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Hamas Releases Video of Israeli-American Hostage; President Biden Signs Foreign Aid Bill. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired April 24, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:03]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For months, while MAGA Republicans were blocking aid, Ukraine has been running out of artillery shells and ammunition.

Meanwhile, Putin's friends keep giving him -- keeping him well- supplied. Iran sent him drones. North Korea has sent him ballistic missiles and artillery shells. China is providing components and know- how to boost Russia's defense production.

With all this support, Russia has ramped up its airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure, rained down munitions on brave Ukrainians defending their homeland.

And now America is going to send Ukraine the supplies they need to keep them in the fight. This weekend, the reports -- and this is -- I find this amazing -- the reports of cheers breaking out of the trenches in Eastern Ukraine. Probably came from one of your folks, a reporter or someone. I'm not sure who it came from, but that they're cheering as they watch the House vote and support for Ukraine.

It's not like they don't understand what we have done. It's not like they don't understand how critical this is for them. I'm making sure the shipments start right away.

In the next few hours, literally the few hours, we're going to begin sending in equipment to Ukraine for air defense munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems and armored vehicles. You know, this package is literally an investment, not only in Ukraine's security, but in Europe's security and our own security.

We're sending Ukraine equipment from our own stockpiles. Then we will replenish those stockpiles with new products made by American companies here in America, Patriot missiles made in Arizona, Javelins made in Alabama, Artillery shells made in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

In other words, we're helping Ukraine, while, at the same time, investing in our own industrial base, strengthening our own national security, and supporting jobs in nearly 40 states all across America.

You know, the United States is not acting alone, to state the obvious. Our allies in Europe and around the world, who for -- constantly been asking me, are we going to step up? We're not going to walk away, are we? How many -- and some of you have been at these international meetings with me.

They were very concerned. Had we failed to step up, lord only knows what would have happened to the cohesion in NATO. We're also sending -- they're also sending significant help to Ukraine.

We're all standing together against this brutal dictator. As I have argued for months, this is directly, directly in the United States' national security interest. If Putin triumphs in Ukraine, the next move of Russian forces could very well be a direct attack on a NATO ally.

And you all know full well that invoking Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty would be the first thing that comes to mind, which declares an attack on one as an attack on all. If Putin attacks a NATO ally like he's attacking Ukraine today, we'd have no choice but to come to their aid, just like our NATO allies came to our aid after the September 11 attacks here.

That's why we're supporting and surging support now to Ukraine to stop Putin from drawing the United States into a war in Europe and in the future.

You know, it seems to me we should take a little bit of a step back and realize what a critical moment this was for the United States and for NATO. This is a historical moment.

In the last two years, we have helped unify, strengthen, and expand NATO. Imagine if, instead, we had failed, we had failed to step up now and to support Ukraine. All those gains would have begun to unravel, the cohesion of NATO would have been weakened, and our national security would have been undermined, without any question.

You know, Putin started this war believing he could easily break the will of the people of Ukraine. When that failed, he changed his strategy a little bit, thinking he could break the will of NATO, break the will of the United States, break our will.

Well, he's failed again. America stands with our friends. We stand up against dictators. We bow to no one, to no one, certainly not Vladimir Putin.

Look, this bill also includes vital support for Israel. Just 10 days ago, we saw Iran launch over 100 missiles and drones at Israel. And because of them and other allies across the country -- world, including from the region, none -- no serious damage occurred, an unprecedented attack that followed years of Iran supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, and proxies of their own -- their own attack on Israel. They fund these guys.

My commitment to Israel, I want to make clear again, is ironclad. The security of Israel is critical. And we will always make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and terrorists it supports. And with this aid, the United States is going to help replenish

Israel's air defense and provide other critical things, so Iran can never carry out the destruction that it intended with its attack 10 days ago.

[11:05:08]

But, at the same time, this bill significantly, significantly increases humanitarian assistance we're sending to the innocent people of Gaza, who are suffering badly. They're suffering the consequences of this war that Hamas started.

And we have been working intently for months to get as much aid to Gaza as possible. This bill includes $1 billion from additional humanitarian aid in Gaza. We're going to immediately secure that aid and surge it, surge it, including food, medical supplies, clean water.

And Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay. And everything we do is guided by the ultimate goal of bringing these hostages home, securing a cease-fire, and setting the conditions for an enduring peace.

You know, there's more that this bill does, as you all know, the press here, including providing for support to strengthen even further our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as humanitarian aid to places including Haiti, Sudan, and Somalia.

But there's one thing this bill does not do, border security. Just this year, I proposed and negotiated and agreed to the strongest border security bill this country has ever, ever, ever seen. It was bipartisan. It should have been included in this bill.

And I'm determined to get it done for the American people. But I will come back to that at another moment, another time.

This is a reminder of what America can do when we come together, despite our differences.

I want to thank everyone in Congress who made it possible, especially the bipartisan leadership, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Leaders Schumer and McConnell. They don't always agree, but, when it matters most, they stepped up and did the right thing. And I mean this sincerely.

History will remember this time. History will remember this moment. For all the talk about how dysfunctional things are in Washington, when you look over the past three years, we see that, time and again, on the critical issues, we have actually come together.

It hasn't always been easy, but when it's come time to decide to rebuild America, we did it with the bipartisan infrastructure law, which is just under way. When it came time to invest in our semiconductor industry and technology -- technologies of the future, we did it with the CHIPS and Science ACT. And when it came time to stand with Ukraine and Israel and help the people of Gaza, we did that as well.

At the end of the day, most of us, whether we're Democrats, Republicans, or independents, believe that America must stand up for what is right. We don't walk away from our allies. We stand with them. We don't let tyrants win. We oppose them. We don't merely watch global events unfold. We shape them.

That's what it means to be the indispensable nation. That's what it means to be the world's superpower and the world's leading democracy.

Some of our MAGA Republican friends reject that vision. But this vote makes it clear there is a bipartisan consensus for that kind of American leadership. And that's exactly what we will continue to deliver.

I thank you all very much. And now I'm going off to make a speech at a hotel I'm late for, and I will have plenty of time to answer questions on this and other matters.

QUESTION: Can I ask a quick one on TikTok?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Mr. President, do you have a message for the protesters on campus?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Mr. President (OFF-MIKE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, so there we have the president of the United States, after signing the legislation into law, billions and billions of dollars for Ukraine, for Israel, for Taiwan, as well as for the Palestinians in Gaza right now.

The president was clearly pleased by the bipartisan support in the House of Representatives and in the Senate for this very, very large foreign aid bill.

At one point, he said: "When our allies are stronger, we are stronger, and we rose to the moment."

And at the end of his remarks, he thanked the Republican speaker of the House and the bipartisan leadership for getting this legislation passed.

I want to bring in CNN's Arlette Saenz. She's joining us from the White House. Fred Pleitgen is in Kyiv, Ukraine, for us.

Arlette, let me quickly start with you.

A huge win for the Biden administration. The president signed off also as part of this bill potentially a TikTok ban. Does his campaign recognize how popular the site is, especially among younger Americans, potential voters out there? Is the Biden campaign right now concerned about this new legislation, potentially could ban TikTok?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Biden campaign is waiting and allowing that process to play out in the wake of this bill, as President Biden signed it just now into law.

And big questions going forward about what this could mean for the future of TikTok, an app that is incredibly popular among young voters. But President Biden really used this moment to try to take a step back and celebrate the fact that Congress was able to work in a bipartisan fashion to get this additional aid to Ukraine and Israel.

[11:10:11]

The president in his remarks acknowledged that it was a difficult path, but, in the end, there was bipartisan consensus, work through the congressional leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who the White House really courted for months as they tried to get this bill across the finish line.

Now, I think it's noteworthy President Biden also tried to stress the speed with which they are trying to get this aid to Ukraine. He said that they have to keep them in the fight and we need to move fast. He said that, in just a matter of hours, the U.S. will begin to disburse that new weaponry and equipment to Ukraine, after months where Ukrainian soldiers have faced ammunition shortages on the battlefield.

We have been told, sources tell us, that that first dispatch is expected to total around $1 billion. President Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday to talk through what this package could look like.

One thing that Zelenskyy has been pushing for, for some time is for longer-range ATACMS to be provided by the U.S. It's possible that that could be coming in the near future. But on top of this assistance for Ukraine, you also heard President Biden talk about the additional aid that they will be giving to Israel as it seeks to continue to try to defend itself.

And he was quite pointed in noting that the $26 billion going to Israel also includes some humanitarian assistance for Gaza. He said it's about $1 billion and that the White House is stressing to Israel that they need to act without delay to get that aid directly into the Palestinian people's hands.

So, the president really trying to step back and take this moment to celebrate the fact that they were able to pass these two key foreign aid measures for both Ukraine and Israel after months of constant twists and turns from Republicans, especially, as they had put up some resistance to passing aid for Ukraine.

One thing that President Biden pointed to there is that these Ukrainian soldiers who were running out of ammunition, that that was due in part to what the president described as MAGA Republicans who had continued to block this bill.

So, he has around each corner really trying to assign some blame in this to those MAGA Republicans, as he describes them, even as they have been trying to work with House Speaker Mike Johnson for months now behind the scenes. I'm told that the president, in his directives to his team, as they

were trying to get this aid across the finish line, he really wanted to draw a very stark picture of what was at stake, not just for Ukraine, but also for the United States' national security interests, for Europe's interests as well, if this aid wasn't going to get to those soldiers.

He wanted to provide specific intelligence examples. He's also urged his team to lay off directly attacking Johnson as this process played out, so President Biden today lauding a key step as he now signed this legislation. And they're hoping to get that weaponry and equipment into Ukrainian soldiers' hands as soon as possible.

BLITZER: Arlette Saenz at the White House, stand by. We're going to get back to you.

I want to go to Fred Pleitgen. He's joining us now from Odesa. He's not in Kyiv. He's in Odesa. I just want to correct that.

It was interesting, I thought, Fred, and I'm sure Ukrainians will be very pleased, when they heard the president of the United States say, this additional military assistance, this military aid for Ukraine, the president said, will start right away. In fact, in the next few hours, the shipments will begin to help the Ukrainian military.

What's been the reaction so far to this bipartisan legislation passing the House, now the Senate, and the president of the United States signing it into law?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's a huge relief for the Ukrainians, Wolf. It's something that we have been hearing from Ukrainian politicians over the past couple of days.

They obviously understood that it getting through the House was really the biggest hurdle, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy came out just a couple of minutes afterwards and really thanked the United States, thanked both parties also for making this happen.

I think it was quite interesting also to hear President Biden talk about what a difficult process all of this was. And, of course, you're absolutely right, Wolf. He said that this aid will happen, in the next couple of hours will get going. And that, for the Ukrainians, they say, is absolutely key.

In fact, the president of this country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, earlier this morning said that the Ukrainians really need ammunition badly, but also need air defense interceptor missiles to stop missiles hitting their cities.

And, in fact, where I am right now, Wolf, the city of Odesa is one that's been hit a lot in the past couple of weeks, and the Ukrainians are saying they haven't had enough missiles to intercept what the Russians are shooting this way. Of course, this is a key port town for the Ukrainians.

In fact, as I'm speaking to you right now, we are under an air raid warning, under a possible missile or drone alert. And it's something that you really see here in Odesa pretty much constantly, that you have these air raid sirens going off and then you have the alerts in place. That's where we're under right now.

So, the Ukrainians are saying that it's absolutely key to get more air defense weapons, but also, of course, to replenish the stocks of air defense missiles that they have been lacking over the past couple of months.

[11:15:08]

And one of the things that I have also seen on the front lines, Wolf, that's really been getting worse for the Ukrainians also in the past month -- I think I started reporting on it in September of last year -- was the shortage of artillery ammunition, the Ukrainians in some cases having to fire smoke shells at Russian positions because they don't have regular artillery shells to fire at the Russians anymore.

That, of course, has helped the Russians advance. I thought it was quite interesting that President Biden also pointed out that the Russian military has been making some gains because of those ammunition shortages that the Ukrainians have been suffering from.

One of the things that we have seen over the past couple of days is that, especially in the east of the country, near that key town of Bakhmut, but also south of that as well, there have been some Russian gains that so far aren't strategic in nature yet. They haven't taken any large towns, but they certainly have gained territory.

And the Ukrainians are saying they definitely need especially artillery ammunition, HIMARS ammunition, artillery rockets to try and hold the Russians up and then possibly push the Russians back, Wolf.

BLITZER: And I thought it was also significant, and I'm sure you did as well, Fred, that the president used very, very tough language, strong language in condemning Putin of Russia.

At one point, he said he's a brutal dictator. He says: "Putin is failing once again. The United States will not bow to anyone, certainly not to Putin." That's direct quotes from the president of the United States, certainly very, very strong warnings to Putin to stop what the Russians have been doing in Ukraine over the past, what, two years now.

PLEITGEN: Yes, absolutely.

And I think, for the Ukrainians, it'll be very, very important to have heard that as well. I think one of the things that we have heard -- and I think President Biden also spoke about it as well when he spoke about people actually celebrating in the trenches when they heard about the vote that was going on.

We actually spoke to soldiers who were fighting in the trenches on the front lines, and they did confirm that, of course, they were following the news about the vote that was happening in the House, and, of course, they were absolutely thrilled that the vote came through. But I think for them, also, it'll be very important to have heard

President Biden condemn Vladimir Putin and say that the U.S. will not bow down. One of the things that we heard from soldiers who are fighting on the front lines is that many of them have felt almost a sense of abandonment over the past couple of months, as they have been running out of shells, as they have been witnessing, of course, what's been going on in Washington, especially in the House of Representatives, the aid not coming through.

So, for them, they say what they have heard in the past couple of days, and now, of course, as well is a huge morale boost, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Fred Pleitgen in Odesa, if those sirens start going off and missiles and drones start coming in, take cover, and we will stay in close touch with you. Appreciate it very much. And, as I always say to you, stay safe over there.

I want to go back to the White House right now. Arlette Saenz is still with us.

Arlette, I understand that the Biden administration is now moving quickly for yet another significant aid package to Ukraine? Tell us what you're learning.

SAENZ: Yes, that's right, Wolf.

Moments after President Biden signed this new aid package for Ukraine, the Pentagon announced that they have actually started with this $1 billion in immediate assistance being offered to Ukraine. Now, this will include a range of weapons and equipment, trying to get it directly into Ukrainian soldiers' hands.

That will include those HIMARS that Fred was just talking about, also artillery rounds, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Stinger anti- aircraft missiles, and much more. As you heard from President Biden, he said that they want to try to get this into Ukraine within the coming hours.

CNN has previously reported that U.S.-European Command had been working behind the scenes trying to process this weaponry so that it would be ready to deploy for the Ukrainians as soon as this legislation passed and President Biden signed it into law.

And you really heard the urgency from President Biden, as he said, that he wanted people to act quickly to get this aid in, but also to ensure that they continue to equip Ukrainian soldiers as they are waging their fight against Russia, so the Pentagon acting very quickly, on the heels of President Biden signing this aid package into law, as they are trying to show that the U.S. continues to build its support for Ukraine.

Of course, Biden has staked so much of the past two years on trying to rally that Western support for Ukraine. There were big questions as this drama unfolded on Capitol Hill whether the U.S. actually would be able to meet those obligations on their end. You heard Biden often talking about Ukraine, saying that the U.S. would be ready to provide aid as long as it takes.

Then there were these subtle shifts, saying that they would provide aid as long as possible. But now it's clear that Biden now has that new aid in hand, able to disburse that, not just sending a message to Ukraine, but also to Putin and to the world, as he said, that people will take notice that American leadership will continue on the world stage, especially when it comes to this issue of Ukraine.

[11:20:07]

BLITZER: Yes, history unfolding as we're reporting it right now.

Arlette Saenz at the White House, Fred Pleitgen in Odesa, Ukraine, to both of you, thank you very much. We will, of course, stay in very close touch with both of you.

Up next, we have the first proof that an Israeli-American hostage survived being badly wounded back on October 7.

More on that and all the late-breaking developments right after this.

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[11:25:08]

BLITZER: We're following more breaking news just into CNN.There's new evidence right now that an Israeli-American hostage survived injuries he sustained back on October 7.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has all the details for us. He's joining us now live from Jerusalem.

Jeremy, what are you learning about this hostage?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Hersh Goldberg-Polin is a 23-year-old Israeli-American citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 while he was attending that Supernova music festival.

And on the day of that attack, we actually saw a video of him appearing to be quite seriously injured to part of his hand. In this video that has now been released today, this is the first time that we are seeing him alive in a video since October 7.

And in this video, a part of his left arm, including his hand, is missing. It's not clear if it was amputated or simply part of the injuries that he sustained on that date of October 7. But he is alive in this video, and it is the first proof of life that the family has actually seen since he was taken hostage.

We don't know exactly when this video was filmed, Wolf, but there are several indicators in what he says in this video that suggests that it was filmed quite recently. He talks about the fact that he has been held for nearly 200 days. This week is when we are marking 200 days since October 7. He also talks about the holidays. We know that we are currently in the

Jewish holiday of Passover, although he doesn't say Passover specifically. But the bottom line, Wolf, for his family, at least, who have relentlessly advocated for his release since the beginning of this war, since their son was taken hostage, both in Israel, as well as in the United States, this is the first time that they are able to actually see and hear from their son, which must be incredibly moving, of course, for families who have suffered so much uncertainty.

This doesn't, of course, quell all of that uncertainty, but it is the first time that they are able to actually see him since October 7.

Now, we need to note the fact that Hamas is releasing this, of course, at a very sensitive time, at a time where we have watched over the last couple of weeks as these negotiations have stalled, at best, and really backslid, according to several accounts, with Hamas offering less than half the number of hostages that they had previously been talking about as the basis for negotiations for months now for a potential six-week cease-fire.

And so there's no question that Hamas is releasing this video to have an effect on the Israeli population, to try and influence the state of these negotiations, particularly at a time when the United States is bringing a lot of pressure to bear on Qatar for them to bring more pressure to bear on Hamas.

To release this video at this time of an Israeli-American hostage, very notable, of course. We will see what kind of effect it could actually have on those ongoing negotiations -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And just want to point out that CNN has made a decision, at least for now, not to release, not to show the video, this Hamas video, that has just been released by Hamas, but to show that still of that one Israeli-American hostage, who seems to be OK right now, which is good news.

Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem for us, we will stay in close touch with you.

We're continuing to monitor all the arguments, at the same time, now being presented before the United States Supreme Court about access to abortion care and medical emergencies.

We're going to go back to the court live after a short break.

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