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6-Year-Old Palestinian-American Boy Killed in Chicago; Israeli- American Reservists Returning to Israel; U.S. Secretary of State in Israel. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 16, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:01:12]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: I'm Boris Sanchez with Brianna Keilar live in Washington, D.C.

Our colleague Anderson Cooper is in Tel Aviv right now, where sirens are going off -- Anderson.

(SIRENS BLARING)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes, we -- these air raid sirens have now just started about 30 seconds before we came on air.

We saw one interceptor going up from Iron Dome. We have not seen, heard any explosion, and now it seems like the sirens are down. So it would seem whatever it was either intercepted at a greater distance or it's done.

Oh, that was an interception. So, it just took a while perhaps for the sound to actually reach us. There's low cloud cover, so it's a little hard to see exactly what -- all the rockets, when they come, they come from that direction, obviously, which is the direction of the Gaza Strip.

Today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was back here in Tel Aviv meeting with Israel's defense minister and the newly formed war cabinets. That's one of the big developments that's occurred on the ground here in Israel today as the military gears up for the next phase of the war.

Israel Defense Forces' fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as well.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Sderot, and Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem for us.

Nic, talk about what you have been seeing. I understand the tempo of strikes near you slowed down today.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It did.

And -- but I think, as dusk came, it really -- it really began to just pick up a little bit, fighter jets in the sky overhead just really right around the time that those missiles that were coming in on you would have been taking off from here. There was the sound of a jets sort of coming through.

And, often, that's followed by an explosion. We have had a number of explosions this evening. But through the day, it was so quiet at times that it was almost eerily quiet. You couldn't hear any drones flying. You couldn't hear any helicopters. You couldn't hear any jets. The artillery wasn't firing. There were no missiles going in on Gaza for a period.

And it created that impression that this was a little bit of a lull maybe to allow some diplomacy to get that humanitarian aid into Gaza, potentially get more fuel and food and water to come in.

But, by this evening, it has just started picking up again. And, as I say, there are jets. And, usually, when the rockets are fired out, as they were towards you just now, you would expect to hear some impacts behind us as well, Anderson.

COOPER: Nic, also, talk about what you have heard today about the situation in Gaza, because we know several hundred thousand people are said to have moved to the south.

ROBERTSON: Yes, a significant number moved to the south. You have probably experienced the rain. You were talking about the clouds there in Tel Aviv.

There was a very, very big downpour of rain here late this afternoon. And we know that the U.N. has been saying, look, all these hundreds of thousands of people that are moving to the south, they don't have shelter, short of food, short of water.

But the concern for the U.N. would be, as those people are left out in the open, you have -- and many of them are families. They're young children. They're elderly. They don't have shelter. And so, of course, these heavy deluges of rain that seems to be sweeping through at the moment, are going to have a health impact and make the conditions for all those people much worse.

Even though that high number of people has moved to the south, there are probably still about half-a-million people, estimate, according to U.N. figures, still in the north of Gaza. And we know, in the north of Gaza, today, there was a rocket strike that took out a Hamas leader, took out -- appeared to take down an apartment building that it is understood he would have been in.

[13:05:06]

But for families still left in the north, there is very much the risk today from even the limited strikes we have heard of being caught in the missiles and artillery, Anderson.

COOPER: And, Jeremy Diamond, what are you hearing on your end in terms of the diplomacy that was taking place?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, Secretary of State Tony Blinken returning to Israel today about a week after he engaged in basically shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East.

He was in Saudi Arabia. He was in Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, just all of the regional -- key regional players talking about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and also making an effort to really try and prevent this war between Hamas and Israel from widening into a broader regional conflict.

Whether or not that can be achieved remains to be seen, particularly as we have seen some crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon across that border. But, today, the secretary of state also making a point to reaffirm the U.S.' support for Israel and his belief that Israel has a right and an obligation to defend itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: You know our deep commitment to Israel's right, indeed, its obligation, to defend itself and to defend its people. And in that, you have and have always had the support of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And so, in those comments, it seems quite clear that, while the secretary of state is certainly trying to prevent this from becoming a broader regional conflict, the United States is not trying to prevent Israel from doing what it needs to do in Gaza to effectively eliminate Hamas, as Israeli officials have made clear that that is their objective in a war that even just today the defense minister said would be a long war and one that would be -- result in a heavy price for Israel.

All of this the prelude to a potential visit by President Joe Biden here to Israel. The Israeli prime minister has invited Biden to come and visit, but, as of yet, the White House not confirming whether he will come.

COOPER: And is there any progress with pressuring Egypt to act.

I know fuel trucks made it through -- through into Southern Gaza today.

DIAMOND: Yes, there's been a lot of conflicting information, a lot of finger-pointing over these last several days, as U.S. officials have tried to get American citizens out of Gaza and also to allow for food, fuel and water and other humanitarian goods to make their way into Gaza.

But just a couple hours ago, one of our CNN colleagues who was positioned at the Rafah Border Crossing was able to see five U.N. trucks entering Gaza with fuel. That is the first time that we have seen something like that in the last week and change since this all kicked off, not this Saturday, but the previous Saturday.

So it does appear that some fuel is at least beginning to flow into Gaza. Whether that results in a broader humanitarian corridor being established, whether that results in more humanitarian aid and also for civilians, including American citizens, to make their way out of Gaza remains to be seen -- Anderson.

COOPER: Jeremy Diamond, appreciate it, Nic Robertson as well.

We will come back to you over the course of the next several hours.

A U.N. relief chief warns that Gaza is being -- quote -- "strangled" by Israel's weeklong siege and bombardment. The Palestinian prime minister says that Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 2,800 people. And officials there say food, water, medicine is in short supply, as supplies, as you know, are running out.

Joining me now -- joining me now is Corinne Fleischer, regional director of the World Food Program.

Corinne, CNN saw five fuel trucks enter Gaza from the south. You're a United Nations agency. Have you heard anything more about access opening up?

CORINNE FLEISCHER, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: Well, we have food at the border now in Egypt. We have food moving to the border in Egypt. There is a large convoy ready to move in.

But, unfortunately, the convoy did not move. It didn't cross the border. And, inside, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are on the move, who are in their homes, who are in shelters. They have no water, they have no food, they have no electricity, they have no bathrooms, and they have no fuel.

And the situation is becoming absolutely catastrophic. I mean, we have -- now we have to deal with dehydration, and we will have to deal with starvation. And we do need to bring food and humanitarian supplies, water and other things, inside.

[13:10:03]

COOPER: Explain the kind of access you need to be able to have or you want to be able to have to feed Palestinians in Gaza to provide supplies to. And who controls the distribution of those supplies once they are in Gaza?

FLEISCHER: So look, we have reached so far in Palestine 520,000 people since -- since the conflict broke out eight days ago.

So, we are providing bred and tuna to about half of them, and the other half has received cash-based ones. But since the evacuation order three days ago, we're still distributing. Our teams, despite facing exactly the same situation as the displaced people there -- it's not inch better for them -- yet they are operating.

And we have provided three days ago 140,000 people with bread, yesterday 107,000 people with bread, today 160,000 people with bread. And so it's going into the shelters. We can't reach everybody, unfortunately, in the houses, because it's really, really complicated to reach people.

So this is how we operate inside. And we need to continue to have unimpeded, safe access to all the people who need our assistance desperately now. But we need to replenish our stocks. We are running out of stocks inside.

And we have food, but -- we still have inside, but also piling up at the -- at the borders enough to feed 1.3 million people for two weeks. Now, this food has to move in. And these negotiations need to conclude. We understand they're complicated, but they need to conclude, because it is about the people, who will not survive without water and food in the very few days to come.

COOPER: Do you have a sense of how many people right now are in the south of Gaza, how many people may have moved from the north to the south?

FLEISCHER: I think we have lost count. Last time we counted, it was 433,000 people displaced.

But that was before the evacuation order. Now, I mean, if you look in the south, and our teams are telling us, there are hundreds of thousands in these shelters. But we also understand that people are still in the north, because people redeem our vouchers in the shops, and shops are still operating in the north.

And so we see that people are actually redeeming vouchers in the north. So many have stayed back, but we don't have the numbers.

COOPER: And is there -- I know this may not be what your organization does. Is there any effort in terms of bringing in tents, anything for actual shelters for people in the south?

I'm not -- I'm talking about actual living shelters for people in the south, if they don't have -- if they're not able to find actual shelters, homes.

FLEISCHER: So, yes, humanitarian supplies are piling up at the border here. And that includes -- I don't have the details, but that must include shelter equipment.

We have -- we have had now two flights for the World Food Program come in with high-energy biscuits, because that's easy to distribute. And they have the calories and the nutritional elements required for the day. But we also have brought in mobile storage units for us to be able to assemble our supplies at the border.

But these supplies are now ready to move in. And the details of how much shelter equipment there is, I don't have, but I know it's an absolute requirement as well. I mean, people now need medicine. They need food,they need water, they need fuel, they need electricity, and they need shelter.

Just to explain to you, as the needs are growing, actually, our ability to reach people is decreasing, because bakeries need fuel, bakeries need water, and if they don't have that, they will not be able to produce bread anymore.

Now, imagine if even the bread we are distributing stops. What then? So, we need to be able to move in.

COOPER: Yes.

Corinne Fleischer, thank you for your time. We will continue to check in with you in the days ahead.

FLEISCHER: Thank you.

COOPER: Still ahead: Israeli Americans answering the call, as Israel is seeking hundreds of thousands of reservists from around the world to join the fight against Hamas. Their stories just ahead.

Also, a Chicago man is charged with murder and hate crimes after police say he killed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded his mother, allegedly because they were Muslim. Ahead, how this incident is once again raising concerns of threats in the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:59]

KEILAR: As Israel calls up more than 360,000 reservists from all around the world, really, to join the fight against Hamas, Israeli Americans are among those who are answering the call.

SANCHEZ: They say that, after seeing Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel, killing people and taking hostages, they knew they had to drop everything to defend their country.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us now.

And, Stephanie, you spoke to several Israeli American reservists that are being called up. What did they share with you?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What was interesting, Brianna and Boris, was just the number of different stories that we heard, people dropping their lives in the middle of whatever they had going on.

You're talking about therapists, you're talking about real estate agents just leaving their lives to be here united in this moment, because they feel it's so important to get to Israel to defend their country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOREL MEIRI, ISRAELI-AMERICAN RETURNING FOR WAR: I have done my crying, and I can't even begin to process it.

ELAM (voice-over): After seeing the first images from the attack on the Nova music festival...

[13:20:00]

D. MEIRI: I want to go, and I almost feel like I need to go.

ELAM: Dorel Meiri felt he had only one option, get to Israel.

D. MEIRI: I was just in shock. It didn't make sense to me the things that I was seeing.

ELAM: A Los Angeles native, Meiri was born to Israeli parents who moved to the U.S. 35 years ago.

D. MEIRI: I love where I came from. I know who I am. I'm American. I'm Israeli.

ELAM: After college, the 28-year-old joined the Israel Defense Forces. He says two of his friends from his time in the IDF were killed in the Hamas attack.

D. MEIRI: I started looking at flights.

ELAM: But most air carriers had halted service to Israel.

JORDAN FRIED, FOUNDER, ISRAEL FRIENDS: I think this is nothing short of a miracle.

ELAM: That's where Jordan Fried stepped in.

FRIED: I got a distress phone call from a soldier who needed to get back. I think I naively accepted the challenge. And I started making phone calls.

ELAM: In less than a week, the newly formed nonprofit Israel Friends raised private funds and organized this charter flight to carry 150 people from a handful of nations to Tel Aviv, along with tons of humanitarian aid.

FRIED: These were civilians a week ago, but are now reservists who have call-up orders to get back to their units. I know none of them. They don't know each other.

ELAM: And yet, despite the early morning hour, there's a palpable energy of camaraderie and purpose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm volunteering there to see whatever they need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Left everything behind, the wife, and just waiting for a flight.

DAVID FRANKEL, IDF RESERVIST: I want to come home safely to my family. I want to see my boys grow up. But you have to put that aside and stop the madness that's happening.

ELAM: Meiri is also leaving family behind.

(on camera): As a mom, how are you feeling right now?

NAAMA O. POZNIAK, MOTHER OF DOREL MEIRI: I'm feeling proud, very, very proud that he made such a big decision.

LEAYAM MEIRI, SISTER OF DOREL MEIRI: I can't lie to you. My tummy, like, my stomach is turning, but I'm so proud of him.

ELAM: What are you most afraid of?

L. MEIRI: Just the outcome. I just fear the unknown at the moment.

ELAM (voice-over): But this moment is for final goodbyes, as brave faces give way to tears.

(on camera): What's your overwhelming thought right now?

D. MEIRI: We're going to fight for our country. So we're -- we're ready, and it's amazing that everyone's -- everyone's ready. And I'm just doing my part.

ELAM (voice-over): One final embrace they pray won't be their last.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And I have been in touch with Dorel. He's made his way. There was a layover in Spain. He was there. And he's made it to Tel Aviv.

He told me he had a warm meal, a night of sleep before reporting to base. And the last thing that he wrote to me, Brianna and Boris, was "I will be back soon," with a fingers crossed emoji.

SANCHEZ: A very moving piece from Stephanie Elam.

Thank you so much, Stephanie.

Meantime, in the United States, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy will be buried just about an hour from now after he was killed in a horrific attack on him and his mother at their Chicago area home on Saturday.

Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times, his mother stabbed more than a dozen times, allegedly at the hands of their landlord.

KEILAR: Police say that 71-year-old Joseph Czuba targeted the family because they are Muslim and that, right before the attack, he had gotten into a heated argument with the mother about the ongoing conflict involving Hamas and Israel.

He is being held without bond after making his first appearance in court on multiple charges, including first-degree murder and hate crimes. Members of the victim's community expressing outrage over this attack.

(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)

KEILAR: The boy's mother is recovering at a hospital, and the sheriff's office says she is expected to survive.

President Biden releasing a statement condemning the violence, saying: "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."

Just incredibly horrific. And, certainly, we're thinking of that family.

Still ahead: House Republicans set to vote on a new speaker tomorrow, but one of them tells CNN they think Jim Jordan has a math problem, a pretty big one, in fact. We're going to talk to a GOP lawmaker about all of that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:29:27]

COOPER: Israel's top security official is now taking responsibility for not preventing the surprise terror attack on October 7.

Ronen Bar wrote that -- quote -- "The responsibility is on me" -- end quote -- for not creating sufficient warning to thwart Hamas.

Meantime, Israel's defense minister had this to say about the fight ahead:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: This will be a long war -- war. The price will be high.

But we are going to win for Israel, for the Jewish people, and -- and for the values that both countries believe in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)