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CNN Continues Its Breaking News Coverage On Israel At War; Israel Calls For All Civilians In Gaza City To Evacuate Their Homes And Move To The South; U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken In Jordan With Meetings Scheduled In Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt And UAE; Israel Calls on Civilians in Gaza City to Leave Their Homes; Death Toll in Gaza Now 1,500; U.S. Law Enforcement Beefing Up Security; Steve Scalise Drops Out of Speaker's Race; Members of Congress Hold Vigil for Israel; U.S. College Tensions Rise; Fake Videos of the War in Gaza. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 13, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world as we continue our breaking news coverage of Israel at war. I'm Kim Brunhuber. We begin with a major development.

Israel is calling for all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate their homes and move to the south in the day ahead. A U.N. spokesperson calls the request impossible, saying it could turn an already tragic situation into a calamity.

It's likely the clearest sign yet of Israeli plans to intensify its military operations in Gaza following Hamas' attack on Israel which killed at least 1300 people. Tens of thousands of Israeli troops, tanks and other military vehicles are now gathering along the Gaza border.

Meanwhile there is enormous and worsening suffering for the civilians in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry says there are more than 1500 people who have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and shelling. And without power and water, the health system is on the brink of collapse.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Jordan right now with meetings scheduled in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. In Israel on Thursday, he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: -- encountered a nation knit together by grief, but also, a nation united in resolve. United States shares that resolve. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: And joining me now from Tel Aviv is Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Major Doron Spielman. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, I just want to start with this. There's so much uncertainty around the order to leave. So, can you clarify, is it just Gaza City itself or all of Northern Gaza as the U.N. has said?

DORON SPIELMAN, MAJOR, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: So, our announcement refers specifically to Gaza City. We've really -- we've let the residents know that we are having, you know, there are a lot of has been moving forward in Gaza City and there will be continued in the future, perhaps targeted attacks on Gaza City.

And therefore, we're doing our best to minimize civilian casualties on their side. We wish that they had done the same thing on our side and warned our own civilians to move out of the way but we're different from Hamas, and this is just one more example.

BRUNHUBER: All right, so in the areas and cities around Gaza City, they can stay put, but it's just the residents of Gaza City that you're asking to leave. Specify why you're asking them to leave exactly, and does that signal a ground invasion is imminent?

SPIELMAN: Gaza City houses many of the top Hamas terrorists, a lot of the infrastructure that's been carried out by the Nukba, which is Hamas' targeted forces. It's their commando forces, which carried out a lot of the brutal massacres on Israeli soil. And the IDF is committed to, you know, civilian life as much as possible.

And so, we want to move them safely out of the way. We have Israeli civilians moving out of the way on the Israeli side. And this is a call on the Gazan civilians to please move out of the way on their side so that we can as much as possible minimize civilian casualties.

BRUNHUBER: Well, with the airstrikes and so on still going on, how will the civilians know that it's safe to actually to move -- to leave?

SPIELMAN: So, we've notified them that this is the time to leave. Again, there are -- if -- we understand it's going to take time. This is a -- an announcement to get ready and to begin moving towards the border, we're taking this into account.

It's obvious this is why we are saying this. We've given them a window in which you've encouraged them to do this. And we very much call on all the Gazan civilians to do this because we want to minimize as much civilian life.

This is of course, as opposed to Hamas, which has put their civilians directly in the line of fire as they've done throughout past years and certainly as they're doing now. It's one more example of why Hamas and their -- really their abilities to inflict damage not only factors really, civilians affect their own civilians.

BRUNHUBER: To the logistics here -- will they be, you know, safe corridors? I mean, how is this supposed to happen exactly? So, Gaza City is very close to the -- while what he does it which is

the area, it's very short distance and we understand we've taken that distance into account -- the area into account. And there are -- it's a clear landmark, a river is something even if you don't have a map, it bisects Gaza, they will know how to reach it.

[02:05:00]

Again, Gazan civilians know where this river is and it's a clear point. We're doing much as possible to try to move the civilians out of the way. This is really an attempt by us to try to minimize civilian casualties.

BRUNHUBER: Even so, I mean, the U.N. says moving, you know, a million people or I guess a bit fewer but if you're just asking for the residents of Gaza City but still a huge number of people, it can't be done without devastating consequences there's been so much infrastructure destroyed roads damaged, many people have no means of transportation.

CNN talked to the Palestinian Red Crescent. They said children will be lost, the elderly and the sick will be left behind.

SPIELMAN: When Hamas launched the devastating attack on the civilians of Israel. I mean, we're still bearing our dead. We have lines of people that are still bringing DNA evidence, trying to sort through the bodies. It's an elaborate, combined effort of the Israeli army, the government, hospitals, coronaries to try to bury them.

At the same time, we are moving our own population out of the way. This devastation is a result of Hamas, which again goes back to the idea. Hamas is a cult of death. It is the death of the Israeli, innocent Israelis.

It is now a cult that doesn't at all care about if their own civilians die, which is why the IDF is committed to going in and defeating Hamas' infrastructure. And this is necessary. We're doing our best to move civilians out of the way so we can move forward with this mission.

BRUNHUBER: If they don't leave, what happens to them?

SPIELMAN: I don't want to think about what will happen to civilians if they don't leave. We're doing our best to ask them to leave. What I can tell you is that Hamas -- anyone that was involved in this attack against Israeli civilians that massacred our civilians, we are going to ensure that they have no capacity to do this again in the future.

And they -- we call on them and again. The International Community is watching this. This lies at Hamas' doorstep. Let your civilians move out of the way. Stop being such cowards.

You crossed the border and you killed innocent Israeli civilians, you've now gone back to Gaza, you're hiding in tunnels, you've sent your wives and your children -- go to sleep upstairs knowing that they are putting them directly in the line of Israeli fire. It's despicable and grotesque. We have opened up this area, this

timeframe. Let's make sure that these civilians move out of the way.

BRUNHUBER: Last question for you, when will these civilians be able to come back?

SPIELMAN: We've announced to them that when we finish our operations, we will send a very clear message that it's time for them to come back to their homes once we've managed to eliminate the threat from Hamas.

BRUNHUBER: I mean, when you finish the operations, I mean, is this, you know, going to be weeks, months? How long do you think?

SPIELMAN: This is going to be a decision by the upper echelons of the defense community. We have left many, many options in order to do this. We hope that it's going to be done as thoroughly as possible because Hamas, as we can see, Hamas is not only a source of evil for Israel.

It is no question a source of evil for the people of Gaza. We will do what it takes to try to eliminate this threat both for us and both for them. And then these people can hopefully come back home safely.

BRUNHUBER: All right, I really appreciate your time, IDF spokesperson Major Doron Spielman in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much.

SPIELMAN: Thank you very much, thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, I want to go live now to London where journalist Elliott Gotkine is following development. So, Elliott, we just heard from the IDF, there are a few more details about exactly who they're asking to move and how they're predicting that they will do it. Just what do you make of what he said?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Yeah, really, Kim, just fleshing out more about that warning that the IDF gave to the United Nations just before 5 P.M. Eastern Time, so about midnight local time, clarifying that it's just specifically Gaza City that people of Palestinians in Gaza need to evacuate and that they need to move south of this wadi Gaza in order to get out of harm's way.

Now, he also said in response to your questions, Kim, that Israel will factor that into its airstrikes and other strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip that it is continuing.

It says it is simply trying to target Hamas infrastructure and also the specific commandos, the Hamas members, who were partly responsible -- who were responsible for this attack on Israel, which has now left what, more than 1300 people dead inside of Israel since that attack in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Now, you asked about how they would get there and he ultimately said, look, the buck stops with Hamas. This was a war that Hamas started and if there are civilian casualties and Israel will do its very best to minimize civilian casualties then that will be a consequence of Hamas' actions. But really just specifying where people need to evacuate from, we

don't know when they would be able to go back.

[02:10:00]

Clearly, the IDF is not going to give us any specifics regarding tactics or whether this is specifically designed to pave the way for an expected ground incursion. But what the IDF at least is saying is that this call for an evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza City is designed to minimize civilian casualties.

Their war is not with the people of Gaza. It is simply with Hamas and any civilian casualties that result from that, says the IDF, is going to be laid at the door of Hamas. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: And Elliott, you've been monitoring the response to this call for the people of Gaza City to move. What have other groups like the U.N. and Hamas been saying?

GOTKINE: So, the United Nations initial response was that this is impossible to do without devastating humanitarian consequences. Hamas, for its part, or the Gaza media office, which of course is part of the government in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, they have said to the Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip, don't fall for it. Don't pay any attention to what it has described as psychological warfare from the part of the Israelis.

I think probably, the people in the Gaza Strip will, to play it safe, err on the side of paying attention to this warning from the Israelis rather than Hamas' request to not be swayed by it. And Israel, for its part, has described the U.N.'s response to its early warning as shameful.

The U.N. Secretary General, we know, Antonio Guterres, has asked for clarification on what is going on or what Israel is demanding in terms of the evacuation. But the situation right now and we're what now, it's at nine o'clock in the morning in Israel.

So, there's another what, 15 hours until this 24 hour deadline if you like runs out during which Israel wants as many civilians as possible to evacuate from Gaza City and to move south to get out of harm's way so that it can strike the targets it wants to strike the targets of Hamas infrastructure and Hamas militants that it wants to strike as a result in retaliation for this attack launched by Hamas in the early hours of Saturday morning. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Now, the clock is ticking on that deadline. Elliott Gotkine in London, thanks so much. Well, the White House says it has no plans to put U.S. troops on the ground in Israel ahead of an expected military incursion into Gaza. CNN's Nic Robertson reports on the preparations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Israel's newly emerging front line in the war with Hamas. Heavy howitzers just dug in, firing on the terror group a few miles away in Gaza. Part of Israel's massive military buildup since Hamas' attacks Saturday. Many of the 300,000 reservists called up already deployed ahead of a highly anticipated ground offensive into Gaza.

These are exactly the same gun positions the Israeli defense forces used in that last major confrontation with the Hamas back in 2021. The question now, will this confrontation be different? Will Israel actually be able to crush Hamas as the Prime Minister says he wants to do?

Military offensives haven't beaten them before and won't be easy now. The Palestinian death toll and unintended consequence of Israeli shelling and missile strikes is climbing. Thursday, staunch ally the U.S. cautioning care.

BLINKEN: The Prime Minister and I discussed. How Israel does this, matters. We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for a different standard, even when it's difficult.

ROBERTSON: And it will be difficult. Israel is still reeling from the deadliest, most barbaric attack on its citizens since the state was founded. Anger at Hamas is high. So, too, pressure on the prime minister to act decisively. He's calling for more international support as he plans his offensive.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated. They should be spit out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned.

ROBERSTON: In the meantime, Hamas is still getting into Israel. This gun battle with them, late Wednesday.

SPIELMAN: There were multiple incursions by Hamas terrorists yesterday. I drove right through stair road during the time when three terrorists were out, again, looking for civilians to kill.

ROBERTSON: The tempo of fire here, far higher than in 2021. A drumbeat that seems to signal a ground offensive, all but inevitable.

[02:15:00]

Even so, its outcome far from certain. Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead, the top U.S. diplomat on a Middle East mission, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, all on his itinerary. Plus, in all the conflicts between Israel and Hamas over the years, there's been, and still is, one constant -- civilians are always on the losing end with the violence. The worst toll on Gaza's children, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: America's top diplomat is in Jordan at the hour for talks with King Abdullah. Antony Blinken is trying to arrange a humanitarian corridor to get food and medical supplies into Gaza and to get civilians out. Blinken will also meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before heading to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Now, in Israel on Thursday he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reaffirm U.S. support, but he also urged Israel to be cautious in its approach to Gaza. Blinken spoke with families of Americans who were killed or taken hostage in Saturday's Hamas terror attacks. He also addressed reports of atrocities.

[02:20:00]

Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: It's hard to find the right words. A baby, an infant, riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars. This is a moment where everyone needs to make clear that there is revulsion, disgust, and a determination, a determination not to allow this to go forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN asked the Israel Defense Forces why the government decided to release images of slain children. Here's a spokesperson for the IDF.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN CONRICUS, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: It takes a few moments to settle your optics again after seeing that. I think it is crucial because we've been in similar situations before, never like this.

But similar situations where we are attacked by terrorists, atrocities are done, never at this level. But atrocities are done, rockets are fired, and then we start defending ourselves, and then the world turns against us and tells us, stop doing that, we don't like it.

I think that it is as hard and as gruesome and as vile it is to see these pictures and they're so disturbing and you cannot unsee them. And I think it's the first time in the history of Israel that our official institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did it first and now the Prime Minister's office, we in the IDF spokesperson unit have shared pictures, as well.

It is the first time that we do it because I think we feel that if we don't, we will be failing the people who were murdered and the fact that people in the world won't understand what this is all about.

They may be confused in thinking that this is just another round between Israel and the Palestinians or Gaza, and that it's related to politics and what have you. That's not the case. This is a totally, fundamentally different situation, and if we don't show it to the world, maybe people won't understand it and know it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Relief groups are calling for the protection of civilians in Gaza who continue to suffer in the bloody war between Hamas and Israel. CNN's Nada Bashir reports and we just want to warn you that her report contains graphic content.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Gripped by grief and loss of unfathomable scale. Gaza's death toll and the number of civilians wounded is rising with each and every airstrike.

In the Al-Shati refugee camp, men dig with their bare hands, desperate to rescue loved ones from beneath the rubble of what once were their homes.

SAAD: Yasser, Ramadan, Shaheed, and Ayah.

BASHIR: Saad begins to list the names of the children killed in this latest strike. Among them, his niece. She was just a few months old. Now, she is one of more than 440 children, Gaza's health ministry says, has been killed by Israeli airstrikes, so far.

Israel says it is striking Hamas targets. But authorities here say medical facilities, schools and residential areas have been impacted. Our neighbors said that the Israelis had called and told them to evacuate the area around our home.

So, we came to stay with relatives here in Al-Shate, Nabil says. But the next morning, when we woke up to pray at dawn, the airstrike happened. There was no warning.

The densely populated Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007, is home to more than two million people. Around 47 percent of them are children. So far, at least 340,000 people have been displaced within Gaza. Many are now forced to take shelter in U.N.-run schools like this one. But civilians here are also now facing what the Israeli government has described as a complete siege on Gaza.

There's no water for us to drink, no water for us to wash ourselves with so that we can pray, Maram says. They've bombed our schools, many people have been killed. It's not fair for children like us. Why is this happening to us?

Life under a blockade is all that the children of Gaza have ever known. For some, like 13-year-old Nadine, it is hard to imagine a future beyond this relentless conflict.

NADINE ABDUL LATIF, TEENAGER LIVING IN GAZA: The last couple of nights have been the worst couple of nights I've ever lived in my life. This is not living, this is existing.

[02:25:00] We're not planning our futures anymore, we're just trying to survive.

BASHIR: But survival in Gaza is becoming more and more difficult by the day. The humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating. And while the U.N. has condemned what it has described as Israel's unlawful blockade on Gaza and the indiscriminate nature of Israel's airstrikes, there is little hope that the bloodshed will end here. Nada Bashir, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now, with so many of you watching, feeling compelled to help with humanitarian relief efforts. CNN is compiling resources and you can head to cnn.com slash impact and there you can find a list of vetted organizations that are responding on the ground. That's cnn.com slash impact.

And coming up next hour, I'll be speaking with Dr. Justin Dangley (ph), a physician with Doctors Without Borders in Gaza and what the proposed evacuation order by Israel may mean in the hours ahead.

Now, critics just want to know why was Israel so woefully unprepared for Saturday's violence. Now, we're learning that Hamas practiced these attacks for years within walking distance of the Israeli border. Details next.

Plus, while there have been no credible threats of violence connected to the Hamas attacks in the U.S., officials aren't taking chances. We'll have a report on security measures that's coming up after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Israeli military is calling on all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate southwards on Friday. The U.N. is urgently seeking clarification saying such an evacuation order isn't possible, and Hamas is telling everyone to stay in their homes.

That's the clearest sign yet of Israeli plans to intensify its military operations in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas massacres that killed more than 1,300 people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The IDF says some 300, 000 Israeli troops are now massing near Gaza's border. Artillery and airstrikes against Hamas targets inside Gaza have continued almost nonstop. Palestinians say more than 1,500 people, including 500 children have died so far in the Israeli bombardments. The U.N. says nearly 423,000 people have already been displaced from their homes. And food, water, fuel, power, all have been cut off.

Israel's military says it will investigate information from a CNN report revealing that Hamas spent two years preparing for Saturday's massive attacks on Israel. Analysis shows much of the practice work was done inside Gaza, and some of it around a mile or less than two kilometers from the most heavily patrolled border with Israel. Our Clarissa Ward has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Propaganda videos put out by Hamas revealed chilling details about the years of preparations that went into Saturday's bloody attacks right under Israel's nose.

Analyzing metadata from the videos, a CNN investigation can reveal the presence of at least six training sites inside Gaza. One just 720 meters from the most heavily fortified and patrolled part of Israel's border. In that camp, Hamas recreated an Israeli compound, with elements of the nearby border crossing, including an insignia of the Erez Battalion. The videos show they even practiced taking prisoners and zip tying their hands at the camp.

Satellite imagery indicates the camp was constructed within the last year and a half. At two other locations in the southern part of Gaza, Hamas trained for their audacious paraglider assault, rehearsing takeoffs and landings. At all six sites, two years of satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows no indication of offensive Israeli military action.

The imagery instead shows that in the last two years, some camps even expanded into surrounding farmland, and that there was activity in the last several months at the camps. The stunning revelations raise questions as to how Hamas was able to train so openly, so close to the border, for so long, and why Israeli officials were unable to pick up on and prevent the October 7th attack.

Clarissa Ward, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, amid the Hamas attacks in Israel and calls for protests in the U.S. on Friday, Capitol Hill police say there have been no specific threats towards Congress, but they're enhancing security anyway.

On Thursday, President Biden met with law enforcement officials to discuss security, and the Homeland Security Department is advising Americans to be vigilant.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on increased security across the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Stepped up patrols, police posted outside synagogues, the New York Police Department ramping up security and calling for all of its roughly 36,000 officers to report in uniform, according to an internal department memo obtained by CNN. This comes after former Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, called on the Muslim world to "show anger on Friday." JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: You've got police covering over 400 locations in New York City. That's iconic locations, symbolic locations, Jewish religious locations and, of course, the city's Arab communities and Muslim communities for their safety.

TODD (voiceover): CNN's John Miller reports there's no specific call for violence beyond a general call to express anger. But he says law enforcement and intelligence officials across the country are telling him about chat rooms and other online forums.

MILLER: They're seeing a thousand percent uptick in the kind of generic threats against Jewish communities and targets.

TODD (voiceover): A suspect in Fresno, California is now in custody after this surveillance video captured a man throwing a rock at the window of a bakery this week. The business is not Jewish affiliated, but a note was left saying, all Jewish businesses will be targeted. A Jewish temple in Fresno also had its glass doors broken this week.

RABBI RICK WINER, TEMPLE BETH ISRAEL, FRESNO, CALIFORNIA: We know it's out there. For the most part, the Fresno community is awesome, but there are a few hate for people who decide to make it hard for everyone.

TODD (voiceover): President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met Thursday with law enforcement and national security officials going over steps to protect the homeland in the wake of the Hamas attacks in Israel. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have just issued a public service announcement warning of the potential for attacks in the U.S. saying that in the past, conflicts between Israel and Hamas provoked the targeting of individuals and institutions associated with the Jewish and Muslim faiths.

[02:35:00]

That same PSA says there's no specific intelligence reflecting any plans to attack inside the U.S. stemming from the current war in Israel. But experts say angry lone wolves could move on their own.

JAVED ALI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SENIOR DIRECTOR ON COUNTERTERRORISM: Finding that single individual who will go very quickly from being radicalized and angry to actually trying to mobilize and conduct an attack, it's next to impossible to try to stop that in advance.

BRUNHUBER: Still, law enforcement agencies will have officers at places of worship, police providing safe corridors and doing perimeter searches at some institutions.

MILLER: There's a lot you will see out there on the streets, and there's a lot you won't in terms of cameras intelligence, investigations into extremist forums.

TODD: But a key question raised by former top U.S. Counterterrorism Official Javed Ali is, given the amount of resources, how long do you maintain that level of security? He says no law enforcement agency can protect all of those facilities for weeks on end. And this conflict in Israel could, of course, play out for much longer than that.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. We want to get to some other important news here in the U.S. House Republicans are expected to meet behind closed doors Friday morning, hoping to find some way to agree on a new leader. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise pulled out of the running for speaker of the House of Representatives late Thursday after it became clear his fractured party wouldn't come together to support him.

Manu Raju has details from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Republican turmoil only deepening in the aftermath of the leadership crisis that we have seen play out over the past week and that we saw play out just on Thursday evening in which Steve Scalise abruptly announced he would no longer seek the speakership amid the fact that he simply did not have the votes on the House floor to be elected.

This, of course, coming in the aftermath of last week's ouster of Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the house who was the first speaker ever to be forced out by his own colleagues on a vote on the House floor. Remember, to lose the -- to win the speakership, you could only afford to lose four Republican votes on a party line vote. That means Steve Scalise had a roughly about a dozen, maybe up to two dozen Republicans who are ultimately saying that they were not going to support him despite his efforts all day long to try to flip them, try to convince them that he was their candidate and to assuage their concerns, none of that worked.

And members all day long were fuming about the stalemate, about how it makes their parties look and raising fresh concerns that all of this could cost them their narrow majority in 2024.

Does it put a swing district like yours at risk?

REP. DON BACON, (R-NE): Yes, it does. It's -- these guys want to be in the minority. That's exact -- I think they would prefer that because I could just vote no and yell and scream all the time. And -- but governing, you got to work together.

REP. AUSTIN SCOTT (R-GA): It's a tough scenario, but there are people in there that are honorably trying to get to the right place and then there are people in there, as you know, that like to go on the TV and are not necessarily negotiating for anything other than TV time.

RAJU: How does that make you guys look?

SCOTT: It makes us look like a bunch of idiots. RAJU: Our Republicans will meet again on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. to try to figure out their way forward. Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, is expected to announce his bid for the speakership. Other candidates may yet emerge, but Jordan is no sure bet. In fact, a number of Republicans are telling me that they are not on board with Jordan's more conservative politics.

So, can he get 217 votes? Will another speaker candidate emerge or will this crisis persist? And if it does, there's then -- that essentially means no legislation can be acted upon, whether it's about Israel aid, avoiding a government shutdown or trying to provide aid to Ukraine, none of that can happen unless there is a speaker elected.

There's some talk about elevating the interim speaker, Patrick McHenry, giving him new power. But at the moment, that is not happening as Republicans are still grappling with their way forward in this historic stalemate on Capitol Hill.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. House Republicans and Democrats were able to come together for one activity on Thursday, a vigil supporting Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): As a member of Congress, as a Jew, as a Zionist, as a human being, this moment of us coming together, whether it's the disorganization and disunity in Israel prior to this point, or here in our country, when Israel and the United States need one another, it's moments like this where we step up. And it is actions that matter so much more, it is actions that matter so much more than words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:40:00]

BRUNHUBER: The bipartisan candlelight vigil took place on the steps of the Capitol building. The White House confirmed Thursday that the number of Americans killed in last weekend's Hamas attacks now stand at 27.

All right. Still to come, protests erupt at U.S. college campuses over the Israel Hamas war. We'll hear from students, next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Here in the U.S., tensions are rising at college campuses from Harvard to UCLA over the Israel Hamas war. CNN's Nick Watt reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A so-called Day of Resistance on campuses across the country called by National Students for Justice in Palestine, which hails the Hamas terror attacks as a historic win for the Palestinian resistance across land, air, and sea.

JULIA JASSEY, CEO, JEWISH ON CAMPUS: That's the justification of the murder of Jews, as we've seen throughout history under a different name.

WATT (voiceover): At San Diego State, one pro-Palestinian protester said this --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not for any lives lost. No matter what, Palestinian or Israeli.

JASSEY: We found that 57 percent of Jewish students in the U.S. have experienced or seen anti-Semitism. That was before this occurred. Now, we're seeing the levels rise. The incidents rise. The complaints rise.

WATT (voiceover): At Harvard, a statement released within hours of the attacks begins, we, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. Some have recanted after a backlash that included a billionaire hedge fund boss asking Harvard to name members of the groups that signed, so none of us inadvertently hire them.

Last night, their names and faces emblazoned on a truck in Harvard Square by a conservative organization. Such intimidation is counterproductive, said Harvard Hillel, a Jewish student group.

[02:45:00]

JASSEY: The conversation about what is and isn't productive discourse is something that we're seeing really taking shape.

WATT (voiceover): A major UPenn benefactor has called on other alums to close the checkbooks after what he said was college leader's apparent failure to condemn the views of some speakers at a recent Palestinian literary festival on campus, even after the Hamas attacks. College officials have condemned anti-Semitism.

Los Angeles Tuesday, a pro-Israel rally, just a stone's throw from the UCLA campus. The Cultural Affairs Commission of UCLA, a student group, posted Monday, we honor the Palestinians on the front lines taking their land and sovereignty back. They say this is not anti-Semitism. Judaism is separate from the political movement of Zionism.

JADEN PENHASKASHI, UCLA STUDENT: These are UCLA organizations, and they have the permission to say these things. It's absolutely absurd.

WATT: I mean, you're holding an Israeli flag. Is that something you'd be OK doing on campus?

ROEL HATZOR, UCLA STUDENT: Oftentimes on campus, I feel scared to hold a flag if I'm not with a big group. There's a lot of anti- Semitism on campus, and it's always felt at all times.

WATT: And now, we're on the UCLA campus, where today, a large pro- Palestinian rally. Listen, the tensions are only going to heighten. After what happened in the Middle East, what's going to happen in the Middle East, and also tensions, particularly on campuses, over where is that line between standing up for Palestinian human rights and glorifying murder.

Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

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BRUNHUBER: Protesters across Europe have been taken to the streets voicing their opposition to war and showing support for both Israeli and Palestinian people.

You can see there are thousands gathered in London on Thursday for a vigil honoring and supporting Israel, whereas a crowd in Brussels, Belgium marched in support of the Palestinian people. Pro-Palestinian rallies triggered a strong police response in Berlin, where such demonstrations have been temporarily banned.

Protests in South Africa turned violent as Palestinian and Israeli supporters scuffled in Johannesburg. In Paris, things were quiet for those rallying in support of Israel. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were met with tear gas and water cannons after President Emmanuel Macron issued a ban on such protests.

Some images from the last few days have been disturbing and hard to watch, like this viral video that claims to show Israel attacking Gaza. In fact, it's actually a celebration in Algeria. We'll have a special report on social media misinformation, that's straight ahead. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's social media site, X, over disinformation about the Israel Hamas war. The probe into the platform, formerly known as Twitter, covers its policies and practices on illegal content, how it handles complaints, and risk assessment. X claims it has removed, "hundreds of Hamas affiliated accounts."

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has more now on some viral images that claim to be of the war are actually fake.

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DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): One video shows a rocket purportedly fired by Hamas. Another video claims to show Israeli jets bombing Gaza. But neither is real. This video is actually footage from a video game called Arma 3. And this is actually video of soccer celebrations in Algeria. It's all part of a tidal wave of viral mis and disinformation circulating around the Israel Hamas conflict.

Adi Cohen works with Memetica, an online threat intelligence service. He's been monitoring misinformation like this, a fake BBC News report that falsely claimed Ukraine had provided weapons to Hamas.

O'SULLIVAN: This is relatively sophisticated stuff. I mean, it's got even the same kind of graphics set as the BBC News normally would have.

ADI COHEN, COO, MEMETICA: Right. And I think what happened over recent years is that it becomes very easy, affordable to mimic those graphics, visualization.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): In response to the false news report, the BBC told CNN in a statement, in a world of increasing disinformation, we urge everyone to ensure they are getting news from a trusted source.

Just hours after the Hamas attack began on Saturday, this began circulating on social media, a fake White House memo falsely claiming the U.S. was immediately sending billions of dollars in new aid to Israel.

O'SULLIVAN: This is like some more old school disinformation, a fake White House document circulated pretty widely online.

COHEN: Right. I do want to point out though, it is an old school tactic that we've seen, you know, for multiple years by now. But with the current tools you can also create it very quickly and make it more believable.

GRAHAM BROOKIE, DIGITAL FORENSIC RESEARCH LAB, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: There's new information every second, every minute, every hour. And so, there's a lot of room for error as things develop on the ground.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Graham Brookie tracks disinformation with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.

BROOKIE: And this conflict is hyper connected. Israel is a very, very connected country. And so, we're seeing an enormous amount of misleading content coming out of this conflict as the world's eyes are watching it.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Twitter, now known as X, is a major source of misinformation. In part because of the changes Elon Musk made to the platform since he took it over, including laying off key employees. On Thursday, the European Commission announced it was opening an investigation into disinformation on X about the Israel Hamas conflict.

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COHEN: Another component of it, I would say, is that because Several platforms of scaled back and moderation. It's much easier to spread rumors, unsubstantiated rumors, false information very quick.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): But this isn't just an information war. It's a real war, and false information can be fatal.

BROOKIE: And that disinformation is extraordinarily harmful, including putting folks lives at risk. O'SULLIVAN: Now, X, formerly Twitter, says that it is moving resources around at the company after, of course, it had all those layoffs under Musk to try and address some of these issues. But look, this is not a problem that is exclusive to X, it is happening on other platforms as well, but right now, it's quite pronounced on X. You can see false videos, misleading videos getting hundreds of thousands, millions of views on the platform before anything is really done about them.

And, of course, the real tragedy is here, you know, there is no need to post these fake videos and images. We have seen the tragic footage, the real footage from Israel and Gaza. And, of course, it is upsetting enough these fake videos and images really just adding to the chaos, confusion, and concern.

Donny O'Sullivan, CNN, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, before we go, with so many of you watching, feeling compelled to help with humanitarian relief efforts, CNN is compiling resources. So, you can head to cnn.com/impact, and there, you can find a list of vetted organizations that are responding on the ground right now. That's cnn.com/impact.

All right. That wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more of our breaking news coverage of Israel at war.

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