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Ebola Outbreak; House Cancels Vote; Israel Gears up for Fight; Kerry and Israel; CIA Apologizes

Aired July 31, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. We appreciate you joining us. Don Lemon, in for Brooke today.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever. I'll say it again, the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever spreading across West Africa. There are fears the virus could soon land right here on U.S. shores. We're now learning a dose of experimental serum arrived in Liberia and has just been used on Nancy Writebol, an American humanitarian aid worker struggling for her life right now. But there was only one dose, which meant another American patient infected with Ebola, Dr. Kent Brantly, ask that Nancy receive it.

And right now there are plans in motion to have both of them medevacked home -- back home to the United States in these specifically designed isolation planes that you're looking at. Thirteen hundred confirmed and suspected cases of the virus have now been reported and more than half of those people have died.

And CNN has just learned that the CDC plans to send an additional 50 health specialists to West Africa to fight this outbreak, while also raising a travel warning for that region. The Peace Corps, a major U.S. organization, is now pulling its volunteers out of the danger zone as officials in Liberia warn the worst is yet to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The matter here has reached a crisis point. It is now rather than just a Liberian problem, it's (INAUDIBLE), a Gunian (ph) problem. It evidently is an international problem. We need all the international help and assistance we can get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's get as much information as we can get on this now. Joining me is Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent here at CNN.

And, Sanjay, you just heard the CDC briefing. What happened?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they -- first of all, the headline was that this is getting worse, not better. Obviously not the news people wanted to hear, Don, but it was very stark in terms of what they were saying, but also very clear. And also best case scenario is that still three to six months they think before this outbreak could be declared over. And that's just the best case scenario. So this is - you know it's far and away the worst Ebola outbreak in our history. It has been -- there have been simultaneous outbreaks, as you pointed out in your graphic there, in three different countries. So it's been very hard to control.

They've made some specific recommendations. Non-essential travelers from the United States to West Africa should not go. They're saying that there's enough of a concern that they should not go. They don't want them to possibly be exposed. But also if they were to get sick for some reason, need hospitalization for some reason, they could end up at a hospital where Ebola is present and they're trying to avoid that situation.

They did talk a little bit about the idea of evacuations. We don't know of any imminent plans right now for evacuations. But you showed the possible plans with those planes should those Americans become stable enough to actually move.

LEMON: And, you know, I told you in the lead-in to you about Nancy Writebol got the one experimental serum and the doctor turned it down and said, she should be getting this. Tell us about this serum, this experimental serum, Sanjay, and where did it come from and why so little of it?

GUPTA: We don't know. There's a few different companies literally around the world that have been working on vaccine-type medications. Medications that would teach your immune system to basically fight off this virus. These vaccines are typically given before an illness. But these are the types of vaccines that could be given after an illness as well.

It's not approved. This is not something that's been used in humans clinically. So I think that's part of the reason there's so very little of it. We just - there's not something that's ever been approved for mass vaccination.

I will point out, interesting, Dr. Brantly, the gentlemen, the doctor over there, he actually received the blood of a 14-year-old boy who had suffered from Ebola and recovered from Ebola. And that's very interesting, Don. The reason that's done sometimes, and not commonly done, but someone who has recovered from Ebola, in their blood could be the antibodies to help fight the virus. So if you give some of the blood from a recovered patient to, for instance, a doctor here, it might have some benefit. So they're both trying things right now, the doctor and Nancy, both of them trying things that are really not commonly done but may provide some benefit.

LEMON: Oh, it's certainly frightening. We wish the best for them. But again, really frightening. Sanjay, thank you very much. Sanjay will be on top of this for the network. We'll continue to tune in to Sanjay.

And as I mentioned, two infected American aid workers, Dr. Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol, are continuing the fight for their lives right now. Her son speaking to CNN today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEREMY WRITEBOL, SON OF EBOLA PATIENT: Mom continues 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 IV into her for proper fluids. And dad told me this morning that one of the nurses that's part of the team that's attended to my mom and Dr. Brantly was able to get an IV in on the first try. So we're really happy about that this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As their pastor held a special service in North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, on the other side of the world, Nancy was being given an experimental serum that we just talked about to try to save her life. The pastor, John Munro, now joins us now.

John, thank you so much for joining us. We're all thinking about Nancy, and I'm sure you are as well. Have you heard anything about the use of this serum on Nancy and what is the latest on her condition?

JOHN MUNRO, PASTOR, CALVARY CHURCH: I just heard what you've heard, Don, that she has been given this. We're very thankful for that. Earlier this morning when we spoke with them, she seemed to be quite stable, resting quietly. And then later in the day, her condition seems to have worsened a bit. And then we got this latest news about this serum. So we continue to pray. We're very thankful that they're getting the best medical help available. But above all, we're crying out to the Lord that he would heal Nancy.

LEMON: You've been in touch with Nancy's husband, David. I believe she is in isolation. Her husband can't be with her. Do you know the conditions of the facility that she is in now?

MUNRO: She was in their home. So she's isolated there. David is kept from her, but he can, with protective clothing, go in, have some contact with her. So there is that contact, which obviously is difficult for him. But they're largely isolated. He feels like being imprisoned. They are just there in a dreadful situation. You can imagine the heartbreak from them. And so we very much appreciate you giving this news so that people can cry out to the Lord to help in the healing of Nancy.

LEMON: Absolutely. Absolutely. Anything we can do for you. I have to ask you another question because she was a missionary there. I want you to tell me about her work and how, in the course of this work, she actually contracted this disease.

MUNRO: Yes, they were missionaries. They've been missionaries with our church, Calvary Church, in Charlotte since the 1990s. And they came stateside last year and then moved from an orphanage in Zambia and went with a mission organization called SIM (ph). And they went to seconded (ph) to Liberia, the hospital, school, radio station in the outskirts of Monrovia (ph).

And David Writebol had the responsibility of dealing with some of the logistics, Nancy dealing with personnel matters and also assisting in the hospital. And so recently she was spraying down people who would go in and out of the hospital to minimize the spread of this deadly virus. And then, sadly, on Saturday, we got this terrible, heartbreaking news that she had tested positive.

To date, David has not. His temperature is taken every -- about two or three times a day. There's an incubation period of two to 21 days. And he's on day 10. So we're thankful that to date he has not tested positive for the virus.

LEMON: John Munro, we're thinking about Nancy and her husband David, the entire family, you guys as well. If you ever need anything, keep us updated and also reach out to us, please. Thank you so much.

MUNRO: Yes. Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you.

We have this just in to CNN. Some developing news. House Republicans canceling a vote on their own border funding bill because the GOP doesn't have enough support. We want to bring in our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

Dana, pretty embarrassing?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's an understatement, Don. The Republican leadership, they have been struggling, not just all day, but for a week plus to try to cobble together a bill that can get enough votes in order to pass and clearly were not successful. I was just talking to some senior Republicans here about why, and the main reason they said is because there were enough conservatives who didn't like the package that they put together because it didn't go far enough - and the package I'm talking about is money to address the border crisis and other policy changes -- but they felt it didn't go far enough in reigning in the president to make sure that he can't act on his own when it comes to immigration policy in the future.

That was something that has been pushed by Ted Cruz in the Senate. He met with several House conservatives yesterday to talk about that strategy. And one House Republican leadership aide just said, you know, Ted Cruz succeeded here.

It is certainly embarrassing for House Republicans because to a person we have heard them say over and over again, even today on the House floor, Don, that they want to do something to address the border crisis before leaving for a five-week recess. And that is the other important thing. If you look at the House floor right now, they are having a vote. It's not on immigration. It is on another issue, which is important. But this is the last vote that they are going to take, the last series, before they leave for five weeks for summer break. And they're going to leave without addressing this crisis at the border, which everybody, Democrats and Republicans, say that they need to address, but obviously they have very, very different views and different approaches on how to address that, Don. So it is -- this is - this is a big setback for Republicans, but obviously a big setback for just broadly dealing with this crisis because the administration says that they need that money, even a little bit of money, and they're not going to get it.

LEMON: Yes. Well, I'm sure everyone at home will agree, and you as well, five weeks, must be nice. Thank you, Dana Bash. Appreciate you.

Just ahead, as tensions rise between the U.N. and Israel, my next guest says Benjamin Netanyahu should be worried. We're going to explain why.

Plus, the American who blew himself up inside Syria left behind a disturbing video with a direct threat toward the U.S. You're going to see that.

And one doctor says some Ebola victims are refusing treatment because of their belief in witchcraft. This is CNN's special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Israel sending clear signals today that its fight against Hamas is far from over, even as there are new calls for a cease-fire. The latest developments now. The Israeli military says it is calling up to 16,000 more reservists, bringing the total since the war started to 86,000.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas's tunnel system with or without a cease-fire. Israel says rockets fired from Gaza landed 20 miles inside the Israel side of the border setting a car on fire and wounding one man. And we just got this video from the scene of the strike. Israeli police describe the man's injuries as serious and say he is hospitalized.

Inside Gaza, shells fell next to a United Nations school being used as a shelter. The U.N. Security Council meets. It hears the head of the U.N.'s relief agency in Gaza describe what he calls increasingly dire conditions in the shelters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): There is no water for hygiene, very few showers and latrines are totally inadequate. Disease outbreak is beginning with skin infections, scabies and others. There are thousands of pregnant women in our schools. Deliveries are precarious. And we are sheltering newborn infants in these appalling conditions. Our ability to mitigate this situation is, of course, heavily restricted by ongoing hostilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: After the meeting, Israel's U.N. ambassador outlined what he calls Hamas's war crimes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON PROSOR, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Hamas is using its own people as human shields. It hides rockets inside mosques. It sets up command centers in hospitals. It booby traps homes. In one school, in one street in Gaza, out of 28 buildings, 19 were completely booby-trapped and we have found explosives within a baby crib.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: CNN's Karl Penhaul live in Gaza City for us.

Karl, the Israelis appear to be hunkering down for a long fight. I hear there's some activity near you right now.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I was going to say, actions speak way louder than words these days in Gaza, Don. And just as you were coming to air, we looked around because through the black of Gaza City, we heard a sound that sounded like a jet fighter screaming out from the ground. It was, in fact, rockets being launched by the militants heading off to Israel. So I would guess in the next few moments we'll get some reports as to where they landed and if they did any damage across here. But that really fits in with what the leader of the (INAUDIBLE) brigades, that's the Hamas' military wing, has been saying. He has said now that there is no middle ground.

What does he mean by that? Well, he and the political wing of Hamas is saying that for there to be a cease-fire that will last, then Israel would have to agree to a series of conditions set by Hamas, and that would include lifting what he calls the blockade of Gaza. What he means by that is that the borders of Gaza would have to be freed up for the movement of people, of goods and services, and that is what Hamas is calling for in order for the general living standards of ordinary Gazan people to improve.

So it certainly seems like both sides set in for a hard fight. Still, there could be two questions, how long will their weaponry last and, secondly, how long before any of the civilian populations on either side of the border tell their politicians and their military that enough is enough, Don.

LEMON: All right, Karl Penhaul in Gaza City. Stand by. We'll be getting back to you throughout the day and evening here on CNN.

And today, as Israeli military operations push forward in Gaza, tempers are flaring between Israel and the United Nations. The U.N. is strongly condemning attacks on U.N.-run schools, strikes that left dozens of Palestinian children and families who were searching for shelter dead or severely injured. A spokesman for the U.N. saying that if the humanitarian crisis in Gaza gets any worse, the Israeli government will have to step in and take responsibility for those Palestinians seeking refuge from the fighting.

Meanwhile, many in Israel are criticizing the United States, particularly Secretary of State John Kerry, and his efforts to negotiate a cease-fire. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, the former Israeli president, Shimon Peres, countered that by saying Israel's friendship with American and the secretary is strong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PERES, FORMER ISRAELI PRESIDENT: But you shall not forget that basically is a great friend and a good friend and I trust him. And I don't mind criticism (ph) from a friend. I hope he doesn't mind (INAUDIBLE). I mean friendship is not just that all the time, you know, flirting (ph). But basically I trust him. I think he's an outstanding person. I think he tries to bring an end to all the wars and Kerry is a sworn friend of Israel. You know him and I know him for many years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's discuss more. Joining me now is former senior White House official and senior at the American Foreign Policy Council, Lawrence Haas, and senior political columnist and editorial director at the "National Journal" Ron Fournier.

Larry, I want to start with you. You wrote your piece that Secretary Kerry needs to, quote, "come to his senses." What exactly do you mean by that?

LAWRENCE HAAS, SR. FELLOW, AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY COUNCIL: Well, that was really a play on his comment that both sides in this drama had to come to their senses equally. And basically what I was saying to Secretary Kerry is that, no, I don't think so. What Secretary Kerry needs to understand is that there is a profound difference between a democratic state that is a strong U.S. ally in the middle of a very rough region which is being bombarded from the air from rockets as well as underground from tunnels, and on the other side a terrorist state that is dedicated to destroying Israel and killing Jews. And it is not the case that both sides equally have to come to their senses. I was chiding the secretary that he needs to come to his senses in understanding the profound differences between the two sides and the situations that they are in and what got us here.

LEMON: Between Israel and Hamas you're saying?

HAAS: Correct.

LEMON: There's a vast difference.

OK, Ron, so you say that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas, against Hamas' rockets, but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be worried. Why should he be worried?

RON FOURNIER, SENIOR POLITICAL COLUMNIST, "NATIONAL JOURNAL": Yes, first, I think that was a wonderful column that Richard (ph) did and I obviously agree that there is no moral equivancy (ph) between a Jewish hating terrorist organization and a great and democratic country fighting for its survival.

But like the United States and John Kerry, the Israelis have to deal with the world that they have, not the world that they wish it might be. And they have to realize that a lot has changed, as Larry pointed out in his fine column, even since 2012, since the last cease-fire agreement. The alliances have shifted in the region. Media is even more democratized. It's easier to see what's happening in Gaza. It's easier for Hamas and the Palestinians to get their message, get their images out. That's affecting public perception, not just in the United States but around the world. And those things are creating, I believe, a subtle shift in the

narrative. A little bit less away from the real world, real concerns about Israel's security and the consequences of Israeli's actions. And I would like to know, I wonder what Richard thinks, that Israel could have done to prevent it of (ph) getting into this point, where we have this kind of violence going on, this kind of war -

LEMON: Yes.

FOURNIER: And how, in the future, both Israel and the United States could act differently so that we don't get to this point where Israel now is in a bad PR position.

LEMON: Yes. Ron, I'm sure he appreciates the compliment, but it's Larry we're talking to. And, Larry, I've got a question for you here.

FOURNIER: Oh, I'm sorry.

LEMON: Yes. Because I want to ask you, you know, you're talking about the - you know, there's no moral equivalency. Obviously we know that Hamas is a terrorist organization and there's no equivalency to Israel. But might the secretary of state be taking the Palestinian people as a whole into account when he talks about this and not just Hamas?

HAAS: Oh, he - oh, no, no, no. And, look, no one can look at the situation and not feel great empathy for the Palestinian people. But, please, let's understand what got us in the situation we're in. We basically have a terrorist organization running the Gaza Strip that is targeted literally both innocent Israelis as well as innocent Palestinians. The Palestinian people are being exploited, most of all, by Hamas, not by Israel. I mean, after all, it is Hamas that is using them as human shields for the explicit purpose of creating the very images that Ron Fournier is talking about.

I take his point that, you know, this is a PR problem for Israel as these images come out. I will say this, Israel has always had PR problems. I don't think - I don't see how the government of Israel can be doing anything -

LEMON: Right.

HAAS: Other than what it's doing. And the Israeli people are strongly behind it, as well as so is the U.S. Congress.

LEMON: And everyone -

HAAS: So Israel still has friends.

LEMON: Everyone I've spoken to on this issue says that Israel always loses the PR competition or PR war, if you want to call it that.

HAAS: Right. Right.

LEMON: In these situations. Ron, you know, we haven't seen many Arab countries, though, criticize

Hamas out right. Is this an important part of peace negotiations that we're missing?

FOURNIER: Yes. And I think it's an important part of the peace process that Israel missed earlier on and maybe could have helped avoid this kind of situation. Yes, thing have changed there and it certainly what Kerry, as was pointed out in the column, it's what Kerry missed here is that you now have - you don't want to be turning your back on Egypt and the Palestinians and walking towards Qatar and Turkey, which is what Kerry did.

LEMON: Right.

FOURNIER: We have to - we have to deal with the situation we have on the ground now, not what we wish it was.

LEMON: All right, Ron Fournier, Larry Haas, thanks to both of you. Appreciate you joining us here on a Thursday afternoon.

FOURNIER: Thank you, Larry.

HAAS: Thank you.

LEMON: No, Richard (ph), thank you.

Just ahead, the CIA today apologizing for spying on senators. It's a big development. Hear what happened. Jake Tapper joins me next.

(CM)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

A potential bombshell of an apology today from the head of the CIA to the Senate Intelligence Committee for peeking into their computers and spying on Senate investigators who were looking into CIA practices. I want to bring in CNN's chief Washington correspondent, Mr. Jake Tapper.

Jake, the CIA issued a statement just a short time ago. What are they admitting to?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're admitting to having told some false statements before. Specifically there's this question about this investigation by the Senate into practices, interrogation practices, that the larger community, and according to the Geneva Conventions, are torture. And the question, of course, is what the Senate Intelligence Committee staffers were doing and whether or not the CIA was snooping on them in any way.

It turns out that despite protests by the CIA that they had not been snooping on what the Senate Intelligence Committee staffers were doing. They were, in fact. And the statement comes forward today saying, quote, "CIA Director Brennan was briefed on the CIA Office of Inspector General's findings, which include a judgment that some CIA employees acted in a manner inconsistent with the common understanding reached between the Senate Intelligence Committee and the CIA in 2009 regarding access to the specific computer. The director of the CIA subsequently informed the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman and vice chairman of the findings and apologized to them for such actions by CIA officers as described in the Inspector General report."

We should keep in mind that this all started back in March, Don, when Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, went to the floor of the Senate. And she's usually a pretty big defender of America's intelligence community. And she was very angry, talking about how there had been snooping on her own staffers.