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Israeli-U.S. Talks On Gaza Crisis; Biden Faces Pressure Over Gaza Conflict; U.S. Airstrikes In Iraq Spark Iraqi Outrage; Migrant Surge At U.S. Border Intensifies; Affirmative Action's College Application Impact. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 26, 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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[14:00:02]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: struggle to cope with thousands of migrants crossing, and Congress can't agree on a plan. We are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean, along with Brianna Keilar, in for Boris Sanchez. Nice to have you with us this afternoon. One of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top confidants is expected to meet with senior White House and State Department officials.

KEILAR: This comes at a critical time as the U.S. is urging Israel to scale down its war in Gaza. Let's go to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who is at the White House for us. Priscilla, what is the Biden administration expecting to come out of these meetings?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, two key issues at the forefront, that being the conflict that is unfolding in Gaza, but also the release of hostages. And as you mentioned there, it is a critical time as the U.S. looks for Israel to move away from its high- intensity war as that death toll grows in Gaza. So, Ron Dermer will be meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan this afternoon. He is a close confidant of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He's also a member of the war cabinet and previously Israel ambassador to the United States.

Now, Israel has assured the United States previously that it plans to move toward a lower-intensity war. More precisely strategy that targets Hamas leadership. But there hasn't been a timeline as to when that will happen. U.S. officials have previously said that they would expect those localized operations to happen in January. But again, publicly, we haven't really received any sort of clarity in terms of when that phase of the war would begin.

So, that's a big question going into the discussions today. And so far, U.S. and Israel have described their conversations as good. A senior Israeli official saying that the U.S. and Israel are on both -- are on the same side, even if there are some differences.

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MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: We can have different discussions on this tactical issue or that tactical issue. We listen very attentively to whatever Washington says, and I believe they listen very carefully to whatever we say to them. But ultimately, we're on the same side of this. We want to see Hamas destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, President Biden has been under increasing pressure domestically and also internationally as that death toll grows in Gaza. The president saying at an event with donors earlier this month that Israel risks losing support if this continues. This being the death toll continues to grow. So, all of this expected to be key points of discussion going into these meetings as the U.S. tries to see or looks for more results -- as this war goes on.

KEILAR: All right, Priscilla, thank you so much for that report. Live for us from the White House and joining us now to discuss is Tal Heinrich, spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tal, thank you so much for being with us. We're hearing, you know, from the army chief that this is going to go on for many more months from Netanyahu over the weekend, that the IDF will be intensifying operations inside of Gaza over the weekend, that there will be a localization of the U.S. and Israel. We heard that just yesterday. How do you square that with what U.S. officials are emphasizing here, that Israel is giving assurances about moving to lower intensity fighting?

TAL HEINRICH, SPOKESPERSON FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: So, it's important to mention that there is no daylight between Jerusalem and Washington in what pertains to the goals of this war as we have defined them after Hamas has dragged us into this after the October 7th killing spree that they committed with the atrocities that we all remember. And we'll never forget. And the goals are that Hamas at the end of this must be eliminated. They can no longer be in control of the Gaza Strip. We say that all hostages must come back home, 129 of them.

And we will also guarantee that Gaza will no longer pose a terror threat to Israelis ever again once we are done. So, these are the goals. And as my colleague Mark Regev also told you, well, we take advice from friends. We consult with friends. We don't have to agree on every small detail with friends. But in the bigger picture, we all share the same goals.

KEILAR: So let me ask you this. Look, we're not here disputing with you the horrific nature of what happened on October 7th, of course. But the death toll in Gaza is horrific. The pictures coming out of it, the suffering is horrific. And you have starvation and disease not far behind the violent deaths. Right. Right. And people are suffering from Israeli airstrikes. How are you going to deal with that?

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HEINRICH: Well, everything that you just mentioned is on Hamas. That is the fault of Hamas. Hamas are in control of the Gaza Strip, and we're fighting terrorist and terror infrastructure. We don't want to see any civilian caught in the crossfire between us and these terrorists. And Israel has been going to such extents that no other Western military or military has done before to ease the civilian suffering and civilian casualties in an enemy zone that it's fighting. The steps that the IDF is taking are unprecedented.

And I would, back to the fair, starvation is, this word is definitely not in place from the very beginning of this war that Hamas has started. We said that we placed no limits on the amount of water, medical supplies, and food entering the Gaza Strip. We have excess capacity to inspect these trucks that are coming in daily.

DEAN: Tal, I want to ask you about the hostages, because yesterday, or yeah, it was yesterday that the prime minister was interrupted by some hostage family members who are just simply at their wit's end. They don't know when their loved ones are coming back, and they don't, they are obviously very upset. There's over a hundred still left in Gaza. What do you say to those families who say not enough is being done, that they want more from the prime minister, and the government in terms of getting their loved ones home?

HEINRICH: First, we are all upset here. This should not have happened. And we're hugging these families, we're embracing them, and we are all with them. These families have been going through a torture of mind and soul for over 80 days now. And we're hearing horrendous accounts from hostages, the ones who came back as per the outline that was in place with Hamas for international media, and Hamas has violated, failed to maintain, and started another round-rubber against us.

You see, some of these people, I personally can't stop thinking about 25-year-old Noa Argamani, for example. Her mother, and the prime minister also mentioned her yesterday when he talked to these families. Her mother is dying of cancer, and every day counts. We want to see all of them back. And the prime minister said that, we will shake every tree and turn every stone, and we're not sparing any effort. We will do whatever it takes and pursue every avenue to bring about the release of all of them.

DEAN: And I hear you. What about going back to the negotiating table? Is that even possible at this point, or do you feel like that's not a possibility?

HEINRICH: Well, we will do everything that is possible, of course, as I said, pursue every avenue. But you see, the only reason as for why Hamas has released some of the hostages so far as part of the framework that was mediated in negotiations behind the scenes was because of the military pressure, the very heavy one that we have exerted on them so far. That is what created the conditions to create this framework. We certainly hope to see all hostages come back home one way or another, and we will spare no effort.

KEILAR: What do you mean one way or another?

HEINRICH: Well, the combination, it could be the combination of some diplomatic breakthrough as we had before, and we have military pressure, but these two things, they go hand in hand. These are not contradictory goals. We have to hit Hamas hard, and we have to continue in every possible avenue if there is such something realistic to try to bring about the release of hostages.

KEILAR: Diplomatic pressure, or -- you said diplomatic negotiations or military pressure. With that military pressure, Tal, do you have concerns that Israel is creating more terrorists than it is killing?

HEINRICH: You see, if we take a look at historical lessons from the Second World War, and it's an interesting question, the one that you ask. You see that the German society has de-radicalized after a total victory of the Allies against Israel. How do you think that the German society has de-radicalized against the pure evil of the Nazis? Germany, the United States, the U.K. are partners right now. Same goes for Japan. We certainly hope that by eliminating --

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KEILAR: I mean, Tal, when you're talking about that, I mean, I just have to interrupt you there. I mean, if you're looking at that, it's just apples and watermelons here. The administration of Germany after World War II required the division by a number of countries. That's not at all what you're talking about doing. With Gaza here, the conflicts are very different as well I don't know that these are great comparisons.

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HEINRICH: Well, it's if you're talking about a political solution because you mentioned the Marshall Plan and so on, you see, it's not only premature to talk about one right now. I think it's also counterproductive as we are still fighting a terrorist organization that rules the Gaza Strip, that controls the Palestinian population. And for the very said part, the -- this ideology is also very much rooted in the Palestinian society. You know, they're raising generation after generation to believe that there's no hope and that there is so-called refugees of wars that they themselves started.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Tal, when you see those pictures coming out of Gaza, do you see why -- Do you see why some people don't have hope looking at those pictures?

HEINRICH: Well, we are in the middle of a war that Israel did not start and did not want.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Well, it is prosecuting it forcefully. And you see the pictures here.

HEINRICH: When Hamas started this war. Hope is, you know, -- hope and peace and a better future for the region. That is the greatest enemy of terrorists. Once we eliminate these terrorists, we eliminate the rule. We hope that there will be other voices, pragmatic ones that want to work with us towards peace. This is what we want. We want to live in this region peacefully. That's what Israelis have always wanted.

But first, Hamas must be gone. And then we hope that the Palestinian society will be radicalized. And we can't have, you know, what our troops are finding right now on the ground in certain neighborhoods in Gaza. Pictures of children, women with guns, Hamas uniform tailored for children and Hamas terrorists that we have arrested just admitted on.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Does that make the children -- Does that make the children justifiable enemies to you? Is that what you're saying? Does that make all of the children justifiable enemies to you? I'm raising the specter of them being used in military.

HEINRICH: You know, this is not what I'm saying. I'm saying that Hamas terrorists that we have interrogated has admitted in the interrogation that Hamas are exploiting children. They're using them to transfer ammunition. That is outrageous. And I'm where is UNICEF? No, of course not. We want to see a better hope for this entire future. And for that reason, we say that this education to glorify martyrs, that Jews must be killed, that the Jewish state should be obliterated. This can be no longer. So, when we say the radicalization for a better future, this is what we mean. We can no longer sustain this reality. Right.

DEAN: Alright, Tal Heinrich, we're going to have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate it.

HEINRICH: Thank you.

DEAN: Let's turn now to a developing story from overnight. We're going to show you a video of the aftermath of U.S. airstrikes on Iraq's Babel province. Militants the U.S. targeted are backed by Iran and belong to a group called Kataib Hezbollah. President Biden ordered those strikes after a one way drone attacked U.S. troops at Erbil Air Base.

KEILAR: Now, in response, the U.S. struck with their strikes here. Three facilities that Kataib Hezbollah uses in Iraq. U.S. Central Command saying it's likely a number of militants were killed. However, Iraq's government here is outraged, saying that 18 civilians were wounded here. We have CNN's Oren Liebermann joining us now from the Pentagon. All right, Oren, first, tell us about this attack on U.S. forces, how many were hurt, and then what we're hearing as well about this reaction, this response.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This all plays out over the course of several hours on Monday morning. First, the attack that the U.S. says was actually claimed responsibility from Kataib Hezbollah, a one way drone attack or a suicide drone attack on U.S. forces in Erbil, Iraq. There were three U.S. service members injured as a result of that drone attack, including one in critical condition. President Joe Biden was briefed on the attack and how to respond. He chose an order to response targeting three sites used by Kataib Hezbollah, specifically focusing on their drone program, their unmanned aerial attack program, which is the type of weapon they use to attack U.S. service members there.

The U.S. says that they were likely a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants killed in the attack, and they said, according to an initial assessment, there were no civilians who were affected by the strikes. But Iraq's government responded quite furiously after the U.S. attacks. And it's worth noting, the U.S. rarely carries out strikes in Iraq in response to what we've seen over the course of the past several months, these drone and missile attacks on U.S. forces. Normally the attacks and the responses from the U.S. are in Syria.

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The U.S., or rather the Iraqi government, said that these attacks in Iraq itself were hostile acts, and in fact, saying there were at least 19 people wounded as a result of the attacks, including a number of civilians there. So, you see the anger coming from the Iraqi government, which threatened that it might affect U.S.-Iraqi relations. Worth noting that the U.S. forces are in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government. Now, this, of course, all comes in the bigger picture of the attacks on U.S. forces that we've seen since the beginning of the Gaza war.

The U.S. has tried to separate the Gaza war from the rest of the region, but it has been unsuccessful in doing so. And that's where we've seen these attacks on U.S. forces, about 100 or so over the course of the past several months. Now, the U.S. has warned that if these attacks on U.S. forces continue, so too will the U.S. strikes in the region.

DEAN: All right. Oren Lieberman, for us at the Pentagon with the latest on that. Thanks so much. Still to come this afternoon, overwhelmed and out of room. Migrants in Texas are now being bused by the hundreds every day as border cities grapple with this ongoing surge. We're going to take you live to the border. Plus, it's been six months since the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action in college admissions. How some black high school students are navigating the new college application process. That's ahead on CNN News Central.

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DEAN: Right now, thousands of migrants are headed north through Mexico to an already overwhelmed U.S. border. You're looking at video of the massive caravan of migrants marching toward the U.S. border on Christmas Eve. And this comes as CNN is learning that more than 11,000 people are already waiting in shelters on the Mexican side of the border, hoping to get in through legal channels to the U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken is headed to Mexico tomorrow to try and hammer out new agreements to better control the flow of migrants. We have CNN's Rosa Flores. She's there in Eagle Pass, Texas for us. Rosa, I know you have some new reporting on migrant apprehensions in the region that you are in. Tell us about this. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I just heard from a law

enforcement source who says that the daily apprehensions in the Del Rio sector, which includes Eagle Pass, where I am, they were about 2,000 yesterday. Now, this number is significant because just last week, that average number was 3,000 daily. Now, we're seeing the effects of this because if you look behind me, you can see that there is an open field. Just last week, there were thousands of migrants who were waiting to be transported to immigration processing facilities. And we're not seeing that today. But a CBP official telling me that this does not mean, that the agency is out of the woods yet, because here is what they're dealing with.

First of all, there's about 11,000 migrants who are waiting in northern border cities in northern Mexico, waiting for legal pathways to enter into the United States. Now, organizations there that are familiar with the thinking of these migrants, they say that some of the migrants are losing their patience and they're entering the country illegally. So, there's that factor. Then there are smugglers who are waiting to be transported to the United States. And they're waiting for legal pathways to enter into the United States. And then there's those individuals who are working to push migrants through the U.S. southern border illegally.

And there's two different types of migrants that they try to push through. Migrants who just simply turn themselves in. These are moms and dads with children who just turn themselves in to U.S. immigration authorities. And then there's those individuals that smugglers try to sneak into the United States who have criminal pasts. They're also trying to sneak in drugs. And so Border Patrol, they're trying to manage all of this. The Biden administration is trying to manage all of this. And when they're trying to manage all of this, there is a surge. The Biden administration usually surges resources to the southern border to try to deal with that.

That's what's happening right now. They're also using methods like decompression. That's when migrants from this area where it has been saturated are transported to other areas like the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo and Del Rio to make sure that those migrants are processed swiftly. And I want to take you to Del Rio. We have video. We were there yesterday of a mass that took place there. This group of migrants actually, entered through Eagle Pass, you know where I am. But they ended up there because of decompression. And the priest there that is nearby that center told us that on Friday, he saw about 200. The number fluctuates. Yesterday, it was about two dozen. And he normally feeds them three times a day. But yesterday on Christmas Day, he also celebrated mass with them. Take a listen.

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FATHER MICHAEL CORONADO, ST JOSEPH AND OUR LADY OF GADALUPE CATHOLIC CHURCHES: We had a few people come to our church to celebrate with us there. And we knew that there was a lot more here. So, we thought it would be best for them to have a, have a moment to have mass here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FLORES: And Brianna and Jessica, I just want to give you some perspective about that 2000 number of daily apprehensions here in Eagle Pass in the Del Rio sector where I am just to give you some perspective. I remember covering the migrant surge in 2019 under President Trump and 1000 apprehensions a day was a huge surge in the Rio Grande Valley that used to be the epicenter of this. And this just shows you to how the smuggling networks also orchestrate. And that's what border patrol is so worried about because it creates gaps in border security. They send different types of nationalities to different areas, and they manage the flow. And that's what border patrol is so worried about because it creates gaps in border security.

KEILAR: All right, Rosa, thank you for that. Obviously, we were watching things very closely there on the border. Rosa Flores from Eagle Pass and still had a major consequence of the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action. High school students now face a big decision when applying to colleges. We'll talk about that after a quick break.

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KEILAR: Alright, you're looking at some new video into CNN and this is showing what is left of a neighborhood in northern Gaza. As you can see here, completely devastated by Israeli air attacks. Mounds of rubble here, bombed out buildings twisted metal lining the streets.

DEAN: And even as we're seeing more of those kinds of images Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu vowing that the war in Gaza quote will be a long fight and is far from ending. CNN's Will Ripley is in Tel Aviv with the latest for us.