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Happening Now, Plums of Smoke Over Gaza City; Israel Pounds Gaza as Hamas Threatens to Execute Hostages; Some Israeli Parents Warned to Remove Social Media from Children's Phones Ahead of Expected Hostage Video Releases. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 10, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: We appreciate you on taking the time to share your story. We certainly are thinking about you and family and certainly hopeful for your family, that at least you get more information sooner rather than later. Thank you so much.

MORAN ALONY, SIX FAMILY MEMBERS KIDNAPPED, INCLUDING BOTH SISTERS: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: And CNN this morning continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: There was so much sorrow here, shrouded with the waking nightmare for those who have missing loved ones or witnessed their abduction.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've already crossed the Rubicon in terms of being in uncharted territory, never having seen anything like this.

RIC ROBERTSON, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Blood on the walls, bullet holes in the walls, they just went in there and shot these innocent people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They shot him. And I was saved. He absorbed all the bullets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know if she's alive, if she's hiding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot describe the pain I feel. I don't even want to connect to my own emotions because I know that I will fall apart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if someone invented a word to describe what happened there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was planned, well-designed, we have never seen atrocities like this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The images of the devastation and destruction are just the beginning. JOHN KIRBY, COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We're working every hour with Israeli officials on these Americans where they are and how they are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The things that survivors saw are things that they will never forget. The world needs to see this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And the world is watching as we begin this hour, again, with this breaking news. We are following very fast- moving developments with Israel's war with Hamas as it escalates. These are live images on your screen of Gaza as airstrikes there continue overnight. Israel pounding Gaza with more of these airstrikes despite Hamas' threat to execute the hostages they are holding in retaliation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says this is, quote, just beginning. We've also learned that up to 150 hostages, including children and Americans, are believed to be in Gaza right now. And Hamas militants are threatening to kill them and to do it on camera.

MATTINGLY: And there's growing signs that Israel could soon launch a ground offensive into Gaza. This is new video from our team on the ground of Israeli troops, tanks and armored vehicles massing near the border.

Moments ago, our Nic Robertson had a firsthand look at one of the border communities invaded by the Hamas militants during their unprecedented surprise attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: These were the homes of the young families. And the general told me that when his troops got here, and this is the end of the kibbutz that is closer to the gate with Gaza, so when Hamas came in, these were some of the first buildings they went to. People, their families, were hiding inside, parents, young parents, with young children. And he said, when they opened the doors and went in, he said some of them had their hands bound and they had been shot, executed.

This is why the death toll keeps, keeps climbing here in Israel, over 900 people now. Why? Because it's only when the military can take control of these villages that they can begin to find the cost of Hamas' attack, that they can actually get into the buildings that are in the community that's now secure, and just find out how many families were slaughtered. And that's why the number keeps going up.

And, you know, when you talk to a career general, 39 years in the military, he himself just moved himself, when he retired, moved himself, here as soon as he could on Saturday morning, when you see the tiredness in his eyes. I asked him before when he was rubbing his face, I said have you had any sleep? He's like, no, not since Saturday. These guys have been on the go.

This is now where they take a pause, take a breath. They brought a number of journalists here today. We're on the team that they brought in. But this is where they can pause. But it's a pause to move forward. It's not a pause to rest back. This is how it feels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And as Nic described to us in his reporting earlier, it is only as they go town by town, kibbutz by kibbutz, they find more bodies, more killed and the number this morning, the death toll in Israel, at least 900 confirmed dead and nearly 700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.

We have team coverage on all of this. Let's bring in our Nic Robertson. Nic, to you. Tell us more of what you've been seeing on the ground this morning in that kibbutz and show us where you are in relation to the Gaza border.

ROBERTSON: Yes. The Gaza border is just sort of through the kibbutz over the hill there. You can't see it at the moment. We moved away from the location we were at before. But this is one of the houses that Hamas was holding out in. That the Israeli Defense Forces had to take back control of as they came into the kibbutz, working their way through it, working their way through it, going deeper and deeper and deeper.

[07:05:06]

We have been around this area now.

It's astounding what you see, an elderly person's mobility scooter outside a house. We have no idea what happened to that person in that mobility scooter. Kids' toys just strewn, kids' bikes just strewn around, there are hand grenades left by Hamas on the pathways to houses. You have to watch where you put your feet because you can quite literally, if you're not watching you're going, step on a grenade. There are forensic teams in here going through all the different houses, searching the houses, making sure that they recovered everyone from here, making sure the buildings are now safe.

When you look at the edge of the kibbutz, we got down to the edge before quite close to that -- quite close to the Gaza end, there were still holes in the fence. They're patched up, if you will, by having huge tanks parked across them. And the whole time that we're here, you can hear these explosions going off. Those are explosions in Gaza. It's so close. That's why they're so loud. And it gives you an indication of the sort of active volatility of this situation.

So, it is, as I was saying before, a pause to move forward, not a pause to sit back. This one is secure. They're securing more. But as we've heard from the Israeli Defense Force from today the day and the general in charge, there's no 100 percent certainty that you have every single Hamas operative who's inside Israel. That continues to be a threat. That will continue to be a threat. There are more troops coming in. There is more heavy armor coming in. There are tanks here. There are a lot of infinity here. But there's also that forensic work to go through all the buildings. So, many booby traps here as, we witnessed, and so easy to almost stumble upon them as well. MATTINGLY: Becky Anderson is live for us in Tel Aviv. Becky, to Nic's point, this is a pause to move forward, not a pause to fall back. Do we have any sense whether or not a ground incursion is imminent at this point?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. I think the bottom line here that a ground incursion does seem probable and imminent. The IDF has, to quote their spokesman, saturated the southern border with troops, reports of as many as 300,000 troops. Those are just reports, can't confirm them at present. But we've certainly seen this massive buildup. And they continue with the intensity of these targeted air strikes, which has seen sort of in military par lens is softening up the ground, as it were, for a ground attack.

Just to be quite clear, we're in Tel Aviv. Down the coastline, of course, is Gaza. And we can hear the booms from here. It's a sort of continuous rumbling and has been for, what, hours and hours and hours, 200 strikes overnight alone, they say.

And to quote the IDF spokesman, I think this is important, on the ground incursion, he said the issue here is that we have been tasked with mitigating or making sure that Hamas doesn't have any military capabilities at the end of the war, and that will be achieved. And he went on to explain, and I quote, what happens on the way and how we implement that task will be seen.

But at this stage, we continue to strike from the air and there are plans, of course, to expand that. And the troops, the reserves and the regular units that are amassing along the southern border are readying for their task.

So, I think it's quite clear, and we have been told this both on and off the record, that this ground incursion is clearly on the table. The Israelis are not going to release the details as to when that will start, but you see all of the sort of planning that goes into what they will -- hope will be an effective ground incursion building up.

Now, what that effective ground incursion looks like, though, what this ground war will look like and what sort of price will be paid in terms of lives, of course, is a massive question. At least there are these 150 hostages, as we know, in Gaza. And then there's the lives of the civilian Palestinians as well, which are clearly absolutely in play here, and will be a real concern to the IDF. They say that these are military targets that they are degrading at present.

But you can only imagine what this ground incursion is going to look like, how they will try and secure these hostages and how they will try and avoid civilian loss of life. But that's difficult, absolutely difficult. This is so complicated. Back to you guys.

[07:10:00]

HARLOW: Becky, thank you so much for that reporting. To our Nic Robertson, our appreciation for his reporting on the ground as well, we'll get back to you soon. MATTINGLY: Well, joining us life from Tel Aviv is Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces. Sir, we appreciate your time.

I want to start with -- Nic has been on the ground and kind of watching all this work, kibbutz through kibbutz. In terms of the scale of the attack, do you have an assessment of how many Hamas militants were killed? I think we have seen numbers ranging around 1,500, 1,600. Do you have clear numbers at this point?

LT. COL. PETER LERNER, SPOKESPERSON, IDF: No. We still don't know exactly how many terrorists infiltrated or were killed by the IDF and the other security forces operating in the immediate vicinity of the communities, the towns, the kibbutz of Southern Israel. What is clear, the magnitude of their attack is unprecedented.

As Nic Robertson clearly pointed out and showed you these devastating images of the destruction, the disregard for human life and just them being bent on Hamas, this terrorist organization, being bent on abduct abducting, killing and massacring people in bedrooms.

MATTINGLY: To that point, that has -- I think the recognition of that has driven the assumption of an imminent ground incursion, invasion, from IDF forces. Is there an update on what that timeline may be at this point?

LERNER: Well, obviously, I won't go into operational details. Indeed the IDF is rallying its forces. We have recruited over 300,000 reserve troops. And we are making the preparations to take this to the next step. Is a ground incursion -- will it happen, when it will happen, or if it has to happen, I think the most important question at this time and the important demand is that Hamas release all of the prisoners, all of the civilians, all of the women, children and men that they abducted to Gaza and release them to Israel immediately because they will bear the consequences of their action. You cannot expect that they infiltrate into Israel, abduct and kill and that there will not be any consequences to their actions. They are going to be on the receiving end of the IDF's capabilities.

MATTINGLY: When you talk about those capabilities, Hamas officials have threatened to execute those hostages if there are continued strikes, if there is a ground incursion. To what extent does that factor in to the planning here?

LERNER: I would highly recommend that they don't do that. As I said, we are very, very concerned about the civilians abducted into Gaza, about Israelis, about the women, about the children, about the elderly. It's unacceptable. We cannot accept that. They have to calculate their steps in a way where they restore and release the Israelis that they're holding or pay those consequences.

You know, what we're doing, and as Becky Anderson rightly pointed out, we're currently targeting Hamas' infrastructure, their command and control positions, their staging grounds, because they are still trying to stage attacks against Israel. We won't let them. This devastation of Israeli society cannot be permitted to happen again. We won't let it happen and that is why we are rallying.

MATTINGLY: Is there any shift in terms of posture, in terms of how you guys deal with potential collateral damage in a place like Gaza, given the scale and brutality of the attacks that you have seen over the course of the last several days?

LERNER: Our war is against Hamas. They chose strategically to attack Israeli civilians on Saturday. We are seeking them out and we will seek them out and destroy their capabilities, degrade their operational elements against Israel, and if need be, hunt them down. Our enemy is not the people of Gaza but their leadership are going to pay a price for their actions.

MATTINGLY: U.S. officials have said they have offered FBI assistance when it comes to hostage recovery. I know there have been discussions about other players within the region, trying to assist or have conversations as well. Has there been any headway on that front? Do you have any developments in terms of a potential breakthrough?

LERNER: So, I can't say -- I can't really comment on that. I would say that our relationship with our U.S. counterparts is extremely strong historically, and we're very grateful for their support. The IDF is fighting its fight at this time, using our forces, our intelligence, our operational capabilities and the support of our colleagues and friends around the world is very much appreciated.

MATTINGLY: Last one before I let you go, have you seen any signs -- I know there's been a lot of concern about up north in terms of what Hezbollah may do. Has there been any signs of escalation on their side of things, any signs things could be ramping up there?

[07:15:01]

LENER: Well, we had a few skirmishes yesterday, including an infiltration attempt, which the IDF foiled, killing two Hezbollah operatives and another one, which just headed back to Lebanon. Unfortunately, one of our servicemen was killed in the exchange there. They've also fired some mortar rounds towards the border.

I would advise Hezbollah, look very carefully at what's happening in Gaza today against Hamas. Look very carefully at how Hamas is hiding and needs to be -- continue to hide from our actions. There will be very severe consequences if they decide to chime in. I suggest they look -- stay on the sidelines because we are prepared. We have the forces on the ground, we have the forces in the air and also at sea. So, we hope not but we're prepared for that outcome as well.

MATTINGLY: Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, we appreciate your time and update. Thank you.

LERNER: Thank you very much.

HARLOW: And now back to the civilians in anguish the middle of all of this. Ahead, we're going to speak to parents desperately trying to find their 23-year-old son. You see him there. His name is Hershu (ph). He was attending a music festival on Saturday when Hamas militants shot civilians and took hostages.

MATTINGLY: And this just in, why some Israeli parents are being told to remove social media from their children's phones as a hostage crisis in Gaza unfolds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

HARLOW: So, this just in to CNN, a new alert to some Israeli parents that is a grim preview of what may come in the days ahead. They are being told to remove social media from their children's phones because they might be exposed to hostage videos.

Our Elliott Gotkine has more reporting on this for us. Good morning. What can you tell us?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, this is a message from the parent association at a Tel Aviv high school. The mother who is both British and Israeli forwarded me this note that came from the parent association saying, we have been informed, obviously, we saw the threats from Hamas to execute and broadcast those executions of hostages if Israel were to carry out attacks on the Gaza strip without prior warning.

So, following on from that, this message saying, we have been informed that may be videos of hostages begging for their lives. Please remove TikTok app, the TikTok app from your children's mobile phones. We cannot allow our kids to watch this stuff. It's also difficult for us to contain all this social media. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Now, this is a parent association. It's not something that's coming from the Education Ministry or anything like that. But, clearly, there is a lot of concern and anxiety about children who otherwise at least physically are unaffected by what's happening mainly in the south of Israel being exposed to something like broadcast executions.

So, there's a lot of anxiety, a lot of concern about this. Children in Israel are very mobile savvy. You know, many of them have smart phones from the age of seven or eight. So, there is a concern that with pretty much all of them exposed to social media, that if this does transpire, broadcast executions, that their children will be exposed to them.

HARLOW: Trying to protect them in any way they can. Elliott Gotkine reporting for us, thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, let's bring in CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, former ABC News and CBS News Anchor and Foreign Affairs Correspondent Reena Ninan, and the host of Mo News podcast, Mosheh Oinounou.

Guys -- I actually want to start, Mosh, with you, because we were talking yesterday about the dynamics here related to Hamas, and that Hamas, in terms of when it came into kind of actual elected governmental power and how Israel played that between the Palestinian authority and Fata at the time, there was no expectation it would ever reach this scale. And trying to figure out what Israel does next, I think, is a difficult thing because you never thought it would get to this point.

MOSHEH OINOUNOU, HOST, MO NEWS PODCAST: Yes. Israel has to figure out what it's objective is. And we know this very well here in the U.S. in terms of going into war, what is the objective, what is the end goal, because, certainly, we've seen ourselves, whether it's Iraq, Afghanistan, that it changes over time.

Israel has dealt with the same thing. They had a war in Lebanon in '06, not without a clear objective. In terms of Hamas, we're talking about regime. We're talking about regime change. I was struck by the IDF spokesperson who was just on who was talking about decimating Hamas. Last night, Netanyahu, the prime minister, talked about eliminating Hamas, comparing Hamas to ISIS, saying the west knows how to deal with ISIS, it's complete elimination.

With what you're talking about there is regime change. Regime change entails a ground incursion. Regime change could take months, if not years, and what replaces it. So, Israel has to be very clear with its objectives and figure out what exactly is the end goal for what Hamas is after all this.

HARLOW: Christiane, as we think about the end goal and what that means, you also just had a very powerful interview. What can you tell us and share with us?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, as you heard the IDF spokesperson, first and foremost, there is a number, 1,500 dead Hamas has been recovered. That is what we're being told from inside Israel in the fights between Israeli forces and Hamas as they try to secure the border over the last -- you know, since Saturday. So, that what we've been told, 1,500 Hamas bodies.

Secondly, the IDF spokesman and, generally, Israel and its government are very, very, very concerned clearly about the hostages, as you heard, men, women, children, elderly. And I have been talking to friends who also know people who have been taken, relatives who have been taken and it's really high, obviously highest on people's list.

So, I was speaking on my program yesterday to a young woman. Her name is Alexandra Ariev. Her sister, Karina, 19 years old, was taken, and this was our exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDRIA ARIEV, SISTER OF KIDNAPPED SOLDIER: The last call my sister made was on the 7th of October, Saturday. 6:30 A.M.

[07:25:00]

She called me then my parents. And she basically called to say goodbye, that she loves us. And she told that they're in the bomb shelter because of the missiles and the bombing. And then after the bombing, there was a raid on the base. They heard the terrorists that they are going through the base near them and that they heard shooting. We guess that the terrorists shot all the male or female who did -- that were able to get weapon. And they hurt the other girls and took them and abducted them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So, you can hear Alexandra saying that this was a military base. There were many, many women in that military base. And her sister is one of those who were taken.

Now, I will say, because you're talking about the end game, wider conflagration, many, many governments, western-allied governments, others, are supporting Israel's right to self-defense. There seems to be, if not, green light -- you know, green light being given for pretty much as much as it takes.

However, we are also hearing at the same time former officials, certain officials, warning that this exactly what Hamas wants. The former British foreign secretary, William Hague, written in the newspaper today that that is Hamas' aim, to draw Israel into a massive reaction, to potentially spur reaction from all over the region, a higher conflagration and, and this is clear, he said, to cause so many deaths inside Gaza, Palestinian deaths inside Gaza to eventually make Israel potentially lose the moral high ground as they defend themselves against this mass murder. That is the warning from William Hague as the next steps are considered.

MATTINGLY: Reena, to that point, I mean, I think that's absolutely standing out there. I think everybody understands the scale of what Israel is expected to do in response will eventually lead to a point like that.

REENA NINAN, FORMER ANCHOR, ABC NEWS AND CBS NEWS: Absolutely. What Christiane said there is just so powerful because that's what surprised me the most was the international support for Israel leading into a war.

When you look at the evolution of Hamas, there was a point, believe it or not, where Israeli intelligence did believe this could be an organization that we might be able to work with. Fata was corrupt at that time. They thought that this might be someone they could work with. Clearly, the evolution you have seen over this weekend changed to using ISIS-type tactics they have never used before.

Kidnapping a soldier, wounding, taking them hostage, yes, that was a tactic always employed. But what we saw this weekend was a whole new level with Hamas.

HARLOW: Kidnapping civilians and now threatening to kill them on television.

NINAN: Absolutely.

HARLOW: What about from the north? You have spent time with Hezbollah fighters. So, you've been on the ground. Earlier in the program, we were talking to Major General Mike Lyons about the fact that he said that is an even greater threat than Hamas.

NINAN: Because their capabilities could be five to ten times more than what Hamas is capable on the ground. That's the assessment right now.

But when you're looking at that war overall, Poppy, and you're looking at Hamas and in the Gaza strip, Hamas with their brutality this weekend handed Israel two unexpected wins that people are kind of overlooking at that time. One, there was this divided country that suddenly became united.

Within 48 hours, reservists who said I'm never going to serve in a war led by Benjamin Netanyahu, put down their politics. Within 48 hours, 300,000 Israeli reservists showed up to support this country. And then you have the international support that Christiane talked about to have the U.S. send the USS Ford, which will give Israel the ability to resupply, to also have long range capabilities. That's something you can't disregard.

That was a huge program for the Russians in the war in Ukraine, inability to resupply. They have got the backing of the U.S. They have got the British prime minister saying, yes, if you need military backing, we will be there to support you. I never heard a British prime minister use that language before.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

OINOUNOU: I was going to say, one of the big questions, Christiane talked about the green light that the world has given, in fact, the world support, is does the world have the stomach for what's about to take place. How long does that green light exist until it becomes a red light again?

Talking about Hamas' dream is to draw Israel into a full scale war. Hamas bases, its operations bases its military within residents, amongst civilians in Gaza. And one of the big concerns for the Israelis here as they go in is civilian casualties. When is there -- if there's an incident where there's massive civilian casualties that turns the world against Israeli operation, saying, guys, we gave you a few days, it's over now.

And, ultimately, the Israeli objective recently to have a peace deal with Saudi Arabia, to prevent a conflagration in the West Bank and Lebanon as the civilian casualty -- as they rise in Gaza, as the thing escalates and the thing continues, the risks regionally start to get larger.

[07:30:09]

MATTINGLY: Right.