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Ebola Infected Doctor Headed to U.S.; Middle East Crisis; Who Is In Control In Gaza?; Anti-Israel Protests Get Ugly; Plane Carrying Ebola Patient Arrives in GA

Aired August 02, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is the 11:00 eastern hour of the NEWSROOM, which begins right now.

For the first time ever the deadly Ebola virus is coming to the United States in a few hours. The plane carrying one of two infected Americans will land in Atlanta. But is it really safe to bring Ebola to the U.S.?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, Israel lashing back. Attacking what it calls more than 200 terror targets in Gaza and searching for a soldier they say is being held captive by Hamas -- something Hamas is now denying. All this as a Palestinian delegation heads to Egypt to try to broker another cease-fire.

I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting live from Jerusalem.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.

We begin right now with the latest on the deadly Ebola virus. The first of two Americans infected with Ebola is now en route to the United States for treatment. It is the first time ever a patient with Ebola will be treated in the states. A doctor and an aide worker contracted the disease while working for a humanitarian group in West Africa.

Dr. Kent Brantly is the patient being flown to an air reserve base in Georgia today and he'll be treated at a highly specialized unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta asked the doctor who is running the unit about treating these patients.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Why take the risk at all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you've been in that part of the world, and you know the level of care that can be delivered. These are Americans who went over there to supply humanitarian mission of medical care for these individuals. And our feeling is that they deserve the best medical care to try and resolve this infection that they can get.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: The World Health Organization says the disease is now spreading faster than efforts to actually contain it. In West Africa, more than 700 people have died from Ebola in recent weeks. With an Ebola patient about to enter the U.S., what are the risks?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining me now. So we know that the doctor who is infected is Dr. Kent Brantly. Can we read into how sick he is in terms of how he was the first of the two patients to the make it to the U.S.?

GUPTA: It could be that they're both, you know -- they're both sick, we know that. But they have to be stable enough to fly. We know that the plane can bring one patient at a time. How that decision got made on the ground exactly I'm not sure, but typically the patient is going to be more stable, because it is a long flight.

WHITFIELD: What's remarkable is Emory University Hospital hasn't necessarily treated an Ebola patient before. This is the first time. What is it about Emory that says we are equipped to handle this kind of highly contagious disease and patient?

GUPTA: Yes, let me put an exclamation mark on that. Ebola has never been in Atlanta. It's never been in the United States. It's never been in the western hemisphere of the world. So this is the first on many different levels.

I asked the doctors the same thing. Part of it, I think is because the CDC, they have a close relationship. There's going to be collaborative effort at the Centers for Disease Control, also here in Atlanta, and with Emory University Hospital. They also are -- a hospital that has one of just four of these isolation units. There are others, and so those isolation units get used for different things. I think they've used it for Marberg virus in the past. They used during the SARS epidemic almost 10 years ago. So there's been a little bit of a protocol for this but not -- never with Ebola.

WHITFIELD: And of course, the medical team that will be treating this patient, they are all going to be wearing protective gear. You wore protective gear when you went to West Africa.

GUPTA: That's right.

WHITFIELD: When you helped reveal what a terrible problem it was -- this comeback of Ebola, but were these doctors that are -- these medical -- these two medical teams, were they using this kind of protective gear, and how did they end up with the disease?

GUPTA: Well, it's a little unclear. We've tried to figure it out. They do wear the protective gear, to your question. What seems to have happened here, is that another health care worker who was a local health care worker in that area also became sick, became symptomatic and still came in to work one day and may have spread the virus within an area the doctors shared. That's the story that we're hearing from Samaritan's Purse.

But it's a little bit It's hard to tell. Now, one thing I want to do is I also want to bring in WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. He's on the phone with us. He's a spokesman for the World Health Organization. He's in Guinea now, I believe. I was there not too long ago. First of all, can you hear me?

TARIK JASAREVIC, WHO SPOKESMAN: Yes, Sanjay, I can hear you.

GUPTA: Ok. I was probably not too far from where you are now, and I want to get a little bit of an idea from you just broadly speaking -- the headlines are that this is out of control. Out of control is a pretty scary thing when you hear about it coming from the World Health Organization. Is that how you characterize it as well?

JASAREVIC: Well what we are saying, really, that it is a really serious outbreak. What we have here is a transmission chain ongoing at several locations. You have been here. You have seen it yourself. I'm just coming from a Gekadu (ph) region in the Eastern Guinea and was going across to Sierra Leone. There are a number of localities where we have not mapped yet the transmission chain. This is very worrying. And this is why WHO director general came here yesterday met with the presidents of three countries saying that this is so serious that we need a full commitment from everyone. And World Health Organization is launching a new plan to be able basically to have enough resources, enough of material to put all of those measures that are needed in place to have lab capacity to have treatment centers. There are counter tracing operations.

So this really has to be a turning point, as Dr. Chan said, we need really now to act fast and put everything in place that we need to do.

GUPTA: Let me tell you as well, tell our viewers, that our affiliate, WKADI is reporting now that the plane bringing back Dr. Kent Brantly, the first American infected with Ebola, to land on U.S. soil, is now in Bangor, Maine. The plane is refueling there. It's on its way to Atlanta. So that plane route is still ongoing.

Mr. Jasarevic, you know one thing that we keep hearing is that the World Health Organization just doesn't have enough resources, doesn't have enough funds to be able do the job that they're supposed to do.

I want you to respond to that. Can World Health Organization adequately respond to what is now happening in West Africa?

JASAREVIC: Well, this is what -- only WTO responding. This is purely -- has to be a collective effort lead by the WHO but all the other partners who have expertise to be able to help ministries of health. We should not forget we are talking about those two cases. But since the beginning of the outbreak, more than 100 health workers have been infected and 60 of them died.

And this is why we need to protect these health workers. We need to train them and we need to have enough of them so they do reasonable shifts so they can take care of themselves as well as the patients. So we really need collective action from all of the partners. CDC Atlanta as you know is here helping with data management. (inaudible) helping a lot in the case and this really has to be stepped up by all of us and World Health Organization has demanded to coordinate these, together with the news resort. How can all the fellow members beat me.

I want to be really clear though, Mr. Jasarevic because this is an important point. We hear that 80 percent of the countries that are supposed to make good on donations to the International Health Fund have not done so. And that the WHO is strapped for resources. Now, you're being faced with one of the largest Ebola outbreaks in our world's history. -- does the World Health Organization have what it needs to respond adequately. I know there are other organizations involved. But I'm asking about the World Health Organization. Do they have what they need?

JASAREVIC: Well we have certainly -- the capacity to mobilize those who know. And as you have seen we really need people with work experience. We need to bring partners from all areas of work. We have something called global outbreak alert and response and network to reach. We've already mobilized more than 25 clinicians who are working on the ground.

We have deployed more than 120 people. Director general worked here today. In Guinea (inaudible) to everyone this is a priority, we need you to do work around the clock to try to help ministries of health.

And I think if we get what we put in this Ebola response plan, it's been amounted to $100 million right now. Each country is also mobilized all the resources they have and if other partners help, this is the only way basically to go forward.

GUPTA: Mr. Jasarevic, spokesman for the World Health Organization. I know you're very busy. I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

JASAREVIC: Thank you very much.

GUPTA: So you keep hearing the same thing over and over again. I mean it's a grave situation. When they say this is the worst Ebola outbreak in the history of our world, Fred, more than a third of the cases ever reported have now occurred just over the last few months. So that just gives you an idea.

WHITFIELD: And it is sobering to hear him saying that it is worrying. And there's a real disparity, is there not in the mortality rate? Rural versus urban --

GUPTA: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: -- scenarios. Why is that?

GUPTA: Well, they seem to have better resources or -- and the ability to implement the strategies just in a better way. And the doctors here, by the way, think they can improve on those mortality statistics even more for the same reasons. Simply replacing fluids, giving blood back to someone who may be bleeding -- those are not always options in some of these more remote areas.

So that doesn't prove the statistics. You know, they want the body to fight the virus on its own. They just need to give it the time to do so by supporting it. WHITFIELD: All right. Well, there's much more and we're going to be

watching your special today, "DR. SANJAY GUPTA MD" at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. Dr. Gupta will bring all the latest efforts to fight the Ebola epidemic as one of those American patients now en route to the Atlanta area. Thanks -- Sanjay.

All right. Moving now to the Middle East where an offer for new negotiations on the Gaza conflict may not get very far. Egypt is now pushing for a new cease-fire, and a Palestinian delegation is going to Cairo right now, but according to Israeli media reports, Israel is not sending a delegation.

The last attempted cease-fire fell apart less than two hours after it started yesterday. Israel blames Hamas saying, militants attacked Israeli soldier trying to dismantle a tunnel. And captured 2nd Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, but Hamas is not admitting to the disappearance of this soldier. It blames Israel for starting to shell Gaza again.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency said today, one of its workers was killed in a strike in Gaza yesterday. Today, the Israeli military says it hit what it calls 200 terror targets in Gaza. That includes a university that Israel says Hamas was using to work on weapons.

Israel says it is also facing attacks. The Israeli military says 65 rockets have been fired into Israel in the past 24 hours, and 11 were intercepted.

Wolf Blitzer joining me live right now from Jerusalem. So Wolf, what has it been like there today?

BLITZER: Very intense, Fred, as you see. The Israelis are keeping their military operations going from the air, from the sea, on the ground. Hamas continues sending rockets and missiles into Israel from Gaza. In fact, one was sent out about 6:00 a.m. local time in towards the Tel Aviv area which is pretty far north, not just in the southern part of Israel. So the rockets and missiles keep coming.

The Israelis keep their operations underway searching for those tunnels, those Hamas tunnels that go from Gaza into Israel. Israeli military officials tell me they are making what they call very good progress in destroying those tunnels. They think they know where almost all of them are but they're not 100 percent sure. One Israeli analyst saying you don't know what you don't know. But they think they're making progress on that.

In the Rafah area in the south, there are still major operations underway because of that missing Israeli soldier that you just mentioned, 2nd Lt Hadar Goldin. So the Israelis are keeping their operation underway. Hamas is continuing to do what its been doing, even as the diplomats pursue, perhaps, some sort of diplomatic initiative, but it's -- that cease-fire looks elusive.

I will say one thing, Fred. We are getting indications that the Israeli government is going to be making a significant statement in the coming hours about its military objectives, what it's doing in Gaza right now. We'll see what they have to say. But that could be significant. We're bracing for a major Israeli announcement that should be coming forward fairly soon. But, Fred, it's still a very intense thing.

WHITFIELD: And so, Wolf, is there an explanation, a public explanation, as to why Israel is not sending a delegation to Cairo?

BLITZER: The Israelis, you know, have a much better relationship with the current government in Cairo under the new president, el Sisi they had with the former president Mohammed Morsi, who was a Muslim Brotherhood leader.

The Israelis want to have a good relation with el Sisi -- they're working on it and they're and they're trying to -- make sure that relationship is strong.

I think we have Reza Sayah in Cairo right now. Reza we know that an official Palestinian delegation representing the Palestinian Authority, representing Islamic jihad, Hamas, all of the various factions of the Palestinian elements are on their way now to Cairo. I don't know if they've landed yet, but set the scene because this potentially could be significant. The This could be significant, the Egyptian Government saying they want to try to revive that cease-fire initiative?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's the latest, Wolf. We do know that according to the leadership of the Palestinian authority, representatives of the Palestinians are on their way here to Cairo, but it's not going to be much of a talk if the Israelis aren't here. So, unfortunately, on that front, there's no a lot of movement. I don't think there's any doubt that much of the world is looking at the conflict in Gaza, looking at the fighting and they want someone to step in and get these two sides to stop fighting, end the bloodshed, get them to sit down and establish a lasting truce.

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet, and Egypt seemingly at this point hasn't been a factor in getting the Israelis to come here. Of course, this was the day when all warring factions, the leaders, were supposed to come to Cairo and start the truce talks. Of course, that fell apart with the violence yesterday.

Earlier today Egypt's president, Abdul Fattal El Sisi held a meeting with the visiting Italian Prime Minister, a lot of people eager to see if he had something to say about the status of the peace talks, but strangely, he didn't make reference to the U.N./U.S.-backed cease talks. He made reference to the Egypt-backed cease talks and of course, that was made on july 14th and immediately rejected by Hamas. Hamas complaining that none of their demands were in that proposal and all of Israel's demands were in that proposal.

So still waiting for word that anyone other than the Palestinian representatives will come here, and so far we haven't received that word -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. We'll see what happens on the Palestinian front, the Israeli front. I'm told the Israelis want to have a strong relationship with the new Egyptian president, a new Egyptian government. And they have a pretty good dialogue that's been going on whether or not they send a formal delegation to Cairo. Right now they're in constant touch with various element of the Egyptian government, the intelligence community and the politico leadership.

We're going to get back to you but I want to go back to Fred in the meantime -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. thanks so much we'll get back to you as well in Jerusalem. So the fighting in Gaza is making live miserable for those who live there. It's also taking an emotional toll on Aide workers trying to help them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER GUNNESS, U.N. RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY: The rights of Palestinian, even their children are wholesale denied and it's appalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Heartbreaking for so many. Find out how doctors are trying to treat the victims during power outages and ongoing fighting. And later, officials in West Africa are looking for outside help to contain the Ebola epidemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Israeli military texted residents in northern Gaza today saying they could return home, but Israel Defense Forces say that Hamas has spread explosive devices near the Israeli border. The health ministry said at least 50 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza just today and as the almost constant bombing continues, civilians caught in the middle are running out of places to hide.

Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a situation that for some relief workers is too much to bear.

GUNNESS: The rights of Palestinians even their children are wholesale denied and it's appalling.

KAYE: The children -- there are, according to the Gaza health ministry, more than 325 killed and according to the U.N. nearly 2,000 wounded. The cease-fire that never materialized was supposed to provide an opportunity to treat them. But as the fighting renewed, there was hardly that chance.

CNN's John Vause saw at this hospital in Gaza doctors frantically treating the newly-wounded, while standing in blood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shrapnel and fractures, and explosives injuries, open wounds, cut, amputated lower limbs. KAYE: more than three weeks into the conflict around 7,000 people in Gaza are reportedly wounded. Medical supplies are running low. And the very issue of powering the hospitals is a challenge.

The power plant is destroyed. So the main hospital including all of the life support machines, now running on two generators. Food and clean water are a problem, too. Water pumps and sewage are failing leaving reportedly only 5 percent of water safe to. There's also little security to keep anyone here especially the children out of harm's way.

This woman and her six children are desperately trying to find somewhere safe to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've killed 45 members off my family. They've destroyed our homes. My aunt and uncle, all of them killed.

KAYE: The U.N. says a quarter of a million are now housed in their shelters but can't take many more. If the fighting continues, tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands could be stranded in the streets.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And it's being called an unprecedented Ebola outbreak. What's causing it? Researchers are looking at many potential causes including the possibility that bats are spreading the disease.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The American doctor infected with the Ebola virus is on his way home right now for treatment. He is being flown from Liberia to a highly specialized unit at a hospital in Atlanta. Right now his plane is refueling in Maine. The American aide worker who was also infected is being flown home in the coming days. Meanwhile, the death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has now passed 700.

Why is this outbreak so bad? And why aren't we able to contain the virus more effectively? Here's Will Ripley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Doctors in West Africa are fighting a losing battle. More than half of these patients could be dead in days.

PETER PIOT, CO-DISCOVERER OF EBOLA: Tragic that the people who are dying from it, but it's really destabilizes all societies.

RIPLEY: Professor Peter Piot says hospitals are struggling, borders closing, trade and commerce is grinding to a halt.

PIOT: An unprecedented outbreak.

RIPLEY: Piot co-discovered Ebola in Central Africa in 1976, almost 40 years later doctors still don't know how to prevent it or where it lurks between epidemics.

PIOT: It came out of the blue in West Africa. We had no clue that it was circulating there.

RIPLEY: One leading theory is bats are carrying Ebola possibly spreading the virus to other animals and then to people. But testing that theory is really difficult because outbreaks are so rare and there's little market demand for a vaccine.

Money for research often comes from the government. Countries like the U.S. worry Ebola could be used in a bio-terror attack. U.S. studies have been promising, Piot says right now real word testing is what patient desperately need.

PIOT: See whether we can offer that to people suffering from an infection whether up to 90 mortality.

RIPLEY: The stakes have never been higher. For the fires time the virus is spreading across borders to populated areas.

PIOT: It's far more difficult to control epidemic such as Ebola when you go into the big cities, far more difficult to trace all the contacts, isolate people.

PIOT: Until scientist find a cure -- doctors will keep struggling, as Ebola keeps killing. Will Ripley, CNN, London.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll get more on that coming up. Meantime, who and what is Hamas? And what do they really control? We'll look at who has the power in Gaza.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to our special coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.

BLITZER: And I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem.

WHITFIELD: Deadly blasts are rocking Gaza once again. The Palestinian Health Ministry says 50 people have been killed just today. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency says one of their staff members was killed in a strike in Gaza yesterday, and fighting has been raging since a failed cease-fire attempt on Friday.

Israel says Hamas violated the truce by capturing an Israeli soldier. Hamas denies that, and today the Israeli military sent text messages to people in one region of Northern Gaza saying they could go back home, but that they should be aware of explosives Hamas may have put there, and violence is also breaking out in the West Bank.

People protesting the attacks in Gaza clashed with the Israeli military yesterday. One Palestinian was killed according to paramedics -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Hamas certainly as you know, Fred, has a political wing and also an important military wing, but as the fight rages on, it's still unclear who's really in charge. So who exactly is calling the shots for Hamas in Gaza? Right now, CNN's Paula Hancocks has more on this part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Israel is up against. A secretive group of well-trained killers who will stop at nothing to destroy a state they believe should not exist. But this is not Hamas. This is the brigade, one of more than half a dozen different militant groups in Gaza.

This group says it helped kidnap the Israeli soldier in 2006. They have been training to kidnap more. A perfect example of why Israel and its ally should be worried by far more than just Hamas, but with an Israeli soldier now gone, the blame is on Hamas.

OSAMA HAMDAN, HAMAS SPOKESMAN: We can't confirm, we can't deny, unless we have solid information. This is a real position. If that soldier was captured by any other organization, we don't have any information.

HANCOCKS: Sounding as baffled as anyone, the Hamas political leadership is not even in Gaza. It's based in Qatar. They say the occupation prevents them from going home. The reality is, Israel would likely target them if they did. The leader has only been to Gaza once back in 2012 to effectively run Gaza, you have to be in Gaza.

Another problem for Hamas, logistics. Imagine an area the size of Detroit with no power, little water, 1.8 million residents who can't leave, being run by a group that's a shadow of its former self. With a military wing worried about using cell phones that can be tracked by Israel.

KHALED ELGINDY, FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Internal communication within Hamas has been disrupted and so they have a hard time even getting on the same page internally, much less bringing outside groups into line.

HANCOCKS: Despite this, Israel says Hamas rules the strip with an iron fist. So whoever breaks the cease-fire, Hamas is accountable, but the reality is more complex. Islamic Jihad, Army of Islam, just a few of the better known groups. The question is -- how many more splinter groups are there that until now may have been operating under the radar.

ELGINDY: We know there are Jihadi groups in the Gaza Strip. This is the sort of environment that Jihadi groups tend to thrive in.

HANCOCKS: Israel blames Hamas for sparking this latest conflict. Perhaps to try and force concessions. The longer this lasts, the more this becomes a life or death battle for Hamas as well as the people of Gaza. Paula Hancocks, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So with no end in sight, what is next for Israel and Gaza?

Joining us now to break it all down is CNN military analyst, Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. So Colonel, how big a turning point is this that Israel believes that Hamas is holding an Israeli soldier captive?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is, this story is a real wrench into the Israeli plan. The Israeli plan all along was to go in there, do the damage they needed to do. Take out the tunnels, degrade the rocket inventory and try to demilitarize Hamas as best they could and then go home.

Now they've got a soldier probably in captivity, and as you know, the Israelis will not leave someone behind. So they're doing everything they can right now to find out where he is and try and rescue him. I think it's a -- the odds are against him, but they're going to try. That's why we see this ramp-up in military activity.

BLITZER: Colonel, it's Wolf in Jerusalem. What would the U.S. military do in a situation like this, hypothetical, military situation, whether in Iraq or Afghanistan or someplace else. Few American soldiers, they go into a house, and all of a sudden they see there's an entrance to a tunnel.

Someone comes out of the tunnel. With a suicide vest, blows himself up. Kills two of the American soldiers, and some others inside that house, then grab a third soldier and they go down in that tunnel. What would the U.S. do? The U.S. military do, in a situation like that?

FRANCONA: Well, we've had these situations happen in Iraq. Several soldiers at a checkpoint had been taken, and as soon as that happens and alert goes out over the radio and everything stops, and everybody goes into, let's find these guys, mode.

All of the assets, intelligence, aerial surveillance, people on the ground. Similar to what happened when Sergeant Bergdahl was discovered missing. All the offensive operations are halted and everything goes into a rescue mode, but you can only do that for so long.

And at some point, you have to recognize that this guy may be a captive. So the Israelis are going through this process right now. They pretty much took parts of Rafah apart, but they have not been able to find him.

So I think they're trying to isolate Rafah. You saw they are allowing people in the northern part to return to their homes because they're concentrating on where they believe this lieutenant might be.

WHITFIELD: And, Colonel, and Wolf, the president, President Obama, made a statement yesterday about the U.S. role in this conflict that was rather telling. Let's listen.

All right. Well, essentially the president was deploring the fact that so many citizens on the Palestinian side have died, but at the same time, Israel has the right to defend itself.

So, Colonel, just how much further can the U.S. go, or even other countries, in terms of playing a role at this point?

FRANCONA: Yes. Every time you come out in favor of the Israelis defending themselves, you put yourself in the other position of, then, almost justifying the damage that's being done to the infrastructure and more importantly the civilian casualties in Gaza.

I mean, everybody understands the density of the population there and it's almost impossible to conduct military operations without this huge loss of civilian life, and if you even come out and support Israel at all, then people assume that you're justifying this, and I hope the president is not taken in that context.

WHITFIELD: And, Wolf from your standpoint, has there been any reaction there in Israel as to what the president said yesterday? Really trying to play both sides, being a realist, acknowledging the civilian death toll, but at the same time, talking about the right for a country to defend itself?

BLITZER: No. The Israelis were very pleased by what the president said in his news conference at the White House yesterday. The president earlier, Secretary of State Kerry, basically almost completely accepted the Israeli version of what happened, 90 minutes into that so-called cease-fire that supposed cease-fire.

The Israelis -- the president accepted the Israelis version and said Hamas must release that Israeli soldier right away without conditions. Secretary Kerry said it earlier a written statement. So the Israelis believe that on this particular issue, as of yesterday, they got a strong vote of support from the president and the secretary of state.

They were very pleased. They also were pleased that the president made a point specifically at that news conference saying that Hamas usually puts a lot of their rocket launchers, other weapons in heavily populated areas, concentrated, popular areas, populated areas in Gaza and have themselves at least partially to blame for the civilian casualties.

So as far at yesterday was concerned, the Israelis liked a lot what they heard. Hamas, that I spoke way Hamas spokesman yesterday, in Doha, Qatar. He did not like the statement that the president of the United States said and he said so flatly.

WHITFIELD: All right, Wolf Blitzer, thanks so much. We'll check back with you. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Francona, thank you as well. Appreciate it.

Americans are joining protests against the violence they see in Gaza. But in some cases the anger with Israel's response is turning into an anti-Semitic attack aimed at all Jews?

WHITFIELD: The world is watching, the bloodshed and rising death toll in Gaza. Anger is rippling through communities from the U.S. to Europe. Protesters, many pro-Palestinian making sure their voices are heard. In some cases, Deborah Feyerick reports it could be getting dangerously close to anti-Semitism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the west coast to the east, anti-Israel protests are gaining momentum and getting nasty. Almost 200 rallies across America since fighting intensified weeks ago between Israel and Hamas.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators with signs and slogans show images of Hitler, the holocaust and apartheid, images that confuse historical facts and fan the flames of religious intolerance.

OREN SEGAL, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: It conflates issues that people may have with Israel with the issues they have with Jews. That's anti-Semitism and that's what's dangerous.

FEYERICK: Segal heads the Center on Extremism for the Jewish Anti- Defamation League which tracks protests.

SEGAL: It's not just Israel or Israelis that are being compared to Hitler and the Nazis. It's Jews. The focus at these rallies is to demonize Jews. They don't see the difference.

FEYERICK: Europe has seen a rise in anti-Semitic attacks over the last few weeks. Moat blatantly, Jewish-owned businesses vandalized and one burned in Paris after an anti-Israel rally. The U.K. has also reported a spike. More than 100 incidence reported and America is not immune.

Smaller acts of vandalism directed not towards Israeli institutions, but towards synagogues like the one in Miami sprayed with Nazi swastikas and the word "Jew" written in cream cheese on a car.

The ADL says anti-Semitic hate speeches spreading on social media sites and that online hackers have targeted synagogue web sites with claims denying the holocaust.

The Islamic group care warns the rise in Anti-Semitism could trigger an anti-Muslim backlash like this flyer found in a Brooklyn neighborhood.

ZEAD RAMADAN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CHR: I think the rhetoric has to be contained to the point of the questioning of human rights. And to the question of politics, and but not anti-Jewish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: No one can say whether the level of anger and violence in Europe will spread to the U.S., but some American Jews fear that the growing anti-Semitic rhetoric and hate speech could reach levels not seen in generations. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

WHITFIELD: And many of you are still outraged over the apparently light punishment given to NFL star, Ray Rice after the brutal physical assault of the woman who is now his wife. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is trying to make his case that a two-game suspension is fair. We'll bring up the latest reaction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. This breaking news, you're looking at live pictures right now of the Dobbins Air Reserve Base outside of Atlanta, Georgia. You're looking at a plane on the tarmac because it's believed and CNN is confirming, on board is that American doctor who has been transported from Western Africa who is now an Ebola patient here in Atlanta to receive treatment for the first time ever.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us now. This really a first because while the Emory University Hospital feels it's equipped to deal with a highly contagious patient like this, it's the first time they're actually treating somebody who has Ebola.

GUPTA: We're hearing that there were no specific incidents on the plane, the patient is stable. That was of high concern, because quite a sick patient, making sure they're medically stable enough for this flight.

This is the first, as you mentioned, first time in Atlanta, first time in the United States, first time in the western hemisphere of the world to have a patient with Ebola now in this location. They're going to be going to Emory University Hospital.

You know, it's interesting, Fred, any hospital really has an isolation unit can likely take care of a patient with Ebola because it's not an airborne disease. It spreads through bodily fluids and most isolation units are well equipped to handle it. You can see those images as well.

Maybe ambulances coming up to the plane, it's hard to see, but that is the question as well. Simply getting the patient from Point A to Point B. From Dobbins Air Force Base to the Emory University Hospital. Do you go by ground, helicopter, something like that.

And keeping many mind that the people who are transporting, this is obviously, they're the most at risk here because they're having direct contact with this patient and trying to avoid any contamination whatsoever in the plane and whatever vehicle is next.

WHITFIELD: So, with this patient, how was this person transported in the plane to contain whatever contaminants that person may have and then now at that airstrip and then to be transported into any one of these vehicles or helicopter.

GUPTA: It's pretty sophisticated and the goals really are, one, we want to make sure the patient stays stable. Two, want to make sure nobody else gets infected and then obviously know where you're going. I think we might have some images of the inside of the plane.

We can show you while we're trying to figure out what's happening, but if you think about these series of tents within the plane and the patient goes inside these tents and then there's these specially designed passage ways for doctors to put their arms in.

WHITFIELD: Without person to person contact.

GUPTA: That's the key. You don't want contact or drop lift contact. Any body fluids getting from the patient who is ill to the health care providers.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Kent Brantly is this patient. There are two American humanitarian workers overseas who came down with this Ebola. They are the two making their way to the U.S. now. This man right here, Dr. Kent Brantly is the first to arrive.

This containment that you speak of kind of in a bubble in the airplane, that entire bubble with the patient in it would then be transported into any of these ambulances or Medevac helicopter. That's what we should envision?

GUPTA: That's the plan, I believe. Keep in mind we talk about these things, but this has never happened before. We are reporting it first in medical history, this has never happened before. There's no, images of what we're talking about in terms of how this is done. That's the inside of the plane. You get an idea of what that looks like. So the idea of moving that unit into an --

WHITFIELD: There it is.

GUPTA: Into a helicopter, whatever it may be, is probably what's going to happen next. Right now, we're seeing the plane.

WHITFIELD: We're going to talk more about this on the other side of a short break. Thank you so much and you're going to have a live special this afternoon on this.

GUPTA: And we'll go to Emory where the patient's supposed to be probably over the next couple of hours.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back with much more in the NEWSROOM and we'll take you back out to the air reserve base in a moment right after this.

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