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Israel Expands Assault, Slamming Gaza from Air and Ground; Today: UN. Holds Emergency Meeting on Ground Invasion of Gaza; Police Were Asked to Check on Maine Gunman Weeks Before Attack. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 30, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:52]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New overnight -- new overnight, the ground operation in Gaza amps up. The Israeli military launching several new rounds of airstrikes this morning as the White House warns there is an elevated risk of the war spreading across the Middle East.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A brand-new poll out of Iowa out just this morning shows the state of the Republican race. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis betting everything on Iowa. So how is that bet looking this morning?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The warning signs that were missed about Robert Card. What led a fellow guardsman to alert that he feared Card would, quote, snap and commit a mass shooting, only weeks before he did.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman in New York. Sara Sidner is in Tel Aviv.

This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SIDNER: This morning, we have been watching a rapid intensification of Israel's assault on Gaza from the air and the sea. In Gaza, fireball after fireball, the result of airstrikes pounding the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops also on the ground in Gaza now. The Israeli military says it has killed dozens of what it termed Hamas terrorists overnight.

The Israeli military has started a new phase of war, sending more ground troops into Gaza. They are targeting Hamas's complex tunnel system where more than 200 hostages are believed to be kept.

According to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza the death toll in Gaza has reached nearly 8,000 people since the war broke out. We also should mention that save the children says more children have been killed in Gaza in these past three weeks than globally over a four- year period.

Today, U.N. security officials say they will hold an emergency meeting as the White House now warns of an elevated risk of war spreading in the Middle East. Right now, 59 aid trucks are waiting to cross into Gaza from the Rafah Border, from Egypt. President Biden is urging for more assistance as International Red Cross officials call the humanitarian crisis in Gaza right now a catastrophic failing.

But we begin first with the ground incursion. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Sderot for us, just about a mile from the Gaza border.

Jeremy, tell us what you're seeing and what you're hearing today.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, we've been here for the last several hours and during that time we have been going a lot of outgoing artillery fire, there are a couple artillery positions near where we are standing and we have been seeing the result of the destruction wrought on Gaza by those artillery strikes, as well as by the aerial bombardment being carried out by the Israeli air force.

Right behind me, on my right shoulder here, you can see an explosion that just went off right behind us. This is the city of Beit Hanoun, which is that the northeastern most city in the Gaza Strip. You can see the plume of smoke raising above there. This is the imagery we have been seeing over the last several hours and the last several days as Israel has been expanding its ground operations inside of Gaza.

What we have been -- what we have learned this morning is that the IDF in recent days has carried out more than 600 strikes, going after weapons depots, anti-tank missile launch positions as well as underground tunnels and staging positions for those Hamas fighters.

We also know that in recent hours, they have announced that they've killed four more Hamas commanders and they have really been going after those Hamas commanders who would be commanding the fighting on the ground, commanding some of those smaller units, whether it is rocket units or naval forces of Hamas, which indicates kind of the focus of the IDF recently.

What we have also learned is that Israeli tanks are operating not only right behind me in the northeastern most corner of Gaza but also further south in Gaza City. We just got video that just came in of a tank near Gaza City on one of the main roads, one of the main arteries of Gaza, appearing to fire on a passenger vehicle.

[09:05:02]

Now, we don't know who was inside that passenger vehicle, but that video is quite disturbing when you look at it. And it comes, of course, in the context of this mounting death toll that we have been watching inside of Gaza. More than 8,000 people have now been killed according to the Palestinian ministry of health. We should note, of course, that those figures come from the Palestinian ministry of health which is controlled by Hamas which runs the entire Gaza Strip, but according to those figures, nearly three quarters of those who have been killed so far are from vulnerable populations.

You can look at just children alone, more than 3,000 children have been killed according to the Palestinian ministry of health. And, of course, those figures only continuing to rise -- Sara.

SIDNER: It is such a disturbing picture with innocent lives being killed in such terrible numbers.

Thank you so much, Jeremy Diamond. Appreciate it.

On the Gaza Strip, there is still a desperate fight for survival, the humanitarian crisis is there now urgent and there are more and more people who desperately need aid in Gaza. In Gaza, there is new information being reported from the charity organization Save the Children who, as we mentioned, say that more children have been killed in Gaza during this short period of war than globally over just a four-year period.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in London looking at the critical situation and the emergency U.N. meeting that is happening.

Salma, the call for a pause in fighting a ceasefire, if you will, will be at the forefront of the discussions in just a few hours but there has been already a vote where most nations did vote for a ceasefire but 14 did not. What can you tell us now?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gaza is at breaking point, that's what we're hearing from the international community. There is absolutely, Sara, a global outcry against that crisis that is spiraling out of control.

I know some of the latest images that came out of Gaza are just a sign of how desperate it is. The U.N. says one of its warehouses, people went inside trying to grab basic survival supplies. They say those 2 million people, half of them children, trapped, sealed into the Gaza Strip, are now facing starvation on top of facing the bombardment and the siege, of course, that has been in place now for three weeks.

You mentioned that very important vote last week in the U.N. General Assembly. Overwhelmingly, U.N. nations voting for a humanitarian truce. That is nonbinding. Now, the UAE is calling for another U.N. Security Council meeting today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The hope is to pass a binding resolution that would require Israel to pause.

But there is no sign of that, of course, happening at all on the ground. Prime Minister Netanyahu so far undeterred, in fact, only intensifying these attacks, warning this is just the beginning. And, again, speaking on those civilians trapped inside that enclave, desperate to find refuge, desperate to find help, desperate for some safety.

I want to bring you some images from Al Quds Hospital, if we can roll those, this is one of the hospitals in Gaza City, one of two major hospitals in Gaza City. They say they've received multiple evacuation orders, Sara, to leave that hospital, but just imagine trying to evacuate patients, wounded people, elderly, pregnant, children, while bombs rain down, while artillery is fired, somehow to the south of the Gaza Strip where there is no safety there as well.

And these hospitals are not just medical centers anymore, Sara. Some 1,400 people are estimated to be sheltering in that hospital because they believe it's the only place where they might get a bit of safety and even that is not guaranteed. Again, Save the Children calling these grave violations of epic proportions.

SIDNER: Yeah, Save the Children saying that annually over the past four years, this is way more children that have been killed in these just three weeks since the October 7th Hamas attack here, but in Gaza, there is just such a huge number of children who are dying and more than half the population is under the age of 18.

Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much for your reporting there.

John, sending it back to you in New York.

BERMAN: All right, Sara.

With us now is retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons.

We want to get people a sense of the terrain here. This is where Gaza is in Israel and we're talking about the Israeli ground operation right now. We're really just talking about the northern half of Gaza right there and if we push in on that area, just so people know, this is where Jeremy Diamond just was, he was saying he was seeing air activity over Beit Hanoun.

But some of the other operations we've seen, some of the other activity includes tanks in the northern corner of Gaza and we've also -- also seen, you know, air bombardments of Gaza City itself.

So, Major, when you look at all of this, how is Israel going about this?

[09:10:03]

MAJ. MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, first, they're doing it completely on their terms. OK, they have not massed large formations of troops on the border and used 10,000 and 20,000 troops going in at once. They're doing surgical strikes, very, very calculated.

In fact, here, they're focusing on this area here by a town called Sarit (ph), and what they've done is kind of -- they've pushed in about 3 kilometers. If you can see there's more built up area here than there is on this side because there is a lot more water obstacles here.

So, they feel that if they come in from this side, with the coastline, they will have a better opportunity to eventually surround what is going to be Gaza City here as other troops will push in this way. Again, the entire campaign is slow, methodical. It's designed to combine ground operations with air strikes.

Today, the IDF released reports that said troops came in, saw enemy positions, brought in air strikes. They still are not necessarily engaging specifically on the ground.

BERMAN: All right. I'm going to clear this out. We want to be keep talking about this.

You say that Israel is doing this on their terms. This is where Gaza City is right there. The "Wall Street Journal" says they have some sense that maybe Israel is trying to surround Gaza City.

Why? What would that do?

LYONS: Yeah, I think that's the way -- they've told civilians to already evacuate to the south, this he know that that's the center of gravity. They're trying to -- knowing that the enemy is fighting unconventionally. They know the tunnels are going to be a challenge here, but they're not going to chase them down the tunnels, they're going to destroy them.

This is, again, part of why they're going to fight it in their terms. They're going to fight this unconventionally in a conventional manner, whereas Hamas thought that Israel would come in heavy, come in hard, chase them down tunnels, all these traps that have been set. From my indication so far as I'm watching this, they're being slow and very deliberate, knowing full well that the center of gravity for the military is Gaza City.

BERMAN: Again, this is a tunnel map right now, this tunnel map based in 2021. The maps of the tunnels have certainly changed from then, Gaza city right about here, if we're talking about that.

And you say they are not going to chase them into the tunnels. What would they then do with the tunnels?

LYONS: Yeah, they will destroy them. There is a beginning of a tunnel, comes out someplace, they will likely destroy that. They will look for places on the other side.

This kind of ground war, it seems what they're doing is they're coming in, destroying that one part of that tunnel there, and seeing what happens, seeing where people go. They're not going to survive underground. We know they have supplies and ammunition and the like, but that's what Hamas wants them to do, they want a draw them into these tunnels. Israel is not going to fall prey to that.

BERMAN: I just saw one other thing that happened over the last couple days has to do with this activity at the airport in Dagestan, which is, you know, connected to Russia here. Look, this is where Israel is, this is where Dagestan is, it was at the airport here where there were people who stormed it after a flight from Tel Aviv landed, they were reportedly looking for Jews on this plane here.

When you talk about the war spreading from Israel, is that the kind of thing people are most concerned about or is it really what's happening in Lebanon, Syria and the border countries.

LYONS: That's a problem, a problem for Russia. When you have these kinds of things happening here the world sits up and takes a look at it. But the problem here is Iran. There's no question that -- you know, Syria would not be a problem right now, if the Lebanese start and Hezbollah decides to do something in the north that creates a problem but this is the issue is Iran. And I think that's going to be -- that will be if we see Iran decide to escalate.

Right now, for example, U.S. forces are being attacked and we're responding just proportionately and I think you're going to see Israel now start to respond disproportionately. That's their deterrents. They're going to respond with a lot more heavier things aside from a one shot to a one shot.

BERMAN: Mike Lyons, great to have you here. Thank you very much.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: That was really interesting.

Thank you so much.

Coming up for us, hearing voices and a fellow guardsman concerned he'd snap. The warning signs from Robert Card and why local law enforcement closed the case, if you will, just weeks before Card committed those horrible mass shootings. We have new reporting coming in. We'll bring that to you, next.

Plus, former Vice President Mike Pence, he is no longer running for president and there are new poll numbers out this morning from Iowa showing just how tough the race still is for anyone not named Donald Trump.

And following actor Matthew Perry's death, the medical examiner is asking for a deeper investigation into the cause. We'll be back.

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[09:18:20]

BOLDUAN: Days after the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, we are looking at another weekend of violence that left at least eight people dead and over 40 people wounded.

In Tampa, Florida, a 22-year-old suspect has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder for killing two and leaving 16 other people injured.

In Indianapolis, one person was killed, nine other people were injured after shots were fired at a Halloween party. Police have detained several people now for questioning in that.

Then we move to Texas where three people are dead after a fistfight at a party turned deadly, police have identified a 20-year-old man as a suspect.

And at another Halloween party in Chicago, at least 15 people were shot early Sunday, the shooter fled on foot but was placed in police custody. Two people remain in critical condition.

BERMAN: This morning, new information obtained by CNN shows that police were made aware of the Maine mass shooter's mental condition prior to the shooting. The Maine National Guard alerted local police to check on him after a soldier became concerned he would, quote, snap and commit a mass shooting. Local authorities went to his home and tried to contact him on September 16th, that's about six weeks before the deadly mass shooting last week that took 18 lives.

CNN's senior crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz in Maine with the latest on this.

A lot of warning signs here, Shimon.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, certainly raising all kinds of questions, right, John? Whether or not perhaps authorities could have ultimately stopped this from happening. It's certainly something that has law enforcement officials all across this state and really across the country concerned about this. You know, whether these signs were missed, whether more aggressive action should have been taken by the local sheriff's office where the shooter lived.

So what we've learned is that when the National Guard became concerned about information that they had received about the shooter, they notified the local sheriff's office in Sagadahoc County. This is -- Joe Merry is the sheriff there, they called his office and he dispatched one of his sergeants to investigate.

And over the course of several days, they did investigate. They want to his home. Initially, he wasn't there, but there's new information indicating that he may have been at the home and, in fact, the sergeant from the sheriff's office was at the home, thought he heard him inside, but was concerned about him being inside and his own safety, the sheriff sergeant's own safety, that he called another unit in, but then he didn't really do anything.

You know, he got information that the shooter may have been armed at that time, so he was raising all sorts of questions about his own safety, and then it's not very clear what happens after that and how much more investigating authorities did. What the sheriff has said to "The Associated Press" and "The New York Times" is that he issued an alert on the man, but we don't know what that alert entailed. We know that there was a missing persons report filed by the sheriff's office, but beyond that we don't know.

So, obviously, this is raising all sorts of questions because there were signs, law enforcement had information that he was potentially threatening a mass shooting, there were warning signs everywhere from the national guard to family members. Why this wasn't further investigated is now a big question and obviously for the families, you know, hearing this information will be very, very troubling. It is for this community and it is for law enforcement officials all across this state.

BERMAN: I mean, these were not vague warning signs, these were explicitly stated signs, people warning that they were concerned that this man could ultimately commit the kind of thing, the exact kind of thing, he did.

Shimon Prokupecz asking all the right questions in Maine, keep us posted on what you are hearing. Thank you, Shimon.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Let's talk more about this important reporting.

Joining me now is CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore. Steve is a retired FBI supervisory agent.

Steve, Shimon laid out the details he has been able to pull together. If you look at the facts that are known, the details of warning signs so far from the national guardsman saying he was afraid he was going to snap, taking it to the extent that the National Guard alerted local law enforcement, a welfare check that seemed to go nowhere, the family getting involved.

Let's start with the big and talk about the details. First and foremost, did something go wrong here?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Yes. I mean, at the most base level, let's just start from something we will all understand, when you get somebody who has been referred to your department because they are hearing voices, they might snap and commit a mass shooting, and they are armed and potentially dangerous and you get this report.

There are only two possible outcomes to your investigation. Number one, everybody is wrong, he is absolutely fine, there's no mental issues. Or number two, it's not good, he has been in a mental institution, he does have arms and he won't meet with us.

Then you kick it upstairs. You get moving on your solution. So you either say the reporting was wrong or you find a solution. They found the reporting was correct and stopped, and I don't know why.

BOLDUAN: Is it clear or what's your question of where the breakdown is? Because you have the National Guard reporting it to local law enforcement, you have a welfare check, a welfare case opened, if you will, you have local officers involved, the sheriff's department involved.

Is it clear where the breakdown is? What's your question in this?

MOORE: Yeah, I would have a lot. I'd say they've got to probably bring in somebody to find out what exactly was the breakdown, but the way -- I don't have enough really to answer the question authoritatively right now, but my thought is this, they sent a sergeant out to the -- out to the residence. Was this sergeant a uniformed officer or deputy?

If so, it would indicate to me that they sent a uniformed officer to do your standard welfare check and said, oh, by the way, he might shoot you, he's got a gun. And he was justifiably concerned.

[09:25:03]

But that -- when you send the issue to the uniformed officers, their job is response and handling exigent situations. You have a group of what are colloquially known detectives and detectives take cases and they work them until there is a resolution. It seems to me that it's possible at this point that this case was sent to uniformed officers to do a quick check, hopefully, it will go away, and it didn't and nobody followed up.

So it should have actually been -- if it wasn't -- assigned to a detective, to an investigator, because this is not a one-shot, talk to the guy and it's over.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and it's not just a looking back, it's a future problem where lessons have to be learned because as we just -- we were reporting, you know, of mass shootings again this weekend. It's not like we don't know that this happens and it is unfortunately sadly, scarily, likely to happen again.

It's good to see you, Steve. Thank you for coming in.

John?

BERMAN: All right. We have new video out of Russia where hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed through an airport looking for Jewish passengers on a flight from Israel. This was terrifying.

Mike Johnson starts his first full week as House speaker, a plate full of censures, expulsion and wars. New reporting on his latest plan.

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