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@THISHOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

Cease-Fire Expires, Terror Attacks in Jerusalem; Experimental Drug Saved Doctor With Ebola; Toledo Gives All-Clear for Muni Water; Everyone Accounted for After California Mudslides; Israel Confirms Aerial Attack on Gaza Refugee Camp

Aired August 4, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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


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MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CO-ANCHOR: A humanitarian cease-fire window expires. @THISHOUR, Israel is dealing with two attacks in Jerusalem.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: In southern California, the latest on 500 campers, including many, many children who were trapped by flashfloods and mudslides. We'll have an update on what's being done now to get them evacuated.

PEREIRA: A top secret Ebola drug never tested on humans likely saved the life of an American who earlier told doctors I am going to die. We have the dramatic, behind-the-scenes details.

BERMAN: Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman.

PEREIRA: And I'm Michaela Pereira, those stories and much more, right now, @THISHOUR.

The humanitarian cease-fire window has now been closed for about an hour, Hamas saying it never agreed to it in the first place.

BERMAN: And now there are two reports of violence in Jerusalem, Israeli police telling CNN that a man on a motorcycle opened fire at the entrance to the Mount Scopus tunnels -- this is one of the main arteries into the city, connecting it from the Dead Sea area -- and an Israeli soldier was apparent shot and severely wounded.

Now this comes after Israel police reported another attack in Jerusalem, an attack they're calling a "terror attack." Officials say a Palestinian man driving a large, bulldozer-like vehicle slammed into a passenger bus and flipped it over.

PEREIRA: Authorities shot and killed the driver of that earth-mover. A pedestrian reportedly was killed in the incident, and the bus driver was injured.

The Israeli military is now confirming that its forces launched as well an aerial strike earlier today on a refugee camp in Gaza City but tells CNN the strike did not violate the humanitarian cease-fire because it was an ongoing operation, quote, "targeting terrorists from Islamic Jihad." Our Anderson Cooper is in Jerusalem, and it's really good of you to join us. We know you've been having a tremendously long day. Tell us what you are hearing -- it's such a benefit to us to have you on the ground there -- about these attacks and how they are threatening this cease-fire.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": Well, certainly, I mean, it's only adding to the tension here in Jerusalem. As you said the cease- fire had ended about an hour ago, but it was a unilateral cease-fire, Israel announcing the cease-fire for seven hours, Hamas saying they did not agree to it.

And during the course of that cease-fire, according to the IDF, at least three rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel.

But it is the two attacks in here in Jerusalem that have been getting a lot of focus by Israeli authorities. As you mentioned that attack on a bus by a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem, driving basically a backhoe machine, a large tractor, slamming it several times trying to flip over that bus, finally flipping over the bus.

The driver died -- oh, excuse me. The driver was injured. A pedestrian was killed. And as you said, Israeli police shot and killed the driver of that backhoe.

And then about an hour later, the incident, a gunman on a motorcycle apparently shooting what appears to be an Israeli soldier. Local media reports showed a picture of an Israeli soldier with what appeared to be some sort of a stomach wound, that soldier being treated now, receiving medical attention and a search was under way, last we heard, for the motorcycle gunman.

That's really adding to the tension here in this city, and now that the cease-fire is over, we'll be seeing what happens here on the ground and in other parts of Israel and Gaza as well.

But as you said, Palestinian officials were saying this cease-fire was basically a show. It was a p.r. move by Israel to divert attention from on attack on Sunday, which Israel said was targeting militants from Islamic Jihad but which also ended up killing and wounding a number of people at a U.N. shelter.

Strong condemnation from the United States, from the U.N., on that strike which was outside the U.N. shelter.

Also today, Palestinian officials saying that Israel violated their cease-fire by shelling a home in a refugee camp. I talked to the Israeli spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him, did Israel in fact violate the cease-fire? Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK REGEV, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: That's not true. When we give an order to our forces to hold fire, they hold fire.

And from 8:00 -- sorry -- from 10:00 this morning, local time, we've ceased all offensive operations against terror targets in Gaza, except for the specific locations, like in Rafa, where you've got an ongoing ground operation to find tunnels and other terror targets.

But we're holding our fire precisely to allow a humanitarian effort to come and help the people of Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The Israeli military does acknowledge its strike took place after 10:00, just minutes after 10:00, they say, but they say it was part of an ongoing operation, therefore it did not violate the cease- fire.

BERMAN: All right, Anderson Cooper for us in Jerusalem, Anderson, great to have you with us. And of course you're going to have much more from Jerusalem throughout the day and on a special edition of "AC360." That is tonight at 8:00 Eastern, here on CNN.

BERMAN: Want to go now to our Martin Savidge in Gaza.

PEREIRA: Good to have you with us also, Martin. We know that one of the big concerns here is that the folks in Gaza that are trying to find some sort of refuge are able to get the supplies that they need.

We know that water and power have been in short supply. What can you tell us about the residents of Gaza and what they need?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, there were those people -- and good morning to both of you.

First of all, individual families trying to do the best they can for their ...

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SAVIDGE: ... opportunity to go out, try to resupply, buy what things that can be found. Stores were open. There were some resupplying that took place today. It was also important that they bring in blood that had been desperately needed. They were able to do that. They have also been able to move medicine around. That's important, especially getting it down to the south of Gaza where there's been intensive fighting for the past couple of days.

But individual families go out and get money. Many of them have not had opportunity to go to the ATM -- and there aren't many that are working -- there were lines where they were -- the opportunity to go buy food, water, the basics like that, also to pick up prescription medicines.

In other words, the things that everyday Americans would be picking up are the same things these families need. However, because of the fact they've been caught up in a war, they have not been able to retrieve it. So it's a much more desperate situation.

And in the long term, they have been without electricity for seven days. They have real problems with both drinking water and sanitation/sewage, and the infrastructure has been heavily damage. There are parts of the area of Gaza City and also to the north that have been laid to waste.

So you have tens of -- at least 10,000 people, it's been said, families that are now left homeless as a result. So long after whenever a cease-fire is struck, there is going to be a problem, a humanitarian problem, here in Gaza.

John and Michaela?

BERMAN: Martin, it's been about an hour since this humanitarian pause expired. I wonder if you can give us a sense of what's going on right now.

Are there still rockets coming in and out or has that resumed, I should say? And what about the Israeli forces that are being redeployed and moved about the region?

SAVIDGE: Yeah. You can see them actually -- well, you see the movement going on with dust clouds off in the distance. It's something we can monitor from here that tends to imply that you've got heavy armor, APCs, that are moving about there.

So the people are on the streets, still enjoying what remains of the time before violence begins, if it does.

PEREIRA: Our Martin Savidge there, we hope you'll take care. Thank you for bringing us your report about the conditions on the ground for the folks in Gaza.

Coming up in a moment, we'll speak with Israel's deputy minister of foreign affairs. We want to ask him about Israeli confirming that attack on the refugee camp in Gaza and where Israel goes from now, now that that cease-fire window has expired.

BERMAN: Other headlines @THISHOUR, an experimental drug likely saved the life of an American doctor battling Ebola, at least for now.

We're learning that Dr. Kent Brantly thought he was going to die after becoming infected with the deadly virus while treating others in Liberia. Dr. Brantly was administered a secret Ebola drug never before tested on humans, and according to doctors, his condition rapidly improved.

He was then flown to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital for treatment

Tomorrow, the second U.S. Ebola victim, Nancy Writebol, will arrive at the same hospital for care.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta at Emory Hospital -- is at Emory Hospital. He'll join us live @THISHOUR.

PEREIRA: Another story we're watching, the city of Toledo has given the all-clear for its municipal water supply. High levels of toxin associated with algae -- look at how green that water is -- put tap water off limits to about 400,000 people over the weekend. Toledo draws its water from Lake Erie, but fertilizer run-off has caused a spike of algae growth that has made and can make tap water toxic. Resident have been warned not to drink or bathe in that water.

But, again, now the ban has been lifted. Later this hour, we're going it find out how residents feel about the safety of their tap water after this scare, whether they're going to drink it and bathe in it or not.

BERMAN: Yeah, algae bloom, not the most appetizing thing to take a gulp of.

PEREIRA: No.

BERMAN: More than 500 children and dozens of adults are safe and accounted for, this after being trapped in a camp in California due to this huge mudslide. Heavy rains buried roads. Several feet of rock covered the roads also. That's east of L.A. One person died when a flashflood swept their car off the road.

PEREIRA: The terrain cannot handle it. You look at what drought conditions they've been in in California, statewide, this year. It's a bad situation when all that water comes. There's nowhere for it to go.

We're going to take a short break here. Ahead @THISHOUR, it has been, as we mentioned, about an hour since the end of the seven-hour cease- fire window in Gaza.

What happens now? We're going to ask that question to both Israeli and Palestinian spokespeople, coming up next.

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PEREIRA: @THISHOUR, the Israeli military is confirming that its forces launched an aerial attack, an aerial strike earlier on a refugee camp in Gaza City, but official tell CNN the strike did not violate the humanitarian cease-fire because they considered it an ongoing operation that, quote, "targeted terrorists from Islamic Jihad."

BERMAN: Also Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a short time ago, "What is about to conclude is the IDF action to deal with the tunnels. This operation will end only when quiet and security are restored to the citizens of Israel for a lengthy period."

Ambassador Danny Ayalon was Israel's deputy minister for foreign affairs. Thank you so much for being with us, Ambassador. I want to start with the news today, news of two attacks inside Jerusalem, one from a motorcycle, one from a bulldozer going after a bus.

Do you have any information about these strikes?

FORMER AMBASSADOR DANNY AYALON, ISRAELI DEPUTY FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER: Yes. If we can go back to yesterday, you see how the Hamas spokesman in Qatar were calling upon the Palestinians to rise up in Israel anywhere and just to kill Israelis, whether their bare hands -- it's just a quote. "Get an axe, get a knife, get whatever you can, even bare hands, just to kill Israelis. So this is inspired and perpetrated by Hamas terrorists.

PEREIRA: The cease-fire window has been closed for, what, about an hour and 15 minutes now? One has to ask the question, where do we go from here? What happens now? And we should also point out, Hamas did not sign on this, so it shows, at least that this time, they were not willing to sign on to this cease-fire agreement. But where do we go from here, ambassador?

AYALON: Well, Michaela, it's very unfortunate. Hamas has been aggressive and intransigent throughout the whole process. Unfortunately, Israel here is very reluctant to go into Gaza or, we are reluctant warriors in this case, by far. We have accepted, six times, cease-fires that were brokered by the United States, by Egypt, by other countries, and we're consistently broken by Hamas.

So we decided, well, we will do whatever we need to do for our security. We ourselves, we are not relying on the Hamas. So we're doing our own things as regards to unilateral cease-fires. We have declared unilateral cease-fire today. We move in, every day, hundreds of trucks with humanitarian -- with food and medicine into Gaza in order to do the best to alleviate the -- Really the chaotic situation over there which Hamas is responsible for.

Where are we going from here? I would say there are only two possibilities. Either Hamas accepts cease-fire, not just by -- not just verbally but stop shooting at us and accept demilitarization. If Hamas disarms, then we can really take care of Gaza with bringing in economic investments and prosperity. I think it is a very - Now we are in a very clear situation and we can get security for Israel and prosperity for Gaza if Hamas would allow that.

BERMAN: Ambassador, the United Nations has come down very hard against Israel for a strike over the weekend that killed several civilians, Palestinians, at a U.N. shelter. The United States came down very hard also. A spokesperson at the state department said, the suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians. Do you disagree fundamentally with that statement? Do you think it does justify putting civilians at risk?

AYALON: All I can tell you is that Israel has been the most careful, John, more than the allied forces in Kosovo and Belgrade, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and certainly more then Russians in Grozny. You look at the amount, the extent of the IDF efforts to really help civilians, either by pre-warning broadcasts, cell phones, leaflets. We have overlooked and passed over many, many targets from where we are being fired upon because they specifically, Hamas puts them in U.N. facilities, in mosques, in hospitals, and in kindergartens. This is a problem.

Now sometimes there is collateral damage, as bad as it is, but I would say in relation to any other military operation, sense World War II, the amount of casualties here in ratio to the fire power is the minimum amount, and you should look at UNRA and the U.N. Why would they allow the Palestinian, the Hamas terrorists, to stock rockets and munitions in U.N. facilities? It boggles the mind. PEREIRA: Sir, we're going to ask some of those very questions to

someone from the Palestinian side coming up in a little while. I want to say a big thank you for joining us on this show. Former ambassador Danny Ayalon.

BERMAN: We're going to talk about the situation on ground in Gaza, we are going to talk about why Hamas will not agree to a cease-fire under these condition coming up. Coming up, we're going to get the Palestinian point of view. Stay with us.

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BERMAN: Nearly a month into the violence between Hamas and Israel, the battle rages on. Before the break, we brought you the Israeli side. We do want to get the Palestinian point of view.

PEREIRA: Joining us, Yousef Munayyer, he is the executive director of the Palestinian Center in Washington.

Thank you so much for joining us, sir. I think first of all, we see about an hour and 20 minutes ago humanitarian cease-fire ended. It was one that Hamas did not agree to. What will it take? What would it take for Hamas to agree to even a temporary cease-fire and perhaps a longer term one?

YOUSEF MUNAYYER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PALESTINIAN CENTER: Well, first of all, let's keep in mind there was no cease-fire negotiations to produce an agreement here on this humanitarian cease-fire. This was a unilateral move by the Israelis to which they decided on by themselves and, in fact, did not cease firing during this cease-fire. They continued to operate inside the Gaza Strip and continued to fire in different parts of the Gaza Strip. And while they say that they were going to cease operations in certain areas, I'm sure you can understand how Palestinians cannot accept that as any safeguard to their livelihood when in fact all of the places that they have been told are safe by this Israeli military have been hit time and time again.

So I think what it's going to take to get a cease-fire would be, of course, an end to hostilities and then a discussion about how to make this permanent, and it would help if the Israelis actually went to Cairo to meet the Palestinian delegation of -- that represented numerous factions, just the other day, but unfortunately the Israelis declined to go. So ideally what it's going to take to get a long lasting cease-fire is, of course, an end to the siege of the Gaza Strip, which is in its simplest form is a system of violence that is routine firing in the Gaza Strip. So any discussion about a cease- fire that is going to be lasting has to talk about the end of the siege.

BERMAN: Our Nick Robertson had a fascinating interview with Khaled Mashal, who is the political director of Hamas in Doha, not living in Gaza. He had a fascinating quote, he said, to kill their soldiers while they kill our civilians is a victory for us. Is he making the same argument that Israelis and other people are saying, that Hamas is willing to sacrifice civilians in this battle in Gaza right now? MUNAYYER: I don't think that's the case. I think what he's trying to

say, and I think in fact what we've seen on the ground, is an asymmetric war between a very powerful state and, at best, a group of guerrilla militias who are not able to compete with the Israelis with the same type of fire power. And the Israelis have actually refused to meet the militants at a level battlefield and have used that fire power to blast at targets that, of course, as we see, have caused these mass casualties. At the same time, the acts that we're seeing by Hamas have largely targeted the Israeli military and have killed Israeli soldiers in action, so --

BERMAN: But not the rockets into Israel. Those aren't targeting soldiers. Those are targeting whoever they might hit. It just so happens they are being shot down, they are not effective, correct?.

MUNAYYER: And, again, I think if the Palestinians had fighter jets and tanks, they would not be firing rockets. I think they would certainly prefer to have an independent state, free of occupation, and have the kind of independent defense establishment that every state has so that they can defend themselves. But absent those tools, they are going to use what rudimentary tools they have available to them.

PEREIRA: To that end, what of this notion of using humans as shields? We know that there have been several strikes on U.N. shelters, and we know that civilians have been killed, and that children and women have been killed in those strikes. But again, Israel making the accusation that Hamas is storing munitions and weapons and launching attacks from there. Essentially putting their people in harm's way.

MUNAYYER: Yes, Israel does make that accusation. It's important to keep in mind that it's an accusation. It's very difficult to tell what is going on during times of war. But investigations have been done after instances like this. For example, in 2008, 2009, when the Israelis carried out another massive bombardment campaign there, and groups like amnesty international and human rights watch have actually found no evidence to suggest that human shields were being used by Palestinians, and in fact it was the Israelis who went on the ground who were using human shields. So I think those kind of investigations are going to happen again here.

But keep in mind, even if there are militants operating in civilian areas, that does not excuse the Israelis for targeting civilian targets in an indiscriminate way. And I think what we've seen play out here, time and time again, day after day, with entire families being annihilated in the Gaza Strip. I mean, entire families don't exist on this earth anymore, men, women, and children, from the elderly to infants are gone, erased. This is not a proportional use of force, this is not justifiable in any way. I don't think the idea that just because you have people operating in a civilian area, that that justifies this kind of indiscriminate use of force.

BERMAN: The State Department made a very similar statement this weekend. Yousef Munayyer, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate your perspective on this.

PEREIRA: Ahead @THISHOUR, we are going to take a look at a story that has gotten so much attention, and rightly so. A young doctor stricken with Ebola told doctors he thought he was going to die. Well that was before he was given a secret experimental drug. No doctors say his condition is improving. Just what is this secret serum? We'll take a look.

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