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Israel Struck Hezbollah Military Infrastructure; IDF Says It Hit More Than 450 Targets Over the Past Day; Interview with Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN) about Primary Challenge against Biden; Police Checked on Maine Gunman Weeks Before Shooting; U.S. Worked to Restore Connectivity in Gaza. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired October 29, 2023 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Restore phone and internet service, potentially life-saving communications. And as rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel, Israeli's ground offensive inside Gaza marches on. Israeli troops appeared to have advanced over two miles into Gaza according to a CNN analysis of video published by an Israeli media outlet.

Earlier today President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Their phone conversation comes amid a stark warning from National Security adviser Jake Sullivan. He says there is a, quote, "elevated risk of conflict expanding across the region," and quote, "The risk is real," end quote.

Jim, what are you witnessing on the northern border where you are?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Jim, one of those areas where the conflict could easily escalate, already what we're witnessing here is a low-grade conflict but a conflict under way with fire from the Israeli side into southern Lebanon, from southern Lebanon Hezbollah fighters and others into Israel on a daily basis, multiple times a day. Also fire back and forth from Northern Israel into Syria where there are Iranian-backed proxies based as well.

And we hear multiple times a day. One result of that is that many communities here in the north along the border are either under mandatory evacuation where many people have fled of their own choice, fearing those rockets, fearing those artillery blasts coming their way. My team and I, we found ourselves right in the middle of it along the Israeli-Lebanon border just a few hours ago. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Towns like Arab al-Aramshe along Israel's border with Lebanon are mostly deserted now. Evacuated due to fear of attacks by Hezbollah.

Makes is one of the few who stayed behind, and from his roof he shows us where Hezbollah fighters attempted to cross the Israeli border just a few days ago. (On-camera): They broke through, they broke through the wall.

(Voice-over): Minutes after we arrived, we see the threat is constant. Hezbollah shells fired from across the border land on the hillside just opposite us.

(On-camera): We are on a border town between Israel on this side, and just beyond the fence is Lebanon. And as we've been standing here, if you see the smoke off in the distance, that is the result of Hezbollah artillery fire from Lebanon into Israel. You can see the smoke rising in the distance. And speaking to residents here, this is a regular event. It's happening every day.

(Voice-over): Makes and his twin brother sent their families south for safety, but stayed behind themselves to protect their homes. The question for them and others like them is how long before this area is safe again.

(On-camera): Does anybody talk about how long people will have to leave here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He hopes that a month, but we don't know.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): As the shelling picks up we head back south. Minutes later Israeli soldiers block the road warning of more incoming Hezbollah fire.

(On-camera): We're very close to the Lebanon border in Northern Israel, and soldiers have just blocked the road here in both directors. We can't go either way. You can hear mortar and artillery fire going out, that is going from Israel towards Lebanon. We've also heard artillery fire coming from Lebanon. And the concern is, the soldiers telling us, that there are possible infiltrations across the border from Lebanon by presumably Hezbollah fighters. And that's why the level of concern is so great.

(Voice-over): The Israeli military is focused on Gaza, but the northern front now faces daily attacks. On Sunday a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in the city of Kiryat Shmona, setting this home ablaze. Hezbollah also claimed this strike on an Israeli tank a few days ago, with the IDF responding by targeting Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. All the while the constant exchange of artillery fire rumbles across the frontier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Those exchanges have been enough to chase many tens of thousands of Israeli residents from the north. They are headed south. It's quite similar to what we're seeing in the southern part of this country. Many tens of thousands of Israelis moving north from there. They want to be further away from Gaza there. They want to be further away from Lebanon here. And as we said in that story there, the question is for how long?

It's not clear when these residents will feel safe enough to go back or when Israeli forces will allow them to go back because many of these evacuations, they are mandatory. And in the midst of that, the fire continues every day multiple times a day.

[20:05:00]

I'm joined now by Nic Robertson, our colleague who's been down in Southern Israel, right by Gaza, since the start of this conflict going back to October 7th.

And Nic, I wonder, from your vantage point there, which has given really one of the best looks into Israeli military activity inside Gaza, we know from own work looking at satellite images that Israeli forces have moved perhaps two miles into Gaza. Do you have any other sense what they are accomplishing so far and how they are moving through the area there, also what kind of resistance they're meeting?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, very few details, Jim. And there's the sort of an ambiguity to precisely what they are doing inside the border at the moment. But I think we can see from where we know that they put a flag on a property close to the beach and the northern part of Gaza today that they have avoided so far, it appears, the dense concentrations of civilian populations.

They haven't gone into Gaza City, which is a few miles from where they planted a flag. They haven't, for example, gone into Beit Hanoun which is just behind us close to the border of Northern Gaza. So they have appeared to sort of stick to a strip of land, a piece of land, a piece of territory, quite beachy, farmland, that they're not going to come across and come in direct conflict with a civilian population.

We know that Hamas hides out in the towns. We know that the IDF today said that along the very northern border itself in the Erez Crossing, they discovered some tunnels built by Hamas that they engaged a number of Hamas fighters there, killed a number of them, wounded a number of others. Hamas for their part claimed that they damaged Israeli tanks on the Israeli side of the border. The IDF said that wasn't true.

So it appears as if there is a sort of a holding pattern that is keeping the border in a sort of state of readiness, if you will, secure and ready for a bigger inflow of forces to come into Gaza. And at the same time, the presence inside Gaza staying away from the civilian population, which as we know is part of the phone call today that President Biden had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The stress there on avoiding civilian casualties.

But as you can probably here there in the distance there, Jim, very much like your day on the northern border the sound of artillery never far away. Fighter jets here as well this evening, still running missile strikes into Gaza as well -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Nic, the Israeli officials, and of course they're not going to open their playbook as it were and tell the world exactly what their plans are, but have they given any sense of how far they intend to go into Gaza? There's been discussion, right, of asking civilian residents to move south, south of Gaza City. Does that give us an indication that that's as far in as they intend to go, or have they left that an open question, that they might go even further? ROBERTSON: You know, a week and a half ago I probably could have given

you a slightly different answer because I was speaking a former IDF general who's pretty well informed about what's going to happen or what's expected to happen. I was speaking to a couple of government ministers, and the expectation then was to really take control of the whole of the Gaza Strip to provide a humanitarian corridor for the population to be safe, and to be able to supply them but control them. And that was the sort of broad contours.

At the moment it really isn't clear. What we can say is it's going to take a much, much bigger force to move south of Gaza City, which would be to that area you're talking about, that sort of divides the north and south, the dry river that divides north and south of the Gaza Strip. We are not seeing that big force come into Gaza yet. We are not even seeing it, as best we can tell, lined up at the border. So it's a possibility.

Again, we just -- the Israeli government is playing this very, very carefully. They are creating the conditions whereby they can push a bigger force and expand that presence. But it's going to take a lot more troops than we're seeing so far, but if they want to do what they say, Jim, which is completely crush Hamas, they're going to have to go top to bottom, and eyeball everyone they come across.

And this is why most people, most military experts say that is a mission too far. It's not something that they're going to be able to accomplish, so what's the fallback if there's one that's decided, not clear yet -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, and that seems to be part of what the U.S. military advice has been to Israel as we had this U.S. Marine general here advising them, was that -- the extent of that sort of urban warfare might be a bridge too far.

[20:10:05]

Let me ask you if I can then about those communities around Gaza that have emptied as a result of the October 7th attacks, but the fighting to come, much like we're seeing up here. You have many tens of thousands of residents who have fled north from where you are, south from where I am. When you speak to residents there, do they have any sense of when that stops, because in effect these attacks have created their own buffer zone, but inside Israeli territory? And the folks I speak to up here, they just don't know when it's going to be safe to go back to their homes along the border.

ROBERTSON: Yes, I think a lot of people feel like that here. The men, when he asked people to leave several weeks ago, said this isn't mandatory but I strongly advised it. The whole zone, several miles deep into Israel, maybe 10 miles deep into Israel, is a militarized zone. There are areas that we can't drive into because there's a military presence, and it's either too dangerous or it's just restricted access for the operational or military reasons. Those areas, there are very, very few civilians there. A lot of the farms, their workers have left. A lot of the kibbutz that are close to the border really become bases

for the military at the moment and civilians aren't living there. The people of this town Sderot were initially told pull out for about 10 days and then you might be able to come back. There's no timeline that they're getting at the moment -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Similar guidance up here. And we ran into a lot of those same checkpoints up here that you're presumably running into down there as you hit those military areas.

Nic Robertson, in the south, please do stay safe.

And Jim Acosta, this is the tenor of this war now, right, that you have daily attacks from multiple directions and you have the Israeli population here in this country and of course the Gaza population inside Gaza, it's the people caught in the midst of that crossfire.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And so many fears that this conflict could spread, which you're on top of as well where you are, Jim. We'll get much more from you there in Northern Israel later on in this program.

Plus, coming up next, Congressman Dean Phillips is taking on President Biden, throwing his name in the ring for the 2024 Democratic nomination. Congressman Phillips is here next. We'll talk to him in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:15:50]

ACOSTA: President Biden has a challenger for the Democratic nomination next year. Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota launched his bid for the presidency on Friday saying it's time for the party to pass the torch to a new generation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States because, my friends, it is time for a change. I am the Democratic candidate who can win, who can win the 2024 election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Congressman Dean Phillips joins us now.

Congressman, thanks very much for being here. We appreciate it. Let's just jump right into it. You know, Democrats have shown little interest in backing anyone but President Biden right now. Where is the groundswell for your campaign?

PHILLIPS: Well, Jim, I'm running for one clear reason. Donald Trump is an existential threat to the future of the United States, our democracy as we know it. All of the polls say the same thing, he's down nine points in the latest ABC poll nationally. He's down in five of six battleground states, and his approval numbers are now at almost historic lows, 80 percent of the country does not want a repeat of 2020.

I'm hearing that every day. I'm listening to people, my colleagues, everybody in Congress is listening to the same thing, hearing the same thing. That is a fact. I admire Joe Biden. I think he's a good man. He's been an extraordinary president in a very consequential time, but he is poised to lose the next election to Donald Trump. It is a threat and someone had to do it. Nobody would. It's my time. I'm ready to lead, and that's why I'm running.

SCIUTTO: You know, Congressman, in the past you have repeatedly praised the president. You just praised him a few moments ago. And you voted for his agenda nearly 100 percent of the time. You've raised issues about the president's age. Besides his age, what's the contrast here between you and President Biden?

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm going to present a very bold agenda for the future. The country wants to move on. They want to turn the page. They want the torch passed. That's what the president promised he would do, be a transitional president, pass the torch to a new generation. Those are his words, not mine. And it's time.

ACOSTA: But why should the page be turned to you? Why should the torch be passed to you?

PHILLIPS: I'm ready to lead. Like I said earlier, Jim, it's very clear. President Biden, a man I admire, much of the country admires, is not going to beat Donald Trump the next election. The numbers are clear. People are speaking up. I am hearing it. In fact we talk about misinformation in this country and around the world, the political industrial class in Washington says the same thing I am saying every day in quiet tones.

I'm only saying the quiet part out loud, that's the truth. And we have to let American voters decide that. We shouldn't let the political industrial complex decide who wins elections in America. The Democratic National Committee, they have an obligation to let other voices in. That is democracy with a little D.

ACOSTA: Isn't it a little bit late, though, in the process? Yes, but isn't it a little late in the process for you to be jumping into this?

PHILLIPS: Not at all.

ACOSTA: Much of the party, nearly the entire Democratic Party has lined up behind President Biden, and you're kind of coming in here at the 11th hour.

PHILLIPS: Well, Jim. It's not the 11th hour. I'm filing before deadlines. I filed here in New Hampshire. I'll be filing in South Carolina. I'll be filing in Michigan, all around the country. Not at all. In fact, you just said that everyone is lined up behind Joe Biden. No, 50 percent of Democrats, even more, want a different nominee. 83 percent of Democrats under 30 want a different nominee.

I wouldn't be doing this if the data wasn't so clear, if peoples' voices were not being ignored. And like I said, the only people saying what you just said is the political industrial complex that is much more focused on self-preservation, their futures, than the American future. And somebody had to stand up and be forthright with the American people.

I'm simply doing so, and anybody who is afraid, anybody who is afraid of a choice of having the freedom of options, then we have bigger problems than I ever recognized. But I know --

ACOSTA: Do you have --

PHILLIPS: -- we're ready for change.

ACOSTA: Any members of Congress on the Democratic side who are endorsing you at this point? Any governors? I mean, that's what I'm talking about.

PHILLIPS: I don't have --

ACOSTA: Elected officials inside the Democratic Party have lined up behind the president. I'm sure their polls have shown --

PHILLIPS: Jim, I'm so --

[20:20:00]

ACOSTA: Yes, there's misgivings about President Biden running again, of course, that always happens every campaign cycle. But who do you have endorsing you at this point? Anybody?

PHILLIPS: Jim, I'm so glad you asked because therein lies exactly the mission of my campaign. To demonstrate that the political industrial complex, that means Congress, that means the consultants, that means the administration, that means the governors, all who shush up, sit down and line up behind the company line, that's why we have the circumstance right now. And that's my whole point.

Let the American voters decide. I'm hearing them in the streets. I've had the most extraordinary two days in New Hampshire. That won't be told by many news outlets right now, but that is the very problem. Life is not lived on Twitter, it's not lived in the political circles in Washington. That is why we have Trumpism, and that's why I'm running for president of the United States and that is exactly why I'm glad you asked that question, there's the problem, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. But you didn't mention anybody who's endorsing you at this point?

PHILLIPS: No, I just said. I've said very distinctly, nobody in Congress --

ACOSTA: You need someone at some point.

PHILLIPS: Nobody in Congress, no governor has endorsed me, but you're in this business, I know you've talked to many of them. What do they say behind the scenes? And then the cameras go on, the lights are on, the mics are on, very different story. That's the problem in the country right now. And I'm simply telling the truth to a country that is damn desperate for it, and you know it, too.

ACOSTA: You said that earlier that -- you said that President Trump, former President Trump poses a threat to American democracy. Democrats have called your candidacy disruptive, worrying that it could place Trump back in the White House. Are you concerned at all that you may be playing into Donald Trump's hands by going after Biden?

PHILLIPS: No, the only -- no, Jim, the only person playing into Donald Trump's hands right now, I'm sad to say, is President Biden. You can you read the pundits, read the articles, read the data, he's probably one of the least well-positioned --

ACOSTA: You know, President Biden's folks would say that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. They would say he beat Donald Trump. So --

PHILLIPS: He beat him --

ACOSTA: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Jim, he beat him by about 40,000 votes in 2020. Anybody who can make the case to me that he's better positioned now than he was then, then we're living in different worlds. And I respect you as a journalist, but I think you also know what I'm talking about and that is absolutely the case. That's where the problem is.

ACOSTA: Well, you keep saying you know what you're talking about --

PHILLIPS: He's not better positioned.

ACOSTA: You are hinting at President Biden's age. You've talked about this publicly. You're not really talking about it here. You come under some criticism for being ageist, by going after the president and his age. Are you concerned that you are essentially writing the ads for Donald Trump's election campaign if you continue to talk about the president's age in that way?

PHILLIPS: If you're asking that question thinking that I'm the one person that feels like this, therein lies the answer right there. I have not talked about his age once. I think he's a fine man. I voted for his policies. I helped market them as a member of the Democratic House leadership team. I think he did a fine job.

I'm trying to give voice to an exhausted majority in the United States of America that does not want a repeat of 2020. They do not want Donald Trump and they do not want Joe Biden. They want an option in a democracy like the United States, the oldest, consistent democracy in the whole world. Almost 250 years. Those who are saying that it is not good, it might be hurtful to have an option --

ACOSTA: Do you expect President Biden to debate you?

PHILLIPS: By the way, Jim, there are -- Jim.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: If I may -- I've got to jump in because we are going to run out of time. I did want to ask you. Do you expect President Biden to debate you?

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm of course expecting him to debate me. Am I going to put pressure on him, demean him, diminish him, divide? No. I think every American expects campaigns in this day and age to be mean spirited, undermining, divisive, aggressive. I'm going to run a different one. I'm going to celebrate him. But I'll tell you, the country needs a change. All the coverage right now, we are facing circumstances in Eastern Europe, in the Middle East that could spin out of control at every minute.

It's time for a new generation to lead both here in the United States, around the world, and when I'm president we are going to take a very different approach. We're going to do it in a way that Americans deserve by working together in a way that has never been seen before. And if Americans wish to give me four years to try that, I promise you, Republicans, Democrats, libertarians, independents, you will all have a seat at my table.

We are going to be the America that I know we all love and we're going to do it much differently. It's time for a new generation. That's why I'm running.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Dean Phillips, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Still ahead, CNN's exclusive reporting coming up on the shooter who killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, including that police who was sent to his house just weeks before the shooting took place. Those details are straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:28:31]

ACOSTA: We have some exclusive new reporting about the man who killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, when he opened fire on two locations.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz joins us now with this exclusive reporting.

Shimon, what can you tell us?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so we've learned some new details, with information leading up to the shooting. And what we've learned is that there was so much concern over the shooter and what was going on in his life. There was concerns over threats he was making, his mental state. And we've been able to uncover some new really important information, and that is that the National Guard here in Maine, one of the captains there at the National Guard, called a sheriff here, a local sheriff where the shooter was living to say that they were concerned that the shooter was going to snap and commit a mass shooting.

And then what we've also learned is that the local sheriff went ahead and started an investigation. They did what's called a welfare check or a wellness check around three days in September. On September 15th is when the first notification was made to the local sheriff by the National Guard to ask for a wellness check, to go to this shooter's home, to check on him because they were concerned about his mental state, and the fact that he was talking about committing violence.

And then on September 16th, just the next day, what we've learned is that the sheriff's deputy goes to the home of the shooter, sees him in the home.

[20:30:03]

He says that he believes the shooter is in the home and that he is -- he is concerned about going in the home because of these threats. He feels he's at a disadvantage and he calls for backup. He waits for 45 minutes, backup arrives, but then our information is that this deputy leaves. And then again on September 17th, they visit the home again. There's no contact made between the sheriff's department and the shooter, but what happens is they start speaking to his family and they talk about guns, about his access to weapons, and the family, according to information that we obtained, the family told the investigators that they were going to try and secure the weapons from him.

Now today we have spent the day trying to get more answers to this. We went to the sheriff there in the shooter's neighborhood. He refused to answer any of our questions and repeated e-mails. Because we're trying to figure out exactly what went on, because it's very clear based on this reporting, based on the information that we have is that there was clean warning signs that something was going on in this individual's life. That he was troubled, so much so that the National Guard called this in and told the police there, go check on him, we are worried about him, Jim.

ACOSTA: Wow.

PROKUPECZ: And what happens next is very much unclear. We've learned there was a missing person's report filed on this individual. We don't know if that meant -- looked like a dangerous and armed person type of search. The sheriff here says that he did alert authorities. He put out some kind of alert about the shooter, but we have not been able to uncover that. We asked about that, and all that we know right now is that there was this report of perhaps a missing person.

But obviously all pointing to a very troubling picture of clearly missed signs and things that perhaps law enforcement could have done had they been more aggressive in trying to take this man off the streets.

ACOSTA: Yes. Shimon, and we don't have a whole lot of time, but your reporting is so important, it sounds as though what you're saying is that there were clearly opportunities for law enforcement to prevent this mass shooting from happening potentially if they had intervened a bit more aggressively as you were just -- they went to his home. They were worried -- there were worries and concerns that there could be a mass shooting. I just think that's extraordinary. PROKUPECZ: Right. It's extraordinary. And I will tell you, Jim, how

all of this came about was because law enforcement officials in this city all over Maine were aware of this information, and they can't understand and -- for days we're trying to figure out why officials here were not being transparent about it. And so bravely they came to us and said, can you help us report this out, because they are worried that information is going to be hidden.

We have not been able to get answers to this. For days we have been asking about what kind of contact law enforcement had with the shooter.

ACOSTA: Wow.

PROKUPECZ: And basically, we have not been able to get any answers. And we'll see. We'll see what the local sheriff there in Sagadahoc has to say. We know that, you know, this investigation certainly is still continuing.

And I do have to just make one other point of course, Jim, is about the families. You know, and truly just sorry that for many of them they're going to be finding this information out through us, and this is something that law enforcement should be doing and should be more transparent.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And Shimon, I know, because of your work in Uvalde, I mean, these are the kinds of questions that has to be asked -- have to be asked, and in many cases it's unfortunate but law enforcement they just want to not cooperate with inquiries from the press about this sort of thing.

Great reporting as always, Shimon Prokupecz, live for us on all of this. Thanks very much.

And these are the 18 people who were killed by that shooter. There they are. We've been talking about them for days, continue to talk about them, and Shimon will continue his very important reporting. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:37:59]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in Northern Israel.

One of the many sad facts of this war is that the people of Gaza have been cut off from the world, under direct fire, caught in the crossfire of this war, but also cut off from power, fuel, electricity, basic supplies. And for a length of time, really from all communication with the outside world. Those communication networks blocked. But today in part under U.S. pressure, there has been a restoration of some of those communications.

Our Kevin Liptak, he's in Delaware traveling with the president this weekend. And Kevin, among many cases of the U.S. pressuring Israel, one, to

protect civilian lives there, to avoid them as they expand their military operations there, but also to allow more aid in and now to restore some of that communication. How do they carry that out? How do they communicate that to Israeli leaders? And in simplest terms, how were they able to restore those communications?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly when we learned that communication had been cut off in Gaza, that was of deep concern to American officials, not only for the ordinary Gazans on the ground there but also for representatives of aid organizations and also journalists who are documenting the humanitarian catastrophe there and aren't able to sort of tell the world what was going on.

And so certainly as soon as that began which coincided with the expansion of the bombardment of Gaza, American officials did apply pressure on the Israelis to restart the systems that had been shutdown to ensure that power, connectivity was restored to the strip. And officials are very pleased that that does seem to be gradually turning back on today.

And I do think this is illustrative of the effect that American pressure can have on the Israelis as this go forward because certainly the U.S. is in quite intensive daily hourly talks with the Israelis about how this conflict is unfolding, asking what they call tough questions sort of on the broader picture, but also sort of on the granular level of trying to ease the crisis there.

[20:40:16]

And you did hear President Biden talked to Netanyahu today about immediately and significantly increasing the flow of humanitarian assistance. Of course it remains to be seen how each of these will progress -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. No question. Of course there's the advice that Israel takes, and the advice it doesn't take when Marine General James Glynn left the country, the Marine commandant said that he had provided advice, warnings really about the progress of military action in an urban environment like Gaza, and in fact he said there were things the Israelis listened to and things they did not. This is their country. They're making their own choices.

Kevin Liptak, with the president, thanks so much.

We are doing our best to cover the plight of civilians in Gaza. It's not easy. It's hard to get information out. It's been hard at times just to maintain communication with journalists, aid groups on the ground. But what we do hear and the images we do see are of immense human suffering there.

I'm joined now by Rula Jebreal. She's a journalist. She's also a visiting professor at the University of Miami.

And Rula, it strikes me that at the start of this the U.S. tried to strike a balance. President Biden, when he came to the region, his initial plan was to come here to Israel, meet with the Israeli leader and others, and then of course go to Amman and meet with Arab leaders. That summit in some respects, it was canceled as there was a strike on a hospital initially blamed on Israel.

Where does the U.S. position stand in the region right now? How do Israel's Arab neighbors, how do the populations in this region view the U.S.'s role in this war?

RULA JEBREAL, JOURNALIST, FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: Jim, I'm going to say something that nobody is saying, and it's very hard to hear, but I think we need to hear it now. The region, 400 million people in the Middle East, with their government, they truly believe that this is not only an Israeli war, this is an American war.

And I'll say why. $14 billion of military aid, unconditional military aid to Israel, and then even they would take the aid, which is military weaponry to be used in Gaza and the West Bank and elsewhere, yet they refused to take the advice. That means there's pressure only sometimes to get communication, maybe a couple of trucks here and there in Gaza, but really nothing beyond that.

Secondly, our leaders are deeply frustrated that President Biden is not pressuring Israel to put two track policies, or two strategies. What Ami Ayalon, the former head of the FBI of Israel, said in order to defeat Hamas you have to give Palestinians something. This is what General Petraeus is saying. This is what he applied in Iraq and during the battle of Mosul, during the battle of Fallujah, which is to give -- to separate the extremist from the population, give the population help and their subjugation, and this is when you kill an ideology, not only militarily but really eradicate the root that galvanize and radicalize people. And they feel in the region that President Biden is not doing anything except lip service.

And thirdly, President Biden sent warships, and this is a clear sign to the region that America will militarily deploy its forces to aid and abet Israel.

SCIUTTO: Well, let me ask you about that, Rula, because when we speak about the warships, we know that that is in part and perhaps principally a message to Iran and Iran's proxies in this region not to expand the war because those warships, they're participating directly in military action in Gaza, and when I speak to Israelis but not just to Israelis, to others in the region, they believe that to some degree that warning has been heard from Tehran, from Hezbollah, that if they were, for instance, to open a second front on Israel -- we are in the north, we've been seeing the fire from Hezbollah into Northern Israel, that if Hezbollah were to open that front further that there would be a reaction.

Is there not a positive result from having that presence to present this -- prevent this, rather, from becoming a multi-front war?

JEBREAL: To think that this one -- the region is about to blow up and moderates, America's allies, Israel's own allies, Jordan, Egypt, the Saudis and others are telling President Biden and they feel ignored and they feel neglected. They're telling him that a military presence and giving military aid to Israel, blocking U.N. resolutions, basically voting against a U.N. resolution that asked for humanitarian pause, a cease-fire, but also asked to comply with the international law set the region on fire.

[20:45:12]

Why? It gives regions, it give countries like Iran or even Russia or even China, you know, the impression that rules-based international order is really a farce, it's not realistic, it's lip service, you know, for some countries, that international law is OK for certain countries but Israel can operate above that. And this is the dilemma. That what we are seeing tested, Jim, is not only Israel and American militarily. What we're seeing tested, the principles and ideals and values.

If you want to create an alternative to the world ruled by Assad and the Iranians and Russia, you have to give Palestinians a right to be free, to have dignity, exactly like the Ukrainians. And this is the dilemma. This is what the region point out to. And again, like, you know, what Queen Rania said on CNN on multiple occasions, she said, do we really want freedom for some and not for all? Are we against military occupation only when Russia commits it but we're OK somewhere else?

And I think that issue that President Biden and probably his administration is not listening to, it's not only what's happening in Gaza. It's what's happening in the West Bank, the occupied territories, where hundreds of villages are being now as we speak, this is another front, are being asked to basically -- they are being depopulated, they are being expelled, forcefully expelled.

And also what's happened to Palestinian Israelis like myself inside Israel where even students are terrified to go on colleges because there's fanatics who want them dead, who are chanting what some ministers in this government like Ben Gvir and (INAUDIBLE) who are Bibi Netanyahu's partner. They go in the streets and in parliament, and they said we want to wipe out all Arabs. We want them dead. We want them gone. And I think there's little pushback in that, and that's what the region is angry about.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And the worry of course in so many cycles of war in this region is that war empowers the extremist on both sides to some degree, gives them what they want in terms of creating further division.

Rula Jebreal, a journalist, a visiting professor at the University of Miami, thank you so much for joining.

JEBREAL: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: We continue to cover events here in Israel, in the south where military operations by Israel in Gaza are expanding. Also here in the north, where the exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon, a daily event. In fact many times of the day, we found ourselves in the midst of it earlier today. But also between Syria up in the northeast here as well, the concern, does that northern front become even hotter in the days ahead?

We're going to continue to watch very closely. Please do stay with us. We'll be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:51:57]

ACOSTA: The 2024 Republican field is starting to consolidate after former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his bid for the White House this weekend. Here to discuss is CNN political commentator, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and CNN political commentator, Republican strategists, Alice Stewart. They're the hosts of the podcasts "Hot Mics from Left to Right."

Let's just -- Alice, let me start with you first. Mike Pence suddenly dropping out this weekend. Where does this race stand now? I mean, even if you add up all the other non-Trump candidates, you really don't get a viable threat to Donald Trump at this point.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, if anything, we're 78 days out from the Iowa caucus. There is a serious case to be made for consolidation in the GOP, for those that want a non-Trump voice. And many rational Republicans realize we need to move in that direction.

Look, Mike Pence is a man of tremendous integrity, honor, a man of great faith, but it just was not his time. And I applaud what his message was, it's time for the GOP to put someone in the GOP nomination that, as he says, appeals to our better angels, someone less toxic and more on policy and not personality and not attacking people for their character. I think that is the right message. But at the end of the day, he only had about 3 percentage points in the polls.

Those votes are going to be spread across the field. DeSantis has a great deal of faith-based support, as well as Nikki Haley and Tim Scott. So I think Pence's support will be spread across the board. But, again, you look at those numbers, Donald Trump, in many of these polls is up 50 percent. And we really have to consolidate that base and really work hard to try and take some of those points off the Donald Trump.

ACOSTA: Maria, what are Democrats thinking? They're thinking they're going to face Donald Trump.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I don't think it really makes any difference. And look, it was time for Pence to get out. He never had a lane. He never had viable voters. He didn't have a base. He didn't have donors. He was in massive debt. And, you know, Trump said today that Pence should get out and endorse him. And I don't know if that's going to happen.

I think ultimately Pence was one of those who raised his hand when he was asked if he would ultimately support the nominee. I do think Trump is going to be the nominee, so he probably will at the end of the day. But Trump treated him like dirt. The Republican Party didn't really do anything for him either, so I don't know why he would do it, but I think at the end of the day he probably will.

ACOSTA: And Maria, just a short time ago, we interviewed Dean Phillips. He was on the program and he's obviously jumping in to challenge President Biden. I asked him during the interview, does he have any members of Congress or governors or anybody endorsing him at this point, he wrote that off as well. I don't need the Democratic establishment.

CARDONA: You know, it was a great interview, Jim, because you pushed him on exactly the things that are important. Look, I personally think that it is an egocentric vanity project. But it's a democracy like he said. He is welcomed to do it.

ACOSTA: Is he hurting Joe Biden, though, by talking about hinting at his age.

CARDONA: I think --

ACOSTA: He didn't want to talk about his age, he's talking about passing the torch to a new generation and so forth.

CARDONA: Well, I think you hit the nail on the head where I think what he's doing is he's giving -- he's using Republican talking points, and his campaign manager is a Republican. So I guess that doesn't surprise me.

[20:55:02]

But it's certainly not doing anything to the goal that he said at the beginning, which is this election and Donald Trump is an existential threat. If he really thought that Donald Trump was an existential threat, then he would do everything he can to support Joe Biden, the one person who has ever beat Donald Trump and can absolutely do it again.

ACOSTA: Is this helpful to Donald Trump, to have Dean Phillips out there?

STEWART: Look, I don't think Dean Phillips is going to have a tremendous impact on Donald Trump or Joe Biden for that matter. And look, he did point out -- what is true is that 80 percent of Americans don't want to see a Trump-Biden rematch and they want another choice.

Look, I applaud anyone who is willing to put their life and livelihood on the line to run for president, but when he's sitting there only attacking Biden on his age, it just reminds me of what Reagan said in a debate, I'm not going to use anyone for political purposes, exploit their youth and inexperience. That's what he's running into. This is an opportunity for him to show he doesn't have the experience.

But if he's running against Biden, look at the fact. He's voted with Biden almost 100 percent of the time.

CARDONA: He even said it.

STEWART: He is Biden minus a few decades. If he really wanted to make a difference, he would look at Biden is terrible on the economy. He would come forth with a great plan for addressing the economy. He would come forth with a plan to secure the border because Americans are concerned with the influx of migrants in this country.

ACOSTA: And I'll show, I'll tell you one thing. The Biden campaign is taking note of when Donald Trump has these verbal slipups. Let's listen to what Trump was saying earlier today in Iowa. He thought he was in South Dakota, but he was in Iowa. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A very big hello to a place where we've done very well, Sioux Falls. Thank you very much, Sioux Falls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: No. He was in Sioux City, Iowa. And the Biden campaign Twitter account put that out there. They want everybody to see it. This is going to keep happening.

CARDONA: Yes. And it does keep happening. And Donald Trump has said all kinds of ridiculous things that you would think that guy is not right in the head. But then, you know, the focus is when Joe Biden slips up because of a childhood stutter, then, oh, my god, you know, he breaks the internet. But I will say one thing, you know, Dean Phillips also talked about how so many things are happening around the world.

There is no one who compares to Joe Biden on the experience that he has on foreign policy, and that's exactly what we need right now.

STEWART: Thankfully because we're doing so terrible on foreign policy. Thankfully no one matches up to him.

ACOSTA: All right, lots to discuss next time, ladies. Thank you so much for your time tonight. More after a quick break. Be right back.

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