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Hamas Leader Behind Attacks Killed in Airstrike; Biden Speaker with Families of Missing Americans; IDF Sets Safe Passage Window for Gaza Civilians; Tens of Thousands Flee from Northern Gaza; Interview with Australian Strategic Policy Institute Senior Analyst and Military Analyst Malcolm Davis. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired October 14, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

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

It's 5:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, noon at Gaza City where a safe passage corridor has been established for Palestinians to evacuate to Southern Gaza as Israel has ordered them to do. Israeli military opened the corridor about two hours ago and says it will remain open another four hours. But once they get to Southern Gaza, there's nowhere to go and the border crossing into Egypt doesn't appear to open.

Meanwhile, the ID continued pounding Hamas targets in Gaza overnight. A short time ago, Israel announced that it killed the senior Hamas commander who is supposedly the mastermind of last weekend's terrorist attacks.

An unknown number of Americans are believed to be among the 150 or so hostages now in Hamas' captivity. On Friday President Biden spoke with the families and said the U.S. is doing everything possible to find their loved ones. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I say we're going to everything in our power to find them, everything in our power. And I'm not going to go into detail of that, but we're working like hell on it. Because I think they have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what's happening, deeply. We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It's pure barbarism.

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BRUNHUBER: Earlier I spoke with a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, and I asked about the orders for people to evacuate Gaza City and how long does civilians have to get out and move south. Here it is.

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MAJ. (RES.) DORON SPIELMAN, IDF SPOKESPERSON: The residents in Gaza City are a priority for the State of Israel. Unfortunately, they are not a priority for the Hamas terror organization. Hamas, we really should be asking them, what are your contingency plans when you came over the border and massacred innocent Israelis, took them off as hostages? What do you think we would do?

And of course, we can see that they would assume we would, of course, like any normal country, come back and try to completely annihilate their efforts, they have to do this again, and just left their civilians as hostages, they took all of them. 2 million of the civilians are hostages of Hamas in Gaza right now. We are the only ones that are actually trying to save these people by opening a humanitarian corridor. We know it's going about to take time. We create and asked for it to be done within 24 hours. But we're doing everything we can, including taking operational risks so that those people can make it to safety.

BRUNHUBER: The U.N. secretary general, as I said in the intro, they said the order to evacuate is "extremely dangerous and in some cases not -- simply not possible." How would you respond to that?

SPIELMAN: I think, again, there was no early warning for the Israeli civilians that were slaughtered on Israel's communities. Many families of which are still dealing with hostages and so much difficulty. It is reasonable to ask people to move a few miles, past Wadi Gaza, nor to get out of harm's way.

Again, Hamas is keeping them there. We know for a fact that Hamas is trying to keep civilians in Gaza there. We are the Israel Defense Forces. We're here to defend our civilians. Hamas is the opposite. They use their civilians to defend them. So, we're doing everything we can. But I think these questions really need to be addressed to Hamas, which is the authority in the Gaza Strip.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. Let's bring in Nada Bashir from London for more on the war in Israel. So, Nada, we heard from the IDF about their justification for asking the residents of Gaza City to leave. What's the latest on those evacuations?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kim, according to the U.N.'s humanitarian office, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Northern Gaza have now moved southwards, evacuated, left their homes in search of safety as per the order of the IDF and that warning yesterday, we saw those dramatic videos of pamphlets falling from the sky telling the civilians in Northern Gaza that they would have to leave for their own safety and protection.

But of course, tens of thousands is certainly not the 1.1 estimated million people in Northern Gaza who will be impacted, of course. And the message that we've been hearing from the United Nations, from other humanitarian groups and NGOs is that there simply isn't enough time. It is not feasible. It is almost impossible to expect the entire population of Northern Gaza to evacuate south.

[05:05:00]

Of course, there are many who will not physically be able to evacuate. There are others who simply do not want to evacuate. In fact, we've seen posts on social media, people saying that they expect to die anywhere in Gaza, given the widespread nature of these airstrikes. And we have to remember, of course, that this is a densely populated strip of land that is under a blockade and is now currently under a complete siege.

There is few safe places left for people to take shelter, if any safe places at all. And if you take a look at this report, you'll see this is a dire humanitarian situation, according to human rights groups. Take a look.

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BASHIR (voiceover): As dawn breaks in Gaza, now under bombardment by Israel for seven days, a sinister warning from the skies. Pamphlets from Israel's Defense Forces telling all civilians in Northern Gaza to evacuate southwards.

We're seeing our children killed right in front of us. They're starving us of food, of water, we have no electricity, nothing. This isn't a life. And now, they tell us we have to leave, but we don't know where we will end up.

Hamas leaders have called on civilians to remain steadfast and stay put, accusing Israel of engaging in psychological warfare. But families, desperate for some semblance of security gather their belongings. And while they are unsure of what awaits them in the south, one thing is clear, there is no guarantee of safety wherever you are in Gaza.

It happened to our grandfathers, and now, it's happening to us. We are being forced out. Gaza is being destroyed. Nothing is left. It's a catastrophe.

More than 2 million people live in the tiny besieged Gaza Strip, still under a blockade enforced by Israel in 2007. More than half of those are now being told to move. The Norwegian Refugee Council has characterized the evacuation order, which holds no guarantee of safe return, as an act of forcible transfer. In other words, a war crime.

Meanwhile, the U.N.'s Refugee Agency for Palestine says the scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone chilling.

TAMARA ALRIFAI, UNRWA SPOKESPERSON: On the move are more than 1.4 million people in Gaza. These are ordinary Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip with their families, including pregnant women, children, children with disabilities. BASHIR (voiceover): An ongoing siege means access to food and safe water is quickly running out. The U.N. World Health Organization has warned that hospitals here have only a few hours of electricity each day, pushing Gaza's already crumbling healthcare infrastructure to the brink of collapse.

At the Al-Shifa Hospital, the bodies of those killed in the airstrike lay shrouded outside. There is, doctors say, simply not enough space in the morgue.

They were all innocent civilians, women, children. The airstrikes came suddenly and destroyed all our homes, with children still inside. And now, we don't even know where we can bury our dead. Enough, please, enough.

In less than one week, Israel has dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Gaza. The equivalent to the total number of airstrikes carried out during the 2014 Israel Gaza War, which lasted 50 days.

And while there continues to be widespread condemnation of the collective punishment, the people of Gaza are being subjected to, there is every indication that this war will only intensify. And many here feel that the world has abandoned them.

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BASHIR (on camera): And look, Kim, as we've heard in your interview with the IDF spokesperson, two safe routes have been outlined by the Israel Defense Forces, but there is real concern as airstrikes continue throughout the day across most of Gaz that these safe routes will not stand.

Of course, we heard yesterday from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, they say that the IDF strike civilians and even ambulance workers as they were attempting to flee to move southwards from the north, as ordered by the IDF. CNN has put this to the IDF, although they have not given us a comment at this point. They say they are looking into the allegations. But as airstrikes continue, it is fear that that civilian death toll will continue to mount.

Nada, about the evacuees, you posed the key question in your report, what awaits them in the south? So, what are the latest conditions there?

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BASHIR: Well, look, can we say tens of thousands of people have already moved from Northern Gaza, evacuated and moved southwards, but there are at least 400,000 Palestinians that have already been displaced by these airstrikes. Many of them, of course, have been taking shelter in U.N. run schools, and they are at capacity.

When it comes to the situation in the south, this is an area that has also been under heavy bombardment for the last week. And of course, as we mentioned there, Gaza is now under a complete siege. That means no food, no electricity, no safe water, no fuel. And as we understand it, hospitals are running on just a few hours of electricity each day.

There simply isn't enough capacity. This is an area that already had a crumbling infrastructure on all fronts before the war began. Now, under a complete siege and with the blockade still very much in place. This densely populated strip of land, home to more than 2 million people, is facing a catastrophe on the humanitarian front. That is the concern put forward by the United Nations, by other NGOs and human rights groups. This is going to only continue to deteriorate as the war intensifies.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that. Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much.

Now, many people watching feel compelled to help with humanitarian relief efforts in Israel and Gaza, so CNN is compiling resources, and to find them, you can head to cnn.com/impact, and there you'll see a list of vetted organizations that are responding on the ground. Once again, cnn.com/impact.

Israeli officials have said they were caught off guard by the Hamas attack last weekend, but sources are now telling CNN that U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies saw indications that Hamas was up to something, even though what it was, was unclear. Alex Marquardt has the details.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Sources familiar with U.S. intelligence tell CNN that there were warnings and indications about possible attacks by Hamas from Gaza that could happen, but nothing on the level of what we ended up seeing last weekend. There were at least three intelligence reports, two American, one Israeli, in the days leading up to the horrific events of October 7th.

On September 28th and October 5th, the U.S. Intelligence Community issued warnings of potential cross border strikes by Hamas with rocket fire and then the growing possibility of violence around Gaza. Then, on October 6th, there was a third report from Israel, that was the day before the attacks, saying that there was unusual activity by Hamas.

Sources are now telling CNN that these reports looked nothing like what ended up unfolding in terms of the scope and the barbarity. A Biden administration official tells CNN, "There was no information warning about the terrorist attack in advance." Instead, sources tell us that the sense was that if something happened, that it would look more like it had in the past, perhaps rocket fire from Gaza. Interceptions then by the Israeli Iron Dome and possible responses into Gaza by Israel.

But more profoundly, U.S. sources say there was a general complacency that had taken hold in Israel, underestimating what Hamas could pull off. And given that Gaza and Hamas are in Israel's backyard, American sources say the onus is primarily on Israeli intelligence to have detected the looming plot. Still, with regular warnings from the U.S. Intelligence Community and Middle Eastern allies as well about a buildup of Hamas weapons and growing Palestinian anger, this is also raising questions about whether the Biden administration was taking the Hamas threat seriously enough.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: For more on the latest military developments, I'm joined by Malcolm Davis. He's a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and he's joining us from Canberra. Thanks so much for being here with us again. So, it seems as though a ground invasion is imminent. When and how do you think Israel will carry this out?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE AND MILITARY ANALYST: Look, it's going to be in days, not weeks. The one caveat there is that there's been some suggestion for Israel to give a bit more time for the Palestinian people to evacuate to the south. That could push it back a bit if Israel accepts to do that. But if they don't, then we're talking probably days, potentially even 24 hours before those Israeli forces go in.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. You know, Hamas would be outnumbered and outgunned, but fighting on home turf. What kind of military response do you expect from Hamas?

DAVIS: They will be using the densely urbanized terrain as defensive fortifications with the Palestinian people that are trapped there as human shields in effect, along with those 150 hostages. And so, what they will be doing is trying to attack the Israeli Defense Forces and what might be called attack and fade or hit and run tactics against the Israelis rather than engaging them in a standout fight.

[05:15:00]

It will be short, sharp attacks, employing minds IEDs, drones, snipers, and using the terrain of Gaza, which is highly urbanized as essentially a vast fortification through which the Israelis must move their forces and ultimately identify target and destroy Hamas.

BRUNHUBER: You know, we know from, you know, Iraq and other places how hard it is fighting in an urban environment, especially with broken buildings to use as cover and so on. I mean, how deadly will this conflict be, do you think?

DAVIS: Well, I take your viewers back to the events of the early '90s with Somalia and the Blackhawk Down incident where you had U.S. military forces stuck, surrounded by hostile forces and they had to get backup forces or reinforcements to those trapped forces. Imagine that on a vastly larger scale where each individual house, each individual street, each individual alleyway can be a potential death trap.

So, the Israelis will be going in with ground forces, particularly focusing on infantry. It's not really a conducive environment for large armored vehicles like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, although they're deployed, but they'll be trying to go in as much as possible quickly to identify the targets and take them out, but it's going to be bloody on both sides.

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned the hostages earlier. I mean, will their lives, you know -- presumably, they'll be endangered by a ground incursion.

DAVIS: I think they're endangered already. I think the brutal truth is that --

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Further endangered, I should say. You're right.

DAVIS: Yes. Yes. Look, I think that, yes, as soon as the Israelis going on the ground, you know, it's difficult to see unless the Israelis or the Americans have intelligence on where those hostages are being kept, it's difficult to see how they're going to get them back. And that's one of the tragic costs of this war is that we may not get back all those hostages.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, unfortunately. Listen, I want to widen this out a little bit. We know the U.S. has deployed warships and aircraft to the region as well as providing munitions to Israel. How does the U.S. balance supporting Israel and Ukraine now, both, you know, concretely in terms of materiel, but also, in terms of sort of more general focus and involvement?

DAVIS: Well, this is tapping into a much wider geopolitical challenge that the U.S. and its allies now face. In Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies cannot allow Russia to win. They must ensure a decisive Ukrainian victory against Russia. At the same time, they have to support Israel in terms of defeating and destroying Hamas. So, that's going to require material support from the U.S. and its allies to Ukraine and Israel simultaneously.

And that's going to become a real challenge because already we're seeing domestic political instability in the U.S. that is potentially going to get in the way of signing off on aid bills to Ukraine. At the same time, we're seeing military supplies and military production in western countries start to dwindle. You know, the phrase, the bottom of the barrel is really coming to the fore.

So, I think that the Russians and the Chinese are watching this very closely. And if they see the evidence that the U.S. is overextended, is basically unable to support Ukraine and Israel simultaneously, they might try and exploit that elsewhere around the globe. And certainly, one of the big concerns the U.S. must have is ensuring military capability to deter and, if necessary, defeat China in the event that it were to attack Taiwan, for example.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting repercussions that might come from this. I'll have to leave it there. Malcolm Davis, thanks so much for speaking with us.

DAVIS: Thank you. BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, the U.S. defense secretary meets with Israeli leaders ahead of Israel's expected military escalation against Hamas. We'll tell you about his message coming up after the break. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been on the go since the outset of this war. He landed in Saudi Arabia a short time ago, following stops in Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain. The secretary says his talks have been focused on preventing the war with Hamas from spreading and putting regional pressure on Hamas to release the hostages. He also sounded a note of caution as Israel's military moves against Hamas. Here he is.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Israel has the right. Indeed, it has the obligation to defend its people and to try to ensure that Hamas can never repeat what it's done. We continue to discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Blinken next heads to the UAE and Egypt before returning to Washington. The U.S. defense secretary also cautioned Israel's government ahead of its expected military escalation, saying, "This is a time for resolve and not revenge."

Lloyd Austin met with Israeli leaders on Friday, where he made it clear U.S. support for Israel is unwavering. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the latest from Israel.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): U.S. support for Israel looks like this, a hulking U.S. military transport plane bolstering Israel's war effort against Hamas landing at Nevatim Airbase, where CNN secured exclusive access as airmen offloaded its cargo.

DIAMOND: This C-17 military cargo plane just landed here in Southern Israel. It is bringing fresh U.S. weapons and ammunition for Israel's fight against Hamas.

[05:25:00]

Today, the secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, coming here to inspect the shipment, vowing that U.S. military support for Israel will continue to flow at the speed of war.

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I know how hard you've been working. You've been really hustling to get this year as quickly as you could and there's a lot more, it follows this.

DIAMOND (voiceover): This was the second shipment of military equipment to Israel just this week, delivering precision guided munitions, artillery shells and Iron Dome interceptor missiles, which help protect civilians from Hamas rockets.

AUSTIN: It's not just a show of support, it is support. And this the leading edge of more to come.

DIAMOND: We've already seen some civilian casualties in Gaza. What kind of assurances do you have from the Israelis about how they'll use these munitions? What kind of assurance?

AUSTIN: Jeremy, this isn't (ph) a professional force, it's well led. So, I'm sure they'll do the right thing.

DIAMOND (voiceover): Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,900 people in Gaza this week, including at least 614 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Palestinian leaders accuse Israel of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. Israeli officials blame Hamas for firing rockets from civilian areas and using civilians as human shields.

Even as he made clear the U.S stands with Israel --

AUSTIN: I am here in person to make something crystal clear, America's support for Israel is ironclad.

DIAMOND (voiceover): -- the defense secretary also reminding Israel of its moral responsibility.

AUSTIN: Democracies like ours are stronger and more secure when we uphold the laws of war.

DIAMOND (voiceover): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Nevatim Airbase.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, thousands of Gaza residents evacuated their homes on Friday, but for many, there's little hope of finding safety from the escalating conflict.

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BRUNHUBER: The Israel Defense Forces has again warned civilians in Gaza City to evacuate the area and move south. The IDF says it's to ensure their safety. Now, it's not clear how widely the message has been received on the ground, given the current electricity and internet blackout. The Israeli military says it's dropping leaflets about new safe passage routes announced today.

However, CNN has talked to a U.N. school official, a paramedic, and a journalist on the ground who are all unaware of this latest advisory. Israel's military says the safe passage out of the north and into Southern Gaza will last until 4:00 p.m. local time, which is less than four hours from now. A senior U.N. official calls Israel's evacuation order outrageous and says it, "Defies the rules of war and basic humanity."

All right. Joining me now is Salma Abdelaziz in London. So, Salma less than four hours left in that safe passage corridor to leave Gaza City. What's the latest on the evacuations?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's important, Kim, to clarify that the Israeli military considers these safe passage corridors, but the United Nations says it simply does not meet the standard. They have said that these evacuation orders defy the rules of humanity. They've gone on to say that they defy the rules of war and "that there is nowhere safe." That's coming directly from an OCHA statement.

Now, why are they saying that? You have to consider what is being asked here of Gazan, some 1.1 million people asked to evacuate in a matter of hours to an undefined destination, head southwards. Where is that? The fear, the concern is that you could be looking at hundreds of thousands of families essentially in the open, on the streets as bombs continue to rain down.

Remember, that the Israeli military, just yesterday, said that it had dropped 6,000 bombs in a matter of six days. That's 1,000 bombs a day on average. And under those conditions, Palestinians are expected to pack up their families, pack up their elderly, those who even need medical help, pregnant women, whoever they are and somehow make their way southward where already the United Nations and other aid groups have said there was simply no assistance there.

And this is all, of course. under siege. This -- the Gaza Strip was already under blockade for many years prior to this conflict. It is now under complete siege. Rights groups have warned that many Palestinians no longer have access to electricity, no longer have access to clean water. Still, you're going to see hundreds of thousands of people try to make their way south, Kim, try desperately to find that safety.

But of course, the concern is, is once there you're going to be looking at a massive humanitarian crisis, one that aid groups can simply not address. Again, because of that blockade that is not allowing aid in. That's why you're hearing the Norwegian Refugee Council call this a war crime of forcible transfer.

Now, the Israeli military, of course, says it is targeting Hamas sites, that its stated aim is to destroy Hamas. But these rights groups, the United Nations, simply saying the cost, the toll of this is way too steep and unacceptable.

BRUNHUBER: So, Salma, as you say, I mean, this evacuation order may see up to a million Gazans, half of the population of the territory displaced. So, what could that mean for the future of the enclave?

ABDELAZIZ: Well, first, they have to survive what could be weeks or months of war. Prime Minister Netanyahu saying yesterday that everything we've seen over the course of the last six days, 400,000 Gazans displaced, some 1,900 Palestinians killed, including more than 600 children, neighborhoods leveled into ruins, all of that, Prime Minister Netanyahu saying yesterday, is only the beginning.

Of course, there's an expected ground incursion. You have hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops sitting on that border, preparing potentially to go into the Gaza Strip. What does that look like? Where do 2 million Gazans hunker down, survive essentially came during what could be a very lengthy and dangerous ground operation. What does that look like?

[05:35:00]

There's hopes that the Rafah Crossing ?opens. But very little political will in Cairo in Egypt for that to take place. And you have to remember that deeply embedded in the psyche of Gazans, of Palestinians is the fear of displacement, is the fear that if they leave their homes, they will not be able to return to their homes. And you understand the historical context there, of course, 1948, 1967, Palestinians generations on from those conflicts continue to live in camps around the Middle East, the right of return denied to them.

So, very much that is going to be a fear among Gazans that if they leave home, they could never return again in the long-term here. Already, you've heard from Israeli officials, they've said Gaza will never be the same again. You are watching that take place right now.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate the context there. Salma Abdelaziz in London. Thanks so much.

Canadians and some Palestinian Americans stuck in Gaza may be able to get out of the enclave in the coming day. Canadian Global Affairs officials say they may be able to pass through the Rafah Gate into Egypt between 12:00 noon and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.

American officials say they told family members the crossing "may be open." Still, CNN can't independently verify whether the crossing is open. At least 150 Canadian citizens and residents in Gaza have asked for help. The Canadian officials say they're engaging with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to get the Canadians out, but they'll direct them to move only when it's confirmed they can get across the border.

U.S. House Republicans are headed home for the weekend after nominating Jim Jordan of Ohio to be their next speaker. They're set to return on Tuesday for a vote, but at this point, it looks unlikely they'll be able to reach an agreement. Melanie Zenona has details from Capitol Hill.

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MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, we are on day 10 without a speaker and Republicans have returned home for the weekend. Earlier today, House Republicans huddled behind closed doors to elect another speaker nominee after Steve Scalise dropped out of the race. And Republicans have settled on Jim Jordan, a Donald Trump-backed candidate who narrowly lost to Steve Scalise earlier this week. Now, I'm told that Jim Jordan is going to be working the phones over the weekend, trying to win over the rest of the party, trying to assuage their concerns. But at this point, it looks like Jim Jordan is also going to have a math problem, just like Steve Scalise did and just like Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy did.

We're told that in a closed-door secret ballot, 55 Republicans indicated that they would vote against Jim Jordan on the floor, and he can only afford to lose four Republicans. I caught up with one of those holdouts on Friday. Here's what he had to say.

REP. KEN BUCK (R-CO): It takes four or five to take them down, and you got 55. I mean, you do the math. Remember, with Steve was he had, you know, 17 no's and somewhere in that range. So, 55 no's is very difficult. If it's not Jim, then I think the door opens, but it's much more likely that we get somebody quickly next week.

ZANONA: Now, Jim Jordan is expected to try to take this fight to the floor potentially on Tuesday. But if he comes up short, we could see other dark horse candidates emerge. But in the meantime, there is no consensus, no speaker, and no ability to govern all while critical issues, including aid to Israel, hang in the balance.

Melanie Zenona, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Cryptocurrency may be helping to fund Hamas attacks on Israel. Coming up, what U.S. officials have learned from a deep dive into the digital currency's connection with the terror organization. That's coming up. Please stay with us.

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[05:40:00]

BRUNHUBER: Investigators in the U.S. and around the world have identified a revenue source being exploited by Hamas, online donors offering support in cryptocurrency.

Now, even before Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, U.S. officials had been probing the group's use of cryptocurrency through alleged money launderers. Hamas' use of digital currency represents just one of the many ways the terrorist organization has sought to raise funds while evading sanctions.

Hamas and other terrorist groups have used Facebook and X to publicly post their crypto wallet addresses asking for donations. That's according to a report by U.S. authorities.

All right. Joining me now is Dmitry Machikhin CEO of the crypto analytics software firm BitOK. Thanks so much for being here with us.

So, just first, how significant a role is crypto in terms of funding Hamas? DMITRY MACHIKHIN, CEO, BITOK: Well, from our side, we have analyzed and studied deeply the addresses belonging to companies controlled by Hamas. As indicated in two orders, 1522 and 1923, it's public. So, the total amount of almost $41 million was received at these addresses. And this is a total turnover of the addresses listed in two previous seizure orders.

And this was the significant amount received from September 2021 and April 2023. So, over three years. With the majority of funds being received between December 2022 and April 2023. So, yes, a bunch of other things.

BRUNHUBER: So, that's a lot. But obviously, it could be a lot more that we don't know about. So, how exactly does it work? How do they get the money? I understand they fundraise on social media. I mean, how does that all work?

MACHIKHIN: So, they gather different social medias and putting the different wallets addresses, and then, they're collecting money -- I mean, crypto from all over the world. And then, they are using intermediary addresses from different kind of exchanges around the world, and then collecting them into several wallets and funds. This means they are laundering money using crypto. Well, it happens, unfortunately.

BRUNHUBER: Is it untraceable in terms of the people who are donating this money?

MACHIKHIN: Almost. So, in case if somebody say investing or donating a terrorist organization directly via centralized exchanges, it's possible, but nobody is doing that. So, they are -- actually, they are usually using decentralized wallets and non-custodial wallets. And then, those organizations are laundering money to avoid such disclosing. So, it's almost impossible.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. So, I mean, we're talking about, you know, people donating money on social media, but in terms of these intermediaries and so on, I mean, what role does Iran play here?

MACHIKHIN: You mean centralized exchanges and so on and so forth. So, we couldn't determine the precise origin of the funds. So, whether they were directly sent from other terrorist groups or sourced from donations, et cetera. But however, our investigation revealed that a significant portion of these funds primarily originated from cryptocurrency exchanges, some of them are really popular, some of them are -- have Russia origin, but it's not connected with Russia itself because it's not, you know, exchanges, they are not aiming to help terrorists. That's the most important thing here.

[05:45:00]

But in some of the cases, they are blind and they cannot understand what's really happening. And early -- and it -- sometimes weeks or months should be passed until exchanges are revealing such bad things happening. So, it's not online, so time should pass. And now, we may see that some of the exchanges fall under such bad circumstances in terms of money laundering and alternative financing.

BRUNHUBER: So, I mean, it sounds very hard to stop. I mean, what more can be done to cut off the source of funding for Hamas?

MACHIKHIN: Yes, that's a good question. I mean, crypto is still in the gray zone, but thankfully for -- you know, international anti-money laundering measures are coming. And because of legislation helping to reveal the source of funds, the dirty money in crypto, it goes more and more better to reveal.

And from my perspective, the best way is to use KYC AML measures in any kind of wallets, exchanges, and to put exchanges attention on that. And, you know, after all, crypto is not about crime, it's not about terrorist organizations, financing, et cetera, but anybody should be careful of it because of where we are. So, it happens and everybody should pay a lot of attention on it.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. It's very complex for most of us to untangle, but really appreciate getting your insights on this. Dmitry Machikhin, thank you so much.

MACHIKHIN: Thanks.

BRUNHUBER: Some American cities increased security after a former Hamas leader called for protesters to "show anger" on Friday. Heightened security could be seen around New York City. This police vehicle was parked in front of a synagogue. Now, New York doesn't have any credible intelligence showing active threats, but the city did hear from Palestinian supporters on Friday.

Now, this protest took place in Times Square, and as you can see from these aerial shots, a large crowd of demonstrators participated. And marches in support of the Palestinian people have been taking places in cities around the world. Thousands of South Africans, for example, took to the streets of Cape Town. Nelson Mandela's grandson, who's also a member of South Africa's parliament, encouraged South Africans to stand with Palestinians because they supported the fight against apartheid in his nation.

And as Israel pounded Gaza with airstrikes and artillery fire, demonstrators turned out in several cities across Turkey to rally in favor of Palestinians. And with a ground incursion into Gaza seeming to be imminent, tens of thousands of people in Yemen joined a mass rally in Sana'a.

All right. Still to come, soccer's governing body breaks its silence on the Israel-Hamas war after days of silence. More on what FIFA's president said. That's coming up next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Victims of the Israel Hamas war were honored at a soccer match between England and Australia on Friday. It comes as soccer's governing body, FIFA, speaks out on the conflict after facing a backlash for its silence in recent days. CNN's Patrick Snell has more.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, on Friday night, a moment of silence ahead of kickoff in England's 1-0 international friendly victory over Australia at Wembley. Having opted to not light up the Wembley arch in the colors of the Israeli flag, England's football association with this pre match tribute. Tonight, we remember the innocent victims of a devastating events in Israel and Palestine. Our thoughts are with them and their families and friends in England and Australia, and with all the communities who are affected by this ongoing conflict. Tonight, we stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear, and suffering.

Players from both teams wearing black armbands standing shoulder to shoulder throughout, the poignant gesture impeccably observed.

Meantime, football's governing body had received widespread criticism for its silence in recent days. On Friday though, FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, offering his deepest condolences to Israeli and Palestine football associations. Infantino adding, it is as heartbreaking as it is shocking to see a region, whose people have known such profound suffering over far too long, suffer even more. The footballing world stands firmly in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Israel, and with all the innocent victims that have paid an unspeakable price.

Well, Israel were set to play two Euro qualifying games during the current international break, both now postponed. While Palestine's fixture with Tajikistan on Friday did not go ahead either. And with that, it's back to you.

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BRUNHUBER: In Jewish temples across the U.S., the war between Israel and Hamas was a tragic contrast to the Jewish day of rest. Ceremonies during the weekly Shabbat services included words of wisdom and songs.

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BRUNHUBER: From Chicago to Atlanta, synagogues honored those who were killed in Israel.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bless the residents of the State of Israel who live under constant threats of missile attacks and death. May the holy ones strengthen their hearts during this time of crisis until the period passes. The power sent healing supports the bodies and souls of our brothers and sisters in the West Bank, where Hamas is as fierce as death.

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BRUNHUBER: In Southern Lebanon, a journalist for Reuters has been killed and six other journalists wounded in an Israeli strike while covering the war between Israel and Hamas. All of them wore body armor clearly labeled as press. Issam Abdallah was the Reuters videographer who died. According to a CNN analysis of statements and videos, the blast that hit the group happened when Israeli forces struck Lebanon on Friday. The Israeli military hasn't responded to CNN's request for comment. Israel's military did say it had fired artillery at Lebanese territory after a border fence exploded near an Israeli kibbutz.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 11 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war.

A New York City landmark is shining in support of Israel and those killed in last weekend's deadly attacks. The Empire State Building was lit up in blue and white Friday night, the colors of the Israeli flag. According to the site's social media pages, the colors honor the victims of the Hamas attacks on Israel last Saturday. The post says the colors will light up the building's tower from sunset Friday until sunrise Saturday.

And before we go, many of you might want to help with humanitarian relief efforts in Israel and Gaza, so you can head to cnn.com/impact, and there you can find a list of vetted organizations that are responding on the ground at cnn.com/impact.

All right. that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber. "CNN This Morning" is next with more of our breaking news coverage of Israel at war.

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