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Nine Republicans Join House Race; Community Remembers Slain Synagogue Leader; Israeli American Leaves U.S. to Volunteer as Medic. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 23, 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]

JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, SON MISSING IN ISRAEL: To reconstitute our lives at some point in these shattered and burnt-out communities. And the only way that can ever happen, and the only way, quite honestly, that the people of Gaza, these same people that we see as well suffering terribly, the only way they have a future is to eradicate Hamas as a governing -- certainly as a governing body over a dictatorial governing body. So, I, and I'm sure all of the other families of the hostages, America and otherwise, are living this dilemma every hour because there are two truths. And this is especially true for the people like myself who live in the border communities. You know, that's our home. It's not just a hostage taking situation. Our homes were invaded, destroyed in the most barbaric ways. And those are our people there.

So, the rage is there. And I know we need to be cautious about our rage. And as President Biden said, and he was right.

And -- but all that being said, you know, these two things remain true, we desperately want our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, safe in return to live their dreams. And it would be our dreams as well. But October 7th was absolute proof. So anyone with a brain in their head of that Hamas is not the answer for the Palestinian people. And certainly as long as Hamas exists, and organizations like it, there really is no hope for peace for me and my neighbors a mile and a half away.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Jonathan Dekel-Chen. Thank you, Jonathan.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And, Kate, an update. We just learned, CNN did, from U.S. officials that they still believe there are 10 Americans unaccounted for. It's unclear whether they are part of the 222 hostages the IDF says could be in Gaza now in their 17th day. And one other thing, the U.S. does not know the condition of whatever American hostages might be being held in Gaza.

Other news, a 27-year-old Israeli American is living her life here -- leaving her life here in the United States to volunteer as a medic in Israel.

And new reporting this morning on where the eternal race for House speaker is going at this moment. Three weeks into the chaos, how close is it to the - to a resolution?

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[09:37:03]

BOLDUAN: So, the latest move, if you will, as the House of Representatives remains paralyzed is Republicans are headed behind closed doors once again. Now nine candidates are vying for the job of speaker, but the reality remains the exact same for all of them as it did for Jim Jordan before them, it is not clear if any of them or anyone can get the 217 votes needed to actually win the gavel.

CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill for us.

So, Lauren, what are you hearing and where do things stand now with these nine people who would like to be speaker?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, as you can see, Kate, from the fact that there are nine candidates vying for this job, the race is really wide open. I think the expectation is that Representative Tom Emmer, who is the majority whip, probably has the lead in some significant ways. One of which is that he has the infrastructure. The other piece of that is the fact that he got the endorsement from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who said he was the guy for the job because he has the experience and that this is not a moment to have a rookie trying to figure out how to run the House Republican conference given the defections and divisions you have seen up until this point.

Now, tonight there's going to be a candidate forum for these nine members to make their pitch to their Republican colleagues behind closed doors. Then tomorrow morning, at 9:00 a.m., the vote begins. Now, that is going to happen in a closed-door session. They're going to try to get a speaker designee. But, Kate, again, it's not clear that whoever emerges from that meeting is going to be able to go to the floor and get the 217 votes that's required to become the speaker of the House.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Good to see you, Lauren. Talk to you soon.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.

I want to start with Tom Emmer, whom Lauren was just talking about there, the House majority whip, who may be the front runner.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: One peculiar factoid about Emmer, he actually voted to certify the 2020 election, which is something none other of those leading candidates for speaker have done. Certainly Jim Jordan didn't, Ron. So, how will that play out? BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean, we saw -- John, good morning, first of

all.

We saw that in the case of Jordan 90 percent of House Republicans were willing to elevate to the speakership the member of Congress who not only perhaps most vociferously supported but most extensively participated in Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election. Now we will see whether voting to certify Joe Biden's victory in effect is disqualifying in a Republican conference.

It is worth noting that even though Emmer voted to certify the result, John, he joined the lawsuit. You'll remember the long shot lawsuit from the state of Texas seeking to overturn the election results in four states. One hundred and five House Republicans signed on to a brief supporting that. He was one of them, as was Austin Scott, the other member who voted to certify and is seeking the speakership.

[09:40:06]

So, there really is no one in this race who did not, in some way, deny the validity of Joe Biden's victory in 2020. But even so, voting to certify is generating opposition to Emmer from the MAGA wing of, you know, supporters of Trump. We saw it in Steve Bannon's show last week. Can he overcome that -- is it now a Scarlett letter in the Republican conference to have certified Joe Biden's victory in 2020?

BERMAN: So, three weeks into this, Ron, the Democrats have been on the sidelines watching and waiting. There are those cynics among us who have said, there's never going to be a compromised solution where Democrats and Republicans join together to put someone in the speaker's chair who can run things. But how much closer is it to the possibility that there might be something done that involves Democratic votes?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I mean, look, the longer this goes on the -- you know, the more unprecedented scenarios come into play. I mean, first of all, you know, we are in an unprecedented scenario in that we've never had a successful motion to, in effect, fire the speaker by vacating the chair. And then we've seen the breakdown of the traditional party order. I mean, you know, when -- you can vote -- people can vote against their party on individual issues, but in the House you are supposed to vote with your party on the organization of the chamber. And the notion that the person who received the most votes in the closed session could not have their opponents or their critics fall into line on the floor is - is truly remarkable. As long as that goes on, obviously, this could - this could extend a very long time and those Republicans, who are more institutionalists, or for more competitive districts, they do have that option. I mean they have the option of aligning with the Democrats to pick sort of a, you know, a bipartisan speaker. I think it's going to have to go further into chaos before they are truly willing to countenance that.

BERMAN: Well, three weeks so far of unprecedented actions. There could be still more in that category soon.

Ron Brownstein, great to see you. As always, thank you. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, police in Detroit, Michigan, are searching for a suspect and a motive after a local synagogue leader was found stabbed to death outside of her home. We have an update on this for you.

We'll be back.

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[09:46:35]

BOLDUAN: Well, investigators are looking for a suspect and also looking for a motive still in the death of a synagogue president. Samantha Woll was found stabbed to death outside of her Detroit home Saturday morning and police say that they found a trail of blood leading to her home where they believe that this crime, this attack, occurred. So far officials say there is no evidence that her death was motivated by anti-Semitism. A lot more needing to be investigated and in this and from this.

Let's bring in CNN's Omar Jimenez with more on this.

Omar, what are you learning about the latest on this investigation?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, I mean, for starters, when people see that headline, Detroit synagogue leader found stabbed to death, it makes people want to jump to conclusions. But they're conclusions, police say, they just don't have, at least right now. Specifically the police chief, James White, emphasized in a statement that they put out that the investigation into the death of Ms. Samantha Woll is ongoing but, "at this time, however, no evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by anti-Semitism. "But also they didn't include in that statement that it had been ruled out. Sort of highlighting where we are here, but also some of the lingering questions we have.

Forty-year-old Samantha Woll was found stabbed outside of her home Saturday morning. Police say they followed a trail of blood from her body to her home, which is where they believe this killing happened. They don't have a suspect, at least that they've announced. And we don't know what led up to this killing, but they are continuing to investigate.

Regardless of how it happened, it did happen. And now a community is trying to come to grips with this new reality. People from community members, to state elected officials, over the course of a memorial reflected on who Woll was, including Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who worked with Woll during her re-election campaign.

Take a listen to some of what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA NESSEL, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Samantha Woll may have been the nicest person that I have ever met or will ever meet in my lifetime. Sam did more for our community, our state, our world, our lives, in her short time here on earth than most will ever accomplish in 1,000 lifetimes over. And her killer will not rob us of the memory of her joy and warmth and kindness that she leaves behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And another state senator who spoke at that memorial said she was just with Woll at a wedding the night before her body was found. But, of course, this investigation continues as a community tries to come to grips with what happened and investigators try to figure out why.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Omar, thank you so much.

Omar's in Detroit for us this morning.

John.

BERMAN: All right, a 27-year-old Israeli American is leaving the United States behind to volunteer as a medic in Israel. Much more ahead.

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[09:53:31]

SIDNER: As the war in Gaza intensifies, some Israeli Americans are making the decision to go back to Israel to help in any way they can. Kineret Levin is a 27-year-old nurse who is leaving her life in the United States to volunteer her time in Israel as a medic at a hospital.

CNN's Camila Bernal followed her journey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the beginning of an uncertain and potentially dangerous journey. And a way of coping.

KINARET LEVIN, MEDICA TRAVELING TO ISRAEL: It reminded me how I felt on 9/11 when I was a child and that hopelessness and not understanding what was going on. And I was like, never again. And this is really never again.

BERNAL: Twenty-seven-year-old Kineret Levin is leaving everything behind. Her calling, volunteering her time as a medic in Israel.

LEVIN: I've made my peace with whatever happens. I've already made it because, as an American, this is my sense of justice against terrorism, against the value -- my American values. As Jewish person, my heart is bleeding. And as an Israeli, I'm ready to give my all.

BERNAL: Los Angeles was her last stop before her flight to Israel.

BERNAL (on camera): Are you ready to see that?

LEVIN: I don't think anyone truly is ready or truly is prepared. But it's a conscious decision that I have made, and I will stick through it.

[09:55:05]

BERNAL (voice over): The organization Bulletproof Israel helped place Levin at a hospital in Israel. They're working to help Americans who want to travel to Israel while also sending large quantities of supplies.

LION SHIRDAN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BULLETPROOF ISRAEL: None of us are taking a salary. We're just doing everything we can to help our friends in Israel, to help our friends that have been victimized.

BERNAL: And they've been told the hospitals are in need.

SHIRDAN: We're seeing a lot of medical supplies that are necessary right now.

BERNAL: Levin hopes her time will make a difference.

LEVIN: This is doing my part, and this is my values, and who I am as a person, as who I am as a nurse, and a medical professional.

BERNAL: She says as long as she's alive, she will be helping.

LEVIN: There is no regret. Regret is not the feeling. There is fear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL: And she says she'll use that fear as a motivation. She told me that she's safe in Israel, and she is looking forward to coming back home as well. I talked to other organizations who are supporting Palestinian in Gaza, and they say they don't have the luxury to travel or to send aid, so it's really difficult to them - for them. But, overall, it's just Americans who want to help.

SIDNER: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you so much for that story.

And coming up, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza says that more than 40 hospitals and medical centers are now out of service there. What we're hearing from doctors there about the conditions they are now facing.

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