Transcripts For CNNW The 20240703

This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. The dysfunction among republicans in the u. S. House of representatives has now taken on global significance because of the crisis in the middle east. So we are in this hour going to focus a bit on House Republicans meeting a tt this hour. They are hoping to get one step closer to decide who will become their next speaker. No legislation can be passed including any legislation that might address the growing crisis on the ground in israel. So we are following that story, but we are going to begin today in the middle east, where at least a thousand people have been killed in the hamas attacks on israel, most of them civilians. President biden confirming today that 14 of them were americans. The white house says 20 additional americans are still missing, and that number might not necessarily reflect the number of american hostages. Its just 20 americans who are not accounted for right now. Today israel is carrying out air strikes on the gaza port in retaliation, as were learning israel perhaps not only missed signs of an attack, they may have been tricked. Reuters is reporting that for two years hamas went to Great Lengths to try to convince israel that hamas was so tired of war that it would be placated by economic Incentives Togazan workers. Behind the scenes the groups fighters were being trained and drilled for this extensive attack. A modern day version of the hafr sack ruse during the brits Palestinian Campaign in world war i, into believing gaza was its main target, when it was not. Considered one of the greatest wartime deceptions in Military History and in a lesson apparently not learned well enough. The images coming out of israel today do not show a typical war. They show potential war crimes. This is what hamas did to a small town. One idf official telling cnn they slaughtered israeli civilians. They beheaded people. A grim reminder of the last time this many jews were killed in a single day, that was during the holocaust. This story is now just beginning, and while we do not know how it will end, the world can see of what hamas is capable, whether it is in that small town or at that Music Festival where attendees were hiding in Bomb Shelters where they were executed by Hand Grenades and guns. Cnns erin burnett just arrived in tel aviv this morning. Back and forth strikes have led to another night of unease in israel. Now were Learning Rockets were launched tonight from syria into israeli territory, which of course is just adding to the already volatile situation. Reporter all right, jake, when they talk about the worry about this expanding, the war expanding and also expanding within israel to multiple fronts, the Israeli Defense forces are saying that there were rockets fired from syrian territory to israeli territory. They dont say how many, whether there were any injuries, but they said that happened today. Over the past 24 hours there have been skirmishes with hezbollah forces up in the north, up by lebanon, and down of course by gaza, you had a barrage of rockets. You talk about ashkelon, that is what we saw here in the early hours of the evening, the sky lit up. The iron dome, of course, did protect, very few if any broke through. We dont hear about any injuries, but it was a barrage. Hamas said 5 00 local time theyre going to Strike Ashkelon with rockets, and they did exactly that. The other thing i will say, jake, you talk about the bombardment of the gaza port, i cant tell you if thats exactly what we were hearing today, but one thing that is definitely the case, obviously, given the small distances that youre talking about, here in tel aviv, you could hear the constant thudding, and you could actually feel it, all the way through your body, through your core. You hear the thudding of what we were told was israeli bombardment of gaza. Obviously not able to tell you thats exactly what it was, but you can literally feel that in your body as those strikes are happening. So obviously all this comes in the context as you said, of the fact that youve got 150 hostages and people still dont know their whereabouts, whether theyre alive, whether theyre dead. Families in terror still waiting. You know, people waiting for entire members of their families, and just still so many questions about that, jake. And until there are answers on that, until they know whats going to happen there, it seems very uncertain that we will know exactly how Prime Minister netanyahu will even deal with a possible Ground Invasion into gaza. We heard from President Biden a few hours ago, he pledged his unwavering support to israel. How will that message go over there as the rockets keep firing . Reporter well, jake, as you know, one of the first things when you talk to israeli officials or Family Members of hostages, they say thank you to the United States, and it is, you know, something we hear again and again. So thats certainly the attitude and the feeling. It is interesting when you look at President Bidens comments, of course, you notice right, he talked about when hamas did as sheer evil, pure unadulterated evil. Those are words that are exactly the words you hear here. That is exactly what they want to hear. That is what they believe is happening, and he was very there are no two sides to this issue, so all of that obviously very important here, but also, jake, just on the practical level, i know that theres a real push by the Biden Administration to quickly rush in aid, but when you just look at the barrage of rockets that continually keep coming in here, its not just a matter of whether they overwhelm excuse me the iron dome in one onslaught, right, its the overall drawdown of what they do to israeli capabilities so there is a need, theyre very clear there is a need and its at least at this point nothing but thanks to the United States for how the Biden Administration is handling it. Thanks so much, and well look more for more of your reporting on erin burnett out front. I want to go to cnns nic robertson, the u. N. Is calling the latest developments in israel, quote, bone chilling, and truly some of the stories we have heard as the idf and others go into different parts of israel and find the remains of israelis, civilians, civilians at the Hamas Terrorists slaughtered, are just so upsetting. Tell us more about what youre seeing and hearing. Reporter yeah, one of the reasons these stories have been slow to come out is because its taken so long for the Israeli Defense forces to fight and kill so many hamas militants in some of these communities. Population usually about 700 civilians living there in a small community, 70 hamas militants stormed into it, some flew in on para gliders, some came in through the gates and started killing people, but it wasnt straightforward killing. It was binding peoples hands and killing them, according to the general in charge there, he said that there was decapitations. We, to be frank, didnt see and werent shown bodies of anyone decapitated, but this is what was described. And the point that he went on to make was, look, he said, when i got in here and had hes a retired general, 39 year veteran, and he came out of came out of retirement saturday morning, positioned himself as close as he could to support everyone in these communities. He said when i got in and saw what happened, he said i was reminded of what General Eisenhower said when he saw the death camps in world war ii, and that was get the journalists, which is exactly what the Israeli Defense forces did today when they took us in to show what had happened there. That fight and the brutality they described is something that i think is part of the reason why were here in the u. N. Responding this way. But dont listen to me, listen to the words of the general who was there and fought for the fought to take back control and what he saw. They kill babies in the front of their parents and then kill the parents. They kill parents. We saw babies between the dogs and their family killed before him, cut head of the people what i saw, hundreds of terrorists in full gear with all the equipment and all the ability must go from apartment to apartment, room to room and kill babies, mothers, fathers in their bedrooms. I heard during my childhood about the holocaust, of course, all my family came from europe, and their survival, et cetera, et cetera. I never think that i would see in my eyes picture things like this. And this is why its so shocking for a Military Veteran with so much experience to see things that makes him think of the atrocities of world war ii, it tells you the level this has gotten to, jake. Nic robertson, thank you so much. Were going to go back to israel in a moment. We also want to touch on a vital meeting happening right now among House Republicans. This is one day before the speakership vote. Remember, the u. S. Government cannot really function without a speaker of the u. S. House of representatives. Lets get right to cnns manu raju on capitol hill. Manu, the dysfunction of House Republicans now has global ramifications. What is going on there right now . Reporter yeah, republicans know the world is watching them, even as theyre struggling to get behind a single candidate after the unprecedented ouster of the sitting speaker Kevin Mccarthy last week, and just right now, Steve Scalise, the House Majority leader and the House Judiciary Chairman jim jordan walked in Behind Closed Doors to meet with the full 221 Member Conference to make their pitch. We expect them to make their speeches tonight about why they deserve to be elected speaker. Each man will have five minutes to make their case, and then they will open up to questions. Any member can answer any round of questions, go as long as possible, and ultimately theyll close out for today. Tomorrow is the key day. That is the leadership election. Right now under current conference rules, a majority of the conference, 112 members is enough, 111 members is enough to nominate the next speaker of the house. There is a dispute and a debate. Its something that jim jordan is pushing specifically to make sure that whoever gets the nomination actually can get 217 votes. Why . To avoid the long drawn out process on the house froor like we saw back in january, when mccarthy went 15 rounds to be ultimately elected speaker. Theres a problem with that, jake. There is not consensus yet for either man. Both men recognize theyre going to fall short of 217 votes, so the process Behind Closed Doors could last some time, and jake, Kevin Mccarthy himself, even as he is facing a push from some of his supporters to potentially run again pulltold his colleagu not to nominate him for his speakership in todays closed door meeting. Jake, also some of the detractors, the people who vote ed to oust Kevin Mccarthy, matt gaetz said he has not made up his mind. Nancy mace walked in with a le letter a on her shirt. She was asked what that was about. She said it was a scarlet letter. Jake. Okay. Thats not making me convinced that they have their act together, manu raju, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Lets get another live look at gaza, a brief moment of calm, but explosions continue to go off and the world needs to hear the stories coming from those stuck there from those hearing the explosions over their homes. Stories from families waiting for any word that their loved ones are alive and coming home. You also need to hear from those suffering loss, the brother of my next guest was a peace activist. He was against what netanyahu was doing. The terrorists found him hiding in a closet, and then they killed him. His story is next. Parts of gaza on fire earlier today. You can see the flames pouring out of this boat as the idf continues to pound the territory with rockets as retaliation for the Terrorist Attack on saturday. Lieutenant colonel jonathan con ree kez is the International Spokesperson for the israel Defense Forces hooef. The idf said earlier today there were a number of launches from syria and for israel that fell in open areas. What can you tell us about this . Who is behind those attacks . Yeah, thanks for having me here. The situation is that we are actually with active fighting on three fronts. The primary one is in gaza where there is still fighting ongoing. There are still attacking coming out of gaza towards israel. There was an attack in ashkelon in southern israel. There was an attack just in a kibbutz, and southern israel in the gaza envelope area, and were talking about the active combat zone in that area, not regarding to the whole aerial campaign you just referred to but things happening on the ground. We are deployed along our northern border in lebanon, and there were skirmishes and there has been the fire of an antitank missile by hezbollah towards israel. Yesterday there were attempts to infiltrate on the ground that were successfully thwarted and the last front to become active is the syrian front, where a few hours ago rockets were fired from syrian sovereign soil towards israel. As of now, i cannot confirm the identity of those firing. I cannot say if it was one of many iranian proxies that are active in syria, under syrian under iranian control or if it were Syrian Forces or perhaps hezb hezbollah. That remains to be confirmed from an intelligence point of view, but this of course adds complexity to our situation and to that, if i may, id add that there are also quite a lot of events ongoing. We have had clashes between palestinians in various communities and there have been attempts by armed terrorists coming out of janine to attack israeli troops. A very, very dynamic environment where we are vigilant and defending ourselves on more than three fronts. Lets talk about the individuals, the palestinians in gaza who are not part of hamas and do not deserve to be hurt in these retaliatory strikes. On saturday when i asked you what they should do, you said that they should go to the shore or they should go to the south. I talked to an american, a palestinian American Woman in gaza right now who said that thats not really possible, and she went to the Border Crossing, the only open Border Crossing in gaza right now between egypt and the gaza strip and israel has been pummelling it with rockets all day. This even came up at the White House Briefing today. Obviously there are more than 2 million palestinians live in gaza, and im sure you dont want to hurt the innocent ones. What are you doing to make sure that the innocent ones do not get hurt and what can be done to provide access so they can leave gaza . Yeah, youre very right in a lot about what youre saying. A, we definitely do not want to hurt any noncombatants. B, it is an extremely complex situation. Gaza is extremely dense, and populated by more than 2 million palestinians. Sadly, the enemies that were fighting, they are cowards and they use civilian infrastructure in order to for the military purposes. And if youll walk around the gaza strip, i dont think that youll find even one sign on a building that says this is the hamas headquarters for producing rockets or gathering intelligence. It simply doesnt exist, and they use all the civilian infrastructure for their military purposes. I mention this because the Footage Running on the screen is what looks like a civilian building, but in fact, these are Military Targets used by hamas for their military purposes, and as such, they are qualified Military Targets. You ask what we do to minimize the risk towards noncombatants. We continue to be in a stage where we abide by the law of international warfare. We do not wish to harm the civilians. It is extremely unfortunate that they are caught in between hamas and ourselves. Unfortunately, hamas leaves us no other option. Were fighting to defend ourselves. Rockets are being fired at israel as we speak. Theyve been fired at israel throughout the day and southern israel, and in order to mitigate that rocket fire and the ability of hamas to fight, we fire at the Military Targets. Noncombatants and combatants. We still do warning and roof knocking and other tactics in order to minimize the civilian casualties. I know and understand the complexity of the situation, but unfortunately hamas and the Islamic Jihad leave us with no choice. Well, i would just say that you your government and egypt need to open up that border so innocent palestinians can get out of gaza, but thats all the time we have, Lieutenant Co colonel, thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Moments ago, another explosion in gaza. We have seen several since weve been on the air. More accounts of folks leaving living in the region and living through this horror. Thats next. Youre probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. But what if we told you its possible that comcast Business Mobile can save you up to 75 a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers . Its true. Plus, when you buy your first line of mobile, you get a second line free. There are no Term Contracts or line activation fees. And you can bring your own device. Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible. Its happening. As we learn more about the bloodshed and see with our own eyes the carnage that continues to unfold in gaza and israel, we are also learning about the bar bar barbarism, the terrorism committed by hamas on saturday that led to this current war. Joining us now is a man whose grandmother was viciously killed by hamas. Yoav, i am at a loss, i cannot fathom any of what i just said, especially the idea of your family going to facebook and having to see that video of your grandmother. How are you and your Family Coping . Well, were all just trying to do the betsst we can, doing what my grandmother would have wanted us to do, you know, first of all, she was thats why part of the reason im conducting this interview. She was a great lover of the news. It was a passion of hers. She would spend like four hours a day at least watching the news. I think she would want her story shared. My mother and parents are currently in israel going to all of the Rescue Centers to help out all of the victims and the survivors from the attacks. But i cant lie. Its very difficult. The images of the video, its hard to sleep. Its hard to really do anything. I think i first heard about this story that there was a young woman who told the story. Is that a relative of yours, a sister of yours . That is my cousin your cousin told the story. Its just i mean, i guess we know that the terrorists who did the attacks on saturday i mean, theres just a level of just a lack of humanity there, but then just im just such at a loss that anybody would not only do that but then like want to inflict that upon her friends and family to make them watch. Yeah. What did you guys call her . I call her softa, which is hebrew for grandma. Yeah. But her name , i know her story and horrid, for example, my mom is now helping all the victims, and she is all day hearing the most horrendous things of babies having their head chopped off in their beds, families being slaughtered. 80yearold women being kidnapped and taken into gaza and also being filmed while theyre being tortured on their way for their families to see. Its just all of the images, and all of the victims over the last few days are going through inhumane unimaginable things that i wouldnt wish upon anyone. Tell me about in addition to being a fan of the news, what do you want the world to know about her . How strong and how brave and how amazing she was. She raised my mom and my aunt as a single mom. She loved the kibbutz she lived in. She lived there for seven years, and even when tensions were rising, every time she always was so optimistic. I would call her every time, and she would say, dont worry, im sierra, and if i were in israel, she would be more concerned to my safety, which also echoed to the way she was up until her death. Like ten minutes before her death, i had a conversation with my mom and my aunt where they were all asking about each others safety during the missiles and my grandma was more concerned about my mom is and my aunts safety than her own. She was in a shelter, but she was just making sure that we were all safe, that we were good, and then within ten minutes of those messages, we saw the video. Im so sorry, yoav. Thank you. Ill be thinking about you and your family, and may her memory be a blessing. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. As the fighting between israel and hamas intensifies, so too does the humanitarian crisis in the area. If you feel compelled, if you can afford to help with the humanitarian relief efforts for those in israel and the innocents in gaza, you can head to cnn. Com impact. Weve got a list of vetted organizations that are on the ground responding. Thats cnn. Com impact. Well be right back. Four days after hamas l launched rockets and sent terrorists into israel to commit unspeakable crimes, there are still major questions about how this happened. Senator mark warner whos chairman of the Senate Select ch committee on intelligence is here. Thanks for joining us. Reut r reuters is reporting that hamas misled israel for months, a conducted a mock israeli settlement in gaza where militants the practiced a Military Landing and trained to storm it. It seems these they tried a ruse of sorts, but the bigger question is this is obviously a massive Intelligence Failure, and i know everybodys going to say theres going to be time to focus on how this happened later. Right now its about solving the problem and the threat of israel, but how could something, an Intelligence Failure this ig happen . How could it happen . Jake, you want to know, i want to know, and i agree with your characterization. These are brutal acts by a Terrorist Operation thats sole intent appears to be not helping palestinians, but to murder jews, murder israelis. But in that sense and i say this i will find the answer of what happened in israel and frankly, even with an american intelligence, but right now i want israeli intelligence, american intelligence 100 focufo focused on taking out these Terrorist Leaders and also making sure that we dont see the spread of violence to the west bank or coming out of lebanon with hezbollah. You know, as you know and these images and stories that were hearing all day of israelis and american citizens being killed, the focus ought to be getting rid of the terrorists right now and bringing some level of calm, and not seeing, unfortunately this violent spread. How can hamas be eliminated, the terrorists of hamas that run the west bank i mean, sorry, the run gaza. With as little harm as is humanly possible to the millions of palestinians in gaza who are not part of hamas . I mean, i dont know what the percentages are. There are 2. 3 million palestinians in gaza. I assume that most of them i mean, a million of them are kids. Right. I assume most of the 2. 3 million are not part of hamas. I mean, the last election in gaza was Something Like 2005 or 6. 2007. They didnt even elect them is the point. Right, and they have been there and frankly, if anything weve seen that hamas was getting less popular because, you know, theyre not providing any services. They have not done anything in a meaningful way in terms of engaging, in terms of Greater Palestinian economic autonomy. Theyve seen literally billions of dollars go into the region. Youre making my point is like what can we do like so the u. S. The u. S. Is doing everything it can to support netanyahu and israel, and i certainly understand that. Hamas is classified a terrorist group. They certainly proved that over the weekend, as if anybody needed any further proof. But what can be done . We spoke earlier in the show to a palestinian American Woman who has three kids. Shes stuck in gaza. She cant get out. I mean, surely there should be some sort of passage so innocent people can get out of there . And that will be a decision made by the israeli government, which i know is trying to take out these militant terrorists who have created Barbaric Acts. I mean, the notion that there were children, at least press reports being beheaded in kibbutzes around gaza, that is inhuman. This is not, you know, a Political Force against of course not. Government. This is pure evil, and how israel does this in a way that doesnt create more terrorists in the making, i wish i had a simple, easy answer on that, and i think that notion of trying to bring some level of rule of law after Barbaric Acts is what i know and israel has that history of tradition. But i dont know the answer of how the next few days will play out. I do know this, that youve got unfortunately this is even further exacerbated by hundreds of hostages, some of which are clearly dual Citizen American Zms senator mark warner, the chairman of the select committee of intelligence in the u. S. Senate. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Breaking news, the first plane carrying u. S. Ammunition has landed in israel. The idf says the delivery, is quotes designed to enable significant blows in preparation for additional scenarios. More on that to come. But first a peace activist, just one of the hundreds of victims of brutal hamas attack, the deadliest day for jews in the world since the holocaust. Were going to talk with his brother next. Is it possible my network could take my business to the next level . It is with comcast business. Powering all your devices with gigspeed wifi. And you get fast downloads and uploads. Pick it up pick it up oh we got this because its powered by The Next Generation 10g network. More speed for your business . Its not just possible. Its happening. Get started for 59. 99 a month for 12 months. Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. Heres why you should switch from chrome to duckduckgo. Duckduckgo is a browser you download to your mobile and desktop devices. Unlike chrome, the Duckduckgo Browser has privacy builtin. It comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesn■t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. And theres no catch. Its free. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you around. Join the millions of people taking back their privacy by Downloading Duckduckgo On Mobile and desktop today. We are learning more and more each day of such horrific and traumatic storyies of those who were either kidnapped or killed by terrorists of hamas on saturday. I want to show you now one of the victims killed in this clear act of terrorism. He was 32. He was a peace activist. His neighbor told cnn that he was shot to death as he hid in a closet. Heres how she described this man who was murdered in cold blood. With. He was a wonderful person. He was a talented person. He was a funny person. He was someone who wanted to leave. Life is the meaning of his name, and he gave life to this planet because he saved me and i was able to save two kids. He was a good friend. He was a good soul in this world. Noy, im very, very sorry for your loss. His neighbor describes him as a wonderful person. What do you want people to know about him . Okay, so he was, as i said, so he used to he was first of all, he was really yes. Sorry. Yes, in israel studies he wrote about religious and about risks and danger of right wing uprising in israel. Its my understanding he cared a lot about the Palestinian People and that he and that he he really he opposed the netanyahu government skand he w trying to work to bring human rights to the Palestinian People . Definitely. He was an activist where the idf is doing and israel are doing cleansing of the palestinians of the native palestinians who live there, very active there. Im also part of that community, and they wrote to me how he was active there. He also volunteered in a city, which sadly doesnt have enough shelters now and a lot of people from there are killed. And he also was active in some watch, which its like watch, watching and also in academy for equality. How was he as a sibling . So he was a sibling sorry. Yes. He was a sibling of me, yes. We grew up together in a city next to tel aviv. And it wasnt always easy. But still today, im very proud of him and all what he did and still, till the day of his december. How is your family doing . How is your family doing . Such a horrible thing. Yes. I actually was in Student Exchange in germany. I started my Student Exchange. And i needed to fly back a few days ago. I came only this morning. Like last night. And yes, i finally saw my family. And they are yes. Its, like, difficult. Were six siblings. Not easy for us. Noy katsman, chaims, Many Blessings for your loss. Can i say one more thing . What i wanted to say is the most important for me, and i think also for my brother, was that his death wont be used to kill innocent people. And sadly, my government, our my government is using, cynically, these people to just kill they promised us its going to bring us, like, security. But of course, its not security, because they always tell us, oh, if were going to kill enough palestinians, its going to be better for us. But of course, it never brings us peace, it never brings us better lives. It just brings more and more terror, more and more people killed, like my brother. And i dont want anything to happen to people in gaza like it happens to my brother, and im sure he wouldnt went any either. Thats my call to my government. Stop killing innocent people. Thats not the way to bring peace and security to people in israel. Noy katsman, thank you so much. May your brother chaims memory be a blessing. The hall ways of capitol hill are quite full. House republicans are meeting right now ahead of tomorrows vote on who could be the next speaker, if they are able to manage to cobble together a majority and pick a speaker. I know its quite a difficult task, apparently. Cnns manu raju is on the case. Well check in with him next. Right now House Republicans are listening to congressman Steve Scalise of louisiana and jim jordan of ohio pitch themselves and why they should be voted the next speaker. In the middle of all this, the Justice Department has charged one of the republicans voting George Santos of new york with 23 counts, including Identity Theft and money laundering. Cnns manu raju is on capitol hill for us where in news is just breaking. Manu, i know you have to do a lot to get kicked out of the Republican Party these day, but can congressman santos keep his job as he faces these charges . Reporter this has been a huge question all year long. Of course, he has been charged earlier this year. This is a superseding indictment, jake, that was Just Announced by the Justice Department, filed in District Court in new york. According to this release, he was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, falsification of records, aggravated Identity Theft, and credit card fraud. This indictment just unsealed will have to go through all the details and the allegations therein, but undoubtedly this will put pressure on republicans to take action on George Santos. So far, they have left it to the House Ethics Committee to come down and recommend any actions on santos. So far, the Ethics Committee has not yet done that as it continues to investigate. How will they proceed . How will santos proceed tomorrow . He is still expected to vote in the Secret Ballot election tomorrow to vote for a candidate for speaker here as jim jordan and steve ska lease are Behind Closed Doors in the room behind me trying to lock down the votes. At the moment, George Santos has indicated he will not resign. Will this change . That will be one question here well policy to him and see if his members, his colleagues, believe its time for him to step aside. Just to be clear, the next speaker needs 217 votes. Thats the math right now. Do either scalise or jordan have 217 votes . Reporter the answer to that is no, jake. In fact, right now Behind Closed Doors, both men are taking questions from their colleagues, from the 221 members of the house gop conference. In talking to members earlier today, there is a lot of concern, frustration. Some directed at matt gaetz, the person who led the ouster of Speaker Mccarthy and the eight republicans who voted him out. Some want more time to consider these two candidates before the Secret Ballot election tomorrow. Manu raju, it seems like quite a mess there. Theyre definitely going to still have the vote tomorrow . Reporter jake, at the moment, thats the plan. To have the Secret Ballot election in the house gop conference. But the larger question is when they will actually get a vote on the house floor. That is uncertain because at t