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Ebola-Infected Doctor Arrives in Atlanta; President Obama Admits Torture Done by U.S. after 9/11; Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Make Major Statement; Arabs Not Rallying Behind Hamas; Palestinian Viewpoint of Conflict; Violence Rages on between Israel and Hamas

Aired August 02, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. We have a lot that we're covering for you from here in the United States, the transport of the first American with the Ebola virus now being treated in Atlanta, Georgia, to of course want to take you overseas to the Middle East where my colleague Wolf Blitzer is in Jerusalem as well as a number of our correspondents in the region on the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

But first our top story right now. We're talking about the transport of an American doctor who contracted the Ebola virus in West Africa, now back in the United States. We understand he is in that ambulance right there, which was transported from an air reserve base in Georgia and transported to the Emory University Hospital. We don't know yet whether he has actually exited that ambulance and has begun his isolation at Emory University Hospital. But of course, as we get more information and are better -- able to understand these images, we'll bring that to you.

He is one of two Americans who contracted the disease while overseas. His colleague, Nancy Writebol of North Carolina, may be transported as early as next week. The same airplane that brought Dr. Kent Brantly to the U.S. is being suited for the return to Liberia, where it will pick up Nancy Writebol of North Carolina.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at Emory University Hospital.

You're also a member of the faculty staff there. So we all watched this ambulance make its way from the air reserve base in Atlanta to Emory University Hospital, but still unclear, Dr. Gupta, as we were looking at the images, unclear whether the patient himself has been transported. Have you learned anything there?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We are getting some notification that the patient is now inside the hospital, Fred. We -- I'm not seeing the same images you are. I'm not exactly sure what point that took place. It could be that they assisted a -- the patient/passenger, Dr. Brantly, off of the ambulance. He may have gone into a wheelchair or something after actually getting into the building. It's unclear but we are hearing, we got a report now from Emory University that's telling us the patient has arrived. We know the plane landed at Dobbins Air Force Base at 11:20 and the patient, Dr. Brantly, was here by 12:30.

So things went by pretty quickly, Fred, and they say the patient has arrived safely. They made comment earlier, as you remember, Fred, that the patient was stable throughout the plane ride. That all obviously bodes very well. We had heard a few days ago that he had a deterioration in his condition. Exactly how sick he was, was unclear. But the images that you were describing that I saw some of as well, he did not appear obviously to be on a breathing machine, even able to take a -- at least couple of steps himself.

These are things that doctors look for and those things point to some potentially good news for him. Long road still ahead, obviously, but again, you know, I can't -- maybe I'm stating this a few times now, Fred, but this is a first. This has not happened before. You have not had a patient with Ebola in Atlanta ever. You've never had a patient with Ebola in the United States or even in the western hemisphere of the world. So what we're looking at is certainly a first but the doctors here, the team, feel very, very ready and equipped to be able to handle this.

WHITFIELD: And this doctor, Dr. Kent Brantly, clearly making huge risk, calculated risks to do this kind of humanitarian work in an area that has been stricken in a very big way by this highly infectious disease, the Ebola virus. So one has to wonder whether he is also allowing himself to be used as research and that's in large part why Emory University Hospital and its relationship with the CDC may have been selected, that he is hoping his treatment may also benefit in the research of this very mysterious virus.

What do you think about that notion?

GUPTA: Yes, I think the first and foremost, the goals, I can tell you at a clinical hospital like this under these sorts of situations is to provide patient care. I think that that's first and foremost the goal. That's what sort of allows this sort of extraordinary effort to take place. Is that you think you have a better chance of saving someone's life if they are here at this location versus where they were. That's what drives the decision.

But, Fred, I will tell you that there is a -- there are some interests in these experimental vaccines and medications, some of which have been in trial for some time around the world. We know that the doctors here have been talking to the doctors at the National Institutes for Health, the Food and Drug Administration, about trying to see if maybe they would fast track one of these vaccines for use in Dr. Brantly and possibly Miss Writebol as well, or at least obtain a --what is known as compassionate care, compassionate use clauses, so that may happen. That may be part of the research as well.

They certainly will, I'm sure, examine blood, examine antibodies, all the things that are necessary to treat infectious diseases. But first and foremost, I think they want to provide the best care that they can possibly and they want to implement it very, very reliably.

There's not a magic potion as you and I have talked about, but by being able to give back fluids as necessary, give back blood as necessary. Those end up being a very big deal when taking care of a patient with Ebola. You're allowing the body to fight the virus and keeping the body alive during that time. That's the real goal of what is known as supportive care. And they just feel like they can do that really, really well here.

WHITFIELD: And Sanjay, we saw it when you went to West Africa, and we saw it again with the medical community in the protective suits today, and again on Friday when they demonstrated to you at Emory the precautions that they would take, but can you give me an idea just to what extent the precautions are being made for the medical community. Those who come into contact with Dr. Brantly and then eventually Miss Writebol as well.

Beyond the protective suits because there is an incubation period of some 21 days if you've been exposed to the Ebola virus, would it be expected that any of those members treating this doctor or Miss Writebol, that they would have to stay in quarantine or in isolation areas during the period of their treatment?

GUPTA: It's a great question. And I asked the same question to the medical team here yesterday. Would they have to basically stay in the hospital, stay in the isolation ward during this time. Here's how they explained it to me. If there is a known exposure, if some of the bodily fluid gets on your skin for some reason or maybe there's an accidental needle stick, blood is being drawn and the needle from that blood draw is introduced into someone else's skin, those are the exposures and that would warrant isolation and monitoring temperature for 21 days.

But short of that, if you're wearing these suits, which are protective suits. They're designed to be impermeable, nothing gets in, nothing gets out of those suits, then if there's no concern about an exposure, these doctors, nurses, the teams, they will be able to go home.

Dr. Ribner, who's going to be leaving the team, he lives here in Atlanta. He's married, he has children. He's going to be going home every night. I asked him incidentally, Fred, I said, you got the call saying this was going to happen. Did you have any reservations? He said no. I said then the next person you call, if you're anything like me, is your wife and explain this to her as well.

WHITFIELD: Right.

GUPTA: And he said -- and her response was you've been training your entire life for this sort of thing. You've got to do this. But he did tell us that he is going to go home every night. If the patients are critically ill and he needs to stay, that would warrant him staying, but other than that, he doesn't see a need for him to actually stay in isolation during the time that he's caring for these patients.

WHITFIELD: Wow. It's a giant commitment. Of course we know that Dr. Brantly is appreciative of that as will be Miss Writebol as well, and really the entire medical and research community, which hopes to learn and gain a lot more about how to treat, perhaps even how to eradicate or eliminate or slow down the growth of this highly infectious disease, Ebola virus.

GUPTA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Appreciate it. We're going to check back with you momentarily because we know there are other developments that we're hoping to learn about the transport of this patient and the next step. What is straight ahead.

The other big story that we're following today, the fighting in the Middle East. Our Wolf Blitzer is there live in Jerusalem. We'll go there next for the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We'll get back to our coverage of the first American with Ebola virus transported to the U.S. for medical treatment in a moment, but first other -- our other top story, the crisis in the Middle East. Our Wolf Blitzer is live for us now in Jerusalem.

Wolf, what's the latest?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Well, there are dramatic developments happening right now here in the Middle East. The prime minister of Israel is getting ready to make a major address to the Israeli public about where he is going. Where Israel is going next as far as this operation in Gaza is concerned. There may be some unilateral Israeli moves to start withdrawing Israeli ground forces from Gaza.

We're watching this very closely. The top of the hour, the prime minister will be in the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv and making a major announcement. Israeli Cabinet has been meeting in emergency session.

All of this comes a day after the violence in Gaza with a lot more shelling, a lot more death. One strike in Gaza actually hit a university. The University of Israel says Hamas was using to work on weapons. Israel has accused Hamas of capturing an Israeli soldier. Hamas has strongly denied that but right now it's not clear what exactly has happened to that Israeli soldier.

Also, today, Egypt is pushing for a new ceasefire and a Palestinian delegation headed to Cairo today, but according to Israeli media report, Israel is not sending a delegation, at least not know.

In the United States yesterday, the U.S. Congress approved $225 million to support Israel's Iron Dome antimissile defense system.

Let's go to Sara Sidner right now. She's joining us now. She's in southern Israel right near the border with Gaza. She's got more of what's going on. Reza Sayah standing by in Cairo.

Sara, first to you. We expect to hear from the prime minister at the top of the hour, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the word is that he's going to make some unilateral announcements, starting to withdraw Israeli ground forces from Gaza keeping the air power in place, keeping naval power potentially in place, but start moving those Israeli ground troops out.

What are you seeing over there on the ground where you are, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've been hearing are the thunderous booms of artillery going from the Israeli Navy into Gaza. We've also been hearing quite a few Iron Dome hits, basically the rockets coming over. There have been quite a few lots of sirens cross southern Israel today in the last few hours, especially hearing plenty of that, we understand that a 70-year-old man was actually severely injured after being hit by a mortar in Eshkol region counsel area as well of Israel.

Certainly, the fighting continues, but there is a lot of talk about exactly what happens next. What do you do after you're in your fourth week of fighting. What happens next. And remember, we talked about this, it was on your show actually, Wolf, when we heard from the southern command, that basically said look, it's in the next few days, perhaps a week, we will complete our mission, so it'll be curious to listen, to hear what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in -- about 45 minutes now.

The country will be watching for sure. Certainly people curious exactly what he is going to do and say and what that's going to mean for the Israeli soldiers on the ground and of course, what that's going to mean for the people in Gaza. Hearing from the Health Ministry in Gaza, that more than 1650 people have been killed. They say most of them are civilians. And much of Gaza has been just blown apart. The pictures are absolutely just devastation across a lot of Gaza Strip.

BLITZER: Sara Sidner reporting for us from near the Gaza border in southern Israel.

Sara, thanks so much.

I want to go to Cairo right now. Reza Sayah is on the scene for us right now.

Reza, this Palestinian delegation, as far as you know, already arrived in Cairo for talks with top Egyptian officials. On the agenda, of course, is trying to come up with some sort of ceasefire.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's not clear. What we know, according to Palestinian authority leaders, is that representatives of various Palestinian factions are making their way to Cairo. Again, it's not clear if they have arrived, but here's the problem. If you're going to negotiate, you need two sides and with Israeli leaders making it clear they're not planning to come at this point.

It's not going to do any good with the Palestinian leaders here, but obviously, a lot of people around the world want these two sides to stop fighting, to get to Cairo and sit across the table and establish -- reestablish the truce talks, but unfortunately at this point, not a lot of movement on that front.

We've been talking to Egyptian officials for the past 24 hours and they sounded seemingly more optimistic yesterday, but as we go in deeper into Saturday, it's now roughly 8:00 p.m. here, you get the sense, the hopes for truce talks between these two sides are slowly fading, although Egypt has not given up. Earlier today, Egyptian President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi held a news conference and a lot of people were eager to see if he would make reference to the U.N.-backed peace proposal that was introduced yesterday.

He didn't. Instead, he made reference to the Egypt proposal that was made back on July 14th. Of course you'll recall back in July 14th Hamas immediately rejected that peace proposal by Egypt, saying they weren't consulted and this proposal -- that ceasefire proposal did not include Hamas' demand, so again, much of the world watching to see if anyone -- any group can end the fighting and get these two sides to sit across from the table together.

At this point, nothing happening on that front but many here in Cairo will be watching Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to see if he has any news regarding the ceasefire proposal.

BLITZER: Yes. I suspect he's going to start announcing some withdrawal, if not all of the withdrawal of Israeli ground forces. But we'll see, we'll see what he announces at the top of the hour but people here are getting ready, they're getting ready for a major announcement from the prime minister of Israel.

Let's bring in our guest right now, Calev Myers is the founder of the Jerusalem Institute for Justice. He's prominent attorney here.

What do you make of the word on the street right now, what I'm hearing at least, is that there could be a unilateral Israeli ground force withdrawal that could begin and may be underway even as we speak right now?

CALVE MYERS, FOUNDER, JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: Yes. Well, actually, Wolf, we've already started to withdraw troops from the northern part of Gaza and like you said, our prime minister will be giving an announcement at the top of the hour, so it looks like Israel is determining it has done the job done based on its terms, and then it will withdraw unilaterally, which I think makes sense.

You know, fool me once, shame on me. Fool me six times, shame on you. Fools me six times, shame on me. We had all these ceasefires that were grossly breached by the Hamas and now Israel is determining if, when, under what terms it will withdraw from the operation.

BLITZER: What are you hearing about this missing Israeli soldier, a 2nd Lieutenant who the Israeli said was taken by Hamas yesterday? All of a sudden now, there's conflicting reports. Hamas is denying it. There's fear that maybe he's no longer alive.

What are you hearing?

MYERS: You know, I'm hearing what you're hearing. Right now people are saying that the chances are that he's probably no longer alive. We're still hoping and praying for better news, but that's all we know right now.

BLITZER: And Israel obviously has undertaken a massive search in that southern Gaza area in Rafah.

MYERS: As far as I know, the search is still going on.

BLITZER: So you live here. You understand the mood of the country.

MYERS: Yes.

BLITZER: Does the prime minister of Israel have the backing of most Israelis right now? Is there a division within the country? Because the pictures we see out of Gaza obviously that huge number of civilian casualties are awful.

MYERS: The vast majority of Israeli citizens wants our government to get the job done, and then pull our troops out. Nobody wants this engagement to continue forever. Nobody in Israel is saying let's re- conquer Gaza, but the question is, have they gotten the job done?

These -- these terror tunnels are horrific. And for our citizens in the south to think that, you know, tomorrow, a terrorist can pop out of their backyard and fire on them, et cetera, is a very scary thing and so people want to make sure the job is done. And the vacuum right now that the prime minister had is make sure you get the job done before you pull out your troops.

BLITZER: Because I'm hearing from Israeli military personnel that they think most of those tunnel have been identified and almost completely destroyed. There may be a few others here and there but they think that specific mission is near completion.

Are you hearing the same thing?

MYERS: Yes. What the IDF spokesman said today is that the vast majority of the tunnels have been destroyed. These are underground. It's obviously impossible to say 100 percent of it is destroyed, and some of them are also under -- for instance, the main operation based in Hamas is under al-Shifa hospital in the center of Gaza. Well, we can't go and destroy that because it would harm so many citizens and so there's no way to 100 percent eradicate this but we do believe that the tunnels that weed into Israel have been by and large completely destroyed.

BLITZER: And that would be one explanation why the ground forces may be starting to come out of Gaza. The Israeli ground forces. Even as we speak right now but we'll stand by to hear from the prime minister of Israel at the top of the hour.

Calev Myers, thanks very much for joining us.

So there's the news. We'll stand by to hear, Fred, from the Prime Minister Netanyahu, he'll be addressing the nation shortly right at the top of the hour. We'll see what he announces, we'll see where takes the military situation in Gaza right now. Lot more news coming up. We'll follow it obviously very closely -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Look forward to all that. Thanks so much. Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. We'll have much more from the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A stunning admission from President Obama during a news conference. He said the U.S. had, quote, "crossed a line" in its treatment of terror suspects after the September 11th attacks. Listen to his comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we did some things that were wrong. We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The president was alluding a soon-to-be released report detailing the CIA's interrogation program.

To talk more about this, I'm joined by Josh Rogin. He is the senior national security correspondent for "The Daily Beast."

So what do we believe, Josh, is coming?

JOSH ROGIN, SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, "THE DAILY BEAST": So the White House has sent back the Senate Intelligence Committee the final redacted version of a 6200-page report that details interrogation, rendition and detention practices by the CIA all over the world in the years following 9/11.

According to everyone who has seen the report, it's going to reveal new and shocking details about the way we captured, about the way we interrogated people and according to President Obama, about the way that we tortured people in the effort to stop another attack on this nation.

Now it seems that the committee itself won't use the word torture, but what President Obama said yesterday is that anyone who reads it will have to conclude that it's torture. That means that there could be political, diplomatic and even legal implications of the report. It's also caught up in this huge fight between the CIA and the Democratic community staff led by Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein accused the CIA of spying into the computers of the investigators. The CIA admitted that yesterday.

And also there's a Republican minority staff here that wasn't involved in the report for most of it and they're going to call in a political hack job, so whenever this comes out, which should be early next week, unless it leaks hopefully to me, then we're going to -- we're going to have this huge food fight erupt and then also we're going to learn a lot about how our nation acted during this crucial time in our history. WHITFIELD: So, Josh, the president has been on the record as saying

torturing endangers Americans, especially those in military uniform by having a policy that allows or even if it's not a policy, a practice of interrogation, of torture. Certainly, endangers them. I wonder if there's the same feeling about the release of this kind of information, whether it, too, threatens to endanger those in uniforms or Americans, period, abroad.

ROGIN: Yes, it's a great question. Of course one issue is, did the CIA lie to its bosses, to the Congress, to the American people about what they were doing? The second issue is, were these interrogation techniques effective? Did they produce unique intelligence? Did they (INAUDIBLE) plots? And were they better than all of the other ways we used to get information from suspected terrorists?

And the third issue is the one that you just brought up, which is when this information becomes public, no matter what it is, what will the reaction around the world will be? You know, will people in U.S. embassies abroad be under danger? Has the State Department prepared for that? They say that they have. Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee are not sure, but the bottom line is this information or a lot of it is going to come out. There's a fight over exactly how much the Senate says that the CIA redacted too much information so they're struggling over those details.

But regardless, we're going to learn a lot of shocking and new details about interrogation techniques that were performed by CIA personnel or their contractors, and people are going to be outraged both here and abroad and according to President Obama, that's part of just what we have to do to own up to our behavior.

WHITFIELD: And again what's the timetable on this release?

ROGIN: So the Senate got a version yesterday. They're fighting now with the White House and the intelligence community over whether or not they can get a few more details released, but now that a lot of people have this declassified version, it could leak out at any moment. The committee has said that they won't release it until they're finally ready to say that they fought as hard as they could for as many details as possible. So that means the formal release will probably come next week. Immediately next week.

WHITFIELD: All right, Josh Rogin. Thanks so much. Senior national security correspondent for "The Daily Beast."

Of course, you do let us know if you get your hands on that since you're --

ROGIN: Will do.

WHITFIELD: -- eager to do that. Thank you.

All right. Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, as the body count keeps rising and the wounded file in to hospital, we're going to hear from a member of the Palestinian parliament. We'll get his take on the conflict in Gaza next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now for an update on mortgages, fixed rates dropped. Take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Here are the top stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

More than 62,000 undocumented children have now crossed into the United States since October. That surpasses the number expected by the Obama administration. Officials now believe 90,000 of those children will come to the U.S. by the end of the year. But they say the flow appears to be slowing down.

Seventy experts are searching the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 for human remains with the aid of cadaver dogs. It's just the third day experts have had complete access to the debris field since the Boeing 777 crashed two weeks ago. Meanwhile, fighting continues near the area. Ten Ukrainian troops were killed yesterday about 15 miles away.

Undocumented immigrants in Colorado are now getting driver's licenses in that state. The new program started just yesterday. State officials say the program will make the streets safer. It requires both written and driving tests. Opponents say it just rewards people for being in the U.S. illegally.

And if you have the unlimited data plan from Verizon, watch out. The company says it will occasionally slow the connection speeds of those customers during times of heavy network usage if they fall within the top five percent of data users. Verizon says it's just trying to manage its network. The FCC chair says he is deeply troubled by the report saying he believes the company is trying to force people off the unlimited plan.

And rising NBA star Paul George is recovering from surgery after his gruesome injury last night during a Team USA scrimmage. It happened during the fourth quarter when he slid into the base behind the basket. It bent his lower right leg in a way that was so graphic fans and players had to simply look away.

Judging by George's Twitter page, he seems to be in good spirits today. He tweeted, quote, "Thanks, everybody, for the love and support. I'll be OK, and be back better than ever, love y'all."

Good luck to him.

All right. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a statement on Israel's offensive against Hamas and Gaza in about a half an hour from now. Israel says it has struck 200 so-called terror targets in the last 24 hours and a new video shows the Israeli military blowing up Hamas tunnels. Also the Israeli military has sent text messages to residents of

northern Gaza letting them know that they can return to their homes. And that's just near the Israeli border.

Israeli is hunting for a soldier it says was kidnapped by Hamas on Friday, but the armed wing of Hamas says it is not holding Israeli Lieutenant Hadar Goldin.

Arab leaders usually support Palestinians against Israel, but in this conflict, Hamas is finding little support from its Arab neighbors.

CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just two years ago, Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, embraces then Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi during a high-level meeting in Cairo. A powerful symbol of legitimacy for Meshaal and Hamas, for Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood which backed him, a deeply concerning image for Israel.

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER: That has now fallen apart. The Muslim Brotherhood, the leadership is in jail.

TODD: After tossing Morsi out, Egypt's authoritarian government has turned against Hamas. And Egypt's not alone. Across the Arab world, the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates are looking the other way, leaving Hamas all alone.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA, GPS: Their eyes on, we don't want these kinds of guys to win. If Israel beats them up, well and good.

TODD: None of those Arab leaders would ever publicly support Israel but none are rushing to defend Hamas in this battle. Our efforts to get comments from their representatives in Washington and in the region met with stone silence. But Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, writing in an Arab newspaper says, "Hamas' readiness to cause a great deal of suffering clearly showing Hamas is irresponsible." And on Egyptian TV commentators don't hold back in blasting Hamas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): People are revolted by you. Get lost. You make us nauseous. The whole world goes to hell because of you.

TODD: Hamas is seen by many in the Arab world as an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood, a huge Islamist political group, which the rulers of Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have been battling against for years.

BAER: If the Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas succeeds in Gaza, the question will be, why can't they take over the Gulf States or Egypt?

TODD: What those regimes really fear is democracy. Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood won power in actual elections. KHALED ELGINDY, FORMER ADVISOR TO PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: They have

been part of these uprisings, revolts, all around the region in Egypt, in Tunisia and elsewhere, for democratic reform. And they certainly don't want to see that kind of reform happen in their own countries because they are worried about maintaining their own regimes.

TODD (on camera): This conflict may well drag on. Israel analysts say will likely get more breathing room, more latitude from its Arab neighbors to keep pounding on Hamas, all in a wink and a nod, all unspoken, at least publicly.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's go now to Jerusalem where we find our Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Hey, thanks very much. I want to bring in a member of the Palestinian parliament, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. He's also the founder of the Palestinian National Initiative. He is joining us live from Ramallah in the West Bank.

I'll get to that report we just heard from Brian Todd in a moment, but we're hearing at the top of the hour, Dr. Barghouti, the prime minister of Israel is going to announce that Israel's starting, if it hasn't already, withdrawing its ground forces from Gaza. What do you make of that?

MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: What is announced means three things. First of all, that Israel is admitting that it has failed in its operation in Gaza. They wanted in my opinion, to reoccupy Gaza. That's what many Israel minister said and they wanted to uproot resistance there and they failed.

Second thing, it means that Israel refuses, contrary to so many reports that appeared in international media, especially American media, it is Israel that refuses to have a formal ceasefire and it is Israel now that is refusing to send a delegation to Cairo to negotiate a full ceasefire. What that means, third, is that Israeli wants to keep attacking Gaza, keep conducting airstrikes and massacres there, and taking away the lives of Palestinian civilians.

So far, Wolf, we have lost 1,670 Palestinians in Gaza. And 9,000 have been injured. Mostly civilians, mostly women and children. If that had happened in the United States, if Gaza had the population of the United States, we would be talking about the loss of a quarter of a million people killed, and about 1.5 million Americans injured.

Let me remind you that in 9/11, the horrible attack on the United States took away 4,000 lives. Here, we would be talking about 250,000 lives. It's amazing how great this devastation is in addition of course to the devastation of the infrastructure on the ground and yet the American forces decides --

(CROSSTALK) BLITZER: What do you make --

BARGHOUTI: -- to award their aggressor.

BLITZER: What do you make, Dr. Barghouti, of the fact that when it comes to who was responsible for breaking that 72-hour proposed ceasefire yesterday? The president of the United States, the secretary of state of the United States, they directly blamed Hamas. They took the Israeli position, they didn't take the Hamas position.

BARGHOUTI: And they were both wrong. They were wrong because that ceasefire was not a real ceasefire. We spoke about that yesterday. Israel was allowed to continue its military operations while the Palestinian side would abstain from responding, and the ceasefire broke because Israeli army invaded certain areas in Rafah and the Palestinians responded, so it failed.

The reason was that the ceasefire arrangement itself was not proper. Ceasefire means that nobody would shoot. Ceasefire means that nobody will attack, but Israel was allowed to continue attacking and in my opinion the Israelis conspired toward that. But the result on the ground is going to raise big questions for Mr. Netanyahu. People in Israel will ask Netanyahu, why did you do that? Why did Israelis lose more than 70 soldiers in this operation that led to no political result? And why did you commit these massacres against the Palestinian people?

One day, all the facts would be revealed and Netanyahu would be accountable. If not, being accountable also in front of the International Criminal Court at one point of time.

BLITZER: So when you see what's going on right now, this Palestinian delegation going to meet with the Egyptian government, trying to talk about a ceasefire, apparently there's not going to be an Israeli delegation unless they change their mind, we'll find out at the top of the hour when Netanyahu speaks.

What's going to be achieved when this Palestinian delegation representing all the factions, including the Palestinian authority and Hamas meets with the Egyptians? What are they trying to achieve?

BARGHOUTI: Well, first of all, the first very important result is that you have a unified Palestinian delegation and a unified Palestinian position. On issues of the ceasefire and on the issue of lifting the siege on Gaza which is causing a terrible humanitarian crisis. Again, this is contradictory to what was reported about the visions within the Palestinian camp.

Second, this delegation might be able to unify the Palestinian position with the Egyptian and in that regard, it will stop the ability of Israel to keep using Arabs against Palestinians. On the third hand, if Israel does not send a delegation, it will be clear to everybody that it is Israel that wants to continue this aggression and this war and this violence, and it is Israel that is refusing to have or create arrangements where security could be available to everybody. At the end of the day, the world will be asking, why Israelis have the

right for security and peace and Palestinians should not have that right? Aren't we all equal human beings? Aren't we all entitled to security and peace? And isn't it the time to lift this terrible siege on Gaza? Isn't it the time for people in Gaza to be able to work, to get education, to get health care? Isn't it time to stop this devastation that is taking the lives of so many innocent people?

BLITZER: Dr. Barghouti, let's see what the prime minister of Israel announces at the top of the hour. We'll continue to get your reaction and we'll continue to watch what's going on.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian parliamentarian, joining us from Ramallah on the West Bank.

Once again, we're standing by for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement, being described as a major statement, announcing at least a partial if not a complete withdrawal of Israeli ground forces from inside Gaza.

Stay with us. Much more of our coverage right after this.

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WHITFIELD: The streets of Gaza are filled with rubble, bloodshed and anguish. It's been a violent 24 hours since a short-lived ceasefire between Israel and Hamas both sides showering the other with rockets.

I'm joined now by foreign policy analyst and Italian-Palestinian journalist, Rula Jebreal, in New York.

Rula, good to see you.

RULA JEBREAL, FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, how hopeful are you about this Egyptian-led effort to perhaps lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire?

JEBREAL: Well, you need to have the parties to have a ceasefire and eventual political solution. Israelis decided not to join or not to send a delegation and that means that the Palestinian side will speak to the Egyptian side, and it's -- this is the fourth war in Gaza and we didn't achieve any of the goals, which is security for Israel and eventual political solution for the Palestinians.

It's time to understand that there's no military solution to this. We realize between 2012, the last war and this war, that Hamas is much stronger militarily than what we thought. There's many tunnels that we don't know of. They probably destroyed some of them, but not all of them, and, you know, beyond that there's also human catastrophe taking place in Gaza.

So the thing that we need to focus on is a political way out of this that ends this cyclical violence and guarantee for both sides, security for Israel and -- the aspiration of Palestinians for freedom and dignity and a better life that are met. Otherwise we will have a date every two or three years and have new conflicts and we'll be talking about this again and again and again.

WHITFIELD: So you think it's more realistic to approach it from a political standpoint because, as you mentioned, militarily Hamas is very strong and Israel is very strong militarily? But to come from the political standpoint, is there a feeling that the Palestinian people feel that they are being represented politically by Hamas in the right way?

In other words, does Hamas have the backing of the Palestinian people and what is the end point if the answer is yes on that?

JEBREAL: Well, obviously Hamas won an election, but the popularity of Hamas was declining in Gaza. They control Gaza, they don't control the West Bank. And in controlling Gaza they show actually the Palestinian people their perverse and cynical policies and most of the Palestinian people probably in Gaza would reject them if they will run for election again.

After this war and the destruction, I am not sure what the debate will be and where their popularity stands, but we know one thing, and these are the facts. Hamas managed to push Israel to negotiate over one soldier, Gilad Shalit, and released a thousand prisoners. Hamas used violence and this is their goal, to push Israel to negotiate. And this is a tool that they use. Now we are talking about another soldier in -- another soldier in their hands.

While the moderates in the West Bank, Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas, the president, recognize the state of Israel, cooperated with Israel on security and in actually fighting Hamas, and they got nothing out of negotiation. So this is what we are telling the Palestinians. These are the options. Either you vote for Hamas and you will live all your life under siege or you live under military occupation, even when you recognize Israel.

We need to go out of this paradigm and remember Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who used to say, I fight terrorists while I am negotiating, and I am negotiating while I am fighting terrorists. A double policy. We can't demilitarize Hamas with the help of United States and international communities, but that needs to be coupled with de-occupation. The de-occupation of Palestinian territories, whether it's in the West Bank and in Gaza can happen and can guarantee the security of Israel and that can be intertwined with demilitarization.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rula Jebreal, thank you so much, in New York. Appreciate your time.

And we'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. Hey, there is a named storm out there. We want to check with Jennifer Gray to see what's bertha's status?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is bertha's second named storm of the Atlantic season. And really not a strong storm at all. In fact, it's actually bringing some welcomed rain across parts of Puerto Rico, even the Dominican Republic as we get into tonight. And we're talking about anywhere from, say, three to five inches of rain across Puerto Rico. One to three inches of rain across the Dominican Republic.

This is packing winds of about 50 miles per hour at most. We haven't seen winds particularly that strong across Puerto Rico. We've seen winds of about 35 to 40 miles per hour. This storm is expected to take a turn to the north and east over the next coming days, seeing a wave from the U.S. It is going to create, say, a rip current risk and also an increase in surf along the East Coast of the U.S., but it's not going to pose a threat.

What we are going to see, though, over the weekend, a risk of rain anywhere across the East Coast, Fred, throughout today and tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: All right. A soggy weekend. All right, thanks so much, Jennifer Gray, appreciate that.

All right. You can notice at the bottom of your screen, we are watching there from Jerusalem, the prime minister of Israel is likely to have a statement momentarily, taking to the podium right there. We're watching at the lower part of the screen. There you see it as it's happening. They're getting ready there for that statement to occur. We're not sure what's going to be said, but of course we'll take it live as it happens. We'll be right back.

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