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Israel Launches Fierce Retaliation in Gaza, Hostage Crisis Escalates, U.S. Military Moves Closer. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 09, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Anderson Cooper live from Tel Aviv alongside Boris Sanchez and Alex Marquardt reporting from Washington, D.C. Tonight, the skies are still lit up in parts of Israel as the Israeli military carries out a fierce response in Gaza. It is in retaliation, they say, for the unprecedented coordinated terrorist offensive carried out by Hamas on Saturday that has continued for the last 48 hours. Israel says at least 900 people have been killed by Hamas. Palestinian officials say over 500 people have been killed in Gaza.

It is not just the death toll, though, that is harrowing. The terror group says they are holding more than 100 Israelis hostage. Israel has not confirmed the exact number. Hamas now threatening they will start executing hostages if attacks on Gaza are launched without warning. We now know from two sources that the Qatari government has been in talks with Hamas about those hostages and U.S. officials are coordinating with the Qataris. We're still awaiting remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We have been expecting that any minute. We will bring that to you obviously live.

Earlier today, you may have seen Clarissa Ward taking cover from rocket attacks. I want to show a little bit of what happened to her and her team earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOW: Go to the right.

CLARISSA WARD, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Yeah.

UNKNOWN: Stop dropping people.

WARD: Get down. Down. Down. Down.

UNKNOWN: This place.

WARD: Down.

UNKNOWN: Go, go, go. Go, go, go.

WARD: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNKNOWN: You're fine. You're fine. You're fine. You're fine. You're fine. You're okay. You're all right. You're all right.

WARD: Okay.

UNKNOWN: That's the iron gun. That's the iron gun.

WARD: Yeah. Guys. Are you seeing our situation, guys?

UNKNOWN: Yes.

WARD: Okay.

UNKNOWN: Can you hear the shot?

WARD: Stay down.

UNKNOWN: We have to stay here, we have to stay here.

WARD: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That is just a small snapshot of the situation along that border. Clarissa Ward joins me now from Ashkelon. Clarissa, explain what happened in that place and also what you have been seeing throughout the day because Israeli defense spokesperson said that Israel is in control now or has control over their sovereign territory, though there still may be pockets of Hamas terrorists waiting to attack on Israeli soil and more trying to come across still, but they believe that large-scale attacks have stopped. Is that right?

WARD: That's right. I think they feel that they're largely in control of that part of the puzzle. That's why they brought us down, actually, or invited us to come and see that area along the border, which was actually the first area that was breached by those Hamas militants who came across in a pickup truck and started spraying the entire area, killing a lot of civilians. And while we were down there just taking some footage and doing some live shots, there was, as you saw, a large volley of rockets incoming. We took shelter. And I think the important thing to take away from that, Anderson, is that this is what life is like on both sides of this border for so many people. I don't know if you can hear it in the background right now, but we are just hearing a relentless pounding of the Gaza Strip. It's been going on now for nearly 24 hours and I've never heard anything quite like it.

[14:05:09]

We're seeing some pretty horrifying images coming out of Gaza now. We know the IDF says they have cut off fuel, they have cut off food, they have cut off electricity. Hundreds and hundreds of people, more than 500 killed inside Gaza and obviously that number only expected to rise. And the rockets just not letting up either, Anderson. I'm wearing this flak jacket just in case we have another barrage while I'm live with you. I want to be able to stay out here with you. But a couple of hours earlier, again, another large barrage right here in Ashkelon. The streets are so dead you could hear a pin drop, honestly, and people just getting ready to hunker down for another night, Anderson. COOPER: So, has, you know, obviously with this large assault you've

been hearing in Gaza, has the pace of rocket attacks coming from Gaza, from Hamas and Islam Jihad, has that slowed?

WARD: From what we've seen throughout the day, it has not slowed down at all. Not in the area where we were this morning, not here in Ashkelon. And it's important to remember, it's difficult for the IDF. They can run around with these rocket launchers, set them off from any given location, and then quickly move on to the next place, which makes it incredibly difficult to respond or retaliate effectively. We heard one Israeli media station telling people that they should collect enough food to potentially spend the next few days inside.

And this is all happening with the kind of looming specter of some kind of an announcement, potentially from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about some possibly ground invasion, is what a lot of people are speculating one might be looking at. Certainly, we've seen a great deal of amour and personnel, Israeli military moving towards the border area earlier on today. We were at another area where we saw a large staging ground for tanks. So clearly something is afoot, and no one knows exactly what.

And of course this ever-present fear of what this would mean for those hostages, particularly in the light of this latest threat from Hamas, that they would begin potentially executing and broadcasting that execution of civilian hostages, really kind of making it even a murkier picture as to how Israel can try to thread the needle of doing what it says it needs to do in Gaza, while at the same time trying to protect the lives of those who may be still held there. And just on the peace, you mentioned as well, Anderson, about the number of hostages and how we really don't have a good sense.

The IDF has now come out and says that they've notified 30 families, or the families of at least 30 hostages. That doesn't mean there aren't more, but it certainly means there are at least 30 families who will not be sleeping well tonight, Anderson. Oh, you can just see behind me there. That's Gaza in that direction there.

COOPER: We should also point out on the hostage front, many of the families that we have spoken to say that they have not heard directly from Israeli authorities, and they have been getting confirmation as best they can. You're getting more incoming. Is that incoming or outgoing?

WARD: I don't think it's incoming. I think that was outgoing, but it was a little closer than what we've heard before, so I think it's okay. I mean, yeah.

COOPER: Most of the families are finding out about their loved ones being held hostage by watching sick videos that Hamas has posted online on Telegram and other channels like that. Clarissa, we're going to come back to you. I want to bring in CNN's Nick Robertson. He is also along the border. He's now in Sderot, Israel. Nick, what have you been seeing? NICK ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, literally

in the last couple of minutes, the last two minutes while you've been talking to Clarissa, hearing and seeing rockets being fired up out of Gaza. We were here last night, and initially those rockets were not being intercepted. That would indicate to me that they were headed further north into central Israel because the way that the Iron Dome defensive system works, it's interlocked across the country, and the system will use the best available Iron Dome interceptor to bring it down. So, if the missile is calculated as going on a long trajectory, it will be picked up later in its flight.

[14:09:59]

So, we saw several, I would say half a dozen missiles taking off flying northwards, but not intercepted, which again, would be potentially an indication that they're headed north, potentially towards Central Israel. We did see a couple of others that were intercepted on the horizon. And that would be potentially explaining some of the noises that Clarissa could hear.

I could hear you two having the conversation about what was happening, what Clarissa could see and hear. And we had, if you will, a perspective from just perhaps, we're perhaps 10 mile away from where Clarissa is, just about two miles from Gaza, just further down the side of the Gaza Strip, it's right behind us here. So that we sort of have another, if you will, picture vantage point on the rockets that are being fired and also the impacts on Gaza.

So, it's quite quiet right now in terms of impacts, but we have been hearing them. We've had the sounds of what sounds like artillery from here that we have seen deployed in this area earlier today, outgoing as well. And just an hour ago, we, at this location, there were a group of police border officers here, all taking shelter in the rocket shelter, just here because there was again, a barrage of rockets coming in on this location on Sderot.

Of course, we took shelter at the same time with them, but it is Hamas that dictates, of course, when it's going to fire, where it's going to fire, the interceptors take them down as best they can. And then the response from the Israeli Defense Forces to try again, to see where they were launched from and try to take out those, anyone perpetrating a launch or those launch sites so they can't be used again. And it is so difficult for the Israeli Defense Forces because Hamas has been doing this a long time and it is a cat and mouse, if you will, to try to take out the launches before they happen. Anderson.

COOPER: Nick, in terms of, you know, it's been now 60 hours plus, it's a little hard to --, the time is hard to tell here. It all says sort of blended together, but 60 hours plus since this surprise attack occurred. Has the posture you're seeing among Israeli forces on the ground where you are, is it different in the last 12 hours than it was, you know, 24, 48 hours ago? I mean, is there a sense that the chance of there being actual Hamas terrorists hiding on the ground somewhere in Sderot around there, is that, has that reduced significantly? ROBERTSON: I would say the chance of the terrorists being on the ground has reduced. At this time, last night, we were in the centre of Sderot and even later into the night, there was an ongoing operation a few hundred yards from where we were to try to chase down two to three suspected Hamas militants who were in that area. There was an operation ongoing to do that. Today, it's different. There is still a sense of very high security, but the big change to your point in the past 12 hours that we're seeing is a much greater level of deployment of military hardware.

We've seen areas of clusters of 20 or more tanks. We weren't seeing that 24 hours ago. We're seeing many more troops out on patrol, really experienced Israeli Defense Force troops, the older troops, not the younger recruits, the older troops in the open jeeps with the guns pointing out at the ready with their night vision goggles on at the ready, really experienced Israeli Defense Forces out on patrol, multiple groups of them on patrol. So, we are seeing close to the border here with Gaza, a heavier and more ready deployment.

But the sense also as well is that there's more and more and more of it coming in. We've literally seen this coming past us here. What I can see on the military vehicles is equipment that's going to be offloaded at some of the sites we can expect to be set up around here, the local headquarters, the artillery sites that get dug in around here with the howitzers. We've seen some of the heavy mechanized artillery guns. They look like tanks. They're much bigger. That looks like the lights in this neighborhood have just gone off. It's not clear why, but that's the nature of the situation at the moment. The paraphernalia, the military paraphernalia, if you will, that is increasing and we're just seeing more and more and more of it come in, Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah, Nick Robertson, you and your team, please be careful. I will come back to you. We're expecting to now -- to hear from Benjamin Netanyahu. We have been told he's going to speak in about 12 or so minutes or 13 minutes from now. We will bring that to you obviously live. Families all over Israel are waiting desperate for word of their loved ones after this weekend's attack. At least nine U.S. citizens are known to be dead, according to U.S. officials.

[14:15:49]

Many others are still missing. Among the missing is Itay Chen, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel who's serving the Israeli defense forces in the armed corps. When Chen was on the Gaza border during the assault, his father says he last heard from his son this weekend when he called from a military base that was under attack at the time. Joining me now is Ruby Chen, Itay's father. Ruby, I'm so sorry we are talking under these circumstances. Tell us about that call. What did your son say?

RUBY CHEN, FATHER OF MISSING IDF SOLDIER ITAY CHEN: Yeah, first of all, it's Itay. That's the correct pronunciation. And Anderson, thank you for having me and allowing me to amplify my voice on this platform. The call Saturday morning was, of course, a very short call. He was under bombardment coming in, basically saying that they are under attack. And that was the last we heard of him. What we do know is that he was active and was seen two hours afterwards. But beyond that point, no one has seen him.

So, we have received official from the IDF claiming that his official status is missing in action. What does that mean? It means that nobody is able to identify him since a couple of hours in Saturday morning. No one has seen him in the hospital. He's not been identified and nobody has seen him in a log, you know, deceased. So, the only thing that the IDF knows to say is that we don't know where he is. And I think after 60 hours of being in Israel, I think it's a fair assumption to say he might not be in Israel as we speak.

And as a US citizen growing up in New York City, my children are also US citizens and they are Israeli citizens as well. And here's the challenge, I think, of someone like myself. How do we view ourselves and who do we want to actively take part in helping us finding our son?

COOPER: Have you heard anything from the US government?

CHEN: So, we, of course, reached out to the embassy here in Tel Aviv. We reached out to the State Department, my congressman. We've done what we can. But at the end of the day, the US is taking a back seat to this investigation. And here's something that I'd like to ask you, Anderson. What's happening now in Gaza is very unfortunate. But I am sure in a very short time, there will be many, many, many Palestinians with American passports, dual citizenships, that will be calling up the State Department and the president of the United States saying, help us. We need to get out of here. We are American citizens.

So, they view themselves first, not only as an American citizen, and they want to be treated as an American citizen. And I would argue that I want the same type of treatment. I, today, with my family, went in front of the US embassy, asking the US embassy to treat us first and my son as a US citizen. And if a US citizen is missing in action, there are various things that the US can do, independent of what the Israeli Defense Forces could do. And if he is indeed missing in action and might even be a POW, I think that the US, at a minimum, needs to demand that any POW that it is holding needs to be treated according to the international law.

Which states that you need to take care of the prisoner. You need to identify him. You need to allow the Red Cross or the UN to visit and see what is the status of that prisoner. We, unfortunately, do not get that treatment at the moment. President Biden and Secretary of State, we have great respect for them. They are saying all the correct things that we expect them to say. But, again, we believe that they could be more active in the actions to be taken to identify and find these US citizens that are missing in action.

[14:20:29]

COOPER: Ruby, there are so many families, as you well know, here going through what you are going through, and it is sickening and just horrific. It's impossible for anybody to imagine what these families are going through, what you are going through. Can you just talk a little bit about how you are trying to find out information? I talked to one mother whose daughters had been taken by Hamas, and she is scrolling through Telegram, awful Hamas videos on Telegram, just desperately searching for any images of her daughters in captivity. What does a parent do in this situation here right now today?

CHEN: Yes, that's one option. I don't think it's a healthy option. We are trying to put the pieces together of the big puzzle, what we do not know happened with Itay over the last 60 hours, talking to different people that are in hospitals that might have seen him, that should have seen him, that are close to other people that might have seen him. There is also the unit itself that are trying to put the pieces together themselves. Hand in hand, to try to put the pieces together, they still have to do a lot of fighting.

And I think, at least today, the priority is first to fight back and to do what is needed and then take care of the injured, of finding those that are missing. It's unfortunate, and going back to the United States, the resources that the United States has in its possession is second to none. And if the United States makes a decision that it understands that, yes, these are citizens that are Israelis, but also Americans, and if they are first Americans, then they should be doing much more in order to find these citizens that are missing.

COOPER: Yeah. Ruby Chen, I'm sorry we're talking of these circumstances. I appreciate your time and will continue to keep in touch with you, and we wish the best for you and your family and all for all the hostages and their families.

CHEN: If I could just add one small thing, Anderson, my youngest son is having a bar mitzvah this week, so if you know, the bar mitzvah ceremony is when a child reaches the age of 13 and he becomes an adult. So, we plan this weekend for all of us to be together, and that is why Itay actually stayed in the base last weekend in order to be home this weekend. We still very much hope that we will be able to celebrate this bar mitzvah ceremony with all of our families together. And here again, I plead to President Biden that, you know, values of the United States, you know, protecting our people wherever they might not be. Please do all in your power to make sure that we know where our son is and be able to celebrate as we wanted to just a week ago.

COOPER: Ruby Chen, thank you. Soon on CNN, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak. We will be bringing that to you live. Of course, we're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:29]

COOPER: Any minute we are expecting to hear from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We, of course, are going to bring that to you live. This as we learn that the U.S. military is moving key assets closer to Israel. As the country conducts wide-scale strikes in Gaza. Bigger strikes, no doubt, to come. America's largest and most advanced aircraft carrier is moving closer to Israel's coast. Squadrons of U.S. fighter jets are being deployed to the region.

CNN's MJ Lee joins me now live from the White House. MJ, President Biden has pledged full support to Israel. He certainly needs Congress to act in order to pass a larger aid package. The House is currently without a speaker. Which, from this vantage point, just seems an incredibly awful time for this. Where do things stand?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENCE: Yeah, Anderson, you saw over the weekend how swiftly President Biden moved to direct his team. To first and foremost bolster American military presence in the region. As you mentioned, a U.S. aircraft carrier has been deployed to the region. Scores of fighter jets have also moved to the area. And this is, of course, in part deterrence. And also, in part just wanting to avoid a situation where the conflict ends up spilling beyond Israel's borders.

That is a huge priority for the administration right now. But, Anderson, as you mentioned, we've heard the president personally pledge more aid to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And there is very much this complicating factor on Capitol Hill. Where we are in a situation without a permanent speaker of the House. And really without a resolution in hand. Lawmakers and U.S. officials that we have been speaking to over the last 48 hours or so. They are basically saying this is a unique situation. We've not been in this position before. So, they are really going to have to figure out how a potential future aid package to Israel. How that can actually move forward on Congress.

COOPER: U.S. officials are telling CNN that the U.S. remains in touch with the Qatari government. Who have been in talks with Hamas about the hostages in Gaza. Do we know anything more about that?

LEE: Yeah, our understanding right now is that the Qataris are playing a bit of a mediating role with Hamas. That they have been in touch with the terror group. In part about the hostages that are being held in Gaza. And given that reality U.S. officials are communicating with the Qataris about the situation. Now this is potentially significant because we did hear over the weekend. An Israeli minister saying that Americans are among the hostages being held in Gaza. So, if that ends up being true of course. This situation with the Qataris and the role that they are playing, could stand to be very, very important.