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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Silence Over Gaza; Ebola Outbreak Widening; Investigators Reach Flight 17 Crash Site; Transporting Ebola Patients to the U.S.

Aired August 01, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. Silence over Gaza. A 72-hour ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has begun. But will it last? And what happens when the 72 hours end?

We are live with what's happening right now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Two patients infected with the deadly Ebola virus. They will soon arrive in America from Africa. Where will they go? And why the U.S. has been drawn into fighting this outbreak.

We're live with the latest developments.

BERMAN: And a dangerous journey today for investigators of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 going back to the crash site where they say dozens of bodies remain.

We are live in Ukraine with what investigators are finding right now.

Good morning, everyone. Great to see you this Friday. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday, it's August 1st, 4:00 a.m. in the East. We welcome all of our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.

Up first, the sound of silence in Gaza. We are three hours into a 72- hour humanitarian ceasefire. A ceasefire brokered by the U.N. and the United States. Now so far it appears to be holding.

It is a much needed pause after a bloody 24-day Israeli offensive against Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, U.N. SPOKESMAN: During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive urgently needed relief and the opportunity to carry out vital functions, including burying the dead, taking care of the injured and restocking food supplies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Gaza is reeling this morning after recent airstrikes on schools, on a marketplace and the region's only power plant. More than 1400 Palestinians have been killed in this conflict. That

has tensions escalating between Israel and the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIE AMOS, U.N. UNDER SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: But over 103 U.N. facilities have come under attack, including an onerous school, hosting over 3,300 displaced yesterday. Nineteen people were killed and over 100 injured.

The United Nations has lost seven staff and other humanitarian workers have been killed since the outbreak of hostilities. The reality of Gaza today is that no place is safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Saima Mohsin live from Jerusalem this morning with the latest on the ceasefire.

Three hours in, it appears to be holding. It is calm, it is quiet behind you -- Saima.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine. So far so good for the people in Israel and Gaza affected by the fighting over the last three weeks. A crucial ceasefire. A humanitarian one with the emphasis on the word humanitarian because as we've just been hearing, so many people affected. People unable to bury their dead. People who -- 200,000 at least in U.N. shelter who will finally be able to come out, head home, survey the damage, perhaps reunite with loved ones.

And then of course the vital functions, as Secretary of State John Kerry puts it, that needs to be conducted, getting access to water, food, replenishing their stock because they simply don't know when the fighting might start again. And of course the power station that was targeted in the fighting in the Gaza will need to be repaired as well.

I spoke to someone from the Red Crescent who's out there in Gaza right now saying look, our priority right now is getting the people who are injured, who have been unable to get the medical attention they need in Gaza out and getting more medical equipment in, all the while, this is also a crucial ceasefire, Christine, because of the politicking that's going on spearheaded by the United States, the United Nations and of course the negotiations that are set to take place in Cairo. Crucial intermediaries between the two fighting sides, Hamas and the Israelis.

Now what we understand is a delegation from Gaza is already on its way to Cairo. That constitutes Hamas, Islamic jihad, and Fattah. We are not sure quite who from the Israeli side will be going there but the crucial thing is, this is a major breakthrough because for the first time, they are willing to not only pause in fighting, but also come to the table to talk. But I must emphasize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it very clear that with or without a ceasefire, ceasefire or no ceasefire, the Israelis will carry on targeting Hamas tunnels. Now we don't know whether that will be using dynamite or diggers so

there may be explosions on the horizon and that may well be just to target the tunnels, not fighting -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Saima Mohsin for us in Jerusalem. Thank you.

BERMAN: Some other big news this morning. The latest on the deadly Ebola outbreak that has already killed hundreds in West Africa.

Take a look at this. This is exclusive CNN video of a federal jet equipped with an isolation pod leaving Georgia last night for :Liberia. Now this jet will be bringing home two infected Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol. This marks the first time that diagnosed Ebola patients have been knowingly in the United States.

Let's bring in David McKenzie now, he's live in Johannesburg, in South Africa.

David, this is a big move.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a big move. And it will be very interesting to see how exactly they manage to authorize this flight. I suspect that very senior officials got the go ahead. Now it's no guarantee they'll be able to leave Liberia, the country in West Africa where those two -- those volunteers who are helping treat Ebola patients or at least help them have been infected and in isolation.

Now we don't know exactly where that jet is. But presumably, it's making its way to the scene to try extract those two Americans out and take them to an Emory University Hospital into an isolation ward.

Now experts say that if it's managed properly, this shouldn't really present a threat to the wider public. But yes, extremely significant. The first -- if they do get in the first known cases of Ebola getting into United States soil and this would be just the next move in a very, very alarming outbreak which has affected thousands in multiple countries in West Africa -- John.

BERMAN: And of course as you say we don't know yet if they were on the plane on their way home. A lot will be dependent on how they are doing at the time. As for the situation on the ground in Africa, how overwhelmed are the medical professionals there?

MCKENZIE: Well, John, they say they are very much overwhelmed. Liberia, in particular, has seen several of the Samaritan's Purse, for example, a North Carolina based charity, has closed down or at least limited some of the actions in their clinics. This is incredibly complex disease to deal with and very deadly of course. So it has been described recently as out of control affecting three countries, possibly a fourth. And certainly this is the worst outbreak of Ebola we've ever seen. And the authorities are asking for any help they can get. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SIDIE YAHYA TUNIS, MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SANITATION SPOKESMAN: Very, very difficult when I heard because they have lost a lot of their colleagues in the process and the morale is down. But, you know, it is their job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: The CDC has escalated their alert to level three. That's the highest possible alert saying that no essential travel should happen to those West African countries. For now, the airline associations saying there shouldn't be any curtailing of flights in and out because they say -- and doctors say that the risk is relatively low to passengers on planes which might have an infected Ebola patient on it. But certainly, globally, there is increased screening of incoming passengers and a lot of worry that this Ebola outbreak might spread further.

But just for these countries in question, hundreds have died, potentially thousands are infected and there's no end in sight to this pretty hideous outbreak of this deadly disease -- John.

BERMAN: David McKenzie for us in South Africa, thanks so much.

We're going to keep our eyes on this and bring you any new developments as they come in.

ROMANS: All right. As many as 80 bodies, 80 bodies may still be lying in the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. A team of investigators finally reaching the crash site in eastern Ukraine Thursday and they witnessed human remains and personal belongings scattered across the debris field. Now they're hoping to return today, possibly with cadaver dogs, if it's safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, OSCE MONITOR: As we were leaving the site, you know, we had pretty much bombs raining down upon us. So it's very, very tricky. We are hoping that our kind of -- again, our custom made ceasefire that gives us the type of protective cocoon, if you will, will endear and allow us to do that movement in and out for as many hours and days as is required.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Let's get the latest this morning from Kellie Morgan live from Kiev.

And, Kellie, here's the thing. I mean, for awhile, there were international monitors. But their job wasn't to secure the site, it was only to look at it. They had trouble getting in. Now you've got investigators who need to get in there and do an investigation. But you still need to collect those human remains and get them out of there. We're still pretty far from that, aren't we?

KELLIE MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Reporter: Indeed, Christine, a long way away from that. That small team that did actually finally got access to the crash site yesterday, they were only there for a little over an hour and in that time really were only able to assess the scene, to get an idea of the logistics. The idea of the task that they're going to be faced with. Whether indeed they are going to be able to bring cadaver dogs in there and extra personnel.

This is still a battle zone around that crash site. And it remains very difficult for teams, particularly a convoy, to get access to the site and the Dutch-led investigation team is very well aware that the security situation there remains unstable.

This morning here in Kiev, we are hearing about more battles, around 10 battles that occurred in that region in the last 24 hours. Specifically one of them, there was a clash between Ukrainian soldiers and separatists, 23 kilometers from the MH-17 crash site. Now that's just three kilometers outside that agreed ceasefire zone.

So a very volatile situation there on the ground. Indeed, the investigators need to get there and carry out their probe, bring back any remains that are still at the site. But this is not just a couple of days. This could take weeks. So whether or not these truce is going to hold so they can carry out that vital work it does remain unclear.

ROMANS: Certainly unsettling if there -- you know, if there's activity just three kilometers outside that cocoon that investigators said that sounds dangerous.

All right. Kellie, thank you.

BERMAN: News back home, Republican leaders in the House in a standoff with some Tea Party supporters on immigration. The leadership postponed the House August recess in an effort to salvage a bill to address the border crisis. A Thursday vote was canceled after opposition from some Tea Party supporters prevented the vote count that they needed. The measure called for about $659 million -- that's a far cry from the president's nearly $4 billion request.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SPENCER BACHUS (R), ALABAMA: If we don't pass a bill, the president will do what he needs to do. The president would like to see us lead.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What changes tomorrow, though, that was there -- that wasn't there today?

BACHUS: I hope some people grow up.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Like?

BACHUS: Oh, I'm not going to name names, they are my colleagues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: This is something of a setback, even an embarrassment for the new House leadership team. But it wasn't just the House, the Senate -- you're looking at right now -- ran into its own trouble. A procedural vote killing their $2.7 million bill.

While this is happening, towns along the Texas border are waiting for National Guard troops to arrive. Up to 1,000 troops being deployed by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

ROMANS: All right. Lawmakers did get final approval to a bill aimed at reforming the troubled Department of Veteran Affairs. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass it, nearing the near-unanimous support the bill received in the House. It now goes to the president for his signature. The $16 billion bill will address wait times for veterans at VA health care facilities and allow more access to outside providers.

BERMAN: All right. This is a really shocking story. An apology from CIA director John Brennan after an inspector general's report found that CIA officers spied on Senate investigators who are preparing a report on the agency's controversial post-9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program.

The report says the agency inappropriately accessed computers used by the Intelligence Committee. In other words, CIA personnel went into the computers used by Senate staff. Brenan's admission of hacking into these Senate computers, it contradicts a claim that he made in March that nothing could be further from the truth.

Senators very upset. Democratic senators, too, even saying they have lost confidence in the CIA director.

ROMANS: Yes. That's a big drama on Capitol Hill this morning.

All right. We're hearing now for the first time a tape of Bill Clinton on the day before 9/11. He's talking about having passed on a chance to kill Osama bin Laden. Now this recording just surfaced in Australia. It's said to be Clinton speaking to a group of Australian business leaders.

The former president said he didn't strike bin Laden in Afghanistan because of concerns about civilian deaths in Kandahar. At the time, he -- it's widely documented that he had the chance to go after bin Laden. He had the chance to go after him but there would have been 300 women and children civilian deaths and the White House made the decision not to strike him at that time.

And it's something that the president has said that always haunted him. That bin laden was there, they were so close. They decided to try to protect civilian lives and in the end, bin Laden took all that civilian life.

BERMAN: The timing, though, of that statement --

ROMANS: The day before. That's really something.

BERMAN: All right. Christine Romans, we're up 12 hours since the U.S. markets closed. A lot of people want to know what on earth happened. ROMANS: What happened? The Dow lost all the gains for the entire

year in one day. Since we were talking to you yesterday at this time, the Dow has erased the gains for the year. Plunged 317 points. That is 2 percent. That is a terrible day.

The S&P 500, the Nasdaq lost 2 percent giving back all the gains in July. European and Asian stocks right now, well, guess what, they're taking the queue from what the United States did yesterday but a new start to the month. Futures pointing slightly higher here for the first day in August. So we'll see if there's a bounce back.

Now remember, everyone has been waiting for a big pullback. There hasn't been a correction -- there has not been a correction since 2011. So a lot of people have been looking for a pullback to try it again. We're talking about Argentina's default. Europe's economy, that's the problem for stocks yesterday. This morning, though, all eyes on the jobs report.

July jobs numbers coming out at 8:30. It's that time -- it's that time again, everybody. CNN Money predicts the economy added 230,000 jobs compared to June's 288. The unemployment rate we're thinking it's probably unchanged at 6.1 percent. Any surprises could mean another big swing for stocks. But it was ugly yesterday. It was ugly. And a lot of people were saying, hmmm, should I move in? What should I buy? So when I hear so many people talking about what they should buy in a big selloff, usually that means a bounce back the next day. We'll see.

BERMAN: Let's hope.

All right. Quarter past the hour right now. Dozens killed, hundreds injured when gas lines underground suddenly explode. We have this dramatic new video just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: In Taiwan this morning, the death toll rising. At least 24 people, four of them firefighters, killed by a series of explosions triggered by underground gas leaks. More than 230 people injured. And officers say there are an unknown number of people who are missing this morning in that rubble. This happened in the southern city of Kaohsiung. The blast so powerful, a car was found on the roof of a three-story building -- John.

BERMAN: Wow. All right, because of heavy fighting, the FAA is restricting U.S. airlines from flying below 30,000 feet in Iraqi air space. Several European carriers have already developed alternate flight plans for Iraq. This is of course following the crash or the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Officials fear Iraqi militants have sophisticated enough weapons to shoot down commercial airliners. The FAA also prohibiting landings right now at two Iraqi airports.

ROMANS: All right. The Supreme Court could take up another challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Two lower courts had different, conflicting rulings about whether the federal government should help pay for health insurance for people enrolled in Obama care exchanges. A non-profit called the Competitive Enterprise Institute has petitioned the court to step in and decide this issue once and for all. Analysts believe up to five million people could be affected if they don't get those subsidies.

BERMAN: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg speaking out about same-sex marriage saying the justices will not duck the issue the next time a case reaches the court. The 81-year-old Ginsberg expects a same-sex marriage case to be heard by the court as early as next summer.

ROMANS: All right. American Ebola patients in West Africa, they are headed right now to the U.S. but not without plenty of precautions. We're going show you how these medical teams plan to treat victims. At the same time, they have to treat them without spreading the virus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Two Americans now suffering from Ebola set to leave Africa for the United States. This will require extraordinary precautions. The CDC outfitting a gulfstream jet with an isolation pod. That's portable biological containment system designed to keep everyone around them infection free.

Tom Foreman now takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Transporting a patient with a deadly disease like Ebola is possible, but it brings potential risks and that's where special equipment like this plane with this special gear inside makes all the difference.

Let's explain what we're talking about. In all likelihood, if you're bringing a patient across like this, this is what you want. You want to have a special room built inside the plane, completely enclosed in plastic so nothing can get in or out. The air pressure is negative meaning it's higher out there than it is inside here. So if there is a rip, the air will flow in, nothing will go out.

Now this is not an airborne disease when you're talking about Ebola but this is standard protocol. Let's get rid of the plastic and talk about the second layer of protection. Inside here, a doctor, a nurse, an anesthesiologist, even a specialist in these types of diseases, all of them as they're here are going to be wearing special protective gear, and the patient, too, will be covered in another layer of protection, a special framework around the bed so that even though they are monitoring his heart rate and they're monitoring his respiration and they're keeping track of his temperature, it's all being done a little bit hands off here.

And, even if he develops some of the violent vomiting or bleeding that can come from Ebola, they would have to treat him by reaching in through special gloves through the sides of this and everything must stay inside, especially all of those fluids would have to be collected and kept in waste containers inside here. Because that's what's so deadly here. And the simple truth is, as much as they want to save the life of one person, with a disease like this, they have to be so careful to not allow it to come in contact with others.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: It's an incredible effort. Our thanks to Tom Foreman for that.

ROMANS: What an operation.

All right. Breaking news this morning silence over Gaza. A 72-hour ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has begun. Will this ceasefire last and what is the end game here for both parties?

We're live in Jerusalem after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)