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Biden Heading To Israel After Gaza Hospital Blast; Growing Concern Over Likely Israeli Ground Incursion; Jordan Scrambles After 20 Republicans Voted Against Him; Putin & Xi Meet For Bilateral Talks On Summit Sidelines; Hamas' Social Media Following Surges After Attacks; Gaza Officials Blame Israel For Hospital Blast: Israeli Military Says It Was Islamic Jihad Rocket; Israel Airstrikes Hit Rafah, Khan Younis Killing Dozens; Tensions Mount At Israel-Lebanon Border; Israel Hunts For Leader Of Hamas In Gaza. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 18, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:34]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, as we continue our breaking news coverage of "ISRAEL AT WAR".

I'm Rosemary Church.

U.S. President Joe Biden is on his way to Israel this hour as a scene of chaos and devastation is unfolding in Gaza. The videos we're about to show you may be upsetting.

Palestinian officials report hundreds of people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza. Israel insists the hospital was hit by an errant rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Sources tell CNN, the U.S. is analyzing intelligence provided by Israel. The World Health Organization, says, in addition to caring for patients, the hospital has been sheltering thousands of people displaced from their homes. The hospital blast has broad condemnation from around the globe.

The U.N. human rights chief calls it horrific and unacceptable. President Biden says he's outraged and deeply saddened. And here is the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. And we hold Israel responsible for this massacre, this crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Protests have broken out in the West Bank and across the Middle East. Demonstrators marched through the streets near the U.S. embassy north of Beirut in Lebanon. Hundreds of people in Baghdad chanted anti-Israeli slogans as security forces kept them out of the heavily fortified green zone. And protesters gathered outside the French and British embassies in Iran's capital.

I want to go live now to London, where journalist Elliott Gotkine is following developments for us. He joins us now.

So, Elliott, President Biden is about to arrive in Israel. But, of course, the Gaza hospital blast has changed everything with Arab leaders now canceling their summit. President Biden will now only meet with Israel's prime minister. What's expected to come out of this very risky visit?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: I suppose the short answer, Rosemary, is not a lot. There were two main objectives originally for this visit. One was to show that when President Biden says America's support for Israel is ironclad, he means it. And the other was to send or to reiterate a very clear message to Israel's foes, particularly Iran, and it's a proxy in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah that if they were thinking of exploiting Israel's war with Hamas, as an excuse for opening up a new front in the north, in his words, in his one-word warning, don't.

So, no doubt, President Biden will be reiterating that warning to Hezbollah and its backers back in Tehran.

But, of course, this blast this explosion at this hospital in Gaza -- in the Gaza Strip, which has left possibly hundreds of people dead really complicates matters, because if it turns out that it was an Israeli strike that caused this blast, and that is what the Palestinians in the Hamas, on enclave are saying. That is what the Arab world believes right now, then, it's going to not be a particularly good look. The optics will not look great for President Biden to be there, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just hours after this blast took place at this hospital.

Of course, if it turns out, and Israel, as you say, has shared its evidence with the United States. It has also published, made public its first batch of evidence that it says shows that it wouldn't have been an Israeli strike that caused this blast and these hundreds of deaths at this hospital in Gaza.

If that turns out to be the case, then, that will perhaps take some of the pressure off President Biden, but it's clearly a very risky and very concerning time for him from a -- from a political standpoint.

And, of course, against this backdrop, we're seeing America's allies in the region, even countries with whom Israel has peace treaties coming out and condemning Israel for this explosion at this hospital, whether it's the Egyptians, the Jordanians, or the Emiratis, or the Saudis, with whom Israel was, of course, hoping and inching towards some kind of grand normalization deal overseen by President Biden.

That's what we were talking about a couple of weeks ago, as the main kind of news coming out of Israel and the Middle East that there was potentially going to be this normalization deal that would have been a really big foreign policy win for President Biden, certainly going into elections next year.

[02:05:09]

Well, that seems off the table for the -- for the foreseeable future. So, a very tricky time and a tricky path to tread for President Biden as he arrives in Israel. Rosemary?

CHURCH: It most certainly is. Elliott Gotkine, joining us live from London, many thanks.

Well, meantime, a top official with the Palestinian national initiative, says the information he's received from his colleagues on the ground confirms it was in Israeli airstrike that hit the hospital in Gaza, a claim CNN cannot independently verify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, GENERAL SECRETARY, PALESTINIAN NATIONAL INITIATIVE: My colleagues are there and I've been talking to them, and they are definite about what has happened.

This was not a blast. This was not an explosion. This was an airstrike. It was a deliberate war crime that Israel conducted on this hospital. And Israel, by the way, repeated two different lies.

The first lie was that there were Hamas people hiding in the place, and that's why they hit it.

And then, the second lie came immediately after claiming that it was Jihad rocket and something like that, because I think they could not deny that there was an airstrike.

So, and the reality is that this was a war crime. This should not have happened. I do not want any Israeli or Palestinian killed, but the reality here is that Israel is conducting acts of genocide against the population of Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, joining me now from Tel Aviv, Israel is Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner. He is spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces. Thanks for joining us.

So, of course, in the wake of this tragic blast on a Gaza hospital, Hamas is blaming Israel, while the IDF says this was an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired. So, what evidence do you have to show this was not an Israeli bomb that hit the hospital? It is critical. The world see that.

PETER LERNER, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES: Good morning, Rosemary. Indeed, a very important question you are asking. And I would actually ask what evidence do you have to corroborate what Hamas has been telling and lying since the very beginning of this incident, which took place at around 7:00 p.m.?

Unfortunately, the dramatic heartbreaking images of death at the hospital are a result of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. We initiated immediately an investigation and inquiry into the circumstances that caused these tragic images. And I can, without a doubt, say that the IDF was not responsible for the attack on the hospital.

We know that because once we investigated, we found, at the high-level investigation, we utilizing intelligence, operational data and aerial footage, we concluded that there was no active operations by the IDF against the hospital.

Our radars tracked and found the contour of the rockets towards Israel at that time. And indeed, we intercepted intelligence communications of Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists confirming that they had actually hit the al-Ahli hospital by name.

So, I would say, first of all, we need to be very, very cautious in trusting anything Hamas is saying. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that butchers babies in their bedrooms, that utilizes the Palestinian people as a human shield that jeopardizes their own people.

Why would it be beyond them to lie to the international media? So, I would say, we have to be very, very cautious, very, very careful in jumping to conclusions, based unfounded -- and while these incidents -- an incidents like these will develop, I think there is a huge responsibility that news outlets around the world corroborate information that Hamas is feeding you.

Because what happened in the aftermath of this attack, and you briefly went over the International and the diplomatic ramifications. And it's all because you did not confirm what actually happened and you base it on what a terrorist organization that is holding 199 people -- hostage until today.

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: Yes.

LERNER: So, I would say we have to be very, very clear. The IDF is not responsible for the attack on the hospital. It is a Palestinian Islamic Jihad that has launched rockets at Israel. One of them malfunctioned and fell adjacent to the hospital in the parking lot. By the hospital, there is no impact, there is no craters to identify that it was an airstrike, which would be expected in such a strike if conducted by the IDF, there was none.

And if you look at the images, you see that it just looks like an impact site that we've seen time and time again in Israel. Since the beginning of this -- of this war in -- on the 7th of October after the massacre, there have been around for 450 misfired rockets that have landed in Gaza.

[02:10:03]

So, why would it be beyond the reality to conclude that this is not only not an option, but after we've investigated it, and have established and cross checked, and reviewed it even further to be certain, because we are a serious operation?

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: Right. And so --

LERNER: We are take -- we take war fight extremely --

CHURCH: Sorry to interrupt you, but I just do want to say that we are waiting to see all the video from Israel that apparently shows it did not hit the hospital. That intelligence has been shared with the United States.

I wanted to ask you, will an upcoming news conference this hour share all that video? And, of course, that conversation that apparently was recorded between Hamas militants, clarifying that.

I mean, this is what the world needs is some clarity on this point. It's not that anyone's going either way. I mean, we are just seeing the blame being cast in two different directions.

And we, as media organization, need to establish it on the basis of facts. That is our task.

LERNER: Unfortunately, the banner on CNN just last night was Hamas says that Israel conducted a strike against hospital, killing hundreds of people. That was not checked, you didn't check it. You just quoted them as a source. And you basically laid the ground for the whole event, which was unfound untruthful, and I would say a disservice to your viewers around the world.

So, I would say, yes, we are presenting information, we also need to be very, very cautious in what we share, because we don't want to give Hamas the advantage on the battlefield.

I'm sure you understand that when we are sharing aerial footage or footage from our radar systems, we are jeopardizing our own security. When we are exposing quick capabilities to intercept a certain call between A and B, we are jeopardizing our intelligence capability. So, we are very cautious. I hope that some of the information indeed will be released throughout the day.

And but, indeed, instead of in believing automatically what Hamas is telling you, from the Hamas, you know, doctors that are in the Ministry of Health of Hamas in Gaza, they have no free will, they are being told what they can say and cannot say. You have not seen them report one incident of a terrorist being killed in their attacks.

Why is that? Because they can't report the truth. They can't tell you what is actually happening. They are being held hostage like everybody else in this conflict.

I can tell you for this, Israel is a truthful country. We are a professional military that fights on behalf of innocent people to restore safety and security to our country.

And when we say something, we mean it, and is the -- it is the truth. And when you are taking an organization, a terrorist organization, for its face value, a terrorist organization, as I said, that has no problem in butchering babies in their bedrooms, and abducting and taking hostage, holocaust survivors, and holding them against their will, you take what they say when they're telling you a rocket attack was conducted by Israel?

Come on, we have a joint responsibility. And I would say the media here has a key part in making sure that the facts are facts and not based on what a terrorist organization would say. You need to put a question mark on every announcement they are making to you, Rosemary.

We are, yes -- we are now looking at -- looking forward to the potential of a grand operation. We are looking forward to an expanding operation, and we are going to destroy Hamas. That is the government's directive. And that is what we intend to do.

And indeed, you need to question us, and we have no problem being asked tough questions, and we are here, and we believe in the transparency and the responsibility. We have to report to the world and to the viewers that you are -- you are serving.

But we need to be factual. We can't base our reportage on anything that Hamas is saying. You need to question everything that they are conveying to you because they are utilizing you, abusing you to manipulate the situation, and exasperate the situation even further. And that is our joint responsibility, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, that is exactly why CNN continues to say we cannot verify this either way at this juncture. But once we get more facts on this issue, of course, we will be able to establish that.

IDF spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, thank you for joining us.

LERNER: Have a good day.

CHURCH: You too.

Well, Israeli airstrikes also pounded other locations across Gaza on Tuesday. The Palestinian Interior Ministry says at least 49 people were killed and dozens of others injured in strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more. But a warning, some of the images in her report are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (voice over): This city should be the way out of the war zone, but it too was caught in the crosshairs of Israel's relentless air assault.

You are looking at the aftermath of airstrikes on Rafah. Thousands have flocked here in recent days. Seeking safe passage only to find more death.

[02:15:04]

My children, oh God, please find my children! This man pleads.

They are under the rubble. Oh, God! Please pull them out.

It is unclear if his children survived. Israeli bombardment has killed dozens here in recent days, according to Palestinian officials. The city which sits on the Egyptian border is home to Gaza's only possible humanitarian corridor. A corridor that is now inoperable and unsafe, the WHO says, because of Israeli bombardment.

And at the border crossing, footage shows smoke billowing from multiple air strikes nearby on Tuesday. Desperate families gather here for hours a day, praying authorities will allow their exit.

So far, a diplomatic standoff keeping this crucial corridor shut. Cairo is reluctant to take in refugees. It says it wants to see aid allowed into the enclave. Israel's government has imposed a complete siege of Gaza after Hamas terror attacks killed some 1,400 people. It says it aims to wipe out Hamas.

LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES INTERNATIONAL: We continue to operate and strike Hamas targets as we have defined before. And we try to do that according to the law of armed conflict, and, of course, to minimize civilian casualties.

ABDELAZIZ: Intensive efforts by the U.S. and U.N. are yet to resolve the logjam, leaving countless people like this Michigan resident stuck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the war, they -- I can't sleep, a lot of bomb. This people here! This people here live! Is not right!

ABDELAZIZ: On the Egyptian side of the border, life-saving aid is piling up. And with more than 10,000 wounded Palestinians and a health care system on the brink, every hour counts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why it's critical to get there. This is for people like pregnant women. We know that there are 84,000 pregnant women and many of them are delivering every day. Babies don't care about bombs, they come when they come.

ABDELAZIZ: Gaza is in a stranglehold, rights groups say, under siege and under attack. With innocent civilians desperate to escape a growing hellscape.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, the IDF and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire along Israel's border with Lebanon, as they brace for the possibility of the conflict spreading further across the region.

Plus, Israel hunts for the leader of Hamas in Gaza. Who is Yahya Sinwar and what do we know about him? Those detail is next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:21:34]

CHURCH: As the siege in Gaza rages on, the Israel Defense Forces continue to exchange fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. Bracing for the possibility of a second front in the war, which could spill into other parts of the region.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Strike, after strike, after strike, and every strike is followed by an Israeli counter strike. Combatants and civilians killed on both sides. Hezbollah is testing just how far it can go, hitting Israeli targets, without igniting a full-scale war.

But the stakes here are treacherously high.

If Hezbollah makes a mistake, the Israeli military's chief of staff warned on a tour of the border, it risks, in his words, annihilation, annihilation, annihilation.

Hezbollah isn't wavering. We're not afraid of Israel and we're not afraid of the Americans behind them, Hezbollah parliament member (INAUDIBLE) tells me.

And behind Hezbollah stands Iran, whose foreign minister warns, if diplomatic efforts failed to stop Israel's attacks on Gaza, the opening up of new fronts is inevitable. And South Lebanon could be that front.

In some places, a wall separates Lebanon from Israel. In others, it's wide open. From a hill by the border, you can peer down into Israeli border towns like Metula, now largely abandoned but for soldiers scurrying from house to house.

Israel and Hezbollah have battled here before and they may soon be at war again.

Ben Wedeman CNN, Southern Lebanon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Israel is vowing to kill the leader of Hamas in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces has long been hunting for Yahya Sinwar, even before the Hamas terror attacks 11 days ago.

CNN's Sam Kiley reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Israel wants this man dead, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza.

In the face of evil, in the end, is Yahya Sinwar. That man is in our sights, all is teap up, and we'll get to them.

KILEY (voice over): He was first convicted in 1988 for the murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians suspected of collaboration with Israel. And he spent two decades in an Israeli prison, studying his enemy.

The founder of Hamas Internal Security Force, he had hunted alleged collaborators with zeal. And was among the movement's biggest prizes when over a thousand Palestinian prisoners were released in 2011 for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza for five years.

He said --

There is no doubt that this is a nationalistic moment power (INAUDIBLE), it is one of the big strategic monuments in the history of our cause. He quickly became head of Hamas's military wing, and on election to the Gaza leadership in 2017, effectively abolished its civilian branch.

[02:25:02]

Ostracized by Egypt, over its support for political Islam, he repaired friendships with Cairo, and built regional relationships that entrenched Hamas power.

MOUIN RABBANI, SENIOR FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR PALESTINE STUDIES: It really needed to have also good relations with the key Arab state that also shares the only Arab of border with the Gaza Strip, and with Iran that could supply Hamas with military and logistical support.

KILEY (voice over): Iran has poured military support into Hamas under him and Qatar has been a major backer of civilian projects.

He was soon in Israel's crosshairs quite literally. The IDF tried to kill him in May 2021. 10 days later, he laid out his strategy. He said, if the world doesn't take action to stop it, meaning Israel, there will be a religious war in the region. And he soon appeared in Gaza, alongside Egypt's intelligent chief, Abbas Kamel.

The U.S. is now relying on Egypt and Qatar, as key players to try to secure the safe release of Hamas is 200 captives. Their main point of contact is likely Sinwar.

Unless Israel fulfills its promise to kill him.

Sam Kiley, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The Hamas terror attacks in Israel have prompted serious questions for many about the militant group strategy and timing for its horrific assault. What was her mask thinking? That is the question reporters at the New Yorker recently posed to a senior political leader for Hamas.

David Kirkpatrick, who co-authored that piece spoke with CNN about his reporting.

DAVID KIRKPATRICK, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: The picture that emerged was desperation. I should tell you that when my colleague Adam, Razgon (PH), and I -- both Razgon (PH) and I spoke to Mousa Abu Marzook, he was at pains to say, no, we have not despaired, we're strong.

But the takeaway was that they basically feel like their backs against -- are against the wall. It was a, you know, a familiar litany of grievances about the occupation, about Israeli settlements in the West Bank, about the management of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is very important to Palestinians, and Muslims everywhere.

But added to that, was an increased sense of desperation because of the right-wing government around Netanyahu, because of the messages that it's conveying about its lack of receptivity to any kind of Palestinian political entity alongside Israel.

And also, a sense of betrayal as the other Arab states, more and more accommodate themselves to Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: David Kirkpatrick there. And he went on to tell CNN, the senior Hamas political official says he does not expect the war to expand to a second front, along the Israeli border with Lebanon, though there have already been several attacks between Israel and Hezbollah in the area in recent days.

And Israeli border town is now mostly empty. But those who remain have strong feelings about what needs to happen next, and what they want to hear from the U.S. president.

Back with that and more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:46]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. US President Joe Biden is on his way to Israel for a high stakes visit. His arrival will come just hours after a massive hospital blast in Gaza, which is believed to have killed hundreds of people. It remains unclear at this hour who is responsible.

Palestinian officials are blaming ongoing Israeli airstrikes. But the Israel Defense Forces is categorically denying any involvement, saying Islamic Jihad is to blame. According to the Palestinian health ministry, the hospital not only had patients and medical staff, but also thousands of displaced people who were sheltering there.

News of the explosion ignited angry protests on the streets across the Middle East, including near the US embassy in Lebanon. Meanwhile, people living near the border with Gaza are sharing their concerns about the war and what can be done. CNN's Nic Robertson shows us the situation in one community that's no stranger to rocket attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Sderot, a mile from Gaza, is deserted. 90 percent of residents have gone. Even abandoned pets are learning when to run. Bolting with incoming rocket warnings, it is an eerie place. The police station, overrun by Hamas 10 days ago, bulldozed flat.

ROBERTSON: You can hear the sound of the drones in the sky all the time. Over here, the shell casings from the fire fight still here. Bullet holes in the wall, still there. It's like everyone is waiting for the next move.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): For local officials, that next move is President Biden's visit.

AYELET SHMUEL, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL RESILIENCE CENTER - SDEROT: I don't know what Biden is thinking. I wish I knew. If I could be a little bird in his ear, I'd tell him, hey, if you take a stance now, I believe that if they will take a stance and not fold, we'll be able to get our people back, all the hostages.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Over the years, Sderot has become synonymous with resistance to Hamas' rockets. It's one of the most fired upon Israeli towns. Today, politicians here to show their solidarity. Boaz Bismuth is a member of the prime minister's Likud party.

BOAZ BISMUTH, ISRAELI LIKUD KNESSET MEMBER: We shall never put our friends in America in a position where they will feel uncomfortable, meaning we're not going against civilians.

ROBERTSON: And Biden, is he going to tell you that to respect that and for you to take that very tough decision, do not go into Gaza right now because that will just inflame the region?

BISMUTH: I think that President Biden and any American president knows exactly the morale of the Israeli army, and we know how to put limits to ourself. But there is one thing we shall not put a limit, is the fact that Hamas will not exist.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): To do that, the military ground incursion into Gaza appears inevitable.

ROBERTSON: Along the border with Gaza here there's a real sense of calm before a possible storm. The number of strikes compared to the last few days seems to be down. And that town you can see there with the tower blocks, that's Beiteinu. It was one of the first places the Israelis targeted in their 2014 incursion.

[02:35:16]

And it could be again now. ROBERTSON (voice-over): Tour guide Robbie Berman came to Sderot to tell journalists about his fund to offer Gazans money for helping free hostages. His message for President Biden is typical of many here.

ROBBIE BERMAN, ISRAELI TOUR GUIDE: The pressure on Arabic countries to allow those innocent Arabs, those innocent Palestinians from Gaza, who are not supportive of Hamas, to get them Visas to go into other Arab countries.

ROBERTSON: And all those Palestinians that would go out into other Arab countries, does that not for Palestinians look like '48 or '67, just losing their homeland again?

BERMAN: Yeah. And it's sad. It's sad for the Palestinians. Life is sad. War is sad. Collateral damage is sad. I feel for the innocent Palestinians. Enough. We can't live under this terror anymore.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): More of that terror in Sderot just hours before President Biden's anticipated arrival. Several missiles from Gaza crashing into the town.

ROBERTSON: This looks like the fin of the missile over here, and you can see where it came. It smashed through the outer wall, through that window, through this wall here, ending up here. Everything inside the house, torn apart. Fortunately when it hit, no one was home.

ROBERTSON (voice -over): Hard to remember a time in the Middle East when an American president's powers were more tested. Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: In Washington, US aid for Israel is just one issue under threat from the chaos currently engulfing the house of representatives. It remains effectively paralyzed without a speaker. Almost two weeks after Republican lawmakers ousted Kevin McCarthy from the job.

Multiple sources tell CNN House Republicans are divided over a backup plan if conservative Republican Jim Jordan fails to win the speakership on a second vote. The most popular plan is to grant more power to the temporary speaker Patrick McHenry. Jordan has scheduled that second vote in the coming hours after he lost the first vote Tuesday when 20 Republicans voted against him. He's now scrambling to win over those Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): We're going to keep going. We've had great conversations, great discussions with our colleagues. And frankly, no one in our conference wants to see any type of coalition government. So we're going to keep working, and we're going to get to the votes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins me now for more on this. Good to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Jim Jordan's first effort to win the House speakership failed, with 20 Republicans refusing to support him. How likely is it that a second vote in the coming hours will see a change in that outcome?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, 20 votes against him was certainly more than Jordan and his allies expected. And that is a big hill to overcome in a single vote.

You know, the magnitude of what is involved here really can't be overstated, not only in terms of the immediate chaos that House Republicans are in as the world is burning, as we are showing on the program for the last half hour, but also the possibility of elevating to the speakership the single member, a member of Congress in Jim Jordan, who has not only defended and supported Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, but according to the January six committee, was more personally involved in Trump's campaign to subvert the election result than any other single member of Congress.

And the prospect of the Republican Party elevating him to the speakership really at the same time that Trump has restored himself as a clear front-runner in the GOP race, really underscores the ongoing threat to what had been the pillars of American democracy, at least since the Civil War.

CHURCH: And Ron, if Jim Jordan doesn't win a second, or even a third vote, do they find another candidate, or perhaps empower the interim speaker for now, or do they keep going until Jordan gets the support he needs to become speaker as we saw them do previously with Kevin McCarthy, just wear people down, essentially?

BROWNSTEIN: I think it's harder for Jordan to wear people down than McCarthy. Jordan is a much more polarizing figure. He presents a clear risk to Republicans in more competitive districts, given his history as -- his involvement in the January sixth insurrection, his support of a total ban on abortion, his continued unalloyed defense of Trump.

[02:40:02]

I suspect that if he can't get there, and he may want to try to keep going, but if he can't get there in any intermediate time frame, there may be growing pressure to find that temporary solution of empowering the acting speaker so that the House can at least conduct the basic business of government. Don't forget, the clock is ticking for a potential government shutdown. And you have the indication from the White House that they do intend to come with a combined supplemental request for assistance, for both Ukraine and Israel.

CHURCH: Yeah, of course, as we've been reporting, the House is paralyzed, right? Unable to move on any legislation. And of course this is at a critical time when Israel is at war with Hamas, with fear of the war expanding in the region, and Russia's conflict rages on in Ukraine. What are the political ramifications of a party apparently unable to get its act together after a manufactured crisis by the far- right to oust McCarthy set all of this in motion?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I think the general assumption of political strategists is that, kind of, what happens in congress stays in congress, and that these kind of internal chaos doesn't, you know, ultimately affect the next election. I think this very well could be an exception. I mean, you look back at 2022, Rosemary, we had widespread discontent in the country over the economy, over President Biden's performance.

And yet, Republicans severely underperformed expectations of the gains they would make in the House. And the reason for that is that too many voters were unhappy with the way things were going in the country. Nonetheless, voted for Democrats, because they viewed the Republican alternative as too extreme.

And certainly, this open chaos for weeks at a critical moment in the world and the prospect, as I said, of the member of Congress who may have been most directly involved in Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, becoming the speaker, will certainly give Democrats plenty of ammunition to make that case in 2024, particularly against those 18 House Republicans representing the districts that Biden won.

There are also about another 15 of the House Republicans in districts that only narrowly voted for Trump. They are certainly playing with fire with the way, not only with the way they have allowed the House to descend into chaos, but with the possibility of elevating as polarizing a figure as Jordan to be their face and leader into 2024.

CHURCH: We will certainly be watching in the coming hours to see what happens with this vote. Ron Brownstein, many thanks for joining us and for your analysis, appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Still to come, two dear friends, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of a global summit in Beijing. We are live in the Chinese capital with more on their talks and what they're hoping to achieve. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:55]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a global infrastructures summit in Beijing, that is according to China's CCTV.

Both leaders addressed the crowd earlier in an opening banquet, but all eyes are on the two presidents and their reactions to the conflicts in both the Middle East and in Ukraine. CNN's Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang joins me now live. Good to see you, Steven. So what more do we know about the meeting between Putin and Xi, and what have we heard from the two leaders so far?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yeah, Rosemary, we're still waiting to hear more details on the behind closed doors session between the two strongman leaders. But in Xi Jinping's opening remarks, as seen on state television, he made a point of saying this was their 42nd meeting since 2013.

And how bilateral ties have grown so much in the past decade, especially when it comes to bilateral trade, soaring to new highs in the past few years, on track to hit their mutually agreed goal of two hundred billion US dollars annually. That's perhaps not surprising, given Beijing is increasingly providing Moscow with an economic lifeline since Russia is very much under severe Western sanctions after Putin invaded Ukraine.

But despite that war, and despite Beijing's claim of neutrality, the two sides have become a lot more in sync on multiple policy fronts, not just economically, but also politically and militarily, and in terms of their global messaging. That includes their responses to the latest crisis in the Middle East in Gaza, both sides very much focused on the Palestinian cause, while barely mentioning the Israeli casualties and not naming Hamas in their statements and condemnations.

Now, strategically speaking, analysts have pointed out, this conflict, this crisis, may be beneficial to both Russia and China, as it could potentially divert US attention and resources away from both Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region. So the two strongman leaders, even though they are not really saying they're known in this partnership that much publicly anymore, their relationship remains strong, their countries' relationship grows more robust and substantive.

Because at the end of the day, they are very much bonded by their shared grievances against the US and their desire to reshape the US- led world order. That is also the underlying theme in this forum, which is why Putin is here at the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Forum, Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy. In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, even without naming the US, the Chinese leader very much taking a swipe at Washington, saying his program is not about ideological confrontation or geopolitical rivalry.

That's an argument Putin seems to be very much on board, as the two good old friends meeting once again here in the Chinese capital, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Steven Jiang, joining us live from Beijing with that report, appreciate it. Well still to come, how is Hamas gaining more followers on social media, despite being banned from major sites like Meta and Google? CNN takes a look at the app at the center of the group's information warfare campaign.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, despite being barred by most social media platforms, there's one app where Hamas and other extremist organizations are still free to post. And Hamas has seen its following surge ever since the gruesome October seventh attacks on Israel. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization in the United States, is banned by major tech companies like Meta and Google. But on Telegram, the group is thriving, especially since the October seventh attack on Israel. One Hamas account jumping from two hundred thousand followers to almost seven hundred thousand followers. Another from 160 thousand to more than four hundred thousand.

CAITLIN CHIN-ROTHMANN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Telegram has actually marketed itself as a platform for free speech, where they don't take down content, which means that extremist organizations like Hamas are able to post messages on Telegram with very little fear of retribution.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Hamas has been using it for terror propaganda.

GRAHAM BROOKIE, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Their social media strategy, especially on Telegram, is very sophisticated. Things like calling for further violence, things like justifying their actions, including attacking a music festival of civilians. It also includes things like hostage videos.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): If you live in the United States, chances are you've never heard of Telegram. But it's a massive social media chat app with more than eight hundred million users globally. It's run by Pavel Durov.

BROOKIE: Pavel Durov, who is referred to as the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Durov ran a popular Russian social media platform but was forced out a decade ago, when he wouldn't comply with Russian government censorship requests, including refusing to shut down the page of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

PAVEL DUROV, FOUNDER & CEO, TELEGRAM: So, eventually I had to step down as the CEO of the company and leave Russia.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Durov moved to Dubai where he now runs Telegram. Indeed Telegram's laxed rules and private encrypted messaging have made it attractive to terrorists and extremists around the world.

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DUROV: We are not happy about ISIS or other extremist forces using Telegram. At the same time, we think that providing this kind of secure private means of communication for the masses, for like 99.9 percent of people who have nothing to do with terrorism means more than the threat that -- terrorists will always find the means of secure communication.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Telegram did take some steps to remove ISIS content in the past, but after Hamas used Telegram last week to warn people about a missile strike, Durov wrote, would shutting down their channel help save lives or would it endanger more lives?

O'SULLIVAN: In every step of this conflict since October seventh, Hamas has used Telegram to tell their story.

CHIN-ROTHMANN: Yes, exactly. Telegram has allowed them to shape a narrative. It's allowed them to spread messaging to very large audiences, not just Gaza, the audience is the entire world.

O'SULLIVAN: And this all just further muddying a very complicated information ecosystem around this conflict. Really, all the experts and observers we've been speaking to have really just remarked on how big a role information warfare is playing in this conflict. Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Washington.

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CHURCH: Hundreds of mourners attended a vigil in Illinois on Tuesday for a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed to death in a suspected anti-Muslim attack. The boy's uncle says he was overwhelmed by the huge show of support from the community. The mayor called six- year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, quote, "One of our own." The family says they were shocked to learn the suspect in the attack was their landlord.

Police say the suspect, now facing numerous charges including murder, had been influenced by anti-Palestinian sentiment on conservative talk radio in the days following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel. Appreciate your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break. Do stay with us.

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