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Israel Warns Civilians in Gaza City to Evacuate South; Hamas Claims Israeli Airstrikes Have Killed 13 Hostages; Happening Now, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Speak in Israel. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 13, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gaza under intense bombardment, Israel telling the U.N. to evacuate the Northern Gaza Strip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas.

NIC ROBERTS, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The impacts must be not only having a physical effect in Gaza but a psychological effect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their mission is to wage war on Hamas. Hamas' war is a war against civilians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't had a situation like this since (INAUDIBLE) war. The level of calamity is indescribable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want my children back. I know the whole world is fighting for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We pull them out of the cars when they were still burning, getting bullets on the ambulance itself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't seen such horrifying and terrible things. I feel ashamed. We failed to protect them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost friends. Friends of mine have lost brothers and sisters. We'd like to say never again, but it's not a cliche, it's real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everyone. It is Friday, we are still following the breaking news with much more to come this morning. I'm Phil Mattingly with Poppy Harlow in New York. It is 7:00 A.M. on the East Coast, 2:00 P.M. in Gaza, where the Israeli military is warning more than 1 million civilians to evacuate south as the war with Hamas intensifies and hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops mass on the border. You're looking at thousands of leaflets being dropped over Gaza City this morning. Hamas militants are urging people to defy the order and stay in their homes. But we're seeing some Palestinians heeding the warning, families with small children heading south carrying whatever they can.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And this morning, Israeli airstrikes and artillery continue to pound Gaza. Hamas is now claiming those strikes have killed 13 hostages who were abducted during the weekend massacre. The Israeli military is saying it cannot confirm that claim.

Meanwhile, this morning, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. That meeting happened in Jordan.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman starts us off with this coverage live this morning in Lebanon.

Ben, for our viewers who know you, they know how extensively you have reported throughout Gaza for years. Your assessment is so much better than almost anyone else. Is that possible for a million-plus people to immediately leave the north and go south? The U.N. says it is not without catastrophic consequences.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it's not possible to do it in a reasonable amount of time. In fact, the U.N., the word they used is impossible. You're talking about 1.1 million people going from the northern part, the area around Gaza City, which is quite large, to the south.

There is an active bombardment of Gaza going on. The fuel has essentially run out. There's no way to move those people from the south, from the north to the south. And then when they go to the south, where do they stay?

Already, more than 420,000 people in Gaza have been displaced. That's 20 percent of the population. Many of them have gone to Gaza City from the outlying areas. There is like Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia, the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, very near the main crossing into Israel, the Erez Crossing. And that's where a lot of the fighting has been going on. And so, therefore, it's just logistically almost mission impossible.

Now, the Israelis aren't giving a timeline for when this should happen, but under these circumstances, it's almost mission impossible. Poppy?

HARLOW: Yes. I mean, we heard from the IDF colonel last hour saying immediately, go immediately. So, Ben, thank you very much for all your reporting and perspective on that.

MATTINGLY: Well, law enforcement in cities around the globe are on high alert this morning after a former Hamas leader called for, quote, a day of rage across the Muslim world today, telling them to hold mass protests and go out and harm Israelis and Jews. National Jewish organizations are also on edge as they monitoring extremist chat rooms and propaganda channels.

[07:05:00]

I want to go straight to Becky Anderson who's East Jerusalem right now. There has been a lot of anxiety leading up today, Becky, as you're trying to clear your camera shot now.

You've reported so much from where you are right now. Talk about what you're seeing.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, ABU DHABI: So, this is tense. This is a neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Many of the young men in this area have not been allowed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque today to pray at midday prayers.

They normally go in if there wasn't a selective process, but, clearly, today, the Israelis have selected them by age, men and women by age. So, many of the youngsters here haven't had an opportunity to get to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, so they have been praying on these streets here.

Look, if I describe this as a sort of tense calm today, I think that's how that would be fair. I've been in this area before and it's been very chaotic and very violent.

So, I've spoken to some of the older ladies and gentlemen who did get an opportunity today to get into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and they described it as really concerning and very worrying. They prayed, they came back and they're now back in their homes.

But what's happening here now is the Israeli Security Forces just pushing people back. They're trying to avoid something kicking off here.

Apologies for the cameras, as they move us back. I don't know if you saw in the shot earlier on a very big black truck. That is what's known as a skunk truck. And it's used by the Israeli forces to sort of clear demonstrators. It's a bit like perhaps our viewers will have seen in the past water cannons shot from big trucks.

You can smell the acrid nature of what is chemical having been dispersed from that truck. We've heard stun grenades going off this morning, not a lot. Again, you know, there is a-- as I say, there's a sort of, you know, uneasy sense of calm on what is this day of protest that has been called by Hamas today. The stun grenades are-- this is the back end of one that I found on the street here.

So, yes, very much a sense of what happens next, what happens next for the next series of Friday prayers, which come, of course, in a couple of hours from now, who will be on the streets and how will the Israeli security deal with those on the streets is really the next question. Guys?

HARLOW: Becky Anderson reporting live in East Jerusalem today, thank you so much for all of that, Becky.

Now, here in New York, the governor says there are no active nor are there credible threats, but the NYPD says every member is ready and in uniform.

Our Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller joins us now. I have a lot of friends who are really worried. A lot of people are really scared. Should they be?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I don't think so. There's certainly an awareness on the part of law enforcement that there's heightened threat environment. But I think a lot of this, frankly, has to do with stirring fear on the internet, clearly the call by the Hamas leader to show your anger in events today. But that wasn't an explicit call for violence, as much as he was calling on global demonstrations. He called for violence from Palestinians in the region.

So, this is a thing where people have to have a heightened awareness. Law enforcement has to have a heightened presence. And that's a lot of what we've been seeing developing in New York City with their strategy.

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MILLER (voice over): In the morning at the World Trade Center, a show of force. High visibility counter-terrorism teams have been deployed across the city at symbolic locations, including synagogues and mosques. NYPD Chief John Hart--

JOHN HART, NYPD ASSISTANT CHIEF OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: So, the strategy is one to show some reassurance to the community that there is a good police presence out there. That's probably the foremost idea. But secondary to that is we want to be fluid.

So we are going to be moving around. We have a robust deployment. We're hitting just in the counterterrorism realm. We're hitting over 400 locations a day.

MILLER: At NYPD's headquarters, a morning intelligence briefing is tracking the threat stream.

MEGHANN TEUBNER, NYPD DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS: So, we continue to see public statements from Hamas, Palestinian, Islamic jihad and other affiliated Palestinian militant groups claiming credit for ongoing strikes, ongoing rocket attacks, et cetera.

We also have seen public statements from Al Qaeda and their affiliates as well as ISIS and other like-minded extremists online.

MILLER: Rebecca Weiner is deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism.

REBECCA WEINER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: Everything finds a way of coming back to New York City.

[07:10:00]

As you well know, it's the media capital of the world. It's an incredibly diverse environment with large communities from everywhere where a conflict might emerge, and in this case, a large Jewish population, a large Palestinian population.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, everybody.

MILLER: The NYPD has been briefing major city police departments, along with hundreds of private security partners, as part of Operation Shield, a global intelligence-sharing network.

National Jewish organizations are also on high alert, as they monitor extremist chat rooms and propaganda channels, including a worldwide call from a former Hamas leader for supporters to, quote, show their anger, unquote, on Friday.

While there was not an explicit reference to violence, the messaging caught the attention of people like Mitch Silber, who runs a Jewish community security organization.

MITCH SILBER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY SECURITY INITIATIVE: There are going to be extra precautions that we're going to advise that institutions take as kids are getting out of school on Friday, as people are going to synagogue on Friday night and Saturday morning. We're in regular touch with NYPD, requesting extra patrols in Jewish areas.

We asked Oren Segal, vice president for the Center on Extremism for the Anti-Defamation League, to take us inside the threat stream.

OREN SEGAL, VICE PRESIDENT, CENTER ON EXTREMISM AT ADL: Not only are we seeing those who are apologists for Hamas, those who glorify the messages. But we're seeing people on the far right that have traditionally engaged in violence against the Jewish community full- throatedly supporting those activities.

Anti-Semitism is always the thing that brings extremist groups across the ideological spectrum together. We are seeing this now in ways that we have never seen before.

MILLER: The ADL and other Jewish groups say the events in Israel and Gaza are driving a tsunami of threats.

SEGAL: In the last 36 hours, we have seen a 1,000 percent increase in non-specific threats against Jews and Israelis by groups that we track in the United States.

MILLER: And New York has seen the results of propaganda turned into bloodshed, a series of bombings in 2016, in 2017, a ramming attack that killed eight people on a bike path, and an attempted suicide bomber in the city's busiest subway station, and many more plots that have been prevented, which is what they are counting on.

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MILLER (on camera): So, full disclosure, just to remind people, I'm the former deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, so many of the people in that story were my colleagues. And being in touch with them, we're still not seeing that specific credible threat. But they're also out there scanning for it, because in the lone wolf world that lives in the dark corners of the internet, there's always that one individual.

MATTINGLY: And to Poppy's point earlier, the anxiety inside the Jewish American community right now is at a level that I don't know that I've ever seen before tied to all of this.

I do want to ask you, since we have you, that we have focused a ton on the hostages, more than 100-plus is the expectation in Gaza right now that were taken during the weekend terror attack. A handful of Americans, we don't have specific numbers.

If you're a U.S. official, what are you doing right now trying to find information?

MILLER: So, if you're a U.S. official, you are talking to the people in Qatar, you're talking to the Egyptians, you're talking to your government contacts and allies around the region to see -- because this is not a conversation that can happen directly right now between the Israelis or the United States as much as it can through regional partners that still have a dialogue. And you're trying to figure out the next phase of the Israeli military steps and where that puts the hostages and who can intervene and how. It's very complicated diplomatically and militarily.

MATTINGLY: Are you surprised how little information U.S. officials seem to have?

MILLER: I think US officials may have more information than we know. But given the sensitivity of the lives and the balance, it's just not a time when they're going to be sharing intelligence.

HARLOW: John Miller, thank you, excellent report.

MILLER: Thanks.

HARLOW: So, the Biden administration is working with Israel and Egypt to try to try to ensure some safe passage out of Gaza. This hour, we'll get an update from the White House. John Kirby will join us.

MATTINGLY: And countless Israelis have returned to their homeland from abroad to join in the war effort. We're going to speak to a man who spent 20 years in the IDF and just arrived in Israel from Massachusetts who will fight alongside his four daughters. That's next.

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[07:15:00]

MATTINGLY: We are showing you or going to show you live pictures of two podiums where Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected to speak. He is in Tel Aviv arriving earlier this morning as part of what has been a significant show of both support and to some degree force by top U.S. officials over the course of the last several days. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the country yesterday as part of a significant Middle East effort that he is in the midst of. Secretary Austin on a very business-like trip given U.S. defense assistance, which has already been arriving in the country. We expect to hear from him shortly. We will bring that to you live when the secretary of defense speaks.

Now, this morning, Hamas says new airstrikes are headed toward Tel Aviv. In the days since the unprecedented Hamas attacks, 300,000 Israeli reservists have been called to active duty. Countless Israelis have returned to their homeland from abroad to join in the war effort.

Our next guest served more than 20 years in the Israel Defense Forces before moving to the U.S. and becoming an American citizen. Now living in the Boston area, he just traveled back home to Israel to fight alongside his four daughters who are also serving in the IDF.

Joining us now is Boaz Arbel, a former Israeli Air Force officer. He is now working as a coordinator between the Israeli Air Force and ground forces on the frontlines. Sir, we appreciate your time.

The moment you decided to go back, walk us through it.

BOAZ ARBEL, BOSTON-AREA RESIDENT RETURNED TO ISRAEL TO FIGHT AGAINST HAMAS: Yes, that was morning we woke up to horrible news, like unbelievable, unbearable for any human being and many of us heard that.

[07:20:09]

It was no brainer for me that this time is going to be -- it is something big and it's going to be something bigger than ever, unfortunately. And for the last 14 years I've been living in the U.S., became a U.S. citizen, that touched me so hard, I said I cannot stay here, here in Boston, because right now I'm in Israel and I decided to just take everything and come over to help. Not to mention that my daughters are here all serving in the IDF.

MATTINGLY: I wanted to ask you about that. I know people understand but the military service in Israel, the connection to families, your story is so emblematic of the connectivity that all Israelis have with the IDF, with the armed forces, four daughters currently serving.

I believe one of your daughters was the first woman to successfully complete the Israeli Air Force's pilot course back in 2020. As a father, what are you thinking in this moment?

ARBEL: So, yes. So, I'm not sure if everyone knows, but in Israel, it's mandatory to enlist to the military for boys and for girls. But since my daughters grew up in the U.S. and they came over when they were very young, they didn't have to go but they volunteered to go and to contribute, to give their fair share to the nation, to the country. And that's what they did. It made us very proud.

And not to mention when one of our daughters graduated the flight academy, like I did, that's what I did for so many years, that was a moment of pride. But we are proud of any other, daughter who is doing very important things in the military.

MATTINGLY: To your point, I mean, the scale of 300,000 reservists being called up, also the countless stories of Israelis going back home, like yourself, what are you preparing for in the days ahead? You said you're going to be there, quote, until further notice.

ARBEL: That's correct. I just want to take a specific -- Logan Airport to Tel Aviv Airport. That was the flight of only military people who are coming back and people who are coming back to Israel to participate in funerals. So, you can imagine how gloomy that flight was, very quiet, very focused, everyone was focused. I'm here until further notice, until we can complete what we started, what they started, but we had to fight back once and for all.

Hopefully we can bring peace back to the Mediterranean here and put an end to that, because that thing cannot go on like that.

MATTINGLY: Yes, the through line between the horror and revulsion of six days ago to the emergence and resolve of the Israeli people has been something to behold. We appreciate your time. We give our best to you and your daughters. Boaz Arbel, thank you so much.

Well, at this hour evacuations are underway in Northern Gaza after a warning from Israel.

And here in the U.S., the House is entering day 10 with no speaker after Representative Steve Scalise dropped out of the race. We're going to tell you what the GOP's next steps are, if they even know. That's ahead.

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[07:25:00]

MATTINGLY: We want to take you straight to Tel Aviv where Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is giving a press conference with his counterpart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what we face in this war. This is a war on the existence of Israel as a prosperous state, as a democratic state, as the homeland of the Jewish people. This is a war on freedom and on our common values, and we are on the frontline. We will keep fighting, and we will win this war. We will prevail.

With your permission, Mr. Secretary, I'll say a few words in Hebrew.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

HARLOW: We're going to continue, of course, to monitor this press conference. And as we do, let's bring in Colonel Leighton with more.

Just speak, Colonel, if you could, to the significance of the defense secretary being there right alongside the defense minister of Israel, his counterpart, while Secretary Blinken is also there right after we saw the statement, strong statement from Blinken yesterday with Netanyahu. [07:30:04]

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, absolutely, Poppy. So, this is a usually significant development that the secretary.