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Stranded Americans In Gaza Await Details On When They Can Leave; House Speaker Meeting With Senate GOP As Stand-alone Israel Aid Bill Faces Opposition; House To Take Up Censure Votes, Attempt To Oust Rep. Santos; Rep. Ken Buck, Republican From Colorado, Won't Seek Reelection; U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Rises For First Time In 20-Plus Years; American Cancer Society Updates Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 01, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: This, after the stranded Americans began receiving official word from the State Department about when they'll be allowed to get out.

And we're joined now by Sammy Nabulsi. He's an attorney for a Massachusetts family of three that's trying to leave Gaza right now.

Sammy, we've been following the story of Abood Okel and his wife, Wafa Abuzayda, and their 1-year-old son. We know they were contacted by the State Department today. What else can you tell us?

SAMMY NABULSI, ATTORNEY FOR AMERICAN FAMILY TRAPPED IN GAZA: Yes. The movement at the Rafah crossing, of course, is encouraging. But unfortunately, both the family and I remain incredibly but somewhat hopeful.

They did receive a communication from the State Department that the State Department had reliable information that the crossing would be open in the next 24 to 72 hours, which we did see that today.

The part of this that's frustrating is the list of foreign nationals that were permitted to cross today through the Rafah crossing included foreign nationals of eight countries, none of them being the United States of America.

So at this point, neither the family nor I have heard of a specific departure date or time or option at the moment.

In fact, Abood reached out to the U.S. embassy in Cairo maybe two to three hours ago and he was told that there is no timeline for his family to be able to depart Gaza and enter into Egypt.

So I'm encouraged by the development but, as of this moment, there's still no departure option and there's still no timeline being communicated directly with the family.

DEAN: Right. And you're saying that he reached out directly to the State Department. That's what he was told. Do you know why U.S. nationals are not on that initial list? Have you

been given any insight into that?

NABULSI: I don't. And frankly, I don't understand. My understanding is there was an agreement brokered, mediated by Qatar, that included the United States, Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

And I don't understand who we're bargaining for, what we're bargaining for if not the departure of U.S. citizens.

So I don't know why foreign nationals of other countries were permitted to cross but not the foreign nationals of the United States.

But I'm trying to have some bit of hope that this family in the coming day or two will be able to depart.

Obviously, the difficulty continues to be, every day that passes and the airstrikes continue, we don't know whether the family makes it to the next day.

Abood was telling me as early as this morning, every night before they go to sleep, they both worry but at the same time try to have some hope that they'll wake up and live another day.

DEAN: And the president has said that he was hopeful it would be today that some would be able to leave, but it sounds like that's not the case, at least for this family of three.

NABULSI: It's not the case for this family. They've received no communication.

DEAN: Right.

And I want to ask you about just kind of the logistics of all of this. They have to monitor their e-mail. You're talking about reaching out either by phone or on e-mail.

How are they able to do that? I know the Internet and cell phone access has been difficult there.

NABULSI: Yes, that's right. It's actually incredibly difficult. Every passing day, the telecommunication issue becomes worse and we get more worried about this.

Right now, the way I'm able to communicate with them has been primarily through WhatsApp text messages. Anytime I've tried to call them, the call usually drops after a few seconds.

My understanding is they have U.S. cell phones with them. And if they step out into this open field that is next to where they're currently sheltering with 40 other people, they're able to pick up a bar or two by connecting with some Israeli telecommunication infrastructure.

And so that's the way in which they're able to get e-mails and communicate with the outside world. But it's really difficult when they're inside the house. And it gets extremely difficult when we get into the late hours and

into the evening over in Gaza. Because on top of the connectivity issue, electricity gets shut down to Gaza, so they're unable to keep a charge once they get into nighttime.

DEAN: Again, just about 400 Americans and their families, including the family that you're working with and talking with, your friends, still trying to get out. We will wait and see how this develops.

Sammy Nabulsi, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

NABULSI: Thank you for telling their story. I appreciate it.

DEAN: And today is expected to be the first big test for House Speaker Mike Johnson as the House weighs a historic decision on whether to expel Congressman George Santos and the censures of two other lawmakers. We go to the Hill, next.

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[13:39:26]

DEAN: Right now, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is meeting with the full Senate GOP conference after breaking with Senate Republican leadership to link funding for Israel and Ukraine.

And instead, pushing ahead with a stand-alone funding bill for Israel that he has tied to huge spending cuts to the IRS as a way he says to pay for that bill.

Johnson refused to accept President Biden's request to link the Israel and Ukraine funding.

And several Senate Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are vehemently opposed to that, saying funding the two wars is critical to U.S. national security.

[13:40:00]

Let's go straight to CNN's Melanie Zanona who's live on Capitol Hill.

Mel, what are we expecting to see coming out of this meeting?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, really, this was an opportunity for Senate Republicans to get to know Speaker Johnson. A lot of them have never interacted with him.

One of them, Susan Collins, said she had to actually Google who Mike Johnson was. And for Johnson it was an opportunity to lay out his vision for how he plans to approach the job.

And we are getting a readout from some of our colleagues who've been chasing this this afternoon about what was said in that meeting.

According to our colleague, Manu Raju, Speaker Johnson says that his focus is going to be on passing things that can get through the House with the support of House Republicans and worrying about reconciling with the Senate later on.

And he also signaled that he would be open to additional Ukraine aid but only if his Republican conference was on board. He would not be doing that with the support of Democrats.

So obviously, that is a very different approach than what Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has taken. He has been a staunch advocate for Ukraine aid despite the fact that there are divisions within the Senate GOP over that issue.

So Mitch McConnell is advocating for a broader national security package that includes Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, border security, much more similar to what Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats and the White House are pursuing.

So at this moment, Jess, it is just really uncertain how the House and Senate are going to come together.

DEAN: And I want to go back to the Senate -- to the House, rather, where you are closer to right now, Melanie, because we know this afternoon the House is going to take up votes to censure two lawmakers, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

As well as this vote to potentially oust Republican Congressman George Santos, who's been indicted with multiple criminal charges, including wire fraud and identity theft.

What are the chances of any of these passing as we stand here at 1:40? I know things can change.

ZANONA: I've been checking in with my sources all day today. And at this point, it doesn't look like any of those resolutions are going to pass.

Just a reminder, expulsion is a really high bar. You need two-thirds of the entire chamber in order for that to succeed.

But I will say that these votes are going to be very divisive. On the expulsion resolution, you have New York Republicans who are now leading the charge here.

They have been impatient, waiting for the House Ethics Committee investigation to wrap up, even though the committee now says it's going to wrap up potentially by November 17th.

These Republicans are worried that Santos is going to be a drag on their re-election bid. They're pressing ahead with this regardless of the fact that it likely doesn't have the votes.

And then on the censure effort of Rashida Tlaib, I'm told there was a recent GOP conference call.

And on that call, Young Kim, she's a congresswoman who represents a swing district in California, she spoke up on this GOP call and expressed concerns over this idea of a censure resolution. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has her own history of anti-Semitic tropes

and is backing that resolution, shot back at her.

Just an example of the tensions that are spilling out in public view at a time when Mike Johnson would much rather be focused on policy than personal feuds -- Jess?

DEAN: Melanie Zanona, for us on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's discuss all the happenings on Capitol Hill with CNN chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

Jeff, obviously, we'll get to Israel aid, Speaker Johnson, et cetera.

But there is some breaking news. Republican Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado announcing he's not going to run for re-election. Perhaps not surprising given some of his recent rhetoric.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: He certainly has been going against the grain of the Republican Party. But he's from a very conservative district here. And he's been a very conservative member of Congress.

But it's one of those examples of some senior members here who seem to be just frustrated with the lack of action and progress in the House.

And shortly before that this morning, Kay Granger, who's the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, from Texas, she also said she was not going to run again for re-election.

So now there are 21 members in all, seven Republicans who are not running. That's about on average of what it was in the last time at this cycle.

But just an example of Ken Buck, he likes to be in the spotlight. We've seen him on our air a lot.

SANCHEZ: Many times.

ZELENY: Obviously. And he was trying to sort of talk some sanity throughout the long speaker's run there. But clearly, he said that he's had enough time in Congress.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

So let's talk about Israel aid. Speaker Johnson approaching this in a really interesting way because a stand-alone bill providing aid to Israel with no attachments would pass with huge numbers.

But he's attached this sort of caveat that it has to come with spending cuts, part of President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. He's setting a tone here by moving it forward this way.

ZELENY: He is. Look, he's trying to rein in spending. But a problem with that, the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office,

released a report earlier today saying that by tying this to IRS funding, basically taking out some agents and things who would collect tax money, that would add to the deficit, some $12.5 billion.

So that is going to be dead on arrival. It would have been anyway in the Senate. But he's trying to link these together.

[13:45:02]

The bigger question is he's meeting with the Senate Republicans, as Melanie was just saying there. There is at least some support. There's much more support for Ukraine among Senate Republicans. Senate Republicans are skeptical of this approach.

So this is where the rubber meets the road here in terms of governing. Is the new speaker going to be squeezed here by what the Senate does or will he get the House to do something first and try to jam the Senate on this?

But what is ticking here is that deadline for November 17th. So never mind the aid for Israel, which eventually will happen in some form, there's no doubt. Ukraine funding I would say is more up in the air.

But how do they get to the ultimate goal of keeping the government open by November 17th? That's a question.

SANCHEZ: Shutdown looming in just a little bit over two weeks.

Jeff, on to the censure votes. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Marjorie Taylor Greene, how do you see that playing out?

ZELENY: Look, I think that it's very difficult to expel. certainly. Censuring we will see.

But look, this is just something that is pointing out the ongoing poison nature of our politics I think where one side wants to have retribution on the other side.

The George Santos thing is a little bit more interesting, I think. But two-thirds of the House has to vote to expel. Democrats likely would. The New York delegation wants to.

My guess is most Republicans would not join that because they need that vote still. So we'll see how this afternoon progresses.

But as Melanie was reporting there, the sense is that none of these may pass. But that certainly does not ease any of the anger, particularly with Congresswoman Tlaib and others.

SANCHEZ: The thing about Santos that I find most interesting, like you said, the Republicans want the numbers. Very thin margins in the House.

ZELENY: Right. SANCHEZ: But it's members of his own party, from districts very close to him in New York that won Biden districts, who introduced this resolution to get him expelled.

I think they're obviously concerned about how it looks moving forward in 2024.

ZELENY: Without a doubt. They're trying to inoculate themselves. They don't want him to become an issue in their races.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

ZELENY: And that's already happening. They do not want George Santos and all of his problems, which are still ongoing, to drag them down. We'll see if they're successful with this effort.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, we've got to leave the conversation there. We appreciate the perspective.

ZELENY: You bet.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

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[13:51:55]

SANCHEZ: For the first time in more than two decades, the rate of babies dying in the United States has increased. A new report from the CDC shows the U.S. infant mortality rate rose by 3 percent in 2022.

Joining us now with details is CNN health reporter, Jacqueline Howard.

Jacqueline, how concerning is this increase?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Boris, this is very concerning. That 3 percent rise that we saw in infant deaths last year means the rate of infants dying has reached the rate of about six infant deaths for every 1,000 babies born here in the United States.

So that is concerning. This is preliminary data. So CDC researchers are continuing to examine this closely.

But when they look at the data by state, they found that only one state in the entire country has seen a decline in infant deaths. That's the state of Nevada.

But four states have seen significant rises. Georgia, Iowa, Missouri and Texas. So this is what's concerning here, to see this increase across the country.

And again, Boris, this is something researchers over at the CDC are continuing to monitor.

SANCHEZ: So, Jacqueline, what's behind the increase? What's actually causing these deaths? HOWARD: That was interesting, too, because when researchers looked at

the 10 leading causes of death, two stood out as having significant rises last year.

Causes -- or deaths caused by bacterial sepsis, those rose by about 14 percent.

And then, Boris, deaths caused by maternal complications. So those include, like preterm deliveries or preeclampsia, which is having high blood pressure during pregnancy, those deaths rose by 9 percent last year.

And we already know that, here in the U.S., we have the highest rate of maternal deaths among all high-income nations.

So when we look at those trends in maternal health, there are some questions about how that might be associated with trends in infant health as well.

So that's something, again, that researchers are continuing to monitor as they look at these trends over time.

SANCHEZ: Jacqueline, there is some other health news we wanted to get an update from you on. The American Cancer Society recommending that more adults get screened for lung cancer. Tell us about that.

HOWARD: That's right. Yes. The American Cancer Society just updated its screening recommendations for lung cancer.

What they did, they recommend adults who are either current or former smokers between the ages of 50 and 80 to get screened if they have a history of smoking, that's at least a 20-pack year history.

What we mean by 20-pack year? That means you either smoked a pack of cigarettes a day or over 20 years or you may have smoked two packs of cigarettes a day over 10 years.

But what's different with this update, they used to recommend to get screened if you fit this criteria. But if you are a former smoker and you quit smoking at least 15 years ago, you no longer were recommended to get screened.

[13:55:03]

Well, now they're saying, Boris, it doesn't matter how long ago you quit. If you're a former smoker and you fit that criteria that we just talked about, you should go get screened.

SANCHEZ: Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much for those updates.

HOWARD: Yes.

SANCHEZ: So for the first time since the war between Israel and Hamas began, people are being allowed out of Gaza. Hundreds of foreign nationals could get out over the next few days. We have new details from the State Department on these efforts when we come back.

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