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Evacuation Corridor in Gaza Closes; G7 Foreign Ministers Meets in Japan; Blinken Maintaining His Objection to a Ceasefire in Gaza; Israel Should Not Reoccupy Gaza; Interview with National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby; Democrats Celebrating Big Wins this Morning; Democrats Fretting Bad Poll Numbers this Morning; Abortion Rights Playing an Outsized Role for Voters; How Breast Implants Saved Someone from Lung Damage; Ivanka Trump on Stand in a New York Courtroom. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 08, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier today, thousands of people fled Northern Gaza through an evacuation corridor during a five-hour window set up by the Israeli military to allow people to leave. That window is now closed.

G7 foreign ministers met in Japan. They voiced their support for humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow more critical aid and civilian movement and, of course, the release of hostages, at which time there are more than 200 people still being held in Gaza. They stopped short, though, of calling for a ceasefire.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also maintained his objection to a ceasefire in Gaza. Salma Abdelaziz is joining me now from London. There is such desperation there. There is such heartache there and you're seeing these pictures of people literally on foot, carrying what they can, trying to get out of the line of fire. What more can you tell us about what is happening on the Gaza Strip?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, you had these short corridors. Today was a five-hour window, yesterday, there was a four- hour window, opened up by the Israeli military. And I say opened up, that doesn't mean that fighting stopped. You can hear booms and bangs behind those families as they flee. But those roads opened up so they can move southward. Many of those civilians in videos that we've obtained from the ground describing absolutely harrowing journeys, Sara, just walking for miles and miles on foot.

You have to remember they are only carrying what they can with them. That might be their baby. That might be an elderly relative. That might be just the last bottle of water that they can bring. And where they are fleeing to is not safe either, Sara. There have been airstrikes in the south, that's an area that's already been overwhelmed with IDPs.

I want to bring you just a little bit of sound, a little bit of material from one person who was along this evacuation route. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translator): I am a cancer patient. I can't find no treatment, no food, no water. I left three daughters behind, and I'm only with my son now. I am telling him, risk yourself and try to pass, so I go and bring your sisters.

This night, we saw the death in our own eyes. The floor was exploding from under us. I only have one son and three daughters. I can't walk. Where do we go? No house, no food, no water. They left us with nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: That question, where do we go, Sara, you can imagine every single parent is asking that question on the route. Where do they spend the night tonight once they make it southward? It's clear from the United Nations perspective, the U.N. says this is forcible displacement.

Meanwhile, of course, the fighting in Gaza City intensifies. The Israeli military saying it is now in the heart of the city. The Israeli defense minister essentially calling the whole city a legitimate target, saying it's all a base for Hamas. Sara.

SIDNER: Yes. It's terrifying for those who live there can't leave there. A lot of people don't realize that Palestinians can't just up and leave the area. And so, the civilians are really suffering through this time there in Gaza as well. Thank you, Salma Abdelaziz, for all of your reporting that you've been doing from the Gaza Strip.

All right. I'll pass it over to you, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the G7 meeting in Tokyo today -- at the G7 meeting in Tokyo today, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, he reinforced the Biden administration's position that Israel should not reoccupy Gaza. And he also added this. Listen.

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ANTONY BLINEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: One, Gaza cannot be continued to be run by Hamas. It's also clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza. Now, the reality is that there may be a need for some transition period at the end of the conflict, but it is imperative that the Palestinian people be central to governance in Gaza and in the West Bank as well. And that again, we don't see a reoccupation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us now from the White House is spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby. John, thank you for the time. A transition period. Do you believe that is the same as Netanyahu was saying and meant when he said Israel will have the overall security responsibility in Gaza for an indefinite period of time? JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: It's -- I won't speak for Prime Minister Netanyahu, Kate, but our view is that, expressed by Secretary Blinken, that governance in Gaza has got to be something we all think through carefully here post-conflict.

[10:35:00]

?Obviously, we can't have it be what it was on October 6th with Hamas in control. And as President Biden has said, it would be a mistake for Israel to try to reoccupy Gaza, that there's going to have to be a different solution, a different set of governance and governing principles, and we're going to have to work together with our partners to figure that out.

BOLDUAN: But not trying to get in the mind of Netanyahu, but from the perspective of the Biden administration is a transition period in line with Israel having security responsibility in Gaza after this conflict?

KIRBY: I think all of us can foresee a period of time after the conflict is over where Israeli forces will likely still be in Gaza and we'll have some initial security responsibilities, but for how long and where and to what size and scale and scope, I think it's too soon to know that.

What we want to stay focused on is post-conflict in Gaza, long-term governance and what that looks like. And we obviously don't want it to look like it did on October 6th.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. I want to ask you about that because I asked about post-Gaza -- post-conflict Gaza and governance to Beth Sanner. She's a former deputy director of National Intelligence. I know you know her take on Netanyahu's statement of Gaza after Hamas, is that it's an admission of a lack of a plan, that everyone is essentially coming to the realization there's no other no other alternative. Let me play this for you, John.

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BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The Palestinian Authority can't do it, and they won't do it. The Egyptians, it is a pipe dream to think about the Egyptians and others coming in and being this multinational force. And so, I think that what we're seeing is, you know, kind of reality hitting everybody kind of straight in the face and this is where we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Is that where you think we are?

KIRBY: I think where we are is a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. We know what we don't want to see in Gaza post-conflict. We don't want to see Hamas in control. We don't want to see a reoccupation by Israel. But what we are going to see, what we want to see, I think we're still flushing that out and it's going to require a lot of significant conversations with partners in the region and some of the ones that she mentioned are there are going to be players in this process, there are going to have voices and perspectives that we're going to have to listen to.

But we don't have it all figured out right now, and I don't know that it would be reasonable for us to think that we could at this particular point one month into the conflict. But we know that it has to be something different than what it was under Hamas. And we know that the United States can't solve this alone. We're going to have to have diplomatic conversations with folks in the region to figure this out.

BOLDUAN: No question that these are very challenging questions to answer. I'm not trying to diminish that.

KIRBY: Yes, they are. They are.

BOLDUAN: You have said that the administration has been crystal clear with Israel, they need to do more to minimize civilian -- Palestinian -- civilian Palestinian casualties. There was another five-hour window in evacuation corridor this morning for people to get out of Northern Gaza. Does that satisfy the president's call for doing more?

KIRBY: Well, we certainly welcome this safe passage out of Northern Gaza for people who want to get out. That's a good thing. We want to get these folks out of harm's way. We think that this is an iterative process, Kate. This is something that, as you heard Secretary Blinken talk about, pauses in the plural sense, not the single sense -- singular sense.

We believe that there has to be space and opportunity for multiple pauses in the fighting to allow for aid to get in, for people to get out, and to do so safely and efficiently. Again, both in and out. So, this is what we're talking about with our Israeli counterparts, this is what we're talking about with partners on the ground, and we're going to keep pushing for that.

BOLDUAN: John Kirby from the White House. John, thank you so much.

And John Berman, it's always great to have John Kirby on, and it is very clear that the leaf blowing crew at the White House hates us.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: They were there in force. All right. Democrats celebrating big wins this morning. Democrats fretting bad poll numbers this morning. How can both things be true?

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SIDNER: The results are in. As you know, Democrats, they're celebrating. They scored key victories in Virginia and Kentucky. And once again, the fight for abortion rights proved to be a big winner. This time in Ohio, where voters enshrined the right into the state constitution. Democrats are hoping that this key issue will help drive turnout in 2024. CNN senior political commentator and former Obama administration official Van Jones is here with more insight on this. I want to start with the abortion issue because that seemed to play an outsized role in what the voters decided. And let's look at this poll. The polling here shows that Democrats decided -- they're significantly more likely to look at the abortion issue as a major issue. 51 percent to 33 percent. There are the numbers there. And if you look at that, you know, gun, climate change, gun policy also very high. With Democrats, not so much, especially climate change with Republicans. Tell me how this issue might affect 2024 presidential election.

[10:45:00]

VAN JONES, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL AND CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, look, I mean, what we can see is we have the cause, which is you try to take a fundamental right away from half the population. You've got the cause, you've got the capacity, the grassroots moving independently of any other poll turns out every single time, every single time it's on the ballot.

So, you've got the cause, you've got the capacity. The question is, do you have the candidate? And it's the polling data for Biden that is giving people a squeezy feeling about 2024. If people can begin to change their feeling about Biden, or at least Biden in comparison to Trump, you've got all three, and 2024 will be fine. But if you've got the cause, the capacity, and you don't have the candidate, that's not going to work.

SIDNER: The three C's, cause, capacity, candidate. I haven't heard that one, Van Jones.

JONES: Hey, listen --

SIDNER: I was like, you're always bring in the heat here.

JONES: Good morning. Good morning.

SIDNER: Good morning.

JONES: Good morning.

SIDNER: When you look at this big picture, you talk about the three C's there, is there a takeaway from what we saw happen in these special elections that can be translated very easily for both Republicans and Democrats? Can they both look at this and take something away and say, OK, here's what we must do?

JONES: Well, Republicans must stop attacking women's rights, must stop attacking the fundamental healthcare freedom of choice for women, or they're going to keep getting their butts kicked.

The Republicans are like the dog that caught the car, and now, the car is just backing over the dog, backing over the dog, backing over the dog.

SIDNER: That's harsh at 10:30 in the morning -- 10:45.

JONES: Hey listen, the polls speak for themselves. SIDNER: Yes.

JONES: You know, and so, that's what's going on. And so, the public needs to deal with that. The Democrats also need to recognize it's not just the cause. You know, organized labor is really strong now. And there's other parts, you know, black voters matter. There are other parts of this coalition that are often, you know, behind the scenes but they are pushing very, very hard. Invest in their grassroots, talk about fundamental freedoms and Democrats are going to be on their way.

SIDNER: When you look at Glenn Youngkin, you can't help but talk about him because -- meteoric, right? I mean, people were thinking of him as the next possible thing.

JONES: It was ridiculous the whole time.

SIDNER: And why do you say that?

JONES: I'm happy to be dunking on Youngkin. Because it was ridiculous the whole time. It was a fairytale and a fantasy that somebody was going to come out of nowhere and dethrone Trump and make everything better again. You know, he decided that he had figured out how to talk about abortion. He had figured out all this sort of stuff. He spent time, he spent money, and he actually lost ground, because as long as you are jumping up and down on this pogo stick of we're going to take rights away from women, you are going to lose, period, point blank, and that's it.

And so, you know, with regard to that fairy tale, that fantasy that he was going to get all the Republican power to do whatever he wanted to, it would have been a nightmare if it had come true. Luckily, it was just a fairy tale.

SIDNER: Speaking of which, there's a debate that is tonight.

JONES: Yes.

SIDNER: So, followed by this special election, they've got a view into what voters think, may not be across the entire country, but it's a pretty good view. What do you think is going to come out of the mouths of the five people that are on stage now that may not have -- that may have shifted or changed since they saw what happened in Kentucky, in Virginia, in Ohio?

JONES: Well, look, I think at the end of the day, they can't get away from the abortion question. And so, that will be discussed. But I think what you're going to see is Nikki Haley in her element. She is a foreign policy champion. She's got a strong, clear view. She's got a track record. And the world is on fire between Ukraine and Hamas and Israel and all these things that are going on. She has an opportunity to truly shine in a way that a weirdo governor from Florida and these other people just are not going to be able to match her. She should have the performance of her life tonight.

SIDNER: You're just slapping everybody this morning.

JONES: Hey, this is early.

SIDNER: And I can't keep up. It's too early for this, Van.

JONES: You all had me up late. I'm punchy.

SIDNER: You're punchy this morning.

JONES: I'm punchy and grumpy.

SIDNER: Well, I appreciate you coming on anyway.

JONES: Any time.

SIDNER: Thank you, Van Jones.

JONES: Any time. Glad to be here. John.

BERMAN: Right. How breast implants, you heard that right, breast implants saved the life of someone who needed a double lung transplant.

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[10:50:00]

BERMAN: This morning, a story of remarkable medical ingenuity. A man needed a double lung transplant after smoking and vaping for years, and he needed it fast. He was declining quickly and doctors needed to act before the transplant came through. So, what did they do? Breast implants.

With us now CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. You heard that right and I read it right, I think, Sanjay. Breast implants. What's going on here?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The back story here, John, it is a pretty remarkable medical achievement here. So, as you point out, this is Davey Bauer. He's 34 years old. Pretty healthy guy. Skateboarder, snowboarder, was a smoker since he was 21. Switched to vaping a few years later. And then in April this year, John, he got the flu. It was a bad flu. He then developed infection in his lungs that were resistant to antibiotics. So, that's the back story.

His lungs were failing, and because of the infection, he was not a candidate for a transplant. So, what they decided to do was remove his lungs. OK, first of all. So, he had no lungs. He was on an artificial lung machine. So, the blood's coming outside the body, being oxygenated, and then returning to the body using this machine. But the problem was this, John, that his heart was essentially -- it was sort of floppy because the lungs sort of were not there to hold it in place, all the blood vessels. So, to stabilize his lung -- stabilize his heart, they put in these breast implants, essentially. Something that had never been done before.

[10:55:00] Now, the image you're looking at on the left side of the screen, that's normal lungs. It should -- the lungs -- the air should look black when it's filled with infected fluid, as you see on the right side, that's the lungs that subsequently came out. After he had all this done, John, he then qualified for a double lung transplant. Had that transplant. And is now recovering well.

What I just described has never been done before. And as you said in the open, it was sort of the ingenuity of like, what are we going to do for this guy to try and bridge him from his real significant illness to the transplant?

BERMAN: So, let me get this straight, they MacGyvered his chest cavity, basically. It sounds like what they did. The only thing they didn't use was duct tape, but breast implants to get the chest cavity to work. So anyway, vaping, what role did vaping play in this?

DR. GUPTA: Well, the doctors believe it played a role for sure. They think it's a combination of things. But the vaping, they believe, really did cause this inflammation in his lungs. So, again, he got the flu in April. It's not that long ago. And, you know, flu can be obviously very bad for somebody. But 34-year-old guy, they believe the vaping inflamed his lungs to the point when he got the infection. It made it much worse, much harder to treat, and subsequently, in need of a transplant.

BERMAN: Wow. I mean, this is just a wow. Every little step here is so fascinating. It'll be really interesting to follow his progress, what I hope is progress over many, many years. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, great to see you. Thank you very much.

DR. GUPTA: You too, John.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: That is amazing. That is awesome. Coming up for us, former President Trump's daughter, Ivanka, on the stand right now in a New York courtroom. Is she going to help or hurt her father's case and the future of the family business empire? We'll be right back.

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