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Hamas Rocket Video; U.S. General Killed; Ebola News; Bergdahl Faces Questions

Aired August 06, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The Mideast cease-fire is holding still today. This is two days for the cease-fire. But moments ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed reporters in Jerusalem and said the cease-fire plan is the same one Hamas rejected back on July 15th. He said that makes Hamas responsible for nearly all the deaths in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Ninety percent, a full 90 percent of the fatalities in this conflict could have been avoided had Hamas not rejected then the cease-fire that it accepts now. Hamas must be held accountable for the tragic loss of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Again, this is a temporary cease-fire, at least for now. The truce formally ends this Friday morning.

And the big story today out of the Mideast are the talks now beginning in Egypt to try to cement this, to extend the cease-fire. Hamas is there. The PLO is there. Islamic jihad is there. Those are the three big factions out of Gaza. Of course, the Israelis, they're there, as well. Egypt playing the role of mediator.

Now, officials in Gaza say the month of Israeli air attacks, not just from the air, we should point out from land, by sea, that all caused $5 billion worth of damage. All estimates here run in the billions. And it is unclear now whether restoring Gaza is up for discussion there in Cairo.

Throughout this conflict, we have shown you not only the death and destruction out of Gaza, we have shown you how Hamas was firing rockets from Gaza at Israel. In fact, we showed you this very picture. These rockets rising from Gaza, from a populated area, just as Israel has said.

But now we have this today, and I want you to watch this closely because you're looking at this Indian journalist, who we'll talk to in a matter of seconds here, this is an Indian journalist from his hotel room in Gaza. And you see the tent, this blue tent? So he's looking out his hotel window, he's peering at this tent, the comings and goings of a group of men who he suspected were building a rocket. On the very next morning, at the very same site, this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that's the rocket being fired today, morning, a day after it was assembled at the exact spot the rocket has been fired. That's the smoke we just showed a video of it in the (INAUDIBLE) aftermath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, so we're heading to the spot where we saw the rocket being fired. It's complete (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So here it is. And this is the closest look we have gotten at a rocket going up from Gaza. Nearly all of those rockets either were downed by Israeli defense rockets or fell in unpopulated areas. But as I mentioned a moment ago, that reporter that you're seeing on the screen, we have him on the phone right now. His name is Sreenivasan Jain. He's actually in Israel as we speak.

So, Sreenivasan, beginning with just how did you come to know -- you're standing there, you're looking out your hotel window at this tent and then we see the smoke. Why -- how did you come to determine it was a rocket being built?

SREENIVASAN JAIN, INDIAN JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, look, you know, just to put this into context now, and exactly a week before we saw this blue tent pop up at that spot, at the very same spot a rocket launched, exactly the same spot from across our hotel. Now this happened in the dead of the night. So it was not something we could catch in video. It was also the first night that we'd arrived in Gaza. So, obviously, there was a lot of panic and confusion as to what happened because we were obviously sensitized to the fact that there was something about that spot which made it conducive for Hamas or for any of the Islamic groups in Gaza to launch rockets.

Now, on the last day -- the penultimate (ph) day of our time in Gaza, we wake up in the morning and we - there's a blue tent there, very incongruous (ph) to see this tent in that exact same spot. And we see this group of men walking in and out, very quiet, very assertive (ph), doing something which looked pretty much - you know, they were running cables out of there because (INAUDIBLE) protruding from the side of the tent. So putting two and together, it didn't take, if I might make a lame joke, rocket science, to figure out that what was going on was pretty much linked to some kind of activity involving the firing of a missile.

So we assumed it and you, you know, you carry that - (INAUDIBLE) my report. We filmed it. To our (INAUDIBLE) almost an hour before the men wrapped up their activity. They covered the - they dismantled the tent. They covered it with a piece of shrubbery and walked away. And then the next morning, by a coincidence, this was the morning - this was the countdown to the cease-fire, 10 minutes before the cease-fire, there was a boom and the rocket went off. And we managed to get that video, as well. And then the two together was a (INAUDIBLE) for us and was pretty clear what we (INAUDIBLE) was the assembling and firing of a rocket, most likely by Hamas. And that's when we decided to go ahead with it. BALDWIN: So, Sreenivasan, since you mentioned this is just before the

cease-fire, this would have been presumably one of the final rockets launched, correct?

JAIN: Absolutely. There were plenty (ph) of rockets launched before the cease-fire. This is fairly common practice, as you know, between Hamas and (INAUDIBLE). In fact, even Hamas (INAUDIBLE) also stepping up artillery and other attacks before the cease-fire. So, yes, plenty of rockets. In fact, we were told almost 33 (INAUDIBLE) in the last 15 minutes. And this rocket was one of them. I believe it actually was set off somewhere around 7:52, which is about eight minutes before the cease-fire. So it was sort of a calculated risk, knowing that you fire rockets just before the cease-fire kicks in. So there's a fairly strong chance that there won't be a retaliation. And I guess that's the gamble that Hamas was looking at.

BALDWIN: It's stunning video. And this is really the first time we're seeing a face to what has seemed to be the faceless members of Hamas. Sreenivasan Jain, stay on the phone with me. If I could just get you to hold on because, Jim Clancy, let me bring you and your veteran voice into this whole conversation. I mean to the point, we've seen, of course, the casualties. We have seen the aftermath of shelling in Gaza. And, of course, we've been reporting on the flip side the tunnel infiltration, the killing of IDF soldiers. But this really, for the first time, puts a face on Hamas.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Well, you know, it exposes what I think most journalists that have worked in Gaza and have been through prior conflicts already know, and that is that Hamas does fire near some of these targets. They did fire near the hospital. There's video evidence out there. Journalists have seen this. It's not a new tactic.

But, you know, it points out something else. The sordid tactics of Hamas can be blamed for some of the casualties. But it is also the policies and the tactics that Israel uses that count, as well.

Use this case in point. Israel knows, as we all do, that Hamas uses these tactics. But it did not fire on this hotel. It never fires where the international journalists are. Why? That would be an international public relations disaster for the Israelis. But it happens over and over again with U.N. shelters and with hospitals and with other places. You have to fault Hamas, certainly, for using the tactic. But you have to understand, it is possible to hold fire. It is possible to maintain a more pinpoint response to that fire.

Look, we have a debate that's going to brew. There's going to be much more video that comes out. There's going to be many more details coming out in the days ahead. We just saw the prime minister of Israel really trying to get out in front of a lot of that.

BALDWIN: That's my next question, because we saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not too long ago. He was using this video to precisely use this as an example of what Israel has been saying, that much of the civilian casualties in Gaza, Hamas is to blame for that. I just -- in watching that news conference in Jerusalem, Jim Clancy, what did you make of his tone and also the timing? Keep in mind, the cease-fire is set to expire Friday morning.

CLANCY: Well, he full well knows that. There's not a lot of optimism about what's going on in Cairo because they aren't serious political talks. As far as I understand, at this hour, it is no more than talking about extending the current truce, with neither side really giving up anything in terms of lifting the siege or disarming Hamas. Neither side is willing to go that far. At least at this stage the talks aren't that serious.

But you look at what's going to come out and the prime minister knows that. You heard him there equating the Palestinians with ISIS, with all the worst terror groups in the world, dehumanizing the Palestinians on that front. You heard him trying to get out in front of it. There's going to be a lot of information come out. There's going to be stories from former Israeli soldiers saying they've been told that this was some of the soldiers did this because it was retaliation for their dead comrades. They lost a lot of soldiers. More than 60 in this conflict. They're not used to that high of casualties in Gaza. On the Palestinian side too, there's going to be more revelations of Hamas' tactics.

Who loses in all of this? Well, of course, it's the Israelis and the Palestinians because there's no political settlement here. The biggest waste, as was pointed out by Steven Walt (ph) in a tweet yesterday. He said, the biggest waste -- the biggest horror in all of this is the fact that nothing has been accomplished because of the loss of all of this life. We are right back to square one. This is going to happen all over again.

BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE) too early to talk even winners and losers since this thing is supposed to expire Friday morning. And to your point, the talks don't even seem that serious. Just on a table, perhaps, extending this temporary cease-fire.

Jim Clancy, we'll keep the conversation going. And Sreenivasan Jain on the phone with me with video we had really never seen before from Gaza. I appreciate both of you.

Now to this story here. New details in this horrible, horrible story out of Afghanistan. This U.S. two-star general gunned down in a surprise attack. We now have a name today. He was Major General Harold Greene, now the highest-ranking American to be killed on the battlefield since Vietnam. The attacked believed to be one of the very Afghans the U.S. is training to take over security in that country.

We now know Major Greene was standing outside of a building in Kabul when this man, said to be an Afghan soldier, hid in a bathroom some 100 yards away and shot through the window at this group who was standing outside. That assailant was then killed by forces. Major Greene, here's a little bit more about this man. He was known as an inspiring leader, a tech-savvy general, who his friends say had a wonderful sense of humility. He leaves behind a wife and children, all of whom serve or have served in the military. And then flags. Flags flew at his home in Falls Church, Virginia. Family spokesperson shared this with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JUANITA CHANG, U.S. ARMY: He really believed in what he was doing over there and was really proud to serve. And the family has asked that I pass along that they believe that the Army, as well as Afghanistan and America, has lost a true hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon.

It's a tremendous loss in and of itself, but the details you're getting from this defense official as far as this shooting, 100 yards away from a bathroom? Tell me more.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, it appears, by all accounts, that that is what happened. General Greene and several other military personnel were standing outside at this facility in Kabul, this training facility, when suddenly fire opened up from a nearby building. Apparently the shooter firing through a bathroom window, hiding in there, knowing he would be quickly found. He was and was killed by security forces on scene.

They believe the shooter was a member of the Afghan military, had been assigned to this facility for about two years. But a full investigation underway, as there always is with every U.S. military death in Afghanistan, whether it's a two-star general or a private first-class junior soldier in the Army or a young Marine. They investigate all of them.

General Greene's remains at this hour are on a flight back to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for a ceremony that will greet him, coming back home. His family is expected to be there. So what we know is this is one of those so-called green-on-blue insider attacks that the military has struggled now with in Afghanistan for years. They've been able to bring the numbers down. There have been fewer of these in recent years and months. But clearly, still a threat, still a very difficult situation when an Afghan member of the Afghan security services picks up a weapon and turns it on those who are trying to help.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Hearts and prayers with this family as the general's body is en route, as you point out, to Dover. Barbara Starr, thank you very much.

Just ahead, as the Ebola outbreak gets deadlier, a group of American college students, stranded in Liberia, where infections are on the rise.

Plus, a Russian gang hacking into the e-mails and passwords of a billion people. Hear when they were after and whether you could be a victim.

And Bowe Bergdahl today being questioned for the very first time about his disappearance back in Afghanistan. All of this as we are seeing new images of him for the first time in weeks. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's talk about this deadly Ebola outbreak because, as you know, it's causing fear all around the world. The latest numbers we have as far as the death toll is now up to 932 since Monday. And we can tell you that two more countries reported deaths of its own people they suspect had contracted the disease in West Africa.

When we look at the map here, you can see where virtually all of the deaths have been reported. You see Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea. More than 1,700 people infected there. But now to the east, Nigeria, and possibly Saudi Arabia joining this list. More help is desperately needed.

And then to those two infected Americans taken from Liberia, transported. They're recovering, as I speak, at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Both were given this experimental, U.S. manufactured drug before returning to the states. And we can report today they are showing signs of improvement.

But there is another story relating to this whole Ebola outbreak that definitely caught our attention today because now we know about these six students studying in Liberia, one of the countries plagued by this virus, these students got stranded because of flight issues, flight delays. But there is some good news now. So let's go to CNN's Rene Marsh, who has more on this story.

Rene, tell me about these Tuskegee University students.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Brooke, there's six of them. They're studying abroad in Liberia. And they were supposed to return on August 11th, five days from now. We do know that will not happen because, as you just laid out there, the deadly Ebola outbreak spiraling out of control in West Africa. The problem is, their carrier, British Airways, suspended flights to and from that area. So that means an extended stay.

Now, before today, we didn't know how long they would be forced to stay there. Their families, their classmates here in the states, they were concerned because, obviously, the longer they were stuck there, the higher the health risk they believe. But a short time ago, we received, as you said, some really good news. We now know new flight reservations were secured for these students today. They will leave Liberia on August 17th. So they still have some time there. They will head to Ghana and from Ghana they will head back home to the United States. That will happen on August 18th.

We should note, that's a week later than they were supposed to return. But as one parent told me, Brooke, she says she'll take it because she's anxious, she wants her child back home. The students are ready to get back home, as well. We should point out, we know they're staying at a private residence, and so far none of the students have shown any symptoms. So that's good news too. BALDWIN: Understandable concern. I've been in touch with one of the

students at Tuskegee today and I think everyone's just kind of saying, get them home and get them home as soon as possible.

MARSH: Yes.

BALDWIN: Rene Marsh, thank you so much, in Washington on that.

Coming up next, Bowe Bergdahl. He is facing some pretty tough questions today regarding his disappearance from his fellow soldiers before being captured by the Taliban a number of years ago. But we also have this new image of a pretty healthy-looking Bowe Bergdahl. We'll take you live to San Antonio, Texas, get an update on that story, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Former Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl faces some questions today on why he disappeared from his Afghanistan military base back in 2009. But let me share this with you. This is a brand new photo of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. And by the looks of this compared to obviously when we saw him turned over from the Taliban, he looks a heck of a lot healthier, looks stronger than when we saw him just a couple of months ago.

Sergeant Bergdahl was freed in that controversial prisoner swap with the Taliban for those five Guantanamo detainees. And today, Bowe Bergdahl is meeting with the Army's lead investigator. The whole investigation may hinge on Bergdahl's intent when he disappeared from that military base back in '09. Was he just simply taking a walk, was he planning to come back, was he trying to leave forever?

Let's talk to Nick Valencia. He's been covering Bowe Bergdahl. He is down in San Antonio, Texas, for us at this hour.

So, Nick Valencia, first, I mean it's been a number of years. Who knows what Bowe Bergdahl went through, what he endured during those years in Taliban captivity. What if he doesn't remember why he left that base?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: Well, it's certainly going to complicate things for the investigator, Major General Kenneth Dahl. It's going to be germane to his line of questionings. What happened that day back in June 2009 when Bowe Bergdahl disappeared from his post? What was his mindset? What was his intent? Was he deserting?

And all of this Army investigation into his disappearance, the side that we haven't heard from yet is Bowe Bergdahl, and all of that will change after today for his first formal interview with Major General Dahl. His fraternity was quick to point out, Brooke, that this is not an interrogation. It's more of people surrounding a table, asking questions and expecting answers.

Now, Major General Dahl, after today, or after this session, I should say, concludes, will have 60 days from the time it concludes to submit his findings and recommendations to his higher ups and there are a variety of scenarios that could occur from that. There could be a court martial perhaps or maybe a less than honorable discharge, which would lead Bowe Bergdahl to losing his benefits or it could very well be that nothing happens at all.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Just quickly, Nick Valencia, on the issue of his parents. Do we know still, has he not talked to them?

VALENCIA: Still surprising to many. As far as we know, and what our understanding is at this point, is that Bergdahl has not spoken to his parents, who are in Hailey, Idaho. When I was there in Hailey, it was very emotional, earlier this year, that expected reunion. That still hasn't happened here months later. And it's not because he hasn't had the freedom to do that, Brooke. He's been able to call anyone that he wants. In fact, he reached out to this lead attorney, Eugene Fidell, who's representing him, but not called his parents just yet.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: For reasons we can't even pretend to understand. Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

Just ahead here on CNN, as Israel is coming close to the end of that 72-hour cease-fire with Hamas, we heard from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just this afternoon appearing before cameras there and declaring that the militant tunnels are destroyed. Wolf Blitzer went inside one of those tunnels. He'll join me next from Washington.

Plus, a gang of Russian hackers has stolen more than 1 billion e-mail addresses and passwords. But the reason behind the cyber theft is pretty surprising. It's not what you may think. Stay here.

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