Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Crisis in the Middle East; Russia Violated Missile Treaty with U.S.?; U.S. Set to Impose New Sanctions on Russia; Fighting Near MH17 Crash Site Delays Investigations; Ebola Spreading in West Africa

Aired July 29, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

We begin this morning in Gaza where overnight Israel unleashes its biggest bombardment yet.

More than 70 sites hit, including this radio station run by Hamas. An unbelievable campaign with surgical strikes including this fuel tank at Gaza's only power plant. That power plant now reportedly out of service for at least a year, threatening to cut power to the almost two million Gaza residents who were only getting electricity a few hours a day already.

This follows an all-out assault witnessed on live television. Flares casting an eerie glow over Gaza City. So -- so unmanned drones can better see and strike their targets. The death toll now surging past 1100. The fighting escalating as witnessed by our own Karl Penhaul in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Each time that happens, the precautions, we do have to hit the ground, hit the ground very quickly. We've already taken the windows out of this side of the building. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Wow, we'll hear more from Karl Penhaul in just a little bit. First CNN's Martin Savidge is in Jerusalem with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Explosions rocking Gaza City throughout the night. Accompanied by the sound of Israeli drones circling overhead, searching for more Hamas targets. This morning smoke billows from a building housing Hamas-run radio station that took a direct hit.

The renewed violence began earlier with two deadly blasts on Monday, the first killing 10 people, mostly children, playing on this busy street. The second at Al Shippa Hospital leaving two people injured.

Neither side accepting responsibility for the bloodshed. A Hamas-run news outlet blaming the devastation on an Israeli drone while Israel's military blames Hamas for rockets fired towards Israel but fell short.

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: The Israelis and Palestinians have a responsibility to stop the fighting now.

SAVIDGE: World leaders continue to push for a humanitarian ceasefire which would allow for critical aid into Gaza.

Speaking on television, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israelis to be prepared for a lengthy campaign.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Hopefully, if we can make some progress, the people in this region who deserve peace can take one step towards that elusive goal.

SAVIDGE: Secretary of State John Kerry, who admitted Monday there were misunderstandings during talks, now under fire for his failure to achieve a week-long truce to stop the rising death toll.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

COSTELLO: All right, that was Martin Savidge reporting.

I want to pass this bit of breaking news along to you. The Palestinian leadership based in the West Bank has now offered a 24- hour truce with the option of being extended to a 72-hour truce. That's according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. That's about all we know right now.

Can I go back to Martin Savidge now? Let's go back to Martin Savidge.

Does this truce offer mean anything since it's coming from the West Bank?

SAVIDGE: Well, you know, any idea or any talk of a truce is welcomed, but you're right, the question, does it really mean anything? We haven't heard whether Israel in any way would go along with such a thing. We're not really sure whether Hamas would go along with such a thing. And Hamas is not the only militant group in Gaza. So there are a lot of question marks here. But I'll always remain hopeful that if someone is talking ceasefire, maybe even if it's only for a temporary time it could stick.

We'll just simply have to wait and see what the reaction is, Carol. I should point out also the death toll was high yesterday for Israel as well. It lost 10 soldiers in a single day -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We're also learning about a 15-year-old American boy who is being held by Israel. What can you tell us about that?

SAVIDGE: Yes, this is Mohammed Abu Nai, as you point out he's 15 years of age, dial citizenship. He as U.S. and Palestinian citizenship, and he was arrested during a demonstration apparently in east Jerusalem on July 3rd. Now that would be actually before this conflict or the incursion into Gaza began. But remember before all of that, there was still a lot of controversy here with the death of three Jewish young men who were kidnapped and then murdered and then a Palestinian young man who was also kidnapped and murdered.

So there were demonstration this young man apparently was taking part and he was arrested as a result by the Israelis. The U.S. State Department had a visit but they aren't very much concerned. They believe, one, because of his young age. They're also worried about how he may have been treated while in custody. The family has an attorney. They're trying to get the young man out, but so far he's still being held by the Israeli authorities.

COSTELLO: All right. Martin Savidge reporting live from Jerusalem this morning, thanks so much.

The firepower launched over Gaza was as awe-inspiring as it was frightening.

The targets strategic Hamas sites, the radio station, weapons supplies and those underground tunnels. That is the stated goal of the Israeli Defense Forces, to eliminate the tunnels used by Hamas to infiltrate Israel for a surprise attack. It works, Israel said. Just yesterday five Israeli soldiers were killed when Hamas fighters popped up out of the ground.

With me now CNN military analyst general spider marks. Good morning.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, carol, good morning.

General marks, Israel says there are 70 tunnels, they say they've destroyed around 30 of them. What do they use to destroy those tunnels?

MARKS: They're using of all manner of explosives. The most important thing they're doing is they've got to locate them very, very precisely. What you don't want to do is indiscriminately try to -- try to destroy things that are going to have a bad effect, obviously the citizens in Gaza. Clearly Israel has a big problem and Hamas has a big capability, in that this labyrinth of tunnels gives them an underground command and control capabilities, storage capacity and ability to infiltrate into Israel surreptitiously and conduct operations to try to kill Israeli citizens.

So Israel has a very, very tough mission and once they're underground I would imagine, you know, this is an extremely tough mission to take on, when you're in these tunnels. You don't know what you'll run into. You have to anticipate that they are booby trapped. So this is very precise at this point. It'd be a very operation if they want to try to neutralize all of that connections of tunnels that exist under Gaza right now.

COSTELLO: Right. According to the "New York Times," the Israelis have some kind of special radar that can detect these tunnels.

MARKS: Right.

COSTELLO: Have you heard about this?

MARKS: Sure, it's ground penetrating radar. What it does is just detects anomalies under the ground just like any other radar will give you a return when something is a little bit different. It's also not unlike measurements and signature intelligence, when you look at coherent change, if you disrupt the ground, you can pick that up. So not only do you have to be very close to the tunnel, you can do it from a distance as well, and you get a very good sense of the depth and the dimensions of where you're going to be sending Israeli soldiers. That's the key first step before you put somebody on the ground.

COSTELLO: The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says get ready for a prolonged conflict. In your mind, does that mean the Israelis are going after more than these tunnels?

MARKS: Well, Carol, this is really what you call effects-based operations. You have to change the effects that Hamas is having on Israel in terms of these rockets being fired as a matter of routine. So you have to get underneath. You've got to neutralize all of that. Now whenever you conduct an operation, your opponent is going to adjust. He's going to find a niche and he's going to do something different.

So you need to be able to persistently attack those tunnels and hold on to those, neutralize them and then determine what Hamas is going to do differently if Israel wants -- if the IDF wants to stop these rockets and other forms of attacks that they -- that Hamas may be planning. So it takes a long-term physical presence as well as a long-term what we call persistent stare, good intelligence and surveillance to make sure you know what your opponent is doing next.

COSTELLO: General Spider Marks, thanks as always, we appreciate it.

MARKS: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Tensions between the United States and Russia are intensifying yet again. This time over cruise missile tests that date back to 2008. On Monday President Obama wrote a letter to Mr. Putin accusing Russia of violating a 1987 nuclear treaty that bans certain ground launch cruise missiles. The president and the State Department called this a very serious matter.

Our global affairs correspondent Elise Labott is here to tell us more.

Good morning.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Well, these missile tests began back in 2008 and U.S. officials say they first raised the issue with Russia in the past year and has been trying to continue to talk to Moscow about it. The Russians have responded saying look, they investigated it and consider the matter closed.

Now President Obama has written a letter to President Putin proposing high-level talks to resolve this issue, bring Russia into compliance under the treaty, because, Carol, this treaty is really seen as important in curbing the arms raise and that's been one of President Obama's priorities since taking office. The U.S. also notified Congress, NATO, and those NATO members would be discussing what steps they would have to take if Russia doesn't come clean.

Now the timing is kind of curious. Officials say it was coincidental, not related to current tensions, this is the result of long administration review on whether the tests constitute a violation of the treaty, and so it was just reported back to Congress in the latest compliance report, but how Russia's going to perceive this is another story. Clearly they may see it as a provocation, given the tensions and reports of new U.S. and European sanctions to be slapped on Russia this week -- carol.

COSTELLO: Elise Labott reporting live for us this morning, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's not just the U.S. who's fed up with Putin. At any hour world leaders are expected to slap new, more extreme sanctions on Russia for its role in the Ukraine crisis. All the details for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The U.S. and its allies are fed up with President Putin and Russia for its role in Ukraine's conflict. World leaders are putting final touches on what's expected to be new, more extreme sanctions targeting Russia's economy and its military. This comes as Japan announced its own assets freeze yesterday against Russian individuals and companies it considers directly involved in the ongoing crisis.

CNN's Jim Boulden is live in London with more on this.

Good morning, Jim.

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, up until now, all these sanctions hit either individuals or banks, and it's been very quite targeted, but now the European Union and the U.S. are talking about wide-ranging sanctions to try to really hit the Russian economy.

So, right now, there's a meeting going on in Brussels with E.U. ambassadors from all 28 countries trying to come one language that would hit the financial sector, hit the military sector and hit the banking sector and go after technologies used in the oil drilling for instance in fracking.

So, we're still waiting to hear the details of this, but this would be the first time the so-called phase three sanctions would be implemented against the Russian economy and this, of course, is because of MH17. So, they really have stepped up here. And it's taking a long time, but they're trying to match the U.S. sanctions. They're trying to make it so that U.S. and Europe are on that same page. We're not there yet, but it is getting closer, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jim Boulden reporting live from London for us this morning, thank you.

This all comes as violent clashes between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops have once again blocked a team of investigators and international monitors from reaching the Flight 17 crash site. In other words, for three days in a row, the investigation on the ground has been at a complete standstill.

Listen to what it was like for teams trying to access the site.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

COSTELLO: Explosions, heavy artillery fire, rebels blocking things off, these guys are scared for their lives and they cannot do their jobs which not only includes recovering evidence but collecting human remains that are still out there lying in the grass, exposed to the elements.

David Soucie is CNN's safety analyst and a former FAA safety inspector.

Good morning. Thanks so much for joining us.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Can you imagine what this team is facing?

SOUCIE: No, I can't. You know, I've never experienced anything like that. I've been in contact with my colleagues there, and they are very concerned about it.

It was disappointing for them. They thought they had an agreement with the rebels which they did have an agreement with the rebels. So, that was three days ago. They went in expecting to have that. They blocked the news media from coming in, which would be standard practice.

But now, that they blocked them to come in and again and again, it's because evidently the Ukrainians decided to take over and provide access to the site. It's almost as if both sides are trying to do the right thing but they're fighting each other to get there.

COSTELLO: You know, and while they're fighting each other to get there, time is passing.

SOUCIE: It is.

COSTELLO: It's obvious what that's doing to the crash site and evidence left behind.

SOUCIE: Yes, it's awful. I've been watching the satellite images that are provided by Airbus Defense, and AllSource Analysis. And with their analysis and in looking at the images, there's area of the crash site that go far beyond where they've been so far that have not been explored yet. There's debris there, it appears some of the deceased are still there.

This is a tragic situation and needs to be addressed immediately. But again, you can't expect investigators to go in there with that kind of fighting going on all around them.

COSTELLO: Oh, absolutely not.

What do you make of Ukrainian officials say the flight recorders prove the plane was destroyed by shrapnel from a rocket blasts and went down because of a massive explosive decompression.

SOUCIE: Well, the massive explosive decompression would be consistent with an explosion from a missile. To make that conclusion, though, is premature. I know that that's probably counterintuitive to say that. Nonetheless, the investigators were disappointed this information leaked out.

What they want to put a report that's encompassing, that tells a better picture of what really happened rather than using it as some kind of propaganda or piece at this point to say, yes, this happened and this is conclusive. There's nothing conclusive other than the fact there was a massive decompression.

COSTELLO: The longer investigators are kept from the scene and the longer we wait for the analysis from the flight recorders, will we ever know definitively what happened to this flight?

SOUCIE: I think we will, Carol. We already have enough evidence right now to, beyond a reasonable doubt, say this is what happened.

What the challenge is, is once we're trying to hold someone accountable for this, and this is a war crime, we need to know certain facts about that, including evidence from the scene showing the transference of metal from the missile on to the aircraft itself, that has to be evidence in court. We also have to have some information from the EPROM chips, the chips that store information from the transponder, to show that the aircraft was transmitting the friend or foe network, which is really important to say because that would be part of their defense if it was not.

COSTELLO: David Soucie, thanks for your insight as always. I appreciate it.

SOUCIE: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come, health officials are working to contain the deadliest outbreak of Ebola ever, as two American aid workers desperately fight for their lives.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more this morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, what exactly is going on and how will they be treated and might they make it back to the United States? Carol, we got all the angles. That's coming up after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In America, a doctor who tested for Ebola is fighting for his life. Officials say the condition of 33-year-old Kent Brantly is rapidly deteriorating. He contracted the deadly virus while treating patients in West Africa.

Brantly issued this written statement. It reads, quote, "I am praying fervently that God will help me survive this disease. Please continue to pray along with me and pray for my friend Nancy who was also very sick and for the doctors who are taking care of us. Thank you all so much. Peace. Kent."

Brantly is one of two American aid workers whose contracted the virus. The World Health Organization has sent two teams in Nigeria and Togo, among growing concerns the virus could spread beyond West Africa.

So, let's bring in CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and journalist Heather Murdock. We're trying to get her on the phone from Nigeria.

Heather, are you with us? Heather is with us, OK. Good. Oh, not yet, but we're trying to get her.

So, Sanjay, I'll start with you.

Why haven't officials been able to evacuate Brantly out of Liberia?

GUPTA: There are sort of three main considerations here, Carol. You know, it's a sad story the health care workers know this, but they risk their own lives in order to take care of other people, and just amazing work that people like Kent are doing. But you have to find a way of getting them out that doesn't put other people at risk so the plane itself has to be protected against infectious diseases.

He is pretty unstable, as you saw from that e-mail in terms of his medical condition, would he be able to do well on a flight is the other consideration and where do you go exactly. Where are you going to evacuate to? What resources do you have on the ground? They're trying to figure out the answers to the questions but that causes some of this delay.

COSTELLO: Well, will the United States allow him to come back into the country with Ebola?

GUPTA: It's a great question. And we are looking at that as well last night. This hasn't happened before. There's not a specific protocol on this but the answer seems to be yes, come back, go into a place where someone is put into isolation, so that they're not making other people sick.

There's no specific anti-viral or specific treatment for this. It's about managing someone's symptoms and replacing fluids and things like that. So, it's not the type of hospital will be different but he needs to be isolated.

COSTELLO: Heather, with he got Heather now.

HEATHER MURDOCK, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Yes.

COSTELLO: You're in Nigeria right now. What are you seeing on the ground?

MURDOCK: Well, people in Nigeria are very concerned. The idea of an outbreak of Ebola in Lagos, 21 million people taken is very crowded is terrifying and Nigeria is suffering from a war in the north and widespread poverty and high rates of other diseases to the idea of adding a public health crisis like this, people just don't know how the country could stand up to it.

COSTELLO: And we know, Heather, doctors are becoming sick. What are the people of West Africa saying about those doctors?

MURDOCK: Well, they're wondering if the doctors can't stay alive, they can't stay healthy, how is it going to keep the rest of the region healthy.

COSTELLO: Sanjay, do they have a point?

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, look, there's no specific treatment for this. So obviously the doctors not only does it raise that flag but people have become fearful of doctors even, been stigmatizing them. In certain countries, people wanted to make sure the doctors don't get in, responded violently in some ways. So, this is a problem, the stigma part of this.

I will say, look, this is a very, very serious disease, 90 percent of people died in previous outbreaks. This one is closer to the mid-60s, because people who get treatment have a better chance of surviving, getting fluids, making sure they don't develop problems with their heart, things like that. It's still a deadly disease and there's a lot of stigma that exacerbates the problem.

COSTELLO: So, Sanjay, how likely is it this disease will spread beyond West Africa?

GUPTA: I think, look, Carol, I think a lot of people especially asked that sort of soft pedaled the answer. People who pay any attention to this know it's going to ham, it's going to spread in places around the world.

Between the time someone gets exposed and someone gets sick, you can have up to 21 days. You could travel all over the world during that time. So, will someone who has the Ebola virus show up in these other countries, even in the United States? That's going to happen at some point. The question is all the preparation in terms of making sure it doesn't become a mass infection.

It is not a very contagious thing, not like some guy walking through an airport doing handshakes with people is going to unwittingly spread this. People are usually very, very sick before they spread this, and it's less likely to become a mass outbreak in many other countries.

COSTELLO: All right. Sanjay Gupta, Heather Murdock, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

And tune in to "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." weekends right here on CNN. It airs Saturday afternoons 4:30 and Sunday mornings at 7:30 Eastern Time.

I want to take you back out to Ukraine because Alexander Hug is on the phone right now. He's the deputy chief monitor for the OSCE. That's the monitoring group that was forced to turn back from the crash side.

Alexander, are you there?

ALEXANDER HUG, OSCE (via telephone): Yes, good afternoon.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for being with me. I appreciate it. I know you're making preparations to go to the crash site right now. How are you going to get there?

HUG: Thank you.

What I'm attempting to do right now as we speak is to test the roads that we plan to take soon together with our experts, we are making the arrangements so that from Donetsk to the crash site, 80 kilometers to the east of the town is cleared so that we have a clear understanding as to whether the route is clear, and that eventually can reach the crash site.

COSTELLO: I know that you have been, you and your team have been afraid to go to the crash site because of the fighting that's going on in Ukraine right now. There must be a certain amount of fear today as well.