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CNN's Continuing Coverage on the Ongoing Conflict between Israeli Forces and Hamas Terrorists. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 13, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber with CNN's Breaking News coverage of Israel at war.
United Nations calls it an impossible task likely to turn a tragic situation into a calamity. Israel is telling all civilians in Gaza City to leave their homes for their own safety and protection and head southwards today.
The Israeli military says Hamas' terrorists are hiding in tunnels underneath houses using people as human shields. Now, it's the clearest signal yet that Israel plans to intensify its military operations in Gaza after the Hamas terror attacks over the weekend that left 1,300 people dead. Tens of thousands of Israeli troops, tanks and other military vehicles are now gathering along the Gaza border.
Meanwhile, there's enormous and worsening suffering for the civilians in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry says there are more than 1,500 people killed by Israeli airstrikes and shelling. And without power and water, the health care system is on the brink of collapse.
I spoke earlier with Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Major Doron Spielman and I asked him about that call for civilians to leave Gaza City. Here he is.
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MAJ. DORON SPIELMAN, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: We've let the residents know that we are having -- a lot 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 the 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's 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, you know, airstrikes and so on still going on, how will the civilians know that it's safe to, actually, to move -- to leave?
SPEILMAN: 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 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?
SPIELMAN: So Gaza City is very close to 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 you don't have a map, that bisects Gaza, they will know how to reach it. Again, Gazan civilians know where this river is and it's a clear point. We're doing as 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.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, let's go live now to London where journalist Elliot Gotkine is following developments and Elliot, so let's start what we've heard there. I got a bit of clarification around the logistics and the motive around the Israeli military call to evacuate Gaza City. What do you make of it?
ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Well, Kim, initially the statement from the warning from the IDF, which was given to the United Nations at about 5 p.m. Eastern time, that's about midnight local time in Israel, and Gaza seemed to suggest that it was the entire northern part of the Gaza Strip.
[03:05:06]
The spokesman there, Doron, saying that it was now just Gaza City. Now, there are still around 600,000 people that live in Gaza City, so a little bit less than one-third of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. And he didn't really clarify too much as to whether there would be, you know, corridors or specific times that Israel would hold off from striking, simply that Israel would take that into account. They would factor into account the fact that many residents will be moving south.
Now, we know that the United Nations Refugee Agency for the Palestinians, for example, has moved its central operations to the south and moving its staff as well. And despite calls by Hamas to the civilians to the citizens of the Gaza Strip, calling on them to not fall prey to -- not to pay any attention to these calls by Israel to move south.
One imagines that certainly those who can would err on the side of caution and move south and follow those instructions from the IDF to try to ensure that they do not be added to the rising count of civilian casualties inside the Strip. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Well, let me ask you about that. Exactly. This is happening in the context of an already worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.
GOTKINE: Quite. And the United Nations saying that it's impossible to move that many people south without devastating humanitarian consequences, in its words. The U.N. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has asked for clarification. Israel's envoy to the U.N. has called the U.N.'s response to its early warning shameful.
So that's, you know, debate is obviously ongoing and all the while Israel is continuing its strikes on the Gaza Strip to try to take out not just infrastructure and weapon storage facilities and rocket launchers, but also the very people that it holds responsible for launching this devastating and brutal attack on Israel in the early hours of Saturday morning, which of course set off this current war that we're seeing right now.
At least 1,300 people inside of Israel, the vast, vast majority of them Israelis, and now what, more than 1,500 Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip have died as a result of those attacks, as I say, which began on Saturday morning.
And just to update that deadline now, we're talking about 16 hours, sorry, excuse me, 12, where are we now? We're 10 hours, so 14 hours until that deadline for Palestinians in Gaza City to evacuate before that time runs out. And presumably, Israeli airstrikes will be ramped up, potentially paving the way for that expected ground invasion. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, exactly. A ground invasion, I mean, it seems imminent. The Israeli military in years past has said it would crush Hamas. What's your sense about what's to come? How might this be different?
GOTKINE: I think we're really just still seeing the early phases of this war. We don't have any specifics, obviously, in terms of Israeli tactics. They have gone in before. The last time was 2014. And clearly when Israel goes into the Gaza Strip, there is a likelihood of further not just Israeli casualties but further civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as well. And of course Israel knows that Hamas is expecting them.
Hamas is not only expecting Israel to launch a ground invasion but probably would welcome it because it gives them more opportunity to inflict more casualties on Israel and also to potentially kidnap, to take hostage more Israelis as well. There will be booby traps, there will be improvised explosive devices, there will be snipers just waiting for Israel to move in. And of course there's a very sophisticated tunnel network that Hamas has underground in the Gaza Strip, Israel will no doubt have some of those mapped out, but not all of them.
And so there is I think right now from where we're standing, if and when this ground invasion comes, that it will probably be worse than ones that we've seen before in terms of casualties, and the bitterness of the fighting that we have in store, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, I appreciate it. Elliot Gotkine in London. Thanks so much.
America's top diplomat is now in Jordan after spending Thursday in Israel. Antony Blinken is trying to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading and hoping to secure the release of hostages. CNN's Becky Anderson has more from Tel Aviv.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, CONNECT THE WORLD (voice-over): The war between Israel and Hamas kicking off a flurry of diplomatic activity across the Middle East.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday to show Washington's solidarity with Israel.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The message that I bring to Israel is this. You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side.
ANDERSON (voice-over): The Secretary of State also trying to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas.
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Working with allies such as Qatar, to strike a deal for the release of Israeli women and children for Palestinian women and teenagers, according to a diplomatic source.
But Hamas says it will not negotiate as long as it remains under attack from Israel. And Israel says it has cut off water, electricity, and fuel as long as those hostages are held in Gaza. With a worsening humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave, The U.S.
has warned Israel it must follow the laws of war amid talk of a massive ground assault.
Elsewhere, talks underway with Egypt to allow civilians to exit Gaza via the Rafah border crossing. So far, no concrete deal there.
Meanwhile, the crisis paving the way for the first ever phone call between Iran's president and Saudi Arabia's crown prince. Mohammed bin Salman stressing Saudi Arabia's efforts to halt any escalation and civilian targeting as well as support for the Palestinian cause. And that risks Riyadh's much-awaited normalization deal with Israel.
Jordan's King Abdullah, one of the first Arab states to strike a peace deal with Israel, renewing calls to establish a Palestinian state.
KING ABDULLAH II, JORDAN (through translator): What the Palestinian territories are witnessing currently is evidence that again emphasizes that our area will not obtain peace and stability without achieving a comprehensive and just peace on the basis of the two-state solution, so that the Palestinian people can receive its independent country with sovereignty.
ANDERSON (voice-over): While Blinken is in region, he'll reportedly meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday.
But despite the diplomatic pressure, peace in the region seems further away than ever.
Becky Anderson, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, and still to come, the White House confirms at least 27 Americans have been killed in the Israel Hamas war and we're learning more about their personal stories.
Plus Iran blocked from accessing millions of dollars as part of a prisoner swap deal as the U.S. investigates the country for potential links to Hamas' attack. We'll have details next.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, it's happening now. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has arrived in Israel. These pictures from just moments ago. He's scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Israeli counterpart, and the newly created Israeli War Cabinet. His visit follows one by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.
U.S. officials are scrambling to get Americans stranded in Israel back home safely. The Biden administration says it will start chartering flights today to destinations in Europe. Travelers will be then ferried home on U.S.-based and other carriers. United, American and Delta Airlines all stopped flying to and from Israel earlier this week over safety concerns.
The White House on Thursday confirmed the number of Americans killed in the conflict is now 27. 14 U.S. nationals are still missing and we're learning their names and their stories. Here's CNN's Erica Hill.
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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beaming smiles, everyday joy, now forever frozen in time.
EYAL WALDMAN, FATHER OF DANIELLE, KILLED IN HAMAS ATTACKS: She's an amazing person and each and everyone that met her have loved her. She's done nothing wrong and nothing bad to anyone.
HILL (voice-over): Eyal Waldman's 25-year-old daughter Danielle was born in California. She and her boyfriend Noam recently moved into a new apartment. They adopted a dog and were building a life together.
WALDMAN: They went to a party to celebrate peace and love.
HILL (voice-over): Danielle and Noam never made it home from the Nova Music Festival.
WALDMAN: He told me in the last meeting that she and Noam have decided that they will get married. Unfortunately, we will bury them together.
Aryeh Lamo Ziering was a captain in the IDF's dog handling unit. The dual citizen spent his summers at camp in the U.S. His aunt, Debbie, describes Aryeh as a fun-loving athletic kid who was passionate about protecting his country. Captain Ziering was 27.
Egal Wachs ex-wife says he moved back to Israel two years ago to care for his mother. On Saturday, Hamas attacked the village where they lived.
LIAT WACHS, EX-HUSBAND AND HIS BROTHER KILLED IN HAMAS ATTACKS: Egal and his brother were part of the security team, the patrol team in the village.
HILL (voice-over): Egal and his brother Amit, both Israeli Americans, were killed.
RANAE BUTLER, SIX FAMILY MEMBERS KILLED IN HAMAS ATTACKS: Brother was Yonatan, Johnny, everyone called him Johnny. Tamari is my sister-in- law. She was running for the council of the area of a bunch of villages. She was such an uplifting, such quality human being.
HILL (voice-over): Ranae Butler's brother Johnny and his young family, along with her mother, Carol Simintov, were murdered at the near Oz kibbutz on Saturday.
BUTLER: Great loss, such a big, beautiful tribe we had. Half of our family is gone. This is our life. This is our love. I had 14 nieces and nephews. I have 11 now.
HILL (voice-over): A family shattered as countless more wait for word on their loved ones and wonder whether they will ever be whole again.
Erica Hill, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: Iran has been temporarily blocked from accessing billions of dollars as part of a prisoner swap deal between Washington and Tehran. Now the move comes as U.S. officials investigate Iran's possible involvement in Hamas' attack on Israel. CNN's Alex Marquardt has the details.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The $6 billion set to be released to Iran in exchange for the recent swap of five American prisoners that they were holding. That deal is now on hold after Hamas, which is backed primarily by Iran, carried out the horrific and deadly attacks in Israel over the weekend.
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A U.S. official from the Treasury Department told members of Congress on Thursday that the United States and Qatar have reached a quote, "quiet understanding not to allow Iran to access any of the $6 billion in Iranian funds that were transferred to Qatari accounts last month as part of that hostage deal."
The money is Iranian but is still in Qatari banks and was set to be doled out by the U.S. Treasury Department for Iran's essential humanitarian purposes. Now a congressional source tells CNN that those funds would not be touched by Iran anytime soon. Here's what Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday in Israel when he was asked about the money.
BLINKEN: Funds from that account are overseen by the Treasury Department, can only be dispensed for humanitarian goods, food, medicine, medical equipment, and never touch Iranian hands. We have strict oversight of the funds and we retain the right to freeze them.
MARQUARDT: The U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities have found so far, no smoking gun tying Iran to Saturday's attacks directly. But Iran's long-time backing of Hamas over the years with millions and millions of dollars in funding and weapons has made Iran, according to the Biden administration, complicit in Hamas' attacks in Israel.
Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Now that decision to freeze the $6 billion Iranian fund comes after growing bipartisan pressure. CNN's Wolf Blitzer talked about this earlier in conversation with Erin Burnett. Here he is.
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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Yes. But now the Biden administration has apparently agreed with so many others that $6 billion could be fungible. If the Iranians get the $6 billion through Qatar, through this program, they could free up $6 billion that they have to use for food and medicine in other areas and free it up to do other things. And I think the Biden administration now realizes that is a mistake, given what they see as Iran's complicity in this Hamas attack on Israel.
They say there's no direct evidence -- no compelling evidence that Iran was directly involved with Hamas in this war, but they think that over the years the support that Iran has given Hamas and Hezbollah, other terrorist organizations makes them complicit in this, and so they don't want to be seen as providing any money for whatever purpose to Iran right now. They probably sense it was a mistake to begin in this direction, given the fact that for several administrations, Iran has been seen as the number one state sponsor of terrorism.
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BRUNHUBER: Now, in all the conflicts between Israel and Hamas over the years, there's been, and still is one constant, civilians are always caught in the violence. The war's toll on Gaza's children, next.
Plus no power, no water, no medical supplies. Gaza's health system is being pushed to the brinks of collapse under intense Israeli bombardment. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is "CNN Newsroom."
Israeli military is calling on all civilians in Gaza City to begin evacuating southwards now today. But it's not clear where 1 million civilians are supposed to go. The IDF claims Hamas fighters are hiding in tunnels beneath the city and want civilians out of harm's way.
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LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: The aim here is to minimize the damage to civilians. There are significant combat operations ongoing, and we are preparing for future and the continuance of our combat operations. And out of an understanding that there are civilians here whom are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Israel has now amassed about 300,000 troops along the Gaza border and has been pounding Hamas targets non-stop with airstrikes and artillery.
The U.N. says more than 423,000 people in Gaza have been displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and that figure marks a 25 percent increase in just one day. More than two-thirds of those displaced are taking shelter in schools run by the U.N. At least two of those U.N. schools were being used as emergency shelters, and they were hit by airstrikes. The organization says 12 of its staff and 30 of its students have been killed since Saturday.
Relief groups are calling for the protection of civilians in Gaza as the humanitarian crisis worsens by the hour. CNN's Nada Bashir reports and we just want to warn you her report contains graphic content.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): 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.
Sa'ad 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-Shati, 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.
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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 have ever lived in my life. This is not living. This is existing. We're not planning our futures anymore. We're just trying to survive.
BASHIR (voice-over): 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.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: The Biden administration says it stands by Israel, but there's only so much it can do without a functioning Congress. Ongoing U.S. military aid to Israel is on the table, of course, but there's no scenario for sending U.S. troops to rescue American hostages in Gaza. Yet that's what Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott told voters he would do as president. Here he is.
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TIM SCOTT, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should be in a position that our resources and our military weaponry is available and accessible to refill, replenish Israel as the need arises over the next several months, I assume. If it takes our special forces to go get our hostages, take an American, cost you your life, but I'm willing to send an American to bring an American back.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. House Republicans are expected to meet behind closed doors Friday morning, hoping to find some way to agree on a new leader as Majority Leader Steve Scalise pulled out of the running for the top position late Thursday after it became clear his fractured party wouldn't come together to support him.
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REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: If you look at over the last few weeks, if you look at where our conference is, there's still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together and is not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas. And I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs.
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BRUNHUBER: Now Friday will be the ninth day U.S. House Republicans have operated without a leader since Kevin McCarthy became the first speaker of the House in history to be ousted by his party.
We'll be right back.
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[03:35:00]
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BRUNHUBER: 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.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Israel's newly emerging frontline 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.
(on-camera): These are exactly the same gun positions the Israeli defense forces used in that last major confrontation with 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?
(voice-over): 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.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: 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.
ROBERSTON (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): In the meantime, Hamas is still getting into Israel. This gun battle with them late Wednesday.
MAJ. DORON SPIELMAN, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: There were multiple incursions by Hamas terrorists yesterday. I drove right through Sderot during the time when three terrorists were out, again, looking for civilians to kill.
ROBERSTON (voice-over): The tempo of fire here, far higher than in 2021. A drumbeat that seems to signal a ground offensive, all but inevitable. Even so, its outcome, far from certain.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Funerals were held Thursday for some of the people who've been killed over the last few days. Israeli families gathered in Jerusalem's Mount Herzl Cemetery to attend the funerals of soldiers killed in the conflict with Hamas.
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Meanwhile, Palestinians mourned the deaths of five of their own who were killed by Israeli settlers and forces in the occupied West Bank, the nationalities of the victims of the Hamas attacks last weekend stretch right across the globe. They include Thailand, Brazil, Russia, the U.K., Australia and Ukraine.
Now, so many people watching feel compelled to help with humanitarian relief efforts, so 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. That's cnn.com/impact.
[03:39:58]
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 quote hundreds of Hamas affiliated accounts.
CNN's Donnie O'Sullivan has more now on some viral images that claim to be about the war. They're actually fake.
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DONNIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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.
(on-camera): This is relatively sophisticated stuff. I mean, it's got even the same kind of graphic set as the BBC News normally would have.
ADI COHEN, COO, MEMETICA: Right, and I think what happened over recent years that it becomes very easy, affordable, to mimic those graphics, visualization.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): 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.
(on-camera): 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 BOOKIE, 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 (voice-over): Graham Bookie tracks disinformation with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.
BOOKIE: 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 (voice-over): 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.
COHEN: Another component of it, I would say, is that because several platforms have scaled back on moderation, it's much easier to spread rumors, unsubstantiated rumors, false information, very quick.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But this isn't just an information war. It's a real war. And false information can be fatal.
BOOKIE: And that disinformation is extraordinarily harmful, including putting folks' lives at risks.
O'SULLIVAN (on-camera): 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.
Donnie O'Sullivan, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: 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 more than a mile or less than two kilometers from the most heavily patrolled border with Israel.
Our Clarissa Ward has details.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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.
[03:45:03]
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.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, still to come, protests erupted at U.S. college campuses over the Israel-Hamas War. We'll hear from students next. Stay with us.
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[03:50:00]
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BRUNHUBER: While it's difficult for many to fully appreciate the anguish of Israeli families who have lost loved ones in such barbaric and senseless massacres, one mother was on the phone with her daughter, who was trapped at the music festival with gunfire all around. She still doesn't know if her daughter is dead or taken hostage.
Here she is speaking earlier with CNN's Jake Tapper.
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MEIRAV LESHEM GONEN, DAUGHTER, ROMI, MISSING SINCE MUSIC FESTIVAL: They finally went from the car and go to the bushes trying to hide, moving from bush to bush. We all the time talked with her and we heard the shooting all around them and they are hiding kids with no weapon, no nothing.
At some point, just before 10 o'clock, a very good friend of Gaya came back. He was already out of this area, but he came back to take them, to rescue them. And he took, his name is Ben, Ben Shimonie, and he was taking another boy with him or Firtz or Fatih, the four of them tried to leave the area. They didn't get much further.
When I got a phone call from Omi at 10:15, crying, shouting, saying, mommy, we were shot. They shoot the car. We cannot move. The car does not start. We cannot move. All of us are badly wounded, badly injured. Gaya is not talking to me. Ben is not talking. Ophir and I are wounded. Ophir was telling me his name and gave me his mother's number so I can call her.
And Romi was so afraid. She was saying, Mommy, I'm going to die. And I said, no, you're not going to die. You're coming back and we will find a way to take you out of there. And she was asking, Mommy, how can you take me out of here? Please come and take us. Please tell somebody. Tell the army, tell the police, tell them to come.
I tried to call the police. We tried to see how Air Force can maybe take a plane or a helicopter to try and rescue them. And there was nothing to do. I could only lie to her and tell her that we're doing everything. It's not a lie. We tried to do everything, but I knew we cannot help them.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Yeah. Is that the last time you heard from her?
GONEN: Yes. the shooting around them, we were talking slightly, she was fading away and we heard the shooting around them and then a lot of people talking in Arabic, shouting in Arabic, somebody tried to start the engine but couldn't do it and then somebody hanged the phone and that's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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
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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 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 (voice-over): At San Diego State, one pro-Palestinian protester said this.
UNKNOWN: 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 (voice-over): 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.
JASSEY: The conversation about what is and isn't productive discourse is something that we're seeing really taking shape.
WATT (voice-over): A major UPenn benefactor has called on other alums to close the checkbooks after what he said was, college leaders' 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.
[03:55:09] 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 (on-camera): I mean, you're holding an Israeli flag. Is that something you'd be okay doing on campus?
ROEI 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 (on-camera): 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: Well, that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber. Our coverage continues with Max Foster and Bianca Noble after a short break.
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