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Donald Trump Attacks Judge During Combative Testimony In Civil Fraud Trial; Israel Says Will Take Responsibility For "Overall Security" Of Gaza; Northern Israel Communities Abandoned After Hamas Attack; Israel-Hamas War; Netanyahu Reiterates No Ceasefire Until Hostages Released; G7 Countries Prepare to Meet, Israel-Hamas War on Agenda; Putin Seizes on Conflict to Rally Against U.S. and the West; Palestinians Recount Alleged Abuse, Torture by Israeli Forces. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 07, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, the four time, twice -- four time indicted twice impeached former President Donald Trump takes a stand as a defendant in New York Civil Trial accusing him his family and other Trump organizations executors of business fraud.
Now, one month on since the horrific Hamas attacks on Israel, and as this war rages a U.N. official says the death toll in Gaza notifies humanity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Thank you for joining us wherever you are around the world. We'll begin with a New York courtroom and during almost four hours of testimony, Donald Trump was argumentative, and at times rambling, he insulted the judge, the state prosecutors. He repeated blatantly incorrect claims from the campaign trail calling the trial part of it political witch hunts. He also said it was election interference, none of it true.
He also made history during the civil fraud case, the first former U.S. president to take the witness stand to explain his own actions.
The trial is a civil case, which means Trump will not face jail time unlike his four criminal indictments. But this New York case strikes at the very heart of Trump's business empire, and it could end with a ban on ever doing business again in New York State.
In a pre-trial ruling, Trump is found liable for fraud for inflating financial statements about the value of his properties in order to receive more favorable loans. The judge who has appeared visibly annoyed with Trump's bombastic performance at times, will ultimately decide the outcome. And Trump's legal team has threatened to file a motion for a mistrial.
Yet outside the courtroom, Trump said his testimony went very well. CNN's Kara Scannell has a record.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SCANNELL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Donald Trump publicly blasting a New York judge and the State's Attorney General capping off a marathon day of testimony at the civil fraud trial centered around his sprawling global business empire.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This is a case that should have never been brought into the case that should be dismissed immediately. The fraud was on behalf of the court. The court was the fraudster in this case, a terrible thing this happened here.
SCANNELL: The former president on the witness stand taking questions for just under four hours today. And just moments after going under oath, the mood quickly becoming combative. Inside court, Judge Arthur Engoron repeatedly warning Trump not to give speeches in response to direct questions. And Trump attacking the judge saying I'm sure the judge will rule against me because he always rules against me. The judge replied, you can attack me you can do whatever you want, but answer the question.
Soon after things started getting heated with a judge asking Trump's lawyer to control his client warning that this isn't a political rally. Mr. Kise, that was a simple yes or no question. We got another speech. I beseech you to control him if you can. If you can't, I will. I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can. Do you understand that?
At one point during testimony, Trump leaned into the microphone saying this is a very unfair trial. Very, very, and I hope the public is watching.
Trump testified he did look over the financial statements and acknowledge some property values on them were incorrect, agreeing that his triplex apartment at Trump Tower was overvalued one year, but others were undervalued he said including Mar-a-Lago. Still, Trump said the statements were not important and had worthless clauses warning bankers not to rely on them. He added it was the responsibility of internal and external accountants to put together the statements, but he did acknowledge that the banks reviewed them.
New York Attorney General Letitia James addressing those claims head on before the cameras today.
LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: You continue to persistently engaged in fraud. The numbers don't lie. And Mr. Trump obviously can engage in all of these distractions and that what is what exactly what he did what he committed on the stand today engaged in -- engaging in distractions and engaging in name calling. But I will not be bullied. I will not be harassed. SCANNELL: Court is close Tuesday for Election Day. Ivanka Trump is the
state's next witness. She is expected to take the stand on Wednesday that could carry into Thursday and then the New York Attorney General's Office will rest their case. Trump's lawyers say that they will begin presenting their evidence on Monday. They said that could go as long as December 15. Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now from Los Angeles is Jessica Levinson, Professor of Law at Loyola law School and host of the podcast Passing Judgment. Welcome back. Good to see you.
[01:05:04]
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOO: Good to be here.
VAUSE: OK, so the four times indicted twice impeached, one term president spoke to reporters outside the courtroom Monday repeating much of what he said, while on the witness stand. Here's some of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: To think that we're being sued and spending all this time and money, and you have people being killed all over the world, that this country could stop. With inflation and all of the other problems that this country has, I think it's a disgrace. And when you look at the numbers, the phone numbers that came out today from the New York Times and CBS, people are sick and tired of what's happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just in itself, it's an odd thing to be saying in the middle of a court battle. But you know, it sounds seem there are two separate arguments being made in that courtroom, Trump directly addressing us photos making his case for reelection. Well, prosecutors argued why he should be banned from doing business ever again, in New York State.
LEVINSON: I think you're exactly right to phrase it that way. And it does feel like their ships passing in the night where this is not a typical witness on the witness stand. I mean, some people thought, well, maybe we won't get trump the politician because he'll be under oath. He'll be there in a courtroom.
These are very serious allegations against him that could potentially threaten his empire, which, of course, we know is a big part of his persona and a big part of his sales pitch to the American public. But he really treated this like a campaign rally. He was very combative. He was non-responsive. He was rambling.
I don't think that his audience in this case was the judge even though this is a bench trial. His audience was political. His audience was his donors and his voters. And I think you're exactly right that two things were happening in that courtroom today.
VAUSE: As he arrived, the former President repeated some very familiar and also some blatantly wrong statements, are blaming his legal troubles once again, on his political opponents. He's a little more from the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: These are political operatives that I'm going to be dealing with right now. It's very unfair. It's very unfair. But at the time the people actually understand it, they see it, and they don't like it. They don't like it. It's a political warfare, as you would call it, political warfare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So it seems that you have a look at what's happening in the other federal indictments, with these ongoing court cases, his defenses there, the political campaign, everything happened all at once today, if you like.
LEVINSON: It was really the coming together of a lot of things, as you say, a big part of his pitch was, I am very successful. I am a hugely successful businessman. And interestingly, that did bleed over into his testimony today, where he didn't as much as I thought he would have, frankly, point the finger and say no, not it. It was the attorneys. It was the accountants. It wasn't me.
He said, in fact, to the New York Attorney General, you're wrong. I didn't overvalue. I undervalued because I am worth so much money. The Trump brand brings all of these properties up. So it was interesting, legally and politically, you see the kind of convergence of this argument of I am worth so much money. And it's the same argument that he's made to the voters, which is I'm successful in business, and therefore I will be successful at running the country.
VAUSE: What is interesting, though, about all this is that the case isn't about guilt or innocence. A pre-trial really found that Trump and the Trump Organization is liable to fraud, because it'd be flaking net after the worth of those assets and to try and deceive banks and other people.
The hearing that will determine the penalty for that fraud. And as the headline in the Guardian noted, speeches and grandstanding, Trump's goes few if any legal points in the court. But does it matter legally is Trump toast no matter what he says? Or can he actually make it worse for himself?
LEVINSON: So, I think he thinks he's toast either way. Now, of course, there were seven counts in this complaint and the judge granted summary judgment, as you noted on one of them, finding that there was in fact fraud that Trump committed fraud, the Trump Organization, but there still are six other counts where the judge is looking at potential liability.
And when you are extremely combative and non-responsive with the judge, who again is acting as a jury, that's not a great legal tactic.
The fact that he was so aggressive and critical of the judge indicates to me that he largely thinks this is last at least on liability, likely on remedies. And so he is making his case to the voters to say see, I told you it was a witch hunt. I told you it was election interference. And the fact again, that he pulled no punches indicates to me that he thinks this is largely lost.
Now, of course, the defense has not put on their case yet. They estimate that their case will last until mid-December. So we'll see what legally they will argue in terms of whether or not values are subjective. And whether or not these were some bookkeeping errors, so to speak.
VAUSE: Jessica Levinson with us. Thank you. Jessica Levinson today in Los Angeles. Appreciate your time.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
[01:10:04]
VAUSE: One month since the deadly Hamas attack on Israel and Israeli ground forces claimed to have surrounded Gaza City, which according to the IDF is a major base for Hamas and its terror infrastructure.
While the conflict in Gaza looks set to escalate, once the war is over, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will maintain responsibility for security for Gaza for an indefinite period of time.
Netanyahu made those comments during an interview with ABC News, his first public remarks about the future of Gaza once this war is over, and until then he stressed there will be no ceasefire with Hamas until the militant group releases all hostages.
And according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank, more then 10,000 people in Gaza have been killed during the month long Israeli offensive. Senior U.N. officials said that number device humanity.
Live now to Cairo and Dr. Richard Brennan, Emergency Regional Director for the World Health Organization. Dr. Brennan, welcome back. Thank you for being with us.
DR. RICHARD BRENNAN, EMERGENCY REGIONAL DIRECTOR, W.H.O.: Thank you.
VAUSE: So in terms of civil society, public infrastructure, basic services, what is and what is not functioning in Gaza?
BRENNAN: Well, everything is has been damaged, disrupted. On the health side, as you mentioned, over 10,000 deaths, almost two thirds of which among women and children 25,000 injuries. Again, on the health side, now we have 39 percent of hospitals are non-functioning, and the remaining 60 odd percent are only partially functioning.
We've got about two-thirds of clinics that are non-functioning. Of course, schools are not functioning at all, kids have had their education disrupted because they're hosting over 700,000 internally displaced people in shockingly unsanitary and uncrowded conditions. You've heard about the problems for the water supply and the
desalination plant, increasingly dependent on bottled water being brought across the border. And just a whole disruption of the social fabric.
You know, family, we've all got colleagues and friends who live and work in Palestine and in Gaza, and the destruction of their homes of their livelihoods is on a massive scale.
VAUSE: According to one estimate of humanitarian assistance actually reaching Gaza, the current daily flow of aid has at best reach sporadic peaks of 7 percent of the pre-war level, may well average below 4 percent.
The Jordanian air force air drop medical supplies in Gaza over the weekend, is that an option here? Is that something which other countries could seriously they did in conjunction with the Israelis with permission from Israel. But is that something which could be seriously carried out by others?
BRENNAN: Well, I think that's spendable option. I mean, it's very clear what we need to do, we need to free up the Rafah border, we need to get the logistics infrastructure in northern Sinai here in Egypt scaled up. We need a much better and smoother and more efficient verification process at the border that's currently being run by the Israelis.
And then on the other side of the border inside Gaza, we need protected distribution of the aid. We can, you know, we have the capacities to scale up aid massively. As you've indicated, before, this recent escalation, it was estimated there were 500 trucks bringing commercial goods aid into Gaza every day. Since the start of the conflict we've had around 420 in total. We can do much, much better if we're given the room to loop.
VAUSE: You mentioned the stress on the health care system within Gaza. There's not just the fact that half of hospitals and major hospitals aren't working connect that you mentioned there's also the hospitals or shelter for tens of thousands of people who have nowhere else to go.
These hospitals are operators makeshift morgues, bodies are overflowing onto the sidewalks outside, there are also orphanages for children's whose parents are dead or missing. The other medical stuff in Gaza, which has been under constant stress of making life and death decisions almost, in some cases, hourly, as this gets worse. And all of this is likely to continue to get to a point where how much longer, I guess the question, is how much longer can they keep doing this? It's been a month now?
BRENNAN: No, it's an important question. I mean, the health workers, the aid workers in Gaza are absolutely heroic. I don't know how they have an emergency physician. I've worked in war zones. I don't know how these guys back up day in and day out to serve their families. And you know, they've got the added stress every time, you know, the next group of wounded and killed people brought to the hospital. They've got the added stress of wondering, is this a family member? Is this a friend and too often it is.
And they're there Are you having to jerry rigged everything they do, you keep hearing about the fact that surgery is being conducted without anesthetic.
[01:15:07]
We've got power failures, like a fuel. It's one of the biggest relief items that we need inside Gaza right now. So, you know, our hats off to those doctors, nurses. I mean, you know, I've been in Gaza. I've met these guys before. They are absolutely dedicated.
We need a ceasefire. That's, I mean, part of the figures that I've been sharing John and that you've mentioned yourself, is the incredible human suffering. There is a phenomenal video out on the internet now from a Doctors Without Borders physician, who says the now that in Gaza there is a new acronym WCNSF, Wounded Charm, No Surviving Family. And this story is retold time and time again, across Gaza. Young children brought in with horrific injuries with lost their entire families.
And you know, I could -- one of my colleagues was telling us about a recent medical school graduate, who called him up and said, I want to come and work for the World Health Organization. I just graduated from medical school. I want to serve my people.
Within a couple of days of that phone call, her family home was bombed, her entire family was killed. She lost both of her legs and had a terrible abdominal injury. And now it has a colostomy.
Now, what future does she have? I mean, these this -- these are the personal stories that we lose in the statistics. And we need a return of our humanity here. Our hearts have been hardened very much on both sides. We need a ceasefire we need release of the hostages, we need unhindered unfettered humanitarian assistance.
VAUSE: And just one last note here. Among that death toll does not include somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 children believe trapped beneath the rubble of homes which have been destroyed. So it's just something else to put into the mix.
Dr. Richard Brennan, thank you for being with us, sir. We appreciate it.
BRENNAN: Thank you. Thanks much.
VAUSE: Update now from Ibrahim Dahman, the CNN journalist who's been sending us exclusive reports while being trapped in Gaza for the past 28 days he finally managed to leave Gaza. He arrived in Cairo. He says they now feel relieved but the children remain traumatized. Here's his account.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IBRAHIM DAHMAN, CNN JOURNALIST: Last month, my family and I fled northern Gaza. Buildings were bombed before our eyes. We became refugees in our own home.
I saw family members caught in the crosshairs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't strike hotels, right?
DAHMAN: My own children feared for their lives. We sheltered with over 100 other families in Khan Younis. We witnesses many airstrikes and survived blackouts. We tried to make the best of a bad situation, and distract our children. But we couldn't shield them from the horror.
Last Friday, we were told to go to the Rafah crossing. I was relieved to get out of Gaza. My home has become a graveyard.
In Rafah, I saw many families hoping to escape. My heard raced as our documents were checked.
Zaid, why do you want to go?
ZAID DAHMAN, IBRAHIM DAHMAN'S SON: I want to a safe place.
DAHMAN: There are no safe places here.
Z. DAHMAN: That's true.
DAHMAN: The names of a lucky few were called to board the bus to Egypt. Finally, it was our turn. My wife put on a brave face. We both worry we will never see our relatives again. The feeling of being in Egypt is indescribable.
Are you happy Khalil? What do you want to say?
KHALIL DAHMAN, IBRAHIM DAHMAN'S SON: It was difficult, but at the same time it was good.
DAHMAN: In Cairo, we no longer hear airstrikes. My sons look happy, but I know they are traumatized. Sometimes they hear a plane overhead and think it's a war plane. I have to reassure them they are safe now.
[01:20:05]
We don't know what our next move will be. For now, we can be a normal family again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Coming up here on CNN, we'll head to Northern Israel where residents have been forced to evacuate communities and towns left deserted because of increasing fire from Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, more than that next
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VAUSE: Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced to flee their homes in the north as cross border clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon continues to escalate. As CNN's Jim Sciutto reports communities and towns in our desert with just Israeli soldiers left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Jim Sciutto, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voiceover): Visit Northern Israel today and you find ghost towns evacuations in the wake of the October 7 attacks have left communities such as Metula, Arab al-Aramshe, and Qiryat Shemona empty, except for soldiers deployed against Hezbollah.
Kibbutz Misgav Am, situated right on the Lebanon border, is among those communities now abandoned.
ELLEN WEISMAN, EVACUATED FROM NORTHER ISRAEL KIBBUTZ: We're staying here on the site.
SCIUTTO: Residents Ellen Weisman and her partner Joseph Locknew (ph) now make their home in a hotel some 40 miles south in Tiberias.
WEISMAN: Everything that's here in the middle --
SCIUTTO (on camera): Um-hum.
WEISMAN: -- from the -- all the children's things we all donated.
SCIUTTO (voiceover): Residents here are among some 60,000 Israelis who have fled south.
[01:25:00]
SCIUTTO (on camera): One consequence of the October 7 attacks is a temporary migration from northern Israel south and from southern Israel north. With talk of the Israeli military creating a buffer zone inside Gaza and perhaps later in southern Lebanon, the reality today is that those buffer zones exist but inside Israel.
SCIUTTO (voiceover): For evacuees from kibbutz Misgav Am, the pain and fear of October 7 remains raw.
SCIUTTO (on camera): Polina (ph), nice to meet you.
SCIUTTO (voiceover): Polina (ph) still has trouble explaining what happened to her three children.
SCIUTTO (on camera): Do you think the kids understand what happened?
SCIUTTO (voiceover): The eldest children, she tells me, understand that we're fighting for our home.
SCIUTTO (on camera): Do you talk to them about it?
SCIUTTO (voiceover): They see and they're aware.
This is the reality of Israel post-October 7, a country more aware than ever perhaps of the threat on its southern and northern borders. But that awareness leaves open the question of when they will go home.
Ellen and Joseph tell us it's just a matter of time.
WEISMAN: When we're told that we can go back, we'll go back.
SCIUTTO (on camera): You'll go back. If the government says it's fine --
WEISMAN: Right.
SCIUTTO: -- you'll go?
WEISMAN: We'll go.
SCIUTTO (voiceover): Sharon Ben Yair and her husband Maor Atun (ph), with 2-year-old and 6-month-old little girls, are far less certain.
SCIUTTO (on camera): Will you feel safe moving back north?
SHARON BEN YAIR, EVACUATED FROM NORTHERN ISRAEL KIBBUTZ: We think we are not going to stay there. After what's happened in Gaza and all that, we don't have a -- we don't trust.
SCIUTTO (voiceover): Today, they are thinking of moving further south for good or of leaving Israel entirely.
YAIR: I won't lie and tell you that -- tell you that we didn't think about moving to another country.
SCIUTTO (on camera): And where -- where would you move if you thought about it?
YAIR: Maybe to Canada.
SCIUTTO (voiceover): There is another possibility that some Israelis here suggest, that after the IDF finishes its military operations in Gaza, continued skirmishes along the border will force the military's attention north and bring an invasion of southern Lebanon.
WEISMAN: They say that they'll finish in the south and then maybe start in the north, correct?
SCIUTTO: But that prospect has a troubled history. Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000 was costly and Hezbollah returned. And its incursion into southern Lebanon again in 2006 was costly as well, and Hezbollah returned again.
Still, what's clear for many here is that after what they witnessed on October 7, the north will never be the same.
YAIR: Until now we use -- we lived in the kibbutz and we didn't think about everything that's happened on the other side of the fence. And then now, after all of this, we finally open our eyes.
SCIUTTO: Open eyes to growing threats from the north and the south. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Northern Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, for foreign nationals leaving Gaza the Rafah border crossing into Egypt is again open. We'll explain why it was briefly closed over the weekend in a moment.
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[01:32:02]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Just gone 31 minutes past the hour. Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, it was a stunning day in court as Donald Trump took the stand for nearly four hours at his civil trial where the judge has already ruled that the former president and his adult sons committed fraud.
Trump lashed out at the state attorney general who brought the case as well as the judge who, at one point threatened to have Trump removed as a witness.
Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump for $250 million and looking to bar him from doing any business in the state again.
For the foreign nationals allowed to leave Gaza, the Rafah Crossing on the border with Egypt has reopened. It was closed over the weekend because of a dispute between Hamas and Israel.
For more details, here is CNN Melissa Bell reporting in from Cairo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The resumption of crossings at Rafah on Monday is a result of a revival (ph) of the deal that had seen some of those foreign passport holders able to get out over the (INAUDIBLE) as well as some of the most severely wounded Palestinians.
A break over the course of the weekend of nearly 48 hours where no one got out of Gaza as a result of the Palestinian Authority's insistence after the bombing of the al-Shifa Hospital on Friday that they would only allow it to open if the ambulances carrying the most severely wounded were allowed to get safe passage down to Gaza's southern border with Egypt.
Now that resumption very good news for the families although still stuck inside. Overall, when all this began it was estimated by the Egyptian and American authorities that there were some 7,000 foreign passport holders inside the Gaza Strip it is now over a thousand that have managed to get out.
It comes as aid organizations, 18 of them get together to demand urgently a ceasefire for the Gaza. A U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees said that it has lost 88 of its staff members over the course of the conflict. The largest number of U.N. staff ever lost in a single conflict.
And we've had also the call of the U.N. Secretary General on Monday urgently calling for a ceasefire saying this is not just a humanitarian crisis but a crisis of humanity.
For the time being, all eyes very much on who continues to be allowed out of the Rafah Crossing and want to continue to be allowed in. It is estimated there have now been just under 500 trucks of aid allowed in over the course of the last nearly month of this conflict.
It had been before the conflict about 500 trucks a day that have been getting in. Important then to note how much needs to get in to for the urgent needs of the Palestinians to be met over the coming days.
Melissa Bell, CNN -- Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:34:44]
VAUSE: More now live from London and journalist Elliott Gotkine. So Elliott Gotkine -- sorry.
Elliott, you know, those left behind in Gaza, the future is looking increasingly grim. And there's now the pressure on Israel for some kind of military pause especially with the death toll in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, passing 10,000.
So what is the outcome here for the Israelis? Will they give this -- what's the likelihood of this pause actually taking place? Netanyahu says it doesn't seem like it's on the cards.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Not as far as Netanyahu or the Israeli government is concerned, John. What Israel has said from the start is that there can be no ceasefire, at least not until all 250 or so hostages that Hamas abducted on October the 7th are returned unharmed to Israel.
What Netanyahu did say in an interview with ABC news yesterday is that there can be, in his words, tactical little pauses, maybe an hour here, maybe a couple of hours there.
Now these could be described as humanitarian pauses or tactical pauses -- whatever you want to call them -- they don't equate to a general ceasefire. That is something that Netanyahu repeated is not in the cards.
The other interesting thing he said in this interview, and this is perhaps his first real comment on what happens after this war is over.
It's that he said Israel will have overall security responsibility for Gaza for, in his words, an indefinite period.
Now overall security responsibility doesn't necessarily mean boots on the ground, but Netanyahu, of course, is coming through criticism not just for the death, destruction, the displacement, despair that we are seeing inside the Gaza strip, but also for not really, certainly not articulating publicly and probably not really deciding privately what is going to happen the day after this war ends. Now clearly the most convenient solution for Israel, for the United
States and for many in international community would be for the Palestinian Authority, which rules the -- or runs parts of the Israeli occupied West Bank, to take back control of Gaza, control that it lost in a violent struggle with Hamas in 2007.
But for starters, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, is in his 19th year of a four-year term. He lacks legitimacy there. And will clearly lose all sense of legitimacy if he were to go into the Gaza strip to take back control of that for the Palestinian Authority and be seen as some kind of puppet government of Israel. Unless, of course, by some miracle, there was some major, major concessions. Perhaps even an agreement for a Palestinian state.
That seems unlikely to be in the cards. It's been talked about the United Nations maybe coming in or other Arab states with which Israel is allied coming in to help govern the enclave.
But certainly, there are concerns as to what happens once this war ends, whether that is in a few days, weeks or months, this war will eventually end.
But the other important thing to note of course, is that in previous major conflicts where there have been major questions about Israeli decision-making or major and/or major Israeli losses, the government of the day has been swiftly ejected. We saw it after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 with Golda Meier. We saw it after the first Lebanon War. We saw it after the second Lebanon war.
So it may not actually be Netanyahu's decision to make, John, as to what happens the day after this war ends.
VAUSE: Elliott, thank you. Elliott Gotkine in London.
Still to come, G7 foreign ministers are converging in Tokyo for two days of discussions. We'll find out what's on the agenda with a live report from Beijing.
[01:38:15]
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VAUSE: In the coming hours representatives from G7 member countries will meet in Tokyo with the Israel-Hamas war expected to take up much of the agenda. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tokyo after visiting Israel, also meeting with key Arab leaders last week. He is expected to meet with the Japanese prime minister in the coming hours as well.
Live now to Beijing, CNN's bureau chief Steven Jiang. So clearly, Israel and Gaza will dominate discussions so this (INAUDIBLE) but the host country Japan seems determined that Ukraine or commitment to Ukraine, will not be forgotten.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. That war is going to be is going to be on the agenda but it's not going to feature as prominently as it did last time. But I think G7 foreign ministers certainly hope they are a more unified response to that invasion by Russia would serve as an inspiration or an example with what they could've done, of what they will be doing in terms of more firm and united approach to the current conflict in Gaza.
Because, already, we see divisions emerging between the members with different concerns and different political loyalties and different economic priorities. The French, for example, voted for a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire late last month, even though the U.S. vetoed it and other G7 members abstained.
And the host nation Japan, as you know, despite pressure from his closest ally, the U.S. for a more full pro-Israeli public stance has been adopting a more quote-unquote balanced approach since the very beginning because of its own diverse interests in the Middle East, especially is heavy reliance on oil imports from that region. And all the civilian casualties in Gaza, obviously, reinforcing that notion.
So it's going to be very challenging for all the foreign ministers to agree on wording in terms of Israel's right to defend itself and also Gaza' civilian casualties, not to mention any concrete proposals to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
But I think they are also keenly aware of what they end up saying or not saying is being watched not just by partners and allies, but especially critics and detractors, including Russia bur also increasingly China.
Both Beijing and Moscow blaming the U.S. and its western allies as the root cause of this Gaza conflict and portraying themselves as champions of the developing world and as peacemakers.
So they're certainly using that war as further justification for their desire and willingness to reshape the U.S.-led world order. So I think the G7 foreign ministers understand that and the implications of the grouping's political relevance going forward, John.
VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang, live for us for us in Beijing.
Well, for the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the month-long conflict between Israel and Hamas seems to be a marketing opportunity. A chance to change the narrative about his own war of choice on Ukraine.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen explains.
[01:44:59]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Israel's military continues its war against Hamas, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is framing the conflict as part of a global struggle of America and the West against the rest of the world.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is the current ruling elites of the United States and their satellites that are the main beneficiaries of global instability. They extract their blood toll from it.
PLEITGEN: While many nations around the world condemned Hamas after the October 7th raid on southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 and taking hundreds of hostages, including Russians -- Russia invited a high-level Hamas delegation to Moscow for a meeting.
A top Hamas leader saying the group would give preference to captives from what they call, quote, "Russian friends".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This request from Russia, we treat more positively and attentively than others due to the nature of our relations with Russia.
PLEITGEN: So far, no Russian hostages appear to have been released. Still, Moscow not criticizing Hamas. Instead, ripping only into Israel for the many Palestinians killed by the IDF's ongoing aerial campaign in Gaza.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Condemning terrorism, we categorically disagree that terrorism can be responded to by violating the norms of international humanitarian law, including the indiscriminate use of force against targets where the civilian population is known to be located.
PLEITGEN: But for years, it was Russia that waged a relentless bombing campaign against areas held by rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
The U.S. and various international aid groups accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilian areas, including hospitals and markets, killing and wounding scores, even though the Kremlin has consistently denied those claims.
And Russia's war against Ukraine continues. Moscow, once again, harming civilian structures overnight in the port town Odessa, wounding several people.
Vladimir Putin though trying to argue that Russia is invading Ukraine to help the Palestinians.
PUTIN: These are our soldiers and officers and the choice of a real man, a real warrior, is to pick up arms and stand in line with his brothers. Be in a place where the fate of Russia and of the whole world is being decided including the future of the Palestinian people.
PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN: detained in Israel for almost a month, Palestinian workers in Gaza, arrested in the wake of Hamas attacks are now accusing the IDF of abuse and torture.
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VAUSE: Welcome back.
In the days after the October 7th Hamas attack, Israeli security forces arrested hundreds of Palestinian workers from Gaza. Many are now accusing the Israelis of abuse and torture while they're all detained.
CNN's Nada Bashir has our report and a warning -- the images in her report are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bound, blindfolded, some even stripped. In this video, the (INAUDIBLE) of Israeli soldiers -- abusing and mocking Palestinian workers from Gaza, detained in Israel just days after the beginning of the war.
At the Kerem Shalom Crossing, men wait anxiously, hoping that their brothers, fathers, sons are among the Palestinian workers who have finally been returned to Gaza by the Israeli military.
Thousands of Gazan workers, like these men, had their permits to work in Israel revoked after the October 7th Hamas attack. But with no option to return home, many attempted to flee to the occupied West Bank, only to then be detained.
"They tied our hands behind our backs, blindfolded us and led us onto a bus. I don't know where they took us. There were about 200 to 300 Gazan workers held there."
Some of the men here are visibly weak and with each process, more stories of abuse and even torture. One man telling CNN, he witnessed the use of electric shocks on detainees.
"They put us in cages like dogs. They beat us and assaulted us. They didn't care if you were sick or injured. Some men even died on the way here because they were beaten and subjected to electric shocks."
"Every day felt like death. They would give us a cucumber to share between six people and a small piece of bread."
An Israeli security official could not say whether electric shock tactics were used. But told CNN that the IDF is aware of several incidents of abuse against Gaza workers and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Adding that these cases are being treated seriously with disciplinary actions said to have been taken against several soldiers identified in social media video.
But NGO workers at the Palestinian Prisoners' Authority say this is a systemic issue with few legal safeguards in place for Palestinians.
"We've received horrific firsthand testimonies," Amani Terahno (ph) tells me. "They didn't do anything wrong. They weren't charged with anything. Many of them were interrogated and systematically tortured. They were abused and brutally beaten. They faced all kinds of dehumanization and insults."
In the occupied West Bank, there are thousands of Gazan workers still stranded, desperate to be reunited with loved ones, praying every day for their safety.
Maher (INAUDIBLE) was working in Israel with his son, Rafik. But he hasn't seen or heard from him in almost a month.
"I don't know where he is, whether he is in prison or dead. He is my son. My whole life. He came here to work, to be able to feed his children. He wasn't here to join in any fight. He wasn't here to cause trouble."
[01:54:59]
BASHIR: But just as there are fears for those still missing, at this center shelter (ph) of stranded Gazan workers, there was also indescribable anguish of the safety of family members back home in Gaza.
"My family is now spread out all across Gaza. They've all had to leave the Jabalya refugee camp because of the airstrikes. When I am able to reach them, all I hear is misery. Every day is another catastrophe."
For weeks, many of these men have had no contact with their families. The Gaza they left behind now changed forever.
But for those now across the border, the relief of being freed from detention and reuniting with loved ones is clear. Though many have not returned with thousands still stuck in the occupied West Bank and others still missing.
Nada Bashir, CNN -- in Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks for being with us for the past two hours. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. My colleague and friend, Rosemary Church, is up with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
See you right back here tomorrow.
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