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CNN International: Israeli Forces Pushing Into Gaza; Sources: U.N. Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting Monday; Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Growing More Dire by the Day; "Friends" Creators "Shocked" By Death of Matthew Perry; King Charles Set to Visit Kenya. 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.
[20:00:31]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST: Thank you for joining us, and welcome to our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York.
In the, air and on the ground, Israel's fight to wipe out Hamas, showing no sign of easing.
The sound of airstrikes are booming over the southern Gaza. This video was taken just hours ago by a CNN producer in Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, Israel troops are pushing into northern Gaza. CNN has seen evidence of Israeli forces, at least two miles inside the Gaza Strip. Israel also says they have killed several Hamas fighters, who have emerged from a tunnel near Gaza's Erez crossing.
A short time ago, the Israeli military revise the number of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, too. They now say it's 239 were taken from Israel on October 7th.
Israel has warned of a long difficult, to take out Hamas and ensure it security in response to the brutal October 7th terrorist attack. But Israel's stepped up military campaign continues to have devastating consequences inside Gaza.
Scott McLean has the latest on the increasingly desperate situation for civilians.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There isn't much left of the Bilal Bin Rabah mosque in Central Gaza. The building was flattened by an overnight Israeli airstrike. People inside the neighboring apartment blocks weren't spared either. Roofs were ripped right off, everything now covered in a pale shade of gray.
More than a dozen were killed and more injured according to medical staff at the local hospital, where outside the bodies of those killed are wrapped in white sheets and marked with their names.
Both the IDF and Israeli prime minister have renewed calls for civilians to urgently evacuate northern Gaza. The apartment buildings next to the mosque were filled with people who had heeded those warnings, believing central Gaza would be safer.
There were no warnings at all, this survivor says. We've seen the entire thing collapsing on us. We didn't know exactly where the hit was, we started running to get our children out. It's a miracle they survived.
This man said there were no warnings, there was a strong airstrike and people pulled us from underneath the rubble and took us to the hospital. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. Israel said that overnight some 450 terror targets were hit and say that some strikes were directed by troops now on the ground inside Gaza.
This was the aftermath of one of those strikes on a family home in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Desperate scramble to move slabs of concrete hoping to find survivors, instead they found at least one body.
By daybreak, the urgency has gone. The pile of rubble is all that's left. Hospitals already at the breaking point are only getting more overwhelmed. In Deir Al-Balah Saturday, doctors operated on this boy on the floor.
Palestinian Red Crescent now says that Israeli authorities called the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza city twice with a clear and direct threat that the hospital must be evacuated at once. Otherwise the Red Crescent holds full responsibility for the lives of everybody inside.
That amounts to hundreds of patients, thousands more people taking shelter. Israel says it called more than twice since the war began and says that Hamas is shielding themselves inside of hospitals.
Foreign aid is entering Gaza at a trickle. The desperation apparent in this video, people ransacking a U.N. warehouse carrying out bags of food. Maybe temporary lifeline for those people the U.N. calls it a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down, as the situation in Gaza only gets worse.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And as Scott just reported, the crisis in Gaza intensifies. The Palestinian Red Crescent though says ten trucks made away from the Rafah crossing on Sunday, containing food supplies and medical necessities. However, even U.N. officials say that this fall short of what is needed to stop the suffering. The Israeli military said it expects more aid trucks to begin entering Gaza soon.
[20:05:02]
The humanitarian crisis is especially taking a heavy toll on Gaza's children. CNN spoke to four of them, and one adult at the Deir al- Balah refugee camp about their experiences, and living conditions as the war continues. Here are some of their stories. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MAJDY ABUL KHEIR, LIVES AT DEIR AL-BALAH REFUGEE CAMP (through translated): This is the most difficult war for us because we are going to school like any normal people and we heard the sound of rockets, so we went back home, just continued. So we went to our relatives at the city center. We went there and the war continued. And as a result, we came here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have come here to the schools of Deir Al- Balah, I don't know how to describe the schools. They are virtually lifeless -- lifeless for the children, grown-ups, and the elderly. The elderly cannot go down to the toilets. They walk on the stairs with difficulty. When they go to the toilets, they find them dirty.
We don't know what to do. I swear to God, we feel sorry for the children and the elderly. There is no bread, there is no gas, there is no food. Simple food, we can't even sort it out for the children. This child is suffering with burns. She received burns while we were escaping.
FARAH YASSER NAEEM, LIVES AT DEIR AL-BALAH REFUGEE CAMP (through translated): We were not safe. We were not living like normal people. We would like to go back to our homes. The Zionist occupation destroyed our lives, destroyed our beautiful way of living. We have the right to play. We have the right to freedom them. The simplest thing a child needs, we have been deprived of.
SAJA IHAB ABU-KHEIR, LIVES AT DEIR AL-BALAH REFUGEE CAMP (through translated): Here, we queue up to just get a small barrel of water for 60 or 70 people. This barrel would only last for one day, and it is impossible for to last a second day. We stand in the sun, the children stand from 1:00 to 4:00, in order to get this little bit of water that we get.
Sometimes we push each other, saying we need, water we need water. It takes long to get the water in the sweltering heat. No toilets, no water.
Sheltering here is difficult, life is difficult. There is no gas, we are effectively dead here, just existing, not living.
AYA SAMY NAEEM, LIVES AT DEIR AL-BALAH REFUGEE CAMP (through translated): We have lost our right to education, and last our right to play. Life here is not good. Water is scare, everything is scarce. Life here is not good, water is scarce, bread is scarce, everything is scarce. Life here is no good, and I wish we would go back Beit Hanoun.
There is no water, and no electricity. We can hardly get water. Electricity doesn't come a lot, once a day.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHATTERLEY: CNN conducted these interviews just one day ago.
And while Gaza residents desperately wait for more aid and safer living conditions, the U.N. Security Council is among the many global organization trying to help them. Diplomatic sources tell CNN the council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday, in New York. Sources say the UAE will seek a binding resolution from other members, for a, quote, immediate humanitarian pause in the war.
Here is, more from the U.N. secretary general.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: The world is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe taking place before our eyes. More than 2 million people, with nowhere safe to go, are being denied the essentials for life --food, water, shelter, and medical cares, while being subjected to relentless bombardments. I urge all of those with the responsibility, to step back from the brink.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: For more on this, we are joined Steve Sosebee. He's the founder and president of the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.
Steve, good to have you on once again. Thank you for your time.
How much faith, hope do you place on some kind of humanitarian pause being agreed?
STEVE SOSEBEE, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: I think there has to be one, immediately. When you talk about running out of, fuel and the consequences that that has on the entire population in Gaza, there has to be some kind of immediate pause, and enabling aid to come. And there hasn't been any fuel in Gaza, for over three weeks now. And what that means is that the hospitals are going to run out of energy, to be able to provide the basic services in the operating theater, and anesthesia machines, power for the intensive care units that keep people alive, the incubators that keep hundreds of premature babies that need that to stay alive. All of those are going to shutdown, and those patients are going to die.
So I think just in that concept -- and food is running on as well, of course, as you heard. Bakers can't bake, people no longer have -- ambulances can't bring patients to the hospital, crews that are trying to say people trapped under rubble can no longer operate their machines. So, without fuel and without this kind of humanitarian pause, it is absolutely required at this moment that there is going to be a massive, massive, further humanitarian crisis. And hundreds, if not thousands more innocent children dead.
CHATTERLEY: Steve, you and I had sort of a mirror conversation a week ago, and it is one of many conversations that are being had about the challenges, and the situation in Gaza. Do you think in some way people are four weeks on, desensitized to the challenges? And I know it is more complicated than that, but the loss of human life shouldn't be more complicated than that.
[20:10:05] SOSEBEE: And particularly the loss of children. We have already seen over 3,000 dead Gazan children, in the most graphic ways being killed by artillery, by bombings of their homes, by homes collapsing on them. And what we are going to see on the next phase, I'm sorry to say, is children dying from lack of medication, children dying who are on intensive care units, on artificial breeding machines, kids in need, as I mentioned before of incubators. That's the next phase.
And if the world can tolerate that, if the world can see Gaza children dying by the hundreds, if not thousands, as we have already seen over the past three weeks, then we are truly desensitize. And I hope that's not the case.
I hope people will realize, these are innocent children, they are not Hamas, they are not politicians, they don't deserve to be victims of any kind of political struggle that we have created as adults.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, we just heard as I'm sure you were listening as well, one of the little children that we spoke to, saying we lost our right to play, which, I think you feel in your stomach, and your heart. You also make it a very important point, I do think people need to realize what the situation. Because your primary focus is the protection of children, and medical care for children as well, that there is debate over the validity of some of the data that we get from the Palestinian health authority.
But the significant proportion of the population far greater than other places, is children, it's around 40 percent of the population. We have to understand what that means amid this violence.
SOSEBEE: Yeah, when you are cutting off food, when your cutting off clean water, and this is already a population has been living under siege since 2006, not having free access to the world. And they have had it limitations on energy, you know, the electrical supply and Gaza is always been three or four hours a day, 90 percent of the water that comes out of the drinking taps is undrinkable in Gaza. That's from prior to October 7th.
So, the population, they're the children there have been suffering their whole entire lives already. This is a different level of suffering. This is a different kind of brutality that they have had to endure. And as a result, the crisis is not only one of people dying, which is the most tragic component of it but, also the long term consequences, all of these children are going to be traumatized and scarred mentally, psychologically, and the effort to try to heal them, and heal their hearts, and heal their souls, as well as heal their bodies is almost insurmountable given that it is it affecting nearly every single children, 1 million children in the Gaza Strip right now.
CHATTERLEY: More of a longer term consequences. We heard this weekend from the United Nations, from the World Food Program, that there's now looting taking place, to your point about a lack of available food, the lack of available supplies.
And Steve, is it any surprise to that we are now seeing this, in light of the challenges, and the fear people face that they are not going to be able to get more supplies, or even when more aide will come? Have you seen any sort of looting, and are your people concerned, too?
SOSEBEE: Our people are concerned. We still have two American doctors trapped in Gaza, Dr. Barbara Zind, the pediatrician from Colorado, and Ramona Okumura, a prosthetic and orthotics specials from Seattle who are both they are on a humanitarian mission, helping children. And they have had to reduce their calorie intake. They are undergoing water and food scarcity.
And, we're not sure. They are not sure where their food comes from every day. It is a struggle to be able to feed them and protect them. And there are literally thousands of crowds of people outside their compound, who are desperate, trying to feed their, children, trying to feed themselves.
And, it's becoming increasingly more of a desperate situation for people as food becomes more and more scarce. And, that is actually quite disconcerting for us because their safety is our number one priority.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, I mean, you talk to me about this last week. I vividly remember, and they were only going to be there in a week, they had already been there three. And now, it is four weeks. And you are saying you know, they want to come home.
Can I ask if they've made it to the Rafah Crossing, or they still there, trying to provide medical support, and taking care of people?
SOSEBEE: Of course, they are helping within the compound. But they are at the Rafah crossing, with other internationals, who are also part of other aid organization. There is a large contingent of people trying to get out of these aid organizations, including MSF and others, who have been there for more than three weeks. And we have transfer them down to the Rafah Crossing within a few days of the closure. And they have just been waiting, and we are waiting for our government, and the Egyptian government in the Israelis, and all other parties to allow them to cross the border.
It's a simple trip for them. They could be there in five minutes, if somebody would open the border on the other side, and let them out. That is all that is required at this point.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, and we wait for that. And now we will point out that the Israelis and the U.S. government representatives are saying that is Hamas that won't let, won't let the foreign national Americans to cross, and leave.
I just want to ask you because again, when we spoke last time, we talked about what was your purpose there, which was to take very sick children, and get the medical support elsewhere in the world, to bring them to the United States in particular.
[20:15:05]
On October 25th, you posted that two of the children that you treat for cancer had been injured. One in particular, Majd, and his cousin who has a brain tumor. They have been injured, in fact they lost their grandmother and their aunt who were killed at the same time. I just wanted to ask, how those little boys are?
SOSEBEE: They're recovering. I mean, they're physically recovering. Of course, as I mentioned before, the psychological scars of losing your relatives and experienced bombings, as well cancer and trying to fight cancer and going to remission, and all of that, obviously, has a tremendous impact on the health and the wellbeing of these kids. Actually, we don't only bring those kids out for medical care. We are the main organization in the world that sends volunteer medical teams into Gaza and have done it for almost 30 years, and that's how Barb and Ramona were there.
And we also opened the first cancer department for children in Gaza, the first and only, which is still operating at this point, and you know, with very limited support and supply because of the lack of staff and the lack of access to drugs and just even the basics, like water. Every day, we're struggling to get water for the children just to be able to survive in that cancer department, which is in Gaza City and we're quite concerned. It's being damaged by bombings going on nearby.
But, you know, there is -- it's full of children with their family seeking refuge. We're just hoping that they'll be able to survive because a lot of those kids are in remission and they're going to fall out of remission if they don't get the continued treatment. In addition, there are many dozens more children in Gaza with cancer who are coming into department, as outpatients every day. They're no longer getting that treatment and were concerned obviously.
In addition to the thousands of other kids being injured and having their lives affected every single day by the bombings and the killings and so on are just the simple, are not simple but kids who are getting treatment for common medical issues like cancer, like congenital heart disease, like these other issues that we as an organization have been dealing with for years. We send teams and do open heart surgery on kids. Those kids with congenital heart disease, we have a long list of them. They're not going to get treatments now and they're going to die. That is true of the case with cancer and so one if the situation doesn't change.
CHATTERLEY: And, Steve, just very quickly in case anybody is confused or unsure about the logistic ability to move those doctors and move those patients out of the hospital, and out of relative -- relatively comparable danger in Gaza City, what would your response be?
SOSEBEE: There is nowhere for them to go. This is a pediatric cancer department which specializes in treating kids with this very terrible disease which we all know, with leukemia and with tumors and with lymphomas and all of these very difficult diseases which we've built a very specialized department to protect them and ensure there is a control of safety, infection control and so on.
Where can we send them? Every single hospital in the Gaza Strip is full of injured people in every single hospital in the Gaza strip is running out of fuel. The Indonesian hospital has closed down, hospitals in southern Gaza which must be a space safe area but actually continues to be bombed are full of injured people.
There's no place for these children to go and there is not a single empty bed in the entire Gaza strip look at whatever children, let alone all of them have cancer and get them treatment. It does not exist and it is impossible. Until the borders open, you're trapped inside Gaza as if it's a prison. And it is a prison.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, anybody who has seen anybody or lost anybody who suffered cancer knows that the systems are deeply compromised.
Steve, again, thank you for all the work you and your team are doing. A lot of heroism going on there and we are grateful. Thank, you sir.
Steve Sosebee there, founder and president of the Palestinian Children Relief Fund.
Okay, coming up next, the U.S. president speaks to Israel's prime minister by phone. The first conversation, in fact, since Israel expanded its operation in Gaza. What they discussed, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:20:56]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back.
The U.S. president has spoken to the Israel's prime minister for the first time since Israel expanded its operations against Hamas. In a phone call, Joe Biden stressed the need for more humanitarian aid to get into Gaza and the importance of protecting civilian lives. President Biden also spoke to Egypt's president about ensuring Palestinian's are not displaced they are or elsewhere.
Jake Tapper spoke with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan about protecting Palestinian civilians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We stand firmly for the proposition that all measures should be taken that are reasonable and responsible, to protect the lives of civilians. As I've said before, Hamas is going out of its way to make this more difficult. They are hiding among, integrating among those civilians and turning those civilians into human shields but that does not lessen Israel's responsibility in this regard.
And we have had conversations privately as well as our public pronouncements. Private conversations with Israel about the need to protect innocent civilians and to be targeted in their military operations so that it's focused on the terrorists and not an innocent people whose lives deserve to be protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Kevin Liptak is in Wilmington, Delaware, where the U.S. president currently resides.
Kevin, it's not a new message. The focus on protecting civilian lives, separating those from Hamas, but also, again, reiterating that Israel has a right to respond here but the balance here and the pressure is clearly intensifying.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and I think that is certainly because of the images that you are seeing coming from Gaza. There is certainly a lot of pressure on President Biden to say and do more to ease this humanitarian crisis, certainly from the progressive left in the United States but I think also from Arab countries in the region, potentially from other American allies, who are all involved and are all watching this unfold.
In that phone call that the president had earlier today, he did raise the issue of the potential civilian deaths encouraging Israel to abide by international law to protect civilian lives. And he also talked about the need to get aid into Gaza, talking about the needs for it to immediately and significantly increase because the trucks that are going in now our meeting only a fraction of the needs that are being seen on the ground there.
So certainly, President Biden is trying to amp up his calls for civilian protection in Gaza but at the same time holding Israel very close. You are not going to see a break from President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu on this front. He is a staunch defender of Israel and I think in the president's view and in the view of his advisers, these talks, these cautions, these warnings are better to take place behind the scenes. They think they will have more effect that way -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, and I think also what came up for what Jake Sullivan said in the United States today was s that there is a constant discussion of varying levels of the government to discuss what the plan is beyond this moment. Whether it is the next phase or what their firm details are beyond. And the sense was that that is actually not being discussed.
LIPTAK: Right. The item that you keep hearing President Biden talk about, which we talked about last week, is that -- once this is over, it cannot go back to the status quo of what was happening before October 7th. This situation where Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Authority is in sort of a state of political paralysis and there was no real prospect of a Palestinian state.
Basically he is saying that the U.S. and its allies in Israel need to get back on a path toward a two-state solution.
[20:25:04]
Of course, he is one in a string of presidents who have been unable to achieve that goal. There is no clear path towards that objective now. But he does want to get that conversation started so that there is what Jake Sullivan described today as a political horizon for the Palestinians, so that there is some sort of lessons to be learned from this and something on the horizon for them to strive towards, as this conflict unfolds.
But, certainly, this conflict is nowhere near over. This could last for months if not years and so is unclear exactly what steps the president can take to achieve that objective -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, the message needs to be, you don't have to share but you do need to plan.
Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for now.
Now, new warnings about Israel's war on Hamas. Still ahead, the officials in the Middle East are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, before the violence spreads to other regions.
And if you want to know how Hamas dug all these tunnels under Gaza, the answer may lie in North Korea. How that rogue state has allegedly been helping Islamic militants fighting Israel, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back.
Qatar is calling for an immediate cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas. That occurred during a phone call between officials of Qatar and Iran. In a statement on X, the platform formally known as Twitter, Qatar's minister of foreign affairs said the risk of violence spilling over into the greater region would have, quote, dire consequences.
Meanwhile, Iran's president said on Sunday that Israel has crossed the red lines in Gaza. President Ibrahim Raisi said Israel's advancement into Gaza may force other nations to take action. That comes as Israel says it's begun the next stage of the war against Hamas.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden speaking at about the importance of getting more aid into Gaza and better protecting civilians. In a call with leaders of Israel and Egypt, President Biden expressed ongoing support for Israel to defend itself but also said international law prioritizes protecting civilians.
Joining us now from Sderot is our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson.
Nic, I want to get your take on what we heard from the United Nations today amid reports of looting. We also the World Food Program talking about that, too. It is perhaps no surprise in light with the step of military action that we have seen and the fears from ordinary people and civilians there that they have no clue when more aid is coming.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. It is a cumulative effect as well and I think that's what we are hearing from the head of UNRWA, responsible for the humanitarian needs of many of the people inside of Gaza whose warehouse was overrun on Saturday by people who are desperate for food, they were looting the food and have spoken about the breakdown in civil society inside of Gaza.
[20:30:20]
It is a cumulative effect and this is why there is an accumulating amount of pressure on Israel to alleviate some of the humanitarian suffering because they are at the moment. But, of course, you know, from Israeli perspective, they believe that controlling what gets into Gaza is a means to force Hamas to give up the hostages, to get out of firing rockets into Israel.
The military means by which Israel is applying the pressure is the means by which they intend to get rid of Hamas completely as a military and political organization but it's that, you know, the three weeks now or more than where the people of Gaza have been suffering a humanitarian level that is really bringing the calls for a cease fire, whether it is from the World Health Organization talking about the deteriorating situation, whether it's from the directors of hospitals inside of Gaza, the Save the Children organization is called for a cease-fire, so many of these international NGOs and human bodies are saying that it is absolutely time.
And we are hearing as well from the leaders of European countries as well, putting pressure on Israel to allow in more humanitarian aid and have a humanitarian pause. At the moment, that is not taking root and having effect. There has been a slight reduction in the amount of military activity today but it is not clear what Israel's next moves are deeper into Gaza, maybe, possibly allowing in more humanitarian aid.
These are all unknown steps at the moment, but absolutely no doubt that the pressure really is mounting, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, it certainly is and we saw what we could call a moral decision by the UNGA on Friday, voting, what, 120-14 to approve a resolution calling for that immediate humanitarian truce. It is symbolic. It was message.
Does the Security Council meeting on Monday change anything, Nic? Or do we look to the United States and the Russians who have vetoed progress on that front already?
ROBERTSON: Well, the last time there was a Security Council resolution trying to bring about a humanitarian pause, the United States to veto it. It's not clear what they will do tomorrow when that comes before the Security Council.
Will it change anything? There is mounting pressure. You know, let's take what President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu about on the phone today. There is no walking back from the U.S. position that Israel has the right to strike back it famous for their utterly brutal killings of 1,400 people on the 7th of October.
There is no walking back from that. But the language around the humanitarian suffering, the language that President Biden is using in these conversations about protecting the civilians and abiding by international humanitarian law, we hear more about that from different leaders and allies of Israel about that. That's becomes a louder part of the message but Israel, you know,
outwardly does not seem to be bending, does not seem to be particularly bending to that. So what your question is about tomorrow in the vote to the U.N. Security Council, there is no indication that Israel is going to change its position what there is an indication of is that the pressure is going to be more intense and only get stronger from this position.
CHATTERLEY: And perhaps a hint of that from the IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari who posted the video on social media talking about humanitarian efforts stepping up or at least expanding on Monday. Of course, that remains to be seen.
But, Nic, we can hear what's going on behind you. To your point, perhaps a little bit less in terms of pace and what we have seen over the past 48 hours., but no indication really it seems that anything is going to lessen to allow that humanitarian aid safe passage.
ROBERTSON: It is not clear. The IDF could have gone in much harder with a much bigger force into Gaza and it does seem to be quite clear that they are responding to the caution that is being advised by their allies not to make the same mistake as the United States and its allies there with going into Afghanistan, to take its time and have a clear objective and articulate and objective and get international support for that objective and therefore might be able to realize that objective better.
[20:35:06]
But again to where we stand today, they could have -- the point is that they could have gone in stronger and they haven't, so is what they are doing at the moment part of the pressure, part of the negotiation, part of their tactics to try to force a mosque to hand over as many of the hostages as possible? That can't be ruled out as we cannot look at this in just the military context at the moment.
CHATTERLEY: Absolutely. That is what prime minister net yards out this weekend. Keeping that pressure raises the chances of getting those hostages back.
Nic, your context and wisdom is always appreciated. Thank you. Nic Robertson there.
Now, Israel officials say they have evidence Hamas used weapons supplied by North Korea in the October 7th attacks. They add that North Korea also gave Hamas technology used to dig tunnels.
Paula Hancocks has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This rocket-propelled grenade is likely from North Korea, used by Hamas during its October 7th attack in Israel and seen here in the hands of a militant in the back of a pick up truck during the attacks.
Arms experts pointed first to the distinctive red stripe on the F7 RPG.
N.R. JENZEN-JONES, DIR, ARMAMENT RESEARCH SERVICES: What we really need to look for is the tip of the ammunition, there's the absence of the traditional point initiating fuse there and it said -- you can see there is a piece of metal.
HANCOCKS: It's not surprising to see North Korean weapons in Hamas hands, according to experts. But Pyongyang has dismissed the claims as a, quote, grindless and false rumor orchestrated by the United States.
Pyongyang is known for being transactional has long been willing to sell weapons to anyone who would pay. It's arms proliferation in the Middle East is well-documented.
JENZEN-JONES: The North Koreans have voiced support of the Palestinian independence for decades. They have supplied arms both directly but more commonly through Iran over the course of several decades.
HANCOCKS: A senior official with the joint chiefs of staff here in Seoul says that they have evidence of North Korea exporting RPGs and potentially other weapons to Hamas, either directly or indirectly. I think that they believe the coordination likely extends to tactical doctrine and training.
The JCS citing a North Korean drill several decades ago, where they used paragliders to carry out a surprised attack on the Blue House, then the presidential office and making a link to the extensive network of Hamas tunnels known locally as the Gaza metro. North Korea is also known to have helped Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group in Lebanon with its own tunnel network.
SAMUEL RAMANI, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: We saw the North Koreans, of course, build those tunnels of their own, eventually in preparation for an attack on the South Korean border so they want to point that knowledge to Hezbollah. Hezbollah operatives have been training in North Korea since the 1980s.
HANCOCKS: In a public briefing, South Korea's army chief of staff shared the military's assessment on Hamas tunnels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least from the looks of the shape, the size and technology level of Hamas's underground tunnels, there are many aspects that North Korea has either supported or been involved in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: North Korea has not commented on any links with the tunnels and either Lebanon or Gaza. Pyongyang has simply denied that they have been providing weapons to Hamas.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Now, coming up, having one child in harm's way in a war zone is tragic enough. I'll speak to a mother and father of two brave young Americans, Corey and Tara Feldman, who are in Israel and ready to fight Hamas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:40:46]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back.
Proud and petrified, that's how Mindy Feldman describes the mix of emotions she's feeling now that two of her four children are in Israel and ready to fight Tomas.
U.S. citizens Corey and Tara Feldman are both serving in the Israeli Defense Forces which is just two of many U.S. Israeli citizens who are ready to fight to protect Israel. Mindy's husband Andrew is just back from a friends of the IDF event where U.S. citizens serving in the Israeli military are being recognized.
And I'm please to say, Mindy and Andrew Feldman joining us now from White Plains, New York.
Mindy, Andrew, thank you both so much for your time tonight.
Mindy, I'll start with you. You just describe that. I think the family members of military personnel around the world will identify with that, proud but also petrified, poignant at this moment.
MINDY FELDMAN, TWO CHILDREN IN ISRAEL MILITARY: It is -- go ahead, I'm sorry.
CHATTERLEY: No, please.
MINDY FELDMAN: It is -- I am very proud of their commitment and of their passion for and love of the state of Israel and also as their mother, very frightened about all of the terrible outcomes that can happen during times like this.
CHATTERLEY: What is it about them, Andrew, that made them both decide? I mean, your son Corey was called up almost immediately but your daughter Tara, and she's only 24, volunteered.
ANDREW FELDMAN, TWO CHILDREN IN ISRAEL MILITARY: Yeah, so, Corey has been in the reserves for 10 years. And his unit was called up right away.
And Tara was finished for service about two years ago and was beside herself and couldn't wait to go back and try to be helpful. She was home for a week before coming back and raised money for friends and family, and send equipment and anything she could to be helpful. In the soon as she got back, she signed up to be a reservist and was called up within a day or two.
CHATTERLEY: And, Mindy, your son only arrived in Israel on October the 17th. I know that you were attending your other son's wedding. So congratulations for that, and I'm sorry it follows something so tragic. But you did have a conversation with him at the airport where you asked him if he is lost, where he wants to be buried in Israel or the United States.
Talk -- talk us through that conversation. And what he said.
MINDY FELMAN: The truth of the matter is that Corey took a little poetic license because I could not say the word buried, I say where would you want to be? And we were both crying and I said, you know what I mean. And he said I do.
And then he said it is up to you and I said you can't do that. You can't leave it up to me. And he said, and I explained that I knew that I had spoken to Tara about her wishes and I knew what she wanted and he said, mom, it is enough that you are letting me go, to which I responded, I didn't realize I had an option, and he said it's your decision to make. It was probably the hardest conversations I've ever had in my life.
CHATTERLEY: I think I have a frog in my throat thinking about it. I think we can only imagine what that conversation was like.
Your son wrote an op-ed for "Newsweek" and I read that, too, and that's why some of the poetic license I think comes in. And he said if Hamas can be removed then Israel will be a safer place. And he fundamentally believes that.
And I think what you two will obviously be very aware of as we constantly report on it is that the process of that is having devastating consequences in Gaza and you both as parents know your children are being put at risk.
[20:45:01]
I guess I just wanted to get your view on how you see the tragedy that's unfolding in Gaza and the Palestinian people are facing consequences too?
ANDREW FELDMAN: I'll answer. It's impossible for us all loss of life and particularly children and civilians is horrible. And this war is complicated beyond comprehension. And for right now, we are praying for our kids and their teammates and the people who I think are trying to get rid of the worst people in the world for everybody. So it is hard to know.
MINDY FELDMAN: And certainly all innocence who are a casualty of any war situation and certainly they were almost all innocents on October 7th. That is always a tragedy and one that we wish could be avoided.
CHATTERLEY: Yeh, it is tragedy upon tragedy. Even as your children have made the decision to fight for Israel and to protect for the future of Israel, what would you also see around the world that we see in the United States here too is that is fueling a degree of antisemitism.
Have you to face to that? Are you concerned for that? Not just for your children of course, all of your children, not just the two that are fighting, but for your family, too? Yeah.
MINDY FELDMAN: Well, our daughter definitely experienced it. Tara. But that was long before this. That was when she was in high school. If you mean just like now at this point in time, we have been a little bit more insular because of the kids being in the army. And so, not as much out and about in the world.
And so as of now, we have not experienced it. I have little doubt that we won't at some point, because it does seem to be ratcheting up to a very frightening degree.
ANDREW FELDMAN: Every city in the world. It's horrible.
MINDY FELDMAN: And it's part of the reason why I think our children are so determined to make sure that there is a state of Israel. A place where all Jewish people can go no matter what happens, and a place that they currently think is their homeland.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. Do you also pray for peace? Some kind of peace? And perhaps a cease-fire? Because as much as that and some of the inadvertent suffering in Gaza, it also fingers crossed I think would bring your children home sooner.
MINDY: A hundred percent, and all the time, 100 percent all the time.
CHATTERLEY: Andrew?
ANDREW FELDMAN: I'm sorry? Yes. We are certainly praying for peace and when I was hoping for was a fast and a lasting peace, and it seems that we can't have both, because we never lose that. Now we are three weeks -- now you have much longer it's going to be but it has been bad for everybody. Worst things always.
CHATTERLEY: Mom and dad, long way away from two very special children. I can see that. I can see what your family is like you can just after a few minutes.
Message to them if they see this?
MINDY FELDMAN: We love you both so so very much. We are so proud of you. And if you never listen to anything I've said before or since -- be safe.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. That's a child's prerogative.
ANDREW FELDMAN: Mom spoke for both of us.
CHATTERLEY: Andrew and Mindy, thank you so much for your time. Go on.
MINDY FELDMAN: Thank you.
ANDREW FELDMAN: Thank you very much for having us on.
CHATTERLEY: Andrew, get her tissue please. Thank you.
ANDREW FELDMAN: Yes, ma'am. Right away. CHATTERLEY: We are back after this.
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[20:51:06]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
The creators of "Friends" are expressing shock and sorrow over the death of beloved actor Matthew Perry. The star made his name playing Chandler Bing on "Friends", the sitcom that became a TV phenomenon. Just watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is only one banana nut muffin left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ordered mine first.
MATTHEW PERRY, ACTOR: I am so much faster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to me.
PERRY: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to me!
PERRY: Okay. You can have it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go, enjoy your coffee.
PERRY: That was there when I got here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Perry was found dead this weekend at his home in Los Angeles. He was 54. Authorities say there was no foul play, sources quoted in "The L.A. Times" say he tied with appear to be a drowning accident.
Camila Bernal joins us now live from Los Angeles.
Camila, clearly, lots of questions now about what happened but I think what brought such joy to people watching him also in real life was the vulnerability that he shared with people and that he wanted them to understand the challenges with things like addiction in his life, which sort of plays in some of the questions we are asking now I think.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Julia. A lot of the interviews that he gave as he was promoting his book which was released in November of 2022, he said that he wanted to be relatable, that he wanted others to know that he had gone through it and that he was okay. And so, that's part of the reason why he said he wanted to help people, and why he said he shared his story. And so, a lot of people were able to relate and to be able to receive
help. He said he wanted to help people one-on-one or in the group no matter what, that was his goal with sharing that story.
Now in terms of the investigation, we do know that the L.A. County medical examiners office continues that investigation, and we also now know that they have now released his remains to his family and that they have listed the cause of death as deferred which means that the medical examiners office still needs to continue that investigation and needs to do more studies to figured exactly what the cause of death is. And sometimes, these autopsies and toxicology reports actually take weeks. So what this means is that we will likely be waiting days, maybe even weeks before we are able to get a concrete cause of death from the medical examiners office.
His family did release a statement saying that they are heartbroken by the tragic loss of their beloved son and brother. This is a statement was released to "People Magazine" and they also went on to say that Matthew brought joy to the world through his acting, and also was doing it for his friends. So, this is a Hollywood community, I feel it is of course heartbroken. And it is a huge loss for just people here in Hollywood.
And, look, we have not heard from the cast of "Friends". Of course, that's what he's most well-known for, Chandler on "Friends". And it was that funny, charismatic and sarcastic character that made so many people laugh.
And so, we'll wait to see how the cast responds. But in the meantime, Hollywood in general is saying this is a huge loss -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Camila, thank you for that.
We are turning to the devastated community of Lewiston in the state of Maine. Mourners have been holding a prayer vigil there to honor the 18 people killed in Wednesday's mass shooting. On Saturday night, the candlelit tribute was held in Lisbon and another comedian southern Maine impacted by the terrifying ordeal.
The White House said an official from its gun violence prevention office is heading to the state to try to support the grieving communities.
And this week, King Charles pays his first visit to a commonwealth nation since he took the British throne. He will visit Kenya as that country prepares to celebrate 60 years of independence. There will be ceremonies and celebrations but also some tensions perhaps over the two nations shared past, as Larry Madowo reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: King Charles lands here and there will be on Tuesday just weeks before Kenya marks 60 years of independence from the British.
President William Ruto has called it an honor for Kenya to be the first for King Charles to visit and Queen Camilla in the commonwealth. But ordinary Kenyans are divided on the symbolism here and the value of this trip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am so excited to see him, of course, and it is a good thing that he is visiting Kenya. Yeah, so I'm looking forward to that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just don't care. I am not really all that much about that and I really don't care. What is coming to do?
MADOWO: King Charles will be working in the footsteps of his mother. Queen Elizabeth learned when she was here in Kenya 1952 that her dad had died, and she will be monarch. But during the same 1950s period, the British colonial government violently crack down on the Mau Mau rebellion against colonial rule. Thousands of Kenyans are believed to have died. Some Kenyans want an apology, a full accountability for that colonial period and reparations.
NDIRITU MURELTHI, KENYAN POLITICIAN: What they should be doing is apologizing and what he should be doing is paying reparations for the misery, for the debts and for the havoc that was visited upon the people of Kenya.
MADOWO: There is renewed anti-colonial sentiments all across the African continent. In Cape Town recently, the Dutch King Willem- Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima encountered protesters from a legions group demanding accountability for the colonial period in South Africa.
King Charles has a packed schedule here in Kenya from a state banquet hosted by President Ruto, to meetings with creatives and young entrepreneurs, to visits to the U.N. office in Nairobi to highlight climate change and conservation issues here. It's his first big swing at re-branding the commonwealth, which is really his mother's pet project for him to set aside all the colonial baggage and try the new path, a new relationship, not just here with Kenya, but with all the African countries it used to be part of the empire and are hoping to move that forward.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: That just about wraps up this hour. I am Julia Chatterley but I'll be back with more on the Israel Hamas war in just a moment's time.
Stay with CNN.
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