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Israel Warns That "New Phase" In Hamas War Is Coming; Pentagon Deploys 2nd Carriers Strike Group To Middle East; Fleeing Palestinians In Gaza Struck at Egypt Border Crossing; Gaza Civilians Risk Lives While Trying To Evacuate Cities; Rep. Jordan Faces Uphill Battle In Speaker Bid; House GOP Slips Into More Disarray Over Speaker Feud. Aired 11p-12am ET

Aired October 14, 2023 - 23:00   ET

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

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[23:01:16]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: I'm John Berman in New York. This is CNN's Special Coverage of Israel at War. It is now 6 a.m. Sunday in Israel and in Gaza, sunrise about 45 minutes from now.

Israel is promising that a new phase in its war on Hamas is coming. It is likely it will be a ground operation. Troops have been amassing for days now near the Gaza border. Israel hit Gaza from the air again on Saturday. Officials say a Hamas commander who played a key part in last Saturday's attack was killed.

We are closely watching the evacuation of northern Gaza. The IDF has told more than a million people to head south. U.N. officials warned that such a large-scale evacuation could lead to a humanitarian disaster.

There's also an important development tonight from the Pentagon. A second U.S. carrier strike group led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is sailing toward the Mediterranean. This is designed to show support to Israel and send a message to Iran and its proxies including Hezbollah and Lebanon not to get involved.

The State Department tonight says the number of U.S. citizens killed in the attacks has climbed to 29. Fifteen Americans are still unaccounted for. CNN's Oren Liebermann has live at the Pentagon. Oren, you've been standing by there all night. The latest news is this second carrier strike group headed toward the Mediterranean, why?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, it's a significant development because it's not all that often you see two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups operating in the same region. But that's exactly what we'll see here in the coming days. The USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group, which consists of cruisers and destroyers, is already in the eastern Med. and arrived earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group left the east coast of the U.S. today and should get there in a couple of weeks. So it's a major statement. As you point out, the purpose of all of this essentially firepower and these warships is not to get involved with the fighting in Israel. Israel doesn't want that and the U.S. doesn't want that.

The purpose is to be part of making sure the fighting itself remains constrained to Gaza and to Israel and doesn't spill over Israel's borders into what could quickly become a regional escalation.

In that sense, the recipient of this message sent by the strike group is one of deterrence directed at Iran and specifically Hezbollah in Lebanon right on Israel's northern border. There has been some back- and-forth fire across that border, but it hasn't escalated beyond that and still -- and remains at essentially a contained level. The goal is to keep it there, John.

BERMAN: So Oren, the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, he obviously was in Israel. I think he's back in the United States now, but spoke again with his Israeli counterpart. What are you learning about that conversation?

LIEBERMANN: They've now spoken three or four times, I believe, since the terror attack last Saturday. This call happened just as Austin was landing in the United States here. It's an important call because first it shows the continued U.S. backing -- the Biden administration's backing for Israel. But part of this also deals with what we're seeing unfold in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there.

And Austin also addressed this. This is worth reading from a readout of the call. So first, the support. The Secretary underscored the United States' unwavering commitment to Israel's security than this.

During the call, he discussed the importance of adhering to the law of war, including civilian protection obligations and addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We'll keep an eye on these readouts because these two are expected to speak frequently.

And this is one of the major efforts of the U.S., not only in pushing for humanitarian access, humanitarian corridors and the avoidance of civilian casualties, but also essentially covering for Israel and helping support Israel as the accusations go that way.

[23:05:01]

BERMAN: Oren, I'm so glad you read from that official readout because they use very carefully chosen and specific language.

LIEBERMANN: Absolutely.

BERMAN: And it is worth following if and how it changes over time. Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon, terrific work. Thank you.

So Elliott Gotkine is helping us cover all the latest developments. He joins us now live from London. We've been talking about Israeli troops massing at the Gaza border. How close does a ground operation seem to be?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it seems that we're closer than ever. It's very much a question of when rather than if. And we've been discussing the potential for a ground invasion ever since Hamas launched this devastating and brutal terrorist attack on Israel that's killed more than 1,300 people just a week and a day ago.

And, of course, Israel's been striking from the air, from the land and from sea. Since then there was a brief incursion by Israeli troops as a kind of reconnaissance mission inside the Gaza Strip before the weekend. But clearly now we seem to be getting closer. Israel saying that it is soon going to be starting a significant military operation that it's just waiting really for civilians to get out of harm's way.

We of course saw that evacuation order to people of Gaza City in the northern part of the Gaza Strip on Friday, which people living there account for almost half of the strips, 2 million or so people.

We've seen people heading south despite Hamas' calls for them to stay and not pay any attention to Israel's warnings. But of course Israel telling them to move south to get out of harm's way. But we've seen also evidence that some of those people moving south have also been hit in some of those strikes by Israel.

But of course there are many, many dangers laying ahead for a ground invasion, not just to the lives of Israeli soldiers. There's the potential for more of them to be kidnapped as well. Let's not forget that Hamas is holding more than 100 people from Israel and other foreign nationalities as well. That will very much complicate the situation.

There's a danger for many more civilian casualties inside the Gaza Strip. And there are already more than 2,000 who have died so far. There's also danger for further escalation in the north. We've seen low-level, if you like, skirmishes, rockets being fired by militants from southern Lebanon, from the Iran back to Hezbollah, into Israel, and even from Syria. So there's danger for escalation.

As we're hearing Oren talking about the U.S. warships and the eastern Mediterranean, I suppose partly to try to dissuade any additional escalation there in the north. We've also seen rising violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as well, where more than 50 Palestinians have been killed so far.

So there's very much a danger for escalation. There's a danger to Israeli soldiers, their lives and for being kidnapped, and also, of course, dangers for the civilian population of Gaza too. John?

BERMAN: All right, Elliott Gotkine for us. Elliott, thanks for helping us understand what is happening.

As the world awaits Israel's seemingly imminent invasion of Gaza, Palestinians civilians are now scrambling to get out of the way. Many have moved south but are now stuck at the Rafah Border Crossing that is right on the border between Gaza and Egypt. That is the only crossing that Israel does not directly control. It's been closed for some time. It was closed Saturday, even though some Palestinian Americans said they were told it would be open.

CNN spoke to a Philippine national who was stranded there all day with her family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HIND AL-KHOUDARI: There were a lot of people. We're talking about more than 15 or 20 families that hold different passports and everyone was calling the embassies and they were telling them that they don't know if they're going to cross today or not. The Egyptians said that they wanted the crossing to be for humanitarian cause and not only for evacuating foreigners. They said -- they told my in-laws that they have to stay in an area close to the Rafah Crossing and not very far because they are supposed to call them in any minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, Aaron Cohen joins us now. He's an Israel Special Operations Veteran and founder of Cherries Counter-Terror School. Aaron, thank you so much for being with us. This ground incursion feels imminent at this point. When Israeli troops do cross that border into Gaza, what will they face?

AARON COHEN, ISRAELI SPECIAL OPERATIONS VETERAN: What they're going to face is urban warfare, first and foremost. That is the modus operandi. This is the vacuum they're getting sucked into. And what we're looking at is asymmetrical warfare. We're talking about a lot of 90-degree angles. That's the type of warfare we're essentially walking into. We're looking at booby -trapped rooms. We're looking at wiring. We're looking at booby-trap rooms. We're looking at wiring. We're looking at det cord.

Hamas is going to use the thousands of Hamas terrorists who are, going to use every booby-trap and trick in the playbook to kill as many Israeli soldiers as possible. But there's two fronts that are permeating right now. You've got the -- you've got the counter offensive which is being prepared right now. We have mass softening of Gaza in order to open up lanes for IDF troops to be able to move in there. Those troops will be from the Givati Brigade which is the elite infantry brigade attached to the southern command of Israel.

[23:10:17]

There's a special operations component within that brigade. Very, very good. You've got Israeli SEALs off the coast, topography, gathering intelligence. That's the Shayetet (inaudible), also very active during the initial response.

I want to say this, all the special operations units in Israel were the first responders out the south of Israel. And we're not talking about a single shooter columbine. We're talking about thousands of armed terrorists coming in and it was a violent battle down there and to be able to clear those pockets out. So you've got the infantry, the artillery, you've got -- you potentially have special operations assets from Israel's Air Force Commando Unit, combat controllers. They're the ones who are making sure that civilians aren't getting hit by those missiles.

John, coming out of the Israeli F-15s and the Israeli F-35s, you know, we don't target civilians. And I don't need to sell this. Everybody's seeing what's happened here with this terror group. We're very careful about how we conduct operations, high degree of selectivity. And right now we're in the prep phase. We're gathering intelligence. Our intelligence assets, the Mossad, the Shin Bet agency, listening to thousands of phone calls, all over the world trying to figure out how we're going to get these hostages, get that information back to command so that we can get the hostages in conjunction with making that with making that incursion or beginning to move into Gaza.

Gaza is essentially a pressure cooker right now, which is what Israel's turning it into. The electricity, the lights, everything, getting shut off is to tire out Hamas. But there's two things happening. Those hostages are our main concern. We want to preserve that life and bring those grandparents and babies back to Israel.

So right now as we speak I wouldn't be surprised if the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit which is Bibi Netanyahu's old unit is one of the finest hostage rescue units in the world. The Brits may have invented hostage rescue, John, but Israel perfected the playbook. I'll take you back to 1972. That Sayeret Matkal unit, the General Staff Unit performed the first aircraft takedown ever in the history of terrorism performing a hostage rescue. They did it again June 6th, 1976. They brought back 103 Israelis and other nationalities back to Israel being held by Black September.

Israel is a master at the craft of hostage rescue. The tricky part here and where it gets technical is that hostage rescue requires incredibly high levels of intelligence. So while the incursion is being prepped, the Reconnaissance, the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit and the Israeli National Police Unit or Counter-Terrorist Unit, the Yamam, the (inaudible), are probably training on scenarios right now so that they step in the exact same places when they get into Gaza and those tunnels and in those buildings and it's going to happen at multiple structures, John, at the same time and it's going to be fast. The shots have to be straight. We've got hostages. We've got innocence. That's what these guys do.

So all of this is being coagulated together and it'll be interesting to see how Israel does this, but I can tell you this. Israel's not junior varsity. This is the first time they've been attacked on multiple fronts. '48, '56, '67, '73 when Golda stepped down. There was an intel failure there and you know what? She stepped down, but Israel can't, like Golda said, we can't, you know, turn over every stone. We can't protect every inch of that wall. But when Israel starts to knock the rust off, which they do every 10 years, that's when the creativeness of the Israeli people, these are very sharp people and it's also a warrior culture and the meat of this operation is going to be by the 300,000 reservists that were brought in.

Once that rust is knocked off, I think you're going to see some magic here. So stand by. I think things are going to get very interesting and I think you're going to see Israel at its finest.

BERMAN: Well, the operation appears to be in its very early stages with much more poise to happen very soon. Aaron Cohen, thank you so much for lending your thoughts. COHEN Appreciate you.

BERMAN: Civilians in northern Gaza are rushing to evacuate south as Israel signals its strikes against Hamas, will escalate. Many, though, are afraid to leave their homes after the bombing of a road identified as a safe route. We'll talk about that ahead.

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[23:18:05]

BERMAN: As Israeli troops seem poised to roll into Gaza, Israel is telling civilians in northern Gaza to head south. Hamas is telling them to stay where they are. It is an incredibly dangerous situation for hundreds of thousands of people. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more and we do want to warn you the images here are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: This is what running for your life looks like in Gaza. An ambulance with a young girl and wounded woman inside, rocked by explosions as they attempt to flee. It is unclear what happened to the pair, but they're among the tens of thousands of people on the move after Israel's military called on nearly half of Gaza's population, some 1.1 million people to get south in a matter of hours.

But along the safe passages specified by the IDF, utter horror. You're looking at the carnage and chaos on Salah al-Din Street, one of the designated evacuation routes. In the aftermath of explosions, families killed amid their belongings.

CNN has geolocated this video and four other clips from the horrifying scene. The U.N. calls Israel's evacuation advisory impossible and a violation of the rules of war. And Palestinian officials accuse the IDF of bombing civilians, even as they fled.

Dozens of evacuees were killed or wounded by Israeli airstrikes. According to Hamas, CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

The victims are flooding into Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals. And again, it's the youngest caught in the crossfire. Nearly half of Gaza's population is children.

What did the children do to deserve this, this woman says? Did they fight you? Did they fire rockets? My niece and her whole family are dead. The only survivor is a two-year-old girl.

[23:20:09]

The health care system is on the brink, a complete siege making it impossible to get aid into the enclave. And already there's a shortage of everything, even space in the morgue.

We're keeping the dead in ice cream trucks so the bodies don't rot, as doctor says. Gaza is in crisis. Gaza needs help. For those still able to move south, this is one of the neighborhood's families are expected to flee towards. Hanunez (ph) where Israeli air strikes have wreaked havoc.

"This is a genocide, not a war, it's genocide," this man says. "And it's an attempt to force all Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip."

Finding refuge is proving dangerous and deadly. And for the many families desperate for shelter, the fear is there may be no safe places left. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And that fear of no safe place is intensifying, as Israel does warn of a new phase coming in the war.

With me now is Stephen Sosebee. He works with Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Stephen, what are your thoughts tonight, as this ground incursion appears to be poised to begin very shortly?

STEVE SOSEBEE, WORKS WITH PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: My thoughts are with the over two million civilians in Gaza, half of them children who have no protection, anywhere in the Gaza Strip. My own staff there, over 40 young people with children of their own trying to survive with no safe havens, no place to go. Some of them trapped in the north were unable to leave to the south due to the lack of transportation or the lack of security on the roads there.

My thoughts are with the collapsing health system and the lack of food and water, the sewage flowing into the streets and the diseases that that's going to cause for people who are already at risk. My thoughts are with the overworked and stressed-out health medical doctors who are trying to provide treatment for thousands of injured civilians, many of them children.

The dwindling supplies, the electricity that's going to run out, that it has already run out or in the hospitals going to run out when the generators run out of diesel fuel and the lack of food. We have two American doctors who are stuck in Gaza that we are unable to get out who also are starting to run out because they have no food and water and have no safe place to go. My thoughts are with the people there who are trying to survive despite the terrible violence that's all around them.

BERMAN: Yeah, talk to me about the two Americans, you're trying to get out. What are the complications there?

SOSEBEE: The complications is that there are no -- there's no adequate coordination between the Egyptians, Israelis and the Americans or the international community to open up the Rafah Crossing which was bombed on Monday, which subsequently closed the crossing and now people who are stuck in Gaza, particularly internationals, but everyone have no avenue to escape the bombings.

The Egyptians, in fact, put up cement barriers to prevent anyone from leaving Gaza today. And as a result, people including many international aid workers are stuck there and at risk of being killed.

BERMAN: What role does Hamas play? What efforts does Hamas make to separate itself from civilian institutions, health care institutions around Gaza?

SOSEBEE: I mean, Hamas has been ruling Gaza since 2007, 2006, and have set up civil institutions with no other alternative to run the education system, the health system, other basic governmental bodies and therefore have tried to rule Gaza in some ways as a de facto government with the same bureaucracies that you see in other developing countries all over the world.

Therefore a lot of the basic services that people depend on there, like electricity and education and so on, is run by the ruling regime, Hamas, and people have no choice in that. That's what they're stuck with.

BERMAN: So if Israel wants to target Hamas, is there any way to do that without putting civilians at risk?

SOSEBEE: I mean, I don't think at this time it's possible to do any type of military operation in Gaza without risking the lives of innocent civilians. Regardless of what -- however careful your military might be, you're talking about one of the most densely congested areas in the world in which you're fighting a group that does not abide by regular military rules and fight among the civilian population in urban areas. It's very hard to operate in those areas militarily, especially using high ordinance weapons fired from land, sea, and air without causing significant civilian casualties, which is what we've seen over the past week.

[23:25:23]

BERMAN: Talk to you about the hospitals. What's the situation? What's the latest you're hearing about the situation in the hospitals?

SOSEBEE: They're running out of medication. They're running out of anesthesia, pain killers, their generators. Gaza hospitals do not run on a normal electrical grid. The electrical grid in Gaza for years has not been sufficient to supply the basic power to most of the institutions and certainly the hospitals.

So they depend on diesel fuel to run generators that provide power to these hospitals that those diesel fuel operated generators are running out of gas or running out of fuel and therefore will be unable to operate and to power the operating theaters, the anesthesia machines, the ventilators that so many of the severely injured people are needing to live, the monitors that are required for adequate healthcare.

We run -- we had built the first and only pediatric cancer department in Gaza four years ago for children who are suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, and other cancerous diseases. That department, which is treating kids with cancer, is now has to be evacuated.

It's running out of fuel. It's running out of medication. Many of the medical personnel who work here have fled. And in some cases, a lot of -- some doctors and nurses have been killed as well. One of the main pediatric and reconstructive surgeons today was killed in an airstrike, Dr. Medhat (ph). Him and his family were killed. And he was one of the primary surgeons who was working around the clock to try to treat some of the trauma cases coming in. It's just an overwhelming chaotic destruction of the health system. And we don't see any end in sight, and it's only going to get worse. And it's just very tragic.

BERMAN: Stephen Sosebee, we do appreciate you taking the time to talk to us tonight and understanding the situation on the ground. Thank you sir.

SOSEBEE: You're welcome.

BERMAN: President Biden's speaking out tonight on the war and calling for an end to hate in all forms. We have a live report from the White House ahead.

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[23:30:58]

BERMAN: We heard from President Biden tonight, speaking at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in Washington. He addressed the terror attacks on Israel and also anti-Semitism. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez at the White House. Priscilla, nice to see you. What did the President say?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: John, the through line of his remarks was, as you mentioned, ending hate in all forms. And in those remarks, he took a moment to reflect on the situation in Israel, the terror attacks last week, but also the humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: A week ago, we saw hate manifested another way in the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. More than 1,300 innocent lives lost in Israel, including at least 27 Americans. Children and grandparents alike kidnapped, held hostage by Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, he went on to talk about innocent Palestinians in Gaza, saying that the majority of them have nothing to do with Hamas. And these were themes that came up in two calls of President Biden, held with leaders like today, one of which was with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was the fifth time the two have spoken since the attacks last week.

And in that call, President Biden gave him an update on military support, but also made clear that they need to try to avoid the loss of life of innocent civilians. And in another call with the Palestinian Authority President Abbas, the President talked about getting humanitarian supplies to Gaza. So again, preserving innocent life as well as developing humanitarian

crisis as there are food shortages and water shortages in Gaza, all top of mind. But also, John, the resounding message in these calls was not allowing this conflict to spread any further.

BERMAN: Priscilla, the U.S. has started to move evacuating Americans from Israel. What are you learning about the plan for Americans, though, stuck in Gaza?

ALVAREZ: Well those talks are ongoing. It's part of what Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been doing in the region. He has more critical meetings over the weekend to try to secure a way for dual nationals in Gaza to get out of Gaza as well as others. Because, again, they do see this humanitarian crisis unfolding. But as far as those Americans who are in Israel, the State Department has coordinated chartered flights for them to get out of Israel.

This is an effort that is again being led by the State Department because there are limited flights going to and from and this is a way for them to help those who are interested in leaving and national security officials say that they are looking at expanding capacity by land and sea to give you a scope of perhaps the interest.

More than 20 ,000 Americans reached out to the State Department in Israel to the State Department since last week. Now, not all of them are looking for transportation assistance but what this does tell you, John, is that there's certainly a demand and the White House is committing to keeping these chartered flights going as long as there is the demand and need.

BERMAN: And on top of all of this, what may be the area of greatest concern is there are still 15 Americans unaccounted for. They could be among the 150 that might be held hostage in Gaza right now. What are the U.S. efforts in so far as that's concerned?

ALVAREZ: John, it's perhaps the greatest concern as you mentioned but maybe even the most complicated one. When officials have talked about this over the course of the week it's very clear that what they're grappling with here is an active war zone. It's also Hamas which is consisted of subgroups and so it's unclear where these hostages are being held, where they're being held, what the conditions they're in, if they're all in the same place or not in the same place. These are all questions that officials are still trying to sort through.

Now there are 15 Americans unaccounted for but of those it's unclear how many are hostages. The way that the White House has characterized the number of American hostages by Hamas is a small number less than a handful. But again there are still many outstanding questions and what they have made clear over the course of the week and including today is that they're working around the clock.

And again, John, there's only so much they say they can actually provide publicly because so much of this work could be compromised and needs to be happening behind closed doors.

[23:35:10] BERMAN: It is incredibly difficult work and important. Priscilla Alvarez, great to have you with us tonight. Thank you so much.

With us now is Global Affairs Columnist Frida Ghitis. Frida, President Biden speaking the last 24 hours again with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But also the Palestinian -- the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. How complicated is it for President Biden to navigate this?

FRIDA GHITIS, GLOBAL AFFAIRS COLUMNIST: This is such a multifaceted conflict with so many potentially dangerous outcomes, so many -- so many really difficult scenarios. There are no easy scenarios, no risk- free scenarios, not even any low-risk scenarios. We have President Biden and Israel have to keep an eye on what Iran is up to. They have to obviously keep an eye on Hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon.

They are concerned about what might happen on the West Bank. We've already seen some unrest there. And obviously there's the most immediate concern, which is what is happening in Gaza. You know what's happening with the hostages, the humanitarian situation there. And then there's another aspect that we have not heard very much talked about. And it's what exactly is Israel's plan, assuming that it succeeds in dismantling Hamas? Who is going to take over the Gaza Strip?

Does Israel want to take it over again? That seems unlikely. So that is a really, really important piece of this dangerous puzzle. And there are many, many moving parts and much that we don't know.

BERMAN: Talk about a complicated puzzle. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been on this remarkable diplomatic journey, where he's gone. I'm going to miss some of the countries he's been to here, but Israel, and then also, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, he's going from country to country and each place he's visiting, there's really something different at stake. Each country there has different skin in this game. How would you explain the complications there?

GHITIS: Well, it's interesting that while Secretary of State Blinken is making his tour of the Middle East, so is the foreign Minister of Iran who met today with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and with one of the top leaders of Hamas in Qatar, is Ismail Haniyeh, who by the way, from his comfortable place in Doha, told the civilians in Gaza not to move, not to move out of the conflict zone.

But, you know, every country in this region is very concerned about what's going on. It's very interesting to see what's happening with Saudi Arabia that was in the midst of a process of possibly normalizing relations with Israel. And there is little doubt in my mind that one of the reasons why this attack happened now is because Hamas and probably Iran wanted to derail that process of normalization. And, you know, if they succeed in doing that, this will be a victory for Iran, which is something that Saudi Arabia does not want.

Saudi Arabia and Iran recently established diplomatic relations, but they don't trust each other. And the last thing Saudi Arabia wants is to see a victory for Iran in this conflict. And obviously Hamas is on Iran's side.

BERMAN: It would be very complicated now for Saudi Arabia to make whatever kind of agreement they were going to make with Israel at least in the coming days. Frida Ghitis, thank you very much for being with us tonight.

GHITIS: Thank you.

BERMAN: So it has been 10 days since the United States has had a House Speaker and honestly Republicans appear no closer to choosing a new leader. Jim Jordan, he won a vote within the Republican conference but doesn't have enough votes to win on the House floor at least not yet. So what happens next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:42:47]

BERMAN: So, despite winning a vote in the Republican conference to be the next speaker of the House, Congressman Jim Jordan is far from getting the gavel. He is now busy trying to flip dozens of holdouts after falling well short of the 217 votes he would need to win on the House floor. He had 55 people in his own conference telling him basically they would not vote for him on the House floor.

With us now, Maria Cardona, CNN Political Commentator and a Democratic Strategist. And Republican Strategist, Shermichael Singleton.

Let's start with you, Shermichael. What is the strategy right now? Because Jim Jordan, yeah, he got the majority in the conference. Steve Scalise had the majority in the conference before him. Kevin McCarthy had the majority in the conference before him and each time they do it, they get less and less of the majority. So what does Jim Jordan do now?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, I think, John, Jim is going to have to sort of reach out to some of those holdouts and see what he could do to move some of those numbers. But I have to be honest with you, Jim. I mean, you're looking at 18 Republicans in Biden districts. Those are very purple districts that are teetering blue. Those members can't afford to vote for someone like Jim Jordan because I can guarantee you, if Democrats are smart, they will challenge them on that vote.

You also have another sector of Republicans who look at Jim Jordan and don't believe he's in the best position to lead the conference.

And finally, I'll say Kevin McCarthy's team released his fundraising numbers for this year, $78 million, Jim. Can Jim Jordan raise those numbers? I'm not certain that he can.

BERMAN: Maria, I know if you ruled the world, you would suggest that all these Republicans just vote for Hakeem Jeffries when it gets to the floor. MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Yeah.

BERMAN: OK.

CARDONA: Yeah.

BERMAN: That's not going to happen. However -- however, you know, there is a sort of West Wing version of the world where some Democrats get together with some Republicans and elect some theory, Republican candidate that's acceptable to some Democrats. Is that getting ever more possible? Do you think that could really happen here?

CARDONA: Well, I think that what is going to need to happen is something that's completely outside of the box, which is something akin to what you're talking about, John. Because right now the Republican conference within the House of Representatives is a failed state. They need to do things differently if they're going to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done for the American people.

[23:45:14]

Look, no one is enjoying this on the Democratic side. I just want to be very clear about that, because this is excruciatingly embarrassing on a global level, given everything that we're facing with Israel and all of the global security issues, we need to have a speaker in place because we need to pass an aid package, because we're going to need to pass appropriations bills in order to make sure that our government doesn't shut down in a month.

So there's a lot of business before us that needs to get done. Democrats are ready, John, to work with Republicans once a courageous, common-sense speaker emerges if that's possible, if that is not possible, then I do believe that Democrats would be ready to negotiate to figure out how we can have some kind of shared bipartisan governing coalition within the House of Representatives.

But I don't see any Republicans that would be ready to step up to the plate to even do that. So until they get serious about governing, nothing is going to get through.

BERMAN: So Shermichael, you know, D.C. reporters, particularly Capitol Hill reporters, like to think they've seen everything. And when stuff happens at the House, it's just as performance art, and sooner or later, they can predict what's going to happen. This time, not at all. I mean, not at all. There's no one who knows what's going to happen. So turn to the last page of the story here. How does this end?

SINGLETON: John, if anyone says that they have a crystal ball on this, and Maria and I were talking about this before we came live, they are not telling you the truth. I have spoken with so many friends who work for members in leadership and also friends who work for just regular members in the conference. And I've asked, guys, what's the plan here? If not Jim, who else do we look to?

Some have circulated, Mike Johnson out of Louisiana. Some have stated the current speaker pro temp as a possibility. But none of those individuals can get to 218. And so when I've asked my former friends and colleagues, what's the plan? They all say, Sherm, we have no clue. And if anyone says they do, they're not being honest with you.

And so I think this is a very precarious moment for the Republican Party. And I will tell you, when it comes to maintaining the majority next year, I don't think Republicans are going to be able to do it. I think Democrats have a solid message to the American people to say, these folks can't govern. Look how long it took them to choose a speaker.

BERMAN: Maria, what incentive do these holdouts have? It's not just that they don't necessarily want Jim Jordan to be speaker, is it? I'm not sure I understand the incentive structure in place here.

CARDONA: I don't either, John, because let's remember that's exactly what got McCarthy in trouble, right? The incentives. He gave away his soul. He gave away way too much in order to get the support that he needed after the 15th round of votes back in January. That's what put him in the precarious position that he was in, where he was able to be ousted by just one person calling for a motion to vacate.

So what I think is the fundamental problem, John, and let's remember this. I really think it's important for viewers to remember. There are 139 members of the Republican Conference that voted to not certify the 2020 free and fair and legitimate elections that Joe Biden won. What does that mean? That means that there are 139 members of the House of Representatives that are pretty much in the extreme MAGA camp of the Republican Party. That seems to be completely disconnected with the reality of where common sense, independence, common sense Republicans are.

And it has become impossible for anyone to really straddle those two pieces of voters, right? Those two buckets of voters, because if one bucket of voter supports you, the other one won't. And that, I think, is a fundamental problem, not just of the Republican Conference, but of the Republican Party today in order to win a general election.

BERMAN: Twenty second reaction to that, Shermichael?

SINGLETON: Yeah, look, I think she's absolutely right, John. I mean, the Republican Party right now is currently fractured. And if you look at someone like Gaetz or Marjorie Taylor Greene or Boebert, who may represent a more conservative or red-leaning district, and then you look at someone who represents a more purple district, their priorities and focuses are going to be disparate because they're talking to and representing very different groups of people.

Someone who's running in a moderate place, their voters don't want someone who's hard right. But someone who's in a hard right place, their voters don't want someone who's going to work with Democrats or work with a moderate.

[23:50:03]

And so what do you have, John? You have a stalemate, which is currently where we are. But again, I would advise all of my friends in the Republican Party, think about 2024, is it worth losing the majority, forget trying to expand it, John, I don't think that's even possible at this point. They have to try to maintain it. And I think that's slipping their way every single day.

BERMAN: Well, also think about Israel, think about the United States budget, think about all these things to just have to get done.

SINGLETON: Yeah.

BERMAN: They don't care what's going on the Republican Congress unless something happens that gets it done. Maria Cardona, Shermichael Singleton, thank you both very much. Have a great weekend.

SINGLETON: Thanks, John.

CARDONA: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: At least 150 Israeli Americans have left the United States, many to help the war efforts. CNN was on the ground as they left, here, why they are motivated to go back to Israel.

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BERMAN: Israelis living around the world are returning home to fight in the war against Hamas. This was the scene aboard a U.S. Charter flight heading to Israel from California. CNN's Stephanie Elam was there for the departure.

[23:55:03]

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, in the wee hours of this morning, about 150 people gathered at Los Angeles International Airport to board a charter flight to Israel. And many of these people came with family members who were emotional to see their loved ones returning to Israel. But many of them obviously very much understanding it.

We talked to some of the people who were there, who were there for very different reasons. And one man, Dorel Meiri, he was going back. He previously served in the IDF, but he grew up here in Los Angeles.

And he says right now, going into this, he's numb. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOREL MEIRI, ISRAELI AMERICAN VOLUNTEERING FOR WAR: I'm American. I'm Israeli. I'm an American Israeli. It's very simple. So my home is here, and my home is there. So I feel obligated and almost a desire and more so a need to go right now, so.

ELAM: Like you don't feel like you could just stay. That's not an option for you?

MEIRI: It's not an option.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ELAM: And while Meiri is leaving behind his sister and his mother, his family, there's also the other side where people were leaving behind their children. And there was another man there who lives in Israel, but when the war first broke out, he gathered up his wife and his two young boys and made his way to Southern California where they have family. And he knew he was going to get called back up. And obviously he feels like there's nothing else he can do but to get back and defend his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID FRANKEL, ISRAEL ARMY RESERVIST: I'm obviously nervous. I mean, I want to come home safely to my family. I want to see my boys grow up. But you have to put that aside and stop the madness that's happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And Frankel also said that he kissed his young boys goodbye while they were sleeping to make it to the airport. And what's so difficult for all of these people is not knowing when they will see their loved ones again, when they will return to their homes. But for so many of them, this was something that they felt compelled to do, that they needed to get back and offer up their services to defend Israel. John?

BERMAN: They feel they need to be there. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much.

I'm John Berman in New York. Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

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