Transcripts For CNNW Early 20240703

Good day to our viewer in the United States and around the world. Im kasie hunt. It is wednesday, october 18. 5 00 a. M. Here in washington, noon in tel aviv where we just heard from President Biden who is in a bilateral meeting right now with israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president commenting for the first time on camera about the explosion at a hospital in gaza city that officials there say killed hundreds of people. Deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in gaza yesterday. Based on what ive seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there is a lot of people out there who are not sure. Said to be unparalleled and indescribable. A spokesperson says most of the victims are children and women. Hours ago israel released this edited 30 second drone video that Spokesman Says proves that Israeli Military did not cause the explosion. He says craters and other damage are not consistent with an israeli airstrike. They also intercepted communications that pin the blame on Islamic Jihad. It was caused by a rocket misfired. According to our intelligence, hamas checked the reports and understood it was an islamic scree had rocket that had misfired and decided to launch a Global Media Campaign to hide hide what really happened. And this is con pounding diplomatic efforts. Protests have erupted across the middle east and there is cancellation of a planned wednesday summit in jordan that was supposed to include President Biden and the leaders of jordan, egypt and Palestinian Authority. Arlette saenz is live for us in washington. Good morning. What did we just hear from the pres president . Reporter he landed in israel trying to show the u. S. Steadfast support for the country. You saw him on the tarmac embracing israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as the israeli president herzog. And then the president went into that bilateral meeting saying that he wanted to make this trip to show israel that the u. S. Stands with his country amid the war with hamas, the president pledging that the u. S. Would offer support and ensure israelis have what they need. But the president also addressed that blast at the Gaza Hospital for the very first time on camera. Of course and already complicated Trip Bakeecame even more complicated after that blast. But the president shared wasted on what he has seen, he does not believe the israelis were responsible. Wastedon what he ha does not believe the israelis were responsible. We know the u. S. Received intelligence from the israelis about this blast overnight. People were working to try to work to see whether they could assign responsibility. And the president saying that he believes that israel did not commit this act. And youve heard israel denounce suggestions that they have suggesting instead it was the jihad group and hamas insists that it was israel who committed this abts. B act. But it speaks to the precarious nature in the region that President Biden will now have to grapple with. Of course the white house is down playing expectations about him emerging from this with Concrete Deliverables instead saying that he is trying to manage a complicated situation, but there are huge humanitarian concerns and risks to civilian lives and these are all issues the president is expected to raise in his talks with netanyahu today. The original plan and kind of what the white house had been telegraphing ahead of this visit is that they wanted commitments that humanitarian aid would reach gaza and why meeting with arab leaders was also on the agenda. And of course this narrative around the hospital has derailed that and presents a significant challenge all involved. Arlette saenz, im sure well be back with you. Just ahead here, what caused the deadly blast at that Gaza Hospital . Well talk to a decorated air force intelligence officer. Plus another fail in americas house. Still no speaker. Another vote expected today. Israeli military says they were not behind the blast at a hospital that officials in gaza say killed hundreds of people. Officials say a lack of structure all damage at the hospital seen in Drone Footage proves no israeli fire hit the building because it was not caused by an aerial munition. The idf is categorically denying any involvement after the spokesman said it reviewed its own footage. Instead they claim a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad misfired and exploded. Lets bring in colonel cedric leighton. Thank you for being here. I want to bring people up to speed who maybe havent been watching the news wait we have. When wea were on set yesterday afternoon, we got news that Palestinian Health authority saying that hundreds had been killed at the hospital. The idf was blamed. The president s meeting with arab leaders in the region set for tomorrow were canceled. There have been protests that have exploded across the arab world in response to this. But now there is a back and forth over who is responsible. Idf is saying we did not do this and they doare citing Drone Footage of this parking lot with burned out cars. Essentially there is an argument about who did this and what this evidence shows us. As a military professional when you look at these images of the burned out cars, do you see an aerial bombardment from israel or do you see something that indicates that this was a rocket that was misfired by the palestinians own side . Good morning. One of those things where you have to look at several different factors here. These photographs, these video images aren wo one aspect. And it seems more consistent with either a blast on the ground or some other type of ordinance instead of the type of ordinance that would have been fired by an israeli fighter plane. Having said that, there are certain possibilities to look at. So when you try to determine how whether somebody is responsible or not, and one is a simple one is an israeli airplane in the area where it could have launched a missile to attack the hospital. Is that possible. And then after that question is answered, then you go did that happen, lets say the answer was yes, then you ask did that happen, is there indication that munition was fired that the particular point in time and at that particular target. And then you also look at some other things. For example, you would see if there is some other explosions of any other type and where possibly those explosions occurred. There are certain things that would indicate that there might have been a misfired rocket. And that misfired rocket, which is something that the israelis are alleging, there would be a Heat Signature associated with that and you would have to go back using what is known as measurement and signatures intelligence to determine whether or not there was that kind of a thermal signature that would be consistent with a misfired rocket. So those would be some of the factors that you would use in addition to the type of damage that you see in these videos whether or not that would be consistent with a certain type of munition or the debris of a falling rocket or stationery explosive that was already on the ground that somehow exploded at that point. Right. So lets also discuss a little bit about what the actual capabilities are and sort of the fact that there is an element of magnitude that would be associated with an israeli bomb. Essentially the israelis are saying that there is no crater in the ground. If we had dropped a bomb, there would be a massive crater here. Rockets hamas have would be much less powerful. When do you look at these aimages, who do you believe . When you dont see a krcrate that is a convincing one. And the other thing to look at is what kind of structural damage is there around this a area. And you see the buildings are basically intact. A lot of the people seem to have been killed by fragmentation from the blast as it moves out from the actual point of impact. So this obviously was a horrible situation, but clearly what were seeing right now does not seem to be consistent with an aerial launch of a new mission that would then have resulted in an explosion down on the ground. Of course the reality though, what happened here, and what the israelis are telling us at this point, is that they are also picking up chatter they claim that they have heard chatter via intelligence sources that Islamic Jihad was aware that they had misfired the rockets and that very quickly after realizing that, they put out this information about who was responsible for the strike. That has since rippled across the globe in a matter of hours. And really affected the geopolitical narrative in the way people are feeling about an intensely emotional and difficult conflict. You know, how do World Leaders or even im interested to know how military leaders, since that was the role that you had, how do you think about that and the importance of trying to redirect the narrative, and what are the options for even doing that . Look at these pictures across the world, this is what has already happened in less than 12 hours since we first learned this news. Yeah, it is really difficult. This is one of the most difficult problems. The first thing you have to do, you have to get the facts out as you know them. This is very difficult problem especially when you are dealing with intelligence sources and methods because once you start revealing the information that you have lets say as Signals Intelligence Intercept which is what the israelis are talking about of the chatter from Islamic Jihad in gaza, that then reveals of course that they are intercepting that particular line of communication. But in this particular case, it is sometimes better, and certainly better, to reveal that information and say this is what they said at this particular point in time. You know, in a world deep fakes and things like that, it becomes a really problematic situation nowadays because it is very hard for people to believe the truth even if they are confronted with the truth. So that is the first thing, something that no guarantee of success, but it is something that the very first thing that military even political person should do in a case like this especially if what they are saying is correct. Just unbelievably complicated and difficult world that we live in now. Colonel, thank you as always. Wonderful to have you. You bet, kasie. And those protests have been breaking out across the arab world in the wake of the deadly blast at the Gaza Hospital. Well talk about how it changes the efforts to keep the war from spreading and were also keeping an eye on President Biden. Trs set to meet with the iz prsraelr cabinet. Nice footwork. Man, youre lucky, watching live sports never used to be this easy. Now you can stream all your games like its nothing. Yes [ cheers ] yeah woho running up and down that field looks tough. Its a pitch. Get way more into what youre into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. Hundreds of antiisrael protestors trying to break through Security Barriers near the u. S. Embassy in lebanon, just one of many protests that have broken out in the wake of the Hospital Blast in gaza. Lets bring in max foster. We just heard from President Biden on the ground in israel ahead of his bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said this appears to be, quote, done by the other team, end quote. So he is accepting the israeli explanation for what happened here. But we already have an incredibly complicated and explosive geopolitical situation in reaction to the initial reports that this was an israeli strike that according to the Palestinian Health authority killed hundreds of gazans. Perception is often more potent as you know in war than the reality. And i think a lot of palestinian sympathizers have made their minds up very clearly that israel is lying and the palestinian delegation to the u. N. Said as much yesterday. So their view for many of the protestors is that israel carried out this strike and they are lying. Of course weve been carrying all of the israeli spokesperson on the Network Today saying absolutely this was not us carrying out the strike. So trying to balance things, very difficult thing for us of course as reporters in large numbers arent being allowed into see what is happening on the ground. So were trying to juggle this. Were looking at the all the Protests Bubble Up in lebanon, iran, jordan. Just consider that in jordan more than half the population are palestinian. Millions of people. You are seeing protests uprise there. And then you are seeing destabilization in the region. And this is the thing that were really concerned about in terms of moving ahead in terms of any sort of peace. And weve seen The Jordanian king pull out of a meeting with President Biden today so it is how this is perceived that will have the impact on the situation in the region and Aniness Chay F peace. There is just so much distrust. And the distrust is almost impossible for either side here to trust the other in what they say. And reality too, max, is that were having this argument before the israelis have even made any incursion on the ground into gaza, which we still understand is the eventual plan here because there are over 100 hostages being held by hamas in that region. And the potential for this kind of youre right to be very careful with the language because we dont want to call it a misunderstanding. The two sides are telling very different stories about what they claim to have happened. I feel like that tendency or the likelihood that that will happen only gets worse when you are on the ground doing house to house urban warfare. Inevitably there will be more casualties, wont there, on both sides. Going in a Ground Incursion into what other people want to see as a sovereign state is a red line for many palestinian supporters around the world. Weve already seen pretty stark Warning Signs coming from iran that that is a red line for them. And also is the tension between israel and iran and that escalating on the northern border. Many people viewing hezbollah as iranian proxy of course. So we need to keep an eye on that northern border as well in terms of a wider conflict if that happens. But i think inevitably whether or not there is a Ground Incursion will play into that. A good point. And lets not forget about the backdrop here which is that we were on the verge of potential landmark normalization efforts, pacts being signed specifically between Shaudi Arabia and israe and were so far away from that conversation as we watch all this unfold. Max foster, thank you, sir. Thanks. President biden just commented for the first time on camera about that deadly Hospital Blast in gaza. Well show you what he said, coming up. Good morning. Thank you for getting up early with us this morning. Im kasie hunt. It is 5 30 in washington, 12 30 p. M. In israel. A short time ago we heard from President Biden for the first time about that blast at a Gaza Hospital that officials there say killed hundreds of people. The president is in israel currently sitting down with a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu. And he said that he believes islamic militants were behind the explosion. Deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in gaza yesterday. And based on what ive seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there is a lot of people out there not sure. So we have to overcome a lot of things. The president apparently referring to the evidence that Israeli Military says proves that the explosion originated with a jihad rocket that was misfired and set the hospital on fire. The blast and horrific civilian casualties have triggered huge protests across the arab world. Becky anderson is live in tel aviv. The president said the blast was called by, quote, the other team. He was sitting across from netanyahu, so he meant gaza militants. This does seem to put the u. S. As saying we believe one side specifically. What does it mean for the Diplomatic Mission hes on Going Forward . Lets be quite clear, Authorities In Gaza absolutely put the Blame Square Ly on the idf and strikes by israel. I think that this puts it in a very odd situation here. It is not clear what the u. S. President s objectives were in coming to israel nor what success would look like. But clearly if you call this a mission to a certain extent, that mission, that trip, certainly framed in a slightly different way in the hours that President Biden was on Air Force One flying here when the news came of that horrific catastrophic blast in the hospital which has killed hundreds. And we have seen very swift regional reaction. The uae, saudi arabia, egypt, the p. A. , Palestinian Authority, iraq here condemning israel squarely and placing the blame for this attack on the idf. And i just want to read a statement for our viewer s from king abdullah. And the countries are sort of clear friends or allies of the United States at this point. And particularly jordan. King abdullah calling the strike a heinous massacre committed by israel today against innocent and sick 1civilians. And that statement came out in the wake of this blast that came out before the evidence was presented by the idf as to why it wasnt their responsibility and why it was the responsibility of Islamic Jihad according to israeli forces. But similar words echoed by saudi arabia. Ill read you what the Foreign Ministry has said there, the kingdom condemns in the strongest terms heinous crime committed by the Israeli Occupation forces calling it, and i quote here, a flagrant violation of all International Laws and norms including humanitarian law. And what is really important about these statements that we are seeing, these are friends and allies of the United States. Saudi arabia, the country that was reportedly only months away from normalizing relations with israel at the behest of the United States, normalization of relations with israel as an opportunity for a new era in the middle east as a pillar for the Biden Administration middle east policy. I have to say it was certainly a pillar of the former presidency under candidate as well. But all bets are off at present from these friends and allies of the United States. Let me explain exactly why. In jordan, in iraq, in ramallah, you are seeing news of people on the streets. These are National Security issues now for these countries. Protests that they didnt want to see, a conflict which is spreading on to their streets outside of gaza. And this is what they have been warning of for a long time, months in the makings these warnings of what might go on in ramallah, the west bank. And now you are seeing evidence of it. And it is extremely concerning to these leaders. You are not seeing these protests on the streets of saudi arabia and the uae. You wouldnt expect to see but you are seeing a lot of complaint by those who supported the palestinians. So this is to a certain extent the region is saying this is getting out of hand. They want to see what happens next and they will be very mindful of what the president does here. And we are showing lebanon, iran, iraq, jordan, across the region. Becky anderson, thank you for your reporting. President biden was planning to meet in person with the king of jordan, president abbas and el sisi before he came home, but that was before the Hospital Blast. Instead biden plans to speak with abbas and el sisi on the flight home. Nada bashir is live in jordan with more. Of course there in anticipation of what this was supposed to be. But as becky was just outlining, domestic politics really made it impossible for them to go ahead with this meeting with President Biden. Nada, walk us through more of the reasoning here. Reporter look, i cant understate how significantly pop popular particularly here in jordan where around 50 are palestinian or palestinian dekr desk deac descent. Were seeing the protestors even attempting to storm the embassy. And there is support for the Palestinians Inside Gaza who have been under israeli airstrikes for more than a week now and that pressure certainly felt by arab leaders not least here in jordan by The Jordanian. And of course that meeting was set to take place today. First time that weve seen all four leaders gathered together. All key players in any prospect for some kind of Peace Agreement if there were to be one. Of course now this has raised concerns that this could mark escalation and tensions beyond the Palestinian Territories israel. And of course we heard last night president abbas returned back calling for an urgent meeting of the palestinian leadership. We know President Biden will be speaking to abbas, but as things stand now, jordanian government says they dont see their International Partners being on the same page when it comes to their focus on ensuring that there is a solution to bringing the war to the end and bringing relief to the palestinians besieged in the gaza strip. Nada bashir, thank you very much for that report. Lets come back to washington now and bring in margaret talev. Good morning. You of course have covered the white houseoff the course of your many, many years here. This is one of the more complicated trips ive ever seen a president undertake overseas and the incident at the Gaza Hospital where you have on the one hand the Palestinian Health authority and hamas saying hundreds have been killed this a blast caused by the idf, the idf saying no, we couldnt have done this and adding that there is another militant group the Islamic Jihad that we have intelligence that they misfired a rocket. Now you have the president coming in there and saying okay, to Benjamin Netanyahu, we think the other team did this. This is a president that sometimes speaks off the cuff, sometimes his aides have to clean up after him. What was your takeaway from how he presented what seems to be an official u. S. Take on this c catas catastrophe . Kasie, it certainly did. And the phraseology that he used was actually sort of jarring and agreed. And i think the u. S. Government is going to hope that what he said ends up being correct. This just shows how fraught the situation is. They literally had a game time decision on the ground yesterday which is is do we take off beca it became obvious that even before he landed everything was going to change on the ground and he would be coming into an extremely uncertain situation. So when a president makes a decision like this to travel to another country in the middle of a conflict or in this case a war, he is trying to do two things, he is trying to show solidarity with the israelis as an ally, but also trying to calm the situation, to have a positive effect. And to be able to have conversations with arab allies, jordan, egypt and of course discussions with the Palestinian Authority that would be fruitful or productive. And that was called off before the trip even got started because of this horrific situation. And so i think in a situation like this where words matter and precision of language matters, it would be challenging for any president and an incredibly tough test for President Biden. And also dangerous from a security perspective. So he is really walking a tightrope. And you are right to point out, and that is interesting kind of background about them having to decide, hey, do we actually take off on Air Force One, that in many ways sends a signal that echos or underscores the remarks he made that okay, well still do this even though clearly something very terrible has happened that will ignite the world. Well stick with israel here. That said, those words ive been in situations where president ial candidates, you know, in a pool and their words ripple across the world extraordinarily fast which is what were seeing here. Margaret, stick with me. I want you to weigh in on the other big story which is the Significant Development in american domestic Politit Tilit house remains without a speaker. The whole number of votes cast, speaker not elected. So if at first you dont succeed, try, try again. That is the strategy that jim jordan will take on after he lost his first vote for speaker on tuesday. Jordan is trying to project optimism and second vote set for 11 00 a. M. Today. Well keep going on. Ive had great conversations, great discussions with our colleagues. And frankly, no one in our conference wants to see the type of Coalition Government with democrats, so well keep working and get the votes sxwlp. So the need to lock down the votes is something Kevin Mccarthy is quite well aware of. Jordan had just as many votes as i had in the first round. We have rule so is we can sit down, talk to the other members and move forward. So House Republicans are hoping it wont take 15 rounds of voting to name a speaker. That is how long it took in january for mccarthy. But jordan has a steep hill to climb. These are the 20 republicans who voted against him on tuesday margaret, the reality is there are more faces on that graphic than jordans team expected there to be. And as this has evolved over the course of the past 12 hours or so, it does seem as though momentum is leaning away from jordan not to him. Conversations ill having indicate there is more discussion of whether they need to give Patrick Mchenry temporary powers. Jordan is pushing ahead anyway for this vote set for 11 00 a. M. , it will probably play out 11 30, 11 40 this morning. What do you think is next for him . I mean, wow, and the conversation we were having shows why this matters. When youve got now chaos in the middle east, it is really important for the u. S. To make decisions not just about funding but about military funding, and the house is hobbled until this is resolved or a temporary arrangement is locked in. I think for jordan one of the things he had working in his favor potentially was that increased pressure just to have a leadership decision made could have helped him. But look, being that many votes behind, in the state of new york alone, there are enough republican moderates who feel that they could lose their jobs if jim jordan becomes the speaker next time they face voters at the ballot that that alone could be enough to hobble him. And then you have some of these other folks around the country who are not comfortable with his record, with his alliance with donald trump, not comfortable with his failure to declare joe biden the winner of the election. There are enough holdouts that unless something magical happens in the next few hours for him, i think it will be very tough and i think so the Patrick Mchenry option that you are alluding to has been out there for days on the sidelines, but all of these contenders thinking, well, lets see if we can get it done the normal way. And if they cant, they will need to make another decision. I think jordan thinking that perhaps his long Time Alliance with trump, a lot of republicans desire not to anger trump could help get him over the line. But at this hour, you know, he doesnt appear to have enough momentum to close that gap. Yeah, you say they want to get it done the normal way. We shouldnt lose sight of the fact that this entire thing is completely abnormal for where we are. But i want to underscore one of the early points you made. The message that many of these that you mentioned the new york delegation. They are the majority makers in the republican conference. They are the people that republicans need them to hold their seats if they want to actually have the opportunity to run the house of representatives. They are sending a message that if we put jim jordan in charge of this chamber, it is going to be a problem for us. We might lose the majority. No . Well, that is where the rubber meets the road. You have a very strong base of the Republican Party and it is really empowered the right flank, the freedom caucus, but in the end the majority is so bare, the house gop majority is such a bare one, that unless they can hold that coalition together, they really cant afford to lose more seats come next november or they lose control of the chamber. So that has always been the tension. But it has come into clear focus in the midst of this extremely drawn out fight to leave the house. It really has. And lets not forget that the Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she was in charge had a similar majority and did not face any of these issues. It really is about the division inside the Republican Party. F margaret talev, thank you for being here. And President Biden is huddling with Israeli Cabinet members in tel aviv at this hour. The tough questions that he is asking as a friend, he says, next. This morning President Biden is in israel on the ground for a high stakes visit, his meetings already under way. Met facetoface with Benjamin Netanyahu a short time ago. Israel as they respond to these attacks seems to me have to continue to ensure that you have what you need to defend yourselves. And well make sure that occurs. Those remarks at the beginning of his meeting with netanyahu which is still going on. Is he he is expected to make more remarks soon. Lets bring in sin joel rubin, current candidate for congress in maryland. Joel, this is an incredibly highly consequential visit for the president. The reality is this strike occurred at this hospital in gaza. The palestinians immediately said that it was an idf strike. The ifldf has disputed that. Protests have broken out. The president went to israel, he said that he believes that it seems that it was caused by in his words the other team. He said that to netanyahu. So he is ascribing the strike to islamic militants. The situation is incredibly politically explosive. Youve been in rooms where some of these kinds of things have unf unfolded. What are the conversations like right now . Yeah, kasie, you just laid out the exact dynamics of the middle east really and this is incredibly gutsy of the president to be going there right now. And the dynamics in the room are certainly going to be impacted by what just took place overnight. And i think in many ways it will reinforce the importance of the president s trip. He is there to show israelis that he has their back, the United States stands with israel. He is also there to carry a message that Human Kranitarian assistance to palestinians is crucial, there needs to be protection of civilians. And he has a lot of credibility to provide that message because of his support for israel. Across the board there is a significant amount of gratitude to him for that. So he can carry that message. The other big issue of course is the hostages, the 13 americans, almost 200 overall. That is a high priority for him. And so clearly his being there demonstrates directly how important it is to get that taken care of safely. Lets talk about the humanitarian situation in gaza for a moment. Obviously weve been focused on the hospital, when that happened the leader of amman, jordan the king canceled what was supposed to be a second meeting for the president. The point of that was and the white house was telegraphing that may, we agreed do this because we also want to demonstrate and we got a commitment that humanitarian aid would go into gaza to help the civilians who are not associated with or supportive of hamas, they need us. Obviously that was scrapped. And that i think presents a real challenge as well for the president. It really does. Look, our allies jordan, egypt, Palestinian Authority, these are Frontline States right now dealing with the impact of the strike. But they also do have a moral obligation to assusupport the palestinians in the conflict zone. And exitigetting the aid in, th a dance that has taken up to a week where Secretary Blinken is trying to found a way to open up the gates and let the aid in. And israelis as well finally turned on the water after President Biden pushed and asked for them to do that as well. But jordan, the king is under deep pressure politically at home. There are majority of palestinians in jordan. But all that said and done, there has to be a way for them to provide support for the Palestinian People in gaza for survival purposes. But israel will mount a ground offensive. And if the Palestinian People are not protected at the front end, it will only get more desperate. And of course the chaos this washington, the administration preparing a request for aid to israel, but still no speaker of the house. No speaker meaning no assistance to the Israeli Military, no additional american assistance to the palestinians for humanitarian aid. And frankly, a sign of dysfunction at the worst possible time. We cant have a failing government, and right now we do. We dont have the ability in the case of moving Appropriations Bills to get those through the floor and through the senate and in o. On to the president s desk. And it doesnt look like it has an end date either. So it really undermines the president s visit when back at home there is chaos. And were trying to bring the allies together on this critical issue. A stunning reality and one that has conversations on the hill increasing around how to empower the temporary speaker patrick mchinry. We well see what happens there. President biden is in israel after the Gaza Hospital Blast killed hundreds. He is expected to speak soon and well bring you that live. Dont go anywhere. The Human Tragedy on a terrible, terrible scale. The massiv