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Negotiations Between Israel and Hamas Broke Down Over Release Of Women; IDF Releases New Evacuation Map For Next Stage Of War; U.S. Pledges Billions In New Climate Funding; Trump Heads To Iowa Focused On Biden As DeSantis Looks To Jolt Lagging Campaign; DeSantis Stops In All 99 Iowa Counties As Caucuses Loom; 105 House Republicans Break With Leadership To Expel George Santos From Congress; Maine Mass Shooting Victims Offered Free College Tuition. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired December 02, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:01:11]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Jessica Dean in for Fredricka Whitfield. And we're going to begin in Gaza where Israel Defense Forces have launched a blistering new assault following a week's long pause in fighting. The IDF saying it carried out more than 400 strikes in Gaza over the first 24 hours since that ceasefire expired yesterday.

Those strikes include targets in southern Gaza. It's an area that had remained largely unscathed during Israel's initial military campaign compared to the bombardment of Northern Gaza. Talks of a new truce have reached a "dead end." That's according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Israel recalling its team of negotiators from Qatar, blaming Hamas for the breakdown in the talks and accusing the terror group of not fulfilling its promise to return all women and children who are being held hostage.

The IDF saying there are still 136 hostages in Gaza and that includes 17 women and children. 110 hostages were released during the week-long truce. We have a team of correspondents covering all the latest in this war. We're going to start first with CNN's Oren Lieberman who's in Tel Aviv. Oren, we just laid out how Israel is expanding its attacks in Gaza. Tell us more about what we're seeing today.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So, in the first 24 hours or so since the fighting resumed early Friday morning, we have seen Israel carry out strikes across Gaza. The IDF says they have targeted 400 what they call terror targets across the Gaza strip. That includes 50 strikes they say in Khan Younis and southern Gaza. And southern Gaza is important first, it was where the IDF said it would carry out the next phase of its operation.

Second, it is also where Israel told Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate too. So Palestinians, we've heard from there have said look, there is no safe place to go anymore. And that is one of the major concerns. In fact, we just heard from Vice President Kamala Harris a short time ago who is in the region that Israel needs to do more to protect civilians as the U.S. clearly focusing in on that.

Israel and Hamas both said they were ready for fighting to resume and that is absolutely what we have seen. Since the fighting broke down, Israel said the next phase of the campaign would be stronger than the first. And we have seen the effect of punishing strikes across Gaza. Meanwhile, we've also seen a level of rocket attacks coming from Gaza and launches that we haven't seen in a number of weeks, including in Tel Aviv here where we're standing.

Twice last night we saw barrages fired on Tel Aviv. There had been sustained barrages on the area around Gaza. Iron Dome intercepting multiple rockets there. So as of right now, as we look at what's happening there, the war very much back on. Health authorities in Gaza say Israeli strikes there have killed approximately 200 Palestinians since fighting resumed.

DEAN: All right. Oren for us there in Tel Aviv. Let's go now to CNN's Matthew Chance. He's also in Tel Aviv at a different location. He's at a vigil where some of the hostages are going to speak. And Matthew, I know you're also there with families who still have loved ones being held hostage. How are they reacting to Israel pulling their negotiating team out of Qatar, the strikes resuming in the -- in these negotiations breaking down?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, obviously that's a matter of great concern to the families of the patient while still being held hostage inside Gaza. And obviously they want the government's -- the secret services here, everyone to do whatever they can to bring those people back as soon as possible. The question of how best to do that has divided opinion somewhat.

I mean, I've spoken to various people here among the thousands that have gathered here tonight for this vigil to show support in the center of Tel Aviv for the hostages still inside (INAUDIBLE) the actual former hostages later on in the evening (INAUDIBLE) opinions differ.

[13:05:08]

Some that I've spoken to say look, you know, we should forget about destroying Hamas right now. We should be focusing on releasing all the Israelis and all the other hostages that are currently being held inside Gaza (INAUDIBLE) mass later. That's what, you know, many people here believe should be happening. And they're angry to some extent with the authorities, with the government for not pressing down as much as possible.

But there are others who agree with the government's position which is the, you know, the way -- the best way perhaps to secure the release of the rest of the hostages and put as much military pressure as possible on Hamas, basically, to force them to compromise. So, look, I mean, whatever the right answer is, I don't think anybody really knows what the right answer is. Clearly, releasing the hostages in this country has become a massive political issue.

And you can say, you know, from the turnout here and the attitude of people around the country, it is really liked in Israel -- Israelis as well. Behind that calls to set these hostages by whatever means free as soon as possible.

DEAN: Matthew Chance for us in Tel Aviv where that vigil is underway. Thanks so much. Let's go now to CNN's Ben Wedeman. He's in Jerusalem. Ben, the IDF has released a map of what it's calling evacuation zones that's dividing the territory of Gaza. What is the purpose of the IDF kind of sectioning off Gaza at this point?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Basically, it's divided Gaza into what looks like hundreds of little blocks that are numbered. And it's -- there's a Q code on this publication. Q.R. code where you can check and see where you are, as opposed to where there's a threat. So, in theory, this is sort of a changing, constantly updated map and people can look to act to find out if they are safe or not.

The problem is that many people don't have electricity because of course, Israel cut that off. They don't have necessarily very good internet connectivity because that has been sort of spotty at best for a long period of time. And the result is that people -- more people are getting killed. Now this morning, the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military put out a tweet if we can still call it that.

Telling the inhabitants of Shujayea which is to the east of Gaza City too far which is the northeast and Jabalia refugee camp north of Gaza City to leave immediately until or rather up to 4:00 in the afternoon, local time. But what has happened? In Jabalia, there was a massive airstrike on a six or seven-storey building with more than 100 people in it, most of them had actually fled other areas because they thought perhaps Jabalia refugee camp might be safer.

What we know is that dozens of people were killed in that strike, which basically, pancake the building. It is just everything is falling to the ground. People were trying to look for any survivors, using even a frying pan to use as a shovel to try to find any survivors. Later in the day, there was another strike on Shujayea to the east of Gaza where we understand that 50 apartment buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged.

Yet again, dozens of people killed. Now we've been getting video from the hospitals in the area, most of the dead and wounded are children and women. Most it appears all that we've seen are civilians. So, Vice President Kamala Harris is saying that more needs to be done to protect the innocent Palestinians doesn't look like that's been done. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Ben Wedeman for us with that update out of Jerusalem on the scene in Gaza. Thanks so much to Matthew Chance, Ben Wedeman and Oren Lieberman all for us in Israel.

Despite negotiations breaking down, the White House says it will remain deeply engaged in freeing those remaining hostages and getting humanitarian aid into Gaza. CNN's White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz is at the White House today. Arlette, how does President Biden plan to accomplish those goals now? ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, the White House insists that they will take every step that they can to try to get these hostages home, including those remaining seven hostages being held in Gaza. And really these conversations have been leaning on the Qataris and the Egyptians who have served as the mediators in these talks between Israel and Hamas.

Now these talks did break down over the past 24 hours over varying views on the release of women. Israel insisting that Hamas needs to stick to the original agreement and release all the women that they have.

[13:10:05]

Hamas is claiming that some of these women are Israeli Defense Force soldiers, and so they should not be released. So that is one of the key sticking points in these negotiations. But the White House is very eager that these talks could potentially resume at some point. Vice President Kamala Harris today speaking with the Qatar of -- the Emir of Qatar and she says she wouldn't detail exactly what those conversations were but that both sides, the .U.S and Qatar do remain focused on trying to extend this pause and trying to get more hostages out.

The question is whether Israel and Hamas will come back to the table to reach some type of agreement to try to get these hostages out as this conflict has now resumed.

DEAN: Right. And I want to ask you more about some other comments that Vice President Kamala Harris made when she met with Egypt's president today. She vowed that the U.S. would not allow any forced relocation of Palestinians nor the redrawing of any current borders. What more did she have to say and how consequential are these statements?

SAENZ: Well, Jessica, Vice President Kamala Harris has been holding a series of meetings on the sidelines of a climate summit in Dubai. One of those meetings was with Egyptian President El-Sisi who has had some concerns about the possible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza into other neighboring territories like Egypt. Now, the Vice President's office said that in their meeting, she stressed that "There are under no circumstances will the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besieged men of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza?"

One focus that Vice President Harris was stressing today and that the administration has been stressing is that there also needs to be thinking in conversations now about what happens after this conflict ends. You've heard the administration pushing towards the need for a two-state solution to have security for both Israel and the Palestinian people. And so, what she was doing with her remarks, with her meetings and public remarks in Dubai was trying to stress what the United States does and does not want to see.

We've also heard the United States become a bit more forceful in insisting that Israel place protections for civilians as that campaign is beginning in southern Gaza. So, it all marks a notable moment for the administration and trying to offer the Israelis some guidance, and where things that should go in the conflicts now and what should happen when it ends.

DEAN: When it's over. Right. All right. Arlette Saenz for us. Thanks so much for that reporting. And for more on all of us, let's go now to retired Army Major General Spider Marks. He's a CNN military analyst and the head of geopolitical strategy at Academy Securities. Great to have you, thanks for coming on. We just got a lot of reporting there about where things stand now that this truce has expired.

We know that more than 400 strikes, and just the first 24 hours since that truce ended. What do you make of the IDF moves in the last 24 hours since the fighting has resumed?

SPIDER MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The IDF is improving its position relative to their overall strategic objective, which is the destruction -- excuse me, the destruction of Hamas. Clearly, as has been laid out so wonderfully by all your correspondents and folks on the ground, there are some strategic pressures that really get in the way of the IDF trying to destroy -- not just destroy, I'm sorry, to completely eliminate Hamas.

That is the international outrage and frankly, the vilification of Israel in terms of how they have prosecuted this fight, simply because they're going after very legitimate Hamas targets, but Hamas, as we know, and it's been described so completely, is that they wrap themselves in the Palestinians. And as a result of that, the Israelis have to make those very, very strategic and on the ground tactical decisions to go or no, go shoot, no shoot, when you've got Palestinians and you've got Hamas in the -- in the midst of all that.

Those are legitimate Hamas targets. So that's where we are. And so, Jessica, what this really describes is the incredible complexity of urban warfare. An enemy that wraps itself in its civilian population. Yet those are legitimate targetable intelligence to go after those targets before they atrophy, before that intelligence goes away and you can no longer go after them. You've got to regenerate intelligence so you get a really good sight picture on what it is you're trying to achieve.

This is -- this is as difficult as it gets. And so, this is a time constrained fight. You've got the international community saying there has to be a different way to prosecute this war. You've got the Israeli saying, we are not going to put up with this ever again. We are going to destroy Hamas. It will go away and let's be frank, it will probably regenerate over the course. Sometime maybe generations.

[13:15:30]

But we're going to eliminate it now. So, what does that timeline look like? And that's where Hamas right now wants to take the initiative. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they started to push out some additional hostages, look for another ceasefire, look for a pause, because that gives the international community an opportunity to sound off with a very, very clear voice that says no moss. We cannot allow this to occur anymore. Yet, at the same time, Hamas is going to increase its military positioning. This is -- this is the challenge. These are the tensions that we're looking at right now.

DEAN: And I just want to ask you to the about those hostages because you just briefly mentioned them, the negotiations having broken down and it's unclear if they will resume what will -- what will happen going forward. Is there any hope at this point? We just heard from Matthew about even families are kind of torn on what's the best way forward to get these hostages back.

Is there any role that the military could potentially play in in finding or rescuing any of these hostages? Or do you see this truly only playing out at the diplomatic level?

MARKS: Yes, great question. No, no, no, the unite -- the view of this, the United view of this within the IDF is that they've got technology, they have capabilities, they have incredibly talented, special ops forces, they have maritime forces, they are applying pressure from multiple angles. And they are doing as best they can to locate, identify, positively identify, and then go after those hostages as best they can.

But that means you've got to break through all those barriers that we've been describing, which is Hamas surrounding itself with Palestinians. Living in and operating among the civilians, that becomes a very, very difficult task. So, the rescue and recovery of hostages becomes very, very surgical if you think we can get special ops forces in removal hostage and at the same time, kill a couple bad guys.

That's incredibly difficult to do in this type of terrain. That's why we see the Israelis right now conducting airstrikes going after command-and-control facilities infrastructure that support from us as a precursor to additional ground offensive operations. The Israelis want to make this as precise and surgical as possible. Hamas is not allowing them to do that in a way that they would like to completely prevent innocents being killed but in innocents are going to be killed.

This is not a video game. This is not crystal clear with very distinct lines. This gets real messy and we've seen it get real messy.

DEAN: All right. Major General Spider Marks. Thanks so much for your analysis there. We appreciate it.

MARKS: Thank you, Jesse.

DEAN: Still to come. As the U.S. pledges $3 billion in new climate funding, we're going to hear Vice President Kamala Harris' dire warning that more action must be taken and taken quickly.

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[13:22:18] DEAN: The COP 28 Climate Summit is fully underway in the UAE. The U.S. making a grand entrance with the announcement of $3 billion in new funding to the Green Climate Fund. Vice President Kamala Harris representing the U.S. and follow the funding announcement with this dire warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT: The urgency of this moment is clear. The clock FDA is no longer just ticking, it is banging. And we must make up for lost time. And we cannot afford to be incremental. We need transformative change and an exponential impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The package also includes a new EPA rule that is expected to slash methane emissions by 80 percent in the oil and gas industry and a pledge to phase out coal fired power plants in the U.S. I want to bring in Fred Krupp. He's the president of the Environmental Defense Fund. And Fred, we're glad to have you with us. You said in a statement earlier today that methane reduction could be "the most impactful international climate action in decades." Why is that methane reduction pledge so important?

FRED KRUPP, PRESIDENT, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: Well, Jessica, methane is 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide pound for pound. So, it warms us up a lot and fast. In fact, the methane being released this year is going to warm the planet the next 10 years as much as all the carbon dioxide from burning all the fossil fuels on the planet. Now you have to keep working on getting carbon dioxide down because it lasts for over 100 years.

But if you get the methane down because it is so powerful in the short term, we can reduce the temperatures, you and I will otherwise experience over the next 10 years significantly from what we would otherwise see and reduce the force of cataclysmic storms.

DEAN: And I want to ask you for people watching who may not be familiar, how do you cut the emission of methane? What does that look like practically?

KRUPP: Well on the ground, it means that compressors who have seals that have worn out and not been maintained. You replace those so that you don't have a weakened compressor. It means, pipes that have sprung leaks, you fix them and replace the pipes. It means, you know, finding, going out and looking for leaks and when you find them. You fix them. It's really simple plumbing. There's also valves that are constantly leaking and they can be replaced with a modern valve that doesn't leak at all.

[13:25:02]

So, this is not rocket science, it's plumbing. And so, that's the way you do it on the ground. And then the way you do it internationally and what we've been part of is the president of the CEO of an oil company, he has used that position to invite other oil companies to actually take a major first step. And he's gotten 50 of the world's oil companies, including the two biggest Aramco and Exxon to have pledged to reduce their emissions by what will be 80 to 90 percent. So that is a very big deal.

DEAN: And I want to ask you before we let you go to about this pledge that the U.S. is making to phase out coal fired power plants. Does the Biden administration though, it's a pledge, does it have the ability to push this through to actually converted to action?

KRUPP: Oh, it does, because the economics now support that, Jessica. It turns out, the price of solar and wind power has come down so much, that it's less expensive to build new solar and get rid of the old coal fired power plant than it is to keep maintaining the power plant.

DEAN: But, you know, what about Congress? How do you get around them? How do you -- how do you make sure that that happens?

KRUPP: Well, basically, consumers are going to make sure it happens in the States -- in every state that I know of people care about their electricity rates. In Colorado, which is going to you know, phase out all of its coal fired power plants by 2031. It's just cheaper for the consumers. They're actually going to cut their power bills and phase out coal. So, the state government and the consumers in the utility all wanted to go ahead. And that's the same thing we see in other states as well.

DEAN: All right. Fred Krupp for us. Thanks so much for coming on. We appreciate it.

KRUPP: Thank you.

DEAN: And up next, hitting the campaign trail in Iowa. Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Hosted -- holding dueling events in the state. We'll tell you how they're both trying to lure voters. That's next.

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DEAN: Today, Iowa is the center of the universe in the Republican race for the White House. Both former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are holding campaign events with very different objectives.

CNN's Steve Contorno is following the DeSantis campaign. Kristen Holmes is with the former president.

Kristen, let's start first with you.

What are you hearing today?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, what I'm hearing, at least from the Trump campaign, is an increasing amount of confidence as we are nearly six weeks out from the Iowa caucuses. And they are still dominating in the polls. I am told that, because of

that, they are pivoting today. This speech is likely to be really heavily attacks on Joe Biden. So again, looking towards a general election.

This is the latest sign we've seen of Trump doing so. His team released an ad buy, a six-figure television ad buy in this state on Friday with one of the ads focusing, again, on criticism of the president.

Now what we're seeing with this happening, it's coming at the same time that the Biden administration, Democrats are increasing their criticism against former President Trump.

What we saw last week was that the former president started picking up a fixation on overturning Obamacare, something that gave Democrats a new amount of ammunition. The Biden campaign putting out an ad hitting Donald Trump for that.

Of course, as we know, the Affordable Care Act is much more popular than it has been in the past, at least when the former president was in office. But this is something he has been doubling down on.

What exactly the former president is going to say here today is unclear. They did not give us any sort of a preview.

But there are signs on the seats here that say Biden is bad for democracy or Biden attacks democracy. So giving you some kind of indication of the path Donald Trump is trying to go down here.

Interesting, as we know this is what Biden has said over and over again about the former president.

DEAN: Right. And is often, Kristen, we don't really know exactly what he's going to say until he starts speaking. So we will check back in with you a little later.

Let's go now to Steve Contorno, who is also in Iowa, but he is with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Steve, the governor is marking his trip to his 99th county, the Full Grassley, as it's called, in a nod to Senator Chuck Grassley there in Iowa.

We know the DeSantis campaign is going all in on that state. They really believe a strong second-place finish or win there could really catapult him in this race.

What are you hearing? And what are they doing to try to overtake the former president and also Nikki Haley, who's on the rise?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Jessica, Governor DeSantis has been trying to play catchup with Donald Trump by blanketing the state with appearances.

Yes, he will hit that 99th county today. He has an event in Jasper County, east of Des Moines, where he will celebrate the fact that he has completed the, quote, "Full Grassley."

This is named after Chuck Grassley, the state's longtime Senator who regularly traveled every county in the state.

It's another feat that past presidential contenders have attempted. Some have finished and a small handful of those have used it as a springboard to win the Iowa caucuses.

It's another fear that DeSantis has -- another accomplishment that he has that suggests the campaign that is doing everything it's supposed to do to win the Iowa caucuses.

He has the support of the state's Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, who's very popular here. He has the support of one of its top state leaders, Bob Vander Plaats.

A supportive superPAC has been on the ground here for months. And they have spent more money on advertising than any other entity.

[13:34:58]

Yet, he finishes this 99-county tour almost exactly where he started, still far behind former President Trump.

And in some cases, he's slightly worse off because, as you mentioned, Nikki Haley is now turning her attention to Iowa. And she has some wind at her back coming into the state.

The question now for DeSantis is, how do these Iowa Republicans who, Jessica, you know value retail politics -- they want to see you, they want to hear you.

How do they respond to the fact that DeSantis has spent so much time here and he has put so much effort and energy here? And does it deliver him a surprise victory in these Iowa caucuses?

His campaign believes six weeks is enough time to turn this around. People are just now paying attention, coming to their final decisions. Some of them are still weighing their options.

And they believe that they still have time to manufacture some momentum and maybe come out with a surprise in January -- Jessica?

DEAN: It's so interesting to see DeSantis there so much, spending so much time there, and Trump spending far less time, but still leading in so much of the polling. We'll see how it plays out until January 15th.

Steve Contorno, thanks so much.

Kristen Holmes, we appreciate it.

Still to come, in an historic vote, the House expelling Congressman George Santos over ethics violations. What's next for that seat? And how his constituents are reacting.

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DEAN: Republican Congressman George Santos has made a dramatic exit from Congress after being expelled over ethics violations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE SANTOS, (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN FOR NEW YORK: I had no skin in the game.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you know this was how it was going to go? Do you know how it's going to go?

SANTOS: You know what, I'm unofficially already no longer a member of Congress. I no longer have to answer questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: He didn't do it all the time when he was a member of Congress either.

The sign in front of his office now down. The locks on his door changed. But despite the 105 Republicans voting for his ouster, Speaker Mike Johnson and all the Republican leadership in the House voted to save him.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Great Neck, New York, with reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't block the way.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ex- Congressman George Santos leaving Congress, intense to the very end.

Moments before his chaotic exit, CNN Capitol Hill reporter, Annie Grayer, spoke to Santos as he watched the vote turn against him, and his congressional career come to an abrupt end.

SANTOS: It's over. But what reaction? The House voted, that's their vote. Sure. They just set a new dangerous precedent for themselves.

Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place.

MARQUEZ: GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson and the entire Republican House leadership voted to keep him in power.

But, in his Long Island, New York, district -- relief.

(on camera): George Santos has been expelled today. What was your reaction to that?

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was my reaction. SANTOS: We made it here.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The allegation snowballing since he was elected in 2022. Santos's resume, and life story came under glaring scrutiny.

He claims he was Jewish, that his mother was in the Twin Towers during the 9/11 terror attack, where he went to school, what sports he played, that he worked in finance for well-known banks, and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust. All of it lies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My ancestors perished in the Holocaust. So, he did a horrible thing by lying about that.

MARQUEZ: In addition to his largely fictitious resume, the House Ethics Committee found Santos spent thousands of donor dollars on personal expenses.

Including shopping at high-end designer stores, Ferragamo and Hermes, paying for rent, for Botox treatments, and subscribing to the largely pornographic website, OnlyFans.

Santos, wearing Ferragamo shoes when he left federal court in October, after pleading not guilty to new charges, totaling 23 counts of fraud and money laundering.

Today, he departed the capital in a Jaguar SUV.

MARVIN APPEL, VOTER, NEW YORK'S 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: I can't say I'm happy, because it's sad that it has come to this. But I'm glad they -- I think Congress made the right decision.

MARQUEZ: Robert Zimmerman lost to George Santos in 2022.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, (D), FORMER CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: This is not a time to celebrate for me. It's a time of reflection about how we move forward. There were a lot of lessons to be learned.

MARQUEZ: For those who voted for Santos, and even some who didn't, they fear Congress has gone too far.

VINCE LENTINI, VOTED FOR GEORGE SANTOS: Shocked because, to me, the Republicans caved. They even hurt themselves. We're expelling him before he has a chance to have a jury of his peers decide whether his conduct was criminal.

MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, Great Neck, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[13:44:09]

DEAN: Still to come, victims of October's mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, are being offered free college tuition. And we're going to discuss it with the chancellor of the University of Maine System. That's next.

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DEAN: The University of Maine System has announced the state's public institutions will offer free tuition to the Lewiston mass shooting victims.

It comes after a shooting rampage that left 18 people dead, 13 injured after the gunman opened fire at a bowling alley and a restaurant in late October.

The Lewiston Strong waiver will cover family members of the 18 killed and those injured, about 80 people in all.

Joining me is the chancellor of the University of Maine System, Dannell Malloy. He's also the former governor of Connecticut and was in office during the Sandy Hook shooting.

Governor, Chancellor, great to have you here. Thanks for making time.

First, tell us why you decided to grant these victims free tuition.

DANNEL MALLOY, CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF MAINE SYSTEM: Let me say that the governor of the state has done an outstanding job in supporting all of our endeavors and asking our community as a whole to do what it can to help the people of Lewiston.

Ultimately, we had a discussion and decided to move in the direction of making tuition free for those most directly impacted, the survivors of those who were killed as well as those who were injured.

[13:49:58]

A number of these people are young and a number of these folks are mid-career or late-career and may have to start over.

And it was felt that this tuition waiver was the right way to be helpful to them. Whether they all use it, I would doubt. But there's no doubt in my mind that a number of people will use it and need this help at the time.

This is what Maine does. It reaches out to its neighbors. Sometimes people say of Maine we're one big, small town, but we wanted to play a role.

DEAN: And it's so interesting that you mentioned people who are maybe mid-career who may have to start over. And then I was also thinking about the younger people, maybe children whose parents were killed in those awful attacks.

It really does sound like it's going to run the gamut in terms of ages and what their needs to be from the education system.

What is the reaction from them so far, if you've gotten any?

MALLOY: People seem to be very happy with the concept. In Maine, it's been obviously covered and people are aware of it, and overwhelming support for it. This covers tuition. We'll also be engaged in activities, trying to

raise money to cover other expenses that might be associated with that education as well.

DEAN: Do you think this should be something other university systems should consider? Unfortunately, mass shootings happen regularly in this country. There are a lot of victims in states across the country.

Are you encouraging colleagues that maybe are in different states with different systems to look at something like this?

MALLOY: You know, I think individual governors and systems have to make their own decision. But we wanted to work with the governor to come up with a way to help the families and the individuals injured. And I think this was the right move.

And, yes, you're absolutely right. We're talking about children at this point who won't be coming to college for many years to come. So this is a long-term commitment on the part of the system to the individuals within the classes as they've been defined.

But let me say this, that this shooting in Maine was unusual in one sense. In one single night, we had our average death caused by violence for a year. So this was a profound incident in Maine.

And when those kinds of things happen, whether they're natural or not natural, people come together. We wanted to be part of that.

DEAN: You wanted to be a part of that.

What do you hope these beneficiaries of this program, the people that will be able to participate in this program, what do you hope it does for them? What do you hope they take away? What should they feel knowing that this exists?

MALLOY: Well, they should know that this is an opportunity that presents itself. And we're doing it because we care for them and the community in which their loved one may have been killed or the community that they live in.

We just wanted to be reaching out. And people in Maine in all corners of the state are reaching out. But this has caught people's fascination.

I think it was a simple gesture on our part. We are a state system. And these are our folks. And we're in the business of educating Maine residents and this is an extension of that.

DEAN: It is a good feeling to feel claimed and to feel seen, and you are likely doing that for those people as they continue to process through such a traumatic, awful event.

Dannel Malloy, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

MALLOY: Thank you. DEAN: And tomorrow, we're going to bring you the all-new CNN film

"CHOWCHILLA," which tells one of the most shocking crime stories you've probably never heard.

It's about the 1976 kidnapping of a school bus full of children and their driver, who were buried underground for more than 12 hours before orchestrating their own dramatic escape.

The incident captivated the nation at the time and became a turning point in our understanding and treatment of childhood trauma.

Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chowchilla was a wonderful place to grow up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were little innocent children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never did I think something like this could happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does a school bus show up missing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not want to go down there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was like somebody just took them off the planet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it a thrill crime?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your guess is as good as mine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a mystery. You had no answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They recovered a journal, encrypted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had never seen anything like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kidnappers hit this town right in its heart by taking those children.

[13:55:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way through, they thought they had thought of everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would have been buried alive. And I thought to myself, if we're going to die, we're going to die getting the hell out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we got home, I thought life would be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids were not OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God forgive them, because I won't. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was possibly the story of the century.

ANNOUNCER: "Chowchilla," tomorrow at 9:00, on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:59:58]

DEAN: Hi, there. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Jessica Dean, in for Fredricka Whitfield.

And we're going to start in the Middle East where fighting is intensifying after the expiration of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas.