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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Soon: Israel-Hamas Pause Expires If No Deal Is Made; U.S. Urges Israel To Do More To Reduce Civilian Casualties; IDF: Red Cross Takes Custody Of Six Newly Released Hostages; House Debates GOP Resolution To Expel New York Rep. Santos; NY Court Reinstates Trump Gag Order In Civil Trial; Kenneth Chesebro Cooperating With Prosecutors In Nevada Elections Case; Palestinian Student Calls Attack "A Living Nightmare"; Chicago Struggles With Migrant Arrivals As Temps Drop. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 30, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:38]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The secretary of state is back in Israel trying to stop the war from restarting.

THE LEAD starts right now.

Secretary Antony Blinken front and center for negotiations. Can he help secure the release of the eight Americans still being held hostage by the terrorist group Hamas before bombs start dropping again?

Plus, one of the innocent Palestinian college students in Vermont describes the moments that the gunman came after him and his friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KINNAN ABDALHAMID, VERMONT SHOOTING VICTIM: He did not hesitate without a word to just run down the stairs of the porch, pull out a pistol and start shooting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: His family says this crime was motivated by bigotry. So, why no hate crime charges?

Plus, a gag order just reinstated on Donald Trump, who keeps personally attacking the judge and his clerk in that civil fraud trial, prompting antisemitic death threats. The judge's new warning as Trump is ordered once again to zip his lips.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we start today with our world lead where we could be just hours away from the end of the pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas, and the resumption of the war and the death, and destruction. Both sides said today they are ready if that deal expires at midnight, and the war resumes. But behind the scenes, negotiators from Egypt and Qatar say they are

scrambling and extend the pause for at least three more days, trying to secure the release of more hostages and to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

We just heard from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel after he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken said his immediate focus is to try to find a way to extend the ceasefire, but we are already seeing some signs of violence, at least three Israelis were killed and seven others injured, including two Americans after two members of Hamas, fired upon a group of innocent people who had gathered at a bus stations in Jerusalem. The terrorists were killed by two Israeli soldiers and unarmed civilian.

Right now, the Israeli military is waiting for the next group of hostages to be released in exchange for the pending release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention centers. Two women were freed earlier today, separate from the others because of where they were being held hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli officials. Forty-year-old Amit Soussana and 21-year-old Mia Schem are now both in Israeli hospitals after being released by Hamas. They are getting medical checkups.

The Israeli government released this video of Mia being reunited with her mom and her brother after her release nearly eight weeks after being kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival.

CNN's Oren Liebermann starts off our coverage today from Tel Aviv.

And, Oren, you were just at Blinken's press conference. What did the secretary of state have to say about the extension of this pause?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Jake, Secretary of State Antony Blinken just wrapped up that press conference here in the hotel behind me a short time ago. Earlier in this day, he met not only with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but also members of Israel's war cabinet. He said he urged them to continue, or to consider a longer continuation of this pause in fighting that would allow for the release of more hostages, and more humanitarian aid to go in.

He said both of those are an imperative, but he also made clear that the U.S. knows full well, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made very clear that when Hamas stops releasing hostages, the war is very much back on. Israel has said that, Hamas has said that and they can very close earlier this morning when Hamas waited until the last minute to release a list of the hostages that will be released today. Of course, now, we've seen two hostages released earlier, and we're waiting on more at this point.

He also gave full support for Israel's war against Hamas, saying Hamas cannot retain control of Gaza, it cannot retain the capacity to carry out the carnage again of the October 7th terror attack.

He did, say and this is worth noting and keeping an eye on, that Israel understands the imperative of ongoing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

[16:05:04]

But what does that mean on the ground? Because the humanitarian we've seen going over the last week has been a part of the truce agreement. Does it resume immediately or keep going I should say when the war itself resumes? For that, we might have an answer very soon here, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Oren, we're still waiting to see the rest of the hostages who are expected to be released by Hamas today. What is the holdup you think?

LIEBERMANN: Over the course of the past seven days, we have seen one or two times where some hostages are released earlier in the evening and some later. Today's release actually became quite early before 4:00 p.m. local time, but it was the two Israeli hostages you mentioned, as we weigh in on some others. Israeli officials believe it's because the hostages are held in different locations, so that takes time. One of the reasons Hamas didn't want Israeli drones flying over Gaza so that in secret, it could move the hostages around and get them together for release.

Jake, I'll make one quick point here. Hamas released or transferred the hostages to the Red Cross, in Palestine Square in Gaza City itself. Northern Gaza, which is where Gaza City sits, is one area where Israel has large control over large swaths of the territory there. So, it seems Hamas may be showing itself in the open, out in public that Israel does not have complete control over northern Gaza.

TAPPER: All right. Oren Liebermann in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.

With the pause between Israel and Hamas expected to end soon, the United States is pressing the Israeli Defense Forces to do more, to curtail civilian casualties, as Israeli resumes its attempts to eliminate Hams. The terrorist group that slaughtered more than 1,200 people on October 7th, and kidnapped more than 240 of them.

First, behind the scenes and now increasingly in public, the Biden administration is calling on Israel to do more, to do reduce the loss of innocent Palestinian life and to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where more than 14,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURTIY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: We're going to continue to urge our Israeli counterparts as they go back, they plan to go back to military operations that they do it in the most discreet, deliberate, careful, cautious way possible.

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks. And we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them, and to maximize the assistance that gets to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: This week, as recently as yesterday afternoon, Israeli officials including a major general from the Israel Defense Forces here in Washington, D.C., briefed members of Congress. Sources familiar with the briefing tell me that the major general told Congress that Israel does not find the Palestinian fatality numbers to be credible, and while the IDF does not have their own death toll number at this time, they estimate that they have killed about 5,000 members of Hamas.

Either way, the death toll in Gaza of civilians has been staggering. A "New York Times" analysis from November 25th concluded that, quote, while wartime death tolls will never be exact, experts say that even a conservative reading of the casualty figures reported from Gaza shows that the pace of death during Israel's campaign has few precedence in this century. People are being killed in Gaza, more quickly, they say, than in even the deadliest moment of U.S.-led attacks in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, unquote.

And even if one assumes 5,000 of those killed are Hamas, the civilian death toll by any credible account is more than 5,000. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. Some experts primarily blame Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. GEOFFREY CORN (RET.), DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, JEWISH INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY IN AMERICA: One of the reasons those casualty numbers are so high is because Israel is engaged with an enemy that has deliberately embedded itself amongst the civilian population, in one of the most densely populated areas of the world. So, the Israeli commanders face a legal, and I think in many cases and moral dilemma. The need to use their combat capability to attack the enemy, and achieve their tactical and operational objectives, with knowledge that there's only so much they can do to mitigate civilian risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It is also true that leaders of Hamas to not seem particularly worried about the damage that they are doing to the innocent people of Gaza. It is also true that some national security sources in the United States say that Hamas has prevented Palestinians in Gaza from trying to heed Israel's warnings to flee south.

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And yet --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Conservative estimates are right, with 15,000 killed, even if 5,000 of them are Hamas, that still a 2 to 1 ratio of civilians to Hamas. That's a lot of civilians who have been killed. Is Netanyahu going to continue to ignore President Biden on this issue of civilian casualties?

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Well, Jake we're not magicians. There's no magic way to dramatically reduce collateral damage when Hamas's deliberate goal and tensional goal is to increase Gaza casualties in order for you to ask me that precise question. You see, Hamas wants to stop the war, in a cynical way by effectively killing its own people, by placing them in harm's way.

If there were some magical solution where we could tweeze our people out and just hit the rocket launcher that shooting rockets and Israelis, we would do it. We do try to reduce unnecessary civilian casualties, but the reality is that there's no magic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: But when you talk to lawmakers and policymakers in Washington, D.C., even those very supportive of Israel, Republicans and Democrats say that the IDF is not doing enough to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIR: The United States is still not pleased that things are not up to the standards that we would expect or hope, and we are continuing to pressure Israel about that, and I think that is a discourse that's incredibly important. These are peoples' lives that need to be protected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It's not just the number of IDF strikes that they're conducting, it is also the type of weapons that the IDF is using. Though the Israelis are using a lot of precision munitions, Biden administration sources say that the IDF is also using plenty of big dumb non-precise bombs that flatten everything in their path.

Now, the IDF briefed Congress this week that those big dumb bombs are being used because they are the only way to get through to the tunnels where Hamas has been embedding itself under the population. And the IDF says that they are warning Palestinians to leave those areas, with leaflets and with phone calls, and that Hamas is dissuading or even preventing Palestinians from fleeing. But beyond that, the Biden administration officials have also told CNN that the IDF is taking risks with civilian lives that the U.S. and NATO simply would not be taking, and that the IDF could be doing more to protect innocent lives from being lost.

Under humanitarian international law, strikes must be proportional, meaning that the military benefit must be weighed against the potential loss of life. But there is no exact ratio, or formula written into the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: It's imperative that Israel acts in accordance with humanitarian law, and the loss of war. Even when confronting a terrorist group that respects neither.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Simply put, if the IDF is willing to risk more civilian deaths to kill more members of Hamas than the U.S. might be, the question then arises, does that mean what they are doing is a violation of humanitarian international law? And the truth is, not necessarily because the vagaries of these laws do not require any specific proportion.

And yet, that doesn't mean that they couldn't be doing better and in accordance, more with what the U.S. would want them to do. This week, according to sources familiar with the briefing, the IDF tried to reassure members of Congress that as the ground campaign moves to southern Gaza, they will try to do better, and they will try to do more leafleting to warn innocent people to evacuate areas, and they will try to create safe zones if such a thing can exist in Gaza ahead of time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: Before Israel resumes major military operations, it must put in place humanitarian civilian protection plans that minimize further casualties of innocent Palestinians. By clearly and precisely designating areas in places in southern and central Gaza, where they can be safe, and out of the line of fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The IDF also briefed members of Congress that the ground campaign has allowed them to use more precision targeting, that the special operations combat has allowed them to reduce civilian deaths, they say that there were serious civilian casualties in the Al-Shifa hospital when they conducted operations in the hospital, though, of course, we also know that operations around the hospital did lead to deaths.

[16:15:14]

Now, of course, a vast number of Palestinians have fled to the south, and that place is an additional burden on Israel to avoid further displacement, further loss of his innocent lives. And we should note these numbers, 14,000, 5,000, 1,000, 500, each civilian death is a tragedy. It's a life cut short. It's not a statistic. It's awful to talk about in numbers, but here we are.

I want to bring in CNN's Alex Marquardt, and MJ Lee.

And these are -- these are issues that the White House has been grappling with from the very beginning of this, first behind the scenes, and now increasingly in front of the cameras, trying to get the Israelis to take more measures to reduce civilian loss of life, and this is something that Blinken actually brought up with Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier today.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the Biden administration would like to see this release of hostages continue as long as possible. But they know that this phase, as the Israelis are calling it, will soon be over and Israel started its military campaign back up again. And so, the Biden administration has been very loudly saying in public and behind the scenes, they want to see a very different military campaign from the Israelis. The expectation is that Israel is going to move into southern Gaza, where, of course, so many of the hundreds of thousands, almost two million in fact of the displaced are. We've seen this extraordinary level of destruction in northern Gaza, all these thousands of civilian deaths as you just pointed out.

So, Secretary Blinken today laying out what he called this imperative for these humanitarian civilian protection plans. Aside from these designated areas, he also talked about Israel going out of its way to avoid damaging civilian and critical infrastructure like hospitals, power, water facilities, he said that northern Gazans should be allowed to return to the north when conditions allow.

Now, Blinken did say that Netanyahu and the war cabinet did listen, and did agree, but, of course, it does remain to be seen whether this urging is heeded. Blinken saying very specifically intense is where you start, but results are fundamentally what matters.

TAPPER: And, MJ, we could just be hours away from the end of this pause, and it really does depend upon Hamas producing more hostages in some ways.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, we are at the stage of this pause where really every single day, we could get to a point where the war resumes at the stroke of midnight, but the wild thing is that the way that this deal is structured, Hamas produces a list every day, Israel does or doesn't agree and then the truce, the pause is extended. The status of the pause basically hinges right now on the day-to-day whims of Hamas, and as Alex and I have reported on, there have been numerous instances already were Hamas has violated the agreements, right? The Red Cross officials have not been in yet. They were supposed to be in by day four.

TAPPER: Let me interrupt for one second because the IDF just announced that six more hostages are now in the hands of the Red Cross, and I think we're seeing them some live images of them right now at the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt. They are right, now they look like young women, in their teens or early twenties. We'll find out more about them.

I'm sorry to interrupt, but just some breaking news right now as these hostages are released, and just another reminder, of course, that all of this in the short term, there's obviously a context that goes back dozens, if not hundreds of years but all of this in the sort of short term began on October 7th because of terrorist organization going into Israel, and killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 240.

I'm sorry, MJ. Go ahead.

LEE: No, I mean, we did reporting on how the list came up and was a serious issue yesterday. There was this back and forth over whether they could produce the ten hostages which is part of the deal. At one point, they were producing seven women and children, but trying to add three bodies to count for the total of ten, so the fact that --

TAPPER: Three corpses?

LEE: Three bodies yes. So, the fact that the truce hinges on Hamas basically keeping its word, it's a little wild that that is the stage of the war that we are at right now, and I think we're about to find out whether Hamas says we are running out of women and children, we have to move on to the next stage, we don't know if there's going to be another deal.

TAPPER: Trust on the word of people who burn babies and kill grandparents.

MARQUARDT: There was an expectation according to the officials who MJ and I have been speaking with that in this two-day pause, extension, days seven and eight, that there would be around 20 more women and children.

[16:20:04]

But we do think we're getting to a point here where Hamas will essentially run out of women and children, and the question becomes, do they start to release elderly man? Do they start talking about some of those Israeli soldiers? Will Hamas want more for them?

So we are really getting to what could be a tipping point. Once these women and children are all released, is that when Israel decides all right, enough is enough, we're going to relaunch this operation?

TAPPER: Yeah, I mean, I -- my impression is that this -- the war could resume in the next day or two. That's what my sources are telling me.

MJ, Alex, good to see you as always, great reporting.

Moments ago, we heard from Congressman George Santos, ahead of the big vote tomorrow that it could expel him from Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. GEORGE SANTOS (R-NY): It is a pre-determined necessity for some members in this body to engage in this smear campaign to destroy me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Coming up next, a man who wrote a book about the New York Republican.

Plus, a CNN exclusive, the lawyer that cooked up the plan to keep Donald Trump in office is now cooperating with prosecutors. What is the significance of that? We'll discuss coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:06] TAPPER: Our politics lead is on Capitol Hill where it is time for Congressman George Santos to face the music -- and no, not the music from the Broadway show he claims to have produced, that's the Spiderman musical if you forgot. Yeah, he really claimed he produced that, he didn't.

Today, the House debated and tomorrow, they will vote on whether to expel the New York Republican, this after a bipartisan House Ethics Committee report concluded that Santos broke federal laws, stole cash from his campaign, and delivered a, quote, constant series of lies to voters and donors. Santos allegedly spent thousands of campaign dollars on vacations, elaborate meals, Botox, more Botox, and OnlyFans. If you don't know what OnlyFans is, you can look it up.

But Santos today remained characteristically defiant, continuing to play the victim and refusing to resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTOS: I will not stand by quietly. They want me out of this body, the people of the third district of New York sent me here. If they want me out, they're going to have to go silenced those people and take the hard vote.

(END VIDEO CL.IP)

TAPPER: Still going with the sweater under the jacket, huh?

He called the expulsion vote bullying. After checking the dictionary for bullying, I can tell you that the George Santos definition does not seem to hold. He also told reporters today that if he does get kicked out of Congress, he may participate in ABC's "Dancing with the Stars", and I'm sure they would accept. We can only hope that it turns out to be just another one of his lies, though.

Only five members of Congress in history have ever been expelled from the House chamber. It does require a two-thirds majority vote which is a high bar. And while many Republicans are ready to kick him out, the new House speaker is giving some cover to those who may vote otherwise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We're going to allow people to vote their conscience. I personally have real reservations about doing this. I'm concerned about a precedent that maybe set for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Conscience? Interesting.

The speaker says some of his reservations stem from the fact that Santos has not been convicted in a court of law, and that's true. He hasn't yet. Santos is set to go on trial next year. Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges including

allegations of fraud related to COVID-19 unemployment benefits, misusing campaign funds and lying about his personal finances on House disclosure reports.

And, look, we could fill an entire hour debunking all of the other lies this congressman has told, his grandmother, for example, was not a victim of the Holocaust. He did not hand employees who were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting. And look, while it's fun to joke about this bizarre man, many of his lies have had real consequences such as -- you remember this, he reportedly founded a bogus animal charity and he funneled donors' hard-earned generously donated cash to himself, under one of his many pseudonyms.

And Richard Osthoff joins me now. He's a disabled veteran who says that George Santos scammed him by stealing money that was meant for lifesaving surgery for his dog Sapphire. And Sapphire passed away months later. There's -- her ashes in that box.

Also with us, Mark Chiusano, author of "The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos".

Mark, let me start with. You started covering George Santos in 2019 as a columnist and writer at "Newsday". Santos has gotten away with a lot over the course of his political career. Do you expect him to survive tomorrow's expulsion vote in the House? That's a high bar, two-thirds.

MARK CHIUSANO, AUTHOR, "THE FABULIST": You know, the only thing that I can say with certainty is that he's going to keep blustering his way through and not resigning, and not apologizing. It's what he's done the whole time. In my book, I write about how he even was sort of mooching off his grandmother in Brazil right before he got hit with this check fraud case, and then it kind of escapes back to New York.

So, this is his way of living, as he just kind of rolls with the punches and keeps going.

TAPPER: Richard, federal officials earlier this year were investing your allegations. When is the last time you heard from investigators, and where does your case stand?

RICHARD OSTHOFF, DISABLED VETARAN WHO SAYS GEORGE SANTOS SCAMMED HIM: It was a while, Jake. I think it was in the end of March that I heard from him last time. I just see that the superseding indictment came out months later after his first indictment, might still be in the works, I don't know. I'm hoping that it is. I mean, I'm not the only one that he scammed with his pet charity. I'm sure there's other people out there and they're probably trying to bundle them all into another indictment, or another superseding indictment.

TAPPER: And, Mark, you recently said that for your book, you wanted to get inside Santos' head, and figure out why he had lied about almost -- almost everything. Did you ever -- did you ever get an answer? CHIUSANO: I think that's the most interesting part of this whole

saga. A lot of people I talked to told me that when they speak to him, he really seems to believe his own lies, like one young politician who Santos said, oh, I remember when I was your age and I made my first million already. And the politician looks at him and, thinks he really believes that.

So I think that that's a little bit what's going on in his head is that he's convinced himself of some of these things, when he says them.

TAPPER: Richard, as somebody who is directly swindled, and your dog died, you're a veteran and have dog, service dog, comfort dog.

What's your -- your message to members of the House deciding how they're going to vote tomorrow? What do you want them to know, if there's any wavering members of, Congress? Like, for instance, I guess, you know, probably a compelling argument for some of that might be look he has not been convicted of anything yet, I don't want to set a precedent. What do you say to them?

RICHARD OSTHOFF, DISABLED VETARAN WHO SAYS GEORGE SANTOS SCAMMED HIM: He's convicted in the court of public, opinion if nothing else. He's got to go, he should have been gone as soon as they found out the stuff back in January. I mean, it's a disgrace that he won't step down. He's just being a defiant child at this point.

Everybody wants him gone. He's not done anything for his constituents. His constituents want him gone. They didn't send him to Washington. They sent somebody else to Washington. It's disgusting.

TAPPER: And, Mark --

OSTHOFF: And, you know, he's up for expulsion.

George, if you're expelled tomorrow, are you going to go and re-apply for unemployment insurance again like you did -- that you have your $20,000 I think it was that you stole? Are you going to reapply for unemployment again?

TAPPER: Yes, Richard Osthoff and Mark Chiusano, thanks for your time today.

Richard, did you ever get another dog?

OSTHOFF: I have three dogs now, Jake.

TAPPER: OK.

OSTHOFF: Yeah. I still miss my Sapphire, so much. She was different than -- I mean, it'd take almost three of them to pull that hold my heart.

TAPPER: I'm just glad you got another. That's all.

OSTHOFF: I just got another one when all of this went down in January and February, North Shore Animal League got a hold of me through the Howard Stern show, and they got me my little center boy.

TAPPER: OK.

OSTHOFF: He's about a year old now, so he's giving his older sisters are not run for their money.

TAPPER: OK. I just -- you know, nothing will fill Sapphire's -- the hole in your heart from Sapphire, but I just want to make sure you got -- you got some replacements.

Coming up next, the new gag order back on Donald Trump coming with a warning from the judge. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:43]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, a New York court has reinstated Donald Trump's gag order in his ongoing $250 million civil fraud trial. This means Trump cannot make public statements about any court staff during the continuation of the trial. The trial judge first issued the gag order after Trump made derogatory and false comments about a court clerk on Truth Social. An appellate judge then paused to the gag order, while the appeals process played out.

Also in our law and justice lead, CNN has learned that Kenneth Chesebro, the attorney behind Trump's fake electors plot who was already pleaded guilty in Georgia, is now cooperating with prosecutors in Nevada.

CNN's Zachary Cohen is with me.

Zach, first of all, I didn't even know there's a thing going on in Nevada, but what is Chesebro's cooperation in Nevada mean for the investigation?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Jake, we've actually seen in five different states, state level prosecutors have been these criminal investigations, specifically focused on the people who served as those fake Trump electors, to sign those certificates.

And Chesebro, who's already pled guilty in Georgia is now cooperating with prosecutors in Nevada, and he can actually take them inside some of his conversations that we know he had with these Republican officials who are organizing these other electors to show up and sign these false certificates, and this is a criminal investigation just like the ones in Michigan, just like the one in Georgia that could result in criminal, charges and I think the fact that Chesebro is now cooperating is a sign that this probe is not only ramping up, but it could result in a charging decision here pretty soon.

TAPPER: So, this is interesting. So, Chesebro's already pled guilty in the Georgia elections case. As part of his negotiation, in that case, he negotiated being able to travel as part of his probation. Is this why? So that he could -- so that he could work with other states, prosecuting the fake electors? COHEN: So, as part of this probation in Georgia, Chesebro was not

allowed to travel to anywhere the judges said that he couldn't, right? And so, he has had to ask permission to go to specific places. Those places include as far as the judge orders, or this week Arizona, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. All three of those places have ongoing criminal investigations related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

We know the fake electors investigation in Nevada's happening. Arizona also apparently wants to talk to Chesebro as well. And we know Jack Smith is doing his case in Washington, D.C., and it's going to go to trial in March. We could potentially see him want to talk to Chesebro's now that he's pled guilty in Georgia.

TAPPER: Too bad there is no fake electors in Hawaii, California, I guess with the winter months approaching in Wisconsin.

All right. Zach Cohen, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Coming up next, was it a hate crime? One of the Palestinian students shot describes exactly what happened when that gunman opened fire on him and his friends.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:43]

TAPPER: In our national lead, one of the three Palestinian students shot over the weekend while walking down the street in Burlington, Vermont, tells CNN that he and his friends had less than a second to respond after encountering this gunman.

CNN's Jason Carroll has more details as well as the latest on the gunman who is in custody and could potentially face federal hate crime charges.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KINNAN ABDALHAMID, VERMONT SHOOTING VICTIM: I really felt like I was in a living nightmare.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kinnan Abdalhamid sat with his mother at aside as he recounted the chilling details surrounding how he and his two friends survived being shot while out for a walk.

ABDALHAMID: It was almost surreal how quickly he did it.

TAMARA TAMIMI, KINNAN ABDALHAMID'S MOTHER: These are three regular, kids best friends who grew up from childhood. None of the three deserved this. Nobody deserves this.

CARROLL: Their nightmare began Saturday night when Abdalhamid, Hisham Awartani, and Tahseen Ali Ahmed, all 20-year-old college students in the U.S., went to visit one of the young men's relatives in Burlington, Vermont, for Thanksgiving break. The three went for a walk, two were wearing traditional Palestinian scarves, and we're speaking a mix of English and Arabic, when they say a man suddenly stepped off a porch, and opened fire.

[16:45:00]

ABDALHAMID: He didn't hesitate without a word to just run down the stairs of the porch, pull out a pistol and start shooting. He shot at Tahseen first, and that's one I heard his foot on the ground and him start screaming. That was kind of my signal to make a run for it.

CARROLL: Awartani suffered the most serious injuries, with a bullet lodged in his spine. Ali Ahmed was shot in a chest while Abdalhamid was hit in his right glutes. He spoke to CNN about how he was able to run and ask for help.

ABDALHAMID: He shot Hisham. I was able to jump the fence of one of the houses, but that's when he I believe, that's when he shot me. I was actually limping towards another house with the lights on. They opened the door, I was like, please call 911, I think both my friends might have been shot.

CARROLL: Investigators fond the shooter, 48-year-old Jason Eaton, the day after the shooting at his apartment. He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second degree murder. In an interview with "The Daily Beast", Eaton's mother said her son has had mental health issues. The victim's family says they believe the shooting was motivated by hate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: They fled the West Bank for the safety of the United States.

Our thanks to Jason Carroll for that report.

Coming up next, a new post on X from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, that only puts further strain on the migrant crisis in some of the biggest cities in the United States.

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[16:51:03]

TAPPER: In today's national lead, the state of Texas lost a legal battle and now cannot stop the Biden administration from removing the razor wire that Texas placed along the U.S. border.

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is moving even more migrants out of his state and into Democratic sanctuary cities. Abbott listed the locations and the numbers of migrants on X, which includes 20,000 migrants to Chicago alone.

Migrants are sleeping in airports, at police stations and in tents. The city is trying to help, but faces another challenge as overnight temperatures hover above freezing in Chicago. Here's CNN's Whitney Wild.

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WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: As temperatures dipped into the low teens, with wind chills of around zero this week, many migrants living on the street found Chicago's unfamiliar climate unforgiving. This man said he has been living in a tent, and now feel sick.

Lately, I've been having pain in my chest he says, and I need medicine to help me with the fever.

With help from a translator, Dr. Amanda Bradke offers care to migrants awaiting placement at a shelter.

DR. AMANDA BRADKE, RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: A lot of what we're seeing is upper respiratory infections, whether that be a different virus, or we're seeing a lot of strep throat. I'm also seeing some pneumonia.

WILD: More than 900 migrants are still living at police stations, and airports down for more than 3,000 earlier this fall. The phase of new arrivals has slowed, but not stopped.

We were there as a bus dropped off dozens of migrants at an already crowded police station. More than 23,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August 2022, much of the influx driven by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who says northern city should take on more migrants to ease the strain at the border.

ANDRE VASQUEZ, CHICAGO ALDERPERSON: We've never been in the situation like this. All of this is unprecedented.

WILD: Alderperson Andre Vasquez heads the city council's committee on immigrant, and refugee rights.

What is your biggest fear?

VASQUEZ: I mean, my biggest fear thinking about it right now, wintertime is the most immediate, snow is going to hit, if we don't find the compression and really find other spaces folks can live in and get to work, it's really concerning.

WILD: City officials are opening more shelters and facing in a 60-day limit on stays. Mayor Brandon Johnson says the city is partnering with more than a dozen faith groups to take migrants off the street.

MAYOR BRANDONJOHNSON (D), CHICAGO: You cannot abandon families, and asylum seekers, and let them go through Chicago's winter alone.

WILD: Now the state is funding a massive military grade tent and the Brighton Park neighborhood to house migrants, despite fierce opposition from some residents, and questions about whether the area, a former industrial site is safe.

Alderwoman Julia Ramirez represents Brighton Park.

JULIA RAMIREZ, CHICAGO ALDERWOMAN: When we're thinking about the most vulnerable, whether it's the residents, of Brighton Park or asylum seekers, they deserve to have a humane and dignified process. To make sure they get shelter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Whitney Wild for that report.

Just moments ago, we saw a Red Cross caravan arriving at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, believed to be carrying six shots hostages, Israelis, can the scene be repeated? The very latest on negotiations happening right now to make it happen, so the war does not resume in just a few hours. That's next.

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[16:58:50]

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour -- payback is a, well, you know the rest. Ahead, the brand- new report that explains why Donald Trump did not come to the rescue of Kevin McCarthy, when his fellow Republicans dethroned him as House speaker.

Plus, is TikTok suppressing the posts that the Chinese government doesn't like? CNN digs into the data, comparing Instagram and TikTok, data that the chair of the Select House China Committee will be diving into at it hearing tonight, to see how the communist nation might be manipulating data, and your children.

And leading this hour, six more hostages are freed by Hamas.

And back in Israel, Israeli officials say they range from 17 to 41 years old. And they join two other women who are released earlier today, according to officials, their names will be -- according to officials they could be the last hostages released for now, as the pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel is set to expire at midnight.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel right, now trying to negotiate a deal to hold off the fighting, and get more hostages released, including eight Americans kidnapped by Hamas, for an agonizing 55 days ago.

Let's begin with CNN's Matthew Chance, live for us in Tel Aviv.