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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Silence Over Gaza: 3-Day Truce in Effect; Ebola Rapidly Spreading in Africa; Cross Country Floods

Aired August 05, 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: And the breaking news this morning: silence over Gaza. A three-day cease-fire between Hamas and Israel beginning hours ago. Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza. Can this truce last?

We have live team coverage from the ground in Gaza, Jerusalem, and in Cairo where peace negotiations will be under way.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Ebola outbreak. Two infected Americans recovering with an experimental drug. One back home in the United States, the other, the woman will be joining the doctor today. This as the virus rampages across Africa and a New York City man is quarantined. The very latest, ahead.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for Christine Romans.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. It's Tuesday, August 5th, it's 4:00 in the East.

We do want to welcome all our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

Up first, all eyes on Gaza. The cease-fire now in its fourth hour and holding. Israel and Hamas pressing pause on the bloodshed there, halting a month long conflict that has killed nearly 2,000 people. Both sides conceding that keeping the peace will be difficult.

Meanwhile, cleaning up in Gaza, so much of that region in ruins. One- fourth of the population displaced. And according to the United Nations, the infrastructure damage from the onslaught now tops $4 billion.

Our Karl Penhaul is in Gaza this morning with the very latest on the cease-fire.

And, Karl, the news, so far, four hours in, does seem to be holding.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that is the good news. Things seem to be quiet on both sides right now. The other good news at least as far as the Palestinians are concerned

is that Israeli ground troops have also pulled out of the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, Israeli tanks we saw them, we're only 3/4 of a mile from here. They have now pulled back across the other side of the border.

And this 72-hour cease-fire is giving a valuable opportunity for Gazan people to come home. But -- take a look at that. This is what they are coming home to. They are finding, many of them, that they have nothing left.

Just a few moments ago, I was told that a young man who is a PhD student in a university in Cairo, he came back at the start of this war to be with his family. Now, he said, his family spent 30 years building their home. There is no insurance here. There will be no payouts and so they can rebuild their home.

He says, "We have lost everything. Please show them this picture and tell Mr. Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, he has won." And he says, this is what he has won.

A lot of Palestinian people glad that the shooting seems to have stopped for now, at least. But now, they see they are going into the second phase, more difficult than war, and that is trying to rebuild, John.

BERMAN: There's so much work to do. We can see it all around you there, Karl.

Karl, we have been through this before. We have had pauses. We've had cease-fires begin. Yet, this one feels different. Why is that?

PENHAUL: I think it feels different for several reasons. First of all in the past, the militant factions here on the Gaza Strip have complained that the previous cease-fires have been lopsided, because it allowed Israeli troops to remain in place, it allowed Israeli troops to continue to destroy the tunnels, and Hamas' military infrastructure.

This time, the Israeli military said it is withdrawing. Now, that for several reasons. First of all, the Israeli military will tell you that their mission has been largely accomplished. They have managed to destroy a lot of these tunnel complexes.

Also, as well, though, key, that rebuke from the United States to its ally, Israel, after another shelling close to a United Nations school and the United States appears to have told Israel at that point, enough is enough. Those kind of damage to civilians cannot go on.

And this time around, as well, the other militant factions seem to be on board. They went to Cairo, said, OK, now we are ready for this cease-fire.

Maybe it is going to hold this time, John, but there's still a lot of talking to do to try to get and resolve the fundamental issues that caused this war in the first place -- John. BERMAN: The talking merely needs to begin, Karl. That would be

progress in and of itself. But I think the mere fact that you are standing on the street out in the open is itself an indication that things there have calmed down some.

Our Karl Penhaul on the streets of Gaza this morning -- thanks so much, Karl.

FEYERICK: And also, Karl not wearing a jacket shows that there is some sort of peace there.

Israel claims that it has achieved most of its objectives in Gaza and is now winding down its military operation and pulling back its ground forces. Israeli defense officials insisting that most of Hamas' tunnels have now been destroyed, while its military capabilities have been crushed.

Let's bring in Matthew Chance live from Jerusalem.

And, Matthew, when you look at this, this began July 8 with rockets being fired into Israel. Israel said enough is enough. And now, Hamas emerges with 1,900 people dead and the loss of most of its tunnels which were used to bring food and other supplies in and out, along with the rockets, along with attacks. But where does that leave Hamas?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it leaves them in a position where they have confronted, as far as the public is concerned, the Israeli military and they can turn around and say, look, we have brought them to the negotiating table. They haven't got to that negotiating table yet.

Part of this Egyptian brokered proposal is for all the parties to go to Cairo and to hammer out a permanent extension to this 72-hour cease-fire that the Palestinians want the blockade of Gaza to be lifted so they can have the free imports of goods into the territory from Egypt and from Israel. They want the border posts open so people in the Gaza Strip can move freely out of Gaza, if they choose to. And they want all Israeli troops out of that territory.

Now, that's what the negotiations in Cairo, if they get under way, will be talking about. Israel, for its part says it's going to be looking first of all to see whether this cease-fire holds, before it sends any delegation to take part in these peace talks. But if it does hold, what I have been told by Israeli government officials or representatives of the Israeli government is that they will send a delegation, they will have talked to the Palestinian militant factions that are in Cairo.

And so, perhaps out of that, something concrete for both sides can be negotiated, Deborah.

FEYERICK: You know, Matthew, it's kind of interesting, because there's a sense that there was a mixed message. On one hand, you have the spokesperson, Mark Regev, saying that the mission against the tunnels was accomplished. But then you also have on the very same day, Benjamin Netanyahu basically saying, look, just because the tunnels are out of the game right now doesn't necessarily rule out any future actions.

So, you are getting sort of a dual message there.

CHANCE: Well, I think the message to Israelis is pretty clear, which is, look, the Israeli military is outside of the Gaza Strip, watching it very carefully in defensive positions. They say they have destroyed 32 tunnels. That's not necessarily all of the tunnels but all the ones they set out to destroy.

There's still the issue of rocket fire in the minutes before the cease-fire came into effect. A barrage, a massive barrage in the words of the Israeli military was launched from Gaza into southern Israel and elsewhere in Israel as well. If the rocket attacks persist, that would be a reason for the Israelis to go in.

There are all sorts of sort of motivation that could mean this cease- fire coming to an end or mean a resumption of hostility in the Gaza Strip. And so, I think that's what the Israeli military are referring to and what the Israeli prime minister is referring to when he says, "Look, I'll do everything I can to ensure the security of Israeli citizens." That's the Israeli demand if and when these peace talks in Cairo ever get under way.

FEYERICK: Right. And, of course, Gaza simply wants to return back to normal, whatever normal might be at this stage.

Matthew Chance, thank you very much.

And as Matthew mentioned, peace talks in Egypt is expected to begin soon. Can Hamas and Israel agree to end the violence?

Reza Sayah in Cairo is monitoring every development. He's going to join us live in just a few moments.

BERMAN: Health officials in New York are waiting for test results on a patient they thought might be showing symptoms of Ebola. The man was quarantined after telling doctors he got sick after returning from West Africa.

But now -- this is important -- officials at Mt. Sinai Hospital say it is not likely Ebola. They're trying to play down this drama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the most important thing is people should understand, if this were a case of Ebola, which we do not know, that it is not transmitted by casual contact. And everything that happened in Mt. Sinai happened in a very rapid fashion, such that we were certain that the patient did not pose risk to other patients, or to our staff or to visitors to Mount Sinai.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And doctors, they expect the official lab results back in the next few days, say there was no threat to anyone else in the hospital because of their quick response.

FEYERICK: And a second American infected with Ebola is now on her way back to the United States this morning. Nancy Writebol has been evacuated from Liberia and will receive treatment at the same hospital as her colleague, Dr. Kent Brantly.

Brantly arrived at Emory University Hospital on Saturday. And doctors there say he is already improving.

Both Brantly and Writebol were there working in Liberia. They were treated with an experimental drug not yet approved for use. The drug is being developed by a U.S. company, but doctors say that a clinical trial that includes more patients would be needed to demonstrate its overall safety.

BERMAN: The virus, the Ebola virus is spreading rapidly right now in West Africa. Nearly 1,700 people infected with the deadly virus since it was detected in March. Over 800 deaths spanning Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria. According to the World Health Organization, the overall death rate stands at 55 percent. That's very high. Hundreds of people now deployed to quarantine affected communities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM YONG KIM: This is the largest epidemic, ever, of Ebola. It's in three countries. It's extended to the capital cities. And as predicted, the mortality rate is upwards of 60 percent, 70 percent. This is a very serious epidemic. The good news is that there are things we can do to lessen the impact to prevent the spread.

And moreover, this is a wake-up call. We need to build that public health infrastructure. We're going to commit to doing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Wake-up call. There's no known cure for Ebola.

FEYERICK: Well, we want to bring in Alison Kosik.

Alison, you have been watching the pharmaceutical companies working on a cure for Ebola. What does it suggest?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And as John just said, there's no cure for Ebola, but the companies that make medication to treat the virus, those companies are certainly jumping. So, it looks like, yes, Wall Street is bullish on a cure for Ebola.

You look at shares for Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, that's a company that's actually working on a cure to treat to Ebola. Those shares surged almost 40 percent last week. That rally tapered off after CNN reported that the two Americans affected were treated with a different drug. But that doesn't mean that Tekmira's drug won't be approved by the FDA. In fact, experts say the government is actually working with several companies on an Ebola treatment. Shares are down about 5 percent right now in the premarket. OK. Let's go ahead and take a look at stocks around the world.

European shares are higher right now. Asian shares ended the day lower on slow growth in China's services sector.

We're looking at U.S. futures as well. They are pointing lower. Stocks did rally yesterday. So, that's kind of easing those fears that a market correction is right around the corner. You can see stocks (INAUDIBLE), you think, you can put those correction fears to rest at least for now.

BERMAN: Yes, we needed that. We had some big rough days.

KOSIK: There were.

FEYERICK: A couple big rough days.

BERMAN: All right. Alison, thanks so much.

FEYERICK: Thank you.

Well, crisis in Ukraine -- Russia building up troops and weapons along the border. The very latest, coming up ahead.

BERMAN: Plus, flash floods across the country. Who was hardest hit and where will the storms strike next?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Violence escalating in Iraq this morning. The country's prime minister ordering its air force to support Kurdish troops in their battle with Sunni extremists. This is the first time the Kurds and Iraqis have joined forces since the extremists captured the city of Mosul back in June. Kurdish troops were just pretty soundly defeated by militant forces who took over three towns in northern Iraq this weekend.

FEYERICK: And Russia maybe gearing up for a full scale invasion in Ukraine. U.S. officials say the Russians have doubled the number of battalions stationed at the Ukrainian border, and could launch an incursion with little warning. About 20,000 troops are now assembled according to intelligence estimates along with 14 surface-to-air missile units and close to three dozen artillery batteries.

BERMAN: Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will soon come face-to-face with the Army general who is investigating his capture by the Taliban. Two- star General Kenneth Dahl will handle the questions when he sits down with Bergdahl today, I believe, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Many of Bergdahl's fellow soldiers accuse him of being a deserter. Bergdahl was freed after five years in captivity during a controversial prison swap that led to the release of five high-ranking Taliban members.

Extreme weather from coast to coast. Just look at this scene in Las Vegas. Wow! Heavy rain flooding the roads leaving dozens of accidents. Cars washed off the streets there in the ditches. Some highways had to be closed in both directions because of mudslides and the rising water there.

FEYERICK: And flash flooding also a big problem on Florida's gulf coast. Six inches of rain falling in Naples making Monday the wettest August day in its history. The Collier County sheriff's office declaring a civil emergency. Nearly four dozen people stranded in their vehicles by these floodwaters.

BERMAN: In southern California, folks in San Bernardino area are picking up the pieces after the area's worst flash flooding in 45 years. One motorist was killed when its vehicle was swept into a creek. Property damage in the town of Mount Baldy estimated now in millions this morning.

FEYERICK: And let's get an early look at the forecast with Chad Myers -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Deb. Good morning, John.

Pretty decent day across America today, although muggies are back. Certainly, the heat is back on. The humidity is back on. But it feels like summer for a change. It hasn't felt like that for awhile.

We have some very heavy rainfall across parts of Naples and South Florida yesterday. More of that could pop up again today and more showers back up into the Rockies. The showers you see across the Northeast will mainly be in the afternoon.

A muggy 91 in D.C., 87 in New York City, 80 in Chicago and 82 in Minneapolis.

For tomorrow, things get a little bit wet here across the Southeast and into the Northeast. Some of this weather could be strong to severe. Some of the storms could cause planes to have to fly around them and maybe even delay a couple of your flights out there for tomorrow afternoon, especially in the heat part of the day -- the hottest part of the day when the biggest storms are going to pop up.

Ninety-six for Memphis, 93, Atlanta. This is where we should be this time of year, 97 in Dallas, 91 in Kansas City.

Try to stay cool or at least stay dry if you're going to get some of those showers.

Deb, John, back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks to Chad for the forecast.

Back now our top story this morning: cease-fire in Gaza. Israel and Hamas, again, agreeing to a three-day truce. This time, though, it does seem to be holding. But what about a long term deal? Israel and Hamas expected to send negotiators to Cairo. We're going to take you there live right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And so far, so good. A 72-hour cease-fire in Gaza appears to be holding this morning. It began over just three hours ago. Hamas and Israel agreeing to a truce after another flurry of deadly violence. Israeli's winding down their operation in Gaza, according to officials, withdrawing most of their ground troops and claiming that many of Hamas' tunnels, about 32 of them have so far been destroyed.

BERMAN: The road to more lasting peace in Gaza might lead through Egypt. Negotiations set to take place in Cairo. Israel says it send in delegation if the cease-fire holds. Both Hamas and Israelis are making their demands known ahead of these talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK REGEV, ISRAELI SPOKESMAN: For us, the most important outstanding issue is the issue of demilitarization. We don't want to revisit this conflict in six months or in a year. We want it to be over.

OSAMA HAMDAN, HAMAS SPOKESMAN: We want to withdraw from our occupied lands, which everyone in the international community is saying it's an occupied territories. They have to withdraw. If they withdraw, they will help in creating peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get the latest on these negotiations. Reza Sayah now joins live from Cairo.

Reza, great to have you with us.

We say these are negotiation that will go on. But what will that be like? Will these sides, if Israel does send a delegation, be sitting at the table, holding round the clock talks?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ideally, that's the plan if this cease-fire holds. If there's peace and calm and both sides are confident that this time the cease-fire is for real, the plan is to get these sides to Cairo, to get them to sit down and ideally hammer out a lasting truce.

We know that a Palestinian delegation is already here. This was the delegation that arrived over the weekend to Cairo and crafted out the cease-fire proposal. They gave it to the Egyptian officials. The Egyptian officials conveyed it to the Israelis. Eventually, they said yes. That delegation is here.

A Palestinian media reporting a three-member Palestinian delegation is coming from Gaza as well, representing Hamas and the Islamic jihad. So, they will be here soon.

Then, we wait for the Israeli delegation to come. They haven't arrived yet. But the Israelis making it clear if this cease-fire holds, they are going to send a delegation to have talks. Throughout this conflict, that hasn't happened, yet. Cease-fires have fallen apart. But you get the sense that this time, it feels different. This time, these two side have a real opportunity to sit down and first end the bloodshed, and maybe establish a lasting truce and lasting peace -- something that has been very elusive. Every time these two sides sit together, they have demands and conditions and neither side, eventually meets the other side's condition.

Israel obviously wants to disarm and demilitarize Hamas. They say it's not happening. Hamas wants Israeli to lift the economic blockade, open the border crossings to give them a dignified life in Gaza. That hasn't happened, yet, John.

But all of that, once again, is going to be on the table, if -- if the cease-fire holds.

BERMAN: And, of course, Egypt is an interesting and complicated intermediary here, Reza, because the Egyptian government currently, with al-Sisi, no friend to Hamas. Of course, if there's going to be lasting peace or relief for the people of Gaza, Egypt has to open its border crossing with Gaza.

SAYAH: That's something they haven't done and certainly, Egypt's relationship with Hamas, which has deteriorated played a factor in this peace process, taking very long time.

Remember, the Egyptian government tried a cease-fire plan before, July 14th. That was rejected immediately by Hamas. Hamas claiming that the Egyptians never consulted them and they included all of Israel's demand and none of Hamas' demand.

The Egyptians, apparently, had another shot at it. This time, they consulted with Hamas. This second time, so far, three hours into this plan seems to be working. But it's still early. Much of the world, including this region, watching to see what the coming hours bring -- John.

BERMAN: A lot of activity, hopefully will be happening where you are, Reza. So, we are lucky to have you there. Appreciate it. Reza Sayah in Cairo.

FEYERICK: And we are continuing to watch the cease-fire in Gaza. We are three and a half hours into what could be a three-day truce. That's what people are hoping. But is it going to hold?

Live team coverage in Gaza and Jerusalem, coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)