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Now, First Palestinians Leaving Gaza Since War Began; IDF Airstrike on Crowded Gaza refugee Camp Kills and Injures Dozens; Trump Jr. May Testify in New York Civil Fraud Trial. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 01, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: For the first time since Hamas attacked Israel, the Rafah crossing in Gaza is opening up to civilians to cross through. What Israel, Egypt and Hamas all had to agree to and who is now making their move through the crossing.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Israel acknowledges an airstrike on a refugee camp in Northern Gaza. Israeli officials say they killed a Hamas terror leader there, but the pictures show many, many dead. One Israeli official told me he did not know how many civilians, but hospital officials say that there are hundreds of casualties, including dead and wounded. This morning, new reaction from countries around the world.

Also, Donald Trump's children set to testify starting today in New York. What they potentially have to lose.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. Sara is on assignment. And this is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: A big development in Gaza, many developments, including this, civilians finally allowed to move through the Rafah crossing into Egypt for the first time in more than three weeks, the first time since Hamas attacked Israel in that terror attack.

Now, according to officials on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, 110 foreign passport holders have now departed Gaza. It's not clear yet where all of those passport holders are or are headed but still they've departed Gaza.

This has been a huge question since the start of this war. Why was the crossing locked down the way it was? Who was holding it up? And when were foreigners going to be allowed to evacuate?

This important move was brokered by gutter and came about after Israel, Egypt and Hamas all reached agreement. Ultimately, we're told, it will allow up to 500 foreign nationals, some Americans, to leave Gaza. We have seen ambulances moving injured Palestinians out since this news broke. That is part of the deal as well. We're continuing to follow exactly how that is developing. Now, let's talk about northern Gaza, the other major development this morning. Israel is defending itself this morning, saying that in the strike that left this crater, it took out a major Hamas target. It took out a Hamas commander and other Hamas militants. But the strike also hit around about and at a refugee camp in Northern Gaza. This crater that you're looking at, we're told, is where dozens of Gazans were reportedly killed and injured.

Now, body bags of all sizes have been seen. One witness has described seeing children carrying other children from the rubble.

The IDF this morning defending its actions, saying that this is one of its military targets, saying that they believe that many civilians had evacuated the refugee camp.

Let's start first with the Rafah crossing and the major developments there. CNN's Becky Anderson is live in Doha. She's joining us now.

Becky, you're learning more details about how this deal was brokered, about how it came about, and what the terms of this deal are. What's the latest?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, this is hard-earned success. And, you know, success has been hard to come by, right? So, this is good news in these Qatar-led negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Egypt, in conjunction with and coordination with the United States.

So, as we understand it, as many as 500 foreign nationals and American citizens, we can't stand up exactly how many at this point today and how long this process will take. But, certainly, we are looking at as many as 500 foreign passport holders being able to leave Gaza, getting in through that Rafah crossing. And then the process is, through that Rafah crossing, you then get into Egypt.

As you rightly pointed out, about 110 foreign passport holders to date at this point having crossed from Gaza, but as I say, this is a process. You've got to get through the border crossing and then out the other side. And, obviously, delegations are waiting for those who are getting out today on the other side. We know that Jordan, for example, has activated its evacuation plans for its citizens in Jordan.

And there are other countries involved, as we understand it today. There could be as many as 400 American citizens or dual citizens with American passports who are hoping to leave with their family members. One U.S. official tells us that could be as many as 1,000 people.

But at this point, as we understand it, it is not the American citizens or dual passport holders today who will be leaving. But as I say, this is a process and the expectations are that those American citizens will be able to leave within the next 24 hours.

Again, I have to say caveat here, we are not entirely sure of the actual numbers, but there are certainly, you know, a significant number of people now getting out of Gaza on their way into Egypt. As I say, hard-earned by these Qatar-led negotiators in coordination with the U.S. to get to where we are at this point. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. As you well point out, and you've been tracking so closely, Becky, a hard-earned and rare diplomatic success in what we've been watching in these last more than three weeks. Thank you so much. We're going to watch this very closely.

Now to the Israeli strikes in northern in northern Gaza at the Jabalia refugee camp. Israel says that it was an airstrike. Its airstrike targeted a mosque commander there and took him out. But we've also seen the devastating scenes of the crater left behind in that strike and big questions of how many civilians could be injured in it.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is following the situation closely. She's also joining us now. What's the latest that you're learning about this, Salma?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Up until this hour, Kate, we still understand that families are desperately digging under the rubble, trying to see if they can find survivors, trying to see if they can even find the bodies of their loved ones to bury.

You have to remember some of these residential buildings that were flattened in an instant or 20 stories high. So, just imagine the impact, the pancake, the rubble, the rebar, and there is a lack of resources. There is a lack of help on the ground. Food, fuel, water, much of that has been cut off because of a complete siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. Hospitals and paramedics and ambulances, they are on the brink. That means, oftentimes, you're looking at the survivors of this attack digging with their own bare hands, looking for their family members.

Now, comms were also severely disrupted right after this attack. So, we're only just starting to receive some of the images of what took place last night. I just got one video of a man just screaming because he realized three of his children -- all three of his children were killed in these airstrikes.

There are countless families, countless moms and dads that will be burying their children over the course of the next couple of days. And the doctors in the hospitals, they're describing these horrific injuries, burns, severe cuts that they are trying to treat with very little medical care. You hear an outcry and outrage from the international community.

Israel's military has, of course, said they were targeting a senior Hamas commander, as you mentioned, and we did, as CNN, push Israeli military spokespeople on the question of civilian casualties. One IDF spokesperson saying, look, this is the tragedy of war, but that tragedy playing out in absolute carnage on the ground. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Salma, thank you so much for that. John?

BERMAN: All right. Let's get a sense of where the current Israeli military operation stands. With us now, CNN Military Analyst, retired Major General James Spider Marks. Also with us, CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. And, gentlemen, let's remember, Israel's latest count is there are still 240 hostages inside Gaza. This would be their 26th day in captivity. And, Spider, I want to start with you here to look at the scene in Northern Gaza. This is where we think Israel has gone in these first few days of the ground operation, coming in from the north on at least two fronts here and also from underneath Gaza City.

This, by the way, is the Jabalya refugee camp where we just saw that explosion. And there is a sense that maybe they're trying to cut off Gaza City. What are you seeing in the Israeli ground effort so far?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES SPIDER MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: John, what you see is not surprising, let's be frank. What the IDF needs to do is isolate and protect the battlefield. So, they're going to come from the east. They'll migrate through. They'll move through Gaza. They'll even potentially go all the way to the Med, to Mediterranean, and coming down from the north.

That gives them an opportunity to protect their flanks. That gives them a chance to identify very clear targets where they need to address. They need to use all means of capabilities.

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But this is a synchronized battle.

And what you're going to see now moving forward is a much more patient and deliberate IDF. This is the start of what I think will be, as they've described, the next phase of this operation. And they will be there for a while, very deliberate attacks on the ground. They have to follow up after there's a strike. You have to then go move into those areas. You have to clear those areas. And then you have to hold those areas. And that's an acknowledgment that they're going to be there in a while.

BERMAN: So, David Sanger, as you look at this and you hear what Spider is describing there, I don't know if the word is patience, but I'm going to use it. How much patience is there in the world and in the diplomatic community for Israel to do this?

And, yes, there's been a lot of diplomatic activity just the last few days. Qatar brokering a deal to allow people to leave Gaza and the Rafah crossing right there, and that involved Egypt, Israel, Hamas, even the United States tangentially. But as the world community looks what's happening here, David, what's the current view?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, John, it's a really hard question because you've got two timelines going. One is the one that Spider has just described to us, which is what it will take to route out Hamas, and that means getting into those tunnel systems. And many people I talk to think this is a very long operation, particularly if you're trying to reduce casualties.

The second timeline, though, is the diplomatic and humanitarian patience for the kind of suffering you're seeing in Gaza. The fact that residents are beginning to have to try to loot United Nations store rooms and storehouses is telling you something. The devastation you're seeing on television is telling you something.

But, really, that attack yesterday where Israel, if you take them at face value on their statement, that they killed a very senior Hamas leader, presumably was responsible for the awful October 7 terror attack, but made a conscious decision to do it even though they knew there would be extraordinarily high civilian casualties or there was a high likelihood of it, tells you something about where their calculus is versus the rest of the world.

I'm not sure that the United States facing the same choice or other western countries facing the same choice would have necessarily taken the shot given the presence of so many civilians right in that area and understanding that that's exactly the choice Hamas wanted to force them into.

BERMAN: I want to ask you both about the situation on a different front in this war, Gaza down here, but the border with Lebanon up here and this is where Hezbollah operates in Southern Lebanon, the Shia militia group.

Spider, what do you see? Our Jim Sciutto was right on that border, and he's seen rockets going in, and airstrikes going out from Israel. What do you see is the current situation at the border?

MARKS: Yes. The key question there is, what is Iran trying to achieve vis-a-vis Hezbollah. How do they want to control that terrorist organization as Israel is now laser focused in on Gaza? I don't see Hezbollah crossing the border. I do see Hezbollah continuing its rocket launches. And I guarantee you Israel will not take its eye off that northern border with Lebanon. That's an incredibly important position for them to hold.

So, it's not a distraction, it's an allocation of forces. It's an economy of force. The -- is in Gaza, and that's where they are going to work on to make sure that they demonstrate that they've got capacity up there.

BERMAN: Look, by some estimates, Hezbollah has got some 150,000 rockets with technology that's a lot better than it was 20 years ago in Southern Lebanon.

David Sanger, what do you see -- we're going to hear from the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Friday, but what do you see is their calculation here about whether or if to get more involved in this conflict?

SANGER: Well, I think the big question is what's Iran's calculation of how much they will support that. Clearly, it seems as if the Iranians, from both what they're saying and what they're doing, don't want to be in a direct conflict with American forces, with those two carrier groups in the Mediterranean. But I'm sure they're perfectly happy to see a fair bit of harassment of Israel going on, which is what those rocket launches are all about, and the diversion of the forces that Spider referred to.

So, the big question that American officials are watching for is this. If the Israelis truly get bogged down in Gaza, would Hezbollah see that as an opportunity to open up a second front?

Now, we're three weeks into this right now, and we've been worried about the second front all along, hasn't happened yet.

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And that suggests that what President Biden has done to create some deterrence in that region, which will only build up in the next few days and weeks, may be working.

There's been a lot of backchannel conversation to the Iranians saying, let's not do this. And I think there's probably also some effort to get China and other nations that have more open communications with Iran to make the same point. And I think the way that the U.S. is making that point to the Chinese is, if it turns into a bigger conflict with Iran, the first thing that it's going to affect is oil flow out of the Persian Gulf.

BERMAN: David Sanger, Spider Marks, thanks to both of you. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, Donald Trump Jr. may take the witness stand today in the civil fraud trial against his father. What this case and the judge's ruling could mean for all of the Trump children, some, including Don Jr., named as defendants in this lawsuit.

Plus, Nikki Haley jumping in the polls in her home state. Is it a trend what the other presidential candidates should be seeing here and how they may need to be adjusting strategy quickly?

And this afternoon, the student now charged with making dangerous anti-Semitic threats at Cornell University will be making his first court appearance.

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BOLDUAN: Court is back in session, and soon, Donald Trump's eldest son may take the stand in the New York Civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization. Donald Trump Jr. would be the first of Trump's children to testify with more to come.

Don Jr. and Eric Trump are named as defendants in the $250 million lawsuit. They're accused of knowingly participating in the scheme to boost the former president's net worth for their financial benefit, obviously.

CNN's Kara Scannell outside the courthouse with much more on this. Kara, what are you hearing about? What could be happening today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the attorney general's office just finished questioning a former Trump Organization executive and they're going to be calling their expert witness in this case who will testify about how much money the attorney general's office could try to seek in terms of fines and disgorgement. After that testimony is done, which it's unclear how long that will take, this is an expert witness, there will be cross-examination of this person, then Donald Trump Jr. will be called to testify. We expect that could be later this afternoon, possibly slipping to tomorrow. It just really depends on how long this expert witness is on the stand.

But when Don Jr. does testify, he will be the first of Donald Trump's three children, adult children, who will be testifying in this case. And like his brother, he's accused of being involved in these financial statements that the judge has already found to be fraudulent.

So, the attorney general's office alleges that Don Jr. had signed and certified that these financial statements were accurate beginning in 2017 when his father became president, and that he also signed his name to annual certifications to banks saying that Donald Trump's net worth was above $2.5 billion dollars.

Now, Don Jr. has previously testified in a deposition last year, so we have a sense of what he's going to say. And as it relates to those financial statements, here is what he said under oath before. I had no real involvement in the preparation of the statement of financial condition and don't really remember ever working on it with anyone.

Now, he also said he never reviewed the statement, he never approved the statement, even though he did sign the statement. And as it relates to those bank certifications, he testified that he signed those after he was assured by accountants and lawyers that it was accurate.

So, he is distancing himself from these financial statements that are at the heart of this case. But, you know, he will be called to the stand once this expert testimony wraps and then be testifying, you know, on direct examination, under oath before the judge, potentially as early as this afternoon.

After his testimony wraps, his brother, Eric Trump, will testify and that will be followed by his father, former President Trump on Monday, and then Ivanka Trump on Wednesday. After that, the New York Attorney General's Office is expected to rest their case. But as far as we're waiting today to see how long it will take until Don Jr. gets on the stand. Kate?

BOLDUAN: That's right, Kara. Thank you for being there. I really appreciate it. It's going to be fascinating when he takes the stand, no matter what it is.

BERMAN: Oh, that's for sure.

So, this is all happening in New York.

BOLDUAN: New York.

BERMAN: Meanwhile, in Florida, Trump's attorneys are requesting that his classified documents trial be postponed until after the presidential election right now is scheduled to begin in May.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz outside the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida. So, what do we expect today, Katelyn?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, John, there is a hearing today where the judge in this case, Judge Aileen Cannon, on the federal bench, she's going to have the opportunity to revisit that trial date she previously set in May. That's because Donald Trump's lawyers, they have been trying for quite some time, they've made quite clear they do not want Donald Trump as a criminal defendant on trial while he is also running for president. And they've found an opportunity in this case to ask to move that trial date back until at least, they say, mid-November of 2024, so just after the presidential election date of next year. Right now, it is set for May.

The reason that they found that opening is because as they prepare for trial, they have to go through classified evidence to look at what their case might be, the documents Trump is charged with mishandling national security information.

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And so in order to look at that evidence, they have to go and physically visit it in a secured location.

The lawyers for Donald Trump and Trump himself were there in Miami yesterday. They've had a couple other days in October to look at that evidence, but they're saying it's not enough time. They need their deadlines to be pushed back. That means that they also are going to need the trial date pushed back.

Now, the Justice Department, the special counsel's office that's prosecuting this case, they do not want to move the trial date back. They want this deadline of May for the trial to hold. And so we are going to see if the judge buys which side of the arguments today, if she goes with the Justice Department saying they have enough time, they're going to be fine, or if she goes with Trump's team.

BERMAN: We'll be listening to Judge Aileen Cannon very carefully today as she presides.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much for being there. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And joining us now is a reporter with The Washington Post, Jonathan O'Connell, who's also just published a new piece specifically about the New York case, the lawsuit, and also what it means for the entire Trump family, it means for the Trump children who are now wrapped up in all of this. It's good to see you, Jonathan.

I'm going to read for everyone how you describe what you're kind of looking at with the Trump family after all of this legal trouble. You write in part along with the other reporters on this piece, Trump's four-year presidency and the tumultuous period of investigations in criminal and civil litigation since he left office have reshaped much of the Trump family's wealth, business and dynamics with one another, according to court filings, financial records, emails and interviews with people close to the family. What more are you learning about the family dynamic at play here and how it's shifted?

JONATHAN O'CONNELL, REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yes, I think before Mr. Trump got into politics, the path for some of his eldest children was fairly straightforward. Ivanka Trump clearly had taken a really big interest in the company. She was dealing with a lot of his bankers. She was designing things. She was developing real estate, so were her brothers. You know, they all had a role in the company. You could sort of pick a path forward for them.

Of course, he wins the presidency, and that's one big sort of evolution for the family. Ivanka goes to Washington with him, Don Jr. becomes the sort of star in MAGA media, and Eric Trump is back in New York running the business.

Now, they're going to have to go through another evolution, particularly with this New York fraud case. The money that they have all tied up in New York real estate and other real estate is really -- it's not at risk for them losing it, but they may lose control of those properties. They may not be able to operate as a business in New York anymore, and some of the children are no longer interested in the business anymore. So, they're going to have to figure out what this legacy of real estate that Mr. Trump started with will happen to it.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Because there is a question that I started wondering in reading your piece is, what do the Trump children have to lose here with this lawsuit?

O'CONNELL: You know, I think it depends if they care about running the business or not. You know, Eric has been running it for the past four, five years, six, seven years really now. on a day-to-day basis. Does he still want to run whatever that company is going to be once it gets to this trial, if he's able to? Again they may not be able to depending on how the judge rules here.

Does Ivanka Trump care about this company anymore? Does she care about real estate anymore? Does Don Jr. care about real estate anymore? If none of the members of the next generation of the Trumps want to run this company, then at some point they should start maybe thinking about what they're going to do with it. I mean Trump has already sort of stopped developing things. He doesn't build things anymore, really. He manages the properties that he has but he's turned to politics naturally. And this old -- you know, the empire that made him famous is now sort of orphaned until they figure what they're going to do with it.

BOLDUAN: You know, even before kind of this New York case came to came to a head and like went to the courtroom, it was clear that Ivanka, post-presidency, was really trying -- you could see moves she was making, just it seemed to distance herself from the president, from his actions, from politics, really. But what do you see -- and she's also distancing yourself and trying to from this civil fraud lawsuit, for sure. Why is that what do you hear specifically about Ivanka Trump if she's being successful in this effort?

O'CONNELL: I just have not seen any interest from Ivanka Trump in operating the business or being involved in the business sense, really, she went to Washington. You know, and she is obviously come very committed to her family and her children, she lives in Florida now, you know? Her to attorneys have said in this case that the only time she's been to Trump Tower in the last six, seven years have been a cup (ph) periodically once or twice a year for a few minutes to visit old staff, that sort of thing. But I don't -- you know, this there's no expectation, I don't think, from the public that she will take over you know the Trump Organization. Now, I think that seems like a chapter from her past.

In terms of what she does in the future, right, to me, it's a blank canvas. She obviously has some, you know, experience in business, she has experience in politics, and right now, she seems to be happy being in Florida with her family.

BOLDUAN: Jonathan O'Connell, it's good to have you, great reporting, thank you.

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John?

O'CONNELL: Thanks so much.

BERMAN: So, South Carolina likes to say it picks presidents. What a brand new poll is telling us about their picking right now.