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At Least 22 Killed In Maine Shootings, Suspect At Large; Fuel Shortages Could Halt Gaza Aid Operations; Crisis Worsens In Gaza As Fuel, Food, Water Run Low. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 26, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:27]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. We are following breaking news on two major stories this hour. Another mass shooting in the United States. At least 22 people reportedly killed in Maine, and the suspect is still at large.

We're also following developments out of the Middle East. Israel gearing up for ground operations in Gaza, even as the territory is deepening humanitarian crisis spirals out of control. We begin in Maine where a manhunt is underway after a massacre in two locations in the city of Lewiston. This stage, 22 people are dead up to 60 others wounded. The shootings took place Wednesday night at a bowling alley at a restaurant.

Officials in Lewiston and the neighboring city of Auburn are telling residents to stay inside and lock their doors. Hundreds of officers are looking for this man. 40-year-old Robert Card. Police describe him as a person of interest and say he is armed and dangerous. The local sheriff's office released this image of the government holding a high- powered assault style rifle just inside the entrance to the bowling alley.

U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting and spoke with Maine's governor and lawmakers. Federal authorities are assisting in the investigation. I want to bring in Steve Moore, a CNN law enforcement contributor and a retired Special Agent for the FBI. Good to have you with us. I want to start, of course, with what we know. Officials saying that the shooting began around 7:00 p.m. local time. 22 people killed, dozens injured in two locations. And seven hours later, the suspect armed with a military-style rifle is still on the run.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: This is this was quite a new thing here where we don't have the person in custody at the right time in a short time.

KINKADE: So we know local state federal officers are working together. Possibly Canadian authorities too given at Main borders with Canada. Talk to us about the resources deployed to hunt him down.

MOORE: Well, right now you've got the FBI is getting involved. ATF is there. The Canadian border police and RCMP are excellent resources. Plus, you have state and local law enforcement all through the area. So, you have a flood of officers and agents coming into the area. And so, you will have within a short amount of time, a large resource base from which to execute your plans.

And right now, there -- there's so much going on because they're logistics and just getting these people into the system of the case, while other people are trying to determine what they should do with all the resources they have.

KINKADE: And, of course, we are getting an understanding, Steve of what law officials are telling us regarding this so-called person of interest, Robert Card who is a certified firearms and tactics instructor, former military. And we understand he was committed to a mental health facility over summer for a couple of weeks after reporting that he heard voices and made threats to shoot up a National Guard base in Maine.

Despite that, the gun laws in Maine are quiet lacks. There are no background or red flag laws. Right?

MOORE: That is -- that is what we're learning. I am -- I have to confess that I am not an expert on the Maine laws but from what I'm hearing from the commentators, that is the case.

KINKADE: Or given his training, just how dangerous is it for those trying to track him down?

MOORE: It's terribly dangerous. I was -- I was tactically trained, though what it looks like when somebody is -- somebody is doing it. It's kind of like a dancer looking at another dancer and saying that person knows what they're doing. The pictures I'm seeing, it's not just the rifle. He's walking one direction while addressing targets in another direction. That is a sophisticated technique. Sophisticated tactic that takes a lot of practice to do well.

[02:05:11]

The way he's holding the rifle is in a frighteningly effective position. You see his - the gun on the -- his hand on the floor, stock of the gun is holding it down so that it doesn't rise if he fires multiple rounds. He looks frighteningly capable.

KINKADE: And we know, Steve, that the two towns in that region have been -- have been telling -- have been telling residents that they need to stay in shelter, lock their doors. The schools in the region have been closed for tomorrow. What would be your advice to residents in the area?

MOORE: Don't leave your house. Don't do anything tomorrow that would involve congregating because you don't know right now whether -- what his plans are. I mean, being a military -- being military personnel, I don't know if he was an officer or enlisted. He probably has a plan. And we don't know whether that plan at this point involves ending his own life, or setting up an ambush for police or continuing to kill innocent people who are not law enforcement.

So, he could be waiting overnight in the woods. That's where I expect him to be. To see if in the morning he could find more targets. An open store some kind of business. That's if he's looking for more civilian targets. Otherwise, he could be setting up an ambush for police in the woods. And this is -- this is terrifying.

KINKADE: Yes. Certainly. Steve Moore, we appreciate your perspective on this. Thanks so much for joining us.

MOORE: Yes.

KINKADE: Well, I want to welcome Jason Levesque. He's the mayor of Auburn, Maine. We appreciate your time tonight, Jason. I understand you've been the Auburn middle school where families have been reunited with survivors of this shooting. I'm so sorry for what your community is going through right now. How are you coping? What are you hearing from people tonight?

JASON LEVESQUE, MAYOR, AUBURN, MAINE: As you can imagine, thank you for having me on. As you can imagine, it's very confusing situation. But we do have great law enforcement, first responders, action plans that we've implemented. And it's about as organized as one could ever hope, I suppose. And right now, our thoughts and really, our feelings and prayers are those who have suffered through this. We are all going to know someone who was a victim of tonight.

KINKADE: Yes.

LEVESQUE: Yes.

KINKADE: We're just looking at pictures outside a medical center. Can you explain the trauma response to this given just the vast number of people that were shot?

LEVESQUE: No, I don't think I can't. Other than we have trained professionals here. Grief counselors, trauma specialist from the Maine State Police, local law enforcement as well as counselors and members of local clergy -- and local clergy rather. And we also have each other. I think that's a big thing, too. You know, this Maine really turns inward, if you would. And really we support around during difficult times. It's just kind of what we do.

We're going to do it now. We're going to keep doing it. And we're going to get through this.

KINKADE: And Mayor, this mass shooting happens at a bowling alley and a restaurant around dinnertime. What do you know about how this unfolded? What have witnesses been telling you?

LEVESQUE: Talk to several firsthand witnesses so far. And obviously, as you can imagine, everything is kind of piecemeal, right? Everybody has a different view, a different perspective. The investigation is going to be long, it's going to be thorough, I will say that, you know, it was more of a shock and disbelief when it first started happening. And then obviously (INAUDIBLE) And that's kind of the universal thing I heard for most people tonight.

KINKADE: And I imagine, Mayor, that there were plenty of young families out at that time of night. It's dinner time. Any indication of their ages or the age range of those impacted?

LEVESQUE: Really, I would dense all ages. From teenagers up.

KINKADE: From teenagers up.

LEVESQUE: Yes. And that's all I know on that one.

KINKADE: And can you tell us more if you've had any sort of updates about the manhunt to track down this person of interest. This 40-year- old man who had a military training.

LEVESQUE: Yes. I've had updates.

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I'm not going to -- I'm not going to obviously say what's going on. Where, when or how. I will know that, you know, that our police are top notch and we're being aided by state and federal resources. We will find him. He will be brought to justice swiftly and severely.

KINKADE: Yes. Well, our thought so with you and your community tonight. We really appreciate your time. Take care.

LEVESQUE: No, no, thank you. Good night.

KINKADE: We're going to have more on the mass shooting in Maine. Still ahead, including an interview with the head of the Brady United and nonprofit center against gun violence. Was Gaza good soon lose a critical lifeline for civilians if fuel is not delivered? How much time is left before aid operations are suspended? I'm going to speak with a key U.N. official.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. We are covering Israel's war with Hamas. We're going to have the latest from Gaza in just a moment. But first an update on Wednesday night's deadly mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. Local police have now identified Robert Card as a person of interest after at least 22 people were killed and dozens of others injured. His whereabouts are currently unknown but his vehicle was found in the nearby town of Lisbon.

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Card is described as an expert firearms instructor with the U.S. Army Reserve. He's considered armed and dangerous, and residents are being urged to shelter in place. CNN will continue monitoring that manhunt and we'll bring you new developments as we get them.

The Israeli Prime Minister has declared all Hamas terrorists dead men walking above ground, below ground and outside Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised national address said thousands of terrorists have already been eliminated. And he said Israel is recruiting the support of world leaders because Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We are raining down Hellfire on Hamas. We have already eliminated thousands of terrorists. And this is only the beginning. At the same time, we are preparing for our ground incursion. I will not detail when, how or how many all the overall consideration that we are taking into account. Most of which are unknown to the public. And this is how it needs to be in order to safeguard the lives of our soldiers.

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KINKADE: Well, for the first time since the Hamas assault, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke about his own role in the security breakdown, which failed to prevent the worst terror attack in Israeli history. He said the failure will be thoroughly investigated and everyone must provide answers, including himself but only after the war.

Meanwhile, the crisis in Gaza is deepening amid severe shortages and the intense Israeli bombardment. The Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry says recent Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed more than 700 people in a single day. Some food, water and medicine have reached to Gaza via Egypt. But the main U.N. aid agency in Gaza says it will be forced to suspend crucial operations in the hours ahead if fuel is not delivered.

Since fuel is needed to collect and distribute those supplies, reserves are believed to be running dangerously low. The Israeli government has said it won't allow fuel into Gaza because Hamas will steal it and use it for its operations. Well, fuel is also desperately needed to power hospitals. Doctors warn waves of new patients injured and the daily bombings and babies relying on oxygen supplies will die if fuel is not brought in.

CNN's Clarissa Ward has details on that and we need to warn you, her piece contains images that are graphic.

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Every morning they gather outside the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Family members bidding farewell to their loved ones who did not survive the night. A ritual that tragically has become all too familiar in Gaza.

Women and children, these are the targets this man laments. This is Hamas. Hours earlier, the chaotic moments as the dead and injured were brought into the hospital during the most intense night of bombardment in the last 17 days. And as with every night, so many of the victims, children. Dr. Mohammad Rayyan says the E.R. has struggled to keep up with the flood of casualties and the severity of the injuries that they are dealing with, particularly third-degree burns. The hospital is not prepared to deal with these types of burns and I don't suppose the bigger hospitals will be able to either, he says. We're suffering from a lack of essentials due to the siege. Even as we speak now at any moment the electricity could cut off.

The World Health Organization has warned the 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals are no longer functioning. And that number is about to get higher and less desperately needed fuel arrives. Left to fend for themselves with no place to go. They watch and wait for help that has yet to come.

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KINKADE: Our Clarissa Ward reporting there. Well, our next guest has been sounding the alarm over the Gaza fuel shortage. Tamara Alrifai is the spokesperson for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. She joins us from Amman, Jordan. Thanks for being with us.

So, you have friends and colleagues on the ground in Gaza. What are they telling you about the crisis unfolding there right now?

TAMARA ALRIFAI, SPOKESPERSON, U.N. RELIEF AND WORKS AGENTS STATE AGENCY FOR PALESTINIAN REFUGEES: My friends and my colleagues are telling me that the crisis is immense. My colleagues are describing the very, very dire conditions in which over 600,000 displaced people are living in, when they are living in shelters and schools of UNRWA, the U.N. Agency for Palestine refugees.

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For some visuals or just to be able to imagine this, it's several thousand people living in a school. So in order to give them a bit of privacy, we have given the classrooms and the rooms that can be closed to women and girls and children. While the men and boys are sleeping in courtyards. All of them have very low access to clean water for drinking, for bathing themselves. Several thousand people share one toilet, one bathroom, going on for days without the ability to shower to the point where a mother told us yesterday that her dream is to bathe her children.

Situation is very difficult also regarding food with very few supplies coming in, despite the breakthrough in the use of Rafah as a humanitarian passage. We're talking about 20 trucks at best of humanitarian supplies. And that includes food, medicines, and also things that are not edible like mattresses but much needed. So it's very, very difficult.

KINKADE: And of course, Tamara, we've heard from other U.N. reps estimating that Gaza needs about 160,000 liters of fuel per day to meet the basic needs of the population. The IDF says the people of Gaza should ask Hamas for fuel, saying that the terror group has over 500,000 liters of fuel. Are you aware of that? Does that ring true?

ALRIFAI: This is -- these are reports that we hear too, but our position as an independent U.N. agency that operates its own -- its own humanitarian response. So, we have our own water pumping stations in our shelters to be able to get clean water. We have our own generators to give us electricity. We need our own fuel for our own trucks to distribute bread and other supplies around Gaza.

What concerns us is that we also need to have our own fuel supplies that we will strictly use for U.N. and for humanitarian purposes. So, whether or not other sources of fuel exist in Gaza is of no direct relevance to us. We are a U.N. agency. We should not be begging for fuel to nourish our own operations.

KINKADE: And we know that the World Health Organization has said that one-third of Gaza's hospitals can't function because of the fuel scarcity. It's in the social media post that the territory's medical burden is enormous, which we've seen. We know that your agencies warn that if you don't get fuel, you'll be forced to stop your operations in the Gaza Strip. What's the latest assessment? I mean, how quickly could you run out of fuel? How -- what's the risk that your team can't operate?

ALRIFAI: The risk is huge. And the conversations are extremely painful. I was just listening to the report you just aired. And thinking of conversations I'm having with my colleagues who work in the health sector. Do we unplug incubators for premature babies? Do we unplug life support machines for the elderly? Do we stop providing fuel to generate electricity to intensive care wards? What is the right choice to make right now?

Do we stop providing a few hours of electricity to bakeries, knowing that most of the displaced people over half a million only eat a piece of bread a day? That's all they get. These are very difficult conversations that UNRWA is having right now in Gaza, to enable us to make a decision that is -- the least harmful. Every choice right now is a bad one. In the absence of the fuel that we need to run our most basic humanitarian response. Not even a big fancy full-fledged one across the -- across that huge needs in the strip.

KINKADE: And Tamara, the Israeli prime minister is saying that a ground offensive will go ahead. Should that happen? How -- from your perspective running this agency, how do you think the needs will change?

ALRIFAI: The need will be magnified by a hundred or a thousand. We are already in a situation where the humanitarian system is on the brink. UNRWA, the U.N. Agency for Palestine refugees is the largest U.N. agency currently working in Gaza. And we've been sounding the alarm over a possible risk of interruption of our operations even now.

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So, if the military escalation transforms to bring in truly a ground invasion, a ground offensive, it will be extremely, extremely difficult for us to work, and the pain and the suffering of people who are already displaced in shelters, many of them who have lost loved ones or their homes, I cannot even think of the magnitude of their despair and of their needs and of their status right now.

KINKADE: Tamara Alrifai in Amman, Jordan. We appreciate your time. Thanks so much and we wish you all the best.

ALRIFAI: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still to come. The very latest on the mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine. Dozens killed, many more wounded and the gunman is still at large.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. We're following the breaking news of two mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine. At least 22 people were killed in a bowling alley and a restaurant. Another 50 to 60 people injured, that's according to police. A manhunt is underway for a person of interest. 40-year-old Robert Card. He's been described as a certified firearms instructor and a member of the U.S. Army Reserves.

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COMM. MIKE SAUSCHUCK, MAINE DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Police are currently searching for a Robert R. Card, 44 of 1983 of Bolton. Card is considered armed and dangerous. He is a person of interest however. And that's what we'll label that moving forward until that changes. If people see him, they should not approach Card or make contact with him in any way.

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KINKADE: Well, police released a photo from the scene of one of the shootings and urging residents to stay inside with doors locked, report any suspicious activity.

Joining us now is Kris Brown, President of Brady United, thanks so much for joining us. I have to say this is another massacre we're covering here in the U.S. one shooter up to 80 people shot, 22 killed. What's your response?

KRIS BROWN, PRESIDENT, BRADYUNITED.ORG: I'm extremely upset, agony, thinking about the individuals who are going about their day, who are no longer with us, individuals who have been shot and are fighting for their lives and a whole community who will be absolutely devastated by this and are living through the nightmare of having this individual at large in a situation where most of the town and surrounding towns are in complete lockdown, like you would be in a combat situation.

And one frankly, have complete frustration as someone who leads an organization focused on gun violence prevention and looking at the things that Maine could have passed into law. And we don't know a lot of the facts, I want to be clear about that. But just from what we have heard, and what has been asserted, some of these things that Maine does not have could have made a difference here.

And it's deeply frustrating as someone who pushes for these kinds of laws that they weren't in place that could have made a difference. That's agony for someone like me and so many survivors across this country who join Brady, and trying to save lives. KINKADE: So Kris, take us through what you think could have prevented someone like this person of interest from getting a military style assault weapon, and carrying out this massacre.

BROWN: Well, again, we don't have all of the facts. But what I'm looking at and what I'm seeing and some of what's been reported if in fact, it was an assault style weapon, and assault weapons ban absolutely could make a difference. Many states have passed those. Maine doesn't have one, expanding the Brady background check system could have an impact, an actual extreme risk protection law or Red Flag Law.

Maine calls itself having a Yellow Flag Law. When you look at that law, it actually has no real protections that can be easily enforced, for family members who have individuals in their midst, or neighbors or others in the community who see someone at risk, which is reported that this was the case here.

There is no real tool in the state as in California, where I am right now, Virginia where I live, and 25 other states roughly, that allow law enforcement and family members to seek a court order to remove firearms from someone who is at risk of doing harm to themselves and others.

And frankly, a whole host of additional laws that could have been brought to bear. But those are the most salient ones that are lacking in this state that are used and utilized every day in other states to prevent tragedies from unfolding. And given that we have 450 million firearms in this country, the lack of that kind of action to protect our fellow citizens, the essence of public safety is extremely frustrating and very sad to me.

I don't want more people in this country joining this club who are victims of gun violence. This is ultimately preventable. And I hope it's a wakeup call to everyone across the country of the basic things that we can all do to protect ourselves and to stop this kind of carnage from happening.

KINKADE: And we often hear, Kris, you know, when a mass shooting happens, we hear people saying we can't believe this happened to us. We can't believe this happened in our hometown. But shockingly, we are seeing more mass shootings. They're becoming more common, not less, right?

BROWN: Well, mass shootings are horrible tragedies. They are always feel for whenever they strike, it feels random. And knowing that the number of people killed because we allow assault style weapons, weapons of war, to be freely accessed and bought in this country, you're right far too common.

But we have to understand guns are now the number one killer of America's children. That is a uniquely American statistic. We lose about 40,000 people a year. And all kinds of different ways this is happening, mass shootings still account for about 3 to 4 percent of gun deaths in this country, suicide for about 65 percent, homicide about 30 percent. Eight kids a day are killed or injured with guns in their own home.

[02:35:18]

And so we have to look at holistic solutions, better policy, better enforcement, we have to end family fire. If you choose to have a firearm in your home, please safely store that firearm, that would greatly reduce all kinds of violence, including mass shootings, because a large proportion of people undertaking those kinds of horrific actions get their gun from a location in a home where it is not safely stored. That's just -- those are the facts of America today.

KINKADE: Do you think it's really sunk in that guns are the leading cause of death for children in the States? And I do want to reference a social media post put up by the founder of Moms Demand Action, who said it's harder to buy Sudafed than an AR-15 in Maine? I mean, what sort of situation are we in now that for the last few years, the number one killer of kids in America are guns?

BROWN: Look, it's an indictment about America. I as an American, someone who is deeply patriotic, who cares about this country, who lived overseas and for many, many years in Switzerland, and the question that I got asked all the time, and I had young children at the time, we love America, where can we go where we won't be shot? That's the question everyone has who doesn't live in America.

And for those of us who live here, what we have to understand, I think increasingly people are understanding this is that, if guns are the number one killer of our kids, we can't say that we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We can't say that. And what we have to do is understand their basic public safety kinds of things. Like you have to get a license to drive a car in this country, that we have permitting systems, these extreme risk protection laws, a background check system, we know what works.

I'm in California right now, they have the strongest gun laws in the country and per capita, they have way fewer gun deaths and injury than any other state in the country. We need to double down and understand. We need Uniform Federal laws across this country. We don't need to have a version of the Second Amendment interpreted by the courts, that is a death sentence to our fellow Americans.

We can respect the Second Amendment and not bankrupt our public safety laws in that equation. And right now, that's in the balance. And we have to understand as Americans who care about this issue, and believe me, I've traveled across the country, whether you're in a red state or a blue state, whatever demographic you're in, you love your children, and you want this to stop.

And if you feel that way, please join us at Brady, bradyunited.org so that we can make America the safer place it needs to be so we can live up to our dream of a place where everyone can live and exist happily, safely.

KINKADE: Kris Brown, we appreciate your time, the President of Brady United, thanks very much. BROWN: Thank you so much.

KINKADE: Well, city officials in Lewiston, Maine say hospitals are calling in all off duty medical workers to help care for the victims of the mass shootings. But a CNN medical analyst says no matter how many doctors or nurses there are, it's likely the flood of patients will be more than the small hospitals can handle. Dr. Jonathan Reiner explains.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Maine only has, I think three level one trauma centers. So if there are indeed over 50 people with penetrating gunshot wound, then that will quickly overwhelm the ability of the hospitals in Maine to take these patients. And they'll have to start to look at transporting patients who can be transported to nearby states. The images that we've seen, captured by video suggests that the gunman had a long weapon.

And the caliber that ammunition creates a havoc inside the body. And it destroys tissue and creates an enormous amount of bleeding. In order to stabilize a patient like, you know, who comes in with, let's say, a gunshot wound to the chest. A patient can require dozens of units of blood.

And that's another thing that the hospitals in Maine who received these patients are going to have to assess what is the status of their blood bank, how much blood do they have on hand to resuscitate these patients? So the hospitals are going to have to gear up operating room staff, bring in as many teams as they can as many anesthesiologists as they can. Lab technicians, you know, to the man labs at night.

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It's a, you know, full on effort to bring as much of the capabilities to bear to take care of these critically injured patients and it's a massive undertaking.

KINKADE: That was Dr. Jonathan Reiner medical analyst for CNN.

Well, still to come, the U.N. General Secretary is trying to clarify his remarks that infuriated Israel. We'll have more on the spark between Antonio Guterres and Israeli officials after a short break.

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KINKADE: Welcome back, I'm Lynda Kinkade. I want to update our breaking news out of Southern Maine in the United States. At least 22 people are dead and multiple mass shootings in the city of Lewiston. Police have identified a person of interest, 40-year-old Robert Card, certified firearms instructor and a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.

The shootings took place Wednesday night at a bowling alley and a restaurant. The gunman was armed with a high powered assault style rifle. As many as 60 people have been wounded though it's not clear if all of the injuries were due to gunfire.

Israel is doubling down in its criticism of the U.N. General Secretary Antonio Guterres. Israeli officials are calling Guterres's resignation after he said that the deadly Hamas attacks did not happen in a vacuum. Terrorists called the attacks appalling. But out of that they followed 56 years of what he called suffocating occupation of Palestinians. Secretary General sort of set the record straight saying his words have been twisted.

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ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement yesterday in the Security Council as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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KINKADE: Our Scott McLean joins us now from London. So Scott, we've got that back and forth between the U.N. General Secretary and Israel, but also the U.N. Security Council failing to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire, certainly underscoring the division. What more can you tell us?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Look, there is no love lost between the Israelis and the United Nations. Israel has long accused the United Nations of bias against it. And even if you look at the U.N. Human Rights Council, they seem to annually pass resolutions calling for justice for the Palestinians and condemning some of what the Israelis are doing.

But you're not going to find the same number of resolutions about some of the world's real human rights abusers, places like Saudi Arabia, or China, things like that. And so Israel has this ax to grind. And obviously, these comments from the Secretary General haven't helped things.

Obviously, he said that look, he said on Tuesday, it is important to also recognize that the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. He also went on to say that, look, none of this justifies any attacks on Israel, certainly not the attack that came from Hamas.

But all of this prompted outrage from Israel from the foreign minister, from the ambassador to the United Nations, there were calls from Israel for Guterres to resign. And the ambassador to the United Nations also said this on Twitter, saying every person, quote, understands very well that the meaning of his words is that Israel has guilt for the actions of Hamas, or at the very least, it shows his understanding for the background leading up to the massacre that Hamas perpetuated.

Obviously, none of this, Lynda, helps the current situation. You have the U.N. on the ground in Gaza, saying that they will run out of fuel in a matter of hours to fund what they or to -- that obviously helps them do what they need to do there and including providing fuel to hospitals. The Israelis are unwilling to send it at this point. And you also have this situation in the U.N. Security Council as well, where you have these competing drafts between Western countries and Russia. And the Chinese, all sorts of squabbling over the fine language about whether to call for a ceasefire or humanitarian pause and when or how much to denounce the, what Israel is doing or what Hamas is doing.

KINKADE: Of course, on the ground, you've got the Israeli prime minister saying that a ground offensive will happen. Plenty of world leaders weighing in on that. Some saying it would be an era others saying postponement at the very least.

MCLEAN: Yes, so the Americans have been in that camp sort of privately urging the Israelis to postpone it if it means that they can get hostages out that is what President Biden told reporters, following his call with the Israeli Prime Minister yesterday, that look, if there is a chance to get hostages out then let's do it. And look privately and publicly, Western leaders have said that whatever comes next for the Israelis in this potential ground invasion or ground incursion, needs to take into account, international law and also civilian lives.

But perhaps many people across the Arab world or the Islamic world aren't hearing that part. They're not hearing about the calls to provide aid to Gaza. They're just hearing Western leaders lining up to stand with Israel and not being nearly as outraged about deaths in Gaza as they are in Israel. Obviously, Western leaders would deny that account.

But perhaps, you know, the most blunt yesterday was actually the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who summarized his thoughts. He announced that he was canceling a trip to Israel saying that Israel cannot justify killing children even in response to the Hamas attacks which it does not condone. He said that look, Turkey doesn't have a problem with Israel, but it can never approve of, in his words, atrocities that Israel has carried out.

And then when it came to Hamas, he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but liberation group, a group of Mujahideen that is fighting to protect its soil and its citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So that comment, obviously raising some eyebrows, Lynda. Look, President Erdogan had initially sought to be a peace broker early on in this conflict similar to the work that he's done and trying to mediate between the Russians and the Ukrainians in that conflict. But obviously as this has gone on, he like other leaders across the Islamic world have become more and more vocal and more and more critical of Israel.

[02:50:09] KINKADE: All right, Scott McLean, staying across all the developments for us from London, thanks so much.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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KINKADE: Well, back to the breaking news we're following out of the state of Maine. Police have identified a person of interest in the two mass shootings Wednesday night in the city of Lewiston, searching for 40-year-old Robert Card. He's considered armed and dangerous. Law enforcement officials say he is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the U.S. Army Reserves. At least 22 people were killed at a restaurant in a bowling alley. Another 50 to 60 people were injured.

Residents have been asked to shelter in place amid a manhunt for the suspected shooter. Don Dosti lives in Lewiston, Maine. His home is just one block from the bowling alley that became a crime scene on Wednesday evening. He told CNN's Laura Coates what he witnessed while sheltering at home.

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DON DOSTIE, LEWISTON, MAINE RESIDENT: When I got home, we locked down and I loaded my rifle and our handgun. So I was busy doing that. I walked out on the deck for a short time thought I heard right attack in the distance. But I think mostly what I've been hearing, honestly is sirens, like I said the helicopters flying, flying above. We have a view of Main Street. So I just saw police car, after police car, after police car flying by and then ambulances go into the hospital.

[02:55:29]

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Do you have a sense of how many ambulances you saw leaving that bowling alley?

DOSTIE: I only saw, I didn't see them leave the bowling alley but they were coming from that direction and there were two. As far as police cars, they had to be a dozen or more. I mean there was quite a bunch of law enforcement officers heading that way.

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KINKADE: Well, Dostie says he never thought something like this could happen in Lewiston calling the entire experience unreal.

I'm Lynda Kinkade. I will be back with much more on our breaking news coverage in just a moment. Stay with us.

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KINKADE: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. We're following breaking news on two major stories this hour. Another mass shooting in the United States, at least 22 people reported killed in Maine. And the suspected gunman is still at large. [03:00:04]

We're also following developments out of the Middle East. Israel gearing up for ground operations in Gaza.