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NEW DAY

Christians Forced to Flee ISIS; Mideast Cease-Fire; Interview with Tom Hayden; Young Cancer Survivor has Invention to Help Kids with Cancer

Aired August 7, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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


NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: : Where this Christian town is, back closer to the city of Irbil, and this is raising concern. Even Kurdish leaders are saying the Islamic state is attacking them now in a very sort of militarily organized way, a large advance of sort of field forces, fighters, being backed by artillery and mortars. And this is raising significant concern. If the Peshmerga (ph) can't hold them, then there's concern about who will.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's exactly right and that's exactly what I wanted to ask you because a well-regarded archbishop there I believe is calling for help from the international community now because it seems that no one's there to help them. What can you tell us about that?

ROBERTSON: Yes, the Caldaian (ph) Christian Church, the Christian church of Iraq, if you will, which has hundreds of thousands of Christians in the north of Iraq who have been suffering over the past decade and, of course, now appear to be reaching an absolute crisis point with the overthrow of this town. Joseph Thomas (ph), the archbishop of Kirkuk and Solaminia (ph), that's part of that Kurdish region, he is appealing to the international community. He says this is a catastrophe and, let's face it, the Christian church has faced a lot of hardship in the past decade in Iraq. But now he's describing it as a catastrophe where they have to have support from the international community. And this really is a voice, a significant respected voice from the ground, really raising the flag and saying, look, we need help, we need it now.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, especially when you put it in the perspective, Nic, of what they've been up against over the past decade, now calling this a catastrophe, it really says something about how horrible the situation is on the ground there. Nic Robertson. Thanks so much, Nic.

All right, coming up next on NEW DAY, Egyptian mediators are trying to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian delegation. Will the cease-fire be extended? We're going to speak with a former national security adviser about turning the truce into a lasting peace.

And tonight at 9:00 p.m., CNN's Emmy nominated series "The Sixties" takes a look at how the decade became a turning point in human and civil rights. Here is your "Sixties" minute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack, what is your definition of a husband?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A husband is a guy who is in charge and should be all of the time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): There's something happening here. But what it is ain't exactly clear.

CECILE RICHARDS, PRESIDENT, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Women couldn't open a bank account in their own name. They couldn't get credit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The jobs we have are jobs that only men are able to do.

TONY NAFTADI (ph), NIXON PRESIDENTIAL (INAUDIBLE): American Psychiatric Association deems homosexuality to be a mental disorder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not employ homosexuals knowingly.

LEONARD STEINHORN, AUTHOR, "THE GREATER GENERATION": Migrant farm workers were getting paid pennies to feed America.

TERRY O'NEILL, PRESIDENT, N.O.W.: You had this bubbling up of a desire for real equality.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we are talking about is a revolution, and not a reform.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Stop, hey, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot be given equality. You have to assume it.

DR. MARY BRENNAN, AUTHOR, "TURNING RIGHT IN THE SIXTIES": People looked around and said, look at this potential for change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Stop, hey, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Sixties" tonight at 9:00 on CNN.

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BOLDUAN: Welcome pack to NEW DAY.

The 72-hour fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is holding, but set to expire tomorrow if an extension can't be reached. Israel says it will agree to an extension and the Palestinian chief negotiator even told us he'd like an extension as well. But a Hamas spokesman on the show earlier refused to make that very same commitment. Egypt is serving as the mediator for the peace talks in Cairo, so what then -- what role does and should the United States have in these talks?

Let's bring in Stephen Hadley. He was national security adviser to President George W. Bush and now a principal at RiceHadleyGates, an international consulting firm.

It's great to have you here

STEPHEN HADLEY, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Nice to be here.

BOLDUAN: Of course. So, as the talks continue again today in Cairo, President Obama was asked about the situation on the ground during a press conference yesterday. I want to listen to - I want you to listen to one line that's getting quite a bit of attention. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no sympathy for Hamas. I have great sympathy for ordinary people who are struggling within Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, the president laid it out there very clearly. He has no sympathy for Hamas, but he does seem to -- he suggests though he wants to see some kind of an opening for the potential for prosperity for the Palestinian people in Gaza. What then, when you're looking at the situation in Cairo, what is the role for the United States here?

HADLEY: Well, we need to be supporting the Egyptians and supporting this process. And I think the other thing we need to be doing is putting and urging the parties to make as a priority, getting the Palestinian Authority, political authorities and security authorities back into Gaza. The Palestinian Authority is the authority on the West Bank. It was thrown out of Gaza by Hamas. And if given what the people of Gaza want, and given what the Israelis want, the only way to achieve it is going to be if the Palestinian authority is allowed back into Gaza.

BOLDUAN: Do you -- how do you think that - I don't know if you call it a power struggle. It is within kind of the Palestinian Authority and that national coalition government that has been formed, who is the chief negotiator? Who is Israel negotiating with here? Is it the Palestinian Authority? Is it Mahmoud Abbas? Or is it the leaders of Hamas?

HADLEY: It is a delegation that has been put together under the authority of President Abbas, under the authority of the - this unity government, which is going to be a technocratic government. So it is really a delegation that is headed by President Abbas, as head of the PLO, and as head of the Palestinian Authority, and that's how it should be.

BOLDUAN: It is a little striking, though, some are suggesting that Secretary Kerry and the Obama administration have been sidelined when it comes to these talks in Cairo. The president said that John Kerry has been in communication constantly, but you've seen his efforts tried and failed absolutely over the past few weeks. Do you think the U.S. has been sidelined here?

HADLEY: No, not at all. Precisely because of all the time that Secretary Kerry has spent with the two sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians in an effort to negotiate a peace, he is a known and trusted confidant of both sides, and I think he and the State Department is playing an active role behind the scenes. And that's the appropriate role for America to be playing at this point.

BOLDUAN: And it is always a bit of a difference what's going on behind the scenes and what they are saying publicly, that's for sure. From what we've heard on just the show this morning between the two sides, it sure sounds like they're not anywhere far off of their starting block, talking about the demand for lifting the blockade on the part of Israel and then on - on the part of Gaza, well, most specifically Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza. From your experience with those being their starting demands, which are very difficult to accomplish, what do you think is the realistic outcome here?

HADLEY: I think the key to meeting the requirements of both sides is getting the Palestinian Authority back in to Gaza. Look, the -- Hamas wants the --

BOLDUAN: And that's not a sure thing, right?

HADLEY: Not a sure thing, but it's the only way the parties are going to get what they want. Hamas wants to have the crossing points open to the flow of goods. Well, Israel's not going to let that happen unless the Palestinian Authority, in whom they have some confidence, is on the Gaza side of those checkpoints. There's not going to be massive reconstruction into Gaza which Hamas and the people of Gaza want until the Palestinian Authority is going to be in place to make sure that that assistance is not used for military purposes directed against Israel. And finally, Israel won't get the peace it wants unless Palestinian Authority security forces are actually in place to make sure that rocket attacks don't resume.

BOLDUAN: When you put it - when you offer that perspective, it does make me wonder what you make -- another thing the president said yesterday is that he thought that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority, has been weakened during this process, is how he put it. Do you agree?

HADLEY: I think it has been weakened in this process and that's why it is very important that it is - that Abbas is head and is the one who put together this delegation and that is why it is so important that the outcome of these negotiations and a more permanent cease-fire have, as its core, the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.

BOLDUAN: Keep an eye on that. But I do want to turn our attention just briefly if I could because of your expertise in another area. You were national security adviser for President Bush when Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.

HADLEY: Right.

BOLDUAN: So when we look at the situation on the ground in Ukraine, many reports that Russia is now massing, building up troops once again on the border. What do you think the likelihood at this point is that Russia would invade Ukraine?

HADLEY: I think there is a significant risk that it will do so. I think Putin cannot afford to have the secessionists in Ukraine, which he has blacked with materiel and political support and all the rest. I think he's in a difficult box and I think he cannot see them defeated. So, oddly enough, the more progress the Ukrainian authorities make against the separatists militarily, the greater the risk that Putin will be tempted to actually cross the border and give them support. And that's why there are a range of measures that we need to be taking now to try to deter Putin from making that decision.

BOLDUAN: What do you think the big -- that big measure is? Because it's pretty striking for you - for you to say someone who knows this very well, the more progress Ukraine makes, the more likely it is that Russia will invade. What is the one thing that you think the United States needs to be doing, because some are suggesting that the economic sanctions aren't having the bite that they have intended.

HADLEY: I think they will not in themselves deter Putin. I think the kinds of things we have to do is to recommit to the security of Europe, to increase our presence there, increase exercises there and deployments there. I think NATO needs to be doing more things to -- in its planning and exercises to reassure our NATO allies that NATO stands behind them. And finally I think we need to give more support to the Ukrainian government, not just economic and political and diplomatic support, but also -

BOLDUAN: Do you think weapons?

HADLEY: But also non-lethal assistance, intelligence and I would also include weapons. You know, look, President Putin is re-supplying the separatists, providing large numbers of weapons over the border, and it seems to me intolerable that we are not helping the Ukrainian people defend themselves against this threat.

BOLDUAN: And unfortunately so many crises to be focus on and not enough time to talk enough about them. Stephen Hadley, it's great to have you on and get your perspective on this, especially on this day. Thanks so much

HADLEY: Nice to be here.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

Let's take a break. Coming up next on NEW DAY, it was the decade that inspired change. We're going to talk with an author and political activist who witnessed the moments that helped shape America during the '60s. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Dylan, no substitute. Welcome back. Tonight CNN's Emmy nominated series "THE SIXTIES" returns with a look at how the decade changed basic human and civil rights. Women couldn't serve on juries then, true. Gay men were given shock therapy. People thought pesticides were actually a good thing. Earlier, I spoke with political journalist and activist and politician and author of the book "Inspiring Participatory Democracy" Tom Hayden. Here's what he had to say about the decade.

(BEGIN VIDTAPE)

CUOMO: True pleasure to have you here.

TOM HAYDEN, POLITICAL JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST: It's an honor to be here, nice to see you.

CUOMO: Such an interesting description for you, to be journalist and activist. At times, as you know, that's been seen as an oxymoronic relationship, they're not supposed to go together, but in the '60s they very much did, didn't they?

HAYDEN: Yes, I don't know which one is the moron part of that, but I started as a journalist in high school and at the University of Michigan, and I was really, I was drawn into the civil rights movement. I went south. I was a freedom writer, but I was a gradual convert to activism, and then even later I was drawn in to politics, and I never would have imagined that I was going to spend 20 years in the California legislature or be Jerry Brown's first solar energy commissioner. Life is funny when you get to look back at all that I have.

CUOMO: When you look back, what are you most proud of?

HAYDEN: I feel that I've tried to live a life of consistency, and I've always believed that a more decentralized system with more participation in decisions that affect your life is the way to go, and that our foreign policies --

CUOMO: But you have to care. On the domestic side, decentralizing, moving away from the bureaucracy of federalism into having it be more participatory on the grassroots, do people have to care, and they have to energetically engage, don't they?

HAYDEN: And to have an educational system and a media system that continually provides them with information and choices. It's very hard in foreign policy, there's so much secrecy today. It's hard to generate a peace movement. Then it was unheard of that students would say this war in Vietnam is wrong, and yet I'm proud that we were right, but the question is, why did 20-year-olds know there was something foul about Vietnam, and the government didn't know it, and misled us, if they did know it. It's very strange. But we had an intuition that Vietnam was not the battleground for the future. It was Selma. It was the campuses. It was bringing about an end to poverty.

CUOMO: It seems like there's more noise than action now as opposed to in the '60s. Social media makes it easier to have a voice, but voices in quotes because they're usually just bluster. If you look at what we're dealing with, with our democracy right now, we're in much deeper water in terms of the system being removed from people than you were even in the '60s, even taking into consideration civil rights. You have almost no connection to what is making the decisions happen in Washington now, as a regular voter. Why? Why didn't the '60s wind up giving birth to a better populous situation rather than a worse one?

HAYDEN: I think it would have if Robert Kennedy had lived, if Dr. King had lived. I never thought the assassinations could do such damage. We were on our way to a progressive majority, progressive president, and it was all wiped out. So a lot has been lost. You never know when the next catastrophe is going to drive you off course. On the other hand, the social movements and idealism, they're gifts that keep giving.

CUOMO: Last thing I have to ask you about. The Chicago Seven trial was such a big point in time there in terms of what would be allowed in society. It was obviously born of, if you want to call them riots or demonstrations that took place during the 1968 convention. You went on trial for that, and that had to be scary, but what do you think it taught you in terms of what to tell people to keep in mind about what's too far? How far without going too far?

HAYDEN: That's a tough question. You know, there was the so-called outrageous behavior of the hippies. One day they came to court dressed in black judicial robes.

CUOMO: Right.

HAYDEN: And they took them off and showed that they had Chicago Police Department uniforms under them. Everybody was shocked, outraged. The violation of decorum and all that, yet they had a way of sending a message that the judiciary was protecting the police. That was their message. So I'd be hesitant about discounting that. On the other hand, I was always the other way. I was the logical person who was taking notes, kept saying, guys, we want to beat the charge. We need to know what we're accused of and what our defense is, and then how we're going to appeal this if we lose. So both were necessary.

CUOMO: Mr. Hayden, thank you so much.

HAYDEN: It's been a pleasure.

CUOMO: The pleasure is mine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Piece of living history right there, Mr. Hayden. Still doing great things. Be sure to watch "THE SIXTIES: THE TIMES THEY ARE A- CHANGIN" tonight at 9:00 p.m. Only on CNN.

A little break here. Coming up, a little girl beats cancer but it's what she did after that makes her the better stuff. An invention that could help a lot of little kids, designed by a little kid. Coming up.

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CUOMO: The news is filled with stories about who's doing the wrong thing. Here's a story about someone doing the right thing, the Good Stuff. An 11-year-old, she just beat a terrible form of cancer, okay? But, she didn't just go relax or go play or just be a kid, alright. So after she's well she decides to help others still fighting the disease.

Kylie Simmons remembers what she felt like when she first saw all the equipment and wires and bags, you know, that have to go along with the IV pulls in the hospital.

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KYLIE SIMMONS, CANCER SURVIVOR: When I first went to the office, I was like "Whoa, those things are huge and scary."

CUOMO (voice-over): You know, and remember, these things just scare kids even more than the condition. So, she decided to make something that would make it not so scary for little kids. A special backpack, and backpacks are like all the rage, right? It does it all. It holds the IV bag, the machinery, and all the cables, but its in this like kid-friendly bag so they feel like everybody else.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Love it.

SIMMONS: This would be the drip and it would go through the machine on the front and you can put it on, and you can walk around with it.

CUOMO: She came up with it all be herself, it was a school project. Her teachers were so impressed, they submitted it to a state competition and she won.

BOLDUAN: Go ahead!

CUOMO: All categories, including the prestigious patent award which forwards the invention to the patent office. So now, she has a gofundme page.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (on camera): She has a gofundme page. Working to make a prototype. They've raised $21,000 so far, so if you want to give, gofundme.com