been killed in New York in a violent and dramatic standoff. A suspect profiled on CNN's original series "The Hunt" is dead. John Walsh will be joining me live, coming up.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: All right. Breaking news here on CNN. We have been learning about this standoff in New York City that has ended with the death of a fugitive. Three law enforcement officers were also shot. The suspect was profiled on CNN's recent episode of "The Hunt" with John Walsh. So we have John Walsh on the phone line.

But first, let me take you to the scene as we're looking at pictures from the skies here.

Deborah Feyerick is there for us.

Deborah, first, explain why police were on the scene in the first place.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're on the scene because the U.S. Marshals Regional Task Force executing a search warrant on the suspect, they tracked the suspect, 32-year-old Charles Mozdir, here, to an apartment in the West Village. You can see some of the police vans behind me. You may not be able to see behind that, a lot of police activity. Detectives going door to door. This is a busy area, an area where you can blend in and get lost. This is where the U.S. Marshals Task Force tracked Mozdir and were waiting to execute this search warrant. He is wanted for child molestation in California. Appears to have been on the run for two years. They were ready to take him down. Police did believe and the Marshals did believe he was armed.

The shooting, it appears, took place inside the apartment. We don't know which one. This is an area, we've got low brownstones. But they were waiting to enter the apartment, unclear whether they did gain access or when the shooting began. But we do know that one New York City police detective was shot at least once, if not twice in the abdomen. Two U.S. Marshals also injured. We are told one of them perhaps shot in the arm. So right now, they've all been taken to the hospital. Their injuries not life threatening, as we're being told now. Serious, but not life threatening.

We are told, though, however, as far as the perpetrator, Charles Mozdir, the police commissioner did confirm he was shot dead -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: OK, Deborah, thank you so much for what's happening there on the ground in the West Village there in Manhattan.

We have, as we mentioned, John Walsh, who profiled this suspect just recently on "The Hunt."

John, I'm going to talk to you in a minute.

But, first, in case you didn't watch the episode, here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how he did it. When he finished telling me, I was physically sick. And I called his father and said you need to come home right now, we need to talk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even though Melissa was in the same bed, not only in the same house or in the same room, but in the same king-sized bed, he pulled back the sheets and proceeded to play with our son's private parts. And he tried to explain to our son that it was normal what he was doing to him, that his parents were going to be upset with him if he told them, but it was normal for, you know, friends to do that, that it was normal for him to know about how to masturbate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We both listened to the story and we both wanted to make sure that we weren't accusing one of our best friends of something so horrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that's a little bit of the back story of Charles Mozdir. As we have just been reporting, he has been shot and killed.

John Walsh is on the phone with me.

And, John Walsh, first, just your reaction to the news that we've all just heard.

JOHN WALSH, HOST, THE HUNT (voice-over): Well, I think it's -- I'm very, very concerned and worried about the police officers that were shot. I think people forget they put their lives on the line every day.

But this was a case -- and you and I have talked about this, Brooke -- these are the people I hate the most, the people who exploit children. We did this a week ago, Sunday. We got a great tip, and the marshals have been great partners of mine for over 30 years, and they teamed up with the NYPD Joint Fugitive Task Force, and they have been working this tip for a week. The tip came that he was in lower Manhattan, possibly working at a restaurant. That didn't pan out. They surrounded the restaurant two days ago, and Mozdir didn't show up. So then we got another tip. We reran the episode on Sunday night, just before the original "The Hunt" and that released another tip, a cyber tip. And they got an address on him. And so, you know, it's a very, very shocking ending. But it shows how much the public cares and how much they can help. He was on the run for almost two years. And this family was destroyed, terrified that he would come back and hurt them, because they had the courage to come forward and file charges against him. And now they don't have to worry if this guy is coming back to hurt the family or hurt their little boy. And they get justice. But it was a fantastic reaffirmation that people care, and that is a direct result of a great tip to "The Hunt."

BALDWIN: Talk about justice, John. You and I were talking on the show Friday. We were talking about your upcoming episode, which also fell on the 33rd anniversary of your son's disappearance and ultimate death. We were talking about Adam. And just the notion that you have made this your life's mission, with, of course, "America's Most Wanted" and now "The Hunt" here on CNN, to find these people, find these bad guys and seek justice.

WALSH: Well, it has become my mission. And you know, I was wondering, and hoping that people would watch "The Hunt" on CNN and they would still care. And this is proof of it. And in a way, this ends that chapter of this family's life. And this guy proved he was dangerous and insidious. He was alleged to have molested a child before this little boy. And people knew that he had guns and no one could find him for two years. And we decided to do the case. The marshals had had a mobile task force at "The Hunt" hotline Sunday before last. And we all wanted to see this guy caught, and so this family could get some peace. So this is our first capture. I'm very sorry that those police officers got wounded in the line of duty. But this is one more lowlife that's off the streets.

BALDWIN: John Walsh, thank you for hopping on the phone with us as the news has broken that this suspect, man wanted for child molestation, is gone. Appreciate you jumping on the phone.

Make sure you watch "The Hunt" Sunday nights, CNN, 9:00, eastern and pacific.

Coming up next, we're going to take you back to our coverage. Live pictures, from Israel and Gaza City here. Explosions being heard and seen.

Plus, Ukraine. Could the downing of Malaysian Air flight 17 be considered a war crime? The U.N. commissioner for human rights says yes. But what would that mean? Stay with me. We'll find out.

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BALDWIN: The downing of Malaysian Air flight 17 tragic, horrific. But was it a war crime? The U.N. high commissioner for human rights says it could be, saying, quote, "Every effort will be made to ensure that anyone committing serious violations of international law, including war crimes, will be brought to justice, no matter who they are."

But with investigators today, being pushed back from the site because of heavy fighting, any proof of actually who pulled the trigger on that missile is slowly fading away, day by day.

Joining me now, Jeffrey Toobin, CNN senior legal analyst.

Jeffrey, when we say a possible war crime, if it does amount to that, how would that alter things in terms of, A, the investigation, and, B, victim compensation?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there are so many variables. It would make, at least initially, a principle difference with bringing to justice the people who did it. And people who are accused of war crimes -- there's an international criminal court in The Hague -- they can be prosecuted. Some have been, some have been put in prison. But as you said at the beginning, Brooke, we are a long, long way from that step. We don't know who fired this missile. We don't know --

BALDWIN: We may never know.

TOOBIN: -- if they were aiming at a civilian airliner or this was simply a mistake. Those are basic questions that have to be answered before any sort of war crime prosecution could even be considered.

BALDWIN: And in terms of evidence of who pulled the trigger, who knows when that could come, how long that could come, if that ever comes, to prove without reasonable doubt.

TOOBIN: You know, that's -- that is completely true. And as you point out, the passage of time is the enemy of the fact-finding process, especially when everybody who was involved in this knows what a heinous event it was, and they are doing their best to cover it up. Remember, there were reports of missile batteries being moved around immediately after the plane went down. So the evidence certainly is not going to be in place anymore. There's going to have to be some sort of break, some sort of person who confesses, some person who is overcome by conscience who reports what happened, but that doesn't happen all of the time, to say the least.

BALDWIN: Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much.

Talking about that, we've got to get you back to breaking news, though, this ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. Explosions now being seen and heard in Gaza City. Live pictures, just about 10:00 in that part of the world. We'll take you there.

And inside the tunnels these militants are using. Wolf Blitzer climbed inside. What he saw, what he heard, what these tunnels are used for, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: And we continue on. Top of the hour.