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Rafah Crossing Not Expected To Open Today; Protests In Middle East Amid Fears Of Wider Conflict; House GOP Drops Rep. Jordan As Speaker Nominee; WH Responds To Release Of Two American Hostages. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 20, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:07]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And we're back now with breaking news out of the Middle East. Two American hostages have been released by Hamas. They are now in Israel, we have learned. The State Department is expected to give a briefing here in minutes.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Now, let's get right to Tel Aviv with the breaking news.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins help break this story.

So Kaitlan, what are you learning about the two Americans and their release?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, amazing news for the families of Judith and Natalie Raanan who have been desperately waiting on words of their loved ones and now we have confirmed that they are the two American hostages that have been released by Hamas and are now in Israel according to the Prime Minister's office here. They are on their way to an Israeli military base in central Israel and that is where they are going to be meeting their family who is waiting for them tonight.

Now, Judith and Natalie many people are familiar with their story. We've been talking about it a lot ever since they were abducted by Hamas on October 7th. They're from Illinois and they were just in Israel visiting. Natalie had just graduated from high school. She was here with Judith, her mother. They were celebrating a relative's 85th birthday and also the end of the Jewish holidays in Ketura (ph).

They were staying at a kibbutz just about an hour away from Gaza as this attack unfolded and both of them were kidnapped into Gaza. People had been waiting on words of their condition and now we have learned that they are being released. And of course, a lot of people are going to be asking why these two hostages? Why did Hamas decide to release them?

Well, according to a statement that we've gotten from Hamas they say this is on humanitarian grounds. We are told that the mother Judith is not in good health that we don't have a lot of details. I want to stress about her condition. We're still trying to report those out. But obviously this is incredibly significant news.

It's going to be bittersweet though for a lot of these families. Many of them that we saw earlier today here in Tel Aviv where they were doing a Shabbat dinner, which, of course, everyone in the Jewish faith does on Friday. It's a time for family and friends to get together and a lot of these people who've had their relatives, their family, their friends, their loved ones abducted, Shabbat dinner was the last time they saw some of them.

And so we were at this ceremony earlier for the families and the relatives of those who have been abducted where they had set this table, a very long table that had over 200 empty chairs for those who are celebrating Shabbat dinner tonight without their loved ones. And of course, that was something that happened just hours before we heard this news that was confirmed that they have been released.

And what we do know about the release is that it was something that was brokered by Qatar as they had been having these discussions with Hamas about getting these hostages released. There are still a lot of other questions though, Boris and Brianna, about what this is going to look like and who it's going to potentially be coming next, whether or not Hamas is planning to use this in other ways for their release. But it is significant news on that front of course.

SANCHEZ: And Kaitlan, is there a sense that this is just a one off or could it be the start of more negotiation, more releases possibly?

COLLINS: That's the big question here, because of course Hamas labeled a terrorist organization by the United States certainly not benevolent by any means. That is going to be the big question of how they're trying to use this because we know in the past Hamas has captured - they captured an Israeli military officer. They held him for years. And in the end he was released in exchange for over a thousand Palestinian prisoners.

And so that was something that people were talking about immediately when they realized the depth of how many people Hamas had taken into custody, how many hostages they had captured was how that was going to release and whether or not they'd be willing to release any hostages at all. I mean, this is the first time that we have actually heard this. And so that is the big question going forward whether or not it's going to mean the release of others.

Hamas has made a lot of claims about this. We can't really trust many of them.

[15:05:00]

So I do want to just make sure that we are waiting to see what it is that Israeli officials are saying. We're waiting to hear from the White House on this actually. We have not heard from them yet, they're waiting. We were told by sources until these two hostages were safely out and so we are waiting on that.

And as we continue to see what the White House is going to say and for the State Department briefing, I want to go to CNN's Nic Robertson who is in Sderot, Israel and has been monitoring a lot of the activity there on the ground.

Nic, what have you been seeing in the last few hours?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think it was quite noticeable, Kaitlan. Right as the news was beginning to break about the mother and daughter being released, that was when Hamas kind of broke the silence or one of the groups in Gaza broke the silence of the day. It had been so calm here up until then. And they fired out a huge salvo of rockets. The interceptor missiles went up and literally at the top of this hour, again, they did exactly the same.

I think we have the video. You can see it there.

A huge salvo of rockets coming out of Gaza. The Iron Dome intercepts as those missiles were headed north into Israel, their intercepts were plucking them out of the sky, if you will, knocking them down. I think if Hamas is trying to send more than one message today about why it's released these hostages, it is also sending a message that it clearly intends to continue its military campaign with these salvo of rockets.

Again, I say it was noticeable earlier today that it was quiet. It was quiet. There weren't any Israeli missiles going into Gaza or artillery. And it created an impression, created, I would say, an impression. We can't say for sure that there were talks or discussions or something going on in the background because this was, until that moment, a far quieter time.

There were a lot of drones in the sky at the moment and Hamas has now created the perception from where we stand that while Israel didn't have drones in the air and wasn't putting artillery and missile strikes into Gaza, they were using the opportunity, it appears, to line up salvo after salvo after salvo of rocket fire out.

Our location here had a salvo of rockets shortly after the announcement about the hostage release. A five-sequence salvo of rockets, that's more, I think, than we've seen in even a couple of days before. And that came all within the space of a little over an hour.

COLLINS: Wow.

ROBERTSON: So it does look as if Hamas used that quieter period to position rockets for firing.

COLLINS: Yes. That's really interesting, Nic, because it's also been quiet here in Tel Aviv this evening. And typically, on a daily basis, we've had one or two rockets fired by Hamas toward Tel Aviv. We've seen the Iron Dome intercepting those.

Nic Robertson on the ground in Sderot will continue to check in with you.

Of course, humanitarian aid is a big part of this conversation that we've been having today and when it is going to cross over. That crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the Rafah Crossing, the only way that that aid can get across.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is in Cairo. I want to go to Clarissa right now.

Clarissa, this is a big question of when this is going to happen. There were rumors that it was going to happen early Friday morning. That didn't happen. What are we hearing and what have you been seeing on the ground in Cairo today?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Kaitlan, we actually went to the Rafah Border Crossing with the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. I think originally he'd hoped that maybe he was going to be going there to announce a diplomatic win, that somehow some of that aid would start to get in.

We saw hundreds of trucks that have been lined up for many days now. No sense at the moment, though, as to when they will be able to get into Gaza where they're so desperately needed. President Biden has said he's going to - hoping that it will happen in the next 24- to 48 hours.

But, Kaitlan, there are a couple of key sticking points here. The major issue is the issue of Israel's demand for verification. They want to make sure that they have a way of trusting that there is nothing in those trucks other than aid. There's no weaponry or anything like that.

So they then have to set that up somehow: Where would it happen, who would have eyes on it and how can that be done in an expedited manner so that the aid gets in there and gets in there in a timely way.

The second piece of the puzzle is that the U.N. is not happy with this just being 20 trucks of aid. To give you some perspective, before this outburst of violence started, it was roughly 455 trucks of aid a day that would go into Gaza. So 20 trucks of aid after two weeks of no aid is clearly just a drop in the ocean.

And what the U.N. said that they're worried about, Kaitlan, is that if they just go in with 20 trucks and no promise of follow-up and no guarantee of a continuous humanitarian corridor, they're worried that the trucks are going to get mobbed, that their workers are going to get mobbed and that it could actually become a dangerous situation.

[15:10:07]

There had also been concern about the fact that there was damage on the Palestinian side of the border, on the Gazan side of the border, from airstrikes and strikes in the area. And the Egyptians said that they have largely paved over those areas and fixed them. But what was super interesting, Kaitlan, was that when we arrived at the border with the U.N. Secretary General, he had hoped to also talk to some of the volunteers and the truck drivers who've been camped out there for days. He walked into a protest of, I would say, 200- or 300 people, very angry people, a lot of anger obviously at Israel in the U.S., but also a lot of anger at the international community for being hamstrung, for doing - for not being able to put a stop to the violence and a start to the aid. And also, Kaitlan, a huge amount of anger at the Western media. And one woman started shouting at me, so we went over to her and invited her to talk to us. Take a listen to what she had to say.

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RAHMA ZEIN, EGYPTIAN PROTESTER: We are here to speak the truth, because Western - a lot - I'm not going to generalize, but a lot of Western channels have been aiding in the dehumanization of Arabs. You say a - when I say the word Mohammed, how does that make you feel? You immediately flinch, because that's what's been happening.

So now, when a thousand-plus Palestinian babies die, you don't feel the same. You don't feel the same, as when I tell you one of your own has died. But these are our own and it is unfair and Egypt will stand with Palestine.

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WARD: And the Secretary General, Kaitlan, was trying to deliver his remarks as this protest was going on. It got chaotic and animated enough that he actually had to be whisked away in a car. We were also put back on the buses and escorted out, but gives you a feel of the anger, of the desperation and, meanwhile, the people in Gaza suffering and waiting for that desperately needed aid, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. And every minute we just continue to see that.

Clarissa Ward, great reporting. We'll check back in with you in Cairo.

I want to toss it over now to my colleague, Anderson Cooper, also here in Tel Aviv.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes. Kaitlan, thanks very much.

Demonstrations in support of Palestinians have drawn 10s of thousands of people across the Middle East, as you've been seeing in North Africa. Here's a look at some of the protests in Yemen, in Egypt, in Turkey, in Jordan, to name just a few. The crowd span for blocks, in some cases.

CNN's Nada Bashir is in Amman, Jordan and spoke to people there about what is happening here.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, for yet another night, hundreds of people have gathered here in downtown Amman, near the Israeli embassy, to protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people, but also to express their outrage and condemnation of Israel's continued airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. But this isn't the only protest that we've seen here today in Amman. This follows an enormous march, which took place earlier today. Thousands of people participating in that. Take a look.

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BASHIR (voice over): In downtown Amman, worshipers gather for Friday prayers. But it's not just the call to prayer that has drawn these crowds today.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language).

CROWD: (Foreign language).

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BASHIR (voice over): But a call to action and solidarity with the Palestinian people.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language).

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BASHIR (voice over): "This protest is a pledge," they chant, "that the people of Jordan will not leave Gaza alone." Thousands of men, women and children, entire families draped in the traditional Palestinian scarf, a symbol for many of Palestinian resistance.

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BASHIR: Well, you can hear how loud the crowds are here. For yet another day in Amman, thousands of people have taken to the streets protesting against Israel's continued aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip, protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

CROWD: (Foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR (voice over): "We're doing this for our families, who are dying in Gaza because we are unable to do anything. So the least we can do is stand here in solidarity with them, to support them, so that they know that we are with them, with our hearts and everything."

There is palpable outrage here in Jordan over Israel's ongoing bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, and deep-seated anger directed toward both Israel and Israel's Western allies.

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CROWD: (Foreign language).

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BASHIR (voice over): Many here, even calling on the Jordanian government to close down the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Amman. For days now, protests have taken place not only across Jordan, but also across the wider region.

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In Cairo, where the state has long clamped down on mass demonstrations, hundreds gathered in Tahrir Square.

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CROWD: We need justice. We need justice.

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BASHIR (voice over): Hours earlier, at the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and Gaza, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres was forced to cut his visit short after protests erupted there.

Gaza has faced relentless Israeli airstrikes for almost two weeks now.

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CROWD: (Foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language).

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BASHIR (voice over): And protests across the Arab world and the wider region are at a boiling point.

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CROWD: (Foreign language).

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BASHIR (voice over): Iraq, Tunisia, Yemen and Turkey, and even further afield, and with Gaza on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, this protest movement is only growing stronger.

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BASHIR (on camera): Look, we've been speaking to protesters every night. They have told us that they will continue taking to the streets so long as Israel's bombardment of Gaza continues, so long as the siege on Gaza is in place, so long as the blockade is in place. This is a deeply personal issue for many people here and (inaudible) for many people across the Middle East.

COOPER: That's Nada Bashir standing by for an update now from the State Department. We're expecting that at any moment on the two American hostages who have been released by Hamas. We're going to bring that to you when it happens. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: We have new details on our breaking news from Capitol Hill. House Republicans just voted to oust Jim Jordan as their speaker designee. Now they're back to square one and Congress after 17 days remains closed for business.

KEILAR: There's this new candidates forum that is set for Monday night.

So let's go to CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju for more reaction.

Okay, there's this forum, so people are starting to kind of throw their names out there. Tell us about it.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are at least six candidates right now. It's turning into an absolute free- for-all as Republicans are in turmoil trying to figure out how to move forward. They are absolutely broken in the words of a number of Republicans coming out of this very tense meeting that occurred earlier today and after just a series of days where they have been unable to figure out how to move the House out of its state of paralysis that started almost three weeks ago when the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, was voted out in historic fashion, unprecedented fashion.

As a result, nothing can get done until they elect a new Speaker and they haven't been able to do that. The first candidate to replace him, Steve Scalise, collapsed because of opposition within the ranks. Jim Jordan tried to go multiple rounds, and we saw today losing 25 Republicans, and then ultimately going behind closed doors and asking his conference if he should continue.

His conference at an overwhelming majority vote said he should not continue. As a result, they are trying to figure out their way forward.

Now, in talking to several Republicans, including Congressman Dusty Johnson in the aftermath of all of this, you could just feel the tension, the anger that is directed not just at everything that's gone on, but the initial - the eight Republicans who initiated the vote to kick out Kevin McCarthy.

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REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): Clearly, there is yet another void. We are going to have a couple more days of chaos as we try to get a sense of what's next. To me, it reminds me how incredibly irresponsible it was for 208 Democrats and eight Republicans to put this House into absolute chaos without any kind of a plan for how we were going to move forward.

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RAJU: So he also took a shot there, Congressman Nancy Mace, who's one of those eight who voted out Kevin McCarthy. I asked Mace to respond to this. She sent me a message saying that - she said her constituents would vehemently disagree. She called Dusty Johnson the establishment that does not represent South Carolina in any way, shape or form. So you could just feel it within the Republican Conference, guys, back and forth, pointing fingers, blaming them, blaming members about how they got into this mess with no clear way out. Yes, there are candidates who are emerging and want to run for Speaker, but can they get the votes to be elected Speaker, can they move this House forward and unstick this paralyzed chamber that is still unclear almost three weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted, guys.

SANCHEZ: And a little over three or four weeks to go before a potential government shutdown, we should note.

Manu Raju, a lot of action on Capitol Hill.

We're following breaking news ...

KEILAR: Yes, we are.

SANCHEZ: ... from multiple places, including from the Middle East.

Let's go to MJ Lee now who's at the White House, where President Biden just released a statement breaking news about the two Americans that were released earlier by Hamas.

MJ, what is the White House saying?

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the President has released a statement confirming and celebrating the release of these two American hostages that had been held by Hamas in Gaza. And he says in part that from the earliest moments of this attack, we have been working around the clock to free American citizens who were taken hostage by Hamas. And we have not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held.

He thanked the government of Qatar and the government of Israel for their partnership in this work.

I just want to be clear here, I just checked in with the U.S. official about that part of the statement where he says the government is continuing its efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held.

[15:25:11]

Whether we should take that to mean that there are additional American hostages still being held and I was just told that that is correct, that that is a correct reading of that statement.

So that in and of itself is big news. We now have the answer to the question of whether there are additional American hostages that are still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Remember, the U.S. government had never given a firm number as to the number of hostages that they believe were being held by Hamas in Gaza. They had always stuck to the language of a handful of American citizens being held hostage.

And CNN reported earlier today that Israelis had told the U.S. government previously that some American hostages being held by Hamas were known to be alive. And that had raised the question of whether there were additional Americans believed to be alive other than the two that had just been released.

We also had reported that the U.S. was not aware of any proof of life videos akin to the video that Hamas had previously released this week of the 21-year-old French-Israeli. And I have to say, looking at the statement from President Biden, this is of course just sort of this rare bright spot in what had been such a bleak and dark few weeks for this White House.

And of course, for this president as well, we have heard him publicly saying over and over again that getting these American hostages back safely has been his utmost top priority. But he had also been careful in saying, look, there's a lot of stuff that's going on behind the scenes that I basically can't talk about publicly.

So now we have this confirmed - the two American hostages have been released, are safe and they have been released by Hamas. And what we don't know, of course, is what the prospects are now going forward for getting any additional American hostages out of Gaza.

KEILAR: No, certainly. But that is where the focus will now change. He said they are working around the clock to free Americans held hostage by Hamas.

MJ, thank you for that.

And I should mention we're monitoring the State Department, because there is going to be a briefing here any moment, obviously, about this development here. President Biden saying he's overjoyed to learn about this release of two American hostages by Hamas. We'll get the very latest from the State Department live when we come back.

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