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New Polls Show Trump Leading Biden in Key States; Stanford University Investigates Spate of Hate Crime Incidents; IDF Says It's Conducting Significant Strike on Gaza; Massive Blast at Refugee Camp in Central Gaza. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 05, 2023 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:48]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.

Today marks exactly one year until the 2024 election and a new set of polls from "The New York Times" and Siena College show that President Biden has some work to do. According to these latest polls, former president Donald Trump is leading in four key swing states, including Nevada, a state Biden narrowly carried in the 2020 presidential election, and Georgia as well, a state that was central to Trump's efforts to overturn the election results.

The polling shows registered voters favor Trump when it comes to handling the economy, immigration, national security, and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. This latest polling is especially striking as Trump faces mounting legal troubles. Tomorrow he is expected to take the stand in a civil fraud trial for what's shaping up to be a high- stakes day of testimony that could determine the fate of his New York businesses.

Let's discuss that and more with former Clinton White House press secretary, Joe Lockhart, and former Republican congressman, Charlie Dent.

Joe, let me start with you. If you're in the Biden White House, what's your reaction to these numbers right now?

JOE LOCKHART, FORMER CLINTON WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, they can't be happy with them, but it's also not time to panic. It's a year -- if you look to where President Obama was in 2011, he was in the same shape. There's a little bit of good news in these polls if you look at a generic Democrat, he still beats or she still beats Donald Trump.

But, you know, Biden is bearing the burden of the anxiety about the economy, the anxiety overseas particularly in the Middle East, as an incumbent should. You know, we have developed a two-decade, even longer tradition of incumbents a year out being in trouble under a bunch of different circumstances.

The last thing I'd say is that the news of the world has shifted a fair amount of attention away from Donald Trump. I think any -- if Republicans can make this election about President Biden, it makes it very difficult. Trump, I believe, will get the nomination and I think Trump is incapable of making it about anyone but himself, because he sees it only from himself.

ACOSTA: Yes.

LOCKHART: That will be an advantage, I think, for Biden and the Democrats.

ACOSTA: Yes. Charlie, I mean, Trump was a disaster for Republicans in 2018, in 2020, in last year's midterms. Do we have any reason to believe he wouldn't be again in 2024?

CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: Well, I do think Donald Trump will be a very significant problem for Republican candidates in 2024, but based on this polling that I've seen, if I'm the Democrats, cannot be very happy at all. In fact, you know, I guess it's just one poll, but he seems to be slipping with Hispanics, younger voters, obviously Muslims are also upset right now. You know, African-American voters even, he's slipping there, too. So I think there are all sorts of problems here.

Now, one thing, too, that the poll points out, and another polls I've seen points out, is that most voters think that one of these two candidates is too hold and one is too crazy. And I think the ground is fertile right now for an independent centrist movement or third-party candidates. You already have RFK Jr. running as an independent, Cornel West. I do think the No Labels People are going to likely put up a candidate. Depending on the circumstances, they may.

And I think that would actually healthy. A more centrist movement. So this is all out there. This is a very fluid situation. Biden is clearly a very weak candidate. And other polls have suggested that Democrats put just about anybody else up there, those numbers would be much better.

ACOSTA: Joe, what do you think of all that? And I did want to ask you about this notion that the Democrats have been talking about, and maybe you've alluded to this a little bit yourself, which is, you know, folks like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, they've been in this kind of jam before. But they weren't up against Donald Trump and the threat that he poses to American democracy. So the stakes are higher this time around.

LOCKHART: You know, the stakes couldn't be higher because we have one candidate who is denying the basic tenets of democracy.

[18:05:02]

He's tried to overturn an election. So I think that it will be very stark. I mean, I agree with Charlie when he talks about third parties perhaps playing a big role. They always have when they get in. Al Gore would be president if it wasn't for Ralph Nader. I don't agree that they represent a centrist position. You know, Robert Kennedy is -- he may be crazier than Donald Trump and may draw votes from Donald Trump. But -- ACOSTA: For that reason.

LOCKHART: If a third party got in and they were able to get on the ballot, it does mix up the race.

ACOSTA: Yes.

LOCKHART: But where I do agree with Charlie is the bad news in the poll is the Biden coalition has been really diminished if you look over the numbers, particularly among non-whites. And that's where he's got to do the work. He's got to revive that coalition, and I think Donald Trump will help do that. It will not necessarily be votes for the president or a vote of confidence in the president, but I think people will realize the danger of another term for Donald Trump.

ACOSTA: And Charlie, I wanted to ask you about this. Tomorrow, Ron DeSantis is expected to get a huge endorsement from the Republican governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds. What do you think? I mean, if a non- Trump candidate was looking for a shot in the arm, this is a fairly significant one, is it not?

DENT: I don't think it's going to make much of a difference at all, frankly.

ACOSTA: No?

DENT: Kim Reynolds may be popular in Iowa, but I don't know that her popularity will transfer nicely to Ron DeSantis. I mean, it's maybe called a consolation prize for DeSantis, but I don't think it means anything. But I also just wanted to clarify. I was not suggesting that RFK Jr. or Cornel West were centrist candidates. They're not. I was saying that the No Labels Movement would likely put a fusion candidate, a centrist candidate, keep the ticket, up on the ballot.

That would be their intent. At least to provide ballot access so someone could run a centrist ticket. That was my -- that's what I was trying to explain there.

ACOSTA: And, you know, and perhaps one of the reasons why Ron DeSantis, you know, and whichever non-Trump candidate gets a little bit of momentum, why it may not be enough, I mean, Trump, he can just say what he wants out on the campaign trail and there's just no accountability inside the Republican Party.

Last night during a speech in Florida, he attempted to re-write history on a key campaign promise he made in 2016, one that I heard time and again. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To those people that talk about Mexico, you know, I said, Mexico is going to pay for a piece of the wall, they paid for much more than that. They gave us 28,000 soldiers because there was no way legally they could pay for our wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Joe, it's extraordinary. I mean, I remember, we all remember Donald Trump saying that we're going to build a wall on the border and Mexico is going to pay for it. Now Trump is saying, well, they're paying for a piece of the wall. I mean, it's extraordinary, not just the level of dishonesty, but I suppose the confidence that he has that people will just buy anything that he says.

LOCKHART: Well, his people will buy anything he says. That has been proven time and time again, and his people represent a vast majority of the Republican Party right now. Not -- you know, not a lot of sensible Republicans, I think, like Charlie, but the vast majority, if you look at the numbers. And I think the -- you know, if you go back to the endorsement, I completely agree with Charlie that it's not significant.

What's going on in the Republican primary right now is who can be that person who can challenge Donald Trump one on one? But how do they do that? They can't win. So a year out, the one thing we can be sure of is we know who the candidates are going to be. You don't often have that because I just don't see anything that can keep Donald Trump. In fact, his legal problems play into his central message that the system is rigged.

That the system is rigged against him. And he will use that in his campaign the way he uses demagoguery, and you know, the whole Trump playbook.

ACOSTA: Charlie, is there another piece of this as well, though, as to why none of these other Republican candidates were ever able to pose much of a threat to Donald Trump? And it is that they've never really gone after him in any kind of measurable way. I mean, Chris Christie, I think, to some extent has, though I'm not sure he really is in a position to do much in terms of winning the nomination.

And so, you know, Ron DeSantis, he has flirted with some tougher talk aimed at Donald Trump in recent days, saying he doesn't have the guts to show up at this debate that's coming up later on this week. But I was talking to Vivek Ramaswamy yesterday asking him about, you know, how Donald Trump has said that the January 6th prisoners, the folks who have gone to prison for what they did on January 6th, that Trump has called them hostages, and Ramaswamy wouldn't even really disagree with that.

He said he agreed with that sentiment. I mean, it is kind of extraordinary how you really haven't seen any of these other contenders go after him in a big way.

[18:10:04]

DENT: Well, Jim, I've been saying this for many months. I mean, the many acts of political malpractice committed by many of the Republican presidential candidates has been simply striking and stunning, starting with the indictment of the former president, Trump, during the Stormy Daniels hush payment matter. Instead of criticizing, condemning Trump for his conduct, they basically said he was a victim of a partisan D.A. and a witch hunt and deep state and all that. And they basically reinforced Trump's narrative, instead of taking him

to task for his conduct. Whether it's criminal or not will be up to the courts but as a political matter, these guys should have just been hammering him on that in every other indictment. And every other crazy thing that he has said. But they're not running for first place, they're running for second place. I mean, how much time are they spending, you know, trying to take down Ramaswamy? Well, he's not going anywhere. I mean, other than Chris Christie --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: -- Ramaswamy than on Trump?

DENT: -- places to go after.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DENT: I mean, you have to take down the front candidate. I mean, that's just basic campaign politics that any candidate should understand.

ACOSTA: Yes, no question. All right, well, Charlie Dent, Joe Lockhart, great discussion, gentlemen. Thanks very much for starting us off this hour. We appreciate it. Good talking to you.

In the meantime, the Israel-Gaza conflict has led to a frightening rise in acts of hate in the U.S. Coming up next, a look at some of the cases against Jews and Muslims, and what's being done to fight it, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:42]

ACOSTA: The Israeli military is conducting what it calls a significant strike on Gaza, flares and explosions could be seen tonight in the direction of Gaza. The action comes as the Israeli military said its troops reached the coast of Gaza in an effort to encircle the region from several directions. Meanwhile, along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the Israeli Defense Forces chief said the military is ready to shift into a, quote, "offensive mode at any moment."

And Secretary of State Tony Blinken is now in Turkey. It's his last stop on a regional tour. There are thousands of miles from the Israel- Hamas war, but their lives are still being upended by racism and hate. Both Arabs and Jews who attend Stanford University in California are reporting incidents targeting them because of their religions.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us with more.

Camila, these acts of violence and intimidation, these incidents are not new. But ever since October 7th, they are on the rise.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, yes, and students told me, look, they feel like this is escalating. The latest incident was a hit-and-run accident. The victim, an Arab Muslim student who was still in the hospital told me he wasn't ready for an on-camera interview, but said he wanted to advocate for love, understanding, and inclusivity. I talked to other students told me that they admire this sentiment, but nonetheless are very concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FARIS BDAIR, STUDENT STANFORD UNIVERSITY, ARAB STUDENT ASSOCIATION: I've been feeling sad, I've been feeling anxious. I've been feeling worried.

BERNAL (voice-over): This is how Faris Bdair says he and others are feeling as Palestinian Americans, as Muslims, and as students at Stanford University.

BDAIR: It's scary that this kind of hate can happen in a place where I'm supposed to feel at home.

BERNAL: Fear as a result of what he believes are hate crimes. The university's Department of Public Safety now investigating five incidents since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. Four appear to have targeted Arab students, while one was reported as antisemitic vandalism.

The most recent potential hate crime incident happening Friday. The university says it was an apparent hit-and-run crash involving an Arab Muslim student on campus.

BDAIR: It's hard to fathom that that could even take place. And the problem is not only could it take place, it's now a reality that we all have to live with.

BERNAL: In a statement, the university saying that Stanford considers anti-Arab and Islamophobic acts to be abhorrent.

The incident is now being investigated by the California Highway Patrol. The university also said the driver is reported to have made eye contact with the victim, accelerated, and struck the victim and then driven away while shouting "F you and your people" out the lowered window of the vehicle.

BDAIR: The fact that it's so quickly already turned into something of this magnitude is again scary.

BERNAL: Other incidents included a group of students being shoved, a student being spat on, and someone running over a tote bag, which contained a computer and other valuables.

BDAIR: What's going on abroad shouldn't have an impact on the health and the lives of students on a campus in a country thousands of miles away.

BERNAL: In the antisemitic incident reported, a mezuzah adorning the door of a Jewish student was removed from their residence. In a statement, the school said, "This removal of a sacred religious symbol is deemed a form of intimidation targeting the Jewish community." Overall, groups representing students on both sides say they're concerned about these incidents and students like Bdair say they worry about the future.

BDAIR: We have to be constantly alert. We have to be constantly on edge. I mean, it's exhausting having to watch over your shoulder 24/7.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL: And he also told me that Arab students on campus are supporting each other, not just emotionally, but also just helping each other by walking each other to class because they are scared. They say they are definitely taking extra precautions. In the meantime, the investigation for the hit-and-run continues. They are still searching for that suspect who is believed to have been driving a Toyota Forerunner. So again we'll have to wait for authorities to see what happens here, but students are extremely scared at the moment -- Jim.

[18:20:06]

ACOSTA: And Camila, we're seeing this at a number of universities across the country. How are college administrators handling this?

BERNAL: Yes, it's not just Stanford. This is something that we're seeing all over the country. And each school addressing it differently, but trying to tell the students that they're there to support them, to help them, to try to figure out exactly what they can do to stop these incidents to investigate them. Stanford in its part is putting all of these incidents and making them public for all of these students to see and hopefully for it to help in terms of the investigations because of course they do want to hold people accountable for what's going on here, not just in terms of the Arab students, but the Jewish students, as well.

ACOSTA: Right.

BERNAL: This is something that's impacting all students in these campuses.

ACOSTA: Yes. Absolutely. All right, Camilla Bernal. Thank you very much.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says more than 750 incidents of anti-Arab or anti-Muslim bias have been reported across the country since October 7th. And joining us now to talk about this, Zainab Chaudry is a spokesperson and Maryland director for the organization known as CAIR.

Zainab, we just saw Camila's piece a few moments ago. What is going on, especially on college campuses right now? I mean, I've never seen anything like it. It's just extraordinary.

ZAINAB CHAUDRY, SPOKESPERSON, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS: Yes. It is. And it's definitely unprecedented. My organization has been putting in 18 to 20-hour work days. My team in the national office just clocking long hours, responding to request for assistance from community members, students, employees, who are affected by these very tense political climate. And it's really not something that we've seen to this degree before.

ACOSTA: And we all remember the senseless murder of little Wadea, the 6-year-old who was brutally stabbed to death by his family's landlord. How is his family doing?

CHAUDRY: This is obviously very traumatic. Our Chicago chapter of CAIR has been working with the family, they've been in touched with the mother as well. And it's very hard for her to have any sense of closure, I imagine, for her not to have been able to even attend the funeral of her son because she herself was in the hospital recovering. It's something that I think is probably going to stay with her for a very long time.

And unfortunately, there is a very real sense of fear amongst -- and concern and anxiety amongst many of our community members who are witnessing the implications of the genocide unfolding in Gaza here in our own backyards, in our own places of employment, our own schools and institutions.

ACOSTA: And you and I both remember what was going on in this country after 9/11, the level of Islamophobia that we saw back then. Are we seeing something of a similar level right now, would you say? Or is it worse?

CHAUDRY: I would say it's actually worse. Our organization has collected or received incidents, over 774 incidents between a period of October 7th to October 24th. This is 182 percent-fold increase of any given 16-day period in 2022. And according to the Institute for Othering and Belonging by UC Berkeley, over 85 percent of American Muslims don't in fact report hate crimes or bias incidents.

So we believe that the actual number of these incidents is much higher. And it's very startling to us in this particular climate that many community members don't feel supported or they don't feel comfortable or confident that if they report these incidents to law enforcement, that they will be investigated, that they will be handled with the kind of seriousness that they deserve.

ACOSTA: And the White House says they're going to launch an initiative to try to counter some of those Islamophobia around the country. Is the White House doing enough? What needs to be done?

CHAUDRY: So typically this would be a very welcome news especially in this very tense political climate. But it needs to be in partnership with the fact that many American-Muslim organizations are calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The consistent dehumanization of Palestinians is fueling the hate bias that we're seeing within our communities. And the fact that there is no sense of any urgency to demand an immediate cease-fire on the brutal assault on Palestinians in Gaza is something that -- it detracts from the credibility of any kind of initiative that the White House might be unfolding.

ACOSTA: And they're talking about a humanitarian pause. Does that not go far enough?

CHAUDRY: It does not go far enough. We believe that we absolutely need an immediate cease-fire. The toll on -- the humanitarian toll on the population in Gaza has been devastating. A humanitarian pause would not be sufficient. We need to make sure obviously that there's humanitarian aid going into some of the most hardest-hit regions within in Gaza, but we also want to make sure that the communities there are able to recover from the brutal ongoing, incessant assault over the last four weeks that they've been dealing with.

A vast majority of these victims are civilians. Over 4,000 children have been murdered. About 10,000 people have been killed that we know of. Many people are buried under the rubble, that we don't know what the accurate number is. And meanwhile President Biden is saying that he doesn't have confidence in the numbers that have been provided of the death toll which is unacceptable because that in itself fuels dehumanization of Palestinians.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHAUDRY: And contributes to the hate bias.

ACOSTA: And I know that some of our viewers are right now watching this interview and saying, well, what about Hamas?

[18:25:02]

What is their responsibility in all of this? Do you blame -- does some of the blame fall on Hamas?

CHAUDRY: Look, we have 2.2 million people who live in Gaza, about half of which are civilians, are children. More than half of which are civilians. The vast majority of the 2.2 million population are civilians, about half of which are children. To justify the kind of -- the kind of aggression that the Israeli military has waged in Gaza, the kind of air strikes that are demolishing hospitals and houses of worship and refugee camps, it's unconscionable, right?

And look, if you were to take out a school shooter, you wouldn't shoot up the entire school, you wouldn't bomb the entire school and kill every student within the school if you were trying to take out a mass shooter. The fact that this is continuously being used as an excuse to justify horrendous war crimes and acts of atrocities that are occurring against Palestinians is unconscionable, and that's also unfortunately fueling the hate bias within our own communities.

ACOSTA: All right. Zainab Chaudry, thank you very much for coming in. We appreciate it. Hope we get to around this issue and start to see some of this level of Islamophobia coming down. Appreciate your time. Thanks for coming in.

CHAUDRY: Thank you so much.

ACOSTA: Thanks so much.

In the meantime, the Israel-Gaza conflict is causing President Biden to lose some support of key voters. What his aides and campaign are trying to do right now to smooth things over and try to turn the corner on this issue. We'll talk about that, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:39]

ACOSTA: As we reported earlier, new polling shows President Biden losing support in some critical battleground states just as he grapples with the situation in the Middle East. A "New York Times"- Siena College poll shows former president Donald Trump has an edge over Mr. Biden in four of these key states among registered voters. And CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere joins us now.

And Isaac, you know, folks can quibble about polls and say it's a year out and so on, but I have to think inside Biden world, there has to be some concern right now.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Look, there's no way to look at these polls and say that they're anything but bad polls for the president.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DOVERE: But, yes, it's a year out. What I have heard from Biden campaign officials since this morning is this is -- these are numbers that have baked into them all of the negative feelings about Joe Biden that are out there already, and that they haven't had yet the chance to make the positive case about Joe Biden, but they will do over the course of the campaign with advertising. Of course, they've done some advertising already.

They also say that most people aren't focused on the election and haven't really conceptualized this as a Donald Trump versus Joe Biden election yet. And that when they do and when it's really about Donald Trump, then they will have a better opportunity to get Biden's numbers up.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DOVERE: We talked to Democrats outside of the Biden campaign. What they say is, look, he's not going to electrify voters. That's the way it's going to be. And this is about making this an existential election, that's not Joe Biden versus Donald Trump, but it's really a vision of America versus a different vision of America. And that's where things like abortion and civil rights and democracy all get rolled into it.

ACOSTA: What about this? Biden's support among Jewish and Arab- Americans, it's been shaken since all of this got started. The White House has launched some outreach campaigns to turn this around. I mean, I would have to think at some point they're going to have to get some of the stakeholders around the table at the White House to start talking with one another and have the president in the middle of that.

But this is becoming a bit of a defining moment for his presidency, the way he's inserted himself into this diplomatic role of trying to get a lid on what's happening in Gaza. And it's hurting him politically right now. It's created a fissure inside the Democratic Party at the same time.

DOVERE: Yes. I think it is certainly hurting him politically. And some people seems to be helping him politically with other people. And that's part of what's going on here. There's a story that I have that's up on our Web site right now about all this, and gets into how, number one, for Joe Biden this is not an issue where he's thinking about political liabilities.

He's been saying to people who try to raise it, that's not what this is about. Israel -- support for Israel is a core issue of wrong and right and how he sees the world and how he sees what he has to do as president. And so his support for Israel isn't going to change. What has been going on, though, is that the White House has been reaching out both to Jewish American groups that are largely supportive of him and have been cleaving to him, feeling like he's a reassuring presence, but also to Muslim and Arab American groups and leaders and saying, how are we going to connect more with you?

What I hear from Muslim American leaders around the country is this feeling of betrayal, is a feeling of --

ACOSTA: Oh, we certainly heard this yesterday.

DOVERE: Right.

ACOSTA: Gabe Cohen was down following the protest in downtown D.C. yesterday, talked to a couple of Palestinian Americans who said, I voted for Joe Biden last time around, I'm not going to do that this time around.

DOVERE: Right. And that may be the case. And we'll see, again, a year until the election.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DOVERE: I don't -- I think often in politics, we end up focusing on the critics and people who are opposed to it. You do see that there is a lot of strength and support for a lot of big Jewish groups around the country for what Joe Biden is doing. And we think about those states -- those polls rather about battleground states.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DOVERE: There are big Muslim and Arab American communities in states like Michigan, in Minnesota, in Georgia, important states. There are also big Jewish American communities in Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

ACOSTA: Right.

DOVERE: So we don't know how this is all going to come out.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: How the numbers are going to --

DOVERE: But it's not just about who's angry, but maybe people who are supportive, too.

ACOSTA: And what is -- I mean, they've got -- I mean, they've got a lot on their plate right now over at the White House. They not only have what's happening in the Middle East, they've had Ukraine for some time as well. The president is trying to get, you know, a bill passed through the Congress right now for aid to both Israel and Ukraine.

[18:35:02]

And it's been tied up in the House, it seems, which has a bill that's not going to get over to the Senate. Does he have the -- do they have the bandwidth right now to deal with the political consequence in all of this, or do they just have to just get stuff done on these fronts and hope it shakes out politically?

DOVERE: That is basically the feeling here.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DOVERE: We've got to get these things done, and let's see what happens, and again a year until the election.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DOVERE: Look, I interviewed Joe Biden for a book I wrote. He's been president for about two and a half weeks, and he said to me then, just fresh as president, that a friend had said to him, Joe, you're like the dog that caught the car, and he said, no, I feel like I'm the dog that caught the bus. Now that's already three years ago and everything that's happened since and is continuing to happen. This is obviously a presidency that came in in a time of crisis for this country and for the world, and that has piled more and more crises on top of each other.

ACOSTA: All right. Isaac, we know you'll be on top of it. You're plugged into Biden world, you always have been, and I'm sure you'll have some great reporting in the days and weeks to come to see how all of this shakes out.

Isaac, thanks a lot. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:09]

ACOSTA: Right now, Israeli forces say they are conducting a significant operation, including strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza. A CNN team near the border capturing these images of flares lighting up the night sky just a short time ago.

And joining me now to discuss is IDF international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus.

Colonel, thanks very much for your time. We've seen a lot of these explosions and fires last night and tonight. What can you tell us about what we're seeing? What are these strikes going after? LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: First of

all, good evening. Thank you for having me.

War continues in Gaza. We are striking Hamas and we are going stronghold after stronghold, according to our plan, in a systemic effort to dismantle Hamas from its military capabilities in order to make sure that October 7th never happens again.

ACOSTA: But, specifically, you can't tell us what the strikes are about at this point?

CONRICUS: They are about underground infrastructure that Hamas has in various populated areas, and we have troops on the ground, infantry, armor, combat engineers. They are striking and they are also directing fires from the air, according to intelligence that they have on the ground and intelligence that is being generated. All in an effort to strike Hamas militants. And there was a special focus on Hamas commanders.

ACOSTA: And the IDF also says that Israeli forces are ready to shift into an offensive mode at any moment on the northern border with Lebanon. Can you tell us about that?

CONRICUS: Well, actually, our posture along the Lebanese border has been very defensive. We've only been responding to attacks from Hezbollah. Today, an Israeli civilian was killed when an anti-tank missile that was fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah at an Israeli community, an Israeli civilian was killed. Another was wounded and there's been rocket attacks in Kiryat Shmona.

We are deployed in significant strength and are ready to respond to any escalation coming from Lebanon and continue to warn the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah that it would not be in their interest to escalate the situation.

ACOSTA: And Colonel, all weekend long, we've seen images of carnage in Gaza. The civilian death toll appears to be going up with every Israeli strike inside of Gaza. I know you've said and your counterparts have said that you're not targeting civilians, you're doing your best not to target civilians, but yet there are scores of civilian casualties.

I'm wondering, at what point do you say these strikes have accomplished all that they can accomplish and you have to shift to a more ground-based offensive inside of Gaza to make sure that you're not causing an excessive number of civilian casualties?

CONRICUS: Yes, I agree. I mean, we have said and we will continue to say that we are not fighting against a civilian population. They are not our enemy. Hamas is. And the sad reality and the reason behind all of this really sad footage that we see coming out of Gaza, it's not Israeli activity. It's the fact that Hamas systemically hides behind those civilians.

You know, there's an ongoing operation to try to evacuate Palestinian civilians from northern Gaza. More than 800,000 have already made the smart decision to do so. We've open specific humanitarian corridors yesterday and today for the continued and unhindered flow of the Palestinian civilians south to safer areas. There is water in the south. There is access to food and medicine in the south.

And it is definitely a safer and the safest area to be in the Gaza Strip. And we continue to call on the population to move south. We don't want them in the battlefield and we don't want them in harm's way. We want Hamas to stand up and fight and we are going to take the battle to Hamas and we really hope that the civilian population won't continue to be held by Hamas as human shields.

ACOSTA: And you say you want the civilians to move south so they're out of harm's way. Wouldn't a humanitarian pause facilitate that, help in that effort? Why stand against that idea of a humanitarian pause right now? Why not be open to something temporary so civilians can safely get out of these areas?

CONRICUS: I totally agree, and that's what we've said. We've done that twice in two days. Yesterday and today there were humanitarian corridors. We opened up an area along Salah al-Din Road, which is the main road, and we told the Palestinians before, listen, between 10:00 and 2:00, there's going to be a pause and we will facilitate the free and unhindered movement from the north, south of Wadi Gaza, so that you can be in relative safety.

[18:45:13]

Take your belongings, take your family, and go. We have done this twice. We have issued warnings and statements.

ACOSTA: OK. And --

CONRICUS: It is exactly what we're doing.

ACOSTA: OK. Colonel, and forgive me for interrupting, but I just want to make sure because the terminology is important to get right here. Are you saying that the IDF did have what you consider to be a humanitarian pause this weekend, as had been requested by the Biden administration or is this your own version of a humanitarian pause? Can you just clarify that?

CONRICUS: Yes, I will happily clarify. Yesterday and today, for many hours, with prior notice and warning, we facilitated, we stopped firing in certain areas of northern Gaza, which is the main combat area, and we called on Palestinians to move south. Many did. Not enough. More than 800,000 have left northern Gaza, which is good, but we want all of the civilians to be out of harm's way, and we did so not once, but twice, in order to facilitate more.

The sad reality is that even these efforts were hindered by Hamas which started firing at the convoys and at Israeli troops in that area, and then unfortunately that humanitarian window was eventually closed. But the bottom line is, I think that we don't only talk the talk, but we actually do it on the ground. And we have for two days in a row facilitated safe access and safe transit of Palestinian civilians. I understand it is unreported because perhaps it doesn't go according to the narrative, but we are trying to get civilians out of --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Well, that's what I'm trying to ask you to get that clarification. And so, are you saying that these humanitarian windows that were opened up over the weekend, do they meet to the satisfaction of the Biden administration, what they were calling for in having some kind of pause to facilitate the movement of civilians out of harm's way? Do you have confirmation from the Biden administration that, OK, thank you for doing that? Or has it not reached that level yet?

CONRICUS: I don't know exactly how the administration feels about it. I know that we are doing real, honest efforts to get civilians out of the battle field. Not only are we telling them where to go, but we are also helping and creating much better humanitarian conditions in the south, which is where we're telling people to go. There's less combat there. There is access to water, by the way, from Israel, as well.

We've opened the taps on our side and there's an inflow of goods, more and more trucks, humanitarian trucks, come in every day to the south. There's a humanitarian zone. And at the end of the day, it's the best thing for civilians to do. And we are facilitating it. Honestly, because we want a battlefield where we can face Hamas and make sure that we engage them and them only, and beat them on the battlefield to make sure that never again will they be able to attack Israel.

ACOSTA: All right, Colonel Conricus, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it. We'll be right back.

CONRICUS: Thank you for having me.

ACOSTA: Thank you.

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[18:52:41]

ACOSTA: Scores of people dead and injured are arriving at hospitals after a deadly blast last night in a central Gaza refugee camp. The Israeli Defense Forces say it is looking into the circumstances around the explosion.

We want to show you scenes from the aftermath of this explosion, but a warning, these images are very graphic. And CNN's Nada Bashir has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this hospital in central Gaza, another day of seemingly unending horror. Bodies, some tiny, arriving in their dozens. No one is spared the devastation of this war.

Journalist Mohammad Al-Aloul seen here at Gaza's Al Aqsa Hospital, not to report on this latest attack, but to identify his children amongst the dead. MOHAMMAD AL-ALOUL, JOURNALIST IN GAZA (through translator): I saw my

son Kenan, my daughter Rahaf, and my sons Ahmad and Qais. I saw my three siblings killed. I saw friends who were at my house all killed.

BASHIR: Hospital officials tell CNN this latest disaster was caused by yet another Israeli air strike. Among the numerous bodies, countless women and children.

DR. EYAD ABU ZAHER, AL-AQSA HOSPITAL DIRECTOR (through translator): 52 killed and more than 70 injured. Most of those killed and injured are children, women, and elderly, and still a large number buried under the rubble.

BASHIR: In the now shattered Al-Maghazi refugee camp, once home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, residents search desperately for any sign of survivors. Many digging frantically with their bare hands.

This residential community is located in one of the zones deemed safe to evacuate to by the Israeli military. But Israel's air strikes have proven unrelenting.

JAMAL AL ALOUL, RESIDENT OF AL-MAGHAZI (through translator): All of a sudden, I saw the entire house upside down. I can't see. I don't even know where I am.

BASHIR: Homes which were crowded on Saturday with entire families have now been reduced to blackened rubble. This crater a reminder of the force with which Israel continues to bombard the besieged Gaza Strip.

SAMAH SHAQOURA, RESIDENT OF AL-MAGHAZI (through translator): I saw all my sisters screaming. Then I saw my father. When I found myself alive, I looked to see who was still alive.

[18:55:04]

We turned on the torch, and my siblings were alive, but I did not find my father. I finally found him next to me. I moved him. I moved his hands. I moved his face. He did not respond.

BASHIR: Gaza's hospitals are overwhelmed. The shortages mean it is virtually impossible to adequately treat those wounded. But hospitals like Al Aqsa are also struggling to keep up with the mounting death toll. The bodies of those killed lay outside, awaiting identification. A gut-wrenching image now an all-too-familiar reality here in Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASHIR: And look, Jim, I think it is important to underscore that we are hearing those repeated affirmations from the IDF spokespeople that they want civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate southwards, that they will be safe there. But there are many areas across central and southern Gaza like the Al-Maghazi refugee camp which continue to face relentless bombardment by Israeli air strikes.

And as we've been hearing from the medics on the ground, from the volunteers, the aid workers, from the Palestinian civilians on the ground across southern Gaza, these air strikes are relentless. There is simply nowhere safe for them. There is simply nowhere to take shelter -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Nada Bashir, thank you very much for that important report. We appreciate it. And we'll be right back.

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