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State Department: American Death Toll in Israel Rises to 29; Pentagon Sends Second Aircraft Carrier Near Israel; Deadly Blast Hits Gaza Civilians on Evacuation Route; Pentagon Deploys 2nd Aircraft Carrier Strike Group to Israel; Biden Addresses Israel-Hamas War at Human Rights Dinner. Israel Says Its Military Forces Are Preparing "For The Next Stages of the War." Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 14, 2023 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're alive in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.

A short time ago, the US State Department confirmed that the American death toll from the Hamas attacks has climbed by two to 29 Americans dead. Meanwhile, Israel has put the world on notice, it is planning for the next stage of its war with Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video online of his visit with troops at the frontline near the Gaza border, a ground invasion seems more likely by the hour. Israel has told people in Northern Gaza, more than one million people we should note, to get out, to evacuate to the south for their own safety.

But even the United Nations has called that impossible and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is only getting worse. The United Nations says water is running out, putting two million people at risk. Palestinian officials now say more than 2,000 people have died so far. Israel says that includes a Hamas commander who played a key part and last Saturday's attack.

And I want to bring in my colleague, Erin Burnett, who is live in Tel Aviv. Erin, I know you have seen a lot, you have heard a lot, but I guess all of our collective sense is at this point, there is much more to come in the hours and days ahead. What's the latest on your end?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yeah, Jim, you know, absolutely. There is silence here, the palpable sense of waiting and waiting in an ominous way, but waiting for something, right, a country that has been completely shut down, meetings of officials going well into the night, well past midnight every night.

There's only so long anything or anyone, any person can sustain that before you have to do something and that is the feeling of where we are right now.

Today, we saw heavy artillery -- Israeli heavy artillery, tanks as we've been seeing throughout the week, but they are ready and actually speaking to a soldier today at the kibbutz of Be'eri which had been hit by the Hamas, one of the first to be attacked by Hamas militants on Saturday morning. It was that steely preparation that he said in two decades as a soldier he has never seen the things that he saw.

Actually, in Be'eri today where he was and they were soldiers right along that Gaza border, Jim, all ready, all at alert, all with their machine guns out. It's still an active zone.

You know, we saw the horrors. The body bags still coming out, a soldier telling us of walking into a room and a baby girl on her back shot execution style on the head. These are the things that we're still hearing about, new and unbelievable and unspeakable atrocities and it is that that has them ready.

They are ready and they are waiting, and it is almost with a finger on the trigger, literally in some places, Jim, literally fingers on the trigger that we see. They are ready to go and they are waiting, hundreds of thousands of them on that border of Gaza.

And as this tension builds, we do have some breaking news on the United States role in this and Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon.

So Oren, what are you learning at this hour?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Erin, the Pentagon has ordered a second carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. That is an enormous statement, first of the severity with which the US sees this. And second, the risk of this escalating beyond Israel's borders.

The goal here is not to get involved in the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in any way. Instead, it is to send a message of deterrence to everyone who is watching and watching very closely and perhaps waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of perhaps what they perceive as weakness on the part of Israel. So that message directly to Iran and Iran's proxies in the region, especially Hezbollah, just to the north of Israel in Lebanon.

The first carrier strike group, the USS Gerald R. Ford arrived earlier this week. It comes with it four guided missile destroyers and a guided missile cruiser. Now, we've learned according to two US officials, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is also headed to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea as part of or rather leading a carrier strike group.

It left Naval Station Norfolk just yesterday, so it'll still take a couple of weeks to get there, and it is unclear at this point what ships it's traveling, but two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Eastern Med is an enormous statement from the United States of support for Israel and a warning to others in the region who might seek to get involved.

It is also worth noting that this isn't -- these aren't waters after the withdrawal or the end of the war mission in Iraq and the withdrawal from Afghanistan that normally see two carriers, so that too, is part of what makes this so significant -- Erin.

BURNETT: Certainly significant, it shows the seriousness, the profound seriousness with which the United States views escalation here.

Oren Liebermann, breaking that news at the Pentagon. Thank you. We'll be going back to Oren, Jim and I, as soon as he gets more information on that development.

I want to go now to Northern Israel, where obviously tensions are incredibly high as well with a possible second front in this war. Matthew, how tense is the situation? What are you seeing there in these early hours of the morning?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the situation here in Northern Israel, Erin, very tense indeed. And of course, it's because of those tensions, that as Oren was reporting, the Pentagon has made that the decision to send that that second carrier group to the Eastern Mediterranean to provide an additional deterrence to the various players, actors countries, Hezbollah, in particular, which threatens Northern Israel from entering this conflict.

[18:05:14]

So far, there have been skirmishes and confrontations in the past couple of hours. The Israeli soldiers that we've been speaking to here, very close to the Lebanese border, say there have been mortar rounds coming in from across the Lebanese side. They've responded to that with artillery fire. There have been rockets fired into Northern Israel from Syrian territory as well, and there has been an Israeli response to that, also.

But what Israeli officials at the moment say is that none of these firings have kind of reached the -- you know, breached the level of escalation. They are not that what we're waiting for, and not why Israel has spent so much time and effort and resources really bolstering security in this northern part of the country right up close against the Lebanese border.

Earlier, I spoke to one of the officers here, a company commander, Major Dor and asked him what exactly the Israeli military here is preparing for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR DOR, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: So we have mobilized our troops here and reserves, to be prepared for any scenario that may open up in the northern border.

CHANCE: So when you say any scenario, you mean, whether this area is hit by rockets from Hezbollah, is that what you're worried about?

MAJOR DOR: That is one of the scenarios.

CHANCE: Yeah.

MAJOR DOR: It could be a similar scenario what happened in the Gaza Strip. They happen here as well. So we are here. It could be joint -- it very be very direct specific events. We don't know. We are here prepared, be ready with our troops and mobilized and we're here.

CHANCE: It seems that the Israeli Military down south near Gaza were not ready. Are you going to make the same mistake here?

MAJOR DOR: We're here now. So we're not going to make the same mistake here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: They are not going to make the same mistake here, of course, the Israeli military, the whole of Israel acutely aware of the fact that the military did not respond effectively to the Hamas attacks at the weekend in the south, at least not in the first few hours and they are determined to make sure that this area in the north if a second front opens, will be properly defended -- Erin.

BURNETT: Matthew Chance, thank you very much in Northern Israel tonight.

Well, just a week after Hamas launched that devastating terror blitz on Israel, hundreds of Israelis remain missing and among them is an 85-year-old woman Yafa Adar.

One Hamas propaganda video released shortly after gunmen invaded Israel's villages with that brutal slaughter shows an elderly woman wrapped in a pink blanket being driven on a golf cart into Gaza as people wildly cheer.

The woman holds her head high occasionally smiling despite the chaos around her and absolute terror, she must have been feeling. Yafa Adar's family shared this video with us and they say that they recognized her immediately. They knew that who she was, of course.

Adva Adar is Yafa's granddaughter and she joins me now. And Adva, when all this happened, I mean you're thinking, oh my gosh, is she alive? Is she dead? You don't know. You knew immediately this was your grandmother, and yet, you see her in this video in Gaza with people cheering around her, clearly, a hostage. When you first saw the video, how can you even describe the feelings that you had?

ADVA ADAR, GRANDDAUGHTER OF KIDNAPPED WOMAN: I don't know if there is even words that can describe how it feels to watch your grandmother, your 85-year-old grandmother being kidnapped. We were scared to death really. We're very worried about her.

And you know, we haven't heard anything since this horrible video and we are trying to stay positive and hope there's going to be help and that she will survive this.

BURNETT: What do you know about what happened at your grandmother's kibbutz that day? Do you know anything about -- I mean, so many people, obviously horrifically there were killed in horrific ways, but she obviously taken as a hostage. Do you know anything about what happened?

ADAR: And fortunately, I have other family that also lives in this kibbutz. So even when the contact with my grandmother was off, we still heard from them and the stories are horrible, really.

They are telling about the terrorist getting from house to house and slaughtering people, kidnapping elders, kidnapping entire families, children and babies, and whoever they couldn't hurt physically, they burned his house until ash, stolen and broken everything.

I have another cousin, who, when everything started went to protect his family and is also kidnapped. My grandfather is hospitalized because the terrorists burned his house while he was sitting inside and he inhaled a lot of smoke and he couldn't breathe.

Another cousin that is hospitalized because he got shot and he lost a lot of blood, and that's just you know, my family. From the community of less than 400 people, 100 people are either dead or missing. It's unbearable number and the stories are horrifying.

BURNETT: It is unspeakable. You say horrifying, it is impossible to find the words and it encircles your entire life.

Have you felt Adva, your family that the IDF has -- have they been speaking to you? Have they been giving you any updates? You know, is anybody telling you anything? Even if they have nothing to say, is somebody helping you and talking to you? And answering questions about where your grandmother may be, where your family members may be?

ADAR: And they contact us and gave us an official statement that both my grandmother and my cousin are kidnapped. But we have, you know, someone to talk and to check with, but they have no answers to give us. No one knows anything. Since this video, no one knows where is she and what's her condition.

My grandmother is ill and she's taking medication on a daily basis and we don't know if she can survive without medication and we don't know how long can she survive without her medication and no one knows anything else.

BURNETT: Well, Adva -- she -- wherever she may be right now, not even knowing you're speaking about her I know would be so grateful and proud that you are speaking for her and we are grateful for you sharing her story and yours.

You're in the thoughts of everyone watching. Thank you.

ADAR: Thank you very much.

BURNETT: Adva Adar, waiting for her grandmother, praying for her safe release.

Our special coverage continues next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:17:10] ACOSTA: Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wearing a flak jacket rallied his troops near the southern border with Gaza asking: Are you ready for what is coming? More is coming. And a ground incursion into Northern Gaza appears more likely every hour.

Let's bring in Aaron Cohen, a former member of the Israeli Special Forces and the founder of CHERRIES Counterterrorism School.

Aaron, I appreciate your time very much. Thanks for being with us. Your sense of things at this hour? We've been showing live pictures of Gaza throughout this program and I can't remember the last time it's been this eerily quiet, but it just seems to be a moment where we're on the cusp of something changing very dramatically.

What's your sense of it at this hour?

AARON COHEN, FORMER MEMBER OF THE ISRAELI SPECIAL FORCES AND FOUNDER OF CHERRIES COUNTERTERRORISM SCHOOL: Well, nightfall is a friend of counterterrorism. When things get dark, that's when we start creeping around. That's when we collect our intelligence. It's when we are listening to those phone calls, we're passing on information.

Now there's two operational pieces that are forming here. One, first and foremost is the rescue of those hostages, over 150 were taken hostage after the massacre in Southern Israel, which means that Israeli Special Operations units such as the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, Sayeret Matkal, which reports directly to the chief-of-staff, that's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's old unit. That's the same unit that went to Entebbe, Jim, in 1976 and rescued 103 hostages, brought them back to Israel after a week of very highly skilled unit.

You've got the YAMAM, the Ye?ida Meyu?edet Merkazit, Israel's national police hostage rescue unit. They're preparing right now in conjunction with the command to potentially blitz and get all of that information together, hopefully, they are training on scenarios right now. They've got time to build structures so that they'll be able to make very clean and fast entries into buildings and into tunnels and that would potentially happen at the same time as this ground offensive, a smokescreen possibly and at the same time, we've got the counteroffensive right now.

We've had missiles that have been coming down for a couple of days, there are special operations units from our troops from the Shaldag Unit, which is the kingfisher unit. Those are commandos who infiltrate, put those missiles down there selectively so that innocents don't get hit and so we're looking at those two main pieces right now which are getting prepped, and this quiet could just mean, you know, this is the calm before the storm.

ACOSTA: Yes.

COHEN: But let me say this, Israel's got a lot of experience with being attacked on multiple fronts. This isn't Israel's first rodeo. We've done this five times since '48, then again in '56, '67, '73, so I think what you're going to see now is Israel doing what it does best, it comes together creative solutions and getting organized quickly, and they're kicking the rust off right now, getting ready.

And Jim getting really, really focused because this is going to get really serious and it's going to be violent, and there will be casualties.

[18:20:17]

ACOSTA: Yes. Absolutely, and Aaron, is it -- what is your sense of it? Do you get the sense that -- and this is based on your experience -- that they have a general sense of where to look for these hostages that they would like to pull the hostages out before this ground incursion really gets underway in a massive and overwhelming kind of way?

Or have they perhaps reached a point where they know that that is going to be a difficult kind of operation to find those hostages, they could be in tunnels, they could be in a kind of house on a random street in Gaza, you just don't know. And that the incursion has to happen anyway, because they want to carry out this mission to take out Hamas leadership. What's your sense?

COHEN: Well, it's complicated. Hostage rescue is really complicated, Jim. And the reason why is because the hostage siege right now is happening in multiple locations, with dozens and dozens and dozens, a hundred fifty, probably more that just hasn't been verified.

And so you've got multiple target locations, and you're going to have to have multiple teams working in multiple places, at the same time, performing very high level operations, which Israel is really good at, however, to try and predict how that's going to happen is tricky, because at the same time, the operational goal is the complete destruction of Hamas.

So what we've been seeing for the last couple of days with all the missiles and all the artillery, is designed to really create pathways and openings for tanks and for the Givati unit, which is the unit that is responsible for the southern command, they are an elite infantry unit, they've got special operations within those units. So they're softening Gaza to be able to open up these pathways.

But you know, who is to say that Israel hasn't been on the ground for the last four days conducting reconnaissance and surveillance missions within Gaza to bring that information back because the hostage rescue mission, Jim, is only as capable as the intelligence is real time.

But again, Israel is really good at this. They're really creative, and they have a lot of experience with this particular set of missions. So it may be a combination, it may be a smokescreen, creating diversions, a lot of moving pieces here.

This is the largest hostage siege in the history of modern warfare. It's going to be interesting, but I'll tell you this, Israel is really good under pressure, and they're really smart, and they really are able to come together when the going gets tough. So, I think you might see some magic here. ACOSTA: Well, and you know, I was talking to an Israeli Defense Forces spokesman earlier on in this program, who said that they want to give Gaza civilians as much time as possible to evacuate, and I suppose it raises the question as to how long you can wait.

COHEN: Well, here is the thing with that, from what I'm hearing, and from what I believe, I don't think that the Palestinians are being given an opportunity to exit Gaza, and that is a fact. And the reason why is because if you look at the context of Hamas, and how these terrorists operate based on what the whole world has seen, I don't have to sell this, Jim, everybody has seen what these terrorists do and how they operate.

I believe that the civilians which Israel doesn't have a problem with the Palestinians, in fact, I see quite the opposite. What I see here is a hostage siege that involves the 150-plus Israelis who are being held captive -- old women, children -- and I see another 170,000 being held captive in the city of Gaza, and whether they're moving them south.

From what I understand, El-Sisi is not opening the backdoor to Egypt, and even if he did, Hamas isn't opening the other side of that door to let them out.

ACOSTA: Yes.

COHEN: So the humanitarian crisis is based on the operational goal of Hamas. They need those civilians in there to be able to achieve maximum media, maximum exposure, and therefore, the Palestinians are essentially prisoners within Gaza.

ACOSTA: And that -- well that raises my next question, which is, if you have a significant number of civilians that are left behind in Northern Gaza, they can't go or they won't go, or any combination of those things and you have the Israeli Defense Forces saying that part of their mission is to take out Hamas' leadership, that that is essentially -- they want to root out Hamas' leadership and crush it. There is a counterterrorism dimension to that.

How does it get complicated though, if on top of all of that, you are stuck in some very heavy urban combat type of battle?

COHEN: I see where you're going. I see where you're going.

ACOSTA: Does one get in the way of the other?

[18:25:02]

COHEN: Everything gets -- there are a lot of shades of gray in this particular scenario and it's unfortunate, but this is the modus operandi of, as we've seen, one of the most lethal terror groups in the world and at this point right now, I can tell you from my colleagues who I served with back in the late 90s, who are in command positions now, the time for would be's, could be's and maybes is over. It's now time, in Israel's mind and the world is seeing it for the complete destruction of Hamas militarily and in every other format. Israel's focus right now is hostages. Their focus right now is the complete destruction of that organization, logistical supplies, every potential structure where weapons and communications -- everything is being stored, as well as every Hamas terrorist.

The complicated part is that because we're dealing with this terror group, it opens up all of the civilian casualties. But at this point, right now, Israel is going to lean in to a couple of things that they're really good at, which is selective fire, making sure that no shots are fired at civilians.

I can tell you firsthand, I've gone through extra beatings in my training to make sure that my weapon is pointed in the right direction, to make sure that I'm looking at the threat, fratricide, all these things that we train for. Israel is really good at and sorties get called off last second in order to avoid collateral damage.

So Israel is going to do the best that they can, but Hamas doesn't play by that book.

ACOSTA: But Aaron, isn't it fair to say that the level of urban combat that we're about to witness if what happens is what we think is going to happen, that you can say that they are very good at this, but there is going to be some learning on the ground in progress in real time, because I mean, this is going to be some pretty extensive urban combat fighting going on.

COHEN: That's right. That's right. This is going to be -- this is the meat and potatoes of counterterrorism, though, Jim, at the end of the day, Nahal brigade, the Paran, the Israeli airborne, the Givati brigade, the Border Patrol, all of these units are going to be coming in, they're going to be clearing out those structures and they're going to be doing so selectively. They are going to be using what's called limited penetration room clearing, it is a brilliant method that Israel invented. It allows them to clear from outside the frame because the terrorists will booby trap the inside of the rooms, you know, breaching through walls, that type of thing.

But there will be the highest degree of selectivity, the highest degree of awareness and I can assure you that as those operations are being conducted, those troops on the ground, the difference between the way they operate and the way Hamas operates, is we're going after armed terrorists. We're not going after old women, we're not going after children, and we're not raping women.

So every one of these soldiers going in there comes from families. And, you know, I don't need to -- I don't need to keep ringing the bell on this. Everybody has seen what we're dealing with here and we're going to do the best that we can.

We're going to do the best that we can. But you know what? Everything that's being done right now, again, is being targeted for the macro picture, which is look what happened to us. Intelligence failure, but now is not the time to look inwards. It's time to go to work, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Aaron Cohen, thank you very much for that expertise. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

COHEN: Appreciate you.

ACOSTA: And we are expecting to hear from President Biden this evening. That could happen at any moment. We'll bring that to you live when it happens.

Stay with us. Our live coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:32:56]

BURNETT: CNN is learning that the Pentagon has ordered a second carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean. It's a very significant move, as reported by our Oren Liebermann. The first strike group was led by the USS Gerald Ford and arrived off the coast of Israel earlier this week.

Joining us now to discuss this breaking development and more is Robin Wright. She is a contributing writer for The New Yorker.

And Robin, I really appreciate your time and your perspective, having covered this for so many years. So what do you make of this news, the United States sending a second carrier strike group to the region? It is extremely significant when you think about the posture that the U.S. is trying to present. What do you think this means?

ROBIN WRIGHT, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: This is obviously a signal to all the other militias and other countries in the region that might have an interest in joining Hamas or backing Hamas or joining in the conflict with Israel. It's a sign that the United States is willing to exert its extraordinary might in countering any kind of additional presence in this war to send a signal that it is going to protect its Israeli ally.

The danger down the road is that the United States has deployed in the past and found that it becomes a target in the process. So this is a very delicate balancing act for the military. How do you make sure that you are signaling your presence, your strength, your support, but not get sucked into a war.

BURNETT: And obviously on that front, Robin, everyone watches Iran as Israel is widely expected to launch a ground invasion of Gaza. Whatever they do, it is going to be significant, right? It is going to be significant and it's going to involve Gaza. You've got obviously Hezbollah in Lebanon watching there. And then whether Iran feels that anything in Gaza causes a need for a response, right, that major escalatory move. What are you watching? What are you listening for as the warning signs of such a thing?

WRIGHT: Well, I'm looking for whether troops, Hezbollah troops in southern Lebanon or its vast arsenal of missiles and rockets are being moved.

[18:35:08]

Are they in position that they can attack. And so far, there are indications that while it is firing mortars and smaller range rockets at northern Israel, that the Israeli military is saying itself that it is not yet escalated to the point. It's very interesting that this is not an all-in war by Iran's proxies in the region. Not only Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also there's some popular mobilization forces that are well-armed by Iran deployed in Syria and Iraq, and then the Houthis in Yemen. And all of them have missiles, rockets and drones with the range of being able to hit Israel.

So, so far we have a one front war, but the danger is that in all these conflicts, the passions and the fury can also ripple and bring other parties into a war and that's always the danger.

BURNETT: The psychology of it. Oren Liebermann did a great - a lot of reporting on Hamas' arsenal, what they had, where they had gotten it, right, when it's so difficult to things to get material in and how Israel clearly was unaware, obviously, of what was being planned or the scope of what Hamas had.

I spoke to IDF spokesperson and he told me, he was very open about it last night, that they still, Israel still does not know the extent of Hamas' arsenal right now, that they simply do not know. Robin, how surprised are you at how much Israel has clearly from this attack itself and now admitting that they don't know the scale of Hamas's arsenal, how much Israel does not know?

WRIGHT: It was stunning. And the fact that Israel was surprised both by the scope of the aggression by Hamas and the size of its arsenal, that it has still managed to fire things from Gaza, even though parts of Gaza have been decimated.

And remember, Hezbollah's arsenal is far larger than Hamas. So this is where when you kind of look at what could happen down the road, what the potential, whether it's this conflict or the next one, because wars in the Middle East inevitably beget more wars. And so we're looking at the immediate conflict with Israel will gain some kind of military control, but it doesn't eliminate the ideas, the ideology or the other adversaries that Israel faces.

BURNETT: And Robin, I don't want to try to take too much of a step back, but I feel like on this Saturday evening, as we all await what possibly could be the beginning of something very big and very significant, that very soon in the heat of the moment, it may be hard to have the perspective to get your view on the bigger picture here, because when people talk about this war metastasizing, they're not just talking about Iran. They're talking about Putin, who has failed to make comments supporting Israel, who certainly benefits from the situation here as pertains to the eye of the United States or the money of the United States coming off of Ukraine. You have China making at best tepid and what seemed to frankly be quite supportive of Hamas and Gaza comments.

How much bigger really could this get?

WRIGHT: Well, in terms of the region, you're talking about 24 countries and the focus for so long had been on diplomacy, how to get relations established between Israel and Arab countries. And there had been progress, and now this, of course, brings it to a halt. But you're absolutely right. The great - the thing that worries me the most is the scope of what's happening worldwide, that the kind of principles of warfare have changed, that there are - this - the international institutions are no longer as functional in bringing about peace, that the kind of rules, the world order has begun to erode.

We see this play out in Ukraine. We see this in China's statements on aggression on Taiwan. We see this in shifting alliances. It's very worrisome and I think that it's very smart to kind of stand back and try to figure out what does this mean for the whole world, not just this part, this small part of the Middle East? It's very worrying on a lot of different levels.

BURNETT: Yes, it is. And Robin, I appreciate your perspective as always. Thank you so much for being with us.

And everyone, please stay with us ...

WRIGHT: Thank you.

BURNETT: ... because our live coverage continues here with myself and Jim Acosta in just a moment, we'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:43:35]

ACOSTA: All right. Right now, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, they are speaking at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner here in Washington. We expect to hear the president in just a few moments address the war between Israel and Hamas.

Let's go to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. She's over at the White House for us.

Priscilla, it's been a busy day for the President. He's spoken to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. It looks like the President is going to get ready to speak here. If he starts talking about Israel, Priscilla, we'll get to that right away. But what can you tell us?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: That's right, Jim. He has had a busy day talking to both of those leaders, both critical as this conflict continues to unfold. And the resounding message from both of those calls was that they're - they do not - he does not want and they do not want this conflict to widen and to - for it to expand in the region.

And so that was really a key message of both of those. But also the humanitarian aspect of this, which is what we may hear in his remarks that are going to happen now at the Human Rights Campaign. We have been talking throughout the course of the day about the situation in Gaza and the warnings coming out from civilians there, many of whom are trying to flee.

And so that situation and the water shortage and the food shortage that is looming there may come up. It is an issue that came up in these calls in regards to just preserving innocent lives, making sure that innocent civilians are not collateral damage here.

[18:45:02]

And so this is all part of what officials have been talking about over the course of the week, which is concern again for the situation in Gaza, for civilians, innocent civilians and trying to get people out that are in danger or believed to be in danger.

So those were the calls that happened earlier today. We also learned, as you reported, the death toll of Americans went up. The U.S. has learned over the last 24 hours of those deaths, as well as learning of additional U.S. citizens who are considered unaccounted for.

So it has been a busy day here at the White House as even more information starts to come in about the situation in Israel.

ACOSTA: And Priscilla, on top of that, the Pentagon has deployed a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region as a sort of warning, an action of deterrence, message of deterrence to other actors in the region not to widen this conflict, not to make it more complicated than it already is.

ALVAREZ: That's right. And as we have talked about these moves, it really is a show of force, a move - a deterrence move. Again, to keep other actors from getting involved. And so far, when we have heard from national security officials this week, the sense is that they are skirting those warnings and that that won't happen as of now, but this is all evolving very quickly.

And so it's unclear where this heads from here. But the secretary of state has been making the rounds in the region in diplomatic talks with different countries that have stake in this. And then, of course, the Defense Department making this move to make that show of force to, again, make sure that the conflict is not widened.

This is really the resounding message going into the weekend, Jim, is making sure that this is contained and does not become or doesn't escalate from here.

ACOSTA: All right. Priscilla Alvarez at the White House for us, thank you very much.

I want to get to the President and some of his remarks. Now, we do expect him to touch on the situation between - the war between Israel and Hamas. Of course, when the President made remarks about the attack on Israel earlier this week, he received a lot of praise inside Israel from Israeli leaders. Let's listen to the President and see what he has to say.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... all the LGBTQ Americans to know the Biden-Harris administration has your back - I don't know who's hollering down there, but I can't hear you.

Oh, look.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) ...

BIDEN: I can't hear you, what she's saying?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you.

BIDEN: Well, thank you. Whatever you're saying, I'm going to say - I can't hear you. Look, I've been labeled the most - oh, I get it. I'm not sure, that's a good thing. No, I'm only joking.

Look, I've been labeled the most pro-equality president in history, I'm not sure that's true. But I tell you what, I'm grateful to lead an administration with more out and proud staff members at every level than every previous administration combined. All combined. Together with all of you, my administration is inventing, advancing equal human rights for LGBTQ community all across the country, and I mean it, and around the world. I'm proud of our record.

I signed a historic executive order strengthening civil rights protection and housing, employment, health care, education and justice system. As commander in chief, I ended the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military. As I pointed out, they can shoot as straight as anybody else I know. And on the anniversary of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Department of Defense announced to review of the records of LGBTQ service members who've been discharged for less than honorable service.

It's going to make it easy for those veterans to finally access the benefits they earned through their service. We launched an ambitious plan to end HIV epidemic in - by 2030, proposed new national prep program to prevent the spread of HIV. And we finally did away with the outdated policy banning gay and bisexual from donating blood. Leading with science, not stigma, we made human rights for LGBT around the world a top priority of my foreign policy, increasing our assistance of brave activists on the ground defending human rights in countries to pass anti-gay laws - that passed anti-gay laws like Uganda, going after Uganda, making clear that they cannot have the same benefit as other countries and achieving tangible progress emerge.

[18:50:02]

Look, folks, here's the deal, together we're standing up for families. Some of you were with us on the South Lawn last December when I signed the Respect for Marriage Act. A law protecting the marriage of gay, interracial couples. As I said in a TV interview more than a decade ago, marriage is a simple proposition. Who do you love and will you be loyal to the person you love?

I was raised (inaudible) quite a simple proposition. I've told the story before, but I'll tell it again. I was raised by a man who was a really decent, honorable man. I remember he was dropping me off. I wanted to be - I wanted to work in the projects as a lifeguard on the east side of Wilmington. And he was dropping me off on his way to work at the city hall to go get an application to be a lifeguard there.

And as I got out of the car at the four corners in the center of town, two men, turns out, one going to the Brandywine (ph), one was at work for the DuPont Company, the other worked for Hercules Company (ph). This was back when I was a kid. And they leaned up and kissed one another, and I'd never seen that before.

I turned and looked at my dad, and he just looked at me and said, Joey, it's simple. It's simple, Joey. They love one another. It's a simple proposition. I mean it. To everyone who helped make Respect for Marriage Act a reality, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

And together, we're standing up for children. As you know better than anyone, there are young people all across America sitting in their bedrooms at night, scrolling through social media and staring at the ceiling, wondering, will they ever be loved, what happens if they tell their parents what's going to go on, you've been through - many of you have been through it. Will they be ever accepted by their families, ever be free to be themselves, whether they should even be there or here on Earth.

Nearly every day, I get letters literally from children and parents terrified by what their - what's happening all across America. A 13- year-old transgender child wrote to me, said, I hate looking at the news, not because I'm a teenager and it's boring, but because it's painful. I hear adults much older than me debate about my existence when they don't even know me.

Our message to young people across America must be unequivocal. You're loved, you're heard, and you're understood, and you belong. I mean it. And we see who you are, made in the image of God, deserving dignity, respect and support. That's why my administration combating the dangerous, cruel practice of conversion therapy has been so outspoken. That's why we launched a nationwide crisis hotline where LGBTQ youth who are feeling isolated and overwhelmed can get help. They just have to call 988 and talk to a counselor, 988 and talk to a counselor.

And this year, we're committing to even more resources, new federal action to address LGBT youth homelessness, new steps to protect kids in foster care, all that matters, but for all the progress we've made, we know the barriers, the bias, the bigotry still exists. Perhaps because of the progress we've made, people want to push us back and pull us back.

Over 600 hateful laws introduced across the country, more than 70 of them becoming law just this last year, denying the existence of transgender people, silencing teachers, banning books, threatening parents with prison for getting their children health care. Families across the country now face excruciating decisions to move to a different state to protect their child from dangerous anti-LGBTQ laws.

I received a letter from one mom who wrote me and, quote, "I despair for families like mine who already become refugees inside our nation." Refugees inside our nation? That's how she feels, like a refugee inside our nation. This is the United States of America and the United States Congress, extreme MAGA Republicans trying to undo virtually every bit of progress we've made. They're trying to wipe out federal funding to end the HIV epidemic, strip funding from community centers for seniors, reinstate the ban on transgender troops, ban the Department of Justice from enforcing civil rights laws, ban pride flags from flying on public lands.

[18:55:02]

Who the hell - oh ...

ACOSTA: President Biden addressing the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner here in Washington. We're going to keep monitoring those remarks and we'll be back after a quick break. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:41]

ACOSTA: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.

New tonight, the Pentagon is sending a second aircraft carrier and its strike group to the eastern Mediterranean.

[19:00:00]

This comes as Israel's military readies for what it calls the next stages of war, and that is likely to mean a ground invasion into Gaza.