Return to Transcripts main page

Quest Means Business

Conflicting Reports in Ferguson, Missouri Shooting; Anger in Ferguson; Ferguson Protests on Social Media; Livestream Broadcasts from Ferguson; US Markets Rally; Ukrainian Refugees Attacked; Ukrainian Sentiment Shifting; European Markets Up; Merkel Sanctions Push; EU Food Surplus

Aired August 18, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

(NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL)

MAGGIE LAKE, HOST: Markets on Wall Street stage a strong rally to start the week. It's Monday, the 18th of August.

This hour, President Obama will address the crisis in Iraq, as well as the civil unrest in Missouri. It follows the fatal shooting of an unarmed

black teenager by a white police officer.

The curfew is off, but the National Guard has been called. We'll examine the role social media is playing in the protests.

I'm Maggie Lake, this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Good evening. Tonight, we're awaiting critical developments on stories we'll following in the United States and the Middle East. At the

White House, President Obama is expected to speak momentarily about the situation in Iraq and Ferguson, Missouri.

We're also expecting to hear developments from cease-fire talks in Cairo. With less than one hour left before a truce between Israel and Gaza

expires, we're getting conflicting reports about whether or not a deal has been reached.

We begin tonight's program in the US city of Ferguson, Missouri. We are hearing conflicting reports of events that led to the shooting and

killing of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer.

For the first time, CNN has verified an account of the officer's side of the story given by a woman identified as "Josie," who called a St. Louis

radio station. She said, in effect, that Brown rushed officer Darren Wilson before shots were fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"JOSIE", FRIEND OF OFFICER DARREN WILSON, FM NEWS TALK 97.1 KTFK, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI (via telephone): So, he goes in reverse back to them,

tries to get out of his car. They slam his door shut violently, I think he said Michael did. And then, he opened his car again, tries to get out.

And as he stands up, Michael just bum-rushes him, just shoves him back into his car, punches him in the face, and then, of course, Darren grabs

for his gun, and Michael grabs the gun. At one point, he got the gun totally turned against his hip, and Darren shoves it away, and the gun goes

off.

Well, then, Michael takes off with his friend, they get to be about 35 feet away, and Darren -- of course, protocol is to pursue. So, he stands

up and yells, "Freeze!"

Michael and his friend turn around, and Michael starts taunting him, "Oh, what are you going to do about it? You're not going to shoot me!"

And then he said all of a sudden, he just started to bum rush him, he just started coming at him full speed, and so he just started shooting, and

he just kept coming. So, he really thinks he was on something, because he just kept coming. It was unbelievable.

And then so he finally ended up, the final shot was in the forehead, and then he fell about two, three feet in front of the officer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: Hours ago in a press conference, an attorney for Michael Brown's family said an independent autopsy report provides ample evidence

to support the arrest of the officer who shot him. Violence raged in Ferguson Sunday night as clashes with police ended in an intensified

display of force form law enforcement. Protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at police, and several businesses were vandalized.

For more on this, let's go to Don Lemon, who is live in Ferguson, Missouri. And Don, I have been watching you talking to residents there all

day, and it seems the situation is still very tense, the people feel that they are being boxed in, and authorities are concerned that we'll have yet

more violence.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And you can hear some of it now.

(CAR HORNS HONKING)

LEMON: These are people who are just driving down the street honking, and what they are saying is in solidarity, Maggie, with the protesters who

are standing here along the side of this road.

You remember that -- I'm sure you've been reporting to your viewers that Quik Trip, and that is where -- that one was burned out and some of

the looters and the rioters set that on fire, and it's really just a burned-out shell now. That had been, really, the meeting point for all of

the protesters.

Since then, I guess about two hours ago, Maggie, they moved everyone out of that area, and they moved them down to this area, and they're

telling people here that they can still peacefully assemble, but they can't congregate. So, if you're walking and you're marching, that's fine, but if

you're just standing around, you stand the possibility of being arrested.

There had been some tensions because of the findings of the second autopsy and also because the National Guard is being brought in, the

Governor, Jay Nixon, here in Missouri is bringing the National Guard in, and they should arrive at any moment. Also, as you said, the president of

the United States is going to speak at any moment on this as well.

It's really a tinder box here. Everyone is hoping that there isn't any more violence like there was last night, but every little thing -- any

little thing can set someone off here, Maggie.

LAKE: All right, Don. And you absolutely hear that in the voices of the people that you've been speaking to. Don Lemon for us in Ferguson,

Missouri.

LEMON: Right.

LAKE: The protests are continuing on social media, not only where Don is, but on social media. This is a map showing how the world has been

tweeting about the shooting since it happened on August 9th. The hash tags act like a battle cry.

"Hands Up Don't Shoot" echoes the chants of protesters on the ground in Ferguson, referring to claims that Michael Brown's hands were up in

surrender when he was shot by a police officer. Hash tag "If I Was Gunned Down" was created by teens who shared misleading pictures of themselves

that might be used if they had been the victim.

NMOS14 calls for a national moment of silence for the Michael Brown shooting, and hash tag "I Got the Talk" was used by black people to share

their experience talking with their parents about how they need to behave around police officers because of the color of their skin.

CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter joins me now. And Brian, what's striking in this case is it's not just the news of the incident,

which frankly, we've all gotten very used to with social media. The entire dialogue surrounding this is really playing out on social media, first and

foremost.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It's the debates that start as a result of this shooting that you see play out on Twitter and

Facebook. Particularly Twitter, and it's worth highlighting the fact that there's a disproportionate number of African-American users in the United

States on Twitter.

I'm going to show you Pew data from last year. Among 18 to 29-year- olds who are Internet users, about 28 percent of whites use Twitter, 40 percent of blacks use Twitter.

LAKE: Why? That's fascinating? Why is that?

STELTER: And it's a whole concept, actually, known as Black Twitter, a very active group online -- informally, not an actual group -- but people

that use the hash tag called Black Twitter --

LAKE: A community.

STELTER: A community is probably the best word for it. That's where I personally first learned of the shooting and then of the protest

afterward. I do think the traditional media outlets, like CNN, were alerted and informed about the shooting and the protests in part through

social media.

And every night, as we have seen the tensions between police and protesters, it has been sparked -- it has been seen in real time online,

and then it eventually comes to television.

LAKE: Brian, this is interesting because especially when we're focusing in on Twitter, it's 140 characters. This is an incredibly complex

case legally, it is complex socially, it brings up these very sort of emotional issues. Is that an effective platform for this to be dominating?

And are you surprised it's sticking there, as opposed to not jumping over into longer format areas.

STELTER: I'm struck that Facebook hasn't emerged as a more powerful organizing tool in this particular case. What I've been most struck by

about Facebook is how there's been misleading content there. There have been fake profiles created of people involved in this case.

There was a very nasty fake Facebook account for a woman who was alleged to be the wife of the Ferguson police chief. Well, it was fake,

but the comments on it were very ugly, and it got a lot of attention before it was confirmed to be a hoax.

Twitter, on the other hand, because of its real time nature, allows people to feel like they're there and feel like they're participating.

It's one thing to hear a television anchor say that non-lethal rounds are being used, like rubber bullets.

It's another thing to see the wound from the rubber bullet in a man's neck, to see the bloody injury. And that kind of image can be shared on

Twitter instantaneously, assuming, of course, there's Internet or AT&T or Verizon or some sort of cell phone access.

It's somewhat similar to what we saw during the Occupy Wall Street movement a couple of years ago. The difference now, of course, is that

even more people are using these social networking sites.

LAKE: And it's interesting for us, because from a business perspective, we've seen Twitter struggle to define itself to Wall Street,

to business community. It has no trouble doing that in these events. People really understand the power of the hash tag --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: You're absolutely right --

LAKE: -- and turn to Twitter.

STELTER: -- want to put an advertisement in the middle of all these debates and conversations. It might not be the best place to put an ad

for your shampoo or for your sneakers. But it is a place where people can organize, and I think that hash tag, "If They Gunned Me Down" is especially

reflective of that.

LAKE: Absolutely. Brian, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thank you.

LAKE: Now, people in Ferguson have been using camera phones and a service called Livestream to broadcast the events on the ground in real

time. Now, these people can go where the traditional media, with their trucks and heavy cameras, can't always go, directly into the center of the

action.

Max Haot is the co-founder and CEO of Livestream, and he joins me now. Max, thank you so much for being with us. It's a pleasure to meet you.

This has sort of been an extraordinary week, I'm sure for you, too. This is a technology that was necessarily intended to be used in this type of

event, is it?

MAX HAOT, CEO, LIVESTREAM: Well, we -- our mission is to democratize live video for events, anything from sports, a conference, to even

religious events. And sometimes, we find that breaking news is a great use case for the technology we bring.

And what's very different about Livestream is that everybody knows Skype and Hangout for one-on-one live video. But with Livestream, if you

use our iPhone app or one of these products that you can attach to any camera, you can broadcast to one or two people, but we have the scale that

if a hundred thousand, a million people want to see that video, our service will allow you to deliver that.

So, it's democratizing what, for example, CNN does within this reach, and if there's really compelling content, and with the power of Twitter and

Facebook to spread the word very quickly, you can easily reach audiences that are bigger or as big as television. But also we can report where

sometimes a television crew cannot go, because we don't have a full TV truck --

LAKE: Right.

HAOT: -- but something much smaller.

LAKE: Which is what we've seen in this case, and in Ferguson, they have, in fact, been limiting the movement of traditional journalists,

penning them in. You saw Don there, before. They're restricting where press -- credentialed press can go, but it's very hard for them to do that

when citizens are armed with this type of technology.

We've covered your company before, we talked about it in the context of concerts. I thought we -- I think we had a feeling that professionals

would somehow be using it. But we're seeing people who don't have that much experience pick this up and be able to use it.

HAOT: Yes, it's a great story. It's actually a radio station that brought the first live coverage from Ferguson a few days ago, and they'd

actually bought the equipment to do concerts, to cover different concerts that they had in their community.

And then, they decided to use it and go out there. The first night, they actually used the Livestream iPhone app, and they switched to the

night shot filter, and they were able to bring some incredible reporting right from the ground, and obviously, the media were being stopped. But

with an iPhone, it's very hard to stop somebody being there.

LAKE: Yes.

HAOT: And they decided to upgrade their coverage, so now they're covering a press conference, different events in the community, at church,

and they use this type of camera that has a zoom and this little box that Livestream provides. And it's literally a full TV truck, but it allows

them to bring this live coverage to millions, but within this form --

LAKE: And we talk about technology being disruptive, and this is certainly an example of how that is the case. Is there a danger or risk,

here -- we're talking about people who are in a situation, perhaps an emotionally fraught situation, and even if you take it out of Ferguson,

there is the danger of one side of a story or a particular angle that we don't know the whole context of the story. Is there a sort of down side or

risk you worry about if everybody is a Livestreamer?

HAOT: Ultimately, it's no different than Twitter or blogging. And these people are not creating new content. They literally are just

capturing what is happening there. So, they're very rarely editorializing it, which is, I think, where the danger can be, and actually bringing you a

first view that you couldn't get.

Livestreaming is all about bringing you to the event, you can't be there, you'd like to be there to actually know what really is going on --

not in this case, because of the safety issue. And with live video, you can feel like you're there and make your own opinion about what is

happening there.

We've had many movement, including Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, and democratizing live video is especially important where

democracy is not there.

Obviously, in countries where the only way to broadcast live is through state-controlled television, we've seen many use case where this is

really important to empower the people to broadcast and again, not to one or ten people, but millions of people if there is an interest in that

stream and people can find it.

LAKE: That's where we talk about changing the game. Quickly, Max, before we go, because we are waiting for the president to speak live, price

point on these? If you already have an iPhone, what would this cost someone?

HAOT: Our service is free with the iPhone and Android, and you can download the Livestream app from the app store. And then, these cameras

are usually a few hundred dollars, and this device, called a broadcaster, is $495.

So, for a few hundred dollars, you can have something that looks really compelling with zoom and great audio. Citizen journalism and

journalists or people that want to cover events can just start with their phone, and it's all about democratizing and bringing events to people that

wish they were there, and they can't be there, breaking news, or sport, and many other events.

LAKE: That's right. Well, it's wide use, but we're certainly seeing it playing out in an extraordinary way in Ferguson. Thank you so much, Max

Haot, for being with us.

HAOT: Thank you for having me, Maggie. Thank you.

LAKE: We are still waiting, as I mentioned, for President Obama to address the situation in Ferguson. He's due to speak any minute now in

Washington. In the meantime, after the break, market worries about the crisis in Ukraine show signs of easing following progress in cease-fire

talks

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LAKE: We are seeing a rally on Wall Street to begin the week as investors see progress being made in the efforts to ease the crisis in

Ukraine. It's the single biggest geopolitical issue driving the markets right now.

If you take a look at the big board, you can see, a very nice-looking rally, 175-point gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Foreign

ministers are holding negotiations in Berlin, discussions centered on a cease-fire and trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Russia. Russia's

foreign minister says progress is being made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): There's certain progress. First of all, we formed a consensus regarding the

delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of eastern Ukraine. We can declare that all issues, may of which were artificially imposed regarding

us sending about 300 trucks with humanitarian aid were resolved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: Women and children were among civilians killed in an attack on a caravan of refugees in eastern Ukraine. The victims were trying to

escape fighting between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military in Lugansk. It's not yet known exactly how many people died. Will Ripley is

live in Kiev tonight.

And Will, we're hearing that there's progress, but there's also an awful lot of conflicting reports coming from both the Ukrainians and the

Russians.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it was on this very program where the Finnish prime minister called it an "information

war," which is a great way to put it. Because you have this tactical war happening on the ground, where every day, we're getting reports of more

innocent people being killed.

In this convoy, women and children who died just trying to escape a city that hasn't had any lights or running water for two weeks now. They

wanted to try to get to a safer place, and they came under attack with a Grad rocket launcher.

And then, so you have the Ukrainian military accusing the pro-Russian separatists, the separatists coming out and saying they didn't have

anything to do with it. So, you have a war on the ground, you have the information war, and then you have the diplomacy happening.

This is obviously very concerning to a lot of world leaders, because if this confrontation escalates, it could lead not only to economic

consequences for the region, but more importantly, more innocent people are going to die every day that this fighting continues at the pace that it

has, Maggie.

LAKE: And Will, what is the mood on the ground among the people in Ukraine, especially as we see these headlines of innocent people being

killed in the conflict. What's the mood there?

RIPLEY: Well, this is a country -- obviously, it's a country divided, when you consider the fact that there are some people out in the east that

supported these pro-Russian separatists who wanted to establish their own sovereign nation, a New Russia, so to speak. So, there's a division here.

There's a division in this country right now.

But the public opinion polls that we're looking at seem to show the tide somewhat shifting more in favor of the new Ukrainian government, about

55 percent in one poll that I was reading now say that they support the operation happening out east.

And some people are so passionate about this, some of the most wealthy and powerful people in this country are donating huge sums of money and

even putting their own lives on the line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice-over): These are the mansions that rose when the Soviet Union fell, where many of Kiev's new rich are riding out the crisis far

from the front lines of eastern Ukraine.

RIPLEY (on camera): What's your biggest fear?

VYACHESLAV KONSTANTINOVSKY, UKRAINIAN MILLIONAIRE: That the war will continue long and it will come here.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Kiev millionaire Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky worries about the struggling Ukrainian military.

RIPLEY (on camera): $450,000 of your own money to support this?

KONSTANTINOVSKY: Yes.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He and his twin brother are part of a growing group of Ukraine's mega-rich making massive military contributions, even

giving away this Rolls Royce Phantom.

KONSTANTINOVSKY: I can live without a Rolls Royce, but now it's difficult to live without enough arms.

RIPLEY: Among a list of Ukraine's 100 richest people, as complied by "Forbes" magazine, seven have publicly donated to the military.

(EXPLOSION)

RIPLEY: The United Nations says more than 2,000 people have died in eastern Ukraine since mid-April. Many are civilian volunteers who left

their families and jobs to join the fight.

RIPLEY (on camera): This is your weapon here.

KONSTANTINOVSKY: Yes.

RIPLEY (voice-over): And that's what makes Konstantinovsky different from other wealthy Ukrainians who are donating. The 53-year-old served in

the Soviet army. Now, he's putting on a uniform again, joining one of Ukraine's 58 volunteer battalions.

RIPLEY (on camera): So, six months ago, you never would have imagined that you'd be wearing this and carrying that.

KONSTANTINOVSKY: No, no.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He's leaving his mansion, sending his family abroad, and joining his countrymen in the fight for Ukraine.

RIPLEY (on camera): Do you worry about your life?

KONSTANTINOVSKY: Of course I'm worried.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He also hopes for a fast end to the fighting and the birth of a new, stronger Ukraine, free of the financial struggles that

have plagued his country since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

KONSTANTINOVSKY: First we have to finish the war.

RIPLEY: A luxury life is worth nothing, he says, without a country to call home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: And Maggie, the support is not just coming from people who are supporting the Ukrainian military. Prosecutors here in Kiev are

investigating other people on that "Forbes" list for sending money to the pro-Russian separatists as well, and that would be considered a crime

because they would be essentially financing what the Ukrainian government here considers and has called publicly terrorism.

LAKE: All right, Will Ripley, live for us in Kiev. Thanks for that report, Will. Like Wall Street, European markets are showing signs of a

similar rebound in the hope that the situation in Ukraine is improving. The Xetra DAX has gained over 1.5 percent. Of course, the German economy

faces plenty of exposure from Russian sanctions.

After the break on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, it's harvest time in Europe, and some farmers are being paid to destroy what they've spent all year

growing. We'll tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LAKE: The German chancellor Angela Merkel is in Latvia to drum up support for sanctions against Russia. While those same sanctions are very

likely to hurt European economies, including Germany's, Mrs. Merkel says the alternative is far worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (through translator): All efforts must be made to find a political solution, but I think it was also

necessary to place sanctions on Russia to show the seriousness of our convictions.

And I know that Latvia is also affected by these sanctions. Germany, too. But the effect if nothing is done and the situation becomes even more

insecure, and it could also be much bigger than if we take action now. That is why we agree that this step was unfortunately necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAKE: As Mrs. Merkel indicated, these sanctions and Russia's response to them are already doing some damage. The EU is to pay farmers to destroy

and abandon or give away fresh fruit and vegetables. The aim is to stop prices from collapsing following a Russian ban on Western imports.

Officials are putting aside $167 million to compensate producers for not selling the goods. The produce will either be left to rot in the

fields or harvested too early and then destroyed.

While producers welcome the move, they fear long-lasting damage to the sector. Countries hardest hit by the ban include Poland, Spain, and

Lithuania. It raises the ghost of an old scandal, the European food mountains. Jim Boulden joins me live from London for more on this.

And Jim, it goes without saying that this is hurting an area that has a very fragile recovery to begin with. And I guess from that intro,

bringing up some unpleasant memories.

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, but I want to say one thing, there's not going to be food mountains because

this is perishable. So, this is not stuff that can be stored, because if it is, then they could over time find other markets.

So, you're thinking of things like apples that are already on the tree. And as you said, they're going to be allowed to either not harvest

these or to recycle, i.e. throw them away. And so, what we're having here is farmers who have said look, we're already growing these things, they're

already in the fields or they're on the trees. We're just about ready to harvest, and we have no market.

We've already seen prices anecdotally here, Maggie, for some fruit and veg, falling in Europe. And milk as well, because a lot of co-ops are not

having their milk bought up by those who would buy it and ship it into Russia.

So, the effects are already here. So I don't think it's any surprise the European Union has done this, but they are trying to say the word

"perishable." They want to make it clear, compensating those who have already done what they do, plant or grow, and that they will no way find

another market at short notice. It's not like building a car, Maggie.

LAKE: That's right. But Jim, why do they think this is going to be long-lasting? Presumably everyone holding out hope that the diplomats and

the leaders will be able to resolve that. Are they afraid that Russia is going to find other markets and then just continue to use them, even if the

tensions ease?

BOULDEN: I think if we see them starting to compensate other industries that are longterm goods, then you would get a hint that Europe

is in for the long haul. Because remember, these are actually temporary measures, these sanctions against Russia. They are reviewable.

Some people think in three months they'll go away. I'm not saying they will, but if that was the case, then you could see -- they could see

recovery in other industries. But as far as fresh fruit and veg, they wanted to do something right now and make a point that they're willing to

support the farmers, of course, around the EU. Because of course, fruit and veg is a very, very important part of the economy here.

LAKE: Jim, it sounds -- I mean, this is slightly off point, but it sounds just terrible to think that all of this food is just going to go to

waste. Clearly -- actually, hold that thought, Jim. We're going to have cross over live to Washington, where President Obama --

BOULDEN: Sure.

LAKE: -- is speaking at the White House. Let's listen in.

(LIVE ADDRESS FROM US PRESIDENT OBAMA)

LAKE: That was President Obama wrapping up a press conference where he addressed both the racial tensions in Ferguson, Missouri and Iraq. On

Ferguson he called for understanding and healing and said that a high- ranking administration official, Attorney General Eric Holder, will be going to Ferguson on Wednesday to take a look at that case. There is a

Justice Department investigation going on. In terms of Iraq, saying the U.S. will continue its very limited missions, but he pushed Iraqi

government once more to form a credible and effective government, saying Iraqis must united against ISIS - that the quote "wolf is at the door."

We need to bring you up to date on another developing story we are watching closely. There are conflicting reports about the status of the

cease-fire between Israel and Gaza - that it has been extended. The Palestinian Authority's ambassador to Egypt has told CNN the truce will

continue for another 24 hours. There has been no confirmation however from Israeli officials. We are waiting for that response. Earlier an official

told CNN no agreement had been reached in Cairo. Reza Sayah is in Cairo following all of this. And, Reza, what do we know right now?

REZA SAYAH, CNN'S CAIRO-BASED INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Maggie, indeed according to a senior Palestinian official, the Palestinian

ambassador to Egypt, these two sides - the Israelis, the Palestinians - have extended the cease-fire another 24 hours. That means they're going to

come back and talk for another 24 hours tomorrow. This announcement made by the Palestinians in the 11th hour.

Say what you want about the Israelis and the Palestinians, but they definitely have a knack for waiting until the 11th hour whenever these

cease-fire talks take place to make a decision and add more drama and tension to an already anxious situation. It's about 11:55 right now local

time - five minutes before midnight, five minutes before the official end of a five-day cease-fire, and about 30 minutes ago, a Palestinian Authority

ambassador to Egypt, Gamal Shobky, telling CNN that the Israelis and the Palestinians have agreed to extend the cease-fire 24 hours.

We haven't heard from Israeli officials. We're waiting on confirmation from them. If indeed they confirm this Palestinian statement,

and if indeed this is true, that means this will be the third cease-fire extension between the Israelis and the Palestinians over the past 15 days

and will have a fourth round of indirect negotiation here in Cairo -- this fourth round presumably starting tomorrow will be the shortest round

according to the Palestinian statement. They'll have 24 hours to reach an agreement. So the good news unlike what we saw the previous cease-fires

when there was rockets fired from Gaza into Israeli territory. We're not seeing that, Maggie. Again, according to the Palestinians, another

extension of the cease-fire, another 24 hours presumably if the Israelis confirm, the two sides back here in Cairo engaging again in these indirect

negotiations in an effort to reach some sort of agreement.

LAKE: All right, Reza Sayah for us. Stand by for a moment, Reza if you will. Fred Pleitgen is in Gaza City. Fred, going right up to the

deadline once again, what are you seeing from your vantage point? Do things look calm?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean it is very nervous here I would say in Gaza City. And residents mention that unlike when the

last cease-fire five days ago expired, in this case there have been no rockets at least as far as we know fired from Gaza towards Israel. But we

are seeing in the air here, Maggie, and it's quite interesting, is a very much increased drone presence. It's interesting. About the past, I would

say, hour or maybe 45 minutes, we've heard a lot of that noise of the drones overhead. It appears as though maybe the Israeli military is

looking whether or not there might be some rocket sites that are being activated. They seem to be definitely be putting a lot of efforts into

surveillance here in the area.

The mood was one of a lot of nervousness here in Gaza over the better part of the day as to what would happen - whether the cease-fire would be

extended, whether there would be some sort of longer-term truce. It seemed as though partially down the line that there wasn't very much hope for any

of that. It seemed as though both sides were still very far apart. There were some pretty strong statements made by a lot of Palestinian officials,

also by a lot of Hamas officials as well.

One of the things though that I can tell you is that the people here are definitely hoping for something that is longer term. You speak to

people here in Gaza, they will tell you they want peace, they want longer- term agreements, they want economic development which of course is very important to them. They want the border crossings to be open. I was just

out a couple of days ago with Gaza fishermen, and right now they're only fishing a couple hundred yards off the coast. They're catching more

garbage than they are fish, and the simply say the situation that they're in now is untenable.

And certainly after you've seen so many casualties and so much suffering after this last round of hostilities, the people here really say

that after all of that, they want something that is longer term. So they were looking at these negotiations with a lot of anxiety, hoping that the

two sides would come to an agreement. But also, of course, in that belief that at this point in time they need something that is a little more

durable than 24-hour cease-fires. I'm sure a lot of people here will be somewhat disappointed that there wasn't some sort of longer-term agreement,

Maggie.

LAKE: Absolutely, but for the moment, Fred, I'm sure they'll take any type of truce they can get, even if it is just an extension while those

diplomats continue those indirect talks for us. And, again, we are right up on that deadline. The Palestinians have said that there is an

extension. We have not received confirmation from the Israeli side yet. We will continue to chase that. Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much. Fred

will be with us in the coming hours of course.

Again, just to recap, there are conflicting reports about the status of the cease-fire between Israel and Gaza - whether or not it has been

extended. The Palestinian Authority ambassador to Egypt has told CNN the truce will continue for another 24 hours. There has been no confirmation

however from Israeli officials. We are waiting for that response. Earlier an official had told CNN no agreement had been reached in Cairo.

That is it for "Quest Means Business." The news will continue. I'm Maggie Lake.

END