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Netanyahu: No Ceasefire Until Hostages in Gaza Freed; Blinken: More Needed to Protect Palestinian Civilians; Biden in Lewiston, Maine to Console Victims' Families. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 03, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there will be no temporary ceasefire unless all hostages held by Hamas are freed. That is despite Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for a pause today as he met with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv. Meantime, in his first public remarks since the conflict began, Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, praised Hamas's attacks on Israel, while adding that Hezbollah's primary goal is a ceasefire. He said the possibility of a larger regional conflict with Israel is a, quote, realistic option.

[15:35:00]

Joining us now to discuss is Leon Panetta. He's a former Secretary of Defense and CIA director in the Obama administration. Sir, thank you so much for being with us. The leader of Hezbollah making a lot of threats. Not offering many specifics, though. How precarious do you think the situation is right now along Israel's northern border?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: I don't think there's any question but that the situation remains precarious. You know, we're in the middle of the war. Israel is proceeding to go after Hamas. If they're right and they have in fact taken out Hamas leaders and are continuing to do that. If Hamas feels that their back is against the wall, there's no question in my mind that they're going to ask for help and they'll turn to Iran, obviously turn to Hezbollah, all of Iran's proxies in the region from Iraq down to Yemen. And so I think the potential for a possible expansion of this war is real.

SANCHEZ: Secretary, CNN has learned that the US military is sending surveillance drones to fly over Gaza to try to help the IDF locate hostages. What can you tell us about the capabilities of those drones, especially in a situation where the hostages are likely being held in tunnels underground?

PANETTA: Well, I think it's very important if you're going to do the kind of targeting that I think is necessary to be able to go after Hamas, you're going to -- you're going to have to not only use drones. You're going to have to use human intelligence as well. That's pretty much what we did in going after Al Qaeda after 911. And we could not have been able to establish those targets without the help of drones, but also without the help of human intelligence, people on the ground. So I'm hoping they can get that kind of combination working with them because that is the most effective way to make sure that you are accurate in going after Hamas.

SANCHEZ: President Biden and his administration has been urging Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to consider pausing its operation in Gaza for a series of different humanitarian objectives. Netanyahu is determined to press ahead and not have any kind of cessation of hostilities. What's the correct course of action you think from both a political and a military perspective if you were advising the Prime Minister?

PANETTA: Well, first of all, I'm glad that secretary Blinken went to the area and asked for that kind of humanitarian pause. I think it's very important for the United States at the highest level to stay in touch with the leadership, not just in Israel but in the countries that adjoin Israel.

Look, this is a situation where the issue is going to be, is the price right for Netanyahu? He obviously is in the middle of a war. His tanks are there, his troops are there, they're going after Hamas. He's not particularly interested in slowing that process down. We all understand that.

On the other side, Hamas is holding these hostages and very frankly, they don't care a lot about the human side of these hostages. The question is going to be what kind of price do they get if they're going to release the hostages? So right now, I don't know that the price is right on either side. What could possibly help is to be able to develop an approach where you want Hamas to release the hostages, but in return they're going to get the release of Palestinian prisoners that could, I think, be a possibly the kind of price that might result in that kind of deal being fulfilled.

SANCHEZ: As those negotiations, those conversations are ongoing specifically to get hostages out. I'm wondering what you make of that apparent disagreement between the United States and Israel over the correct course of action to take on a pause.

PANETTA: Well, you know, look, I think the President's been right to urge a pause. There is a pause that is necessary in order to be able to provide the humanitarian relief that is critical for the Palestinians, and it's critical for others that obviously have been injured in this war.

[15:40:00]

So it's the right -- it's the right thing to do. And I think, you know, from my own experience, I think the key is to continue to pressure the Israelis to be able to provide and not only a pause, but to make -- make it possible to get humanitarian aid into Gaza so that we can provide the food and the care that is essential to deal with those that have been injured. I think if Israel needs to know that while there is a lot of support, obviously, for their ability to defend their country and go after Hamas, that in order for them to be able to maintain their credibility, they also have to keep an eye on how to provide humanitarian relief to those that have been hurt.

SANCHEZ: Secretary Leon Panetta, thanks so much for sharing your time and perspective with us.

PANETTA: Good to be with you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

So right now, President Biden is in Lewiston, Maine, paying his respects to the victims of last week's mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine and their families. We're going to take you there live in just moments.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Happening right now, we want to show you live images of President Biden and the First Lady in Maine paying their respects to the 18 victims of the deadly mass shooting in Lewiston. In the next hour, the president is set to deliver remarks and then meet with families who lost loved ones and with victims of that horrific shooting.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Lewiston, Maine for us this afternoon. Omar, what more can you tell us about the President and First Lady's visit?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so they just literally seconds ago you can actually see over my shoulder here the amount of people from here in the Lewiston community and the surrounding area that we're here to greet the president as he passed through. He did not get out and shake any hands or anything like that. But you can see the tail end of the motorcade.

We are at the bowling Alley. It was the first site of the pair of mass shootings that happened a little bit over a week ago now. And from where these people are standing across the street, what we've seen line the curb are memorials to the people that, of course, the 18 that were killed here. Also signs of strength and support. A lot of signs with hearts on them. A symbol of the state of Maine with a heart over Lewiston. A sign that simply just says to being nice. Pointing to of course, the sensitivity of the time and what this Community has been through.

The President was just at right before he got here at Wendy's Bar and Grill, which was the second side of the pair of mass shootings that happened, again, that night a little bit over a week ago. What we're expecting him to do here is he's going to give some remarks, obviously talking about what happened in the community, support from there. But he's also been meeting with first responders, nurses, other people on the front lines of the response that particular night. We're also expecting them after the remarks, to meet with members of the families of some of the people that were killed here as well.

This visit really it seems, to provide support to those that are trying to figure out how to process this. It's not like it's ancient history. They are still grieving. Trying to figure out when they are going to bury some of their loved ones. Still, people are in the hospital recovering from what happened. So this is very much still fresh.

One person I spoke to who was at this memorial a little bit earlier, talked about why she was glad that that President Biden was here and it simply was because it showed to her that people at the highest levels of the U.S. government are paying attention.

Now, as we have seen time and time again after the number of mass shootings in this country, it's often difficult for real policy to change over at Capitol Hill and beyond. But that will likely be some of what we hear President Biden talk about. He's talked in previous times about the need for changes and for Congress to pass legislation to make meaningful impact on gun violence. But of course, all of that is still secondary to some of the pain that people here are still going through. And what is something that is still very raw.

DEAN: There's no doubt about it, Omar Jimenez, trauma that unfortunately will be with that community and so many people for so long. Thank you for bringing us that update there from Lewiston, Maine. We'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: You were looking at live pictures of Arlington, Texas where the Texas Rangers are celebrating their World Series win, a huge party there. The Dallas Fort Worth area celebrating the first ever World Series title for the Rangers with a victory parade.

DEAN: This is the championship more than six decades in the making. Arlington's mayor even released a stock excuse letter for anyone who cut or missed class, missed work, to be part of today's big celebration. So congratulations to them.

And finally from us this afternoon, NASA unveiled the first public display of a sample from the asteroid Bennu. Kristin Fisher says that's how I say it -- Bennu.

KRISTIN FISHER: You nailed it

DEAN: OK, the Space rock was collected back in 2020 and arrived here on Earth in September.

SANCHEZ: CNN's Kristin Fisher is here to explain all of it to us. A big day for NASA. So tell us about sample.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: It is, it's a big day because this is the first time since the end of the Apollo program, 1972, that NASA has collected something in space, brought it back to Earth, and then put it on display for all the world to see. And back then, of course, it was moon rocks. Today it was a small sample from the asteroid Bennu which returned to Earth just last month as part of NASA's Osiris Rex program. And now anybody can go see this small sample at the Natural History Museum. It is a small sample, I will say that. That is not the sample the sample. The sample is --

DEAN: He's talking about it.

FISHER: -- in the case it's quite small, but it's a special sample because it contains both carbon, water and organic molecules. Which are the very building blocks of life. And I'm going to let NASA administrator Bill Nelson explain why that's so important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: And it's all a part of our quest to understand, to try to understand who we are, what we are, where we are in the vastness of this cosmos.

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FISHER: So some pretty existential questions that this sample is going to try to answer. But my favorite bit is -- you know you would think that for an asteroid sample that has traveled, you know, billions of miles to get to earth, that it would have a pretty special entrance to the museum. No, no. The person who brought it to the museum flew it, put it in his carry on luggage, went through a TSA checkpoint and he just walked it right into the museum, wasn't even handcuffed to his arm.

DEAN: Asteroids, they're just like us.

SANCHEZ: And TSA approved apparently, too.

FISHER: Apparently didn't even -- didn't go off in the magnifying.

DEAN: All right, Kristin Fisher, fascinating. Thank you. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right after a quick break. Thanks so much for watching.

END