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Middle East Crisis Unfolds As Graphic Footage Emerges From Shifa Hospital; Blinken Calls For Humanitarian Pause; Eric Trump Calls Trial A "Political Witch Hunt"; Hundreds Foreign Nationals Escape War Zone Through Rafah crossing; Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired November 03, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: It's the top of the hour. I'm Boris Sanchez with Jessica Dean in Washington, D.C. We have a new video just in to CNN, and we should warn you, it is graphic and disturbing, so if you need to, it may be best to turn away now. It shows dozens of casualties near Shifa Hospital in Gaza. We're seeing at least a dozen bloodied bodies strewn across the ground near an ambulance. The escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a main focus as America's top diplomat returns to the Middle East.

The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, today pressing Israel for a pause in the fighting with Hamas as the war now enters its fifth week and international condemnation grows.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: We need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians. We've been clear that as Israel conducts this campaign to defeat Hamas, how it does so matters. It matters because it's the right and lawful thing to do. It matters because failure to do so plays into the hands of Hamas and other terror groups.

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, while Blinken was speaking, the leader of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah praised Hamas for its October 7th terror attack. These were Hassan Nasrallah's first public speeches since the start of the war. He also stoked fears the conflict could widen if Israel does not stop its assault on Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting any type of ceasefire, ceasefire in Gaza unless Hamas frees all of the hostages. And all of this happening as hundreds more foreign nationals are able to escape the war zone through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. And we have it all covered for you. At this hour, we go first to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who's in Beirut. And Ben, Hezbollah's leader spoke for more than an hour. Many people wanted to know if he'd call for an escalation of this war. What did he say? BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in fact, there were high expectations about this speech, one way or the other. But it really ended with a note of ambiguity. Basically, he said the possibility of a Lebanese front escalating into a broad battle is a realistic option. Israel should take this into account. But what we've seen since the 8th of October is that there has been a low level of exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel. Yesterday, we see -- saw a dramatic uptick. Today, it was actually relatively quiet. So, basically, Hezbollah and Iran and others are kind of leaving the option open of an escalation, but not actually escalating until this point.

He did stress or claim that Hezbollah's attack on Israel on the 7th of October was 100% a Hamas decision, that not even the other militant factions in Gaza knew about it, let alone Hezbollah, Iran, and others. He did say, however, that as a result of Hezbollah's actions on the border with Israel, that about a third, in his words, a third of the Israeli army has been tied down in the north and not free to join the Israeli ground invasion in Gaza. Jessica.

DEAN: And Ben, you're there on the ground in Beirut. What is the reaction there to Nasrallah's speech?

WEDEMAN: Reaction is mixed. Many people were concerned, were worried, were afraid that this speech might raise tensions even further. And I think that most people breathed a sigh of relief that Lebanon was not going to be dragged into a war with Israel, not yet at least. There are others who were disappointed, others who wanted an escalation.

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You know, in the days leading up to his speech, various social media memes were, -- videos were circulating which were really sort of like trailers to the speech and were really pumping up anxiety. Some people noted on social media that the trailers were much better than the movie itself. Some Lebanese politicians are now objecting to the idea that Hezbollah, independent of the Lebanese government, can drag Lebanon into a war with Israel.

Others, for instance, on the other hand, -- I did a message with a supporter of Hezbollah who said that basically the message is if Israel wants a war with Lebanon, we're ready. Jessica

DEAN: Ben Liederman for us in Lebanon. Thanks so much, Boris.

SANCHEZ: We're joined now by Mark Regev. He's a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sir, thank you so much for being with us. I want to get to reports of casualties near the Al- Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical facility. The cause is not yet clear, but the Hamas-run health ministry says that it was the IDF. Can you share with us what you know? Was this the result of an Israeli airstrike?

MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISOR TO ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU: I don't yet know. Obviously, we will examine the situation fully. But let's be clear, that is the hospital that a few days ago we proved with documented evidence that under that hospital is a command-and-control center of Hamas. It is a command and control, and out of it is a whole spider web of tunnels connecting Hamas's subterranean military terror machine. If you take pictures above ground, you see civilian buildings and you see a hospital. Below them, Hamas has placed its most vital military infrastructure. And this, of course, is a war crime, because Hamas is using the hospital as a shield, as a civilian shield for its war machine, and they have to be condemned for that.

SANCHEZ: So, it may not be clear at this moment to you whether Israel was involved in what appear to be several casualties outside the hospital. Do you happen to know if the Prime Minister has been briefed on the situation there? Is he getting briefed now?

REGEX: He's always being briefed. I'm here at the Defense Ministry and he's in the building next to me. I'm in constant contact with him, but I can't know precisely if he's been briefed on this incident. And if it is us, what was it? I can say the following. You have to be very careful with whatever Hamas propaganda is saying. We remember that previous incident at a hospital where Hamas accused Israel of attacking, and in the end it was a terrorist missile that malfunctioned and fell short. And as Hamas's military situation becomes more precarious as Israeli forces advance and as we take on and defeat the terrorists, I can expect them to lie even more and more.

SANCHEZ: Mark, we wanted to get your response to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He was in your country today. He brought up the idea of a humanitarian pause, something that was soon after ruled out by Prime Minister Netanyahu. It appears that the U.S. and Israeli governments are in disagreement over a pause. Is that accurate?

REGEV: So, we agree in the role of the goal of the operation, which is to dismantle and destroy Hamas. We cannot live with this brutal terrorist organization that committed the atrocities that it did on October 7th. We refuse to live any longer with this terrorist enclave as our southern neighbor. I don't think any country would stand for that. And Israel, least of all, we won't stand for it. And there will be a new reality in Gaza.

We also agree that we have to differentiate as much as possible between the terrorists in Gaza, who are our enemy and the target of our operation, and the civilian population. We also agree that a maximum effort has to be made for humanitarian support for the people of Gaza, the civilian population, and we're working together with the Americans on that. But as to the issue you raise about the humanitarian pause, our position is clear. Any humanitarian pause has to be connected to a release of hostages. That is the number 1 humanitarian issue.

They have abducted more than 240 of our people. They refuse Red Cross visits to those people. If anyone wants to talk about a humanitarian crisis, what about the Israeli hostages?

SANCHEZ: What is the prime minister's message then to growing calls from U.S. lawmakers, the Secretary of State, the President of the United States, for that temporary humanitarian pause? Is it something that he may be open to down the road?

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REGEV: Well, he said very specifically, if we can have as part of a humanitarian cause pause I should say, if we can have as part of that the release of hostages, then we're open to it. I think that's a very clear position. Now the focus has to be on Hamas and on its allies in the Gulf, particularly Qatar. Can they facilitate a release of hostages?

SANCHEZ: Sir, I also wanted to get your reaction to comments from Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader. Did you see it as a signal that Hezbollah did not want to get involved in this conflict, the fact that he made very vague threats but didn't declare war on Israel?

REGEV: So, I have 2 points that I think need to be made. One is to reiterate what your correspondent, Ben Wedeman, said there in Beirut, that the sad reality is that this Iranian proxy, this terrorist group, has the ability to launch a war that will encompass all of Lebanon. Not the Lebanese government, not the Lebanese people, but this Iranian proxy terrorist group.

And it must be remembered, it's not just Israel and the United States and the West that considers Hezbollah a terrorist group. The Arab League itself, that organization that contains all the Arab countries, the Arab League has declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization. And that organization can drag Lebanon into a war. It's a terrible situation.

But as to the speech, I think I'd be correct in saying we're not so worried about Nasrallah's words. We're watching his actions. And we are following his actions closely. And if he launches a war, he will find an Israeli response that he will regret the day that he launched the war. We don't want a war. We're not interested in an escalation in the north. But if he forces us to fight, we will fight and we will win decisively.

SANCHEZ: Sir, there are several senior Israeli officials that have admitted fault for the intelligence failure that contributed to the terrorist attack we saw on October 7th, 7th. Benjamin Netanyahu has not admitted any fault that I've seen, at least publicly. Axios points out that his support is slipping in polls in Israel. Many Israelis are saying that they want him to step down. Do you believe he's leading from a place of political weakness right now, given the environment politically in Israel before this attack took place?

REGEV: So, Boris, Israel is a democracy and the prime minister is open to be criticized. He has his supporters and he has his detractors. What I think what we're doing today is we're focusing on winning the war against Hezbollah, against Hamas. I apologize. Against Hamas in Gaza. That's the effort. That'll be a difficult struggle. We're taking casualties, but we must win that war. We have to dismantle Hamas. We have to disarm Hamas. We have to end Hamas rule in Gaza.

When that war is over, after we are victorious, then there'll be plenty of time for politics, more than enough time. We Israelis, we love to passionately debate all the issues under the sun. And when the war is over, there'll be time for that. At the moment, it's a time for national unity. It's a time for commitment. It's a time for struggle. It's a time to achieve victory against this brutal terrorist organization that murdered our people.

And Boris, they didn't ask Israelis how they voted when they when they when they butchered us. They didn't ask Israelis if they're of the left or of the right, the secular or religious, if they're for Netanyahu, against Netanyahu. They killed us all. They killed us all. And I think we have a common destiny. There'll be a time for politics after victory.

SANCHEZ: Mark Regev, we'll let you go now, but please, if you get any more information about what happened in al-Shifa, we would love to hear the details. Thank you so much for the time.

REGEV: My pleasure.

DEAN: Also today, hundreds more foreign nationals were able to make it out of Gaza. They were allowed to enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing for a third straight day and CNN's Melissa Bell is in Cairo. Melissa, how many foreign nationals were allowed out of the war zone today? And we know there have already been some Americans that have made it over to Egypt. Have there been more Americans since, since yesterday?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There have been today. An extra 350, just over 350, Jessica, foreign and dual nationals that have made it through the Rafah crossing. It is still extremely chaotic. We've just been hearing from a couple that made it out on Wednesday, an Italian NGO, a humanitarian worker and his Palestinian wife, who spoke to us about the chaos that exists at the Rafah crossing.

Those lists published every day with the many hundreds of names of those who are allowed to get out, the difficulty of those inside, checking whether their names are on, the families that then find themselves divided, people who have their name on the list, but not those of their spouses, fathers, children, and are obliged, therefore, to stay behind. So, it's very slow, it's very chaotic, and there are a lot of very desperate people on the other side of the Rafah crossing.

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Desperate each day that their name will be on that list. So just over 350 today. What we understand so far, Jessica, in that fairly chaotic and very opaque process, how those lists are drawn up, who gets to get out day in, day out, why spouses are being separated. So, we don't have any ability to get to the bottom of why that is because these lists are being drawn up day to day by Egyptian officials with Israeli and Hamas oversight.

So, all of these foreign and dual nationals are due to get out. How the groups are determined, we're struggling to get to the bottom of. As to the Americans, we understand that there have been 79 American citizens that have now made it across the border. There have also been, again today, some more of the most severely wounded Palestinian, about 15 of them taken to either hospitals in Northern Egypt or that, that hospital that was set up near the Rafah crossing by Egyptian authorities.

So, people are making it out very slowly, but of course, ever more desperately, Jessica, with all the difficulties that go with once they get over here, the consular officials having to work out what happens next. The couple we just spoke to said, look, it was a very difficult decision for us to go. She was leaving as a Palestinian, her family, her friends, her life behind with very little communication after she passed the crossing with any of them. So, for all of these people coming out, for many of them, it's an extremely difficult decision to decide to go. And yet, existentially, the only one they really can make at this stage, Jessica.

DEAN: Melissa Bell, thanks so much for that reporting, Boris.

SANCHEZ: After a tense day of testimony, Eric Trump was back on the stand today in the civil fraud trial against him, his brother and their father. We have details on that ahead. Plus, President Biden about to arrive in Maine to meet with supporters and first responders of last week's mass shooting. We're gonna bring you that live when it happens. You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just moments.

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DEAN: Eric Trump has wrapped his contentious round of testimony in the New York civil fraud trial surrounding the Trump Organization's finances. And today, he fielded more questions about his involvement in his father's financial statements and about the tax status of his father's Mar-a-Lago residence. When Eric Trump finished testifying, he called the trial, quote, a political witch hunt and said, quote, New York is going to hell.

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ERIC TRUMP, SON OF FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP: We've done absolutely nothing wrong. We have a better company than they could have ever imagined. And this is a big charade that's a huge waste of taxpayer money. And it's the very reason everyone is moving out of New York State. And I was actually one of them. It's sad. It shouldn't happen. I love this state. This state is absolutely going to hell. And it's because of people like the attorney general of New York.

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DEAN: CNN's Kara Scannell is outside that courthouse. Kara, Eric Trump not happy, not pleased with what happened in there, what happened, what's going on in New York, he says. What else happened in that courtroom?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, inside the courtroom, the focus was really on Eric Trump. And he finished his testimony about 4 hours split over these past 2 days. Now, during his testimony, he maintained that the financial statements that the judge has already decided are fraudulent. He said that they are accurate. He stood by them.

And Eric Trump was saying that he was assured by accountants and lawyers about these financial statements, saying that when he had comfort from them, that they were, quote, perfect, he had no problem signing them. He also said that he would not sign something that is not accurate. So again, doubling down on these financial statements at the center of this case.

Now, he's finished with his testimony and his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., testified yesterday and the day before. So next up is former President Donald Trump. He is expected to testify on Monday. That will likely be a tension-filled day. Donald Trump has sat through numerous depositions, dozens of them, that this time he will be under oath, live testimony before a judge he has criticized, and across the room from the New York attorney general, who has attended the trial when he is there, likely sitting across the room from her, with the tensions expected to be very high.

And Donald Trump having to answer questions about these financial statements, his involvement in them, the accuracy of them under oath was so much at stake for his company's business in New York. And once his testimony is finished, which is expected to go the whole day, his daughter Ivanka Trump is expected to testify on Wednesday. She has tried to block this testimony. But so far, it looks like it, it's a go and it will happen on Wednesday. After that, the New York attorney general's office is expected to rest their case. Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Kara Scannell with the latest on the reporting there. Thanks so much. And I'm joined now by Anna Bower, who's the court's correspondent for Lawfare. And Anna, thanks so much for being here with us. Just first up, we heard Eric Trump there in that clip leading into Kara. He was pretty fired up. This all sounds pretty familiar. It was perfect. I didn't do anything wrong. New York is at fault. What did you make of all of that?

ANNA BOWER, LAWFARE COURTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, it is familiar. It very much echoes the sentiments that his father, Donald Trump, has put out there in the past. And I think that, you know, it was another tumultuous day in court for the Trumps. As Kara stated, they had to double down on these claims that, you know, they trusted the accountants, that they didn't know what was going on.

But that seems to be something that's just not credible when, you know, they've been presented with these documents that bear signatures of Eric Trump, that certify the accuracy of some of these statements. So, in addition to that, you know, I think that it kind of is a prelude of what we might see on Monday when Trump testifies. Again, like you said, you know, he has been saying this is a witch hunt over and over again. And I think that we are going to potentially see him echoing those sentiments once again when he takes the stand on Monday.

DEAN: And you mentioned this, and we've seen this play out over the last several days as we've been following this, that Eric and Donald Trump Jr. essentially are saying, look, we didn't know. We trusted the accountants to do this job. Is ignorance a defense?

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BOWER: Well, look, you can, to some extent, potentially, you can still commit fraud even if there's reckless disregard for, for what was going on. So, you know, if you had nothing, if you had no knowledge at all, then yeah, to some extent, ignorance can be a defense. But reckless disregard is still something that is relevant. So it's -- even then, it's going to be a little bit difficult for them to show that they had no knowledge whatsoever of this.

And, and I also would mention something else that Kara didn't mention about what happened in court today that I found to be quite interesting is that there was another dispute here, again, about the judge's clerk, Chris Kise, Trump's attorney, raised this issue or these allegations that, as I understand it, are baseless about, you know, the Trump, -- the clerk being a partisan, biased person who's advising the judge.

I think that it's going to be very interesting next week when Trump testifies because, of course, there's a gag order on the case. He's already violated that gag order twice by talking about the judge's clerk. The judge, the last time that this happened, put Trump on the stand and found his testimony not to be credible. So, Trump already has this history with the judge, a history with the clerk. And so, I'm very interested to see how that plays out, especially in light of what happened today where Eric Trump's testimony was kind of overshadowed by this dispute about the clerk and the allegations that Trump's team was making about her, again, as I understand it, without any sort of a basis to that claim.

DEAN: Yeah, it's really, really drills home this Trump playing it out in the, in the court of public opinion versus in that actual courtroom where he's not seemingly making any friends with, with the judge or the clerk or by attacking them. All right. Thanks so much, Anna Bower. We appreciate it. Voter turnout is key when it comes to battleground states. And when we come back, CNN travels to Wisconsin, where Democrats are facing some frustrated voters. We're going to have more on that just ahead.

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