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Lt. Col. Peter Lerner is Interviewed about Gaza-Egypt Border; Israel Orders Evacuation near Lebanon Border; Jordan Faces Uphill Battle for Speaker; Landlord Charged in Stabbing Death near Chicago. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 16, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are hospitals in the northern part of Gaza where children are hooked up to ventilators. They say they cannot bring people south. And it's also important to point out, Kate, that even if they could go south, there is no guarantee of safety. We've seen strikes outside of the evacuation zone over the weekend, even this morning in Hanunis (ph), and even just earlier today, very close to that Rafah border crossing in the community of Rafah. Five people killed when an Israeli strike, according to the Palestinians, hit a multistory house there.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Scott, thank you so much.

And as we've heard from Secretary of State Tony Blinken, when he's asked about all of these things, he also adds the caveat, civilians are being caught in the crossfire that Hamas is making.

Scott, thank you.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joining us now from Tel Aviv is Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces.

I just want to let you know, in case you can hear that noise, that is not a siren, that is just here at the port. It's an alarm going off in its normal course of business for those who may have been a little taken aback by the sound of the beeping.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I want to ask you about the Palestinian situation right now in Gaza. They are amassing at the Rafah border crossing to escape, as we heard from our Scott McLean, out of Gaza into Egypt, but there's confusion over whether it will actually open to humanitarian aid. Can you give us some sense of what you are hearing because Egypt and those in Gaza have been saying, look, there is a bombardment that has been going on in the region since -- of course, since the Hamas attack. We've all seen that happen. What's the status, as you know it, of the - of the critical crossing right now, that Rafah border crossing into Egypt?

LT. COL. PETER LERNER, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: Sara, we are on day ten of our military operation against Hamas in order to destroy Hamas's capability as a terrorist organization, as a governing body of the Gaza Strip, and an - and as the organization that perpetrated the atrocities against the families of Israel living in the Gaza - living in the surrounding areas of Gaza Strip. That operation is ongoing, and we are striking Hamas wherever they are, but focusing most definitely in the areas in the heart of their operations in Gaza City. And in order to negate their operational capability, pursue their leaders and destroy their professional offensive capabilities such as drones and so on.

With regard to the humanitarian situation, we are taking measures in order to evacuate people from the north to the south and I'm happy to report that there have been hundreds of thousands of people that have adhered to our suggestion that people go down.

And, yes, as you're reporting about the situation in Rafah, I can't really comment on that because, you know, we are busy conducting our battle, our fight against the terrorist organization, while the diplomats are doing diplomacy in order to find and instruct. Of course, as the military, if we're instructed to hold, then we will. Currently we are conducting our strikes. We are determined to defeat Hamas. We are determined to destroy all of their capabilities and make sure they can never ever conduct and use the Gaza Strip as a staging ground to butcher babies in their bedrooms, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, I know that that continues. I am curious, right now you've got Secretary Antony Blinken, who is back here for the second time having discussions with the president at this point and with the prime minister, as well as the defense minister and the opposition party, Mr. Lapid. From your advantage point, when he is here, do you have any sense of timing? I mean is there actually going to be a ground war, is that imminent, or have you decided - or is there some decision that that may not happen?

LERNER: So, we are prepared for the ground mobilization if instructed to do so by the government. And indeed that is our role to be prepared and to respond and make the operational plans in order to implement that based on the military necessity, the principal of distinction between non-combatants and the terrorists and Hamas and proportionality in warfare.

I don't know if you've seen, Sara, just now, just within the last hour, UNRWA has actually reported that some of their fuel and medical supplies have been commandeered by Hamas. So, when you were reporting earlier about the need for bringing foodstuff and fuel, who can guarantee that it will actually reach anyone other than Hamas that will help them in their battle effort? This is of concern, and we need to keep this in mind.

SIDNER: Yes, and that's - that's a U.N. agency for those who are unaware. The U.N. agency that operates in Gaza and, you know, helps run schools and the like.

[09:35:01]

I do want to ask you about the population of Gaza. As you well know, about half the population is under the age of 18, meaning that they are children, they are innocents. Is there anywhere at this point safe for civilians in Gaza? Is the southern part of Gaza the place where people can be and also on the border with Egypt? Is that a place that is -- that you would consider, as a member of the military, safe as you conduct right now air operations, but there will also potentially be the ground operation as well.

LERNER: Sara, what is happening to the children of Gaza is - oh, it's just heartbreaking. But ultimately the responsibility lies with Hamas and what they've done to the Gaza Strip. They have, you know -- they've been terrible to the people of Gaza. They've let them down miserably. And -- and this is just the eventuality of their making.

When they declared war on Israel, they made a huge mistake. When Hamas declared war against us, they basically signed their death warrant. Our job is to secure the safe - and restore safety and security to the people of Israel. You know, there are some 1,000 -- over 1,300 people that were butchered at the instruction of the Hamas terrorist organization. So, indeed, these images of children on -- in Gaza. But also, you know, we are still -- there are children that have been abducted by Hamas and being held by them. They have no regard for human life. Israeli or Palestinian.

And this is the tragedy of it. You know, this it - this government, the Hamas government, this terrorist government, they have - they have done nothing good for the people of Gaza and, unfortunately, in - in our efforts to secure the state of Israel, it is indeed the people of Gaza that are paying the price for their poor leadership, for the people -- for the Yahya Sinwar, and all of his cronies, the people beneath him, the people he empowered, the people he financed, the people he gave the order to go to south of Israel, to go to kibbutz Be'eri (ph), to go to Kfar Aza (ph), to go to - go to Rahem (ph), to go all of these people that he instructed them to go, him and his organization, he is going to pay a price and we are going to be rid of this organization. We won't be held hostage by the terrorist organization Hamas and I would say the people of Gaza also should not be held hostage by Hamas.

SIDNER: Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, thank you so much for joining us.

There are two things that are very clear, Hamas knows that when they send rockets over or attack Israel, and certainly in this terrorist attack, that there will be repercussions and a response. And we also know that, you know, Israel is amassed on the border waiting for instructions, as you put it, to go into Gaza on the ground when called up to do so.

I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Sara, thank you very much. By the way, this is where Sara is. She is in Haifa, which is not far

from the Israeli-Lebanese border. And it is along that border, over the last 24 hours, where there has been intensified exchanges of fire between Hezbollah militants operating in Lebanon and the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces. We're going to get the very latest on the situation there as Israel has now called on people within 2 kilometers of that border to evacuate.

Our live special coverage continues right after this.

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[09:43:07]

BERMAN: All right, over the last 24 hours or so there has been intensifying exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants that operate inside Lebanon. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that gets support from Iran, but operates as a quasi governmental force really inside the borders of Lebanon. They've been going back and forth with Israel over the last seven days.

United Nations peacekeepers who operate inside southern Lebanon say that their headquarters was hit by a wayward rocket. Luckily, no one was hurt there. But it gives you a sense of the situation along that border with Israel now saying that people who live within 2 kilometers of that border should evacuate. Twenty-eight villages concerned.

Our Matthew Chance is in northern Israel, not far from that border right now.

Matthew, give us the situation.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a very tense situation up here close to the Lebanese border. You're right, within the past few hours the Israeli military has ordered 28 Israeli communities to evacuate from their positions very close to that fronter with Lebanon. And so that's in process now.

And that follows a string of cross-border attacks that have been taking place over the course of the past 24 hours or, in fact, even longer than that, but nine rocket attacks according to the Israeli defense forces over the course of the past 24 hours. They've responded to that with air strikes and artillery strikes, some of which we can hear being launched from very close to this location here, close to the Lebanese border.

We were also able, though, to gain some access to that exclusion zone close to the border. It's actually 4 kilometers, about 2.5 miles back from the border that they've now said is off limits to Israeli civilians. They gave us access and showed us where the -- basically the front lines were.

[09:45:03]

It's also the place, remember, which could really turn this conflict inside Israel into a much broader regional war. And so it's a very dangerous sort of tipping point here in northern Israel. Still, all the civilians that we talked to, most of them at least, soldiers, the politicians that I've been in contact with as well, they are so engaged, so angry at what happened in Gaza last weekend that they say they are ready, even bristling for a fight with Hezbollah.

Take a listen to what one Israeli commander told me right close to the Lebanese border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Are you hopeful still that Hezbollah will stay out of this war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope they will be another front. We need to destroy Hezbollah.

CHANCE: You hope there will be another front?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: You want the war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Hamas did in Gaza, it didn't come from nowhere. It came from Hezbollah. It came from Iran. And in order for us to stop what happened from Hamas, we need to stop them also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Yes, John, and the big difference now, of course, is that for some reason the Israeli military were not ready during the Gaza attacks. They are very ready up here in the north of the country.

BERMAN: Matthew, it was really extraordinary to see him pointing right there. It gives you a sense of how close they are. He was merely just pointing a little bit north to where Hezbollah operates with this extremely powerful and well-trained militias.

Matthew Chance, in northern Israel, please, stay safe.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: The other big story that we are tracking yet again today, the House of Representatives now into day 13 without a speaker. Are Republicans going to move this from out behind closed doors on to fighting this out on the House floor? What the uphill battle that Jim Jordan still faces now looks like. That's next.

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[09:51:16]

BERMAN: This morning, there is no speaker of the House and no clear path to get one. Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio is the latest to win a majority of Republicans, but he still seems way, way short of the 217 votes he would need on the House floor.

CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill.

Lauren, I know he was working the phones trying to drum up some support from those holdouts, but is he getting close enough?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he did just get one breakthrough, John, and that is from Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who came out on Twitter just a few moments ago saying that he will support Jim Jordan. Now, that is only one member that he has flipped so publicly now, but it is an indication that Jordan at least is winning some folks over.

Now, one of the frustrations that has existed from members of the conference is that Jim Jordan had actually finished second last week, if you remember, against Steve Scalise. Then Scalise ended up dropped out after he couldn't get enough support in the conference. Jim Jordan put his name toward again. He won in conference.

And there are some members who are frustrated that Jordan allies are going to be - going to be essentially rewarded if they support Jim Jordan on the floor. Now, we expect that Republican lawmaker are going to return to Washington, have a closed door meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. and then they could go to the floor and vote as soon as tomorrow at noon on the speaker of the House.

There is some feeling among Jordan allies that if you get out onto the floor that perhaps you can start to build pressure on members to support you once you're there. That, obviously, a strategy that Kevin McCarthy deployed back in January. It took him 15 rounds, but he eventually became the speaker of the House. So, huge questions remain, whether Jordan is going to be able to drum up the support he needs, John. But, obviously, this endorsement from Mike Rogers, significant.

BERMAN: Yes, a big one. He'll needs more than that. But this is one of the key steps that he needs to get past if he wants to get to that 217.

Lauren Fox, on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: This morning police in Illinois they are investigating for further details a horrible attack on a six-year-old Palestinian American boy and his mother in the Chicago area. We're going to show you this man's picture. This man was their landlord and he's now facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder and hate crimes. He allegedly stabbed the child 26 times, killing him, and also wounding -- seriously wounding his mother.

CNN's Whitney Wild's in Chicago.

The details that are coming out are horrible, Whitney. What more are you learning about what happened here?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, police are describing just a nightmarish Saturday morning. Around 11:50 the mother call 911 to report a stabbing. And when police got there they found 71-year-old Joseph Czuba sitting outside the home close to the driveway. And when police walked into that home, they found the six- year-old boy and his mother in a bedroom. His mother had been stabbed more than a dozen times. That little boy stabbed 26 time.

He had just had his sixth birthday, Kate. He was full of love, full of life.

Here's how the Council on American Islamic Relations, an organization that is helping this family through this excruciating time, described that little boy. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED REHAB, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS IN CHICAGO: He was a lovely boy who loved his family, his friends. He loved soccer. He loved basketball. And he paid the price for the atmosphere of hate.

He has no clue about these larger issues happening in the world, but he was made to pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:55:02]

WILD: Police did not describe what information they had to support the hate crime charges. Those details, though, did come from CAIR. Here's what they said the mother of that little boy texted the father. "The landlord who had been angry with what he was seeing in the news texted -- knocked on their door, and when she opened, he tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife, yelling, "you Muslims must die." When she ran to the bathroom to call 911, she came out to find that he had stabbed her six-year-old son to death." She said in this text message, "it all happened in seconds."

Kate, President Joe Biden issuing a statement today saying that "the child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek, a refuge to live, learn and pray in peace. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are."

Kate, finally, this man's due back in - is due in court today for his first appearance. Now the FBI has launched a federal hate crime investigation as well.

BOLDUAN: Gosh. More to come.

Whitney, thank you.

John.

BERMAN: Just a horrible story. All right, the breaking news, our cameraman on the Gaza border with

Egypt at the Rafah crossing saw six U.N. fuel trucks crossing the border into Gaza. This would be the first time any aid has been getting in. It's a significant development. We're waiting for much more information on that. And we are waiting to hear from the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well.

Our live, special coverage continues right after this.

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