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Sources: U.N. Security Council Will Hold Emergency Meeting Tomorrow About War in Gaza; Pence Ends Presidential Bid: "This is Not My Time"; "Friends" Actor Matthew Perry Dead at 54. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired October 29, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:45]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta alongside my colleague Jim Sciutto in Israel. Jim, we'll get to you in a moment.

We begin in Gaza where Israeli troops continue to advance as officials say the second stage of their war with Hamas has begun. Moments ago, we learned that President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Their conversation comes as U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned that there is an elevated risk of the conflict expanding across the region.

The IDF said its air strikes hit more than 450 Hamas targets in just the last day including command centers, observation posts and missile launch sites.

Sources tell CNN that one of those strike hit this mosque, killing 13 people and leaving dozens of others injured.

New video from inside Gaza published by an Israeli newspaper shows IDF soldiers raising Israel's flag on a hotel roof. CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the video. An analysis by CNN shows that Israeli troops have now advanced at least two miles into northern Gaza.

Desperation is sinking in for the civilians still trapped in the enclave. The main U.N. agency in Gaza says thousands of people broke into some of its warehouses stealing critical supplies as the Israeli bombardment continues.

Meanwhile, more aid is trickling into Gaza. Today ten aid trucks were able to pass through the Rafah border crossing and communications in Gaza have been partially restored.

Sources tell CNN the U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow about Israel's ongoing ground invasion.

Let's send it over to Jim Sciutto on the ground in northern Israel, Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well Fred, Israel's attention now, the world's attention very much on southern Israel -- military action inside Gaza in response to those October 7th attacks. But the concern, and this speaks to national security adviser Jake Sullivan's point, is about expansion of this conflict, escalation.

And one focus of that concern is Israel's northern border with Lebanon. We've been there the last several days.

And what's going on is what one could describe as a low-level conflict already. There's artillery fire in both directions, there have been attempted incursions on the ground by Hezbollah fighters.

Earlier today, myself and my team, we found ourselves right in the middle of that exchange of artillery fire. Israeli forces firing into Lebanon, Hezbollah and other Lebanese forces firing into Israel in a number of ways with mortars, with artillery, also with bombs attached to the bottom of small parachutes, IEDs coming in from the air.

It speaks to the danger up here and it's one of the reasons many of the communities along the border have been evacuated for the safety of residents there.

Of course though, that mass of Israeli military activity remains inside Gaza.

And aur Jeremy Diamond, he is in Ashkelon just north of Gaza where he's been keeping a close eye on Israeli IDF military operations there.

We don't have a lot of vision into the exact extent of those operations, Jeremy, but what did we learn today about how far Israeli forces are moving in?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Jim, they're clearly pushing deep into northern Gaza, but yet at the same time they're constantly dealing with the danger that these underground tunnels by Hamas present.

And that is, we saw that in Hamas militants popping up near the Erez Crossing, which is right at the northern entrance to Gaza and engaging Israeli troops there.

The IDF says that Israeli troops killed several Hamas militants in that battle. But what we have also learned is the extent of Israel's constant bombardment and shelling of northern Gaza.

[14:04:50]

DIAMOND: In the second day of this war, Israeli forces saying that they struck over 450 targets in the past day. That was a statement that they released earlier today.

But it has now been more than 48 hours since Israeli forces entered the Gaza Strip from the north in this expansion of ground operations as the IDF and Israel's military and political leadership are describing this. And last night we heard from the Israeli prime minister as well as the

other members of this emergency war cabinet -- the defense minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, the former defense minister and a former member of the opposition. And in a united front, they really described this war in existential terms saying that it is Israel's second independence war and making clear how they view the stakes, and also making clear that this will be a long and drawn-out campaign inside of Gaza.

At the same time, as you have been reporting on today, Jim, we have been watching activity in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon really beginning to pick up. Shelling in both directions and the Israeli air force saying that they struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon from the air.

Now, this is a tinder box situation as you well know, and all eyes right now are on the north to see whether or not that develops into a really substantial and full second front in this war.

SCIUTTO: And to your point, Jeremy, just as there was an attempt by Hamas militants to cross into Israel today, we visited a village on the norther border today where Hezbollah militants broke through the wall at the border there, got in before they were then confronted a few days ago by IDF forces.

Our Jeremy Diamond in Ashkelon in Southern Israel.

Of course also, part of the world's focus right now is on the plight of civilians inside Gaza. They're running out of basic supplies including food and water, medical supplies. It's been just a trickle of aid coming into the country in the midst of many, many civilian casualties as a result of the military campaign.

Our Jomana Karadsheh, she is in Beirut and she's been covering the plight of Gaza's civilians.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to believe this was Gaza just a few weeks ago, little Nur dressed in his finest dancing with his brother at a wedding. His mother Wesal (ph) still can't believe her boy is gone.

"He was holding my hand as I took him to make him a sandwich," she says. "He didn't get to eat it. Shrapnel cut through his neck. He's now in heaven. God give me strength to deal with this."

The air strikes that took 6-year-old Nur and other relatives left her with injuries all over her body, and the unbearable pain so many Palestinian mothers are having to endure.

"There's a void in my heart. I can't even cry," she says. "I really want to cry, but the tears are not coming out. Why can't I get it out? I want to cry for my little boy."

Recovering in the hospital, she just wants to get back to her three other children, now homeless, sheltering at a school.

Hell is raining down on Gaza. Israel says it's going after Hamas and doing what it can to spare the innocent. But it is the innocent who are paying the heaviest price.

In the few hospitals still barely standing, the pictures are too graphic for us to show. But faces here tell of the horrors they survived and this living nightmare they can't escape.

Three-year-old Judi (ph) hasn't uttered a word in 16 days. She won't eat or drink, her father says still in shock with a piece of shrapnel lodged in her head.

"What did these children do? We have nothing to do with the resistance," he says. "They're just targeting Palestinians. They're killing children because they're Palestinian. To them we're not human."

They don't know if she'll be able to walk again.

Judi is one of the lucky ones, if one can call them that. She still has her father by her side.

Arwa keeps asking for her mom. She's too young to understand, her uncle says. Arwa's lost her mother, her brother and her sister, too. She shows the camera her ouch.

Every corner at every hospital, so many heart-wrenching stories of loss so hard to comprehend.

Deri (ph) only wakes up to cry, her aunt says, in a room with her 7- year-old brother Kinan (ph). The two were the only ones to survive an air strike that killed their mother, father, brother, and dozens of their extended family. Kinan doesn't say much these days.

[14:09:51]

KARADSHEH: "He asks me if we have Internet here. He says I want to call mommy and daddy," she says.

Doctors in these overwhelmed hospitals say every day brings a constant stream of children with no parents, a flood of injured they just don't have enough to treat.

With the little they have, they do what they can. How do you begin to deal with so many going through so much.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: And many, many civilians including children caught in the middle of this bloody conflict. Jomana Karadsheh in Beirut, thanks so much.

Joining me now, former retired major general Dana Pittard to speak to some of the military aspects of this ongoing conflict. Thanks so much for joining us this Sunday afternoon.

I want to ask you first because there is some precedent in U.S., recent U.S. military history for large urban warfare operations in effect. We saw that in Fallujah, we saw it in Mosul. In each of those cases there were corridors that allowed civilians to -- or most civilians -- many civilians to leave before the bulk of the military action.

This is a different circumstance here because the civilians blocked even at the Egyptian border from coming out. They can't come out via the Israeli border.

What's to be done from a military perspective to prevent further civilian casualties, or to minimize those casualties?

MAJ. GEN. DANA PITTARD (RET), U.S. ARMY: Well, good evening, Jim. You're right.

In Mosul operations that took place there against ISIS, there were some limited humanitarian corridors.

But ISIS was exactly allowing them to leave in droves, but the humanitarian corridors were, in fact, there.

It is a dilemma. And ideally between Israel, the United States, the rest of the world working with Egypt and getting Egypt to open up the Rafah crossing point, that would be very, very helpful so the United Nations can provide -- and other entities can provide aid to civilians that are moving from the north to the south of Gaza and into Egypt.

SCIUTTO: As you watch the progress of this campaign so far, and it has been you might say slower, more methodical than some had anticipated in the days right after the October 7th attack, preceded certainly, and this continues to some extent by a massive air campaign against targets in Gaza as well as artillery campaign.

How would you rate that progress so far? Do you get a sense of the overall objective based on what you've seen so far on the ground?

PITTARD: Well, the operations have been very deliberate. It's both joint and combined operations that are taking place with air, with ground, even help from the sea.

What we're seeing, though, is it's in different stages. The first stage of the campaign was trying to cut off the head of Hamas, hitting their command-and-control centers, command-and-control nodes.

The intelligence operations to try to find the hostages and other things that are of value to Hamas, the cyberattacks, we've seen that. We've seen a number of those.

And then the preparation for the ground invasion which was very deliberate. A couple of raids, clearing the routes, clearing ambush -- potential ambush sites by Hamas.

But this is going to be a long campaign. The stated objective of Israel and Israel's defense forces is to destroy Hamas. Hamas must be eliminated as a terrorist organization. That will take time.

SCIUTTO: Listen, it's an understandable goal, particularly after October 7th. But forgive me, I've covered wars, ground operations in Gaza in 2008-'09, in 2014 where, if not as ambitious as an objective, the objective still was to weaken Hamas, and I've heard of attacks that eliminate commanders, command-and-control centers, nodes, et cetera.

And yet Hamas rises again. I mean it harkens back to Donald Rumsfeld's comments in Iraq, are we, in his words, killing terrorists as fast as we're creating them? I just wonder from a military perspective, is it an achievable goal short of reoccupying Gaza?

PITTARD: Well, there's a political end state, which is a couple of things. One is Hamas no longer existing as a terrorist organization which will be tough.

[14:14:48]

PITTARD: And also what does post Hamas Gaza look like? It will be a very, very difficult campaign because it's urban warfare. It's block by block, street by street, building by building. It's three different levels, subterranean, in the tunnels, and there's nearly 300 miles worth of tunnels under Gaza City in Gaza, above ground and at the high-rise level. So it's not going to be easy, Jim.

SCIUTTO: No. No question. Listen, you might even say it's a city under a city given the extent of those tunnels.

Let me ask you this. We're in the north and we've seen what is effectively a low-grade conflict up here but one that's consistent. Every day artillery fire back and forth, attempted ground incursions frequently back and forth, from the north into the south here by Hezbollah fighters and others.

Could Israel, if Hezbollah were to decide to amp-up those attacks, could Israel fight a two-front war?

PITTARD: I believe Israel could. However, what Hezbollah is trying to do, and we'll see more of it, is pin down as many Israeli forces as possible. They're doing what was military terms, I believe, a demonstration. But it's turned to really a limited attacking so they can draw as many forces to the north as possible which takes pressure off Hamas down south.

You've been in the region. Hezbollah did this in 2006. Hezbollah was still firing rockets until the very end.

However, Hezbollah does not want that to happen again. They came out of it very, very bruised up. It is not in Hezbollah's interest to do that, but it is in their interest and their Iranian backers to pin down as many Israeli forces as they can.

SCIUTTO: And listen, the prospect of Israeli operations across the border in Lebanon, of course, would be very costly as well. We witnessed that here back in 2006 as you referenced. Major General Dana Pittard, thanks so much for joining.

PITTARD: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: And we will continue to cover the events here in Israel in the south where Israeli military operations are under way and also in the north where they are on alert for greater attacks from Hezbollah.

Please do stay with us. We'll be back right after a short break.

[14:17:20]

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

Today fans and friends of Matthew Perry is paying tribute to the actor who died yesterday at the age of 54. His career included numerous TV shows and movies, but it's his unforgettable role as Chandler Bing on the hit show "Friends" that made him a household name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER ANISTON, ACTRESS: Chandler, man, there's only one banana nut muffin left.

COURTNEY COX, ACTRESS: I ordered my first.

MATTHEW PERRY, ACTOR: Yes, but I'm so much faster.

COX: Give it to me.

PERRY: No.

COX: Give it to me.

PERRY: Ok. You can have it.

COX: There you go. Enjoy your coffee.

PERRY: That was there when I got here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The "L.A. Times" says Perry was found unresponsive in his hot tub. His body is at now the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office. An autopsy is pending.

Let's bring in CNN's Camila Bernal who's been covering this story. Camila, what are you learning?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Fred, so we know that the Los Angeles Police Department is still investigating the incident. But they did tell us via sources that there is no foul play suspected in this case. As you mentioned, the "L.A. Times" saying this was an accidental or

potential accidental drowning, but there is no cause of death at the moment. And it is also very important to point out that a complete autopsy and toxicology report usually takes several weeks to be made public and to be complete.

Now, Perry's family released a statement to "People Magazine" saying that they were heartbroken for the tragic loss of their beloved son and brother. They went on to say in this statement that he brought joy to the world as an actor but also as a friend.

Matthew Perry wanted to be remembered as someone who helped people. And it's part of the reason why he shared a lot of his struggles with addiction, why he shared a lot of it in his memoir that was released in 2022. He said he wanted to help people whether it be one-on-one or as a group.

He also said that he wanted to be remembered as someone who lived well, loved well and who was a seeker. Of course, a lot of us remember him by his acting career. You mentioned a number of different roles in TVs and movies.

But it was really "Friends" that brought him to fame as Chandler. It was that funny, very sarcastic character that many were able to relate to, but most of all, that many were able to laugh at and laugh with.

There are many people here in Hollywood who are reacting to his death. None of the cast of "Friends" have reacted so far. We have not heard from them. But others have expressed shock and sadness and also their love for him, saying that this is a tragic loss and they will miss him dearly here in Hollywood, but, of course, by all his fans as well, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh yes, it's heartbreaking.

All right. Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

We're going to talk further about, you know, how this has shaken up so many people. Let's bring in entertainment reporter Elizabeth Wagmeister. Elizabeth, glad you could be with us. So I mean what do you believe, you know, his "Friends" co-stars are going through right now?

[14:24:42]

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: You know, this was an incredibly tight-knit cast, which is not always the case in Hollywood. We hear stories behind the scenes of people who aren't friends and they're catty. But on screen they act well and they put on a great show.

That couldn't have been further from the truth in the case of "Friends". All six of these stars were close and remained close over the years. As Camila said, none of them have released a statement yet. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see them release a joint statement because we do know they are all incredibly close.

But I have just seen a statement in the past few minutes from the co- creators of "Friends", Marta Kauffman and David Crane. They say that they're shocked and they are saddened. And I'm going to read part of it to you now.

They say "From the day that we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us. He was always the funniest person in the room."

And of course, taking a little note off their episodes, we all remember the episodes were each called the one where -- they said, "This is the one where our hearts are broken."

WHITFIELD: I mean Perry talked openly about his struggles with addiction in his recent memoir. And Billy Bush, host and managing editor of "Extra" spoke to us last night after news of Perry's death. And I'd like to get your thoughts on the other side about his thoughts. Listen now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY BUSH, HOST AND MANAGING EDITOR, "EXTRA": Instantly I thought, oh, no, how horrible. And then I started thinking about what a difficult life he led. He struggled so much off camera. For a guy who was so effortless on camera, his timing and his, you know, his good nature always just upbeat and quick, and then you realize just the exact opposite when he's -- when he's not.

He just struggled, struggled, struggled so hard with pain killers and addiction. And I think, you know, we're hearing there's no foul play. But immediately you think what wear and tear that poor heart of his took.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I mean those are some really profound, you know, words there and statements. How long was this an incredible struggle for Matthew Perry? He wrote about it in his memoir, but this is something that kind of haunted him for many, many years.

WAGMEISTER: Absolutely. It haunted him before the time that America even met him as Chandler Bing. Matthew Perry wrote in his memoir that he started drinking as a young teenager, that the only season of "Friends" that he was sober was season 9. That means from the beginning in season 1 which debuted in 1994, that he was struggling with addiction.

We know that the opioid epidemic is a huge problem in America and Matthew Perry was part of that. He really wrote about it candidly and beautifully and wanted to help others, but this was a serious, serious issue for him to say the least.

He wrote that at one point he was having 55 pills per day. He had been to rehab more than ten times, spent more than $9 million on his road to recovery. He has had a brush with death not just once, but twice. He said that when he was in rehab once his heart stopped. He also had

his colon rupture about five years ago and was in a coma and hospitalized for months. So this is a man who has been through it all.

And I was watching when Billy Bush gave that interview to you last night. And I know Billy and I do agree with a lot of what he said.

However, I think what is so shocking about this is that it seemed that Matthew Perry had just turned a new leaf, right. This was a year ago that he came out with this memoir, it seemed like he was on the road to having a new chapter.

And I hope that he is at peace. And I know everybody in Hollywood feels that way. But I think it's so sad because you just saw a man who seemed to really be on the road to recovery.

WHITFIELD: Oh wow. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much. Thanks for your input on all this. And you know, again, so many so perplexed, yet at the same time their hearts are bleeding for all he has been through. Thank you so much.

All right. Still ahead, concerns for the hostages being held in Gaza as Israel expands its ground operations in the Palestinian enclave.

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[14:33:27]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in northern Israel.

As Israeli military action expands in Gaza, one of the deepest concerns is for the hostages still held there by Hamas, numbering some 230. Many Israelis, but many other nationalities as well, Thais, Americans. Great concern there.

And today, the U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was asked by my colleague Jake Tapper what the status was of U.S. efforts not just to release the Americans but also Americans who were trapped in Gaza, American citizens and civilians trapped in Gaza by the ongoing war there.

Have a listen to how he answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: So just as there is ongoing discussions and negotiations over the hostages, we are facing a similar situation with the American citizens and other foreign nationals who are trapped in Gaza. It is true, the Egyptians are prepared to allow American citizens and foreign nationals to come through the Rafah gate into Egypt. The Israelis have no issue with that.

Hamas has been preventing their departure and making a series of demands. I can't go through those demands in public. But that is the subject of the discussions and negotiations that are ongoing.

We're trying to work through those to get to a point where we have secured the safe passage of any American in Gaza who wants to leave. We are in contact with them on a near daily basis. We will continue to stay focused on this.

This is an equal priority to us as getting the hostages out. It equally requires us to get to a point where Hamas will permit their safe passage.

[14:35:03]

And we are working hard at that every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Of course, many of their loved ones, their relatives outside the country deeply, deeply worried about their fate, particularly as military action continues there.

Well, tomorrow, the U.N. is going to meet again to discuss the ongoing crisis in Gaza and concerns about a broader crisis in the midst of that ongoing efforts, international efforts to get those hostages and other civilians trapped in Gaza out safely.

Our Becky Anderson, she's been following those negotiations led in part by officials in Qatar that maintains many deep contacts with officials from Hamas.

And, Becky, I wonder where that stands, where those negotiations stand. Are they ongoing? Is there any hope among the officials you speak with?

BECKY ANDERSON, ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Yes, there is. I was perhaps slightly surprised this time yesterday when we had a really sort of fulsome conversation with the adviser to the prime minister here who still felt very optimistic that not only were those talks ongoing, but they would get to the point where we would see the release of some, perhaps not all, but some of the civilian hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Look, I think there's a kind of step back and have a look at the wider story here. Israel's ground invasion which started -- the second phase of which started on Friday in Gaza, has been roundly condemned, here, in Turkey, in the UAE, in Saudi Arabia, in Egypt, around this region.

There are real concerns about all civilians caught up in this humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. That, of course, includes those who have been held hostage in Gaza, not just by Hamas, but by other groups as well. And there was real concern that this conflict could spill outside of what is going on in Gaza which is a catastrophe and out to the wider region.

There's two issues here. Firstly, as far as these Qatar-led mediated talks are concerned, yes, they are ongoing. Yes, there is still optimism here in Qatar, that that they will land in a good place and get these talks across the line.

We do know some of the parameters. We're looking at possibly an exchange of women and children being held by Hamas for women and teenagers being held in Israeli prisons. This also has parameters around a pause in the fighting and additional aid to be allowed through that Rafah border crossing.

And I think the pause, which was one of the parameters has been one of the real concerns since Friday because the Israelis said it out loud. I mean, Benjamin Netanyahu said it in his press conference yesterday, they have upped the stakes as far as this military action is concerned because Israel believes that only by upping the stakes will they get the hostages from Hamas. I have to say, that is not necessarily the perception from those I'm speaking to who are involved in these negotiations. They say it's just making them so much harder.

And then, of course, UAE calling for an emergency meeting at the U.N. Security Council tomorrow. They really want to see the Security Council come together and reflect in a resolution what was agreed at the General Assembly on Friday which is for a sustained, durable cease-fire in Gaza to address the humanitarian situation and the issue of spillage going forward -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, it's -- of course, that resolution brought, sponsored on Friday by Jordan. I spoke with the Jordanian foreign minister yesterday who described what he said is a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. It's notable what you said there, Becky, the outlines of an exchange, women and children held as hostages in Gaza for women and children held by Israel. The question is are all parties happy with that, and how does a pause in the fighting fit in?

We know you're going to continue to stay on top of that. Becky Anderson, thanks so much.

We'll continue to follow developments here in Israel with Israeli military operations still very much underway tonight in Gaza, as well as clashes on Israel's northern border near where we are between Israel forces and Hezbollah and other fighters based in Lebanon.

We'll be right back. Please stay with us.

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[14:43:50]

WHITFIELD: The crowded Republican field for U.S. president has just gotten a bit smaller. Former Vice President Mike Pence has suspended his campaign. Pence made the announcement at Republican Jewish Coalition's annual conference in Las Vegas, Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE (R), FORMER 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Traveling across the country over the past six months, I came here to say it's become clear to me this is not my time.

Now I'm leaving this campaign, but let me promise you, I will never leave the fight for conservative values, and I will never stop fighting to elect principled Republican leaders to every office in the land, so help me God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now from Iowa where Donald Trump is set to hold a rally later on today.

So, Jeff, I mean, what more are you learning about why Pence is dropping out and where he might throw his support next.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it's clear. The former vice president simply said it's not his time. That has been increasingly clear over the last several weeks and even months as he's tried to make the argument to Republicans here in Iowa which opens the presidential race early next year and other states across the country, there simply has not been the appetite for this type of truth-telling he was saying to Republican crowds.

[14:45:14]

So, he did sort of bow to reality of he was not likely to make the stage of the third debate which is going to be held in early November in Miami. He's not likely to make the donor requirements that he needed or the polling requirements. So, he simply is stepping aside.

Now, what impact it's going to have on the race, that's very much an open question because up until now, he's not registered much support, at least in the polls. But from the standpoint of being a non-Trump alternative, that certainly does lend at least some hope to the Nikki Haley campaign, the Ron DeSantis campaign, the Chris Christie campaign about whether there is some support out there for an alternative to Donald Trump.

It is quite clear, Fredricka, that this is the former president's primary to lose. He's in firm command of this race. So, the blunt reality is this may not have much of an immediate impact on the race at all.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder, Jeff, is there an expectation that Pence will throw his support behind someone else? I mean, clearly, it's not going to be, you know, the former president given all that Pence has said on the campaign trail. But is he likely to gravitate toward one of the other candidates and say so publicly?

ZELENY: It certainly is, it certainly is one of the questions that we'll be finding out on answer for in the coming weeks. I was talking to his advisers last week. And they said in the short term -- no, he doesn't have a plan to endorse a particular campaign. He said yesterday himself he wants to keep campaigning for principled Republicans in the mold of Abraham Lincoln.

So, he's going to continue to making his case against Donald Trump, but it's unclear if he's going to make a case for one of his former rivals. It's also unclear if that would even help them at all. It's clear that they were coming to his praise, they were showering him with praise yesterday. So, they would certainly welcome an endorsement.

But at least as of now, in the early hours after he dropped out of this race, he's not planning to offer an immediate endorsement. But he would like to try and stop the Trump presidential campaign from winning the Iowa caucuses here and going on to become the nominee. So, we'll have to see how this goes.

But, Fredricka, also keep in mind, he could benefit and be involved in other ways as well. He's still likely to testify before some of the court cases, specifically the January 6th case that is in Washington in federal court. So we certainly have not heard the last from Mike Pence. But in terms of being a candidate or endorsing someone specifically, I'm told at least for the moment he doesn't plan to do that -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right. And while you mentioned, there are criminal cases that the former president is facing, also upcoming, at least in Colorado, there will be a trial where potentially there will be a decision about whether former President Donald Trump's name will even be on a ballot. Anyone in his camp, are they commenting about that?

ZELENY: They are not. I mean, in previous instances of this, as this has gone through the courts, they have dismissed this as something that is not real. We will see as this takes hold.

This is something that, of course, Democrats and some of Trump's rivals have their eyes on as a possibility of being one of the ways to block the former president, but that is viewed largely as wishful thinking. We'll see how the court cases progress.

But, Fred, you're right, add that to the long list of court cases that are standing in the way of Donald Trump, yet he continues to hold a very commanding lead in this Republican primary campaign that, of course, is beginning in less than three months' time here in Iowa -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

Still to come, candlelight vigils are held for the victims of the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. More about the victims who were lost in the massacre right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:53:32]

WHITFIELD: The serene community of Lewiston, Maine, is in mourning right now after 18 lives were lost in a mass shooting Wednesday. Tonight, a vigil will be held in Lewiston, in honor of the victims who were killed there, and it follows last night's candlelight vigil in nearby Lisbon, another community in southern Maine impacted by this terrifying ordeal. They were finally able to gather after two days under lockdown as police searched for a suspect.

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LEN LEDNUM, PRESIDENT, POSITIVE CHANGE LISBON: Our community has been under lockdown for a few days now. Helicopters and it felt like every police agency in the world was here. Last night, after the press conference, and then letting us know there was a start to some closure, the amount of relief that I felt, I knew everyone in the community and our sister community of Lewiston felt, and I decided at that moment, listen, we need to do something, because I'm not the only one feeling this. I needed that sense of community, of family now that this shared event was over.

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WHITFIELD: Friday night, the suspect was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. For the victims for the for the victims it was an ordinarily night out, some enjoying a meal, others enjoying a cornhole tournament. And those who were killed included a married couple, a father and a son and members of the deaf community.

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The IDF says it has hit hundreds of targets in Gaza over the last day as the military's operation in the territory intensifies. Our special coverage from Israel continues right after this.

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WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta, alongside my colleague Jim Sciutto in Israel.

Jim, we'll get to you in a moment.