Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

War in Israel; Amid Israel War, Trump Calls Hezbollah "Very Smart"; Blinken Visits Israeli Donation Site, Delighting Aid Workers; Interview with Brother Omer Kidnapped by Hamas Amit Shem Tov; Rockets Deflected by Iron Dome Over Ashdod; Photos of "Babies Murdered and Burned" by Hamas Released by Netanyahu's Office; Interview with Family is in Gaza and Palestinian Journalist Laila El-Haddad; Friday's Meeting Between Blinken and Qatari Hostage Mediator. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 12, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And it's part of that. It's this instinct to make it all about himself, not thinking about others, let along thinking about uniting the nation or the world with our allies at this time.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Can I just quickly ask you about that thing? We just saw Antony Blinken in a remarkable, unprecedented gathering of Israelis hugging him, crying in his arms. He's a secretary of state, he is with the Biden administration. Do you see this as Donald Trump trying to find his role, to get the attention he so craves as opposed to trying to govern?

AVLON: That's --

SIDNER: Trying to show --

AVLON: That is the instinct. He's got to insert himself. The usher (ph) that he feels when it's not all about him. Even in the midst of a terrorist attack, trying to insert himself in the middle of this. The inability to rise above and unite. Yes, I don't think it's about anything more than his ego. And his instinct to praise strong men no matter how ugly that is. This is not hard to unite right now --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Ana --

AVLON: -- and yet it's impossible for him.

BERMAN: Is it as simple, Ana, as maybe -- go ahead.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, because to me, Donald Trump is who he is, right? We know who he is. He is an incoherent, narcissist who makes everything about himself. But for me, the problem really is people like Senator Tim Scott who talked about Joe Biden having blood on his hands. People like Ronna McDaniel, the head of the RNC, who said that was a great opportunity for Republican candidates.

That is irresponsible. You see Americans here have to talk with one voice. There is one culpable for this. There is one group of people with blood on their hands, and that is Hamas. And whether you are pro- Palestinian or whether you are pro-Israeli or, whether you are pro- both, you have to be against Hamas. And that is where our focus, as Americans and certainly the members of our government, and those who have platforms and our leaders should be directing their fire and directing their works.

And the contrast again could not be starker. At a time when you see billboards thanking America and thanking Joe Biden, at a time when you see Israelis gathering around our secretary of state, hugging him, and they are hugging him as an extension of America. You see, here in America, people are trying to blame Americans for what just happened in Israel. Come on, folks. Come on. Stop this stupidity. Stop the insanity. Stop the partisan shots. It's -- we have to unite at a time like this.

BERMAN: Ana Navarro and John Avlon, thanks to both of you.

SIDNER: We are looking there at live pictures of Gaza and what's been happening. And in Gaza, families on the other side of the border in Israel, desperately trying to get any kind of answers about their family members who have been taken hostage. Up next, we will speak to the brother of one of those hostages that have been kidnapped by Hamas, likely taken to the tunnels of Gaza. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

SIDNER: Israel has a staunch warning for Hamas this morning. They say, they will not provide Gaza with any electricity, water, or fuel until the Israeli hostages and all the hostages are returned home. On Saturday, Hamas terrorists stormed the Israeli border and took what Israeli authorities believed to be up to 150 people captives. The families of more than 95 hostages have been notified that their loved ones now were taken to Gaza.

One of the family members of those hostages, there he is, 21-year-old Omer Shem Tov. He was taken by Hamas at that music festival known as the Supernova Festival in Southern Israel while he was just trying to enjoy himself and his life. His brother Amit Shem Tov joins us right now.

First of all, Amit, thank you so much for taking some time out. I know this is a really, really difficult moment for you and your entire family. I wanted to ask you about your brother, Omer. He was kidnapped by Hamas at the Supernova Festival, how did you and the whole family found -- find out that your brother had been taken?

AMIT SHEM TOV, BROTHER OMER KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: So, it was Saturday morning, and we all heard the alarms. We thought it's going to be like casual, usual thing. Certainly, in Israel, every now and then we get the rockets sent to us. And then it comes down, it's kind of like a little -- this time, we noticed that there was a lot more, and that the Hamas managed to breach into Israel. So, we got into touch with Omer. We told him to send us his live location. The live location wasn't very accurate. First it seemed like he going up north, then south. It didn't -- it wasn't true -- I mean, it wasn't his true location. But in the end, we managed to see that his location is inside of Gaza. At first, we were in denial but towards the evening, at like 8:00 p.m., we received a video that shows Omer tied up in the back of a pickup truck and we managed to recognize him.

SIDNER: Now, when you said you received a video, was it something you got on social media or did officials send something to you? How did you discover that horrible moment where you recognized him at the back of that truck?

[10:40:00]

SHEM TOV: OK. So, a friend of Omer sent him -- sent us a video, but Omer -- his friend received it from Telegram. So, it was like a chain. It was sent to someone, who sent to someone, who sent to someone until it get to us.

SIDNER: Wow. When was the last time that you were able to speak to your brother, Omer?

SHEM TOV: Actually, on a Friday night, we had dinner. All of the family together. And this was the last time that I saw him.

SIDNER: Can you tell me what your reaction was as you heard what was going on? You just hung out with him Friday night, these events where there was dancing and music and a rave was going on, early morning Hamas comes storming in. What were your conversations with him? Give us a little sense of how he is as a human being.

SHEM TOV: As a human being, he is a truly kind soul. He has a lot of friends. Everybody loves him. His dream is to become a music producer, so I hope one day he comes back and we see that dream come true. I didn't really have touch with Omer that Saturday morning, because I was still asleep, sadly. So, my mom and my sister and my dad were speaking to him through call, a phone call. They told him come back home, but -- so he managed to get to the car, but the car did not manage to get out of the parking area, out of the south --

SIDNER: I'm sorry.

SHEM TOV: We are truly devastated. I'm devastated. I wish for nobody --

SIDNER: Yes, I am sorry. I can hear the -- just sheer emotion in your voice. I lastly want to ask you, have you heard anything, at all, from Israeli officials on where he may be? Whether he is on a list somewhere? Any kind of information that you have gotten?

SHEM TOV: So, I think on Monday, government officials came over to the -- to our house to confirm the fact that he has been kidnapped and he is held up by Hamas. I think they saw the same video that we showed -- we saw. And they gave us his last location, and that's all we know for now. It's been five days, almost six, and --

SIDNER: Looking at these pictures --

SHEM TOV: -- we're worried.

SIDNER: -- he has this incredibly relaxed look, blue eyes, was having a good time. You guys just had dinner and were just enjoying family time, and then this all happened. I know you're devastated because you have said so, and anybody would be. I am so sorry for you and your family having to go through this with more than 100 other families. Stay in touch with us. If we hear anything, we will certainly get that information to you as well. Amit Shem Tov, thank you so much for taking the time out with us today.

SHEM TOV: Thank you very much.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: That's got to be so hard.

All right. I want to go to Jeremy Diamond now who is in Ashdod, the Israeli city north of Gaza right here. Jeremy had to take cover again after the sirens went off, warning of some kind of rockets potentially coming in. Why don't you walk us through what happened, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. We've had now two barrages of rockets heading towards the City of Ashdod in just the last couple of hours. And this last one was really close. You know, we have heard the intercepts very, very loud, which indicates that they were, you know, right above us, right behind us, we were able to see the smoke in the air when we returned.

But when we went into the shelter, we were there with a whole family that moved actually from the City of Ashkelon, which is right behind, slightly closer to the Gaza Strip. They moved up north to here in Ashdod hoping for a little bit more safety. And I spoke with the father while we were in the shelter, listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: You can see that we are in the shelter and this is life in Israel near the Gaza Strip right now. As you can see, there's a couple of families here who are staying at the hotel. Do you guys want to talk? Do you speak English?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are from Ashkelon.

DIAMOND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are from Ashkelon. We leave our own because it's the bomb.

DIAMOND: Yes, Ashkelon is much closer to Gaza.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Closer. There's a lot of bomb, a lot of bomb. All the child here in crying. Don't -- and sleep at night. And all -- it's a lot of afraid, the child. This was in (INAUDIBLE) and don't walk.

[10:45:00]

DIAMOND: So, you came here to look for some more safety? Hoping --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the manager of hotel, they gave us five days to be in here.

DIAMOND: For free?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And free.

DIAMOND: For free?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For free, yes. A good man. A good man.

DIAMOND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

DIAMOND: And do you feel safer here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the children, they feel safer, but when they are the noise --

DIAMOND: They get afraid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they get afraid.

DIAMOND: They get afraid, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And so, you can hear there that father talking about trying to bring his family further, you know, to safety. And his children when they were in Ashkelon, not able to sleep. Afraid as they heard the booms overhead. But clearly, even as they moved a couple miles north to the City of Ashdod where we are now, still not been able to entirely escape that situation.

And you know, John, as much as we talk about Israeli families, I always want to try and talk about what is happening in Gaza as well, because there we have also seen images of children who are terrified by the bombs that are falling overhead. And of course, one reality that does not exist in Gaza that exists here, you know, Gaza does not have the same kind of bomb shelters. They do not have the iron dome overhead.

And so, I just think it's important to always keep in mind the fear, that the very real fear, the psychological impact and the deaths and the injuries that occur on the Israeli side, but to also hold in the other hand what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The -- because on both sides, what you have is humanity, is children, is civilians being impacted by this war between Israel and Hamas.

BERMAN: All right. Our Jeremy Diamond, thank you. Jeremy Diamond here in Ashdod. You can see where Gaza is in relation to where he is. And Jeremy talking to people who had fled from Ashkelon to Ashdod because they thought they might be safer to move away from Gaza right there. Important perspective, Jeremy. We do appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. We have some disturbing new information to bring to you. After the Israeli prime minister's office initially said that babies had been beheaded, they walked that back. The Israeli government walked that back as did President Biden.

But this new information coming in is extremely disturbing. The prime minister's office has released and I am quoting here, "Horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by" -- as they put it, "-- the Hamas monsters." He goes on to say in a social media post from Netanyahu's office that Hamas is inhuman, Hamas is ISIS. The three photos that are being release showed two babies whose bodies have burned beyond recognition. And a third that is blood stained. It is a very small baby, an infant.

Netanyahu posted the pictures. They were -- we are not going to show them to you are right now, they are extremely disturbing. And we want to make sure for the families to just make sure we're not showing those images to you as they are where you can see every horrible thing.

That is where we are right now in this conflict. I think they were shared with Secretary of State Antony Blinken who we have just been watching extraordinary pictures of talking to Israelis, hugging them as they tell their stories of survival at that music festival. And so, now we are getting some images. I know Hamas has denied beheading children, but they certainly cannot deny what is on video, what is on -- in photos, and what people have seen with their own eyes when it comes to the children.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Yes, and no matter what, I mean, to put a -- no finer point needs to be put on children were murdered, full stop.

SIDNER: Period.

BOLDUAN: That's it.

BERMAN: All right. We are getting again this new information just in. We're soon going to hear from the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who is in Tel Aviv. Has been meeting with Israeli leaders. You're looking at live pictures of smoke billowing up over Gaza. Israel says it is hitting Hamas targets in that enclave. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BERMAN: A new round of airstrikes on Gaza this morning. Israel says, it is hitting Hamas terror targets. Palestinian officials say, more than 1,400 people including 447 children have been killed, 6,000 wounded. Israel had ordered a complete siege on the enclave of more than 2 million, that includes cutting off supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel. The U.N. is warning that risk of starvation is rising. The Palestinian health ministry says, hospitals are on the verge of catastrophe.

I am joined now by Laila El-Haddad, a Palestinian-American journalist who lives in Maryland. Her family is currently in Gaza. Laila, thank you for being with us now. Please explain when this happens, where can the residents of Gaza go? What recourse do they have?

LAILA EL-HADDAD, PALESTINIAN JOURNALIST AND FAMILY IS IN GAZA: Thank you so much for having me. They can go nowhere. There's nowhere they can go. I mean, this is what we've been trying to emphasize over and over again. And forgive me but, you know, my heart is pounding because I keep getting WhatsApp messages around the clock from both sides of my family updating us just if they are alive or not. The -- many members of our family have had to leave their homes and go to other relative's homes and then have to leave those homes and find themselves in danger. But there are no bomb shelters in Gaza. There is no safe place in Gaza. There is a complete blockade on Gaza.

[10:55:00]

Not just now, it's a blockade upon a blockade upon a blockade for 17 years now in some form of closure before that. There is a naval blockade, so unless they plan to swim out to sea before getting shot by Israeli navy gun ship, there's literally nowhere they can go. And the only usable border crossing that was restricted, even in use, the Rafah Crossing was bombed. So, my own uncle tried to leave. His permanent residence is in Jordan, and he was visiting his family there and the Rafah Crossing was bombed about half an hour after he tried to exit.

BERMAN: Yes, Rafah Crossing is the crossing into Egypt which is not open, even if it had not been bombed it is not open on either side, correct?

EL-HADDAD: That's rights. That's absolutely right. There's a handful of people that were attempting to leave before, and residency before the full-scale assault began. And then they -- the Israelis bombed it twice. So, now it's been completely sealed shut.

BERMAN: Can you explain the -- Hamas is the elected government inside Gaza. What their relationship is in times like this between Hamas and the civilians, the people in these residential buildings who may be wanting to move to somewhere else?

EL-HADDAD: This is first and foremost about a population of 2.3 million people who are captive, who are besieged. 80 percent of which are registered refugees with the United Nations. Many or most are not actually from Gaza. They're from town and villages surrounding Gaza in historic Palestine. Villages that they have been forbidden, have been denied the right of return to or even remembering or even saying, completely erased from memories since 1948. This is about those individuals, half of which are under the age of 25 by the way. Who have been denied their most basic freedom. You know, I don't want to reduce this to access of food and electricity and water as important as that is. They've been prevented the ability to farm freely, to fish more than four or six nautical miles into sea, to go and study, to pursue higher education. They have been enduring a brutal siege who stated aims by the Israeli government, by the way, has been to deprive people of their basic freedoms of the ability to prosper and to develop and to live ordinary normal lives with dignity. That's what this is about.

And the fact that the elected leaders, elected Israeli leaders enjoying the full support of our government and of other European leaders can stand up and unabashedly say, we are going to turn Gaza into rubble, and we will attack the civilian population and deprive them of food, water and electricity. And everyone is just, kind of, twiddling their thumbs is just unfathomable. It's a war crime.

BERMAN: And again, and Hamas -- I mean, people will also point out, the Hamas Charter does call for the obliteration of Israel. The language, the rhetoric is very heated. I do want to ask on a macro level, and I'm not sure this is something you normally cover --

EL-HADDAD: That's right. And I do want to also just as -- to remind our viewers that elected Israeli government and officials have officially called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and called for Palestinians to be wiped out. These are Israeli ministers, elected by their leadership, have said that they do not want Palestine to exist. And I should point out long before this in the Oslo Accords, there was never a mention of a Palestinian state being established. The Likud Charter that Netanyahu defends calls actually --

BERMAN: Can I ask just about -- in terms of -- we just learned that the Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to go to Qatar. Qatar has influence with Hamas. What kind of pressure do you think, or what kind of discussions, do you think could be taking place between Qatar and Hamas?

EL-HADDAD: I mean, the hope is that there is some kind of negotiation for an immediate end to hostilities, obviously. All human life is sacred, and there needs to be just an immediate end of the bombardment of Gaza, and an immediate end to all hostilities so that we can address the root of all of this problem, which is the ongoing brutal, extremely violent, structurally and otherwise, occupation of the Palestinian people that they have been enduring for 56 years now. When that ends, when Israeli apartheid of Palestinian land and people end, then there can be a just and secure peace for all peoples. That's -- that will really help us achieve the vision of peace for all.

BERMAN: And I know Secretary of State Antony Blinken also perhaps wants and the Qataris for the some 150-hostages who might be being held inside Gaza right now. Laila El-Haddad, thank you very much for being with us.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]