no letup in gaza. new fighting as the fight of an israeli soldier remains a mystery and the story surrounding his disappearance keeps changing. i've been trying to be strong, but it's really hard. >> new today, family reaction to a coroner's report that a new york man died because of a police choke hold. what happens next for the officers involved. the mayor of baltimore taking some dramatic steps to get kids off the streets. why is she getting pushback for a strict new curfew plan? newly released richard nixon tapes. they are spurring some brand-new books. i'll talk to the author of one who was in the room when the whole saga played out. it's high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex

wit." we have breaking news to share. one of the patient with the deadly ebola virus has arrived in the states. he will be taken to emory university hospital. atlanta's emory university hospital says it is prepared to treat him in a specially designed unit for those with highly infectious diseases. with a good day to you, walk us through what happens now that his plane has landed. >> now that the plane has landed, alex, dr. ken brantly will be loaded into an ambulance, which will be accompanied by law enforcement. it will make its way through the atlanta metro city center before arriving here at emory university hospital. dr. brantly will be rushed up to the specialty isolation unit. it is one of just four in the country. and was developed in partnership with the cdc, which is located just down the road here. once inside that isolation unit,

he will be given supportive care for his illness. it is the doctor's goal to keep his body going so he can develop these antibodies to fight the anti-virus. that might mean putting him on a respirator, kidney dialysis, maintaining his blood pressure, whatever he needs, doctors say they are ready. >> we've been preparing for a long time for the arrival of either -- not just a patient with ebola infection but other serious communicable diseases. as such, we have a unit that's staffed with experts, both physician experts and nursing experts, that are really key players and understand the infection control practices necessary. >> this specialty unit is isolated from the rest of the hospital. the patient rooms are just in this specialty unit. they even have their own laboratory for tests. doctors say this eliminates risks to other patients, other medical workers and visitors to the hospital. family members of the two

patients will also be able to visit and speak to them if the patient is able through a plate glass window, hopefully giving them some mental support as they receive the physical support from the doctors. there's been a lot of controversy, especially on social media, about the decision to bring these two patients here to the u.s. doctors here say they fully support that decision, that these are community members, they are fathers, they do need to be treated here where they will receive the high est quality of care possible. dr. brantly expected here shortly. the airplane that brought him is going to turn around, going to go back and get that second victim and fly her here to atlanta to be treated as well. alex, back to you. >> given the cautions you referenced there, have there been any protests outside the hospital? >> nothing organized, nothing formal, no, alex. we have had a couple people walk by and give us their opinions but nothing organized and nothing serious. mostly, we've seen comments on twitter and facebook. we also had donald trump's tweet

yesterday to keep ebola patients out of the u.s., that we have enough problems here. then you have the doctors here saying no, these are earn iname on a humanitarian mission. they deserve to be brought back to their country and deserve the best quality care we can give them. and that is here at emory. >> where you are located. thank you very much. the other big breaking story, the israeli military just sent word to palestinians who fled flighting in one gaza town they can go back home. it is a signal at least one israeli offensive is winding down. in towns like gaza city and rafah, there is no sign of safety. the palestinian death toll has reached more than 1,670 people. the iron dome has continued to intercept rockets today. about 66 israelis have died, most of them soldiers. israel searching for its soldier they believe hamas captured in an underground tunnel.

now more on this. jamie, with a good evening, nearly, your time as the scene there in gaza city is just in advance of night fall. tell me what's going on. >> good afternoon, alex. what the situation that you've described only indicates the degree to which israel seems to be in control of the rhythm and flow of the conflict now. this is a dramatic change in only 24 hours. just friday morning, as you mentioned, there was a fragile cease-fire that was pierced very early on. only hours after it began. with the news that an israeli soldier may have been captured. and what followed was an enormous counterattack by the israeli military. and then late last night, overnight, saturday, hamas said it, in fact, did not have this soldier, and that it believes that all the hamas operatives that were involves in this ambush that killed two israeli soldier, and that may have led

to the capture a third were, in fact, killed and the israeli soldier may have been killed along with them. and that this kidnapping drama now, or this capture drama now seems to have shifted the momentum on to the israeli side and it's now israel that seems to be determining the rhythm here, alex. >> okay. jamie, thank you for keeping us abreast of things. i know things change. can radically change in one hour's time. we'll check with you at the top hour of the show. thank you so much, jamie. let's go back to sara, outside of emory hospital, as we bring you pictures of the ambulance en route, carrying dr. brantly who has flown in from liberia. the first of two americans afflicted with the ebola virus. how long of a ride is this and when is he expected to get to the hospital? >> well, alex, dobbins air force base is located about 15 to 20 miles outside atlanta. you can see there that they're

not dealing with any of the atlantic traffic people here are used to. they've got a clear ride here to emory university hospital. so it shouldn't take too long. once they're here, they have the back part of the hospital blocked down. they've got law enforcement cars. they were locking the doors to the back of the hospital so you couldn't come and go about an hour ago. so they plan to rush him to that isolation unit. like i said, shouldn't be much longer. they're on the road. you're looking at the live pictures right now. >> sara, when we talk about the isolation unit being separate from the rest of the hospital, is it in a physically different building? does it have its own elevator access? i mean, can you talk about the details on that? >> i can. it is on the ground floor of the hospital. it is in the hospital. but it is separate. it even has its own air system, its own air filtration system. once you walk inside there. it has its own laboratory. so you're not bringing in any bodily fluids that might transmit the ebola virus in with

other samples. it has its own patient room, the highest level of clinical isolation as they describe it. that's really going to be key for these two patients who can get a mental boost hopefully from seeing their friends and seeing their family who are going to be able to come to that window and look at them and talk to them through the communication system. they've been training the doctors and nurses on this for years. not just for ebola, but any other highly communicable disease. they've been doing training and simulations on and off. doctors say they are prepared, they are ready, they're ready to get going and providing any comfort, any sort of treatment they can provide to these two ebola victims. >> with regard to the treatment, sara, it is well known there is no cure for ebola virus. so specifically, is it just that this kind of a hospital is outfitted better to administer things like hydration, to

monitor the ventilation system, things like that, and to keep them kwarn tibed better than they could do at the hospital in l liberia, is that why they're here? >> the quarantine is the key here. the highly skilled training these doctors and nurses have received. they're ready to go with this. they've trained and practiced for a long time. as far as the treatment, you touched on that. there is no cure. there's no fda approved miracle drug for ebola. what they will be doing they describe as supportive care. they will be keeping their bodies going until they're able to develop those anti-bodies to fight ebola. that might mean something as simple as maintaining their blood pressure but it could progress to a res pa ratter, needing to be on kidney dialysis, so it is just a wait and see now. we just don't know until we get

them into our hospital and really begin evaluating them. and then we'll begin to develop a treatment plan. >> you mentioned the plane is scheduled to go immediately back to ferry the other victim, nancy writebol, bring her back. she's the hospital volunteer, the aide volunteer, who has been strucken with the ebola virus too. >> that is correct. for a little while, we didn't know which patient would be coming first. we learned it would be dr. brantly. if you'll remember, there was one experimental serum sent to africa to give to one of these patients and dr. brantly selflessly insisted it be given to nancy writebol. she received that. he was the first to come back to america. we understand that he has a family member here in atlanta. no doubt, his other family is making his way here. he has children. he has a wife. he has a large community that loves him and that is worried for him. >> do we know if she did get

that medication, that one experimental treatment administered to her? do we know, was that given? >> it is our understanding she did receive that treatment. we have not heard if it was successful, what the effects of that were. dr. brantly for his part, he was given a treatment, he was given blood transfusion from a 14-year-old, and in an ironic twist, this was actually a 14-year-old who had ebola that dr. brantly helped cure. he later received the gift of the blood transfusion from this 14-year-old boy. >> i understand there are four facilities in the country that are outfitted with this special ability to care for a vastly and wildly communicable disease like thi this, is it confirmed writebol might go to emory? >> right now we're told this is where she's coming. initially, they were told to prepare for one. then yesterday in a press conference, about 24 hours ago,

we've learned that they would be receiving two patients. the doctors themselves had just barely been informed of this. the airplane they're traveling on, this specially equipped medical airplane, can only carry one person at a time. right now, we're not sure how that decision was made who to bring back first. we can only assume one person was a little worst off and needed to come first. >> are you able to see the spot through which the ambulance will be going when they get back to that hospital? can your camera show that to us? as you can see, they're on the freeway right now, and probably expected there shortly. so i'd just like to see where they're going to the facility. >> let me give you a look down here at the road. you can kind of see the media set up down there. you can see a tent. this is the entrance to the back of the hospital there where we have law enforcement setting up and kind of doing a bit a lockdown on this hospital here. this isn't a residential area. if you're not from this area. it's a beautiful residential area. lots of trees. some very beautiful homes.

this is not located directly off the freeway. you're going to have to drive once you get off the freeway probably about 10, 15 minutes to reach this area here. you can see some of the media set up right there awaiting the arrival. we believe at this point this is where they'll take them. the hospital has been tight-lipped about their plans to transport them especially in light of the controversy of some people feeling it wasn't appropriate to bring patients with ebola virus into the u.s. >> yes, and you've got to wonder if there's been any outcry at all from either students or parents of emory university, as universities across this country prepare to have kids return for their fall semesters. it's a great school there. it's nearby. do you know if there's been anyone who said we're not comfortable with this? >> so far, we've not heard of any parent saying i will not let my children go to this school, i don't feel comfortable with it. most people in the medical community we've spoken to have

touched on ebola, while it is a scary illness when you hear the symptoms and hear what happens once you catch it, that it is, in fact, not as easy to catch as, say, for example, the flu, if someone sneezes, you could potentially catch it that way. doctors in the press conference compared it to hiv or hepatitis c in that it has to be transferred through bodily fluid or blood. something like that. so it's not as if you could catch it simply by sitting on someone next to the subway. >> okay. sa sara, sit tight for me as we continue watching this ambulance. it's making the stop at the light there, presumably heading to the hospital there. the doctor from the university joins me now. were this patient coming to vanderbilt, it would probably be a different setup, because that hospital is not set up for the kind of special quarantine-type treatment, correct? >> we don't have that kind of

special equipment, but any major hospital, my own included, vanderbilt, could take care of this patient safely and appropriately using rigorous infection control precautions. >> doctor, that is something that might cause some speculation and some queries from people listening, given the severity of what the ebola virus represents. talk about that. you feel, were this not available, university hospital like vanderbilt could effectively treat without risking harm to others? >> i think any university hospital and any good community hospital could do a wonderful job in taking care of this terribly serious infection, but once that's not readily transmissible. we know how this infection is transmitted. we have infection control precautions that can provide the health care worker safety in providing good health care.

>> doctor, given the nature of ebola and people's fears, do you think that that message is being lost at all on the general population? you think ebola and people think we don't want it anywhere near here. and you've maybe heard the references of social media. it's been blowing up with people saying they should not come to the united states for fear of an outbreak, but you think those fears are unfounded? >> the fears are unfounded, alex. honestly, we in public health and infectious diseases are a little surprised at how much anxiety there is about this. because we know about this infection. we know it's very serious. we know how it's transmitted. and we're very confident that we could take care of such patients safely. i think it's wonderful that this patient is coming to emory. and they're going to take very good care of this patient absolutely safely, no hazard to folks in the street. >> sir, talk about the

difference between treating a patient here in the united states with our facilities and then the african countries, notably liberia, where it has spread so quickly. what is the difference? >> well, the difference is our capacity to provide intensive supportive care. all good wishes to the folks in africa, but you can imagine that the resources there are not as elaborate as those we have here. our specialists can help providing good consultation. the laboratory and other technical support that we have is at a different order of magnitude here. it's the supportive care that's going to help these people surmount this. >> can you talk about what that care, that supportive care includes? i know that appropriately high trading the patient is one thick, but what else? >> the metabolic balance being able to send specimens

immediately off to the laboratory and get results back quickly. and then assessing organize be function. the kidneys. the livers. the heart. we can monitor the heart very carefully. if something goes wrong, we can call in the specialists. we have the drugs available. we can monitor their impact very, very carefully. >> doctor, in medical school or in residential -- residencies across this country, are physicians in training regularly taught about infebruactious diss like this? >> it is a specialty and every medical student hears about it. they don't spend a lot of time on ebola. that's more the province of we infectious disease specialists. but we have that resource available in this country and virtually every large community hospital. it's very reassuring.

>> doctor, is there anyone who might present themselves as more potentially a victim to ebola virus? is it elderly, affirmed, children? or can it strike at random? >> well, in africa, of course, it strikes most people who are adults because they exchange body fluids. and let me tell you, one of the ways it's spread in africa has to do with funeral practices. and cultural activities that are deeply embedded. when someone dies, out of respect to the person who's passed, the body is washed very, very carefully, including all the body orifices. it's done by family and dear friends. it's in that actual activity they're exposed to the virus and transmission can occur to those family and friends.

we we've not been able to discourage this practice because it is so embedded. that's part of the reason it's spreading. >> doctor, by that description, that would mean that someone had come into direct contact with the patient. it has been said before that a passage of bodily fluids is how ebola is passed, but i should note, sir, that the chief of the world health organization said this particular strain of ebola may be launched airborne. have you heard that? if so, how does that complicate matters? >> well, airborne transmission has not been demonstrated. that has been a concern from day one when ebola was first discovered. and airborne transmission is, we think, very unlikely. so there's no good evidence of that at present.

and in any event, these patients who are being brought here are being protected from airborne transmission. our health care workers are taking the appropriate precautions. >> are we expecting -- were we to see health care workers in, quote, hands on treatment, they will be covered from head to toe, have masks, full-on head gear, gloves? nothing exposed? >> exactly. they know how to put it on. and then in what sequence to take it off so they don't contaminate themselves. they're rigorously trained. when you do it, you're observed to make sure you're doing it correctly. >> you mentioned the discrepancy between the air ventilation systems we're able to offer here as opposed to those perhaps in liberia. do you know if the oxygen

content changes as well in these rooms that are specially designed to help? is there an increase in oxygen level in what will be pumped into that room, the isolation room? >> it's not the amount of oxygen, it's that the room is balanced so that air goes into the room. it doesn't leak out. and is then filtered and exhausted to the outside after it's cleansed. it's very rug regularly controlled. if the patient has difficulty breathing, then of course we can provide extra oxygen to that patient using our usual assi assistive devices. >> going back to sara right outside of that hospital. have you seen any movement? have they been given a head's up as we see -- >> alex, this is actually the ambulance believed to be

carrying dr. brantly arriving now at emory university hospital. it is made dobbins air reserve base to bring the doctor here. you can see the law enforcement escort right there, bringing him in there. they've closed down traffic right to the road. they're taking this very seriously. all security precautions, all medical precautions. they want to keep everybody safe. they want to minimize risk for this deadly virus. they will not put any of the public in any risk by bringing him here. they are now -- the plane that flew him to dobbins, the wheels are up, it is back in the air. it will be returning shortly to africa to pick up the second ebola victim, missionary nancy writebol. it will bring her here to emory university hospital for treatment as well. >> as i return, thank you for

that, as i return to dr dr. shafner. if you were a physician awaiting the arrival of this ambulance which is just moments away from reaching that special door through which dr. brantly will be taken, would you be nervous? >> i'd be excited. i'd be excited in anticipation. i would be confident in the sense that i know my team and i can provide the kind of supportive care that needs because we've done it before with all kinds of ill patients. we know we can do a good job with this patient. >> doctor, i'll ask you to stay on the phone as we're joined by nbc chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman with whom we spoke earlier today. dr. nancy, thank you for calling in. i asked dr. shafner of vanderbilt whether he would be nervous. do you think there's any nerves? >> no, i would be excited,

anticipating. this is exactly what medical teams train for. when this unit was built, there was a request, would would like to work in this unit. nurses and doctors came forward and volunteered. infectious diseases are frightening. but they're also exciting in the chance you get to make a difference, you get to save lives. you get to see diseases you don't normally encounter. at the same time, we get to learn, educate people, and, frankly, make our medical system stronger. so, no, i would not be scared. if i were in this field, i would have volunteered. >> i know you. i'm sure you would have, actually. dr. nancy, we have talked about this strain of ebola virus and the fact it is not airborne. you talked about the fact were someone to be sitting next to an ebola carrier on a plane, you would not worry about catching it yourself. that heard, the chief of the

world health organization said this particular strain may be an airborne strain. first what do you know? second, if it is not possible, why in the world would that be said? >> let's not confuse airborne strains like flu and cold viruss with something that can live in the air once it's dry. my infectious disease partners, and dr. shaner is better equipped to answer this, but i have been told if someone were to vomit and the vomit dry, it is conceivable that the virus stays alive for several days. that's different from passing influenza from one person to another which in many ways is much more transmissible. the way you get ebola is direct contact with bodily secretions. blood, urine, feces, vomit. in the western african countries, it has been primarily in ritual bathing and touching sick people.

i've been asked all over twitter today, how did these two health care workers get sick. we don't know the exact answer yet because no one's really been asked to answer them. no one's really had a chance to listen to them. but it is conceivable that when you're in the field in 100 degree weather, wearing a hazmat suit that then raises your temperature to 104, 106, you're sleep deprived. the work is a struggle. that a minor glitch can happen and human mistakes can be made. that is not going to happen at emory. they are in cool conditions. layers and layers of protection. shifts of workers. strict protocols. and they have practiced for this day. this is as close to a military operation as you can get. >> which is exactly what it's reminding me of. as we take a look. we're seeing this ambulance and there is someone who is clearly in a hazmat suit standing close

to the ambulance by the back door from which dr. brantly will be brought. interestingly, at the front of the ambulance, you see a police officer just in regular police uniform. and apparently there's nothing to be concerned about with regard to that. he's staying in front of the ambulance. and that's safe. >> that's exactly right. just a distance from a patient. if you don't touch a patient, you're not going to get this. phenomenal coordination. the centers for disease control. emory. the patients. the nonprofits. the department of defense. the state department. the white house. there has been communication and an executed plan from every layer. remember, the planes let the united states not really knowing what they were going to find, the teams, when they arrived. if these patients had been too unstable to return, they could have easily said, you know what,

we're better off to treat patients here. anywhere along this line, we could have had a different change of what we're witnessing today. i think this really speaks to how extraordinary americans are to put their lives out there and volunteer. how extraordinary our medical system is. and that this is what volunteerism looks like. and then when people get sick, we take care of each other. that's what distinguishes us as a country. >> i have to say, i'm very proud to be the daughter of a physician and watch my father spend his life taking care of people. so i know exactly about what you're talking. we're watching one of the attendants from inside -- a couple from inside the ambulance exit. they're clearly covered head to toe. this looks like something straight out of a hollywood blockbust blockbuster, right? they have yet to bring out dr. brantly. unless -- would he be in a position to be able to walk on his own accord, dr. nancy? >> no. >> okay, because somebody --

>> don't you agree? >> somebody seems to be being helped to some degree. i mean, taken by the hand and walking in. >> you know what, you have the pictures, i don't. i would be surprised -- >> because the severity with which his condition was reported, i don't know. is dr. shafner still on the phone? i'm right here and that's very encouraging. >> you think that was dr. brantly walking in with assistance there, sir? >> i'm not watching, i'm listening to your description. i like my friend dr. sniderman would not have thought that he would be able to walk or that they would have him -- i think they would have him on a gurney or something like that. >> right. this is exactly what i was anticipating, given the severity of the virus. the fact was he was, for a while -- i believe he was listed as the more critical patient for a while, right? you and i have been talking in different parts of this building

that when he offered to give up that one experimental treatment, serum -- i don't want to say vaccine, he gave it to someone he thought would be able to better you'd liutilize it, righ? >> the question was, was he more stable and offered it to her or was he sicker and thought she should, you know, she would have a better shot? frankly, we don't know what the serum was. we don't know what the dosage was. that's still a major mystery. the decision as to how to evacuate someone and who gets priority of first out of the country can be a lot of things. sometimes you take the sicker person who you believe can take the flight. sometimes people are too sick and you want to stabilize them on the ground at not risk an in-air emergency. but these teams go into these areas with plan a, b, c and d,

ready to execute and change everything on a moment's notice. i'm now watching the msnbc feed and i can see the ambulance that you're talking about that came from grady. i still have to believe -- i'll be stunned if he walks off this. for a million different reasons, i would expect him to be on a gurney. we know he's been reportedly transferred from a local hospital in liberia with an iv. that's just not a normal setting to then have someone walk off. >> to that extend, doctor, is there any reason why you think he would be lying right now on a gurney still inside that ambulance with those two attendants having exited? i know the inside of an ambulance doesn't have a heck of a lot of room once you put a patient on a gurney in there. would there be more attendants inside or would these two have been attending him and these two left him inside potentially on

his own? >> well, they won't leave him on his own. that i'm sure of. it's conventional to transport patients in an ambulance on a gurney. you can monitor them much more securely. you can treat them much more readily. and it just fits into the ambulance, the way the ambulance is designed. >> yeah, well, again, for those of you would have been with us just a few minutes ago, we saw these two completely clad head to toe figures in white protective garb walking towards the hospital. we don't know exactly whom they're seeing. readily identifiable by our camera position. it was interesting to see one seemed to be being led by the other. one was walking slightly more gingerly than the other. but, again, this would be a remarkable development, were that to have been dr. brantly, able to walk on his own accord.

what are the symptoms he is dealing with in all likelihood given how long he's been battling ebola? >> early symptoms are sudden dramatic fever, muscle weakness, aches, pains, nausea, vomiting. what you want to prevent is the onset of kidney and liver failure. obviously you want -- the h hemorrhage in the end stages. there's been a lot of criticism for why we should bring these patients home. i want to underscore to people the reason we bring these people home is to give them the quality care that cannot be delivered in liberia. patients don't die because they suddenly bleed out. they die of shock. so simple things like being on all the right medicines that keep those kidneys flushed. to be able to keep blood pressure up. to monitor a patient's oxygen nation. all those sophisticated things that americans are so accustomed to. those simple things can mean the

difference between life and death. >> look at the second person would got out. doesn't it seem to be that this person's being led -- >> it does seem to be one person is being led. i would have to surmise from looking at this picture -- you know what, looks to me the person on the left is the health care worker, the person on the right is being led in. i'm stunned that two people are walking in in hazmat suits. i would have expected a gurney. it could be -- because it's a little tough to tell, that's gravel, it's a short distance, they may have determined he was stable enough to walk 20 yards. but that is very atypical. >> yeah, absolutely. the second person got out would more likely be the patient,

given the first person is carry something, that black satchel, something -- >> -- on the right-hand side of the screen, walking in, being led in. boy, i'm surprised if this is dr. brantly. he is walking with -- purposefully and obviously some strength. this in itself -- dr. brantly is very, very, very encouraging -- >> again, is there any -- >> nancy, wouldn't you agree that if that is indeed the case, that gives us hope for his prognosis? >> phenomenally. if this is dr. brantly -- i have no reason to think it's not -- he -- boy. we know not to make prognosis from a distance but this sure doesn't look like anyone woz in a brave condition.

but obviously a phenomenally encouraging sign. >> is there any reason why he as a patient would still after this length of time -- we're pushing ten minutes now -- that he would still be inside that ambulance? given the way the hospital is ready for setups? you think that's dr. brantly? >> i thing he's out. no one's going to leave a patient behind. he is monitored and in the eyes and care of a health care worker from bed in liberia to bed in atlanta. there is no break in the chain of command. so there's no way he would have been left behind. but the way this person is being led, would be person is an authority figure, the other isn't. i have to assume that is the patient on the right-hand side. >> okay, we've replayed this a few times. i don't think we're going to get anything more from our live shot. >> want to remind people that even though he's walking, he's still considered infectious,

which is why you see people doing all the right things with all the right protection. the police who are around from a distance don't have to worry about being protected. those it upping dr. brantly will contin continue, touching dr. brantly will continue this separation of him with any other human being. his waste products, everything that touches him, will be incinerated. until he's symptom free, he will be considered infected until proven otherwise. there are going to be no breaks in this chain of command. this has been too well thought out. this, frankly, should make everyone very proud and give people a lot of confidence in how we respond to emergencies. >> i agree -- >> dr. nancy snyderman and -- last thoughts from you, dr dr. safner? >> i would agree 100%. i think we can indeed be proud. as nancy said, this is going to be happen rigorously, 24/7.

we're going to do our best to provide excellent medical care. and it will be done safely from the point of view of the health care providers, as well as the general community. we know how to do this. we're going to do it right. >> and all the people who have said, why bring them home? we bring them home so we can save their lives. that's what doctors do. >> and we should all share in that pride. >> right. >> i think we all do, especially if there's a positive outcome for dr. kent brantly here. dr. nancy snyderman, as always, many thanks to you. dr. shafner, appreciate your expertise. also nbc's sara dalap covering this story for us on the ground. we of course will bring you all the latest as we get information on the developments there at emory. let's go right now to the big breaking hours from the middle east. as israel continues its bombardment of gaza in response to the apparent capture of one of its soldiers, the palestinian

death toll has climbed to more than 1,670. hamas' military wing says it never captured the soldier. it bleaelieves the 23-year-old officer may have been killed in a battle with hamas fighters it joining me now, saeb erakat, just returning from his meeting with khaled meshaal, the leader of hamas. sir, thank you for joining me. >> thank you, alex. >> all right. let's talk about what news you heard from khaled meshaal this week. the question to you asked, where does he stand on things right now? >> as a matter of fact, i spend two nights in doha. i was in touch with president abbas of course, with the egyptian foreign minister. i was with the qatari foreign minister and with mr. kerry, the

secretary of state. we were working very, very hard to reach an agreement on a cease-fire. finally we reached a deal. to go into effect at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. and then the israelis insisted the army remain where they are. so i said to everyone, this is a disaster. this will not enable us to sustain the cease-fire. because israel will go home to home, friction and clashes. when zero hour came at 8:00 in the morning, between 8:00 yesterday, until 9:25 ahead of time, israeli demolished 21

homes, clashes were -- two israelis were killed and one israeli disappeared. and that's the situation. now, today, we -- president abbas sent our delegation to cairo. we hope that the americans and the u.n. and others will convince the israelis to go to cairo. if israel thinks it can achieve political ends by this war, by killing more than 1,700 palestinians, demolishing palestinian homes, this is not going to get anywhere other than add fuel to the fire and a larger cycle of violence, extremism and counterviolence. what we need is a political solution. a strategy for the day after. we must realize a two-state solution where palestine can live side by side in peace and security with israel. what we have to do is employ all elements of the escalation. our delegation is waiting for the israelis in cairo.

the israelis are sending more bombardment against 1.7 million people living in the gaza strip. we are having a palestinian child killed every three hours, and that's the honest truth. and people don't see us anymore. people don't see us anymore. >> mr. erakat, khaled meshaal is the leader of the political wing of hamas. does he also control the military wing, are the two in step? when i was in his house in doha meeting with him, in touch with all these parties, i think they were speaking with one tongue, hearing with one ear and seeing with one eye. that is the truth. when we agreed at 8:00 a.m., zero hour, everybody was on board. everybody was on board. not only the hamas fighters, all

palestinian fighters were on board of this agreement that was reached the evening of 31st of july. >> mr. meshaal, he gave an interview last week to cbs, six and he was asked if he wants to coexist with israel as a state. no, i said i do not want to live with a state of occupiers. he was then asked if israel no longer occupies the territories, will he then recognize its rights to exist. he responded when the palestinians have a state, then it will decide its policies. i don't think anyone believes that there can be peace in the region without both sides recognizing the other's right to exist. if mr. meshaal cannot agree to that, does he really want the war to end? >> well, look, alex, meshaal heads the political wing of palestinian party called hamas. as palestinians, we are guided and led by our government called

the plo, palestine liberation organizations. we have recognized the state of israel's right to exist in peace and security on the 1969 lines. we've been negotiating with israel for 20 years. as a matter of fact, this year, the beginning -- the first nine months of 20 -- the first nine months of 2014, the beginning of 2014, president obama and secretary kerry tried very hard with us and israeli delegation in order to reach the two-state solution. unfortunately, the israelis refused. i challenge any israeli minister to come to your show and say i recognize the state of palestine right to exist on the 1967 lines. palestinian leadership and the plo we have recognized israel's right to exist and once we reach an agreement with israel and the two-state solution, we put it to public receive ranrandom. people will go to the ballots

and decide. we as palestinian government have reek nilcognized the state israel's right to exist. there are are many parties in the coalition who don't recognize the palestinian people. they don't see the palestinian state. and i urge the israeli prime minister to stand tall, instead of sending missiles and f-15s and f-16s and gun ships to bombard and killed neighbors in gaza, he should stand tall and say, i'll reach out to you, i recognize the state of palestinian, to live in peace and security -- 1967. that's what's needed now. i recognize israel's right to exist in peace and security. can he utter the same sentence? >> sir, you're speaking on behalf of a politician, and you talk about many israelis not recognizing palestinian's right to exist. do all palestinians recognize israeli's right to exist? just the average citizens? >> no, no, but -- no, but the

palestinian government, the palestinian government, which i'm a member of, the palestine liberation organizations, we have signed an agreement with israel. we have exchanged letters of recognition to the state of israel. and since 1993, all respective israeli governments fail to recognize the state of palestine right to exist next to the state of israel. i'm not scoring points. i'm not finger-pointing. i'm saying the honest truth. we have been negotiating with israel in order to end the conflict so palestinians and israelis can live as neighbors in their own state on the 1967 lines. the israeli governments have added more settlements, more settlers. now they think by the language of fear and aggression and this might that's being used against the gaza strip, that they can achieve political goals. i'm afraid to tell you that failure to recognize the state of palestinian by the israeli government is the reason we

don't have peace. >> i'm sure you've heard the phrase that somebody has to blink first. so, to that end, would you publicly rebuke hamas and call on them to stop firing rockets if it meant an end to the killing in gaza? >> alex, i was with meshaal in his house. and i called mr. john kerry and mr. ban ki-moon and mr. calata of qatar. hamas and other organizations are willing to use 8:00 a.m. in the morning of august 1st as zero hour to stop all attacks, missiles, any other things shooting, so on. that's the truth. now we have a palestinian delegation, as i'm speaking to you, in cairo, with the egyptians who also invited the israelis. yes, we are willing, we are all

involved. if we can specify zero hour, tonight, we are going to be all on board to end this vicious cycle. we're here. just one world. our problem needs political solution. not military solutions. we're not going to save israelis or palestinians by more wars. what we need is a formula that will end occupation that will come with that equation of a palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security on the 1967 lines. that's the only way out. and the only way to do this is for the parties to go to cairo. and start with the egyptians and the palestinians there in order to get a zero hour, to stop this war, and then to go immediately into our political process leading to the two-state solution, ending the conflict, ending the claim. >> mr. saeb erakat, thank you.

chief negotiator for the palestinians. appreciate the extended conversation, sir. coming up at the top of the hour, we'll speak with a deputy spokesperson for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. that's in about ten minutes or so. ♪ fill their bowl with the meaty tastes they're looking for, with friskies grillers. tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. in delicious chicken, beef, turkey, and garden veggie flavors. friskies grillers. your 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.

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at 53 past the hour. one of the strictest laws to keep kids off the street goes into effect in baltimore. children under 14 must be off the streets by 9:00 p.m. all year round. children aged 14 to 16 most be in by 10:00 p.m. some residents are concerned about how it will be imt plimted. implemented. joining me now is baltimore's mayor. she is also the second vice president of the u.s. conference of mayors. which means she's a very busy lady. thank you for joining us. >> good to be here. >> as you know, one of hbo's

most popular shows, "the wire," gave viewers a glimpse of baltimore's violence. you talked about where the city is in terms of violence. shootings are down. violence as a whole, down 10%. baltimore remains one of the most violent cities in america. what led to this scurfew? >> we've had the curfew for two decades and the curfew center since 2008. what we did was update the law. the city council put in a bill to update the law to make sure a 5-year-old and a 14-year-old or a 5-year-old and a 16-year-old didn't have the same curfew. we took away the penalty of jail for parents. our focus is on connecting parents and their children with services they need to keep kids safe. >> let's look at what violators will face. you've got kids who will be wro brought to a curfew center. they and their parents will be able to access social services.

parents of repeat violators will have to pay a very hefty fine. $500. look, baltimore's among a growing number of cities with a curfew. so how confident are you the curfew and punishments will reduce crime? >> i'm certainly sure that it's going to reduce curfew violations. we've seen a steady decrease in curfew violators. we don't have a lot of repeat offenders. when the kids come in once, the parents are dragged in, we have very few repeat offenders. very few parents have to face the maximum fine. this is about connecting vulnerable kids and their families with resources. this is not about criminalizing kids. for me this is about making sure they don't wind up in the criminal justice system. we need to protect our kids. and we can't allow fearmongering and rhetoric to do what it's done to congress. i can't afford to do nothing. the same people that, you know,

are arguing with me that we need more services during the day time want me to look a -- turn a blind eye in kids at need at night and i'm not going to do that. >> maybe taking part of what you heard where people were criticizing, saying this might criminalize these youths of the city, and specifically black youths, and create more tension between them and police. what do you say to counteract their fears? >> that we've been enforcing the curfew for 20 years. the curfew center since 2008. facts don't bear out with their fearmongering. we had very few complaints. i'm going to focus on making sure our kids in need get connected with services. again, i understand concern, but it should be based in fact, not on fear mongering, not on rhetoric. i don't have the luxury of operating in that world. i need to -- i have to focus on, you know, what's going on on the ground. on the ground, we have kids in

need. i'm not going to turn a blind eye. i'm not going to present tend like i don't see it. there's a time to debate and there's a time to act. when kids are involved, it's a time to act. >> you have famously said that once you become a parent, you are always a parent. so you're putting a lot of the onus on parents to monitor children, right? >> we are giving them support. there's this notion that if you're poor and your parent is struggling that you shouldn't -- those children shouldn't be loved and cared for. you know, we need to say enough is enough as a community and say we're going to protect our kids and if there's a parent in need, this is not about criminalizing. this is about connecting them with resources so their child doesn't end up either being harmed or harmed someone else. >> we'll be monitoring and see how well you're doing.

thank you. ahead, kentucky's biggest political day of the year. fancy farm. and the latest on the scintillating courtroom drama unfolding around former governor mcdonnell. one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

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talk to your doctor. for free home delivery, enroll in nexium direct today. a doctor infected with ebola arrives on u.s. soil. how much of a risk, if any, is he? new fighting and search for a captured israeli soldier. and private details and a fall from grace becoming public in a courtroom. and a reported hidden romantic crush. good day to all you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we have breaking news. one of two americans who contracted the deadly ebola disease is now at emory hospital. you're looking at video of what appears to be dr. brantly

walking into that hospital. most notably, on his own accord. he appears to be the man on the right being led in by an ambulance technician there, certainly both covered head to toe for protect i measures. about an hour ago, the special plane carrying brantly arrived at dobbins air force base and he was taken by ambulance to emory hospital. sara, now that the plane has landed, i understand it has taken off. tell me what's next on the agenda. >> ways next on the agenda is going back to get that second patient. we have word she's expected to arrive next week. that plane not on the ground very long, probably about half an hour, until wheels up and right back into the air. as for dr. brantly, it was quite a dramatic journey once he arrived. he was ushered into an

ambulance, which then drove the atlanta metro streets, flanked by law enforcement, here to emory university hospital, and then you see that dramatic video, that very promising video, of what appears to be the doctor himself walking out of the ambulance, clad in that protective suit. appears he is being led by, most likely, a health care professional into the hospital. now begins the evaluation phase. he's been whisked up to their specialty isolation units. doctors will evaluate him and see what he needs. obviously there is no cure for ebola. right now, they're giving a supportive course of treatment. seeing what he needs to maintain his blood pressure, what fluids he might need. they are prepared in case of kidney dialysis or perhaps a respirator. but you saw them walk out or what we believe is the dr. walking out of that ambulance. promising for doctors who earlier today said they were

cautiously optimistic about their chances. there has been some controversy, mainly on social media, about the decision to return them to the states to treat them. doctors here saying that was the right decision and they support it. >> back in 2009, h1n1 rates for inflew be za were the highest in august of 2009 in metro atlanta. the initial mortality rates out of mexico was around 50%, when that outbreak started. if you look at the united states worldwide, mortality was only 11%. >> that is what doctors hope happen in this case. you heard scary numbers, a 90% mortality rate for ebola. doctors here say that is treatment in africa, where the systems there are not as sophisticated and health care isn't up to the quality they say it's up to in emory. they're optimistic they can treat and possibly save these patients here. next up is bringing missionary

nancy writebol here. she is expected the week of august 3rd. that begins tomorrow. the doctors believe there is not any risk to human life here. it has its own rooms. it has its own laboratory. they say there's no risk to other patients in the hospital. visitors or medical staff. so some optimistic news this afternoon. >> thank you for standing vigil through the developing news in this last hour. nbc's sara dalap there at emory hospital. trading fire and losing lives. the israeli military is pounding gaza city and the town of rafah after the reported capture of one of its officers. israel's iron dome continues to intercept hamas rockets today. nbc's jamie negerbog is live for

us. jamie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, alex. it appears that any diplomatic solution to the crisis is not, at least for the moment, for the moment, at hand. that doesn't mean there isn't going to be an end to the crisis soon. it, instead, means that israel sees the momentum and is declaring it will militarily end this. and that it won't be added with any concessions extracted from israel. that saga which ended the fragile cease-fire which ended in the apparent capture of the israeli soldier. >> okay. jamie, with regard to anything going on there, it is. i black behind you. it is pitch black behind you. you described the scene earlier of a u.n. -- is it a hospital or just a refugee center? it looks like there's no

electricity. talk about the community and how hard it's been hit. >> well, what you see behind me is evidence of two things. it's evidence of how hard life is here ordinarily in the gaza strip as a result of the eight-year blockade here. but it's also, on top of that, evidence to how hard life has become during the course of the conflict. a power plant, as you may know, was hit earlier this week. it was gaza's only power plant. it supplied power to most of central gaza, including gaza city, where we are now, and as a result, gazans here have very little access to electricity. that power plant pumped water and purified water during that fragile cease-fire yesterday morning. there were gazans out on the beach swimming would toho told was their first opportunity to bathe in days. so yes, life is very hard. the u.s. is warning, in turn, of an impending humanitarian crisis

if this conflict doesn't end any time soon. >> jamie, many thanks. on the heels of jamie's report, joining me now is the chief spokesman for the israeli ministry of foreign affairs. paul, welcome, sir. thank you for being here. >> thank you. happy to be with you. >> i'm glad you're here, yes, indeed. israeli media is reporting right now that troops are going to begin withdrawing from gaza in the next 24 hours. what can you tell us on that front? >> well, let me preface my remarks by saying that an hour from now, the prime minister will be making a statement and i think it will be prudent for him to tell us what will be the way forward from here. our troops have been working very hard. on the ground, primarily decommissioning these tunnels, these terra tunnels that traverse the international front here. the israeli public is quite

horrified by what has emerged from literally beneath the ground, monsters have emerged with almost monsters popping up underneath our kindergartens of our southern cities in israel. the military has worked to decommission these tunnels. a number which we've already announced some hours ago that residents can go back, that we finished working in that area. we never wanted to be in this conflict in the first place. we said so loudly. we said so publicly and privately through diplomatic channels. we accepted every -- i think six or seven cease-fire proposals. we ielevate ed elevated this. they are pursuing death both because they hate us and on their own side because of a

couldn't care less attitude simply to generate casualties on their side so they can have a public relations war against israel. >> if that culture you're describing is true, what has precipitated the potential pullout from gaza by israeli troops over the next 24 hours? do you know what has changed? >> we did everything we could not to get dragged into this conflict. in the absence of the identification of a diplomatic formula which would guarantee these terror organizations will no longer target and attack our civilians, we're left with no choice but to activate the military and tell them to pursue both arms of the hamas military layout. the rockets and missiles and mortars on the one hand and these terror tunnels on the other. as long as we have not finished the degradation, the depletion,

we have an obligation to be there. once we have confidence we have depleted these capabilities enough, we don't want to be there. we deployed out of the gaza strip eight years ago in the hope they would build, i don't know, a dubai on the mediterranean coastline. there was supposed to be trade and tourism and commerce. you know, they chose hatred, they chose weaponry. they poured $1.2 billion of construction materials that we facilitated, foolishly apparently, the transfer into the gaza strip, they poured it from above ground to below ground. from civilian use to terror use. instead of building schools and hospitals, they built bunkers and launching pads. >> sir, you talk about the military might and the potential perhaps for withdrawal. benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister, will be speaking. we'll monitor that. that said, it also has to come about diplomatically. there has to be discussion with everyone. everyone at the table talking. i know you agree with that.

why are we hearing reports that israel's decided not to attend peace talks in egypt by not sending a delegation as was expected? and is that accurate? >> you know, let me -- first of all, yes, it's accurate. we're not going to be there. let me explain to you. i'm a diplomat. i believe in the diplomatic formula. this is the reason why i chose this career. and there's nothing that we would like to see more than that. but a package was put together just 36 hours ago. the package, an entire package put together. this is a sad day. this is a sad weekend. we were supposed to be in the middle of a three-day humanitarian core do to facilitate the delivery of food, medical supplies. people could bury their dear ones who have been killed in this dreadful conflict. and instead of that, we're back at violence. dragged in by this murderous, killer strategy of hamas. you can't have a situation

whereby they can take the package, pick one or two pieces that they want, throw out the rest. i think the white house described it best as a barbaric violation of the cease-fire. assurances were given, personal assurances were given to the secretary-general of the united nations. it's almost as if he and the secretary of the united states is wiping the face of hamas. you can't have one-tenth of the package you won't and spew out the other 90%. it doesn't work like that. >> so then, sir, not attending these talks in cairo today may be something for today's agenda. when would you entertain discussions with hamas or the palestinians? palestinian leaders? >> look, we would like nothing more -- let me be clear, the palestinian people are not our enemy. this is not a conflict right now that is under way with the palestinian people. this is with a murderous dark

school of thought which, as i say, has elevated suicide to a place in society which amounts to nothing less than the worship of death. we would like nothing more than to resolve our differences and reconcile with the palestinian people and with the arab world at large. it took us some years, israel and the international community, to get the palestinian authority back into negotiations with us. i'm not pretending that it's an easy issue which we can resolve overnight. we've seen that's not the case. but that is where we want to go. we cannot do that while rockets and mortars are raining down. as i speak, as i speak, on civilians across israel, the primary obstacle to our resolving our differences and for us to reach a negotiated peaceful relationship, the primary obstacle is disarming of hamas and the terror organizations, is the demilitarization of the gaza strip. >> i'm looking act an associated

press report, sir, that came out today, in which is reported following the breakdown of the cease-fire prime minister netanyahu angrily told the u.s. ambassador the white house is not to second-guess him again and the u.s. should fully support him in his campaign in gaza. i want to mention, for those who aren't aware, congress has approved another $225 million for iron dome support. >> well, to be fair, i wasn't in the room when the conversation took place. but i can tell you from many years of working on the subject, i myself served for some four years as a diplomat in the united states, an israeli diplomat. we have an incredibly warm, close, open and honest relationship with the united states. there's nobody under any illusions to the fact that the united states is our best friend. so i don't know whether those

words are verbatim the exact words which were said or not. we work extremely closely on all of the levels. your own president has said i don't think there's anybody who has spent more time with or met more with them than with our prime minister. so yes, you know, look, we don't have maybe an agreement on every single issue. the most well-known issues that we have disagreements on are from before are and your administrations going back to 1948. we have a disagreement, for example, on jerusalem. so that's nothing new. there's a very warm, very close relationship. we're acutely aware of a deep sense of support and partnership that emanates from the united states of america and we're very appreciative for it. >> i want to thank you so much for your time. it's much appreciated. >> my pleasure, any time. happy to be with you. >> thank you. ahead, it has been 40 years since the nation's first and only presidential resignation.

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an emotional call for justice today from the mother of the man who died after a new york city police officer placed him in a choke hold. >> i've been a mess since this happened. couldn't eat. couldn't sleep. wake up screaming. let him go. give him air. >> the family of eric garner held that rally a day after the city medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, saying a choke hold was the contributing factor in his death. amateur video captured the incident on july 17 in staten island after officers suspected the man of selling untaxed

cigarettes. ron mott joins me. with what more are we hearing from the medical report? >> they wrapped up this rally about two hours ago. the mother, speaking to the crowd here, along with eric garner's widow. his mom said she was at a store when she got the call that her son's death was ruled a homicide. that the medical examiner essentially said he was choked to death. the cause of his death was construction of his neck and chest and in the prone position he was on the sidewalk in the disturbing bystander video we saw. there was concern in the past two weeks whether this would come back as a death that was caused by some underlying factors it the coroner said there were some underlying factors that did contribute to his death, asthma, obesity and heart disease. but the family and our colleague, reverend sharpton, both now saying this should renew calls for criminal charges to be filed in this matter.

they've not yet been filed. the prosecutor in brooklyn and federal prosecutor for that district has also been interested in this case as well. we'll see what next week brings in the way of charges. >> nbc's ron mott, thank you for the latest on that rally. exactly 40 years after the only presidential race in this nation's history is shining the light on the secrets. he told the president the cover-up was a cancer on his presidency. with the anniversary of the resignation one week away, dean just released a book. the nixon defense, what he knew and when he knew it has officially hit store shelves. john dean is with me from washington to talk about his book. it's nice to see you. i know you worked for president nixon. during that time, did you sense immediately something was askew? >> actually, immediately, i

didn't have any contact with him after watergate. it was eight months before i started dealing with him. i certainly did sense it from the rest of the staff, the senior staff, though, from the get-go, there were denials of any connection with the white house. but indeed the cover you started immediately. >> i want to play a clip of the recording between you and president nixon. it's dated march 21, 1973. here it is. >> the reason i thought we ought to talk this morning is because in our conversations, i have the impression that you don't know everything i know. and it makes it very difficult for you to make judgments that only you can make. >> so it sounds here, sir, like the president was in the dark about some things. did the president at the outset know the details of the crime and the severity of the cover-up? did he order the watergate break-in or did he only know about it later? >> he certainly didn't order the

watergate break-in. after going through all these tapes conversations, literally from the first time he's back after the arrest, right up until that conversation, he knows so much more than i thought he knew. so he is well informed. he knows money is being paid to the defendants. he has been actively involved in sub borning perjury, one of the key witnesses to keep the cover-up in place. he has been raising money to help pay the defendants by the time i had that conversation with him. >> considering the 600 or so newly released recordings that you've analyzed, what you've just said, are those some of the most damning things you've learned? >> every page, i wrote something i didn't know before. these tapes have actually been around. nobody seems to have turned to them. that's what surprised me. i found them and then had them transcri transcribed. they certainly add to our knowledge. i'm able to piece together day

by day, to understand how this fell apart. >> interesting things you learned from the tapes? >> the fact he sold an ambassadorship to raise money for the watergate defendants. the fact he was engaged in s subborning perjury. his senior staff didn't tell him everything he needed to know in the early days. >> in reviewing your books, the new tapes, the white house with lies, maneuver and countermaneuver with crookedness that makes netflix "house of cards" look unsophisticated. how did it get so ugly? did it all filter down from the president himself? >> let me say, if the president at the outset said we're not

going to have an cover up, i've not seen the house of cards. i plan to watch and see it. because bob has certainly raised some interesting questions for me to look at it. >> how do your bperceive yoursef as being viewed in history? >> i have no idea. i didn't go to prison. i was in the witness protection program. i was in the custody of marshals. driven in every day during the trial for 120 days. really can't say i was in prison for that. i was being protected by the marshals. >> for lack of a better word, i'm trying to think of one, you were one of the whistleblowers, if you will. >> i indeed was. what i tried to do seasis couln my colleagues we had to stop it. i tried to convince the president on march 21st that is the beginning of the clip you played.

it was not successful. i was very open with my colleagues and telling them i was going to break rank because i couldn't lie for them. it was all going to come crumbling down. i was actually surprised they didn't follow me. >> when you said they were going to break rank, what did they say? >> they didn't think there was anything criminal amiss. there was some interesting conversations in the book where my predecessor as white house counsel made -- clearly acknowledges i made the argument we're breaking the law, but he tells the president he things my thinking is askew. it turned out my thinking happened to be right on, we were on the right side of the law. >> history has a way of softening, damning opinions of anyone. what is redeeming qualities about this president people may not yet appreciate? >> he obviously in foreign policy has made so wonderful moves and things his legacy is

closely associated with. a number of the tapes i listened to, he didn't care much about domestic policy but he made some changes there. so he was willing to accept those. i think wrae're going to find o from this study i made, we're going to re-examine his decision making. that's the most surprising thing i found. is how flawed his decision process was on some of the really important issues relating to watergate. >> john dean, the book, "the nixon defense, what he knew and when he knew it." thank you so much, i appreciate it. good luck with the book. >> thank you, alex. southern discomfort in kentucky. republicans and democrats make some noise. and if it gets ugly, well, that's okay. we're going to take you to fancy farm next. [ siren wailing ] visit tripadvisor miami. [ bird chirping ] with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better.

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a new government report reveals more of america's youth are eating their fruit and vegetables. three quarters of 2-year-olds to 19-year-olds ate one or more serving a day. welcome back. want to let you know, we've been watching the arrival of dr. brantly who is being treated inside emory university hospital. we've seen these pictures live for you some hour or so ago in which there was spk lation that the man who's about to be on the right, both tunnel of your screen now, that was dr. kent brantly being led in by an ambulance attendant. confirmation now. he walked in on his own accord, which is extremely promising news, given the fact he's

suffering from ebola virus, one of the most deadliest viruses known to man. he clearly has received some treatment in liberia and -- as well as on the plane that came from liberia and landed about an hour and a half ago here in the atlanta area. so it is good news indeed. joining me is a professor of preventive medicine at vanderbilt university school of medicine. i'm glad you made it in front of the camera. that's great. we were talking about dr. brantly. good news, indeed that is dr. brantly walking in on his own accord, right? >> absolutely. no ventilator. walking. not bad. we're excited about that. my fingers are crossed for a good prognosis. we don't have a cure, but paushant paush a patients can be cured. >> talk about the situation. he was reportedly in dire condition. they said his condition was gre grave at about midpoint last week. what do you think happened that allowed him to walk in on his own accord instead of on a

gourny as you and dr. snyderman presumed o ed would be the case? >> grave condition in an african hospital may be a little different than it is here. in any event, his body is responding and he's getting a bit better. he still needs a lot of careful supportive care. they have specialists available if necessary. and i'm just very pleased that he appears to be in as good a condition as he. >> tell me about the care. what would you administer? >> the first thing that would be done is of course he'd be put into his room. we'd do a physical examination. to assess how his heart is working, his lungs, his kidneys, his liver. and then make the appropriate

adjustments. make sure his blood pressure is all right. all those things that go into providing supportive care. >> when you talk about an iv, what's in that iv, is it just to hydrate him? >> the role is to provide liquid, fluid, to keep his hydration appropriate and his metabolic balance appropriate. and that would depend on what it is that we get back from the test results and then the medications we would put in. >> so he walks on his own accord. these protective suits and there will be no exposure whatsoever. but let's say he gets better. how long a process is that until he might be able to be up and around on his own? >> well, whenever you have a chronic illness, it takes a while for the body to regain its

strength. and that can take a matter of weeks. if he's feeling reasonably good, he'll start getting physical therapy to keep his muscle tone. and while try to get him up as quickly as possible. being vertical is much better for the body than being horizontal. >> we're pleased to talk about the possibility of a recovery here because that certainly isn't what we all felt would be the case earlier this week. thank you for your time now and for helping me through the breaking news earlier, thank you. taxpayers are footing the bill and polls show they are not buying it. why are republicans doing it?

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under way. of course, the big attraction today, perry, allison lunder son grimes and senator mitch mcconnell. is this a race? >> yes, this is very much a race. we're here, the very western edge of kentucky. this is an event that's really known for the booing. what i mean by that is democrats come and republicans come too and they really come to boo the candidate they don't like. you'll hear a lot of -- when mcconnell is talking, you'll hear a lot of democrats hissing and booing at him. usually in politics, you only hear hear events where the speaker talks to people who like him or her. people are lined up to boo mcconnell particularly. >> some of the booing has gotten out of hand, very colorful swear words. the crowd was asked to tone it down. how about this year? >> they told people what they

want to do is you're free to boo, free to express. what they don't want people to do is lead loud chants. i was here last year and you could hardly hear the candidates talking. they want people to be a little more civil than before and boo and chant a little less loudly. that's what we'll be able to see. hopefully, we'll hear some amount booing, hear the speeches themselves. there's very strict time limit. mcconnell and grimes both only have six minutes. they're expects to have a lot of zingers. as many as they can crowd in six minutes. the other thing being rand paul has promised he's going to do some kind of poetry. some kind of attack on allison grimes. rand paul not known for his poetry. he says it will be his first and probably last poem. so i'm excited to hear it. >> oh, no. all i say to that is buckle up, perry, have fun.

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nature valley soft-baked oatmeal squares. the family of a new york city man would died after being placed in a choke hold by police is calling for justice today. >> it's been really hard. i've been trying to be strong. it's been really hard. i met with the prosecutors. i feel like i did the right thing by doing that. i just want them to do the right thing. >> the widow spoke at a rally today in new york. the rally comes one day after the medical examiner ruled garner's death a suicide, saying a choke hold was the contributing factor in his death. amateur video capturing the incident i incident. after officers expected the 43-year-old of selling untaxed loose cigarettes. joining me now, defense attorney

john burst. let's talk about what happened. the officer put the choke hold on him, was stripped of his gun and his badge. there was another officer involved who was placed on desk duty. how likely is it the officers will face criminal charges? we're hearing the word homicide. >> homicide means there was an unlawful death at the hands of another. so now the district attorney has to evaluate that and take this matter to the grand jury in staten island to determine one, if there's criminal charges should be filed. if should, what are the nature? it could be murder or voluntary, involuntary manslaughter. they could say it was all part of the duties at the time. and not indict. the u.s. attorney's office looks at it. that can easily be done. there's a particular statute under the law, et cetera, so there are various options. >> the feds are keeping a close eye on this. what kind of a defense do you

see these officers mounting? >> well, one, it depends on what they charge with of course. if they charge with involuntary manslaughter, murder, et cetera, at the end of the day, they're going to say it was accident, situational. even though they gave a choke hold, they didn't mean to give the choke hold actually used. there is a form of putting an arm around the neck that's called a karative hold, you place in a "v" and black the person out. under the policies of the pd, that's illegal. you have a violation of official policy and then the person dies. so at best you can argue it was an accident. you probably are looking at whether it was involuntary manslaughter-type charges. it may have been intend to do the kind that they engage in but not an intent to kill which then reduces it. >> here's what the president said, releasing a statement,

saying, we believe if had not resisted the lawful order of the police officers, this tragedy would not have occurred. when you see the video, does it look like garner was resisting arrest in a way that warranted what came to him from the officers? >> absolutely not. number one, it was a minor event that had taken place. number two, he was not being aggressive toward the police. he may have been resisting their particular commands but the level of force and the number of options was woefully uncalled for. you're supposed to deescalate this. there was no reason to use the physical force. everyone noknows, you don't put person on their stomach who is that size and put your hands around the neck. that doesn't mean you get to use any kind of force you want. the question is, what is the reasonable force that should have been used. under these circumstances, the force was not reasonable because you should not have put your arm around his neck. both of those are the conditions a person would die from. >> okay, criminal defense

attorney john burress, thank you. more breaking news in the middle east. israeli prime minister netanyahu about to speak in just a few minutes about the tunnels in gaza. more on this after the break. greek yogurt tastes best. this one is definitely the winner. yoplait greek 100! you want to see which one yoplait greek beat? chobani yes! yoplait greek wins again. take the taste-off for yourself!

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we are expecting to hear from benjamin netanyahu minutes from now. he will announce tunnel operations will be finished in 24 hours and that the israeli army intends to withdraw troops from the gaza strip's built up areas. also, the spokesman for israel's foreign ministry confirmed that israel will not be attending the peace talks in egypt. let me bring in our msnbc contributor jimmy williams and tom davis of virginia. and with a welcome to you both, congressman davis, i want to start with you here, sir. you remember congress. you've seen situations like this before. has this particular one unfolded any differently, and do you

think there's a chance it will end any differently? >> no. look, we have some macro force right now that are forcing each party i think out to their wings. the single party districts, media models, the campaign cash is now out of the party's hands, out into super pacs. and these members are from single party districts and makes it very difficult to get any compromises done. >> we know the president is monitoring the situation very closely. let's listen to what judith miller had to say. >> normally, the israelis believe the president has not been sympathetic to them and has not really asked the palestinians to do what it's asked them to do, make the concessions. but in this instance, they really have stood up and said -- the white house has said people have a right to defend their homes and their territories. they have a right to fire back. >> so if that's the case,

israelis believing that our president has not been sympathetic to them, how difficult of a line is it for the president to straddle in dealing with the palestinian situation? >> i can confirm what judith miller said. i was in israel, april two years ago i think. and member with political leaders, and the hatred for obama is intense over there. i cannot down play that. that is an actual fact of life. they think that the speech that he gave years ago in egypt, that he didn't sort of expound on america's love for israel. they hold that against him and they always will. >> jimmy, do you think the fact that congress and this president decided as of just hours ago to send $225 million to bolster and shore up the iron dome so it continues to protect them from any launching of hamas rackets, do you think that will be lost on them? >> well, listen, this is also just as much of a pissing match between benjamin netanyahu and barack obama as it is anything else. i can't down play the hatred

that they have for our president at this point in time. and they're also holding him to the same standard as president clinton, which is unfair. we gave them iron dome. we continue to give them more money. and frankly, israel is one of our closest allies, and our closest ally in the middle east. i also would like to say the following. hamas is a terrorist organization. and israel has never built a tunnel anywhere into gaza, or for that matter, any other arab area to kill their men, women, and children. so i will defend israel all day long when it comes to the idea that they are a sovereign nation and have the right to defend themselves. >> we spoke with the spokesman for the israeli foreign ministry said the united states is the best friend of israel, regardless of how some individuals and citizens feel. congressman davis, on one hand, you have israel surrounded by unfriendly forces, and in legitimate need of u.s. support. on the other hand, you have civilians dying in gaza. so talk about the delicate dance in terms of diplomacy that is at

the forefront for our president. >> well, it's difficult to try to be a peacemaker and a world leader on the one hand. each side comes into this kind of unequal. at this point, israel i think feels the need to get rid of the tunnels, to protect itself, to take hamas out at its roots. when you do any kind of a peace offering on this kind of thing, it can undermine the short-term strategy. so it's hard trying to bring peace. no matter which way you go, it's going to be an advantage to one side or the other. >> i want to switch gears very quickly, and that is can you talk about what the republicans are doing in authorizing this lawsuit against the president? i mean, is that going to come back to bite them you know where in the midterm? >> i think it does -- i mean, the republican base likes it. in fact, it's short of what i think a lot of republicans would like. the difficulty in this business is when you gin up your base, you don't want to gin up the other gauy's base.

this has helped the democratic base get aroused as well. it's been a tough time for democrats. the president's numbers are down. this is i think for the democratic base as well as the republican base. i don't know that any of this gets played out before the election. >> okay. former republican congressman tom davis of virginia. jimmy williams, thank you very much. that is a wrap of "weekends with alex witt." i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern. but i'm handing it off to t.j. holmes about ten seconds late. sorry, t.j. it's helping our community. siemens location here has just received a major order of wind turbines. it puts a huge smile on my face. cause i'm like, 'this is what we do.' the fact that iowa is leading the way in wind energy, i'm so proud, like, it's just amazing.

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