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Israel Calls Up 16,000 More Reservists; Urgent U.N. Meeting On Gaza School Strikes; U.S. May Bring Ebola Stricken Americans Home; Inspectors Reach Flight 17 Wreckage

Aired July 31, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. We begin this hour with the rising death toll in the Middle East and new efforts to stem the flow of innocent blood. Right now, the United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency session in New York.

Diplomats will focus on recent military strikes on Gaza schools where civilians have taken refuge and often died. There have been at least six such attacks including one this morning.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is in Gaza amidst the fighting and Richard Roth is at the United Nations. But let's begin with Karl with the latest from Gaza. Good morning, Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Here in Gaza, there just seems to be a growing sense of (inaudible) really. On the one hand we've heard the Israelis are warning their citizens to be ready for a prolonged campaign and here in Gaza we've heard the military wing of Hamas saying there can't be no middle ground.

All the while things for civilians getting much worse. Electricity is out across much of the Gaza strip. That's also having an impact on water utilities to pump water to homes, and then the rising body count. Let's take a look at what's been happening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL (voice-over): Breaking overnight in Gaza, shellings early this morning landing dangerously close to a U.N. school for girls. Multiple casualties on the street sparing those inside. It's the second incident in 24 hours in an area where people thought they would be safe.

Rounds tore through this U.N. school turned shelter Wednesday after the U.N. said it repeatedly notified the Israeli military in Hamas of the school's coordinates and the school was being used to shelter 3,000 displaced Palestinians.

It's the sixth time their schools have been hit according to the U.N. One problem, weapons have been turned up in three abandoned schools believed to have been placed there by Hamas. JAN ELIASSON, DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: It would be extremely irresponsible for us to have militants in that school and under our people assure us there was no such presence whatsoever.

PENHAUL: The U.N. says they have strong evidence that Israeli shells are to blame for the 20 lives lost in Wednesday's attack. More blood was shed during what was supposed to be a four-hour cease-fire Wednesday, sparked, Israel says, by Hamas firing 26 rockets just two hours into the truce.

Israel firing back, but apparently hitting this crowded open air market. (Inaudible) journalist capture the blast and the devastation that follows -- the camera dropped as the photographer is wounded in the attack, but a colleague continues filming. These images, a chilling reminder of what life here has become.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL: Now, as if all that wasn't enough we're hearing the United States is getting ready to release more tank shells to its ally Israel. The United Nations clearly says enough is enough, but it seems that the warring sides haven't gotten that message -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul reporting for us from Gaza. Now let's head to the United Nations where that emergency session is getting under way. Richard Roth is our senior U.N. correspondent. What might they decide, Richard?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATION CORRESPONDENT: Once again they're going to be listening. This Security Council has not really moved forward on the toughest action that is possible here, a resolution aimed at Israel or at anyone in this Middle East conflict the way things are going.

But basically here at the U.N., they will be hearing Valerie Amos, the U.N. humanitarian chief who undoubtedly will be talking about the carnage that's occurring in Gaza. Also the leader of the United Nations Relief Works Agency where they're housing thousands, maybe more than 200,000 people from Gaza in U.N. facilities.

They've sought refuge there. And, of course, five to six different school facilities have been hit by Israeli attacks. Three other schools run by the U.N. had missiles hidden in them, presumably to be aimed back at Israel. The U.N.'s command here, maybe the angriest I've seen them at a member state lately.

The U.N. secretary general traveling, all be pointing the finger at Israel. His deputy here at the U.N. saying he is at a loss for words as U.N. personnel get killed and people who the U.N. is trying to help get also pounded -- Carol.

COSTELLO: A question for you and you probably won't know the answer, but I'll throw this by you anyway. How do those missiles get in a U.N. school? Doesn't the United Nations monitor those schools?

ROTH: These schools, the U.N. says were abandoned, close for the summer. That an inspection revealed them in the second school one security guard was then placed at the school and then somehow within the next 24 hours the missiles disappeared.

COSTELLO: Richard Roth, I know you'll be following this special session. We'll get back to you. Thanks so much. No matter what is decided at today's U.N. meeting, a solution to the violence cannot come soon enough for those living amid the bombs and rockets.

Palestinian journalist, Mohammed Omer has been chronicling what life is like amid the violence in Gaza. Omer recently wrote in the "New York Times" quote, "Nights are the worse. That is when the bombing escalates. Nowhere is safe. Not a mosque. Not a church. Not a school or even a hospital. All are potential targets."

Mohammed Omer joins us now by phone. Thanks for being with us, Mohammed.

MOHAMMED OMER, "NEW YORK TIMES" (via telephone): Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: You've said that during your 29 years, these have been some of the worst nights in Gaza. Tell us what it's like.

OMER: Indeed it's some of the most terrifying nights. They have bombed continuously. People have to be ready to evacuate their homes, some who have evacuated their homes they've been shot at by F-16s and drones. There's nowhere to hide. There is absolutely total dark for the third day in most of the Gaza Strip and there's nowhere to run to basically.

When you go to the borderline of the south or east, you're being shot at even if you're in the center. Now, the Israeli military has asked the people to evacuate their homes from the east of Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip to where?

To the middle of the Gaza Strip and then people gather and they were shoot at and they were killed inside in schools. The west of the city is supposed to be a safe place, but unfortunately, it's not a safe place. I'm in part of Gaza city where the bombing is constantly hitting residential areas.

Let me remind you one thing, which is important that the majority of people who are being killed are civilians and this is the United Nations who say that. So far the situation is getting much more worse. There is over 1,363 people killed.

Among them there are 315 children and 166 women in addition to 58 elders and then there's more than 8,000 people who were injured. The majority of them are children.

COSTELLO: Mohammed --

OMER: Sixteen journalists -- sorry.

COSTELLO: I just want to ask you about this because, you know, there were these three abandoned schools where missiles were found and Israel says it's tough to find them. Hamas is really to blame for some of these deaths because they plant missiles in schools and Israel doesn't know if the schools are full of people or not, but those are where the weapons are and sadly that's their target. So is Hamas partly to blame for the carnage in Gaza?

OMER: I don't think you can buy this argument. I mean, can you really bomb the whole population because there are rockets? These are all allegations. There hasn't been any case where I've seen records being filed and then they say, OK, there are these rockets, but I haven't seen these rockets myself.

And you cannot justify killing women or children who are just basically trying to take refuge in the United Nations and they think that the U.N. flags to be sitting there where they will be protected. Those are civilian people. Why not target militants. They have not targeted militants.

The only target in Gaza are the civilians who are constantly killed by the Israeli military. (Inaudible) and look at the humanitarian crisis that's caused by this. There's a growing number of charges. There's a shortage of water. You can't imagine having something as simple as a shower in a week -- once a week.

COSTELLO: I do understand. The other allegation out there is we're not sure who hit these schools. Maybe it was an errant missile fired by Hamas. We just don't know yet do, we?

OMER: Yes, we know because if we use our mind, we will know, definitely. Think how many Israelis were killed in the last 25 days. OK, the majority of them are soldiers inside Gaza and very few who were killed by Hamas rockets that were fired directly from Gaza to Israel. Why?

That tells you that these rockets are only by works. There's nothing in comparison with the U.S. made rocket being fired on the Gaza population. Those are rockets that have killed people. I have seen arms and legs and fingers of people scattered in the road.

People are killed like this, like just basically chicken thrown in the road and this is something which I find quite terrifying, the types of weapons that Israel is using. Unfortunately, what the Hamas rocket does. Is it possible that Hamas used rockets or explosives on their own people? I doubt it.

COSTELLO: I do know, Mohammed -- I understand, Mohammed, and the United Nations is investigating all of this and thank you so much for being with us. I appreciate it. Mohammed Omer, Palestinian journalist who's living in Gaza right now. We'll keep you posted on what the United Nations finds out.

But as you also know Hamas has been guilty of violating cease-fires. Israel says, yes, there is a cease-fire, Hamas fires a rocket and Israel retaliates and the war goes on. We'll keep you post.

Israel appears to be preparing for a long conflict too. They have called up 16,000 reserves. That's on top of 70,000 Israelis already in uniform and it's pushing back against critics who its military campaign is heavy handed and recklessly endangering innocent Palestinians.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer spoke exclusively with Shimon Peres just days after finishing his term as Israel's president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": The criticism of Israel is that it's reacted disproportionately. You say --

SHIMON PERES, FORMER ISRAELI PRESIDENT: I don't know what in that case is the propulsion? Imagine you seat a child on your knees at Hamas and somebody is shooting at your child and yourself. What is the proposal? Not to shoot back? I mean, before they put before us an impossible question, but we cannot escape it. We wish we didn't have to do it.

We have nothing against the people. We don't like to see anybody getting killed. It's not our purpose. But if they put it in the homes, with the children, and there they plant the rockets and the different weapons they collected, what can we do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Peres has drawn criticism from his own fellow Israelis by suggesting that it's time to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Many if not most in Israel say they support a continued bombardment until Hamas is eradicated.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, you've been tweeting your questions about Ebola to us. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to answer them. Hi, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. We're getting a lot of questions about what's happening on the ground there in West Africa, the possibility of (inaudible) and what is happening in West Africa, what it means for the rest of the world. We'll answer those questions right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The United States is now talking about medivacking two Americans infected with Ebola back home from Liberia. This comes as humanitarian groups are pulling volunteers from the region and the death toll, well, it's topped 650.

Dr. Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol were working with a faith-based charity, "Samaritans First" in Liberia when they became ill. They're in serious condition, but we hear this morning they are improving. Writebol's son spoke about his mother earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY WRITEBOL, SON OF AMERICAN BATTLE EBOLA: Less than an hour ago and mom continuing in stable condition, but it's very serious, and she is -- she's still fighting as my dad told me. She's weak, but working through it. One good news -- piece of good news is that yesterday they were having a very difficult time getting an I.V. into her for proper fluids.

And dad told me this morning one of the nurses that's part of the team that's attending to my mom and Dr. Brantley was able to get an I.V. in on the first try. So we're really happy about that this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Take a look at this map. Flights out of major airports in Ebola-affected countries go to 39 other cities. That -- three other countries rather. That includes three airports here in the United States. I know you've got questions about the Ebola epidemic. You've been tweeting them all morning long and I appreciate that.

We have our own chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta here to answer your questions. Good morning, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm going to start with my own question. Patrick Sawyer, the American man who got off the plane in Nigeria and collapse and died within six hours of getting sick, is that typical?

GUPTA: That's fast. It's accelerated for sure, but we asked people the same thing. Is it possible he got on the plane, would not have been stopped by any screening methods, seemed perfectly healthy and by the time, he landed would collapse and subsequently die.

And people who have treated this disease say that is a possibility. That can happen. This can move very, very quickly. If someone has a weakened immune system for some reason, it can move more quickly.

COSTELLO: So Abbie tweeted this question about cultural competency. She says it's a huge barrier for western doctors overseas. She tweets culture controversy is difficult for treating patients overseas. Is this affecting the outbreak?

GUPTA: I think it is affecting the outbreak. That's not to say many going in, certainly those already there, they have significant cultural competencies. They have difficult times treats patients for example people when they bury their dead in many of these remote villages, there's a laying on of hands on the body.

With regard to Ebola that's a really big concern because you can still transmit the virus even at that time of the funeral. So understanding the cultural competency, understanding it's a part of one's culture and being able to explain here's why in this particular situation.

This is a real problem, here's why entire families if not entire villages are getting infected. It's because of some of these cultures and we have to stop some of that.

COSTELLO: Another viewer question because we know the death rate is really high. How can someone survive after contracting Ebola?

GUPTA: We know in previous outbreaks the death rates have been as high as 90 percent. In this particular one, it seems to be closer to 60 percent. It's a little bit better than in times past. What typically happens, the reason someone would die with this sort of infection is because they're losing so much of their body fluids and because their body loses the ability to clot and that's why you have so much bleeding.

The goal is why the body is trying to fight this infection, can you support those other two things, can you give enough fluids back and can you give clotting factors back to the body so they don't continue to bleed. It's sort of like you're just keeping up until the body fights the infection itself.

There is no anti-viral. There is no vaccine. So that's what happens. When people get to medical care quick enough, they're going to have a better chance of getting treatments.

COSTELLO: OK, so that brings us to our next viewer question. There have been other Ebola outbreaks. Why is it so hard to find a vaccine?

GUPTA: This is a tricky virus, Carol. It goes in, immediately turns off the immune system and the clotting system in the blood. It's a really sneaky virus and it makes it hard to vaccinate against this.

Having said that, I just spoke to one of the researchers from the University of Texas. They've been working on a vaccine for some time. They've had some success with non-human primates so far. They've even tried it once in a human being and it appears to work.

It was under a passion of care circumstance and it's possible they may fast track something like this given what is happening right now in West Africa. It's in the works, but it's not quite ready yet. It hasn't been approved yet.

COSTELLO: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. I appreciate it. I'm sure our viewers do too.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, international investigators have finally made their way to the crash site of Flight 17, but in the two weeks, the risk of losing critical pieces of evidence grows by the day. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Australia's foreign minister says as many as 80 bodies are still at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. In the meantime, a group of international investigators have finally reached the area two weeks after the plane was shot down. This is Ukraine's military who announced a one-day cease-fire effectively clearing the way for investigators to have full access to the site.

Now the area is still littered with personal belongings, plane parts, and, of course, those human remains. This map shows a 44-mile trek investigators had to make from Donetsk to the crash site. Nick Paton Walsh has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The road isn't easy past shelling. Eerie separatist checkpoints, but where it leads is hottest still. And due to nothing surely could spoil lies a horror still unresolved.

It's been 13 days since MH17 was blown out of the sky, it remains here, a monument to cruelty. To how 298 souls, some chipped in parts away on a separatist train have yet to find complete rest. Questions left, what or who else did they love, what do they feel in their last moments.

(on camera): The silence from these fields is nothing but tomb like sorrow and loss have isolated it from the war around it. But you really have to stand here and see the things that people want to take with them on a holiday.

And horrifyingly even now smell the stench of decay to understand the urgency for the relatives of those who died they must feel to get inspectors to this site and get some kind of pleasure.

In the hour, we were there, no separatist inspectors or Ukrainian soldiers at this site, just distant smoke. That explains why the inspectors' large convoy has had such trouble getting here.

(voice-over): God save and protect us, the sign asked, not here, still reeking of jet fuel. Where you can see the heat of the inferno they fell from the sky and strangers have tried to mourn. The scene of this crime has been abandoned, evidence tampered with, what must be shrapnel holes visible in the cockpits remains.

A wallet emptied, the cell phone looted. Traces of daydreams that fell from the jet stream into a war whose daily horrors drowned out bat, which took their lives, whose blind hatred has yet to find space for the minor dignities they deserve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)