Transcripts For CNNW The 20240703 : vimarsana.com

This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. The hour, the chaos on capitol hill. The Republican House dysfunction continues as the fight for a new speaker of the house continues to sputter after republican representative jim jordan failed to get enough votes. The house has recessed, at least for the time being. Leading right now, another tragic turn in the war in israel and gaza. Hundreds of people have been killed by an explosion at a hospital in gaza, according to the Palestinian Health ministry, these images youre seeing show fires raging with an Ambulance Feed away inside the hospital we see images of devastation with this blurred image of a dead body in a hallway. Its the Al Ahli Baptist hospital in the center of gaza city which reportedly was Housing Hundreds of those already injured by airstrikes. Perhaps many more seeking shelter from the strikes. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the west bank declared three days of mourning for the victims. As of right now, cnn cannot tell you definitively who is responsible for the strike, the Palestinian Health ministry, controlled by hamas is saying that israel is responsible. Theyre calling it a war crime. Israel is of course bombing the area, and israels strikes have killed hundreds of civilians, no question. Hamas has been known to blame its own Missile Misfires on israel, and the Israeli Defense forces is saying unequivocally that this is the result of an Islamic Jihad Missile Misfire we will bring you the facts of this incident as soon as they can be established. Another grim number just into our newsroom, at least 17 journalists have been killed during the israelhamas conflict. 17, thats according to the committee to protect journalists. All this on this eve of President Bidens expected visit to israel, trying to calm any tensions in the region before an expected larger Ground Invasion by Israeli Forces. Were going start with cnns erin burnett, who is live in tel aviv for us. Erin, as President Biden prepares to head to israel, this would be his second visit to a war zone as president. Horror is unfolding in gaza. Tell us what israeli officials are saying about this attack, this hospital tragedy. Well, they would agree its horror, and obviously a great loss of civilian life, whatever the numbers are. We have no idea. They initially had heard 4,000 people were sheltering there. Maybe a thousand dead. Then 500, 300 to 500. Now from the hamascontrolled government, as you point out, jake, we simply dont know the scale of it. But the idf says that this barrage of rockets fired from gaza, they had identified one, they know where theyre coming from. They identified a barrage coming up. Thats how they get their iron dome to calculate in order to intercept, and there was a group of these that passed over the hospital around the time the hospital was hit. And as you point out, and you used the words very specifically, theyre actually not blaming hamas. Theyre playing Islamic Jihad. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is another Islamic Radical group in gaza. And that is who they are blaming for this particular horrific strike. Theyre saying they have intelligence from multiple source, jake, that point to that, and theyre also saying, the ministry of foreign affair here is that the idf at the time was not conducting operations around that hospital. Thats what theyre saying right now. Well see as we get more information. But as you and i both know, even if one were to formally ascertain exactly what happened and who was to blame in the court of Global Public opinion, it may not marine. And you some new reporting on weapons left behind by hamas . With jake, this is incredible. We talk about the crime scene, the horrific crime scene of this terror attack, i went to an Israeli Military base. And by the way, this base is ready to go. Thousand of mats where soldiers are sleeping just under cover, the giant garages where you might store large Military Equipment now being repurposed for military, for people to sleep. And also thats where theyre gathering, these caches of weapons that theyre finding. I mean, jake, its incredible. Hundreds of grenades. Hundreds of grenades which theyve wrapped up with tape to keep the pins down. Rpgs, all of these from the al qassam brigades, mortars, hundreds of ieds, antitank mines. Even some mine, jake, that have basically a magnet on the end of them. It looks like a Giant Crowbar with a magnet on the end. They traditionally will stick them to tanks to cause them to explode. Its a different type of antimine. Theyre all over the kibbutzim and finding them stuck to cars. Everything theyre gathering came to the streets weve walked in beeri, and theyre collecting them. Also, jake we had a chance to see them, and it is incredible when you see them. You see the stamp from hamas on them. You see the ones that came from iran. You can see the manufacturer date. So all of that is very clearly visible. But theyre also saying they found groups of say 17 cars full of dead terrorists who were eventually killed by idf forces. And then they have to debooby trap those and deal with those dead bodies. Thats we had a chance to see just these weapons that they seized. It is an incredible amount of weaponry, jake. All right, erin burnt in tel aviv, israel, thank you so much. This attack at the hospital in gaza comes as President Biden is expected to depart shortly from washington, d. C. On Air Force One for this trip to israel. Sources familiar with the Biden Administration says the president is likely to give the benefit of the doubt to israel on who is responsible for this attack. Cnns Kayla Tausche is at the white house for us. Kayla, how does this Hospital Impact the Police Departments trip, if at all . And what are you hearing about how the Biden Administration will respond . Jake, so far it doesnt appear that the Hospital Attack is impacting the president s trip, throws not at this stage in the planning. At least one white house official has told cnn that the trip is expected to go ahead as planned. And at least half a dozen officials that that were contacted by cnns White House Team were not responsive or did not know whether there would actually be an official u. S. Response to this. Now cnns Generalsy Hansler at the State Department is reporting that that source familiar says the Biden Administration will give the benefit of the doubt to isly rationale for that attack over what hamas is saying here, but certainly it comes at a very precarious time with the palestinian Authority President canceling his meeting with President Biden and other regional leaders. The two had just spoken by phone three days ago and talked about the need to deliver humanitarian supplies to gaza to get some of these people out of that highly populated region, and also to preserve stability in the west bank and in the region writ large. So not having a boss in that conversation will certainly dilute what President Biden is able to achieve as part of that. He goes on this very extraordinary wartime trip. There were discussions behind the scenes about securing some sort of humanitarian aid package. That was something that biden wanted very clearly before he signed off on this trip. And u. S. And israeli officials wanted to know that the groundwork would be laid for that before any Ground Invasion into gaza were to take place. He also wants to try to do what he can to secure the release of american hostages and to keep this war from spilling over into the region. All right, Kayla Tausche, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Lets bring in mark regev, a former israeli ambassador to the uk. So mr. Ambassador, thanks for joining us. Israel is saying that the hospital was hit by a misfired rocket launched by Islamic Jihad, one that fell short. The Israeli Government has posted some video on x, the Social Media Site formerly known as twitter. I mean, im looking at the video here. I dont really know what im look at. I cant interpret it. That doesnt mean its not real. I just dont know what it is. Is there more proof . Is this definitive proof . How sure are you that this was not an accidental strike by the Israeli Air Force or the Israeli Military . Well, at the beginning we were investigating. It took us a time to find out exactly what happened, and im in a position now to tell you, and i can tell you unequivocally that this was an Islamic Jihad rocket. Israel knows it, and i have to tell you, hamas knows it too. They are they know it was an Islamic Jihad rocket, and they are deliberately putting out this story for their own propaganda purposes. Islamic jihad has had problems with its rockets for years. In previous rounds of violence, some 33 of Islamic Jihad rockets fell short and landed in the gaza strip, often killing people. And thats apparently what has happened now. And of course hamas doesnt want to admit that. How could they . From their point of view, this is a propaganda opportunity. Lets blame the israelis for terrible violence. It wasnt us. Pure and simple. That is a lot of damage for one rocket, and im wondering if you could comment on that, and also if you have shown or will show the u. S. Government, the Biden Administration that proof and any other proof you have of this being the responsibility of Islamic Jihad. Without going into details, i can already tell you that there have been conversations between the israeli side and the american side. We have shared the knowledge that we have, the information that we have with the americans. And lets be clear. Israel does not target hospitals. Its not in our dna. We dont do it. At the beginning, we were concerned could it have been accidental israeli, because anyone could make a mistake. The United States could make a mistake, france can make a mistake, britain can make a mistake. Israel can too. So we checked out the possibility that this was an israeli mistake, but it wasnt. This was Islamic Jihad. It was their rocket. It fell short, and as i said before, not just that we know it here in israel, hamas knows it too, and they are deliberately lying. Islamic jihad is Islamic Jihad part of the target list . Because i know youre going after hamas in gaza. Is Islamic Jihad also part of who you are targeting in gaza . Yes. They are the Junior Partner of hamas. They are the little brothers, so to speak. They are dangerous. They are funded. If hamas is funded 93 by iran, hamas Islamic Jihad is 100 . Its a smaller organization. But it is very extreme. As i said, its a wholly owned iranian subsidiary, and they are very dangerous. And in the past, they fired rockets into israel. And as i said, in many case, in 33 of the case, their Rockets Malfunction and they land in the gaza strip. We had a documented case in the previous round of fighting which i think was in 2022 if i remember correctly where there was a case where a family was killed in a refugee camp. And of course they were all saying oh, terrible israel. And once again it was proved conclusively that this was ordnance from Islamic Jihad that had failed and killed palestinian civilians. And thats apparently exactly whats happened now. And most importantly, not only israel knows this, i say it for the third time. Hamas knows this too and is deliberately lying to the international community. But i suppose, jake, if we consider what hamas has done over the last few day, yes, the massacres of innocent civilians, we should not be surprised that they have no problem in killing the truth. Because if they kill human beings, if they kill babies, they can kill the truth too. What is the latest on the rafah crossing and the desire to get Palestinian Americans out of gaza and the desire to get relief and aid into gaza . Whats the latest on that . What is the holdup on that . The egyptians blame israel. The americans and israelis were blaming hamas, at least when it came to trying to get Palestinian Americans out. Is any is any progress being made there . Well, id like to tell you that there has been progress made, but unfortunately, it hasnt. It was supposed to happen yesterday. We reached understandings together with all the relevant parties, and there were american palestinians who were about to leave, and we thought it was done deal, and then hamas turned around and said no. And they kept them in gaza. And its almost as if theyre the 200 israeli kidnappees, the people who were abducted and taken back to gaza, who hamas hostages, its almost as if hamas wants the american palestinians also there as the hostages. What other explanation do you have for why they refuse to let them leave . This is another sign of hamas brutality. Theyre playing hardball not just with israel, but with the United States as well. President biden is still slated to arrive in israel tomorrow. What is the goal of Prime Minister netanyahu for his conversations with President Biden . Well, first of all, we want to say thank you. I mean, President Biden has been amazing in the moral leadership he has shown since this crisis erupted on october 7th. He was unequivocally, the language he used in condemning hamas and the support hes shown for israel, both in his statements and in his actions. The resupply of weaponry to israel, the moving of the Aircraft Carrier task forces to the eastern mediterranean. America has been there and shown itself to be a friend. And when the Prime Minister greets President Biden tomorrow on the tarmac, and he thanks him for the support weve been receiving from the United States, i think the Prime Minister will be speaking for all israelis. America is our friend. America is our ally, and want to express our appreciation. Mark regev, thank you so much. Appreciate your time, sir. My pleasure. Coming up next, im going talk to retired u. S. Army general David Petraeus about the conflicting reports of what happened on the ground at that hospital in gaza, and much more. Stay with us. Just moments ago, we saw President Biden get into his president ial motorcade. He is headed to Joint Base Andrews where he will then Board Air Force one and the plane will take off and hell depart on this trip to israel. He is expected to arrive tomorrow. Confusion is playing out in israel and gaza over the cause of the Hospital Blast. Horrific. Hundreds are dead. Just moments ago, you heard a senior aide to that the idf is asserting unequivocally that the blast is not because of israel, it was the result of a misfired rocket fired by the Militant Group Islamic Jihad. Lets go now to retired u. S. Army general David Petraeus, also the former director of the cia. He has a brandnew book conflict the evolution of warfare, from 1945 to ukraine. Again, always good to have you on. One of the things that struck me about the book, which is an area of expertise that is something i hope the israelis are reading is about urban combat, and the 2004 battle of fallujah, the largest of the iraq war. Bloody, costly, street by street. And we had general kim in here not long ago, and he was saying that what israel is going to face with the Israeli Forces are going to face in gaza will be probably even more grueling than fallujah. What do you think . It will be orders of the magnitude more difficult. The enemy has had months to prepare the defenses. Theyll undoubtedly employ improvised explosive device, suicide bomber, car bombs, tunnels, a lot of infrastructure that they have. Know the territory very, very well. And its many times the size of falluj