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Two Americans Infected With Ebola In Liberia; UFC Cage Fighter Rejoins Israeli Army; Last Photo Captures Family On Flight 17
Aired July 28, 2014 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Just past the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. And we have to balk about the worst Ebola outbreak in history. It's starting to take a toll on the men and women working to fight it. A second American aid worker in Liberia has now tested positive for Ebola, just a couple days after an American doctor became sick after working with infected patients.
So as of July 20th, more than 1,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are thought to have been infected by Ebola and of those cases, 660 people have died. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining me. And it's frightening, because what's the number, 90 percent, Ebola typically kills 90 percent of those infected.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Some of the outbreak -- morality rate that high. That is incredibly high and it's not that high now. And one of the reasons may be that they're getting to people earlier and they are hydrating them. Because with Ebola, you lose so much of your bodily fluids that in the end that's what helps kill you. There is no cure, but early treatment can really help.
BALDWIN: So we're talking about Africa, the obvious follow is -- well, could this spread to the U.S.?
COHEN: You know, certainly people are worried about that and the Centers for Disease Control just about an hour ago had a telephone press conference, I think because they are worried that people are worried about that. And they say the risk is very low, of course, they're taking precautions.
But, you know, think about it this way. Ebola doesn't spread like the flu. If I had the flu and I was sitting here with you, you could get it from me, because it's airborne. You would get Ebola from me, you would have to have contact with my blood, with my bodily fluids. That's very different.
And I think that's important. And also, you aren't contagious until you're sick. And so when you're sick, you should know enough not to be traveling around the world. So that's another important thing to know, as well.
BALDWIN: But then there are good people in the world who want to go over to Africa to help those who are clearly infected by Ebola. And so here you have people getting sick.
COHEN: I know, those two workers, such amazing people. And of course, we hope for the best for them and that they recover from this. You know, one of the questions I think that's been on people's minds is, they must have known the precautions to take.
BALDWIN: Right.
COHEN: How did they still get Ebola and we don't have an answer to that. But when I talked to experts who have been in parts of the world dealing with infectious diseases, they say, look, sometimes things go wrong, you get a needle prick through your gloves, or sometimes after doing this for a long time, you may be cut corners and you don't take every single precaution you're supposed to. I'm not saying that happened here, but I know those are going to be questions they're going to be asking as they look into this.
BALDWIN: You would have to think they would know the risks to head over there.
COHEN: And what heroes to do that work because they need people to take care of them.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. Elizabeth, thank you very much.
More violence today in the Middle East. And Israeli forces sent these blanket text messages to Palestinians in Gaza, warning them to stay home. The question my next guest is asking, what would Jesus do in Gaza? That's the title of his column. You will hear what he's thinking, next.
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BALDWIN: With everything that's been going on between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Noad Lahat face a battle of a different sorts Saturday night right here in the United States.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The takedown, looking for an arm bar. Looking for an arm bar, the right arm. And now working hard up against the cage. Looking for the throw and he gets it. Nicely done.
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BALDWIN: Lahat is only the second Israeli to fight in the UFC. If you don't know what that is, it's a mixed martial arts competition known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This is tough, tough stuff. And CNN's Nick Valencia reports, Lahat won his fight Saturday and could advance, but he is preparing to return to Israel and fight the fight there instead.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Noad Lahat is living a double life. This is his day job here in the United States, as a professional fighter battling it out in a cage as a member of the UFC. But Lahat is also close to a fight a world away. And someone with dual citizenship in U.S. and Israel, Lahat is a member of the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF, and he's about to be reunited with his old unit, called up for service.
NOAD LAHAT, UFC FIGHTER REJOINING IDF: I need to go home. My grandma, she's more than 80 years old. She had 15 seconds to run to get to a shelter. She's my grandma and I'm here safe? It's messed up. It shouldn't happen. I should be there helping them.
VALENCIA: So far Lahat has served 3-1/2 years in the Israeli army. Since the bloodshed and horrific pictures back home, too much to watch back here in the U.S. especially with his sister serving as a medic and a brother in Special Forces. The crisis in the region has now become a family affair. Saturday night in San Jose, California, Lahat won his latest bout in the ring, but now returning to Israel, this could be the biggest fight of them all. Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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BALDWIN: Nick, thank you.
Following his match Saturday night, Lahat dedicated his win to peace and not war.
Coming up, experts trying to gain access to that MH-17 crash site in Eastern Ukraine, turned away for a second day now. We'll tell you why they couldn't make it through to the area and how constant road blocks are affecting their much-needed investigation.
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BALDWIN: Heavy fighting in Eastern Ukraine has brought the Malaysia Airlines crash site investigation to a standstill. Pro-Russian rebels say the Ukrainian Army has seized control of parts of this massive MH- 17 debris field.
Earlier, a team of Dutch and Australian investigators, they have travelled into Ukraine, they were forced to abandon plans to visit the wreckage site for a second day. Joining me now from Donetsk, Ukraine, Nick Paton Walsh, our senior international correspondent. You were with this group of experts when they were turned back for a second time. What's going on there? Who is keeping them back?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's the violence, basically. It's the continuing civil war, always being the problem, but today got slightly more detailed in terms of the mess. We were with them as far as a town on the way to the crash site from here. Donetsk, where I'm standing.
We were kind of told to stay back. The convoy went on a further kilometer that it made turn back. We could hear why where we were, heavy shelling. They could feel the ground shake beneath them, some of the artillery strikes were so hard. Still far away, though. This was basically because as far as we understand, in the towns nearby, the Ukrainian military have started moving in. They raise a statement to that effect. We spoke to residents who said they had fled, they had seen jets even launch strikes. They were concerns, really, this was a full-scale move to retake all the towns around the crash site. The separatists, well, they have come out this afternoon and said that the Ukrainian army is actually in part of one of the crash site areas, even put trenches, personnel carriers.
They haven't confirmed that themselves, the Ukrainian Army, but there is clearly a battle raging around that crash site. And that simply means, second day in a row, this monitoring mission inspectors turned around, very angry, palpably frustrated. They say they are going to have a try tomorrow to go back to the same place.
But this fight is continuing. I'm standing here, still hearing artillery in the distance. We are hearing constant reports that the Ukrainian Army is in fact moving to cut off the separatists' two cities from each other. That could really dent their ability to perform militarily.
And that's also going to mean the fighting is not going to stop tomorrow. So there are many people, the relatives of those MH-17 victims, really anxious for news from those inspectors that monitoring mission. They're going to have to wait until the violence dies down -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Can you blame them that they want these investigators to get in there? We'll check back with tomorrow and see if they're able to get in for a third attempt. Nick Paton Walsh for us. Thank you, Nick.
And let me show you a photograph of one of the families lost when Malaysian Air 17 crashed in Ukraine. This is Kim Halley, and her 4- year-old daughter, Megan. Dave, the dad is the one behind the lens here snapping the picture and this is the final photo taken of the family before the plane took off.
Erin McLaughlin reports, the photo here is a final reminder of joy for their grieving relatives back home in the Netherlands.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too much to three people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A whole family. Yes. Too much to understand.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dave and Kim Halley were on their dream holiday with their 4-year-old daughter, Megan. Dave took what would be his very last photo. His wife and child ready for takeoff on board MH-17.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are looking at them and thinking, yes, it was a happy moment for them.
MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): At least their last moments were happy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They really were. Yes. MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Kim's parents say all they can do is wait for their bodies. They watched as the first unidentified caskets arrived in Holland and while they did not know for sure, they told themselves the Halleys came off the plane first.
MONIQUE VERHAEGH, VICTIM'S MOTHER: They always wanted to win. We said this is it.
MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): When you saw the three coffins come off the plane, you said there they are.
THIJS VERHAEGH, VICTIM'S FATHER: The first three were our children. That has to be them.
MCLAUGHLIN: Do you blame anyone for what's happened?
THIJS VERHAEGH: Yes. The man who hit the plane, which blew up the airplane. If I get him, I could kill him.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Not far away, the Halley house stands empty. Their car parked in the driveway. A makeshift memorial on the front porch and a grandmother's last moment remembered. As she was cycling from the Halley house just before the family left for the trip, she says she turned to see her granddaughter who waved and said.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you. Bye.
MCLAUGHLIN: Now all they have left are memories. Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Netherlands.
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BALDWIN: All right. When the most powerful man in Russia starts his workday, he starts it by reading gossip columns, and of course, this comes after hours of swimming and lifting weights, a little light reading in history books on "Ivan The Terrible" and "Peter The Great" and two baths, one has to be hot and one has to be cold. Then and only then is President Vladimir Putin ready to take on his day.
All of these fascinating details and more coming from a recent "Newsweek" article entitled "Behind the Scenes in Putin's Court, The Private Habit of Latter Day Dictator." The article peels back the curtain on Putin's inner circle.
So joining me live from London is Ben Juda, he is the writer of this article and author of "Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin." It's a book that is out. Ben, Welcome. Nice to have you on.
BEN JUDAH, WRITER, "BEHIND THE SCENES IN PUTIN'S COURT": Thank you for having me.
BALDWIN: It is intriguing, all the behind the scenes stuff you got your hands coming from extensive interviews with high ranking Russian officials down to these personal aides. How did you get them to give up the goods on Vladimir Putin?
JUDAH: Well, it's important to say that Putin's incredibly proud of had his exercise routine and incredibly proud of his healthy diet. Putin thinks perhaps not incorrectly he's the healthiest man in Russia and people should know what he does. He's often talked about this. He's very proud of it. He wants people to know about it, and this is something that he wants Russians to hear about.
How did I gather this information? I used to work at a think tank called the European Council on Foreign Relations. I wrote a book for Yale University about Putin and I was the question that was bugging me is, is Putin a dictator? The answer to this question I thought I would find by working out how Putin makes decisions.
Is there somebody there making decisions with him? Is he alone? I asked everybody I interviewed for these books and research projects, which is pretty much anyone you can interview from foreign prime ministers to current prime ministers to political aides, PR men, regional governors, translators. What does he does every day? What's he like to work with? Out of those interviews came this piece.
BALDWIN: So it's the two-hour swim session in the morning when he really does his thinking? That's where it all begins? Is that what I'm reading in your piece?
JUDAH: That's what they say, yes. Sort of Putin -- Putin thinks that people like Obama that spend the night scanning Twitter and reading the news or people like David Cameron what's on CNN or the BBC are confusing themselves. A leader, the job is strategy, big thinking, direction.
And if he's going to make big decisions like should I or should I not annex Crimea, he should take his time, swim, think about it clearly. The fate of the nation rests in his hands. He's very, very aware of that. And the aides will say that a lot of this thinking takes place in the pool. He wants to begin the day fresh.
BALDWIN: Interesting. So it's the pool, the baths that he loves the late night. You talk about the dress, the black lab, the private hockey matches with his best friends and then the bodyguards who fill in the rest on the ice. Then you wonder about Putin the man and who he's really close with.
You write this. "There are no stories of extravagance, only of loneliness. If the president has no family life. His mother is dead so is his father. His wife suffered nervous disorders. After a long separation, there has been a divorce. There are two daughters with you, but they are a state secret and no longer live in Russia.
There are rumors of models and photographers and gymnasts. There is a hollow tick to these stories, which no courtier can quite explain. So for the most part, he rolls solo.
JUDAH: People have been asking me do you find Putin's life similar to the life of Stalin? I've got to say no, which is that Stalin was a big drinker. Stalin hosted every week these sort of debauched dinner parties in which the politburo would be forced to drink a bottle of vodka each. He would play with them and toy with them.
Stalin had a lot of very sad and passionate affairs. Stalin was very close to his daughter, was often talking about the war, the revolution with her. Putin, none of this. Putin deborged dinner parties, not interested. Daughters, don't speak to them. Passionate love affairs? Not happening.
The Kremlin kind of puts out kind of rumors, maybe there's a model or photographer. But you just don't hear stories from those close to him about women. People say it's not --
BALDWIN: The article is rife with details. I'm going to put everyone on "Newsweek," "Behind the Scenes in Putin's Court, The Private Habits of Latter Day Dictator." Ben Judah, come back because we will keep talking about Vladimir Putin I have a feeling for some time to come. Thank you so much joining me live from London.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. I'll see you back here tomorrow. In the meantime, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
