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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Temporary Truce in Gaza; U.S. General Killed in Kabul; Second American Infected with Ebola Back in U.S.; Spurs Hire Female Assistant Coach

Aired August 06, 2014 - 05:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: a truce takes hold in Gaza. The second day of a temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel intact for now. But can a more permanent peace actually be worked out?

We'll take you live to Gaza for the latest developments.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. general gunned down in Afghanistan. An insider attack catching the victims by surprise. This ambush raises new concerns this morning over the safety of American troops overseas.

We're live with the very latest.

HARLOW: And the Ebola outbreak. Second infected American now back in the United States, being treated with an experimental serum. As the virus rages across Africa, we'll tell what is being done to try to contain and eventually stop this contagion.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Poppy Harlow, in today for Christine Romans.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. Great to see you today. It is Wednesday, August 6th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And we begin with peace, relatively speaking, in Gaza. The 72-hour cease-fire now in its second day and all is quiet between Israel and Hamas. The people of Gaza emerging from the ruins. The Israeli troops are gone -- the tricky part now making this all stick, the talks to build a more lasting peace. They will soon get started in Cairo. The delegations have all arrived in that city now.

John Vause live from Gaza this morning, where -- John, the people are literally picking up the pieces of their lives.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. Gaza has not been this quiet in almost a month. We're now into the second full-day of that three-day cease-fire. Many here now looking to Cairo, hoping those negotiations to come up with a more permanent end to the fighting.

In the meantime, there are some pressing issues here for the people of Gaza. Among them, electricity. Israelis are now repairing the transmission lines which supply most of Gaza with its electricity. Those lines were damaged weeks ago when the fighting first started.

And after Gaza's only power plant took a direct hit last week, most of the 1.7 million people who live here have been without electricity, and that's crucial, especially for the hospitals here. They've been running on generators 24/7.

Work is also underway to try and repair the sanitation systems, as well as the underground water pipes. All of those have been damaged by the Israeli offensive.

Also, the U.N. and the Red Cross now shipping in much needed medical and other supplies, as well as temporary housing units. About 10,000 homes here have been either been destroyed or badly damaged.

Now, of course, this work continues. And it is relief work, not reconstruction work because any talk of rebuilding here will depend on what happens at those talks in Cairo, John.

BERMAN: Now, Reza Sayah tells us, John, that now, there are delegations from both sides in Cairo and that Egypt will work as the intermediary, they'll be with each side separately there.

But we also hear, John, there's pressure internally, both from the Israeli population and the population in Gaza, to push for something more lasting than we've seen after conflicts there in 2009 and 2012.

VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. And what we've seen here in Gaza, as this military offensive has dragged on, as it's gone on longer than any other Israeli military offensive against militants in Gaza ever before, and the more bloodshed, the more death, the more destruction, the more people here seem to dig in. The more they say they want all of this to show for something.

They don't want it to return to how it was before the violence began. They say they need this economic blockade which Israel has imposed on Gaza for the past seven years, they want that to be lifted. Otherwise, they say everything that has happened here for the last 28, 29 days will be for nothing.

So, they want the borders reopened. They want to be able to have trade. Hamas is demanding that the airports be reopened. They want a seaport. The Israelis say that's just not realistic.

So, part of these negotiations will be trying to lift the economic sanctions or blockade, or whatever you want to call it. And there does seem to be growing recognition that there does have to be some easing up in that respect.

On the Israeli side, though, that easing up can only happen while they can be guaranteed security. In the storm term, they want to make sure that Hamas doesn't get a chance to rearm. And in the long term, they want to make sure that Gaza is demilitarized.

So, over the next couple of days in Cairo and I suspect a lot longer than that, they're going to try to have to find some kind of formula that meets both of those goals. And if they do come up with that, then they have to try to find some way to make it stick -- John.

BERMAN: A lot of pleasure on the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

John Vause for us in Gaza this morning -- thanks so much.

HARLOW: A two-star general killed in Afghanistan is the highest ranking U.S. officer to die in a war zone since the war in Vietnam. General Harold Greene gunned down at a military academy in Kabul by a man believed to be an Afghan soldier. More than a dozen other coalition soldiers were wounded including many Americans. And despite the incident, U.S. military officials are insisting that the Afghan forces are ready to take over security there for themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: The Afghan national security forces continue to perform at a very strong level of competence and confidence and warfare capability. They have had a good year, securing not one but two national elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Anna Coren is tracking the latest developments live for us from Hong Kong this morning.

It's heartbreaking, devastating, someone who served 34 years for this country. As John was saying earlier, put his head down, did his work and did an extraordinary job by all accounts.

What can you tell us about him and what we know so far about this attack?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, the other thing about Major General Harold Greene is that he believed in this mission.

While so many others, you know, have become disillusioned with what's going on in Afghanistan because it is America's longest war. It's dragged on for some 13 years.

He believed in what he was doing. He was there trying to help the Afghans build up their military, their security forces. And it was an Afghan soldier that took Major General Harold Greene's life.

He was there in a routine inspection of a military academy on the outskirts of Kabul, along with more than a dozen senior American officers when this Afghan soldier opened machine gunfire from a nearby building, spraying them with bullets, killing the major general, wounding more than a dozen other soldiers.

Now interestingly enough, this man was not a member of the Taliban. He was not an insurgent. The Taliban have even come out and said, he was not one of ours, however, they have described his actions as heroic. I think what is so devastating is that we saw a spate is of these green on blue attacks, these insider attacks back in 2012, when dozens of coalition forces were killed in these sort of attacks. And as a result there was a crackdown on the vetting process of Afghan soldiers and police to make sure that they could weed out any Taliban sympathizers or plots.

Unfortunately, in this case, it would seem that this after began soldier, disgruntled having a bad day, who knows but he opened fire. His intention was to kill Americans.

Obviously, that comes as a crushing blow for the U.S. mission. It is within months of pulling out of Afghanistan. Yes, there will be a residual force of some 10,000 troops up to 2016. But between now and the end of the year, there will be still be U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

After the shooting, ISAF commander, General Dunford, called all U.S. soldiers back to base. Obviously, there are now concerns that there could be more attacks. This shooting, you know, will give other people who are disgruntled, ideas.

So, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. But, you know, from what we can understand, you know, this partisan, hopefully, won't be damaged. Obviously, a lot has been gained in the last 13 years. And they would hate for anything to be lost as a result of this insider attack, Poppy.

HARLOW: And the United States coming out after this, Pentagon officials saying that, you know, this does not weaken the connection and the partnership between U.S. forces and Afghan forces. But as our Barbara Starr was pointing out as news was breaking last night, it's also a delicate balance to strike showing Afghan forces that our soldiers on ground trust them but also protecting themselves.

Anna Coren live for us in Hong Kong, thank you.

BERMAN: Eight minutes after the hour right now.

A second American infected with the Ebola virus is back in the United States this morning. Nancy Writebol airlifted out of Liberia now admitted to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. She is being treated in the same isolation ward as her colleague, Dr. Kent Brantly. Her family is hopeful now that she will pull through.

Let's get more from CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the family of the second patient infected with Ebola feels that she now has a fighting chance. She was medevaced out of Monrovia, Liberia, arrived here in Atlanta yesterday, and she was quite sick just a couple of days prior.

In fact, I want you to listen to how her husband described the situation to SIM USA president Bruce Johnson.

DR. BRUCE JOHNSON, SIM USA PRESIDENT: A week ago, he said, we were thinking about the possible funeral arrangements. Yet, we kept our faith. Now, we have a real reason to be hopeful. GUPTA: Now, part of that hope may come in the form of this

experimental therapy that she received. It is something known as ZMapp. It's a monoclonal antibody. And she received two doses while she was in Liberia. The first dose didn't have as dramatic an impact on her as it had on her colleague, Dr. Kent Brantly, but the second dose seemed to have a dramatic improvement for her, making her stable enough to actually fly here.

Now, she's on the hospital over here right behind me. She's going to be in the same isolation ward as Dr. Brantly. And the doctors are going to assess just how much damage, how much of an impact this viral illness has had on her body. Assess her heart, her lungs, her kidney, her liver.

And she is going to get the third of those three doses of that ZMapp on Wednesday. That's according to Emory University doctors who've been in consultation with the NIH and the FDA.

It is too early to tell how things are going to go for her in the long run. Although, again, doctors here are pretty optimistic about her recovery overall.

She's also expected to see her family. Many of her family haven't seen her in some time. When they do get a chance to see her, it's going to be through this glass wall because she's in isolation. They'll be able to see her and they'll be able to talk to her because she'll have an intercom and a phone in her room.

We're going to get more details on her recovery over the next couple of days, and as we get them, we'll certainly bring them to you.

Back to you for now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: All right. Our thanks to Dr. Sanjay Gupta for that.

Looking at this big picture, the Ebola outbreak is certainly now having a global impact. British Airways becoming the second major airline to cancel flights out of West African countries impacted by this deadly virus.

Here in the United States, Delta Airlines is monitoring the situation. In the U.K., health officials confirm several people are now quarantined with suspected cases of Ebola after returning from West Africa. They are closely watched.

And this disease is spreading so quickly, the U.N. Health Agency has called an emergency two-day meeting starting today in Geneva. They could call the outbreak an international public health emergency. Government officials in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are now enforcing widespread quarantines in their countries, closing schools and even tracking the movements of citizens who may be infected.

As of this morning, 1,103 suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola exist, 887 of those patients have died. BERMAN: It looks like there is another new leaker exposing U.S.

government secrets. This is first reported by CNN. Government officials are trying to figure out who leaked documents about terror suspects. These were dated from last August and appeared in the story of the Web site Intercept. Remember, NSA leaker Edward Snowden had already fled the country by the time these documents were written.

HARLOW: All right. Time for an EARLY START now on your money.

Market jitters back, stocks are down again. Asian stocks ending the day lower. And European stocks are much lower right now in midday trading.

Here in the United States, futures have also pointed lower ahead of the open. After a very ugly day on Wall Street yesterday.

Take a look at that. The Dow losing 140 points. That's almost 1 percent. Now, at its lowest level since May.

Renewed fears that Russia will invade Ukraine continue to really rattle markets across the globe.

Also this story making big headlines this morning. A Russian criminal ring has stolen 1.2 billion online passwords.

BERMAN: That's a lot of passwords.

HARLOW: It's a huge collection of credentials that was discovered actually by a security firm out of Milwaukee called Hold Security. They say it looks like the largest ever stolen, and they've been taken from 420,000 different Web sites, and big name Web sites, also some small Web sites.

The criminals, very interestingly, John and I can't get our head around this -- they're not using this yet for bank accounts, financial information, really to send these promotional e-mails trying to sell things. However what the head of Hold Security did tell us in an interview last night is that they believe they were gearing up for something bigger.

BERMAN: Something bigger is what's scary here. Right now, they're spamming us.

HARLOW: Right, this doesn't mean, by the way, we know about this. It doesn't mean it's been fixed or they've been stopped.

BERMAN: No.

All right. Thirteen minutes after the hour.

Homes breaking into pieces this morning. This is unbelievable video. A neighborhood evacuated as a landslide moves in. You have to see this.

HARLOW: Also, flash floods ripping through communities coast to coast. What is with this weather? Is there any relief in sight? Indra Petersons is tracking the storms and what's ahead, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Wow. Unbelievable.

Residents in this Utah community trying to pick up the pieces this morning from a landslide that just destroyed at least one home, and forced dozens of others to evacuate. Officials worried for nearly a year about cracked soil in the hillside above those houses in that Salt Lake City community. But homeowners say they were told they were safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDY PETERSON, EXPERIENCED LANDSLIDE: Last night, all of these people came to the home at 10:30, said, no, you're fine. You can stay here.

We weren't fine. People that have experienced landslides know what's happening!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yikes.

HARLOW: Obviously, so angry. Imagine being home and that happens.

The slide hit after here thunderstorms doused that area. That city plans to declare a state of emergency. They're going to ask for federal help to help the residents.

BERMAN: A huge cleanup under way in Las Vegas Valley. Torrential downpours over the last three days triggered huge flooding. Rescue crews from the air force base called in to save drivers. Dramatic scenes this one playing out all over the city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God! That car is --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out! Get out! Hurry!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Cleanup from all of these mudslides and flooding could last days. The lucky thing here, no reported injuries.

HARLOW: And also cars underwater in Albany, New York, flash floods running through that city on Tuesday, leaving several hundred people without power. Others forced to come to grips with the fact that they've lost a lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unreal. That's the word. It's very unreal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the time I get back to my car, open the door up, the water was coming up and flooded me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My closet in the bedroom, it went all the way up to my knees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, the Red Cross set up a shelter in the local middle school there. They're going to keep it open as long as they need to, but -- wow, really terrible weather across the country.

BERMAN: Yes, the big news now, what is coming next?

Indra Petersons has a look at the forecast.

Hey, Indra.

HARLOW: Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's summertime. I want to talk about sunshine, right. We see that monsoonal moisture out west. Noticing temperatures mild in the morning hours, we go to the afternoon, most of us are where we should be.

It's deceiving, it looks like it's going to stay dry, but we know there's still more showers in the forecast today. More focusing on the eastern half of the country watching kind of the Ohio Valley in the Northeast as this frontal boundary lays across. Notice two lows on the system, both of those bringing chances for scattered showers.

And watch as it plays out really starts to improve as you go towards the weekend in the Northeast. Notice this sags towards the Southeast as we go closer towards Friday. So, with that, heavy amounts of rain going to be concentrated in the Midwest, making their way really down towards the south. Look at that, 2 to 4 inches expected near St. Louis and even Nashville over the next several days.

So, this is going to be our new focus region. The good news, though, we no longer have the weather severe threat around the Quad City today in St. Louis. So, that is an improvement from yesterday's forecast.

Also, just a heads-up, Bertha, just where it is, still way offshore, this is the sign giving you that it's going to stay offshore. And, of course, the forecast continues to make its way offshore. Just keep in mind, by Hawaii, though, two systems are still making their way.

HARLOW: Shouldn't you be in Hawaii on assignment?

PETERSONS: You know what, if you can pitch that for me, I'm ready, guys. Bags are packed.

HARLOW: We'll work on it. Thanks, Indra. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: All right. Coming up for us next, the glass ceiling shattered in the NBA. The world champion San Antonio Spurs hiring a new assistant coach. We will tell you her name, when Andy Scholes joins us in the "Bleacher Report", next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The world champion San Antonio Spurs made an historic move Tuesday, hiring Becky Hammon as the first ever full-time paid female assistant coach in the NBA.

HARLOW: Good stuff. Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report" this morning.

So, Berman's telling me, Andy, he's not exactly the first, but the first paid. And I said, oh, good thing she's paid. Come on.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, that's right. Back in 2001, Lisa Boyer was with the Cavs, and she was just come and go as you please. And you can hang out with us but you're not going to get paid.

This time, Hammon is going to get paid. The Spurs, they're known for being the most progressive team in the NBA, and they once again showed why with this move.

And it's going to happen after Hammon wraps up her 16th WNBA season this summer. And then she's going to join Greg Popovich on the Spurs bench.

And as we just said, Hammon will be the first ever full-time paid female assistant in the NBA. She spent much of the last season as sort of informal intern with the team. She attended practices and film sessions and now, it's led to a permanent job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY HAMMON, SPURS ASSISTANT COACH: I'm a little overwhelmed right now to be perfectly honest. And just -- it's as great as it is, this opportunity, it's also incredibly humbling at the same time. So, feeling a lot of emotions, but those would probably just be the two driving forces, just thankful and just humbled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The three-way series in L.A. providing some exciting baseball late last night. Angels down around the eighth when Albert Pujols takes Brian Wilson deep for his 21st home run of the year. That tied the game at 4.

Fast forward to the bottom of the night, runners on first and third. The Dodgers David Freese fields the chopper, tries to go home but makes a bad throw. The Dodgers get the walk off win 5-4.

This year's biggest acquisition at the trade deadline, David Price making his debut with the Tigers last night at Yankee Stadium. He was on his game, striking out 10 in 8 2/3 innings. Price did not factor into the decision but his team still got the win. Alex Avila hit a solo home run in the twelfth inning. Tigers beat the Yankees, 4-3.

Trending on bleacherreport.com this morning, will Tiger Woods play in the final major of the year? That's the question surrounding this week's PGA championship. Tiger withdrew from last week's Bridgestone Invitational with a back injury. Yesterday, he filed an extension to register for the PGA Championship, which means he has until his tee time tomorrow morning to decide if he's going to play.

And, of course, guys, he's still looking for that first major win since the 2008 U.S. Open. Incredible to think it's been that long --

BERMAN: You don't file an extension unless you think you have a serious shot of playing. So, we'll see what happens this week.

Andy Scholes, great to see you today. Thanks so much.

HARLOW: All right. Coming up next on EARLY START, silence over Gaza. For now, a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel holding for a second day. But can a permanent peace actually be worked out? Negotiators in Cairo this morning. We're going to take you there live for an update after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)