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CNN Speaks To Music Festival Survivor After Hamas Attack; Air Raid Sirens In Ashkelon, Israel; Families Of Americans Missing After Hamas Attack Plead For Help. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 10, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Amir, stand by for one moment. I want to go to Clarissa Ward. Clarissa --

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK.

BURNETT: It sounds like we're hearing air raid sirens where you are.

WARD: Yes. Hi, Erin. We're in Ashkelon. We are hearing air raid sirens. I'm seeing the Iron Dome up there, hearing some booms. You can probably hear that.

This is now, my count, about the fifth or sixth time we have had volleys of rockets being fired here at the city. Hamas had put out a warning that people needed to leave the city by 5:00 p.m., that they would be striking the city and they have kept true to their word. There has been sustained activity here.

We have been here for three days now. But certainly, in the last couple of hours, it has been at a far more intense pace than anything we've seen in the last 72 hours. It appears to be a little bit quieter now that you can see -- I'm going to step in now. You can see still the remnants of the smoke from where the Iron Dome intercepted those missiles.

I think the hope for people living here had been that after those barrages, which were periodic from about 5:00 p.m. to about 5:35 local time, then there was a little bit of a lull. You even started to see a few cars on the street. But clearly, this is not something that is going to end anytime soon.

Israel's leaders have warned people that this was not going to be a quick and easy fight. And here on the ground, it's very clear that this is essentially part of the new normal, and that you are going to have these barrages of rockets coming. And they come at a moment's notice, Erin. I mean, I don't know if you heard that.

The time difference from hearing the siren to hearing the Iron Dome intercepting, a matter of maybe 30 seconds or something. So, people do not have a lot of time to get to shelters in this situation, which is exactly why you see so many people are basically living in shelters at the moment. And, Erin, they are staying in there as much as they can to try to keep safe. Erin. BURNETT: All right. Clarissa, in Ashkelon, whereas it is dusk here, you can -- you can hear this picking up and again as we've said possibly a very long night. Even here in Tel Aviv, you know, you can hear when Gaza whether it's Israeli strikes on Gaza, it's unclear what it is, but you can hear the thuds.

I don't know if you can hear it behind me. But you could -- we could feel it in our bodies. I don't know if all that -- if everyone can hear that but that's what you're having here. So, it gives you a sense of just the scale and the space that we're talking about.

Amir Ben Natan is with me and -- he was with me, as you know, just before Clarissa was speaking, was at that music festival. Amir, as we're hearing this, and Clarissa is reporting on what's happening in Ashkelon where she's standing, how are you managing through this right now? Obviously, your life in so many ways has changed in just these past few days.

AMIR BEN NATAN, AT MUSIC FESTIVAL WHERE HUNDREDS DIED IN HAMAS ATTACK: Yes. And here actually in my city, like, I didn't hear the alarms right now. So, pretty calm. And I have here like, really, outside the door here. So, a fire alarm, I could go there in a few seconds. So, we feel pretty safe here. And I mean this is like, kind of normal in Israel.

BURNETT: Amir, I want to ask you another thing about the festival when you are describing how -- when you finally realized something was wrong, people were running and just that unbelievable panic and chaos, and you're running as fast as you can. There was a moment I know where you approached that field where so many bodies were found, where so many people were massacred, and you had a moment where you could have gone into that field. And you didn't. You made a choice that possibly saved your life.

NATAN: Yes.

BURNETT: Where did you go?

NATAN: Yes, it's true. So, I arrived at the field and I just thought if it's right to keep running into the field because actually what I was thinking, that I don't know where it leads, like maybe it leads to Gaza. I don't know this area.

And I just -- I saw a bush on my left side. And I thought maybe I could hide there so I decided it's the best option. So, we went inside this bush.

BURNETT: And at one point there, you heard the Hamas terrorists. You heard them there by the bush. Did they ever see you?

[11:35:06]

NATAN: Yes. So, I was in this bush for about one hour. Honestly, like, I kind of blacked out from this hour. I don't really remember what I heard. It -- this bush but after about one hour like two policemen arrived and I was there with few other people. So, the policeman told us to move from there. And then I -- so, I believe one dead body on the way.

And I didn't feel safe so after like, shortly I decided to hide again in another bush and will -- when it was in the second bush, I heard like war outside -- like serious war. Like, the rockets that are right now it's nothing like this. It's like -- really like they knew that anytime like a bullet or a grenade or something can fall on me.

BURNETT: Yes.

NATAN: And then after a while was silence and I heard the terrorists talking quite nearby. And it just sprayed that they would not -- would not discover us.

BURNETT: And, Amir, of course, I know you were -- you were lucky. And you did survive, and you are here to tell us about it. And thank you so very much. We all appreciate it.

As our breaking news coverage continues here from New York, from Washington, from Tel Aviv, and from Ashkelon. We'll be back here on CNN in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:41:35]

BURNETT: All right. Well, we have been hearing the desperate pleas -- we have been hearing the desperate pleas from family members looking for their loved ones. More than 150 people are believed to be being held hostage in Gaza right now. And in many of those cases, they simply have no idea whether they are dead or whether they are alive.

Avital Aladjem was held hostage, was -- managed to survive, and then was actually released. One of the few stories with happy endings such that there can be one right now in a hostage situation. Here's what she told Anderson last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAHAR NETA, MOTHER ADRIENNE NETA TAKEN BY HAMAS: My mom used the little bit of Arabic that she picked up working as a nurse in the hospital in Sorokov for 20 years to come down the terrorist. And it is our hope, which is a bit ridiculous at this stage to say that the optimistic scenario here is that she's held hostage in Gaza and not dead on the street of the kibbutz where we grow up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And, of course, as I said, more than 150 people are still missing. And it seems unclear even now being here you know you'll receive texts from people in the United States saying that they know somebody -- one of their family members being held hostage. And all of that is what's at stake in Gaza as Gaza meanwhile, has been launching hundreds of rockets -- Hamas, hundreds of rockets at Israel throughout the day. And one of the main places that we have been seeing all of that is Ashkelon, where Clarissa Ward is tonight.

And, Clarissa, what are you actually seeing right now, especially after you hear the sirens and then the thuds of the Iron Dome and also the impact?

WARD: Well, it's just been a pretty intense I would say a couple of hours now, Erin. The worst of it was from about 5:00 local until 5:40. There was just a continuous volley of rockets slamming in, most of them intercepted by the Iron Dome, but we did hear some making impact as well.

There's some videos that have been shared on social media that we haven't cleared or verified yet that appear to possibly show some fires around. But certainly, you know it's important to underscore I think just how difficult this makes everything for the IDF in terms of dealing with the very pressing issue of the hostages, for example, when you are constantly confronted with this kind of on-off of alarm systems up, everybody run to the bunker because of rockets or because of skirmishes as our Nic Robertson has been reporting earlier on today that are still apparently ongoing along the Gaza border despite the best efforts of the IDF to try to thoroughly route out those Hamas militants once and for all.

Then I think you can imagine how difficult it becomes to kind of find the space and time to sit down, concentrate, and focus on one priority. And that's part of the tactic. I think that you're seeing here with Hamas. This is asymmetrical warfare, right? And it is, unfortunately, very effective because it means that you're constantly being diverted. You're constantly being thrown into a different direction. You're constantly having to address a different threat.

[11:45:07]

It's quiet here now for the last 10 minutes in Ashkelon. I made the mistake 20 minutes ago of taking my helmet off and thinking that maybe we could have a cup of coffee for a second. Suddenly, the air raid sirens start again, then people are running to the bunkers again, and so on and so forth. And so, you have this cycle where it just becomes a bit more challenging to get the focus and clarity and calm that's needed in a -- in a situation and a time like this, particularly with regards to those hostages and trying to get them released, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Clarissa, thank you very much, in Ashkelon as it is now dark here. And of course, preparing for what could be a very long night if these past few hours are any indication.

Kate, John, and Sara, as I said, obviously, here over the past hour, we haven't had any sirens. But in those couple hours before that, there were three of them. And at that point, everybody has to immediately go and take cover as Clarissa was just talking about.

It is just sort of a constant interruption into the focus of anything in anyone. And certainly, for the IDF as they're trying to actually rescue hundreds of people, right, more than a hundred people whose lives are at risk in Gaza right now, hostages. That completely change and hamper what they would -- may otherwise have been willing to do there, Kate, John, and Sara.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, Erin. And thanks so much for being there for all of us. And on that point of the hostages, we heard that gut-wrenching testimony if you will from families -- from four of the families of people who are missing. They have no contact with them. We heard that at the top of the show.

We're going to talk more about what we've learned from those families and their demand for communication, help, assistance, and a plan from the Israeli government of how to get their loved ones home. And also, a call for help from the Biden administration as well. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:25]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETA: And I want to be blunt when answering this question and say zero communication from the Israeli government. Zero communication on our side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That was the Nahar Neta. We heard from him a little earlier this morning. His mother was taken by Hamas terrorists, he thinks, during their raids in Southern Israel. Actually, the tragedy of it all is he doesn't know if she is a hostage or if she is dead.

BOLDUAN: Yes. He almost hopes, which is the tragedy of it all that she's a hostage right now.

BERMAN: And that's part of the issue right now. The uncertainty, the frustration, and that is what we're hearing from many of these families who just don't know what has happened to their sons, their mothers, their sisters, their friends, and their loved ones. Little to no communication from the Israeli government since the terrorist raise.

Let's get to CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. Christiane, I know you've been hearing much of the same thing.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, John. It is truly extraordinary. I don't know. Can you expect this kind of chaos at this kind of time? But the families are, absolutely. As you heard from that gentleman, absolutely beside themselves, including the ones who I've been speaking to, whether they're Americans or whether they're Israelis, or whoever, they're saying they're not getting any word.

One woman who I spoke to yesterday -- last night, in fact, her name is Alexandra Ariev. And she has a sister who was taken during that awful Saturday. And has been taken into Gaza to the best of their knowledge. And it took them a long, long time to get any kind of confirmation from the government that actually, yes this person was removed from this particular military base just outside the border there. This is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDRA ARIEV, SISTER OF KIDNAPPED SOLDIER: The last call my sister made was on the seventh of October, Saturday, 6:30 a.m. She called me then my parents. And she basically called to say goodbye, that she loves us, and she told that they're in a bomb shelter because of the missiles and the bombing.

And then after the bombing, there was a raid on the base. They heard the terrorists that were going through the base near them, and that they heard shooting. We guess that the terrorists shot all the male or female who did was -- that they were able to get a weapon. And they hurt the other girls and they -- and they took them, and they abducted them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And they only figured out that their daughter, her sister -- but the mother, the mother was the first to recognize and know what happened because Hamas had posted it on a telegram channel apparently and they recognize their loved one, Karina, 19 years old, bloodied in the face, among some other girls who had been taken from that particular base. So, they recognized it. And that's how they found out. And they're still getting no answers as to what may happen and what has happened.

And of course, as we know, Israel is responding with massively increased airstrikes. The death toll in Israel was 900, mostly civilians. They say that they found -- you know they've killed up to 1500 Palestinian militants in the skirmishes that apparently is still ongoing around the Gaza border. And inside Gaza, according to our sources, and to the Ministry of Health there, there are 765 deaths, including more than a hundred children so far, and some 4000 wounded.

[11:55:11]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Christiane, you know, for the past 45 minutes, we have been seeing rockets sent over from Gaza towards Ashkelon, but into Israel. And then, of course, Israel has responded. They have responded with strikes that we also want to show you the result of some of those strikes.

We have seen huge buildings that have been crushed. But we have also, as we were on the air, saw strikes coming into Gaza port. And you can see a couple of boats that are on fire now, those caused by Israeli airstrikes.

That is a picture from Ashkelon. I know you saw this as the Iron Dome had taken out some of the rocket fire that has been coming over. But we also did see what appeared to be a hit. You see that black smoke there under all of those rockets.

I do want to ask you sort of a two-pronged question. One. Is it surprising how many rockets that Hamas has amassed? They have sent over thousands of rockets, and this is unusual in this short amount of time. And secondly, what in God's name is Hamas's endgame in all of this?

AMANPOUR: Well, the short answer to your first question is yes, it's surprising even to Israeli intelligence, and certainly to the United States as well. This is one of the issues that maybe nobody wants to talk about too much right now. But the Israeli people are talking about it. They're on social media. They are very, very upset at a catastrophic intelligence failure that has cost them so much lives and the catastrophic inability to actually explain and reach their needs right now.

And I've spoken to IDF members. I've spoken to, you know, former government officials, former foreign ministers, prime ministers, they all say there is going to be one heck of an after-action report to find out what went wrong. Why did it take so long for soldiers -- Israeli soldiers to get to the massacre areas on Saturday? Hours and hours and hours these people were hiding and pleading for help before they got any official help, just volunteers were helping them.

So, yes. The entire system was taken by surprise. And the question is why and what happened in however long it's been taken to have you know Hamas in Gaza planning this huge attack, this unprecedented attack and that nobody knew was coming.

BOLDUAN: Christiane, thank you so much. That, we'll continue to follow all of this. We're also getting new reporting in the IDF engaged in a firefight with Hamas militants. This is some of -- could be what we've been kind of seeing from our correspondents on the ground. And they've been hearing because it's a near -- it's near kibbutz, near little south of Sderot. So, this could be they're engaged in a firefight with Hamas -- with Hamas terrorists militants right now, this evening. IDF troops on the ground told this to CNN.

BERMAN: Inside Israel.

BOLDUAN: Inside Israel.

BERMAN: Significantly, which means there are some Hamas terrorists still trying to infiltrate over the border there.

BOLDUAN: So, this continues. We're going to have much more on this new development inside Israel right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)