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The Lead with Jake Tapper

A U.S. Official Say Hamas Has Command Center Under Al-Shifa Hospital; Hate Crimes And Protest Around The World And U.S. Campuses Because Of Israel-Hamas Conflict; Five U.S. Special Ops Killed In Helicopter Crash; Harry Dunn Details Lessons Learned From Jan. 6 In New Book; NYT: FBI Examining Mayor Adams' Role In NY Consulate For Turkish Government; CNN Speaks To Mother Of Teen Kidnapped On Oct. 7th. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 13, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, the FBI investigation into New York City's Democratic Mayor, Eric Adams. His connections to the Turkish government and what the feds might have been looking for when they seized his cell phone and iPad. A reporter following the money will be here.

Plus, one of the most upsetting videos from October 7th, which says a lot. It shows a 19-year-old woman, a kidnapping victim, being taken out of a Hamas Jeep. Her pants are bloodied. Her mother will join us to talk about why that video is so important for the world to see.

And leading this hour, the world's reaction since the Hamas attacks, divisive, combative, ugly, even leading to deadly demonstrations as opposing groups take sides. Some people ripping down posters of children kidnapped. Anti-Semitism reaching dangerous, alarming rates worldwide.

Also, a spike in Islamophobia, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim incidents. And not just in the United States, this is happening all over the world. Let's start this hour with the ongoing conflict fueling all of this.

A U.S. official telling me that American intelligence backs Israel's showing that Hamas terrorists are using Al-Shifa Hospital as a command center and stealing fuel from the hospital. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Ashkelon, Israel. Jeremy, Israel's military has released some highly produced videos backing up some of the claims. Tell us what they show us.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, the Israeli military has for weeks now been trying to build up this case that Al-Shifa Hospital, where its forces appear to be at the gates of this hospital now. They've been building up the case for weeks now that underneath this sprawling medical complex, Gaza's largest hospital, claiming that Hamas below it operates one of its largest command and control centers.

And as you said, US officials now appear to be backing up that claim, saying that Hamas is indeed using this facility. They have released imagery, satellite imagery that shows where they say that some of these locations are based. They have released 3D graphics claiming to show what these facilities look like below ground.

And right now, Jake, we are also learning new information about Al- Rantisi Hospital, a children's hospital in Gaza, where Israeli officials say that they found a cache of weapons in the basement. We can't independently verify those claims of course, but they have released video showing some of those weapons which appear to include AK-47's and suicide vest and other weaponry as well as what they say is potential evidence that hostages were also being held in the basement of Al-Rantisi Hospital.

They show a room that has curtains draped around it and a woman's -- some evidence that a woman may have been in that area. Now today, Israeli forces also released evidence that they say shows Hamas militants with an RPG weapon near the entrance of Al-Quds Hospital. This is Gaza's second largest hospital where there has been some fierce fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants.

And hospital officials have been talking about Israeli forces surrounding the hospital. And so today, Israeli military releasing this video appearing to show a man with a rocket propelled grenade on his shoulder in front of the entrance. Now we can't independently verify when this video was taken, but we can confirm that the image does indeed show the entrance to Al-Quds Hospital.

TAPPER: Jeremy, what are you hearing, if anything, from doctors at these hospitals?

DIAMOND: Well, Jake, they are just describing an absolutely catastrophic situation inside several of Gaza's major hospitals. A total breakdown at Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest hospital in the Strip, where doctors appear to be running out of medical supplies. There are major power outages forcing them to wrap premature babies who were in incubators and the power went out and so they were forced to wrap them in foil and blankets and put them near warm water in an effort to try and keep them warm.

Doctors who have been offered ways to evacuate the hospital by the Israeli military say that they are not leaving because they are concerned that the hundreds of patients who are still at that hospital would die if they left them. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

For Muslims and Jews throughout the world, it is a time fraught with tension and in some cases, unfortunately, physical violence. CNN's Nick Watt reports on the widening global fissures.

[17:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An American college campus Saturday, seven arrests at a pro-Palestinian demonstration after what Brandeis officials call threatening language and hate speech.

Central London, the same day, a pro-Palestinian rally, far-right counter protesters, chaos.

Suella Braverman, who held the key post of Home Secretary, was fired Monday morning after calling such pro-Palestinian demonstrations hate marches.

UNKNOWN: Suella Braverman's comments have caused a lot of division.

WATT (voice-over): In Paris Sunday, thousands marched against anti- Semitism, which has spiked in France since the Hamas terror attacks and the Israeli response. We mustn't import conflicts that are happening elsewhere into our country, she says.

Fear and anger emanating from the Middle East are going global, stoking anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

UNKNOWN: Get away!

WATT (voice-over): In Brooklyn, a man wearing a keffiyeh scarf says he was attacked by a woman who accused him of supporting terror. The Council on American-Islamic Relations received over 1,200 requests for help and reports of anti-Muslim bias in the month since October 7. Triple, the figure from the same time last year. College campuses are a flashpoint.

At UCLA, demonstrators battered pietas on campus, showing the faces of President Biden and the Israeli Prime Minister. Anti-Semitic emails sent to staff at UPenn, Islamophobic e-mails sent to Muslim student groups at UConn.

ADAM LEHMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, HILLEL INTERNATIONAL: The problem on campus right now has reached a critical point and really a point we have never seen in hundreds of years of higher education in America.

WATT (voice-over): Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine have been suspended by Columbia University for unauthorized events violating school policy. The groups could not be reached for comment.

LEHMAN: We are well beyond a time for words of support or expressions of understanding. We need serious aggressive concrete action.

WATT (voice-over): A Jewish legal organization has filed civil rights complaints against UPenn and Wellesley College claiming both have failed to protect Jewish students. Neither school has commented.

ROSE GOLDSTEIN, STUDENT WELLESLEY COLLEGE: The student residential staff of one of our dorms stated in an e-mail that there should be no space for Zionism on campus whatsoever. There is a way to criticize, for example, the Israeli government and not be anti-Semitic.

WATT (voice-over): At Ohio State University, the Hillel Jewish Student Center was vandalized and two students attacked after being asked if they were Jewish. Police calling it a hate crime. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): Now, there was an interesting little flip-flop at MIT over the past few days. Apparently, a protest and a counter- protest got a little out of hand. So, college brass threatened students if they didn't disperse by a deadline, they would be suspended. Then it appears they found out that quite a few of the students involved are foreign nationals. So, if they were suspended, they would lose their visas and they'd be thrown out of the country.

So, MIT dialed back a little bit and said, well, as an interim measure, we're gonna suspend them just from non-academic activities on campus. So, they stay enrolled, they keep their visas, they stay in the country. Jake?

TAPPER: Nick Watt, thank you so much. We're going to talk about the MIT situation with a college student in a little bit, but let's talk about this in a more global way now with the former Deputy Director of National Intelligence and CNN National Security Analyst, Beth Sanner. So, Beth, earlier today I reported that a U.S. official with knowledge of the intelligence says that Hamas terrorists are using Al-Shifa Hospital as a -- there's a command node underneath the hospital.

They're stealing fuel, fuel that is meant for the hospital. Hamas is taking it. They -- Hamas militants, terrorists are gathering around there, using it as a place to hang out. This obviously is what Hamas does. It's not a secret. I'm not trying to take a position on what the IDF is doing one way or another. But it does seem odd to me.

And again, I'm not taking a position on what the IDF is doing. But it does seem odd to me that there isn't more criticism of what Hamas is doing because they are obviously putting their own people in harm's way.

[17:10:00]

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It's purposeful. It was what we talked about the very first day we -- this happened on October 7th, you and I, we talked about, you know, what Hamas is trying to do here, drawing in an Israeli reaction to try to change the narrative so they are the victims. And you know, and unfortunately, this is an information war that Hamas so far seems to be largely winning. And not just here on our college campuses, but you know globally.

And so that's a huge concern. You know, U.S. interests here are different in some ways than Israeli interests. And we have to start thinking about that.

TAPPER: How so? Okay, well Israel's interest is existence.

SANNER: Right.

TAPPER: Survival.

SANNER: Right.

TAPPER: U.S. --

SANNER: U.S. interests definitely has that there.

TAPPER: Right.

SANNER: But we also have broader interests.

TAPPER: Right.

SANNER: We are in a war of global influence and the future prosperity of America with China and Russia and our interests there are really much bigger in some ways. So, this is what's difficult about being a policymaker in this environment --

TAPPER: Right.

SANNER: Is that you have these interests that often are competing. The world is not black and white, it is filled with gray --

TAPPER: Sure.

SANNER: -- and filled with contradictions. And working those things out is what we're struggling to do, what the administration's struggling to do. And I think that, you know. they're trying to recalibrate right now. That's what we're seeing.

TAPPER: So, if you were president right now, obviously you --

SANNER: Thank God I'm not.

TAPPER: Okay. So obviously it's in the best interests of the United States and the best interests of everyone for the war to be over as quickly as possible. Netanyahu's position, and it's probably supported, even though I don't think that there's much chance that Netanyahu's gonna last as prime minister for much longer based on my conversations with Israelis when I was there, but Netanyahu's position is we have to destroy Hamas, and I think the Israeli people are with him in that. They think --

SANNER: A hundred percent, yeah.

TAPPER: Yeah.

SANNER: Absolutely.

TAPPER: We cannot allow -- the policy since 2007 when Hamas took over is basically it was just containment. Let's just contain them.

SANNER: Right.

TAPPER: And I don't think that very many people in Israel think that that's possible anymore. We can't contain them after what they did October 7th.

SANNER: That's right.

TAPPER: How do you -- how does one get rid of Hamas in Gaza?

SANNER: Well, look. You know, I don't want a Monday morning quarterback what the Biden administration has done, but like let's Saturday evening quarterback what should be done from here on out.

TAPPER: Right, starting now.

SANNER: And I think that one of the things we can certainly do is lay down very, very firmly what Israel cannot do in the West Bank. We're all focused on Gaza, and that place is gonna blow because Netanyahu is allowing settlers to displace --

TAPPER: You are a hundred percent right and we will talk --

SANNER: But we're not doing that.

TAPPER: No, and you -- and we're going to talk about Ben Gvir and Smotrich, let's say tomorrow or the next day.

SANNER: But maybe we should be talking about that now because that is the thing that's going to blow up in our faces and that makes a two- state solution impossible.

TAPPER: Agreed. Let's table that for one second because I think that's much easier --

SANNER: Okay.

TAPPER: -- to say that everything that Netanyahu is doing there is wrong. Okay, what about Gaza? Because I think that's tougher. How do they end Hamas in Gaza without doing what they're doing now, which everybody hates?

SANNERL: Fine. I think we should be doing both things and I'm not gonna let go of the West Bank. So --

TAPPER: I'm agreeing with you on everything.

SANNER: Okay, so but on Gaza, I mean, I think we could -- look, the Jordanians came in with a drone to resupply a hospital.

TAPPER: Right.

SANNER: Okay.

TAPPER: Right.

SANNER: Well, why can't we do that with Al-Shifa?

TAPPER: Okay.

SANNER: Why can't we make sure that more than a hundred trucks when there were five hundred before the war actually would allow people in the south to eat --

TAPPER: Right. SANNER: -- and have more than a piece of bread a day.

TAPPER: So, much more humanitarian aid.

SANNER: I think much more humanitarian aid --

TAPPER: Okay.

SANNER: -- because you know you can talk, talk, talk, and you're not showing anything. But at the same time, I mean, let's face it, it's true that you can't constrain IDF to the point where they can't accomplish something quickly because -- and I think this is the big dilemma -- because the longer this goes on, the harder and harder it gets for us to balance these other interests, right?

And this is, I think, the big dilemma, is that you want them to slow down because of the humanitarian thing, but you want them to speed up because your broader interests are for this to go quickly.

TAPPER: Yeah, but -- I'm not blowing off the West Bank thing, and I'm working on -- we're working on a piece right now for this week about it. I don't want you to think I'm blowing it off.

SANNER: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: Okay. Thank you so much.

[17:15:01]

The Pentagon today identified the five U.S. Army special operation soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in the region on Friday. The Defense Department says the team was conducting refueling training over the Eastern Mediterranean Sea when their MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter had some sort of in-flight emergency. Those killed included Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen Dwyer. He was 38 years old from Clarksville, Tennessee, and a US Military Academy graduate.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes, he was 34, from Sacramento, California. He had an English Literature degree from Gonzaga University. Staff Sergeant Tanner Grone was 26 from Gorham, New Hampshire. Twenty-seven-year-old Andrew Southard was from Apache Junction, Arizona. He volunteered with this unit. He finished training just this year.

The youngest of this team was Sergeant Cade Wolf, only 24, from Mankato, Minnesota. He enlisted in the Army in 2018. In addition to training, the Pentagon says these Special Ops forces were also in the region on standby just in case Americans needed to be evacuated due to the Israel-Hamas war. May their memories be a blessing.

As mentioned, college campuses are becoming a hotbed for protests against the war. I'm going to speak with a student from the MIT campus as that college deals with the fallout.

Also, ahead, Donald Trump Jr. wrapping up a day in court after a day on the stand, how he tried to rehabilitate the image of the Trump Organization on the stand. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:16]

TAPPER: As CNN's Nick Watt reported earlier, college campuses have become hotbeds of protest because of the Israeli-Hamas war. In many cases, of course, it's more than just people exercising their right to free speech. Instead, the protests have descended into outright anti- Semitism. It's gotten to the point where on many campuses Jewish students no longer even feel safe.

Joining us now is MIT graduate student Talia Khan. She's also president of the MIT Israel Alliance. Talia, thanks for joining us. So just simply put --

TALIA KAHN, MIT GRADUATE STUDENT: Thank you for having me.

TAPPER: As a Jewish student at MIT, do you feel safe on campus?

KAHN: You know, honestly, Jake, in the past few weeks, I have not felt safe on campus.

TAPPER: Why not?

KAHN: So, you know, ever since October 7th, we've seen at universities around the country that, you know, the conflict that's overseas has come to our home turf. And we've had a lot of rallies and events by an organization called the Coalition Against Apartheid, which is the anti-Israel group on MIT's campus. And they, along with some local anti-Israel groups, have come to campus because MIT is an open campus, which means that anybody can walk around and, you know, be on campus.

So, they, together, have done protests on campus on the steps of Lobby 7, which is the main entrance to MIT and in front of the Student Center.

TAPPER: And I mean, people protest, but what do they do? What do they say that makes you feel unsafe?

KAHN: So, I guess part of it is the fact of what they're saying. So, when you're saying things like globalize the Intifada, use your two fists to sacrifice everything for Palestine and one solution, Intifada, you know, we know what happened during the second Intifada. It was suicide bombings and attacks against Israeli civilians in Israel.

But the other part of it is that these people aren't just protesting outside and exercising the right to free speech, which I fully support as an American. It's that they're going, you know, they went to the personal offices of a program that runs Israel internships on MIT's campus. And they went to the offices of the people who work for this program, and they tried to enter. They were going from door to door trying to unlock the doors. And the people who worked in this office had no idea what these

students were trying to do by trying to get into their office. They were yelling, they were accusing them of apartheid, of ethnic cleansing, of genocide. And it was a really frightening experience. Another frightening experience that a friend of mine experienced is she has a child in the MIT daycare. So, these people were going around campus protesting, yelling anti-Israel things and they were doing it in front of the daycare and she was called to pick up her child early because they were worried that it would go -- it would get violent.

And an MIT student who's come here from Israel who has a child at the MIT daycare shouldn't have to worry about her own safety, about her child's safety on campus. She should be able to focus on her studying and that she came to America to do.

TAPPER: So, MIT threatened to suspend some students who ignored this deadline to end a daylong protest last week. But then MIT didn't follow through. A letter from the president of MIT said in part, they didn't do that, quote, "because we heard serious concerns about collateral consequences for the students, such as visa issues. We have decided as an interim action that the students who remained after the deadline will be suspended from non-academic campus activities." So, in other words, they weren't punished as college rules and regulations suggested they should have been because they might have been -- they might have lost their visas and been, I guess, deported. What's your reaction to that?

KAHN: You know, I can't, you know, personally react to or have an opinion on whether or not these visa issues should or should not play a role. I think the point here is that myself and other Jewish students on MIT's campus don't feel safe. And these people are, you know, repeatedly violating MIT's rules. And, you know, they're emboldened. After the Thursday event when they refused to leave and they were threatened with suspension, they didn't care.

And on Sunday, they invited over a thousand people to come to the steps of MIT and chant, you know, again, for globalizing the Intifada and, you know, from the river to the sea, just the destruction of Israel. And you know, they were even yelling against the president of MIT, Sally Kornbluth. They had a poster with, like Sally Kornbluth's names with blood on it, you know, accusing her of genocide and accusing her of support because her support of Israel and her support of the Israel internship program that she supports genocide.

And it's really just this kind of violent rhetoric that makes it so that people cannot, you know, study and focus at MIT because this is happening day after day. They're repeatedly violating the rules. And that's really the problem here.

[17:25:00]

TAPPER: I'm really sorry you don't feel safe, Talia. That's really horrible. I went to college. I went -- I did a semester in grad school. I didn't last much longer than that, but I never felt unsafe. And that's just not acceptable.

KAHN: Yeah, it's a very hard time for all of us. So, we appreciate that. Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: And I know that your mom is an Ashkenazic Jew and your dad is a Muslim from Afghanistan, so you have a special insight into all of this.

KAHN: Yeah. I think it's important to remember here that when people are pro-Israel, when students are pro-Israel, you know, it's not like an anti-Islam whatever. You know, I have two sides of my DNA. I have my Jewish side. I have my Afghan side. Currently my Afghan side is crying as well because of what's happening to the Afghans in Pakistan being kicked out.

So, you know, and really, we have to remember that everybody here is really just trying to fight for, you know, peace in the region. And we're not trying to say we're anti-Palestinian or anti-something like that, you know, by saying that we're pro-Israel. We're just saying that, you know, what Hamas did is an act of terror and it's evil and it should be condemned and we want peace for everybody in the region. So, you know, whether you're Muslim, whether you're Jewish, whether you're anything.

TAPPER: Talia Kahn, thank you so much for your time and I hope you feel safe on campus soon. Coming up next inside the FBI's investigation into New York City Mayor Eric Adams. I'm gonna talk to a reporter who says that Adam's connections to the Turkish government seem to be behind the probe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:12]

TAPPER: As lawmakers continue to fight on Capitol Hill over keeping the government running, there is one group who do their job every day, no matter the cost, no matter the consequence. And on January 6th, 2021, we all witnessed what that price means for them. It means life or death. Capitol Hill Police Officer Harry Dunn is one of the officers who showed extraordinary courage that day. And he details how his brave acts still caused him pain in his brand new book.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFC. HARRY DUNN, OFFICER WHO DEFENDED THE CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6: Never in a million years would you imagine that the Capitol is going to be stormed over run overtaken.

TAPPER (voice-over): Harry Dunn reported for work as a Capitol Police Officer the morning of January 6th, 2021 like it was any other day. But then they handed him a riot helmet. For hours, Dunn and hundreds of other members of law enforcement fought off the mob that stormed the Capitol. In the end lawmakers went back to work to certify the election. Dunn went back to work too. And now he's putting his experiences two pages in his new book "Standing My Ground."

TAPPER: Do you ever have days up here where you don't think about January 6th? Does that ever happen? DUNN: No. There aren't many days that I don't think about it at all. I mean, you know you're at the scene of the crime, so to speak. I work --

TAPPER: Every day.

DUNN: Every day, I work at the scene of the crime.

TAPPER: Do you ever think about resigning or getting another job or?

DUNN: There's still work to do, you know, there are individuals there in this building that are still fighting for what's right. And --

TAPPER: There are individuals in this building who called the people that attacked you political prisoners.

DUNN: Yes. Do you walk away from it and just let that voice be the loudest and that's the one that wins or do you continue to stand up and fight and do what you think is right?

TAPPER (voice-over): After the insurrection was over, Dunn was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress?

TAPPER: You've been very outspoken about the importance of mental health, the importance of those who have post-traumatic stress, getting help for it.

DUNN: It's OK to not be OK. And you show me that some -- you show me somebody that has says they have it all together that they're doing OK, all the time, then I'll show you a liar.

TAPPER (voice-over): Nearly two years later, Dunn holds former President Trump responsible for the horrors that he and others face that day.

TAPPER: He is the front runner for the presidential nomination for the Republican Party.

DUNN: Scary.

TAPPER: How does that make you feel as somebody who was here that day?

DUNN: Nervous. As an American, just -- it makes me nervous. How could -- how can people just don't care about January 6th then if they can still hold him in the high regard that they do? That's why I keep talking up about what happened that day. Because some people want to whitewash what happened and call it legitimate political discourse, when it was far from that.

TAPPER: Do you fear that if Donald Trump is the nominee, and loses again, that January 6th could happen again?

DUNN: You know, how could it -- how could you not think that it would, you know. He currently still says that he did nothing wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So help you God. TAPPER (voice-over): Dunn has shared his critique very publicly.

TAPPER: What is it like, I know you do your job no matter what, but what is it like to see election liars pass you in the hallway, people who have criticized you personally pass you on the hallway, people who have lied about what happened that day pass you in the hallway?

DUNN: Yes.

TAPPER: I mean, you are responsible, you -- your job is to protect them with your life. What's that, like?

DUNN: It's my job. And you know, whether I agree with somebody what they said or what they do, my job is to protect that seat that they represent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Officer Dunn's book "Standing My Ground." It's a good read. It's out now.

Coming up, the investigation into New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the seized cell phone, the seized iPad reported connections to the Turkish Government. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:39:18]

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, tomorrow New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat is expected to answer questions about the federal investigation into his mayoral campaign. "The New York Times" headline gets at what's at issue, quote, FBI examining whether Adams cleared red tape for Turkish Government, unquote. According to the report, when Adams was the Brooklyn Borough President in 2021, he pressed the New York Fire Department to sign off on a high rise for the Turkish Government despite cited safety issues with the building.

Let's bring in William Rashbaum. He's one of The New York Times reporters on the story. Thanks for joining us, William. So according to the Mayor Adams he did nothing wrong. He told CNN in a statement quote, as a borough president, part of my routine role was to notify government agencies of issues on behalf of constituents and constituencies, unquote. Where mighty have crossed the line do you think?

[17:40:12]

WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM, SENIOR WRITER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, it's unclear. But the federal government, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office clearly feel they had probable cause to seize his phones. And that that is not a low bar, particularly with, you know, a high ranking public official. So we're just going to have to wait and see where this goes.

TAPPER: So it was in 2021, that he did that with the building and the investigation has really escalated in the last 11 days when the FBI agents raided the home of his chief fundraiser. What do you make of that part of the investigation, the rate of his chief fundraiser?

RASHBAUM: Well, I think that we have a narrow window into what investigators are looking at. All we know now is that they're looking at whether the Turkish government conspired to funnel foreign money into the campaign. They're looking at this, as we reported, the fire department approvals effort to get fire department approvals for the consulate. And there may be nothing else, but it would be surprising to take the aggressive step of seizing his phone if that was all the government was looking at. We know that they started back in April, asking questions. The FBI did about the actions related to the consulate.

TAPPER: When we got word of the raid at his campaign fundraisers home, Adams himself was here in D.C., he abruptly canceled the meeting he had at the White House. He headed back to New York, any sense why he needed to rush back? I mean, the FBI was not raiding his home.

RASHBAUM: It's unclear, Jake, I mean, one, you know, his explanation was that he -- the young woman who's his fundraiser was home was raided is someone who's known for a while. She's 25 years old. He expressed concern about her at a news conference last week and said that he came back because he was concerned about her.

At the same news conference, he indicated that he had not spoken to her or seen her that day when he came back. So it's not entirely clear why he turned around and returned. But I think, you know, we may, we might may find that out in the near term.

TAPPER: Your report cites a few examples of Adams and ties to the Turkish government, including quote, in August 2015, the Turkish consulate in New York, paid for Mr. Adams airfare, hotel, and ground transportation for a trip to Turkey, unquote, where he signed his Sister City Agreement with Istanbul. Are there other examples that might have the attention of the Feds?

RASHBAUM: Well, the mayor has said that he traveled to Turkey a number of times, I think more than half a dozen. And, you know, the mayor is an avid traveler. He has been to many places in the world but before he was the mayor of New York City and after, but I do think that, you know, they seem to be focused to some degree on those trips. It's hard to say.

TAPPER: All right, William Rashbaum, thanks so much for your time. Really appreciate it, sir.

One of the most disturbing images from the Hamas attack shows an Israeli woman bound and bloody. She was kidnapped. I'm going to talk to her mom next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:48:21]

TAPPER: It is one of the most harrowing images from the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7th. And the video quickly went viral. A warning that the video is disturbing but it is important to see. It shows a young Israeli woman bound and bloodied, being dragged by her Hamas captors. The woman in the video is 19 years old. Her name is Naama Levy. And her mother Ayelet Levy Shachar has not seen nor heard from her daughter Naama on the last 37 days. And she joins me now.

Ayala, thank you so much for being here. I'm so sorry it's under these circumstances. I cannot imagine what you're going through. I have a 16-year-old daughter. It just talking to you makes me upset thinking about what you're going through. I know you've seen that horrific video of your daughter. You say it's important for people to see that video. Why do you think it's important?

AYELET LEVY SHACHAR, DAUGHTER, NAAMA LEVY, KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: I think, first of all, it's important to see with your own eyes what happened there. And you know, there are many videos going around. So this is just one of them. This is one of the one that my daughter is being kidnapped and dragged from the back of the vehicle by Hamas military and she's handcuffed and wounded in her pajamas. And the, you know, what you see there is horrific. And it's important to see that. And it's also important that she's alive and -- in the hands of Hamas- ISIS.

[17:50:08]

And for me it's important, because I know that. I have that. And I'm, you know, I'm just want her back.

TAPPER: Yes.

SHACHAR: And that's a strong evidence of her being alive and in their hands. And as horrific as that might be, you know, it's for me, it's the hope of getting her back.

TAPPER: She had just started her national service in Israel a few weeks before she was kidnapped. What can you tell us about the last time you spoke to your daughter?

SHACHAR: Well, yes, I spoke to her the evening before on Friday. And when I was planning to come visit her the next day, because it was a Saturday, and she stayed there. And she was only two days in Nahal Oz in her national service posting. And so I was planning to visit her. It's not very far from the center of Israel, where we live. It's like an hour and a little bit. So we spoke and she told me what to bring her and we're planning what food I'm going to bring her.

And then the next morning, the sirens went off at 6:30 a.m. And I went down the other kids to the bomb shelter downstairs when, and we didn't know what was going on. At that point, you know, I actually thought it was some false alarm. We have no information even after, you know, the next half an hour, the next hour. I texted him when we came back, like five minutes before 7:00 a.m., Naama, are you OK? Everything's OK? And she said, and she wrote to me, we're in the safe room. I have never heard anything like this in my life. So that was the last time we spoke. And then last time she wrote me after that I checked on her again, and there was no reply. TAPPER: What are your feelings about the Israeli Defense Force incursion into Gaza? I've talked to people who have loved ones who were kidnapped, who are worried about the campaign and how it might put their loved ones in harm's way. I've talked to people who have kidnapped, loved ones in Gaza who feel differently. Well, how do you feel?

SHACHAR: About the defense force entering Gaza you mean?

TAPPER: Yes, just about the idea about the bombing campaign, about whether you think the IDF is doing the right thing.

SHACHAR: Yes. I mean, you know, our military expert or no, I'm not an expert on how to do things and how to resolve the situation, I just -- so I don't know if I can even comment on that. I'm just -- I'm -- I need to trust that they're calculating their moves and doing whatever is needed and doing the right thing to defend Israel and to bring back our kidnapped so --

TAPPER: Have you received any information about how Naama is doing? Has there been any update on her?

SHACHAR: No. I haven't. I haven't received any information. And so I don't I don't know anything. I don't know about what conditions she's being kept in if she's alone and if she's underground, if she is OK. I know nothing.

TAPPER: Ayelet before you go, what's one thing you want people watching to know about your beloved Naama? What's one thing you want people to remember her, remember about her?

SHACHAR: I want, you know, I want to tell you that this is my daughter. This is my little girl. And the video you see, you know, I want the world to know who she really is. She's a young, bright peace activist. Girl majored in diplomacy, such a belief in the good of people. And that's why she is what she is. And she has this -- she's determined in every move that she does, she's an athlete and her quiet determination is, you know, it's for me, it's an inspiration and I hope it inspires all of you that are listening and to be determined, but maybe not so quiet.

And maybe we need to, you know, everybody needs to take action and I urge you to do so. So we get information, so we get cooperation, so humanitarian health organizations can enter and deliver and do their assignment that they're there for. And most -- and the most important thing just to bring Naama back, to bring them all back, all these 240 kidnapped --

[17:55:24]

TAPPER: Yes.

SHACHAR: -- that are there and held in Gaza by Hamas-ISIS.

TAPPER: Yes, bring them home. Ayelet Levy Shachar, let's bring them home, I agree, I agree. Let's bring your beloved Naama home. Thank you so much.

SHACHAR: Thank you.

TAPPER: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We are coming to the end of my annual auction that I throw with some pals to raise funds for a great organization. It's coming to a close literally as we speak. You can go to eBay.com/HFOT, homes for our troops, HFOT. Some of the items, you can visit to the set of "Mythic Quest" or "Severance." You can Zoom with John Stewart or Ahmad Rashad or Elizabeth Banks or Eric Stonestreet.

[18:00:16]

You can have lunch with me and Paul Rudd. I know Paul's the attraction, I get it. Or lunch with Erin Brockovich, or lunch with Kevin Pollak, so much more. It's all there. It's all ending in like the next hour or so. All proceeds go to build specially designed homes for the most severely wounded U.S. veterans, eBay.com/HFOT, homes for our troops. Thank you so much.

Wolf Blitzer picks it up right now in The Situation Room. See you tomorrow.