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Hamas Frees American Woman and Daughter; Anger and Protests Grow over Gaza; Growing Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza amid Israeli Strikes; Republican Jim Jordan Loses Third Vote and Secret Ballot; In Gaza, the Suffering of Children. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 21, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes with the latest on the Israel-Hamas war.
An American woman and her teenage daughter are undergoing medical evaluations in Israel after they were released by Hamas on Friday. Judith Raanan and her daughter, Natalie, were visiting family close to Gaza when they were taken hostage by Hamas two weeks ago.
Hamas is believed to have about 200 hostages. Back home in Illinois, Natalie's father spoke about reuniting with her.
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URI RAANAN, NATALIE'S FATHER: I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, for two weeks. I haven't been sleeping for two weeks. Tonight, I'm going to sleep good.
I spoke with my daughter earlier today. She sounds very good. She looks very good. She was very happy and she's waiting to come home.
I'm going to hug her and kiss her and it's going to be the best day of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We have more now from CNN's Whitney Wild.
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WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The walk to freedom in a snapshot, 59-year-old Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie are finally safe after two weeks as Hamas hostages.
They're headed home after many prayers and tears, a community's fear now replaced by joy.
RABBI MEIR HECHT, SYNAGOGUE LEADER: Our prayers have been heard for Judith and Natalie and we are so overjoyed. WILD (voice-over): They traveled to Israel from Illinois and have been
missing since the Hamas attacks on October 7th. They were visiting for Judith's mother's 85th birthday. Judith's sister told CNN she had no idea if they would ever return.
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SARAY COHEN, JUDITH RAANAN'S SISTER: I was very worried about my sister and my niece. My niece is not even 18. She's supposed to be celebrating her birthday on the 24th of this month. We know that young women are being raped and injured. And Judith is -- she's not very, very healthy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILD (voice-over): She says Hamas kidnapped 11 other family members from another kibbutz and they are still missing, though CNN cannot independently verify that information.
COHEN: As you can imagine, we are devastated, and we are having quite a hard time.
WILD (voice-over): Natalie's brother said he's looking forward to hugging his sister again and helping however he can as she recovers from the trauma.
BEN RAANAN, NATALIE'S BROTHER: At least from my father, Natalie is doing well, is composed. We are ready to start this incredible journey of healing and trauma relief for her.
HECHT: Both Judith and Natalie are artists; kind, giving, generous souls.
WILD (voice-over): The office of the Israeli prime minister said the Israel Defense Forces met Judith and Natalie at the border on Friday, along with the International Committee of the Red Cross, transferring them to a military base in the center of Israel.
As one family readies to embrace their loved ones, the families and friends of hundreds more are left to wait and wonder.
HECHT: They've gone through the most evil period of their life and by people that inflicted just terror and horror to them and to so many others. And our job is to be there for them.
WILD: According to the White House, President Biden spoke with both of them Friday by phone. U.S. officials are racing to bring home the 10 other Americans still in Hamas hands -- Whitney Wild, CNN, Evanston, Illinois.
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HOLMES: And CNN's Katie Polglase joins me live from London with more on this development.
I know there's not a lot but tell me what more we do know about how the hostage release came about and what, if anything, Hamas might get in return.
KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCHER: Morning, Michael. Clearly this is a diplomatic success in terms of the U.S. Israel is saying this has come about because of military pressure that is on Hamas at the moment, according to an official of the prime minister's office.
Of course, this is not something that Hamas would agree with. They have said they released these two on humanitarian grounds, particularly because the mother has been in ill health, something the Israelis dispute, saying there is nothing in humanitarianism in Hamas, calling Hamas monsters.
This back and forth is what we've come to see a lot of in this war. But for the civilians and hostages as well, this is a sign of hope that things might change. Certainly, the Biden administration have been very relieved to hear this. Have a listen to what Secretary of State Antony Blinken had to say about it.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: We welcome the release. We share in the relief that their families, friends and loved ones are feeling.
But there are still 10 additional Americans, who remain unaccounted for in this conflict. We know that some of them are being held hostage by Hamas, along with an estimated 200 other hostages held in Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POLGLASE: Obviously, those 200 are going to be the focus now, particularly the Americans you mentioned. But all of them are of grave concern. This success story may be a sign of hope. But there are many still in danger yet.
HOLMES: To that point, is there any sense that we're getting, that other releases could be in the works in the near term?
POLGLASE: Well, you would like to hope so. And certainly, the person that spoke to CNN yesterday said that's the hope now. The U.S. said they were involved very much so in making this happen. And Qatar also had a key role in mediating.
The hope is that the same process will happen again. We understand Hamas is talking with what they term "friendly countries," Egypt and Qatar, about releasing other foreign nationals.
But it remains to be seen. Clearly, we are still witnessing a dire humanitarian crisis on the ground in Gaza for all civilians, let alone the hostages that are being kept there. So the situation is very concerning. Unfortunately, information is scarce.
The various administrations involved in negotiating are either not discussing the details for the security of the negotiations or don't have details themselves. So some of the families are left seeing horrendous videos online that they may or may not be able to identify some of their relatives in.
Some relatives, this is all the information they're getting so a really difficult time for many families. Clearly, there is some good news but a lot remains to be seen.
HOLMES: Great reporting, thank you, Katie.
Katie Polglase there in London for us.
Now the IDF says it is preparing for the next stages of the war against Hamas.
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HOLMES (voice-over): This is tanks lined up near the border with Gaza, where the prospect of a ground incursion still looms. The IDF spokesperson said the current priority, though, is the return of all those hostages.
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HOLMES (voice-over): In Gaza itself, as you see there, the Al Quds hospital, it says that Israel has demanded the immediate evacuation of the building ahead of an airstrike, perhaps at some point overnight.
The World Health Organization says such a demand would be impossible to carry out, given the hospital currently houses around 12,000 displaced people, plus hundreds of patients. The IDF explained why it could be targeted.
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MAJ. DORON SPIELMAN, IDF SPOKESPERSON: This is another example of feeding right into Hamas' playbook. If we'd asked people to evacuate a hospital, and I can't verify the specific case -- it's because Hamas are using those hospital grounds or near those grounds to launch rockets.
Again, I think any normal person anywhere in the world and in America, if they wanted to carry out a war, why would they do it from the hospital, knowing the IDF is going to respond?
Our goal is to try to move civilians out of the way, which, if we did call that, would be what we meant to do. Hamas' goal is to bait us into killing civilians. They win either way. They kill Israeli civilians, they take it as a win. They bait us into killing their own civilians, they take it as a win.
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SPIELMAN: That is why they have to be destroyed and completely taken out. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: As Israel prepares for the potential ground incursion into Gaza, the U.S. and its allies are urging the country to be strategic and have clear aims with its goals.
U.S. and Western officials told CNN there should be a particular emphasis on avoiding civilian casualties -- or any more civilian casualties.
From efforts on the ground to assaults in the skies now, Israel's Iron Dome has intercepted another rocket attack from Gaza just hours ago. They appear to have been aimed toward the center of Israel. Nic Robertson is in Sderot with more.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Just as that news was coming out, that Natalie and her mother, Judith, were being released, Hamas or one of the other groups inside Gaza launched a massive salvo of rockets right at that time, headed toward central Israel.
The Iron Dome intercepted them. Within an hour, they'd done it again, fired multiple rockets toward the center of Israel. They were intercepted again. And in that intervening hour, they fired five salvos into Sderot. That is way more than they've fired in an hour period than we've seen the past week or so.
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HOLMES: The Israeli city of Ashkelon is believed to be the most heavily bombarded in the Jewish state. It's south of Tel Aviv but just north of Gaza. We hear from Jeremy Diamond.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is life in Ashkelon, the most fired-upon city in Israel since Hamas launched its first rockets 12 days ago.
Here, fear still grips some. Others carry on, ignoring the sirens' wails.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we are outside, we are very careful. When we are inside, God is protecting us. Every missile has an address. You don't need to be afraid.
DIAMOND (voice-over): In a city where 90 percent of businesses have closed, this supermarket is a lifeline.
diameter There's a lot of businesses that are closed.
ADINA MORDECHAI, CASHIER: They're closed.
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MORDECHAI: It's working because people have to eat. They have to drink.
DIAMOND: You come once a week or --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once a week. (INAUDIBLE). (INAUDIBLE) now. Rocket, I was lying on the road and to put my hands on my head.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Getting to a bomb shelter isn't an option for everyone here, prompting the city to help evacuate thousands.
HEZI HALEVI, CEO, ASHKELON: We still have around 35,000 people that actually live without shelters. So each and every rocket, it means a direct risk for them. So we are trying to find solution for them.
DIAMOND (voice-over): More than 1,200 rockets have targeted Ashkelon. While most are intercepted by the Iron Dome, about 200 have made direct hits, displacing families from their homes, causing casualties and shuttering businesses, like this bakery.
DOR MACHLUF, BAKERY OWNER (through translator): When we got here, everything was in pieces. The door was out of place. There was the smell of gunpowder. A lot of nails and shrapnel was put out. Everything was destroyed. We are starting to put things right.
DIAMOND (voice-over): In the basement of an unassuming building, Ashkelon's CEO takes us inside the city's operation center, where officials are trying to shorten response times, tracking rockets headed for the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our rescue teams, police, ambulances and everything is going from here.
DIAMOND: So before the rocket even lands, you can see where it would land?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We have some estimation where it's going to land.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Until then, the first responders wait and pray -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Ashkelon.
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HOLMES: As of now, people in Gaza waiting for shipments of critical supplies are still waiting. But U.S. President Joe Biden says they should get some relief this weekend. He says trucks carrying much- needed humanitarian aid should be able to get through the Rafah border crossing soon.
They were supposed to head into Gaza from Egypt Friday as part of a delegate deal. But President Biden said the trucks were delayed because the highway had to be repaved after Israeli shelling there. CNN teams on the ground say repair vehicles have entered Gaza from Egypt to fix that side of it. Those delays only adding to the anger.
[00:15:00] HOLMES: Clarissa Ward was at the border crossing as pro-Palestinian protests erupted.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For days they have been waiting. More than 200 trucks full of aid desperately needed in Gaza but stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres hoped to be here for a much- needed diplomatic win.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: As smoothly, as quickly as possible.
WARD (voice-over): Instead, he found himself in the midst of a protest, his remarks drowned out by the crowd.
WARD: People are chanting over and over again, "With our blood, with our souls, we will defend Palestine."
There's a huge amount of anger, a huge amount of emotion, much of it directed at the West.
WARD (voice-over): And much also at Western media, who people here feel have favored Israeli voices over Palestinians.
RAHMA ZEIN, PROTESTER: Where is your humanity?
WARD (voice-over): A protester starts shouting at me. We invite her to do an interview with us.
ZEIN: OK, fine. When a thousand plus Palestinian babies die, you don't feel the same. You don't feel the same as when I tell you one of your own has died. But these are our own. And it is unfair and Egypt will tell with Palestine. All Western channels are talking for Israel.
If the United Nations is standing for Israel, if all these international institutions are standing for Israel. Who's there for the Palestinians?
And don't call it a war. The jargon is even more infuriating. It's not a war, they're not on equal footing. It is not a war.
WARD (voice-over): For many, it is deeply personal. A Palestinian man holds up his ID
MADI ABU ABEID, PROTESTER: I can't contact with my family there.
WARD: You can't -- your family's on the other side?
ABEID: Yes, I have seven sisters and my father, my mother, grandmother, uncles. All my family is there. I can't contact with them.
WARD: Are they OK?
ABEID: I don't know if they are OK or not.
WARD (voice-over): As Egyptian soldiers stand by, the demonstrators get more animated. Protests are normally illegal here but today the Egyptian president called on people to take to the streets.
WARD: So this is rapidly becoming a very chaotic scene now. They're trying to get the Secretary General out of here.
WARD (voice-over): We are ordered back on to the buses and escorted out through the crowd back to Yasser (ph) Airport where piles of aides sit by the runway, so close to where they need to be.
But held back, the U.N. says, by complications over how to monitor the trucks that enter Gaza and how to establish a continuous humanitarian corridor.
When you saw the anger of those protesters, most of it leveled at Israel and the U.S. But also at the international community for failing to stop the situation, what's your response?
GUTERRES: I think what's important to say is that we are doing everything we can, engaging with all the parties, to make sure that sooner rather than later we are able to have not only a first convoy but continued aid to the population in Gaza.
WARD: But no timeline.
GUTERRES: I think it should be as quickly as possible and with as many as possible trucks to cross in the first few days.
WARD (voice-over): But that is little comfort to the people of Gaza, for whom every day, every hour is vital -- Clarissa Ward, CNN, Rafah, Egypt.
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HOLMES: When we come back --
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HOLMES (voice-over): -- more demonstrations in the Middle East. We're on the ground as people protest Israel's strikes on Gaza and the Palestinian civilians caught in the middle.
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HOLMES: Protests intensifying across the Middle East against Israel's bombardment of Gaza in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack on the country two weeks ago. And the cries of support for the Palestinians caught in the crossfire is reaching fever pitch. Nada Bashir has more from Jordan.
We want to caution our viewers, some of the video might be disturbing.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In downtown Amman, worshippers gathered for Friday prayers but it is not just the call to prayer that has drawn these crowds today but a call to action in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
"This protest is a pledge," they chant, "that the people of Jordan will not leave Gaza alone."
Thousands of men, women and children, entire families draped in the traditional Palestinian scarf, a symbol for many of Palestinian resistance.
BASHIR: Well, you can hear how loud the crowds are here. We've got another day in Amman, thousands of people have taken to the streets protesting against Israel's continued aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip, protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
BAYAN ABU GHARBIYA, PROTESTER (through translator): We are doing this for our families who are dying in Gaza because we are unable to do anything. So the least we can do is stand here in solidarity with them, to support them, so that they know that we are with them with our hearts and everything.
BASHIR (voice-over): There is palpable outrage here in Jordan of Israel's ongoing bombardment of besieged Gaza Strip and deep seated anger directed toward Israel and Israel's Western allies.
Many here even calling on the Jordanian government to close down the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Amman.
For days now, protests have taken place not only across Jordan but also across the wider region.
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BASHIR (voice-over): In Cairo, where the state has long clamped down on mass demonstrations, hundreds gathered into Tahrir Square.
Hours earlier, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was forced to cut his visit short after protests erupted there.
Gaza has faced relentless Israeli airstrikes for almost two weeks now.
And protests across the Arab world and the wider region are at a boiling point. Iraq, Tunisia, Yemen and Turkey and even further afield and with Gaza on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, this protest movement is only growing stronger -- Nada Bashir, CNN, Jordan.
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HOLMES: Still to come on the program, U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with the two American hostages freed by Hamas. How their release is increasing hopes soon more might be set free. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: The father of one of the American hostages released by Hamas on Friday says his daughter is happy and wanting to come home to Chicago.
Teenager Natalie Raanan and her mother, Judith, have been held captive in Gaza after being abducted from a kibbutz where they were visiting in southern Israel during the October 7 terror attacks.
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HOLMES (voice-over): U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with them on the phone to offer support. You see images from that conversation there. The Israeli military says it hopes for the release of more hostages.
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SPIELMAN: What is unique is these both two are American citizens. I think the mother is maybe dual American, like I am myself. The daughter is solely American.
But these are the first two and what we see and know is Hamas is trying to paint itself as a human rights organization now, by having given back two of the hostages. The real face of evil is still there. Rockets are raining down on Israel as I'm speaking to you. And let's get back all the hostages. And then we can speak with them.
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HOLMES: Joining me now, Aaron David Miller, former State Department Middle East negotiator and a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment.
Always good to see you, sir.
What is your read into the release of the two American hostages?
Would Hamas have released them without a deal?
AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: First of all, thanks for having me. We're in a long, dark tunnel. This was the first ray of light. I'm keeping my expectations pretty low.
I think the motivation for the release had to do with pressure on one hand and propaganda on the other. There's a statement from Qatar, which talks about -- it seemed very upbeat about ongoing negotiations to try to free the hostages and, to use their words, "deescalate tensions."
So the external leadership is based on Doha. The Qataris have been funding Hamas to the tune of anywhere from $3 million to $10 million a month, subsidizing them in Gaza, on the assumption that Hamas was primarily interested in governing and stabilizing the situation in Gaza.
That's what we're preparing for but it's certainly not what we saw on October 7th.
But it's also propaganda. I mean, it's cruel manipulation, dribbling out the hostages. And as you'll know, they released two Americans. And that harks back, that selection process harks back to Entebbe, where the PFOP and German radicals separated the Jews and the Israelis from the other foreign nationals on that flight.
I think it's cruel manipulation and I think we're going to see more of it.
HOLMES: You've had more than 20 years as a Middle East negotiator. It's often said -- and I think you have, too -- you can draw up a workable, theoretical way forward on the back of a napkin. But the problem is neither side has been willing to take hard steps.
Can you see those hardline positions changing anytime soon?
MILLER: No, in large part because the events of October 7th were so unbelievably brutal and savage, it went beyond anything the Israelis had ever experienced in all of their conflicts with Palestine, maybe akin to the suicide terror, the Second Intifada.
But this went beyond. This was indiscriminate, willful killing up close. It was the taking of hostages for specific purposes.
It was taking dead Israelis with Hamas back to Gaza in an effort to bargain with them, because they know how important, what a value the Israelis place on redeeming their civilians and soldiers, alive or dead, from the battlefield during captivity. So I see no flexibility.
HOLMES: There's a difference between retaliation and revenge. I'm curious if you think -- how much of what's happening in Gaza now, among the civilian population, not the terror groups, risks increasing the radicalization, not just among Palestinians but further afield, that Israel's response to what was an undeniable terror attack actually leads to more radicalization nonetheless.
MILLER: You know that's the case. Gaza is already an open air prison; 21,000 humans per square mile, 2.3 million people, half of whom are under 15, already huge problems with power outages, even before the Israeli strikes, and clean water.
I don't think there's any doubt about that. What insurgence -- it's the history of insurgency.
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MILLER: The victimization generates more anger. In the end, more young men and women, who are willing to commit violence, sometimes atrocities, as a consequence of that rage and anger.
The problem for the Israelis is they were confronted with something that was so far beyond anything they had seen before -- 1,400 civilians. In '73,, Israelis lost 2,800 soldiers. This was half that number in 24 hours and they were civilians.
What were the Israeli alternatives?
Well, blockade of Gaza; punish Gaza and increase pressure on Hamas and crushing airstrikes. If you believe the Palestinian ministry of health, controlled by Hamas, it has already killed 3,000 Palestinians and you have a looming ground operation. When it will take place is unclear.
HOLMES: Got to leave it there unfortunately. Aaron David Miller, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
MILLER: Michael, always a pleasure. Take care.
HOLMES: Cheers.
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HOLMES: As a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia appears to have stalled now, the Palestinian Authority prime minister telling CNN any such agreement needs to feature the Palestinian cause. He explained why it's critical and what it could mean in terms of a political solution for the Palestinian people.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Do you see normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel as providing an opportunity for a political horizon and a political solution for the Palestinians?
Is that the best option at this point?
MOHAMMAD SHTAYYEH, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRIME MINISTER: The Saudis have made it very clear. The link between their future relation with Israel and the Palestine cause, it's there.
And that is where we feel very assured on that. It's not priceless. It's with price. Now maybe this issue will be deferred for a certain period of time to come. But the issue the Saudis have brought back the question of Palestine to the table.
ANDERSON: Do you think that normalization could be the best bet for a political solution for Palestinians going forward, ironically, as some of our viewers might see it?
SHTAYYEH: If it's based on the Arab peace initiative. If it's based on peace for land FMLA. Otherwise, because Netanyahu's talk of failure, that Netanyahu thought that it's peace for peace, peace for peace does not work because you have no problem with United Arab Emirates except for the Palestine cause.
You have no problem with Bahrain except for the Palestine cause.
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HOLMES: All right. Back to square one for U.S. House Republicans after a candidate for speaker fails to win enough votes for the third time. That and perspective from an expert when we come back.
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HOLMES: U.S. President Joe Biden spoke once again Friday morning with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. According to a readout from the White House, they discussed efforts to free hostages in Gaza and humanitarian assistance plans for Gaza, discussed earlier this week.
Mr. Biden also affirmed Israel's right to defend its citizens while at the same time warning of the obligation to protect civilians in Gaza. This is the fourth known phone call between the two leaders since the deadly Hamas attacks on October 7. They met face to face in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, U.S. House Republicans have no clear path forward after Jim Jordan failed to get enough Republican votes to win the House speakership on his third floor vote. Several Republicans jumped into the race after the party rejected Jordan.
But it's unclear if any can get the 217 votes needed to win. One Jordan ally trying to blame the chaos on Democrats.
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REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): Clearly, there is yet another void. We are going to have a couple more days of chaos as we try to get a sense of what's next.
To me, it reminds me how incredibly irresponsible it was for 208 Democrats and 8 Republicans to put this House into absolute chaos without any kind of a plan for how we were going to move forward.
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HOLMES: The speaker vacuum was triggered by a bloc of hardline conservative Republicans. Without a speaker, the House is effectively frozen, an increasingly perilous situation amid conflicts abroad and an impending government funding deadline next month.
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HOLMES: Michael Genovese is a political analyst and president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount. He joins me from Los Angeles.
Always good to see you, sir.
First of all, how does what's happening with Republicans in the Speaker chaos, let's call, it impact the president's request for more money for both Israel and Ukraine?
You've got internal squabbling and dysfunction now actively impacting far more than who holds the Speaker's gavel.
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right. It has huge implications. Some 17 days, no speaker; they're not going to meet again until Monday. They won't vote until Tuesday, we're told.
So there's a huge backlog of important things and some big deadlines coming up, including a potential government shutdown. But the ongoing chaos and confusion has been played out in public display for the most part.
Congress is closed for business. Emotions are running high. Jim Jordan kept on losing support rather than gaining support over time. By the third ballot, his support collapsed faster than a third grade science project. And so what we are seeing is utter chaos.
The question is, is chaos the intent?
Is that the goal?
It doesn't appear that way. Donald Trump is a chaos maker. But in the House, they need someone who can bring people together.
Blaming the Democrats, as your previous clip showed, is silly, because Democrats are sitting back and saying, why should we help you when you are the ones who are going to go against us and legislate?
So don't expect the Democrats to. Help There's this old saying, when your enemy is committing suicide, let him.
HOLMES: Yes, why would they help elect somebody that is actively speaking against their own policy?
A House Speaker, it used to be a position politicians would aspire to. Now it's seemingly like a poisoned chalice.
If not Jordan, if not Scalise, if not McCarthy, then who?
[00:45:00] HOLMES: Who do you see as an obvious consensus candidate?
This cannot go on.
GENOVESE: It can't go on. You can see a couple of scenarios.
One, you might empower the temporary speaker. That's not a long term solution but it's a short term Band-aid.
You might continue the debacle. And voting would be none of the above.
You might go back to Kevin McCarthy. You could do like a movie sequel. You go back to the second run for McCarthy.
Oddly enough, some people are talking about a coalition, where you might need to bring in some Democrats to vote for the Speaker. That seems very unlikely.
And then there is always the far outside possibility that a non member is brought in as a kind of healer. That may be the last gasp hope.
HOLMES: Yes, yes, yes.
Who would that be?
I'm curious if you think there would be fallout at the ballot box for Republicans over their dysfunction.
Or do you think voters' memories are too short for that?
GENOVESE: You know there are very few voters that are in play. The Republicans have a solid base and the Democrats have a solid base. And there's only about 12 percent at most of voters who are available for switching over.
That's a lot. Those folks will determine the next election.
Do they have a long term memory?
If we have a government shutdown, I think the Republicans will fare very poorly in the next election.
HOLMES: You know, as we were saying, we're in the midst of any number of global and domestic crises and issues.
But when it comes to the global ones, how does the U.S. look to the rest of the world?
GENOVESE: Well, we look like a weak giant. We look like a fumbling giant. But I will give President Biden some credit. He went to a war zone; he displayed admirable leadership qualities.
The U.S. and Israel are as close as two coats of paint but -- and this is an important but -- he also issued a warning, which is what friends do to friends. He warned the Israeli leadership that you need to be deliberative. You
need to ask hard questions. You need to be clearheaded and you can't let, as we did after 9/11, you can't let primal feelings dictate policy.
That was sage advice. And you can see the great contrast in optics between President Biden, who is in a war zone, acting like a leader, and Donald Trump, who is in a courtroom, acting like a criminal defendant. That is what is at stake. And that's what's going on.
HOLMES: Yes. And meanwhile, the world looks in and says, well, here's a country that can't even run a government. Michael Genovese in Los Angeles, always good to see you, my friend, thank you.
GENOVESE: Thank you, Michael.
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HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, as Israel battles Hamas, children injured, dying, in a war they don't understand and have no part in. We will have a report when we come back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
An Israeli airstrike aimed at hitting Hamas ends with the fallout from the blast killing people who sought shelter inside a church in Gaza.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Have a look at the damage left behind at a Greek orthodox church campus in Gaza City. The Israeli airstrike rained down next to this compound on Thursday, causing one of the church buildings to collapse, according to a CNN analysis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They came here to escape the airstrikes and the destruction. They thought they were safe. Here the destruction followed them.
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HOLMES: The Palestinian ministry of health earlier said 17 people were killed following an Israeli airstrike. CNN cannot independently confirm the casualty number.
As the war against Hamas enters its third week, it seems children often suffer the most, as they usually do in conflict. And the stories are heartbreaking. We have to warn, you this next report contains graphic images some viewers might find disturbing. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh brings us the story.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Why?
"Why have you gone, my son?" he wails.
"You wanted to be a pilot. You're only sleeping," he says, kissing his boy's lifeless body.
Every day of this war has brought pain, pain no parent wants to ever live through.
Every 15 minutes in Gaza, a child is killed, aid groups say. More than 1,500 children killed so far in a war that's only just beginning, a war they didn't choose, one for which they are paying the heaviest price.
Those who live, haunted by what they've survived. The lucky ones still have parents to hold their hands. Ten-year-old Abdi Rahman (ph) still doesn't know the strike that left him injured took away his mom, dad and three sisters. His aunt, the only one left to try and comfort him.
"He wakes up, he cries, they give him painkillers and he goes back to sleep," she says.
"I'm worried about him, the shock when he wakes up and finds out that his mother and father are gone," his aunt says.
"He's the youngest. He was so attached to his parents. He used to play football with his dad. He would go with him everywhere."
Families here say they all heeded the Israeli military's warning and moved south, thinking it would be safe. But it wasn't.
Malik (ph) is injured in the hips and legs. She lost her mother and siblings in an airstrike.
"A girl in the third grade. What did she do?" her aunt asks.
"Did she shoot Israelis?
"She didn't. We're peaceful people in our home," she says.
"We didn't launch any rockets or shoot. We didn't do anything."
Nine-year-old Mahmoud (ph) was out playing when his family home was hit. He's in hospital with head and leg injuries.
"We were playing in the garden.
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KARADSHEH (voice-over): "And suddenly a missile landed on us," he says.
"Trees fell on me. My mother, my father, my brother and grandfather are injured. My uncle brought me unconscious to the hospital."
Most of the injured in Gaza, doctors say, are children and women. With no power, no water and medical supplies running out, the health care they need is on the verge of collapse.
Around half of Gaza's population are children. Most have only ever known life under a blockade and war. Now in this kill box, no place safe from Israel's relentless bombardment.
Desperate for any promise of safety, many have flooded Al-Shifa hospital grounds. The constant buzz of military drones overhead has become part of existence in Gaza. Some find a little escape from this living nightmare no child should ever endure.
Loujain (ph) and Julia (ph) say their neighborhood was flattened by airstrikes.
"We've been living in so much fear, panic and anxiety," she says, "whenever I hear airstrikes, I don't know what to do. I hug my mom."
Seven-year-old Julia (ph) says she holds her mom, too, and hides. They're now living under the stairs.
"I get upset when I see injured here in the hospital," Julia (ph) says. When I grow up, I want to become a doctor so I can treat them, so they can get better."
It's a war on Hamas, they say, but it is the youngest who bear the brunt, ensnared in violence they can't control, trapped in this race against death -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
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HOLMES: Thanks for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. I'll be back with more on the freed American hostages at the top of the hour.
