we put members first, join the nation. nationwide is on your side. hello and thanks for joining us here on cnn. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. our stop stories this hour, middle eastern leaders frantically trying to reach more lasting peace as israel and hamas enter their final day of the 72-hour cease-fire. meanwhile, gazans still struggle with the devastation from weeks. plus, liberia declares a state of emergency as the deadly

ebola outbreak worsens. you will hear the desperate plea from african leaders for international help. and nearly four decades after their crimes against humanity, two top leaders from cambodia's brutal khmer rouge regime are convicted and sentenced to life in prison. we'll speak to the court's spokesperson about what this decision means. we begin in cairo where egyptian negotiators are working with israeli and palestinian leaders to try to extend that 72-hour cease-fire in gaza. >> that's right. and as of this hour, we've now just entered the third day of the truce. there's been no sign of fighting from either side. in gaza, though, take a look at this. these are scenes of destruction. i mean, it's just astonishing. >> it is. and palestinian leaders say talk of extending that cease-fire is premature. u.s. president barack obama says both sides must find a way forward. take a listen. >> the short-term goal has to be

to make sure that rocket launches do not resume, that the work that the israeli government did in closing off these tunnels has been completed and that we are now in the process of helping to rebuild a gaza that's been really badly damaged as a consequence of this conflict. >> we're going to bring in our senior international correspondent matthew chance now following developments this morning in jerusalem. matthew, we just saw u.s. president barack obama speaking at that u.s./africa summit yesterday. by some estimates, you know, this latest clash has frayed the relationship between the obama and netanyahu administrations. of course, the idf sustained a lot of losses in this campaign. but still, prime minister netanyahu gave quite a confident speech there yesterday. what did he say?

>> reporter: yeah, he did give a speech. i think he came out in a pretty rare press conference, actually, with the local media here in israel and with the western media as well. basically to cantor these criticisms that have been levied against the israeli government in the united states particularly but also europe and elsewhere around the world. the response of the israelis was disproportionate, talking about the level of civilian casualties, the number of casualties in general. it's obviously contentious, the number of civilians. certainly there were nearly 1,900 casualties, many of them children. and that's led to ferocious criticism of israel's actions in the international media and international community as well. benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, saying that look, we don't bear responsibility in israel for these deaths. we carried out these airstrikes. that's true. and the artillery barrage. but it's hamas that should bear responsibility for it because

they launched their rockets from areas that are heavily populated by civilians. and so the prime minister repeating the israeli position on that issue. errol. >> now, we're in the third day of the cease-fire now. this is essentially a 24-hour you could say countdown to when it ends. there's discussions taking place in cairo, indirect talks, of course, between hamas and israel being mediated by the egyptians. you know, we've been here before. some analysts say this is going to take creativity, some new thinking in order to allow this peace to last. what are some european officials telling you about what some of the long-term options might be? >> reporter: well, i mean, there are some options on the table being discussed. but, you know, the basic problem at the moment is that yes, there's a cease-fire in force now. it's been in force for 48 hours. there's another day left to run on it. we've also heard from an israeli official that israel has said it's prepared to unconditionally

extend this cease-fire. so that could well happen, although hamas at the moment is saying that talk of extending the truce is premature. the bigger problem is that when it comes to forging a more lasting peace, there has to be a political settlement. and on that issue, both of the sides, the israelis and the palestinians, still appear to be very far apart. israel, for its part, wants hamas to disarm. it wants them to surrender the remaining rockets that they've made, give up their weapons and things like that. hamas and other palestinian factions, they want an end to the blockade of gaza. they want their borders opened to give the people of gaza a bit more of a normal life. and on that issue, the two sides are still very far apart. and so the prospects for a political settlement at this point look very dim indeed. >> all right. matthew chance joining us this morning from jerusalem, thanks.

to turkey now and the foreign minister in that country says his mission is working with israel and egypt, hoping to provide humanitarian relief to gaza and evacuate wounded palestinians. he says the aim is to open an air corridor to reach those who are most in need. with electricity out in most of gaza, many of the hospitals there are operating on backup generators. and medical supplies are running low. >> we want to get the injured people, thousands of them, they need urgent medical therapy. and we have already located places in our hospitals for them. >> many of those who need medical attention, of course, are children. the u.n. says more than 400 palestinian children have been killed in this latest conflict. one family from beit hanoun near gaza's northern border with israel suffered devastating losses when their home was hit by israeli airstrikes.

from there, they went to a u.n. school, and it was also shelled. >> translator: we had fled to the schools. first they struck the schools. then we went to a home and they struck it while we were asleep at 12:30 at night. my mother died. my uncle was wounded. my aunt and her young daughter also died. 12 people from my family died. and 11 people were wounded. >> meantime, in the southern gaza town of rafa, that's on the border with egypt, families have been very busy over the past few days burying the dead. >> yeah, martin savidge reports the town's cemeteries are filling up fast. >> reporter: there are many ways to measure the intensity of conflict. destruction, that's definitely one of them. and this is another. we are on the outskirts of rafah. this is the cemetery. we're only a couple hundred yards, maybe a couple hundred

meters, from egypt. and let me show you. there's one, two, three and here makes four rows. these are all relatively fresh graves. we're told that these were the graves dug in the first few days of the fighting down here. i'm told that well over 100 people here. and you can tell that they were done so quickly that they didn't have time to do the burial properly. the headstones are just simple bricks. and in some cases they just try to record what they know about who was buried here. and maybe later families can figure it out and properly bury. but this isn't the only part i wanted to show you. the other part's just up here. this is the newest section of this cemetery. the city has actually been working to make this happen to bury the dead. so many of them and quickly in time with keeping with the muslim tradition. it's just finishing up here.

this young man helping to care for these graves. these were actually yesterday. and then there's more over here. these are the open graves, which is an indicator that they still expect many more bodies to be found. in fact, just this afternoon, a few minutes ago, we witnessed the burial of several people there. they actually died, the family says, over three weeks ago. early in the conflict. but their bodies were only found just today. this was how they take care of them. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: this shows you that there's a lot more anticipated. this here, this is the next row over. and there's even one morrow after that. and the man looking after the cemetery here pointed out each one of those graves is not for

one body but for three. it's clear those taking care of the dead here have been very busy. >> now, for those who survived in gaza, there continues to be a desperate humanitarian situation there. if you feel compelled to help the people of gaza, cnn's put together a list of vetted organizations on our website. you can find all of that at cnn.com/impact. a level 1 alert, the highest possible, is issued at the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention as the ebola virus spreads. >> yeah, here's some of the newest information we have for you out of west africa. liberia's president declared a 90-day state of emergency there. the number of confirmed, probable and suspected ebola deaths in her country is now 282. the declaration essentially allows the government to, quote,

institute extraordinary measures, end quote, and possibly suspend certain rights and privileges. >> the world health organization says the overall confirmed probable and suspected death toll in western africa is now 932. concerns over the spread of ebola are, of course, escalating after a saudi man who had traveled to sierra leone reportedly died from ebola. >> and the world health organization is set to hold a two-day meeting on the virus. they could announce a public health emergency on friday. so we'll be certainly watching that closely. >> yeah. and concern is growing in nigeria as well after that country's second confirmed ebola death. >> yeah. the lagos state health commissioner, he's now appealing for outside help. he, too, trying to avert a possible epidemic. take a listen. >> we need volunteers now. they are extremely necessary to

assist us in tracking contacts to manage those cases. so we need doctors. we need nurses. and mental health workers. >> now, nigerian officials are also stepping up screening measures. >> yeah. will it be enough, though, to keep the virus from spreading? jonathan mann looks at the growing fear in nigeria's largest city, lagos. >> reporter: worry on the streets of lagos, nigeria. in this mega city of 21 million people, fears of an ebola epidemic are growing after nigerian health officials confirmed five new cases and a second death from the virus. the latest victim, a nurse who helped care for patrick sawyer, an american who died days after arriving on a flight from liberia. >> nigeria is the most populated country in africa. and boy, we hope it doesn't have an outbreak there.

>> if this thing is not contained in lagos, i can bet you before you can say jack robinson it's going to be everywhere in nigeria. >> reporter: all ports of skben are on red alert, and they've stepped up screening for incoming passengers. >> any suspicious passenger, the passenger goes to this holding area which we are providing for further investigation and interrogation. after which it is established, we have a quarantine area where the patient will be quarantined for necessary action. >> reporter: but lagos is one of the world's most crowded cities. many residents say medical care is not easily accessible. many others can't afford it. >> to be very frank, i think that we started our remedy or preventive measures rather a bit late. the ebola scare has been around

for a while, and we are supposed to do much more than we are doing now. >> reporter: not just people in lagos, but health officials all over the world are hoping nigeria is not too late to head off a possible epidemic. jonathan mann, cnn. coming up for you, an historic moment for cambodia. two former leaders of the khmer rouge regime finally face justice for crimes against humanity. but not all of their victims are happy with the guilty verdict. we'll explain coming up. this is charlie. his long day of doing it himself starts with back pain... and a choice. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. honey, you did it! baby laughs!

welcome back. well, two former senior leaders of the khmer rouge in cambodia have been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison for the 1970s mass deaths at what has been called the killing fields. a court in phnom penh comprised of local and international judges backed by the united nations announced the ruling a short time ago. both men had denied guilt and sought acquittals. chea and samwphan are in their 80s. one was a right-hand man to pol pot and the other that served as head of state in that regime. now, the khmer rouge was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th

century under communist leader pol pot, we just mentioned. they ruled cambodia from 1975 to 1979, only four years, but what they did, it is just astounding. the khmer rouge forced millions of people to work in labor camps. close to 2 million cambodians were killed or died from disease, malnutrition or overwork. vietnamese forced finally removed the khmer rouge from power in 1979. now, chea and samphan are the first and highest ranking regime leaders to face justice. khmer rouge leader pol pot died before he could be brought to justice in the courts. now, lars olson is a spokesperson for the extraordinary chambers in the courts of cambodia. that's what it's called, which just handed down the verdict. and he joins us now live from phnom penh. so thank you so much for talking with us. a lot of people looking at this saying it's been nearly 40

years, hasn't it, after all. why has it taken so long to bring these leaders to justice? >> well, we have to remember that even if these men were removed from power in 1979, they continued with remember aed resistance all the way up until 1999 when the last leaders were captured. so actually, almost until the end, which it was almost impossible to prosecute these leaders. then it took time for the u.n. and the cambodian governments to agree on a way forward how to set up court proceedings to deal with the atrocities committed during the '70s. so the court started its work in 2007 when we arrested chea and samphan and started an investigation against them. and that's kind of the time frame from where the courts

commenced. and in these cases which involves the most serious international crimes, crimes against humanity, it is complex. and you simply cannot compare the time it takes to prosecute these versus a normal homicide case in domestic courts. >> totally understood. but when you're talking about 40 years -- and of course these defendants in their early and late 80s, just extraordinary. and for a lot of the victims, very frustrating. and talking about victims, i do want to listen to one that cnn spoke to. she lost both her parents during this brutal period in cambodia. let's listen for a moment what she has to say because she was not happy with the outcome. let's listen. >> where i was detained as a child with my mom and my four brothers, the documentation center estimated that 30,000 individuals were killed there. that will never see the light of day in this court.

it will never get its day in court. we will never get our day in court. so this court started off as legitimate but has transformed into a political theater because the ruling regime refused and has controlled the process. >> a political theater. what do you say to that? >> well, she's obviously suffered with her family and i empathize with her on that. the court is concerned with following the law and having legal proceedings. and we realize there are many victims of many different opinions about this court. today we have more than 500 victims in the court. most of them expect relief that they'll see a conviction and sentence. we realize that we are not able to address everything which happened in cambodia between

1975 and 1979. that's simply not possible. it would simply take too long. but we are trying to address at least some of the issues which can address what happened in this period. not all victims will be satisfied with this. we are fully aware, but we are trying the best we can to provide some accountability and hopefully to some victims this will be closer to close difficult memories from the past. >> just quickly, a large portion of the leadership, the government in cambodia were past members of the khmer rouge. and there have been some suggestions by critics saying that they have blocked a wider investigation. what do you say to that criticism? >> well, i think the court and who could be prosecuted was an essential element in the negotiations between the united

nations and the government of cambodia. when they set up this court. we as a court will have to follow the norm which has been agreed upon, and that gives us the ability to prosecute only those who were senior leaders of the khmer rouge or most responsible for the grave violations that happened in the period 1975 to 1979. that's the guidance we have to follow. and that's based on the law. and if anyone falls into that category, they may be subject to prosecution by this court. >> all right. lars olsen, many thanks for you to for joining us and explaining some of the details behind this verdict and sentence. many thanks. errol. >> thanks. coming up, everyone, a major milestone is reached in space exploration. we'll bring you the latest on the rosetta mission and some of the big challenges ahead. where the reward was that what if tnew car smelledit card

and the freedom of the open road? a card that gave you that "i'm 16 and just got my first car" feeling. presenting the buypower card from capital one. redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac - with no limits. so every time you use it, you're not just shopping for goods. you're shopping for something great. learn more at buypowercard.com

and never quite get over it.y. seven billion hungry people. well, we grow a lot of food. we also waste about a third of what we grow. so, we put our scientists to work. and they found ways to keep the food we grow fresher, longer. using innovative packaging. there are still a lot of hungry people in the world. but we have a lot of scientists. this is the human element at work. dow. have you ever heard of the term geekgasm? >> that's you. >> it's when there's something very scientific or nerdy that gets that group very excited. that's what i was getting to, rosemary. >> all the nerds know. >> because these images we're about to show you are fascinating and crucial to scientific research. >> yeah, the european space agency's probe rosetta was able to do something that's never been done before. while the feat has scientists

smiling, one researcher says they aren't even at the fun part yet. mari ramos reports. >> reporter: with this tweet, it was mission accomplished. and history made by the european space agency. a final thrust of its engines and rosetta became the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet. a small mass of ice, dust and rock. now little more than 100 kilometers above the surface, rosetta can get up close and personal with these incredible images. tea these are taken from around 450 million kilometers away from earth. so even traveling at the speed of light, it took more than 22 minutes for the signal carrying them to reach earth. they're not just beauty shots. they're crucial for the next stage of rosetta's mission. >> they want to take very details images of the surface of that comet so they know exactly where to land its lander. and that's when the fun begins because then we'll start actually knowing what this comet is truly made of.

>> reporter: that lander isn't due to touch down until november. but given rosetta's epic journey so far, that's really not so long. rosetta's chase of the comet known as 67-p has taken it five times around the sun and used the gravity of earth and mars to catapult it to faster and faster speeds and to put the spacecraft in the correct orbit with the comet. the chase may be over, but rosetta has only just got started. many believe that within the comet lies the evidence of how the sun and solar system formed. scientists hope its observations of the cold, nomadic rock now it orbits will teach us about the origins of the solar system and perhaps even life itself. mari ramos, cnn center. typhoon halong continues to be on track for landfall in japan saturday. >> yeah, let's bring in meteorologist alexandra steele with more on this.

alexandra, what does it look like? >> yeah, this typhoon is the third super typhoon of this year along in the western pacific. so they've seen an awful lot. it's no longer a super typhoon. it's now a tie fan, but it is restrengthening again. can you see it here quite clearly. maximum sustained winds at 165. gusts to 205. but the problem with this is not only what this will do but what the history has done. here's the history of halong. it moved west and now north really with a beeline towards southern japan. but before this typhoon gets there, we had a tropical storm that brought an awful lot of rain. so here's the landfall. the landfall with this one is saturday. the winds will be about 120 to 150. but the biggest problem with this is the extreme flooding. the intensity of a hurricane or a typhoon doesn't lead to flooding. it's the forward speed, the slower it goes, the more we'll

see. so here's a look at the time line. we can see it make its way for the weekend, of course. but it was the tropical storm nakri that came before this that saw just an incredible amount of rain. historic amounts of rain for really two areas. and this typhoon expected to roll over the same terrain. so in kochi, the fourth wettest august on record. and sunday was the wettest august day they had ever seen. they saw a foot of rain in seven hours alone. 54 inches in the last six days. so an incredible amount. and here's one other spot. already the second wettest august as well. and now let's bring on the rain with this. here's through the next 48 hours or so. and this, the heaviest rain still south. so all of this, too, has yet to move north. so really, you guys, the key with this, it's coming. it's coming over the same areas.

the ground's saturated. we already have flooding. so the speed with this thing will be key. the quicker it moves, the better off japan certainly will be. so it's all about forward momentum. that's what we need with this, kind of get in and get out. the slower it goes, the more flooding we'll see. >> on alexandra, as it's tracking right now, then, when will the worst part be? this weekend? >> yeah, it's a weekend. saturday especially will be the worst of this. you know, when we come back, there's a one, two punch coming with a beeline for hawaii. two hurricanes in the pipeline for them coming more imminently. so we'll talk about that in just a little bit as well. >> rough weekend for weather. >> thank you. >> thanks, alex. still to come here, south african athlete oscar pistorius is heading back to court as both sides prepare to give their closing arguments at his murder trial. your 16-year-old daughter studied day and night

for her driver's test. secretly inside, you hoped she wouldn't pass. the thought of your baby girl driving around all by herself was... you just weren't ready. but she did pass. 'cause she's your baby girl. and now you're proud. a bundle of nerves proud. but proud. get a discount when you add a newly-licensed teen to your liberty mutual insurance policy. call to learn about our whole range of life event discounts. newlywed discount. new college graduate and retiree discounts. you could even get a discount when you add a car. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance.