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CNN: Multiple, Near-Continuous Impacts Inside Gaza; Nine Americans Killed In Attacks In Israel, Unknown Number Hostage. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 09, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:02:33]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, breaking news. These are live pictures out of Gaza. You can see the smoke there rising. Israel Defense Forces says it has hit 130 Hamas targets in the last three hours. Well, Kate, that actually -- that update was about 10 minutes ago. I think there are more targets even since then. You can see all that happening right before your eyes.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: We have -- we were just -- we were watching them hit live on air just before we went to that commercial break. The Israeli Defense Ministry has ordered what they describe as a complete siege of Gaza. We see these plumes of smoke as the aerial bombardment continues from Israel into Gaza as retaliation for trying to go after the Hamas the -- over Hamas terrorists from what happened in Israel this weekend. We do have video though of one -- the airstrike hitting a refugee camp in Gaza. It is graphic video. We want to warn you before we play it.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: And we should be clear this is one of the densely pop -- most densely populated cities in the world. And so you're seeing the fallout there from an airstrike at a refugee camp. And you're also now seeing these live pictures those plumes of smoke. We were watching as airstrikes were happening as a result of more airstrikes. And as you heard Kate say about 130 of them have already been conducted. That was probably 15 minutes ago. So they are continuing to barrage.

Now, that's what's happening on the southern border with Israel. We have seen tanks rolling towards that area from Israel. But we have also now gotten reporting that the Israel Defense Forces are saying that they have used a helicopter to strike inside Lebanese territory to its north. Those pictures are those tanks I was mentioning that are coming to the border to Israel's south.

[11:05:14] But in Lebanon, there has been a strike by an Israeli helicopter, partly because the Israel Defense Forces say that there -- they have found militants that have come over the border. They have engaged them. They say they were armed suspects that they have shot and killed. All of this happening all at the same time, there is a big fear of a potential regional confrontation. But right now there is still active war happening right now in Israel and in Gaza.

And of course, we have team coverage of all of the conflicts. CNN's Nic Robertson is on the ground for us in Israel. You have been showing us all morning that area, we saw the tape go by you heading towards closer to the border. What is the situation on the ground where you are now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, if you look over my shoulder here, John, if you can kind of zoom in, we'll look in there towards Gaza. And that's a plume of smoke that we've seen, that has been burning, whatever's burning there has been burning for some time. That has been the impact side of one of those airstrikes that we've seen on Gaza. We've seen multiple times fighter jets fly by. We've heard multiple impacts.

We've also heard detonations of what sound like heavy artillery, occasionally firing. But that dense plume of black smoke really kills around in the sky here. And just to give you a little warning, if you hear a loud explosion here shortly don't panic. Because the EOD team here is on site they found some grenades here. They're going to make those grenades safe, they'll detonate those grenades. But those grenades were found in an amongst the area where these vehicles are over here, where all those partygoers on early Saturday morning were chased down by Hamas, 260 of them brutally murdered by Hamas.

The white vehicle that's a Hamas vehicle. Israeli Defense Force came on scene eventually and took out the Hamas fighters. There are more Hamas vehicles and Hamas fighters killed just around the corner from here. But what we're witnessing here, you saw that tank drive thru earlier on. We're seeing a lot of military patrols around here, hearing distance small arms fire coming from the direction of Gaza.

So this area becomes a more and more active military zone, as it has been secured through this day, the early hours of today, there's really defense for saying they would secure this whole area here from the possibility of any Hamas infiltration. They'd got rid of any Hamas infiltration in the area. So at the moment, we're seeing the military buildup, the continuing strikes, and the cleanup, if you will, after that Hamas attack, there's vehicles being turned around because the EOD team is going to be detonating those explosives they found just down there ever so shortly. Sara?

BERMAN: All right, our thanks to Nic Robertson, near the Israel-Gaza border there. Obviously Nic, stand your ground there, keep us up to date as to what you're seeing. We have seen deployments of Israeli forces moving toward the Gaza border in the last several minutes. And again, these are live pictures from inside Gaza itself, as Israel continues to hit Hamas targets inside that region. SIDNER: All right, at least 700 people were killed in this weekend's terror attack and thousands more were wounded and people are still being wounded and killed at this hour. There were also kidnappings as Israelis were grabbed by Hamas fighters. We just heard Nic Robertson there. He is right near the area where some of those kidnappings happened. People had Hamas militants coming into their homes and taking children out.

The group says it has more than 100 Israeli hostages. And earlier this morning, we spoke to a woman who was beside herself whose family members had been taken hostage by Hamas. She ended up speaking with our Becky Anderson. But first we want to go to Shawn Turner, who joins us now live. Can you give me some sense, Mr. Turner, about where we are right now in the sense that we're watching this happen both Lebanon now is involved in some way, Israel says it had strike Lebanon, because they found militants coming over the border.

You have Gaza sending more and more missiles over the border into Israel and you have Israel responding with a lot of barrage really and saying that they're going to take siege to all of Gaza to rid it of Hamas. What is the endgame here? How do you see this playing out?

SHAWN TURNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATION ANALYST: Yes, you know, Sara, since the very start of this conflict I've been talking to colleagues in the intelligence community and national security circles and the large -- the most significance and concern that everyone has had is this conflict becoming a larger regional conflict and what we can do to prevent that. It's looking increasingly likely based on what we've seen over the last couple of hours, that preventing a larger regional conflict is going to be very difficult.

[11:10:27]

Look, we know that there's absolutely no way that Hamas could have planned such a well-organized and multi-pronged attack without resourcing, financing, and other support from Iran, which suggests that there are others already involved. Now what we've seen in the last half hour or so, from the north, with Israel needing to strike forces into Lebanon, that suggests that the worst case scenario is beginning to play out here with regard to a larger regional conflict, when we think about what the end game might be here, I mean, look, it's very clear that the Israeli officials have said that they are going to bring everything they have to put down this conflict strike back at Hamas.

But the challenge here is that there's this concept of proportionality, we're talking about a nation state, going up against terrorist organizations in the form of Hamas and perhaps even Hezbollah and others. And so while we recognize that Israel is doing exactly what it needs to do, in order to defend itself, we have to watch very carefully, the United States has to play a key role and making sure that this larger regional conflict is something that we are trying to prevent from happening, because that is not going to be good for the United States, it's not going to be good for any of our partners and allies. SIDNER: When you look at what is happening here, right now, I mean, is there -- is Israel in a really difficult spot, there are more than 100 people that Hamas says that they have kidnapped, that they have been taken back to Gaza, Israel is trying to go in and saying that they're doing, you know, strikes and trying to avoid civilians. But this is the most densely populated city on earth. How is that possible to happen? And how is it when -- how do you see it, the response from those who are in Gaza, will it create more, for example, militants?

TURNER: Yes, you know, sir, this is such a difficult situation for Israel, because what you need in this case is you need the ability to be able to do extremely precise and surgical strikes on targets that give the highest likelihood that you're not going to put Israeli citizens in harm's way. But we have to remember that we're talking about a very small area, we're talking about an area that's about 25 miles wide, a very dense area, as you said, a lot of urban fighting.

And we know that Hamas fighters are going to strategically use these hostages, in order to keep the Israeli Defense Forces at bay with regard to the nature of the strikes that they're going to launch. And so when I think about the situation that Israel is in right now, I think there are a couple of things that are going to be really key, you know, look, this carrier strike group that's moving into the region, that carrier strike group is going to be able to provide a lot of intelligence for the Israeli Defense Forces and that intelligence is going to be key. We've got to get those assets in place. We've got to get that collection started so that they can make those strikes.

The other thing is, and this is what's going to be really difficult for the Israeli Defense Forces is that there is going to need to be a level of restraint that would not need to be there if it were not for all of these hostages. Israel is focused on making sure that these people are not injured or harmed if they're -- if, you know, as they're being held by Hamas. And so that's going to make this very difficult for them going forward.

SIDNER: Yes, I'm having been in Gaza myself, there are always civilians that get injured or killed, because it is so densely populated. I do want to ask you about the U.S. and its potential involvement here. They have already said they are going to be sending more military aid that has already been earmarked, but it's going to be sent faster than it would normally be. But you also have a U.S. aircraft carrier who is on its way to the Mediterranean. Can you give us some sense of how that may play a role in all of this?

TURNER: Sure, Sara, you know, this, this particular carrier strike group is at massive show of force for the area. You're talking about somewhere between 5 and 6,000 U.S. military service members. This particular aircraft carrier is the Navy's latest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Ford. You're talking about a Destroyer Squadron, all of that on top of efforts to beef up the Air Force squadrons that are already in the region. And so what I see this carrier strike group being able to do is look at recognizing that Hamas is going to continue to need to be resupplied if they're going to continue this fight. This aircraft carrier, this carrier strike group is in a position to disrupt those supply lines and that's going to be extremely important to Israeli support it's also the case that at the simultaneously as you said, the carrier strike group will be able to provide additional equipments, munitions, intelligence and other resources to the Israelis. But I think the most important thing that you get from this carrier strike grouping in the region is you get deterrence.

[11:15:25]

Look, as I said at the outset, the worst case scenario is that this becomes a larger regional conflict. And when you've got a carrier strike, and you've got this kind of firepower in the area, our best chance of preventing that our best chance of having calmer heads prevail is to have this massive U.S. presence there. So it's, as I said, it's unlikely, but it's good, it's there, and hopefully, we'll be able to make some progress on the diplomatic side.

SIDNER: Shawn, thank you so much for going through that with us. We are again listening to the sounds of airstrikes going off there in Gaza. You are seeing the results of those. There's that sound again. It is a terrifying, terrifying sound. And as you see, the result of it is huge plumes of smoke, but also the destruction of buildings. These usually take down entire high rises. There are hundreds of thousands of people who live there in a very dense populated area. There will no doubt be civilian casualties. But Israel says it is trying to be strike Hamas cites places where Hamas has been either creating the missiles or has been planning attacks, one after the other.

We are seeing these happen over and over and over again this morning. And as we heard from the Israeli military, they are going to lay complete siege as they put it to Gaza. And we're watching that happen.

BERMAN: Yes, well over 100 targets, Hamas targets inside Gaza as you continue to look at these pictures. But this is not the only place there is currently activity. We're getting word of Israeli helicopter strikes over the border in Lebanon now. And the Israel Defense Forces, just a short time ago put out a statement telling Israeli civilians near that border, the border between Israel and Lebanon to remain in their homes. Let's get right to Hadas Gold. Our Hadas Gold, who is in Jerusalem for the very latest on what you're hearing from the north, Hadas?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so a lot of concern over the situation in the North, because of course, if that turns into another major front and this conflict, especially if Hezbollah, the militant group there gets involved also backed by Iran. This puts this conflict on a whole other level. What we know so far is the Israeli military saying at least two mortars were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.

They also say that several armed individuals infiltrated the border there, but they were met by Israeli soldiers who engaged in a gun battle with them. Not clear yet, if there were killed any casualties on either side as a result of that. And we know that an Israeli military helicopter also struck some sites right around the border. But we are potentially getting reports that Islamic Jihad, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is another militant group that has presence both in Gaza but also in southern Lebanon, is taking potentially taking responsibility for this, not -- that is not confirmed.

Now, that would give some sort of, you know, way out of potential direct confrontation but -- with Hezbollah. But keep in mind, essentially nothing happens in southern Lebanon without Hezbollah being well aware, if not outright allowing that to happen in southern Lebanon just gives them plausible deniability saying this essentially wasn't us. Because again, if Hezbollah gets involved, this is a whole different level of war, their arsenal is will make Hamas as Arsenal look like nothing.

And so there is a lot of concern, this could open up another front Hamas -- Hezbollah is also backed by Iran. So there has to be questions about, you know, is there any sort of coordination here? Is there any sort of plan for Hezbollah to get involved? We've heard from the Lebanese prime minister saying they don't want to get involved in this war. But the Lebanese prime minister unfortunately, does not have much of any control over Hezbollah's actions.

BERMAN: The Lebanese government really does not have control particularly over the southern part of the country, particularly that region from which attacks over the border into Israel would be happening and obviously, watching that region very, very closely. Hadas, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right, so sirens ringing out in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Also this morning, well, Israeli forces as we have been watching playout live or conducting wide scale strikes in Gaza, we're seeing some of those moments of impact as we speak. We've got more on this breaking news, just ahead.

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[11:24:18]

SIDNER: And this war, about 1,300 people, the death toll is nearing that number. And at least nine are U.S. citizens that have been killed in the attack on Israel. And there are still an unknown number of people who are missing. CNN's Natasha Bertrand is joining us now. Natasha, what more can you tell us about the Americans that are still missing or unaccounted for following the attacks as a lot of people are coming out and saying, look, they believe they've been kidnapped. They believe, you know, they can't find them. They have no information as to where they might be.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Sara, as you reflected perfectly right there, there's still so much confusion on the ground there. The U.S. is still trying to determine just how many American citizens have been killed or are still missing at this point. As of right now according to the State Department the number of U.S. citizens who have been confirmed killed stands at nine, but that number could rise. And that is what U.S. officials fear at this point.

[11:25:15] And one of the issues is that the Israelis don't even have an exact number at this point of just how many people inside Israel have been killed and taken hostage, though they have said that there appear to be just over 100 people who have been taken hostage by Hamas there. Now we should note that Israel has one of the largest American expat communities in the world. And there are a tremendous number of dual American citizens there. So this number could sadly continue to rise. But here's what State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told CNN just this morning about this.

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MATTHEW MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I can confirm that nine Americans unfortunately have lost their lives as a result of these horrific attacks in the region. We are in close contact with the government of Israel as they continue to conduct security operations to locate missing U.S. citizens, missing Israeli citizens.

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BERTRAND: So Miller also said of course, that the State Department remains in touch with the families of those killed and has provided them with consular services as necessary. But all of this comes as the U.S. is increasing its military posture in the region sending a strike force group, a strike carrier group as well as deploying destroyers there around the region and additional Air Force assets all of this meant as a deterrence. But of course, it also gives the U.S. options and additional forces in the region should some kind of evacuation become necessary.

Now at this point, no evacuation has been ordered of any U.S. citizens in the country. Right now, we are told the State Department is urging all American citizens to just be extremely wary of their surroundings, U.S. embassy personnel. They are currently I've given a curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. But they're no longer sheltering in place. But the U.S. keeping a very close eye of course on what is happening with U.S. citizens in the country.

SIDNER: Yes, and certainly people here keeping a close eye on how to get people out of Israel. I know of several families trying to leave I know the airport is open, but it opens and closes depending on what is happening with the rocket attacks that have been coming so, so close to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Natasha Bertrand, thank you so much for the update there on those Americans killed and those still missing. John?

BERMAN: All right, Texas pastor is one of many Americans currently watching all this unfold in Jerusalem. Pastor George Mason joins us now he arrived just a few days ago from Dallas. Pastor, thank you for being with us. Why don't you tell me what you are hearing, what's been happening around you the last several hours since this morning. And what you're being told by U.S. officials about what you should and should not do. Pastor?

GEORGE MASON, PASTOR, WILSHIRE BAPTIST CHURCH: Well, first of all, this morning, we left Jerusalem after being there for several days restricted to the hotel. And yes, can you hear me?

BERMAN: Yes, please go on.

MASON: We have a connection. Right. So we were in a Jerusalem hotel for several days, restricted to the hotel and just the immediate area around there. And there were -- on the first day, there were rocket booms that were going off and sirens and the like, and we'd have to go shelter in the hotel. But then that quelled for a while and the concentration of the war was taking place, of course, near Gaza and in the surrounding villages.

This morning, we made the decision to leave Jerusalem to come north out of the range of the rockets. But before we could get out, we again heard that rockets were coming in and the Iron Dome was destroying the rockets and protecting Jerusalem.

BERMAN: Pastor I'm so sorry. There's a long delay here. So I'm really only going to be able to ask you one more question. What are your plans now going forward? How do you intend to get out of this now warzone?

MASON: We intend to cross into Jordan as soon as we can, and try to travel home from Jordan. Unfortunately, our tour actually was of course canceled because of the war because it started the day we arrived. But we're somewhat conflicted because our hearts are with the people here, both the Israelis and the Palestinians who are suffering on both sides of this. It's a horrific situation and just tragic.

And our faith traditions teach us that violence is not the answer and that we're supposed to listen to the stories of those who are our neighbors and promote their well-being. And so being here and being a compassionate presence was something we saw as a gift that we did not intend.