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Israel Warns Gaza Airstrikes Will Intensify Ahead Of The Next Stage; Hamas And Israeli Troops Clash Inside Gaza; Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Concerned About Potential Escalation In The Middle East; Biden Spoke With Pope, World Leaders About Conflict; FBI Assisting Investigation Of Synagogue President's Death; Interview With Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) About Israel-Hamas Conflict And The Lack Of House Speaker. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 22, 2023 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:05]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. I'm joined by my colleague Erin Burnett who is live for us in Tel Aviv, Israel.

We begin this hour with the latest escalation of Israel's war with Hamas. Israel's military is ramping up its bombardment of Gaza. It's part of Israel's plan to prepare for a possible ground incursion into Gaza.

Israel carried out a rare air strike in the West Bank earlier today hitting a mosque. The IDF says it thwarted, quote, "an eminent terror attack." The Palestinian Authority calls it a dangerous escalation -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And, Jim, the Israeli military confirms that its troops had a class with Hamas fighters. It's significant, Jim, because this happened inside Gaza so they are not just saying they're inside but that there actually was fighting. It's just the second time that Israeli forces have even confirmed that they were operating inside Gaza since the Hamas terror attacks two weeks ago. And the last time was just in the past 48 hours special forces.

A CNN journalist has witnessed at least 14 trucks meantime crossing from Egypt into Gaza. That's desperately needed humanitarian aid. It is fair to say it is a drop in the bucket, though, but it is something. And for almost two weeks, there had been nothing.

An official at Gaza's main hospital says the deteriorating conditions meanwhile there are catastrophic and other hospitals say that they are simply overwhelmed by the number of dead and wounded from the intensifying bombardment. Israel tonight just saying that they conducted dozens of strikes just today -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, and Erin, a fascinating development on this and here in Washington. CNN is also learning that the Biden administration is pressing Israel to delay a possible full-scale Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is here with us in studio with us reporting.

Alex, what are your sources telling you?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, as we've seen in the past few days, there has been some progress on both the hostage front and in terms of getting aid into Israel. We saw those two American women released on Friday after captivity by Hamas for almost two weeks. We saw it today the trucks moving for the first time into the Gaza Strip.

And so what I've learned from two separate sources is that there has been some pressure from the Biden administration to Israel to delay what we believe is an imminent ground invasion of Gaza. Because there has been this progress, there's been signs in the conversations around both the hostages and the aid and sustained aid, I should say, is the priority, that this could continue. And of course the U.S. and other countries who have hostages in Gaza as well as Israel want to see all of those hostages freed.

So we should note that the Israelis are flatly denying this, that there has been no request from the U.S. side to delay their incursion. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked this very question earlier in the day and he did not deny it. He simply said that these are decisions for Israel to make. President Biden said very flatly yesterday that he is speaking with the Israelis when he was asked the same question.

Jim, the U.S. and Israel have been very sensitive and very careful about not making it seem like the U.S. is telling Israel what to do and dictating their war.

ACOSTA: Right.

MARQUARDT: But at the same time, the U.S. has expressed concern repeatedly about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and those hostages.

ACOSTA: And what does Hamas get out of releasing these hostages? I mean, I suppose you could see a scenario where they trickle the hostages out little by little to try to delay the incursion as long as possible.

MARQUARDT: Absolutely. That is a major concern of the Israelis. There is a sense that it is what they may be trying to do to buy time, to also buy some goodwill and give the impression that they are willing to release these foreign hostages, to release the civilians, and that would obviously escalate the pressure on Israel to allow for more time. They may also think that they could get a cease-fire or more aid out of this.

And that pressure that comes as a result of essentially Hamas giving a glimmer of hope, that more of these hostages may be coming out. That makes things a lot tougher for Israel. We should note that a senior Israeli official spoke with our colleague Matthew Chance earlier today who said the humanitarian effort cannot be allowed to impact the mission to dismantle Hamas. This official saying there will be no cease-fire.

ACOSTA: And yet this imminent invasion that we keep hearing about doesn't seem so imminent right now. Perhaps it is.

And, Alex, the State Department ordering non-emergency U.S. government personnel to leave Iraq. Is that connected to some of this? What's going on here?

MARQUARDT: It's connected to the very significant concern by the Biden administration that Iran may encourage its proxies or even its own forces to get involved in this conflict and widen it beyond just Israel and Gaza. That is a major, major concern. We've seen those two carrier strike groups heading into the Eastern Mediterranean. And so what we've learned from the State Department today is that they have -- they've increased their level of alertness.

There's a level four alert which basically says to American citizens, do not go to Iraq. They've also announced that American families who are connected to the U.S. stations in both Baghdad and Irbil in the north, they are coming home. Their non-emergency personnel are also coming home. This is a real reflection of the fear of what could happen not just in Iraq where there are a significant number of Iran- backed militia groups, but this is something that could happen elsewhere in the region.

[18:05:07]

We heard from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today who said there's a significant possibility for escalation against U.S. troops and personnel in the Middle East.

ACOSTA: Yes. I'm sure they're looking at American assets across the region right now.

Alex Marquardt, very important reporting, thank you very much.

Erin, back to you.

BURNETT: All right, and, Jim, I want to bring in Mark Regev here with me in Tel Aviv, former Israeli ambassador the U.K. and senior adviser now of course to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as you have been for a long time. I know you got meetings today. Often meetings throughout these early hours of the morning and you've got a -- leaders of Greece and France and others coming in this week.

So let me just start with the latest reporting, Alex reporting that U.S. officials have been pressing Israel, pressing Israel to delay whatever you're planning to do because they want more hostages out. I would imagine specifically American hostages out. What can you say about that?

MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We want hostages out, too. We want all the hostages out immediately and unconditionally, and that's the demand of the international community. But we believe the best way to get the hostages out is to keep the pressure on. The only reason we got the two women out earlier this week was because Hamas is under amazing pressure. We keep the pressure up, we get more people out.

BURNETT: So what do you say to the -- those who say, well, Hamas will give two hostages here and two hostages there while you're sitting in a state of incredible readiness, which I think a lot of people don't also realize means you have 350,000 of your best and brightest on that border and not working. How long can you -- Jim just pointed out. It's been eminent for two weeks. How long can you stay in imminent pose?

REGEV: We will move when we're ready to move. Israel is not acting. We're not shooting from the hip here. We're being very judicious. When we use our force we'll do so after much thinking and much planning, and Hamas will feel our blow. Our goal is to dismantle the Hamas military machine. That will happen. It will happen on our terms at a time when we're ready.

BURNETT: So let me ask you about that, because you want to dismantle their military machine.

REGEV: True.

BURNETT: I saw earlier that you said you took out the commander of the rockets unit for Hamas. You've taken out -- it's got to be well over a dozen at this point of senior leaders, including many involved in these attacks. You've been doing that in the war that's already been ongoing, right? What you're talking about is the next stage. You've been clear. But how much is left? If you look at the leadership of Hamas' military, how much have you taken out in the past two weeks?

REGEV: I think we need to say the following. There have been different rounds of fighting between Israel and Hamas since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip some 16 years ago.

BURNETT: Yes.

REGEV: Four, five rounds of fighting.

BURNETT: Yes.

REGEV: This is not another round. Hamas in their brutal, horrendous massacre of Israelis two weeks ago, that was a declaration of war. We didn't want the war. They started it. We'll finish it on our terms. And when this is over, Hamas' military machine will be dismantled and their political control over the Gaza Strip will end, just as the United States and its allies ended ISIS control of a territory in Iraq and Syria. We will end Hamas' control over the Gaza Strip.

BURNETT: And I understand, but I am just trying to get a sense of, you have been doing heavy bombardment. I mean, some of the strikes, sometimes you put out a daily strike number. So yesterday it was 205. Today it was simply dozens. Right? But you're doing an incredible amount. And if you look at the death toll in the Gaza Strip, obviously there has been a terrible loss of civilian life.

But if you look at the number of strikes you've done, you know, you're -- it's -- one or two people per strike. You're trying to be targeted. REGEV: We're trying to be as surgical as is possible to hit the Hamas

military machine and avoid as much as possible collateral damage on civilians.

BURNETT: Yes.

REGEV: But, please, I warn you, the numbers coming out of Gaza about casualties, they're all supplied -- there's no independent verification. They're all supplied by Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. And those numbers would have you believe and the world that everyone is an innocent civilian. If we've hit and killed 2,000 Hamas terrorists, I'd say, good, we want more. Obviously we don't want to hit uninvolved people. We don't want to hit the civilian population.

BURNETT: Well, children have died, Mark.

REGEV: But you don't know the numbers. Remember when there was those stories about the attack in the hospital.

BURNETT: But every child's life is worth --

REGEV: They say that hundreds of people --

BURNETT: Is worth everything.

REGEV: Correct. Correct. And we will make a maximum effort to avoid that sort of thing. But Hamas cannot have immunity. There has not been a war in modern history where innocent people haven't been caught up in the crossfire. As a democracy, we'll make a maximum effort to avoid that as much as possible. But we can't allow Hamas to have immunity by hiding behind Gaza civilian population, exploiting them as human shields.

BURNETT: Some of your defense chiefs today were talking and were putting a timeframe on things. Now we have heard months, right, that you go in and this isn't a -- at least it's been not described as a Russian-style shock and awe because it is a war going on for two weeks and this is your next step.

[18:10:03]

And they had said it will take time. But then today I saw that timeframe, first time I thought I saw some specifics around that. It was one to two months. Is that the timeframe? Is it that short of a timeframe?

REGEV: I don't think it's responsible to talk about a timeframe. It all depends on exercising the mission. We have to achieve our goal. And as long as it takes, we will remove Hamas from power and dismantle their military machine.

BURNETT: One time Leon Panetta, former defense secretary and CIA chief, you know him well. He made a comment which I thought, and we were reporting in Africa at the time with al Qaeda there. And he was talking about how it was like a balloon. You squeeze the air out of al Qaeda, and it becomes ISIS. You squeeze the air from ISIS, Hamas. Do you have that fear that you can decapitate, perhaps you're

successful in your initial mission, but that it resurfaces with just another name?

REGEV: Our goal is actually quite minimalistic.

BURNETT: OK.

REGEV: There's a specific area, the Gaza Strip, controlled by terrorist organization. It's physically defined. We will remove the control of a terrorist group, of a brutal, horrendous terrorist group from Gaza that is defined, that is possible. The United States with its allies did the same in Iraq and Syria with ISIS. We will do the same over a smaller area in the Gaza Strip.

BURNETT: All right. So that's a specific goal. But then the question, of course, is, though, what happens in that immediate aftermath? When you decapitate and take out -- if you are successful in that, something must replace it, immediately, to provide basic services no matter how poorly Hamas did that. Do you have a plan for that?

REGEV: Yes, we're already thinking two, three steps ahead. What happens the day after? We've looked at different scenarios. We've even started to discuss that with close friends. But I think each scenario -- there are issues with each scenario. There's no perfect solution. But each scenario is actually much preferable to the current situation where Gaza is controlled by Hamas.

BURNETT: When you say discussing with close friends, I'm making an assumption that includes the United States.

REGEV: You can assume that.

BURNETT: OK. Do you feel that the United States when it comes to those discussions has your back on the options that you're looking at?

REGEV: I think what is different now, and we've heard this not just from the United States but from the British prime minister, we've heard it from European leaders, everyone understands that the current situation is unsustainable. Israel will not return to the reality of the 7th of October 5:00 a.m. where we have a brutal terrorist organization as a neighbor and will launch the sort of attack that they launched against us.

That is unfeasible, unsustainable. We refuse to go back to that. And our desire to change the reality in Gaza, to end the rule of this terrorist organization, we have strong international support.

BURNETT: How do you put Gaza in a position where the people who live in those kibbutzim and along that border can go back?

REGEV: So we have to do it by destroying the Hamas military machine. The people going back who will rebuild their lives and rebuild their communities, and plant trees where Hamas has burned them down, and rebuild houses that Hamas destroyed, that can only happen when they don't feel a threat from across the border. BURNETT: All right. So then what about the hospital? Right? In the

hospital situation, your assumption, what you put out all the day, it was a group called Islamic Jihad.

REGEV: Correct.

BURNETT: Palestinian Islamic Jihad. So that's not Hamas.

REGEV: Correct.

BURNETT: Right? But it makes the point that there are other radical terrorist groups that exist there already.

REGEV: Correct.

BURNETT: Do they all come out?

REGEV: Islamic Jihad, also, we'll take care of them as well. It's clear that when this is over, there will not be terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip that can attack us the way we were attacked on the 7th of October. That's finished. We will not tolerate that any longer. And in getting rid of those groups, I don't think we're only, you know, protecting our own people. We're actually doing a favor for the people of Gaza who deserve better than their current rulers have brought them only pain, and suffering and impoverishment.

BURNETT: Mark, I want to ask you about those Hamas attackers. Do you feel at this point that you have been able to categorize even yourself the war crimes that are committed. Because I say speaking to survivors and families, even them we've been able to speak. That even in the past couple of days I am hearing about things that I have not heard about a week before.

REGEV: Correct.

BURNETT: Are you still hearing new things?

REGEV: We're hearing -- as people are talking more, we're hearing more about the horrendous nature of Hamas' attack. And Israeli public hears these stories, and more people on television telling their own story.

BURNETT: Yes.

REGEV: It's truly for us a pivotal moment because this state was established in 1948 to protect the Jews after the Jews suffered throughout history all sorts of crimes.

BURNETT: Yes.

REGEV: And what happened with the Hamas attack on October 7th was it brought us back to dark periods in our past.

[18:15:07]

Israel was the Jewish state, it was not created for Jews to be massacred like they were in other parts of the world. We have to return the promise of Israel and we will do that by re-establishing security and that will be done by eliminating Hamas.

BURNETT: Mark Regev, thank you very much. I really appreciate your time. Ambassador, thank you.

REGEV: Thanks for having me.

BURNETT: And as I said, Mark Regev will be in meetings with the prime minister and other world leaders who are coming here to meet over the next couple of days. And I mentioned Leon Panetta to the ambassador, speaking of him, the former defense secretary is actually standing by live and he'll be joined by Jim, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: As tensions in the Middle East raise fears of a wider regional conflict, the U.S. Department of Defense says it's sending more military assistance to the area and ordering U.S. troops to prepare for deployment. And former defense secretary Leon Panetta joins me now to talk about this.

[18:20:01]

Mr. Secretary, always great to have you on. Really appreciate it. Let's jump right into this. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, he was talking about the situation on ABC earlier today. Let's listen to this and talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We're concerned about potential escalation. In fact, what we're seeing is a -- is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region, and because of that, we're going to do what's necessary to make sure that our troops are in the right -- good position, they're protected and that we have the ability to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Mr. Secretary, the word escalation has been tossed around over the last couple of weeks. I mean, there are fears about things really getting out of hand in the region. Your thoughts on all of this?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, I think Secretary Austin is right to be concerned about the escalation. If you look at what's happening Hezbollah has been sending antitank missiles into Israel and continues to be aggressive on that part of the border. You've got these proxy wars going on in Iraq against our services, in Syria, and then we had these missiles that were launched from Yemen.

So when you look at the situation, there are a lot of proxies, terrorists, who are trying to put pressure on Israel and the United States. And so for that reason, I think the United States has to be in a posture of making sure that we are protecting our forces in that region. So I think the secretary is taking the right steps to try to make sure we defend our troops. ACOSTA: And what we're hearing from our correspondent Alex Marquardt,

that sources are telling CNN the Biden administration is pressing the Israelis to delay a ground invasion of Gaza for aid to reach Gaza, for more time for hostages to get out. What is your sense? I mean, what should the administration be saying right now? Should it be saying that? Should it be pressing Israel to hold back for a -- I guess a time being?

PANETTA: I guess, I mean, first of all, we don't really know what the administration is asking or whether they're asking anything of Israel. But in end, I think it's Israel's call very frankly because Israel has every right to defend itself against that horrific attack by the terrorist group Hamas. And right now there are two principal objectives for Israel. One is obviously to destroy, undermine Hamas, go after its leadership, but the second objective is to retrieve our hostages.

And I'm going to leave it up to Israel to decide how to balance those two objectives. But those are the objectives of what this war is all about right now.

ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, but we have seen what looks like a delay. I mean, we've been talking about an imminent invasion for a couple of weeks now. And it just has not begun, that ground incursion into Gaza. Why do you suppose that is? Might it be because of the hostage situation? And what about the possibility that Hamas could trickle out hostages, you know, a little bit at a time to buy themselves some time?

PANETTA: Well, I'm assuming that Israel is not hesitating to go after Hamas targets if necessary. I realize the whole issue kind of focuses on whether there's going to be a broad invasion of Gaza. We don't really know the answer to that. But we do know that ultimately Israel has to target Hamas and their leadership. And very frankly, that can be done with good intelligence and with special forces.

So I don't -- I don't expect that Israel is going to suddenly pull back on whether or not to go after Hamas. That's going to continue, I think, under any circumstances. Now, this balancing act with the hostages, I think what they have to determine is whether, in fact, Hamas is operating in good faith, which I think we all question, or whether or not this is just another hoax to try to drag the war on. So that is a decision very frankly from my point of view that Israel has to make.

ACOSTA: And do you think a large-scale ground incursion is a good idea? What are the potential pitfalls in all of that? Are there?

PANETTA: Well, we all know the pitfalls of an invasion into an urban area like Gaza. It's not -- it's not going to be easy, door-to-door fighting, building-to-building fighting, it's very costly in terms of lives lost on both sides.

[18:25:10]

And for that reason, I happen to believe that a very good approach here for Israel would be to develop buffer zones that provide security for Israel and at the same time use intelligence, use special forces to go after Hamas targets. We did that with al Qaeda. We did that with ISIS, and it worked very effectively. I hope that they're looking at that kind of approach to going after Hamas.

ACOSTA: And the Biden administration has repeatedly stressed, no boots on the ground, no American boots on the ground to get involved in this war between Israel and Hamas. But, you know, as you know, this past week, a Navy warship operating in the Middle East intercepted projectiles near the coast of Yemen. The aircraft carrier groups, strike force groups going into the region and so on. Are you worried about mission creep, and if this spreads into other parts of the region that the U.S. may have to get involved?

And I know that these questions come up and you don't have a crystal ball there. But does mission creep have to be a concern?

PANETTA: Look, frankly, Jim, every time we deploy our forces and put lives at risk, obviously we're taking a chance. And deploying our forces as we are to the Middle East, our carrier fleets to the Mediterranean, our forces, I think, 2,000 are going into Israel, there's no question that it creates additional risk. But at the same time, if we're going to provide support for Israel, if we're going to be able to do everything we can in order to make sure that terrorism does not succeed in that part of the world, those are the risks that we have to take.

ACOSTA: And your sense of how the president has been handling this and his ask for, you know, some $61 billion in aid to Ukraine as well as billions of dollars in aid to Israel. The president is hoping to lump those two things together and send that up to Capitol Hill and then ask for, you know, something in the neighborhood of $100 billion in funds that also involve Taiwan and border security here in the U.S.

Do you like the way the president has packaged that together? Do you think that's a good idea or might it get ensnared in all kinds of, you know, politics that are going up on Capitol Hill right now, especially on the House side where the Republicans don't even have a speaker of the House at this point?

PANETTA: Jim, I think the reality that President Biden is facing is the reality of a very dangerous world right now, probably more dangerous since World War II. Confronting China, confronting Russia, confronting North Korea, confronting Iran, confronting terrorists in the Middle East. This is a dangerous world. And it demands world leadership. And I think the president is bringing that world leadership to the floor.

If the United States doesn't provide that leadership, very frankly nobody else will. So I think the president is taking the right steps of providing assistance to make sure that neither terrorism or autocracy is able to succeed in undermining democracy.

ACOSTA: All right. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, always appreciate your insights. Thanks so much for the time this evening. Thanks a lot.

PANETTA: Good to be with you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Good to be with you.

All right. Coming up, President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they spoke earlier today and the two agreed on continued aid to Gaza. We'll talk about that in just a few moments. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:33:09]

BURNETT: President Biden speaking today with several world leaders, Canada, Europe, he spoke with the Pope, and he spoke yet again with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. All of these calls come as sources tell CNN that the White House is pressing Israel to delay a ground invasion into Gaza citing recent progress on the hostage front and the need for additional humanitarian aid. A senior Israeli official denied that report.

Priscilla Alvarez is live. She is in Delaware with the details, where of course the president has been.

Priscilla, what can you tell us about these calls the president is making? What is the purpose?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the purpose is for the president to make the point that there is ongoing support by the United States as this conflict is ongoing. But notable that as this invasion looms, the president is making a round of calls over the course of the day to Canadian and European leaders, but also to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now according to a readout of that call, the two discussed developments in Israel and Gaza. President Biden affirmed the flow of critical assistance to Gaza and also they discussed efforts to release hostages. Now by our count, this is the eighth call between the two leaders since October 7th.

Now while here in Rehoboth, the president was also asked about whether the U.S. is encouraging Israel to delay an invasion. To that, the president said that he is talking to the Israelis, and so that was clear today and, of course, the president is also staying very close with his National Security team. We're told that the -- we're told that the president was briefed by his senior National Security officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin today -- Erin.

BURNETT: So, Priscilla, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken who of course has spent quite a few days in this region, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, two visits here to Israel.

[18:35:01]

He also addressed the Americans who are still held hostage in Gaza. We know there are negotiations ongoing for that, obviously through third parties like Qatar. What did he say?

ALVAREZ: Well, that this is a priority for the administration. But he also said that it was Hamas that was preventing Americans from passing through. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have several hundred Americans and other nationalities, other civilians from other countries who want to leave Gaza. We've had people come to Rafah, the crossing with Egypt, and to date at least Hamas has blocked them from leaving, showing once again its total disregard for civilians of any kind who are stuck in Gaza.

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS' "FACE THE NATION": Just to be clear, you're saying Hamas is preventing Americans from leaving Gaza?

BLINKEN: That's correct.

BRENNAN: And there are no U.S. personnel who are able to help on the ground.

BLINKEN: We have U.S. personnel on the other side of the border in Egypt, consular personnel who can immediately help and assist those Americans who want to leave. We're working this very, very actively.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, as you heard there from the secretary, the U.S. is tracking hundreds of U.S. citizens who are stuck in Gaza and that they are efforting to get out of Gaza. But this remains an ongoing issue and one, Erin, that President Biden raised with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their call today. But still no resolution on this matter.

BURNETT: All right, Priscilla, thank you very much.

I've been speaking to a couple of those American citizens stuck there and what they're enduring. It is terrible. I mean, you think about the lack of water, the rocket fire, the conditions are dire.

Well, we will have much more on this breaking coverage here from Israel straight ahead. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:56]

ACOSTA: The FBI is assisting Detroit Police in their investigation into the murder of synagogue president Samantha Woll. Police say she was found with multiple stab wounds outside her home early Saturday, and CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Detroit for us.

Omar, I understand Detroit PD, they just released an update on their investigation. What are you learning? OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they just released an update not

too long ago, Jim. I think just for starters when people see the headline, Detroit synagogue leader found stabbed to death, it makes people want to jump immediately to conclusions, but that's exactly what Detroit Police are cautioning against at this point because it's so early in the investigation.

But yes, they released a statement from the police chief that says in part, "The investigation into the death of Miss Samantha Woll remains ongoing. At this time, however, no evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by antisemitism." But they also didn't include that they had ruled out antisemitism which highlights sort of where we are in this particular investigation.

Now what we do know is on this block behind me near downtown Detroit, that is where police found the body of 40-year-old Samantha Woll outside of her home. Police say they traced the trail of blood to her home which is where they believe the killing actually happened. They haven't released the identity of any suspect they believe may have did this, and they have not released, the police haven't released any motive here as well.

Now, regardless of how this happened, it did happen. And now community members are trying to figure out how they're going to process this sudden killing, and we saw memorial service over the course of today for the 40-year-old Woll, where we heard from the people who knew her best, from community members all the way up to state officials. Take a listen to the Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel who knew Woll from her work on her reelection campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA NESSEL, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Samantha Woll may have been the nicest person that I have ever met or will ever meet in my lifetime. Sam did more for our community, our state, our world, our lives in her short time here on earth than most will ever accomplish in 1,000 lifetimes over. And her killer will not rob us of the memory of her joy and warmth and kindness that she leaves behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, also over the course of that memorial, a state senator spoke about how she was with Woll the night before her body was found, and said that the only consolation here is that some of her last memories with Woll were of happiness.

As for the investigation, the FBI is continuing to assist the Detroit Police who say that they expect to provide some sort of update tomorrow so we'll keep an eye out for that as this community comes to grips with what happened as investigators try to piece together why -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Very sad situation there in Detroit. Omar Jimenez, thank you very much for that update. Much appreciated.

Coming up, an Israeli official says there will be no cease-fire in Gaza as hostage talks continue. Much more of our special coverage straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:34]

ACOSTA: As the situation grows more volatile in the Middle East, sources tell CNN the U.S. is pressing Israel to delay its planned invasion of Gaza in the hopes of getting more hostages out.

And joining us now to talk about this is Democratic Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina. He's the assistant Democratic leader in the House.

Congressman Clyburn, great to see you this evening. Really appreciate the time. But let me ask you, do you think asking for a pause on this Israeli military incursion into Gaza makes sense right now? What's your sense of it?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, thank you very much for having me. It certainly makes sense to me. I do believe that President Biden has been very wise to counsel the leadership in Israel as to what happened with us after 9/11. Everybody was angry, people wanted to take revenge. And that is something that's almost natural. But we made some mistakes then, some of which we still are paying for, and we ought to learn from our mistakes.

And he knows what those mistakes are and I think it's wise for him to share them with the leaders in Israel and hopefully they won't allow their anger to cloud their thinking and not do what's best.

ACOSTA: And so, Congressman, do you think a full-scale incursion into Gaza is a mistake for the Israelis if they go through with it?

[18:50:06]

CLYBURN: Well, you know, it's been, since my sophomore year in college that I've studied military science and tactics, and so I don't know a whole lot about that area. But I do know a little bit about human nature, and that is, we should always act in such a way that the climate is always there in order to find a resolution. And if we do things that will keep us from finding a permanent, sustaining resolution, that might be problematic going forward.

ACOSTA: And as you know, you're very close to President Biden, and he has inserted himself diplomatically into this crisis very directly. How do you think he has handled this so far? Are you concerned that he's too involved? Has he gotten too directly involved in all of this? Or do you think it's the right approach?

CLYBURN: Well, I think the approach is right. I have no idea how to measure whether too much or too little. But I know we cannot, as a country, walk away from our allies. We cannot, as the leader of the free world, not do what we can to maintain that freedom for everybody. And so I think that President Biden is right to step into this. I would hope he will do so in a measured way and in a way that will benefit everybody. ACOSTA: And, Congressman, perhaps you've seen this, but Democratic

Senator John Fetterman, who's been very outspoken on many progressive issues, he's very much a progressive, he has been critical of some of the progressives among the House Democrats who have been calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, who have been critical of Israel on how they've gone about attacking Hamas.

What do you make of some of the younger members in your party in the House calling for a cease-fire, being somewhat critical of the Israelis? Do you agree with that? What do you make of some of the remarks that you've heard so far?

CLYBURN: Well, you know, when I wrote my memoirs, I called the book "Blessed Experiences." And I said in the introduction to that book that all of my experiences have not been pleasant, but I've considered all of them to be blessings. And those of us who have had unpleasant experiences in these kinds of situations are still blessed by those experiences. And I think that we should always remember that none of us can be any more than what our experiences allow us to be.

And so we have in our caucus people with various backgrounds and experiences, and they tend to act out in accordance with that. And so I think that is to be understood. And so we are going to go through some pretty challenging times when you look at the makeup of our caucus, and the makeup of the country. And we just have got to try to balance our approach to this in such a way that we do not put one country or any one element at a disadvantage.

ACOSTA: And as you know, we're heading into another week without a speaker of the House. Do you think we'll see one this week? And if this continues to be a problem, what is the potential for further problems when it comes to getting aid to Israel, aid to Ukraine, preventing a government shutdown? Could things really snowball here in the coming days if the House can't get a speaker, if the House Republican conference can't find a speaker?

CLYBURN: Yes, but that could happen. I hope that it won't happen, and it should not happen. I do believe that my friends on the other side of the aisle are making a mistake trying to ensure that you get 217 votes out of their caucus before they allow a name to be voted on. If you remember, the Hastert rule when I recall that (INAUDIBLE), he said a majority of the majority. He didn't say unanimous of the majority. And so I can see them not bringing a name to the floor without a significant majority within their caucus.

ACOSTA: You worked with Nancy Pelosi when she was speaker, and she was able to whip the votes and was able to get things passed. Why is that not happening on the Republican side from your standpoint?

CLYBURN: Well, all of us have different levels of skill when it comes to this kind of thing.

[18:55:03]

Nancy Pelosi was and still is very skillful at this sort of thing, and she kept together the leadership in our caucus, as is happening now. Our leadership is very together. You've seen those votes time and time again.

ACOSTA: Right.

CLYBURN: The problem is there seems not to be the same level of skill on the other side of the aisle, and that's unfortunate.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, really appreciate the time this evening. Thanks so much.

CLYBURN: Thank you for having me.

ACOSTA: Thank you, sir.

All right, coming up, we will go back to Israel. The IDF says it has conducted dozens of strikes on Hamas targets there. Our special coverage continues next.

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