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Hamas Believed To Be Holding As Many As 150 Hostages; Blinken Speaks After Meeting With Leaders In Qatar. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 13, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. We're following all of the developments coming out of Israel. Our Sara Sidner has arrived in Tel Aviv. She's on the ground.

It's really great to have you there, Sara. You were able to speak with some family -- some of the family of one of the hostages -- the Israeli hostages. What do they tell you?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Kate, you know I left you and John to come here -- to be on the ground here, a place where I used to live and work for CNN. And upon getting here, I spoke with one of the family members of a hostage who has been gone since Saturday. They know she has a hostage because they have actually seen a video now of the people who took her -- the Hamas terrorists who took her. Very disturbing of course for the family to see.

I talked to her brother-in-law, partly because her sister, the woman he's married to is, so distraught. She cannot get herself together. She cannot do anything but think of what is happening with her sister and whether or not she will be rescued from the hands of Hamas.

I do want you to hear from Dan Mor. He is a person who normally says look, were you -- we live a good life. We love it here. We love our lives here. But this has completely and utterly devastated the family, that Moran who is his sister-in-law, was at that festival where everybody was dancing very near the Gaza border. And then she calls up her family and they can hear gunshots going off over and over and over and over again.

There is screaming. There is rushing. There is yelling. And then they lose her. Then, they don't hear from her anymore and they have not heard from her since. What they have done though is see a video of her now that was put out on TikTok. And here's how he describes what he saw in that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN MOR, RELATIVE OF VICTIM BEING HELD BY HAMAS: We could hear the gunfire over the phone.

SIDNER: You could hear -- wow. MOR: It was the scariest, most surreal thing you could ever imagine. And a few hours later when we -- after we lost contact later on, a video showed up on TikTok, an Arabic-speaking video, an Arabic --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, he talks about an Arabic-speaking video. On that video, you can hear in Arabic, them talking about her saying basically that she was like an animal that they were hunting, that she was in the tree as they put it. And the tree was a bush where she was hiding. That's how she was found.

I have seen the video myself. We will share that with you at a later time. But on the video, she is crouching on the ground, shaking, holding her hands like this while these two men are standing around her making comments about her. It is so incredibly disturbing.

The family at this point has no idea where she is. They do believe she is in Gaza with the other 150 or so hostages, 17 of them Americans. But they are just at a loss. And one thing that has a lot of these families really concerned now is the news today that Israel has told the people in Gaza that they need to evacuate half of the Gaza Strip, which anyone who has been there and seen that they're sort of locked in, they're not getting in Egypt, they're not being able to come out from -- into the Israel side.

[11:35:20]

So, you know, the UN saying, look. They're stuck. For the families of the hostages hearing that, they know that could mean real danger for their loved ones too, but they are torn as to what to do. They're not military analysts, they don't know how things will work, and they -- all they want is for someone to go in and get their loved ones. But they realize just how difficult that is at the moment, Kate, and John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Sara, you know, you mentioned that you had lived in that region before, and you've been there at times of some conflict. Obviously, this is on a different scale. And I know you haven't been there long this time. But I am just curious, when you landed at the airport, even getting around as you have the last few hours, what kind of a difference is the situation from now to before?

SIDNER: That is such a good question. Because the difference is, literally everyone is talking about this. In this area -- in Israel, you hear rockets going off fairly regularly, depending on where you live, especially in those border towns in places like Ashdod and Ashkelon, anywhere sort of near the Gaza border.

It is not all that unusual to hear rockets going up every now and then. And people go about their daily lives because usually the Iron Dome takes care of it and they're able to move on. Every now and then, there's damage. Sometimes someone is injured. More rarely someone is killed, but it is a part of the life living here in Israel.

What is different this time is that almost every single person that you come in contact with, knows someone who has either been killed, injured, or kidnapped. Knows someone whose children have either been killed, injured, or kidnapped, or grandparents who have been killed, injured, or kidnapped. It is remarkably devastating that so many people in this country have ties -- close ties with someone who has been maimed or killed in this attack by Hamas.

They also talk about what is happening in Gaza because they realize there are civilians, innocents there as well. And they are seeing that horror happen as well again. And so, there is this sense here.

It's very different. It is far more quiet. Although we are on the Sabbath. This is Shabbat, the sun has gone down and people are observing. But it is different. The feeling is much more tense, it's much more filled with sorrow, and it's much more filled with fear, John,

BOLDUAN: Now, I was just thinking, you know, Sara, hearing from the family of this woman who is now hostage, and that they -- I mean, they need something to hold on to. How are they? Where are they? Anything.

And John spoke with a spokesperson for the IDF earlier in the show, and he said as far as they know, they have had no proof of life of the hostages. It is just kind of adding to the complexity and the sadness and the trauma that all of these families are feeling. I mean -- and must be unbearable.

SIDNER: Kate, that is the right word, unbearable. When I talked to Dan Mor, you know, he's the brother-in-law. He goes, I don't know why I'm not crying all the time. Like my wife is in such a state. I just -- I don't know what to do to help her but I'm not keeping all of that in. so, the bottom line --

BERMAN: Sara, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken right now is in Doha in Qatar where he has been meeting with Qatari leaders. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Obviously, we don't have the translation just yet. We believe that is the Qatari foreign minister who was talking about the meetings he has held with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. We will hear from Blinken very shortly.

This is quite a day for the U.S. Secretary of State. He began the day meeting in Jordan -- in Amman with the King of Jordan, but also the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. He is in Qatar right now. Qatar, of course, has influence with Hamas. There are Hamas political leaders who live in Doha in Qatar.

[11:40:02]

Blinken will be pressuring the Qataris to get Hamas involved with releasing the hostages. And later, the secretary goes to Bahrain. And then also ultimately today, to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE also, in this trip. This is a fairly complicated diplomatic mission and was sort of a different goal that he saw.

BOLDUAN: Look. And the role -- and the role Qatar can play -- is playing is a very complicated one here. I mean, as we -- as the -- as the terror attack happened, we -- Qatari officials came out and blamed Israel for where things -- what was happening there. And then as the days progressed, we heard Qatar try to present itself saying they want to act as something of, I guess I'll call it an intermediary between Israel and the United States and all other countries to try to speak with Hamas in order to get the hostages out.

I just had the former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren on talking about the real difficulty of how much you want -- how much Israel would want the United States would want Qatar to act as an intermediary. But it's a very important showing that Tony Blinken went there. I mean, right, as you said, John, he was in Israel -- it was just yesterday. And then he moves on. And then now, he's already here.

BERMAN: And again, we're waiting either for a translation or for the U.S. Secretary of State to begin speaking. And the minute he speaks in English, we will bring that to you live here in Qatar. As we said, he wants the Qatari to pressure Hamas.

Later tomorrow, he will head to Saudi Arabia and also Egypt. Egypt, of course, a key player here because they have a border with Gaza. A border that is closed. And perhaps the U.S. secretary will try to work with the Egyptians maybe to open that border to at a minimum let aid get into the Gazans or maybe let some Palestinians out there, although that seems unlikely. Egypt has been unwilling to open that border to people from Gaza. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Well -- and that is -- you know, there's like three fronts, right that we know that the United States and Tony Blinken is helping to spearhead. It's showing the ironclad support of U.S. support of Israel to, as they say, carry out legitimate security operations to take out -- to -- when in the face of a terror attack.

And also, as we know from background briefings that we've been getting some reporting in from our colleagues from the State Department also hearing that behind the scenes, Tony Blinken was also pushing for Israeli officials to work now and quickly to try to establish some sort of safe zone for Palestinians in Gaza to -- for them to be able to get out of harm's way. As what we can see is -- what's expected is this soon-to-be incursion into Gaza by Israeli forces.

BERMAN: And again, as Blinken continues his trip to the nations of Bahrain -- the kingdoms of Bahrain and the UAE, they are an even different situation than Qatar is. I think we're in here for the secretary right now. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, good evening. Let me start by expressing my gratitude to the emir, and to the prime minister, my friend, Muhammed, for as always very productive discussions. Qatar has been a very close partner to the United States on a broad range of issues that are crucial both of our countries and in this region. From working together on evacuating Americans, Afghans, and others from Afghanistan, to cooperating very closely in responding to humanitarian emergencies, like the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and in Syria.

We're meeting today at what is a difficult, but also consequential time for the region in the wake of Hamas's appalling attack that killed more than 1300 Israelis, at least 27 American citizens, and people from more than 30 countries. The United States and Qatar share the goal of preventing this conflict from spreading. We discussed in detail our efforts to prevent any act, state or non-state from creating a new front in this conflict.

We're also working intensively together to secure the release of hostages, wielding American citizens being held by Hamas in Gaza. I'm grateful for the urgency that Qatar is bringing to this effort. I had an opportunity to meet yesterday with the families of some of those being held hostage by Hamas.

Their anguish is profound. They're desperate to bring their loved ones home. And we are working urgently on that effort. We're doing that with Qatar and we're doing that with allies and partners across the region.

[11:45:00]

As Israel continues to respond to Hamas's devastating attacks, the United States will ensure that it has what it needs to defend its people. Our Secretary of Defense Austin was in Israel today doing just that, working closely with the Israelis to make sure that we're providing them what they need, and it will be able to do that on an ongoing basis. At the same time, we're in constant communication with Israeli officials and with multilateral international organizations, humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations agencies, including the ICRC to get aid to civilians in Gaza.

As I said yesterday in Tel Aviv, Israel has the right. Indeed, it has the obligation to defend its people and to try to ensure that Hamas can never repeat what it's done. We continue to discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.

We recognize that many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own, and the Palestinian civilians have lost their lives. We mourn the loss of every innocent life. Israeli, Palestinian, Jew, Christian, Muslim, as well as civilians of every faith and every nationality who have been killed.

Let's not lose sight of why this is happening. Israel is conducting operations in Gaza because Hamas carried out terrorist attacks that killed in the most horrific ways, 1300 of its people. Hamas terrorists slaughtered, raped, mutilated, tortured, burned, innocent civilians, from babies to the elderly, men, women, boys, and girls. Now, efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza are complicated by the fact Hamas continues to use innocent civilians as human shields and is reportedly blocking roads to prevent Palestinians from moving to Southern Gaza, out of harm's way. We know the humanitarian situation is urgent. We're actively engaged with partners, including Qatar, to get aid to those who need it. Your Excellency, thank you again for today's very, very good discussions and for all the work that our countries have done together. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: OK, the U.S. Secretary of State there speaking, I think, in very careful terms given where he is.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it was forceful and careful, right?

BERMAN: Forceful and careful given where he is and who he is with right in there. He's grateful, he says, for the urgency of Qatari officials in helping to free the hostages inside Gaza or the urgency with which they are working to do that right now. And he also talked about how Israel. They are urging them to take every precaution to avoid hurting civilians inside Gaza.

BOLDUAN: They're also saying very clearly. "Let's not lose sight of why this is happening." It's because Hamas carried out a terror attack. And saying right there in front of the foreign minister, as he's standing there in Qatar, where a lot of the leadership of Hamas lives, saying that Hamas slaughtered, raped, burned, mutilated, innocent people. That is why this is now happening. That is why we're here.

BERMAN: And the Secretary of State is doing that in a capital, Doha, that hosts --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- the senior Hamas political leaders. So, again, if you're looking for signs of where the U.S. is and how the U.S. is operating here with some blunt truth, you're seeing it right there. We are waiting to hear more from the U.S. Secretary of State --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- when he does speak in English, where we get a translation, we'll bring it to you.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

BERMAN: Nic Robertson, who is in Sderot, overlooking Gaza right now. We're going to bring you in to talk appreciating that if Blinken starts speaking again, we're going to go back to him at a moment's notice. But I don't know if you heard what the secretary was saying there. But he talked about the urgency of the effort from Qatar to help free the hostages.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's a very urgent effort because Israel is lining up for a ground incursion. And the game changes. It's not a game. That's the wrong word. The situation -- the dire situation for those hostages changes the moment that ground incursion goes in because there's a possibility that as troops go in and go after Hamas leaders that they're using those -- some of those hostages as human shields that they could become, unfortunately -- (INAUDIBLE)

BERMAN: Nic, we're going to go back to the secretary right now.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- who is speaking. What's he's saying?

BOLDUAN: We're going to jump back in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLINKEN: What happened on Saturday never happens again. At the same time, the way Israel does this, matters. The way any democracy has to deal with such a situation, matters.

[11:50:11]

And to that end, we've discussed with the Israelis and urge the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians. It's also important to remember the fundamental issue that makes this so complicated. As I said, again, a moment ago, Hamas uses civilians as human shields. It puts them in places where they will be in danger. Puts them in places where they're used, in effect to try to protect Hamas officials or their equipment or infrastructure.

Civilians, of course, should not be the target of military operations. They are not the target of Israeli operations. They are very deliberately the target of Hamas's action.

I mentioned, as well, that we're very actively engaged with UN relief agencies, with the ICRC, with others who address the acute humanitarian needs of people in Gaza, to protect them from harm, and make sure that they have the ability to get what they need. We need to ensure, for example, that there are safe areas in Gaza. For civilians, we're working through the details on that. And more to be said in the days ahead. But that's a priority for us.

We're discussing this with the Israeli government. We're discussing it with others in the region.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Control room, just real quick. Do we have -- are we getting -- let us know when we get the translation and so we can -- so we can start? All right, we're still working on that. But we heard some more from Tony Blinken there.

John, let's bring back in Nic Robertson. Nic, we didn't mean to cut you off there. But we've heard more from the secretary talking about, as he says, the fundamental issue that complicates this whole thing is that Hamas uses civilians -- uses civilians as human shields to what they're doing.

ROBERTSON: And this is exactly what we've seen play out today. The Israeli Defense Force has asked those civilians to move south, about 1.1 million of them, to do it now. The UN has said for so many people to move, it is impossible. John Kirby has also said it would be a toll order to try to do that.

Hamas controls the transportation, controls whether or not people can move around in big numbers like that, and Hamas has told those civilians to stay put. So, then the situation is set where Israel is asking the civilians to get out of the way. When they go in with the ground forces is expected, as the secretary of state was saying, if the civilians are used as human shields, which appears that they would be, there'll be civilian casualties. Who gets the blame?

There will be countries that will absolutely blame Israel and tell it to stop its military operation. And Israel will say we gave the opportunity and asked for the civilians to move. And Hamas stopped them. Hamas is responsible. They'll say Hamas doesn't care about the population.

This is a blame situation that we've seen play out before. It doesn't change what will happen on the ground. But it is -- it is something that absolutely will complicate you know the situation on the ground. And the same for the hostages.

I think the expectation is that the hostages on the ground could be used as human shields as well. So, before -- we were speaking before about the timeliness of this, the short timeframe that Secretary Blinken has here to do this. And this is because the ground incursion could come very soon. So, time is running out for the diplomacy that he is trying to execute today in Qatar.

BERMAN: Right. Nic, stand by for a second. I think it's possible the secretary is getting a question in English. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That democracies should strive for even when it's difficult to do so. Today, Israel ordered residents of Gaza City to leave and move south, something UN -- Palestinian envoy just called a crime against humanity. We -- the translation wasn't great, so the gentleman before me might have asked something similar. But let me push you a little bit more on this.

How does that square -- how does that order square with that standard you mentioned, and also international law? Does the United States support this relocation? And since you had a conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, did you give your blessing for this move? Thank you.

BLINKEN: It's -- thank you. Please. MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI: Well, regarding your question about the Hamas political office in Doha right now. Actually -- this office, actually, since it started, it's being used as a way of communicating and -- I'm sorry. Communicating then bringing peace and calm to the region, not to instigate anymore.

[11:55:19]

And this is the purpose of that office. As long as we are keeping the communication open right now and focusing on putting an end for this conflict, and this is useful, that's what the main our main focus is. Actually, now, our key -- our key focus for us in the state of Qatar, and I believe, the United States sharing with us this objective is how to put an end for this conflict, how to deescalate, how to create a humanitarian corridor, and how to get the hostages back safe.

BLINKEN: Amara first -- the first part of your question, let me start by saying -- and I mentioned this before, but I want to repeat it. I really thank Qatar for the work that they're doing to try to help secure the release of hostages. This is something that we deeply appreciate. I know that other countries do as well. And it's something that we're actively pursuing.

I've also been making it clear, in all of my conversations throughout this trip, that there can be no more business as usual, with Hamas. Murdering babies, burning families to death, and taking little children as hostages, these are unconscionable acts of brutality. Every country in our judgment needs to condemn these actions, needs to hold them accountable, and we will continue to make that clear.

When it comes to providing for civilians in Gaza, both ensuring that they can be out of harm's way and that they can have access to the support that they need, the humanitarian assistance, the food, the medicine, the water, our focus now is on helping to create safe zones. And we're doing that with the leading international organizations, we're doing that engaged with Israel, and we're working with other countries to that -- to that end. So, that's where our focus is. We think this is the best way to make sure that civilians who are caught in a crossfire Hamas is making, and be safe and receive the assistance they need. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, thank you. Mr. Secretary, I know the situation in Israel is highly charged and very fluid. But are you worried about the medium and long-term consequences of what's unfolding in Gaza? Are you worried that Israel may be simply retaliating in a fury because of the horrendous nature of these attacks, and might not have a medium or long-term plan?

And secondly, I'm wondering how worried are you about a second front in this war. Iran and Hezbollah have already made threats of opening this new front if attacks on civilians, and the -- or an Israeli blockade of Gaza continues. What would the U.S. response be if Hezbollah ramps up its own attacks, for instance, in response to a ground invasion? And, Sheikh Mohammed, the U.S. and Israel are both struggling with this tragic and fluid hostage situation that the secretary was talking about. And I've looked for Qatar to help navigate it. Can you tell us about your engagements with Hamas? And are you optimistic about getting these people back alive, given the reports that some of them may have already died in Israeli strikes on Gaza?

And secondly, there have been rising criticisms and protests across the Arab world as Israel -- as Israel's retaliation continues. What's your view of how Israel is conducting its military response? And are you worried about the potential -- are you also worried about the potential for medium and long-term consequences of what's happening? Thank you.

BLINKEN: Ian, (PH) thank you very much. The first part of the question. No country -- no country can tolerate having a terrorist group come in, slaughter its people in the most unconscionable ways, and live like that. What Israel is doing is not retaliation. What Israel is doing is defending the lives of its people and as I said, trying to make sure that this cannot happen again.

And I think any country faced with what Israel has suffered would likely do the same thing. Imagine if this had happened in the United States. So, that's what is happening. Of course, you're -- it's important to think about, as one might put it, the day after, and where this goes.