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CNN This Morning

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner is Interviewed about the Situation in Israel; Daniel Preston is Interviewed about His Mother Who's Trapped in Gaza; Jordan Trying to Win over Holdouts; Chicago-Area Landlord Charged in Stabbing; Increase in Threats Ater Israel Attacks. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 16, 2023 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

LT. COL. PETER LERNER, IDF SPOKESMAN: Reservists for both fronts. Also for the Gaza Strip where the - which is the main arena at this time. But also to be prepared and poised for the potential outbreak of violence with Hezbollah in the north.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Right. The -- there are now confirmation that the number of hostages has gone up, roughly around 199 I believe at this point. There's also been reports that the IDF had -- Israeli forces have some intelligence about the whereabouts of at least some of the hostages. Is that accurate?

LERNER: Phil, I can't speak in-depth about the situation or state of the hostages. You know, that is - that number, that 199 people abducted from their homes, taken from their bedrooms, taken from their kitchens, that is a really serious thing that is happened and developing over the last ten days now.

I - I won't go into the - the issues of them out of respect for the families, the victims, and also in order not to impede on the potential negotiations and actions behind.

Of course, you know, we have gathering and we are gathering intelligence and there is a lot of intelligence coming out of the terrorists that we killed on -- in the aftermath of the attack over the last ten days and they're still killing terrorists even yesterday that are participating in this attack. Basically because, you know, when -- they are so proud of their action that they videoed everything in order to supplement and support their propaganda war. So, they all have body cameras. But we know who they are, and we know how to get to them.

MATTINGLY: Lieutenant Colonel, on the Rafah border crossing, I am aware there are multiple different players involved here and this is not entirely up to the Israelis, nor is it up to necessarily just the U.S. or the Egyptians or otherwise. But concerning the fact that it has not seemed to open yet.

I want to play some sound from the Palestinian Red Crescent Director Marwan Jilani. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARWAN JILANI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT: Convoys of people who were fleeing to the south were killed and targeted. The Rafah border was bombarded a couple of days ago itself. So, I think, in all this (INAUDIBLE) to get in, we need a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Is a ceasefire an option in that area given how fluid and dynamic that situation is?

LERNER: So, we've heard and seen that the prime minister's office made an announcement that there was no cease fire at this time.

MATTINGLY: Right.

LERNER: And, of course, the IDF is a subordinate to the - to the - to the government, and we will implement as the - as instructed on that basis.

We are operating and, as we speak, there is another window of evacuation of civilians from the north to the south in order to get civilians, Palestinian civilians, out of harm's way. And it's actually Hamas who is trying to keep them there, instructing them not to leave, placing checkpoints to block their roads and also even potentially boobytrapping some of the roads going south and then blaming Israel for it, as we did see a couple of days ago and this is what's happened.

So, we are trying to shift people in order to distinct between the terrorists them and non-combatants, between Hamas and innocent civilians, we're trying to make a differentiation so that we can go in and destroy the bastion of barbarism of Hamas. We are determined that Hamas will never ever have a -- use Gaza as a staging ground for massacres in Israel. It is high time that they be banished from the realm of existence.

MATTINGLY: Colonel, logistics are critical given what I think is being planned right now, what many people expect. There are weather issues right now, intensifying thunderstorms forecast to impact Israel and Gaza. How does that play a role, if any, in the decision to launch what is expected to be a counteroffensive?

LERNER: So, the IDF is a professional military. Weather is not be an option, an issue. We will mobilize if instructed to do so in any weather and any - under any other circumstances.

Of course, in order to achieve the most - the best result, in order to achieve our goal of destroying Hamas.

MATTINGLY: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, we appreciate your time, sir, thank you.

LERNER: Have a good day.

MATTINGLY: Well, hospitals in Gaza are under constant bombardment and now facing an imminent shutdown according to sources on the ground. How long until they completely run out of fuel? That's next.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also ahead, we will be speaking with the son of an American doctor. Her mother -- his mother still stuck in Gaza on the efforts to evacuate civilians at that southern Rafah crossing are still being called fluid and unpredictable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:41]

HARLOW: Welcome back.

So, this morning, half a million people have moved to the southern part of Gaza. Many hoping they can cross at some point through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, but it is still closed this morning. One of those people moving south, Dr. Barbara Zind. She is an American pediatric oncologist who was visiting Gaza, helping Palestinian children with the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. You heard from her on CNN last week. She was on air with us as a bomb went off.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BARBARA ZIND: Well, whenever you go to Gaza, you always know that there is -- there is danger of some violence while you're there. But, no, I wasn't - whoa - sorry, prepared for this. (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We were also hoping to be joined by her this morning. We were unable to contact her because the wi-fi is just very spotty.

Her son did message with her just a couple of hours ago, though. The last he heard his mother was at a U.N. building about five miles from that southern border with Egypt.

Joining us now is her son, Daniel Preston, who join us.

I really appreciate you being here.

We've gotten to hear from your mother a couple of times on CNN over the past week. What is the update you can share with us as she moves south and hopes to be able to leave?

DANIEL PRESTON, MOTHER IS TRAPPED IN GAZA WAITING TO EVACUATE: Yes, I think she's about five miles from the border right now. And -- because the main U.N. facility was so full, I think there are about 10,000 people around, they are currently at a vocational school.

[06:40:10] I think they are sort of sleeping in their cars ready to go at any minute. I've been told they've been sleeping with their shoes on, just any -- anytime they can hear the border is open, they'll get there. I think that they have some food and water. I know that there's a pretty good shortage of bottled water right now, but they still have some - some well water to be drinking from.

HARLOW: Has she talked to you at all about whether potable water has been accessible outside of drinking water, electricity, et cetera? That's been one of the big points of debate, right? Israel had said that they turned on the water to southern Gaza, but without electricity you can't get it running again. What has she told you?

PRESTON: Yes, it sounds like they have one workable spigot in the area that has pretty long lines at it. And that - right, most of the facilities are out. I think the U.N. has sort of one - one thing that they can use.

HARLOW: Yes. Wow.

PRESTON: Yes.

HARLOW: You know what I think is so striking about your mother, and it's been an honor for all of us to get to hear from her throughout this, she - she went into Gaza knowing there would be some risk. Certainly not this, but some risk. But in many respects she was born to do work like this.

PRESTON: Yes, I think it's been interesting to see how sort of her -- she's developed from the fact that - right, so her - her mother was escaped -- her family escaped anti-Jewish persecution in Belarus and in eastern Europe, and her father's family escaped really just persecution in Iran and a war in southern Lebanon. And so I think that she's been - she's grown up with this feeling of - of the family running away and knowing what that's like. And so I think going back and helping people in that same situation has been something that's really close to her as she's - she's grown as a doctor. And, I mean, just doing rural medicine in America too is honestly pretty tough as well.

HARLOW: Yes.

PRESTON: Yes.

HARLOW: You know, we were just looking at pictures of the two of you together sort of around the world.

I just -- before you go, I wonder if in your conversations with her she has struggled with leaving, right? She knows she has to go, but at the same time she's a pediatric oncologist. The whole reason she went is to help children in the most dire of situations. And this is the most dire of situations. I wonder how she wrestles with that.

PRESTON: Yes, I think that's really hard. I mean, I think one thing that has been hard for her to see firsthand is, for a lot of work she does it's with kids with chronic illnesses, right? Kids who need chemo or sort of constant checking on - on different biological things. So, when you have attacks like this, when you have violence like this, the infrastructure is gone too.

So, while there's a lot of medical need in Gaza, there's - it's a lot of very much like primary care and things like that. And what - what really is just impossible in these situations is really the work that she goes over there to do because there's no way that you can have kids on chemo right now or -

HARLOW: Yes.

PRESTON: Or care for things that - that aren't immediate actionable things that -- for health but are things that - that she is going to do. So, in a lot of ways, she even - she can't even go what she went - do what she went there to do right now.

HARLOW: That's a very important point.

Daniel Preston, thank you. Hope she gets home safe to you very soon. Appreciate you being with us.

PRESTON: Thank you.

HARLOW: Of course.

PRESTON: Yes, thank you. Have a good day.

HARLOW: You too.

MATTINGLY: Well, President Biden says the dysfunction in Washington is making the U.S. less safe. What he said about the impact of the political ineptitude here at home.

HARLOW: Also, it is Monday, and the House of Representatives is still without a speaker. We'll talk to you about where the votes now stand and how likely this could last -- what Democrats are proposing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS: Does the dysfunction that we've seen in Congress increase the danger in the world?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes. Look, this is not your father's Republican Party. Thirty percent of it is made up of these MAGA Republicans who are maybe -- democracy is something I don't -- they don't look at it the same way you and I look at democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That was President Biden speaking last night on "60 Minutes" about the infighting among House Republicans nearly two weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker. Now, Congressman Jim Jordan, who's hoping to succeed McCarthy, is working the phones throughout the course of the weekend, going in to today, trying to bring the holdouts to his side ahead of a full House vote that could happen on Tuesday.

Let's go to CNN's Lauren Fox, live on Capitol Hill.

Lauren, break it down, does he have anywhere near the numbers that he needs to actually clinch the speakership?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Phil, he's not there yet. That is what we are learning from conversations over the weekend.

And one thing to be clear on is, the holdouts right now are not the hardliners that you might be used to seeing from past iterations of this fight, but instead some moderates and more establishment Republicans who are deeply concerned about Jim Jordan potentially being rewarded after many of his backers tried to block Steve Scalise and were successful in Scalise not getting the speakership last week.

So, there is so much bad blood, so much tension, so much frustration right now within Republican ranks that this could go on for a while. Right now House Republicans are slated to meet behind closed doors around 6:30 p.m. tonight. This is one of many meetings we have seen over the course of the last several weeks among House Republicans, and yet they are no closer to electing a speaker.

As you noted, Jordan's office is making very clear that he is having conversations, he is trying to move members. But the biggest question right now is, you have a bloc of members who are arguing that they may go to the floor and block Jim Jordan. One of the questions has been, if you went to the floor, would members start to get to yes on whatever candidate was before them? But what we are hearing from our sources is the fact that actually that is not going to happen because some of these members are dug in, saying that they are never going to support Jim Jordan.

A lot can change in Congress as this war in Israel continues and this goes on and on and on. There becomes a question of when do Republicans come together and say enough is enough, we need to find someone. But at this moment, it doesn't look like Jim Jordan has the support he needs.

MATTINGLY: All right, Lauren Fox for us. Keep us posted. Thank you.

Well, strong words from President Biden after the murder of a six- year-old Muslim American boy. We have a live report from Chicago on the hate crime investigation. That's next.

HARLOW: Also, the president issuing this warning about how the war in the Middle East could increase threats here at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS: Because of what we're seeing in the Middle East, is the threat of terrorism in the United States increased?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:43]

HARLOW: Well, this morning, investigators in Chicago are looking into a horrific attack on a six-year-old boy and his mother. The sheriff says their landlord targeted them because they are Muslim. He is now facing first degree murder and hate crime charges after he reportedly stabbed the child 26 times, he killed him, and seriously wounded his mother.

Whitney Wild has the reporting live from Chicago for us.

Whitney, my God.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: It's awful, Poppy. It's really horrible.

Here's what police described. They say they got a call around 11:40 Saturday morning regarding a stabbing. And when they showed up, they found the suspect, Joseph Czuba, sitting outside the family's home near the driveway. And when they walked into this home, it's difficult to describe the horror they were walking into. They said they found the two victims in a bedroom. The mother had been stabbed more than a dozen times. The little boy had been stabbed 26 times. Both were rushed to the hospital. The mother is expected to survive. But, sadly, that little boy was killed in this incident.

Again, police saying that they have enough information about this incident to charge this man with hate crimes, although he did not make a statement.

The Council on American Islamic Relations has a Chicago chapter and they are helping the family through this extremely difficult time. Here's what the executive director of the Chicago chapter said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED REHAB, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS IN CHIAGO: He was a lovely boy who loved his family, his friends. He loved soccer. He loved basketball. And he paid the price for the atmosphere of hate.

He has no clue about these larger issues happening in the world, but he was made to pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: This was again just horrific. And it was actually the Council on American Islamic Relations which provided more detail to help illustrate why police are charging this man with hate crimes. They said that the mother had texted the father from the hospital describing this, that this man, Joseph Czuba, came into the house. He tried to choke her. Proceeded to attack her with a knife and yelled, you Muslims must die.

Poppy. Phil.

MATTINGLY: Whitney, President Biden and the first lady both weighed in last night on what happened. What did they say?

WILD: Oh, well, they are -- I mean they have children. Any parent knows how horrific and sad and just devastating this would be. Here's what President Biden said. "The child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek, a refuge to live, learn and pray in peace. This horrific act of hate has no place in America and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe and who we are."

And, you know, I think it's worth noting here, the Council on American Islamic relations says that there hadn't - had never been an incident. They'd lived there for two years, no problems. A switch flipped and they believe it was directly related to the conflict in the Middle East.

Back to you.

HARLOW: Whitney, thank you for that reporting. Tragic.

MATTINGLY: Well, as we just heard, the war between Israel and Hamas appears to be fueling hate and tensions at home. FBI Director Christopher Wray warning of rising threats in the United States, in particular against Jews and Muslim groups.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We have seen an increase in reported threats to these groups here in the United States, and we're moving quickly to mitigate them.

[06:55:07]

So, we're working closely with our partners in state and local law enforcement, through our JTTFs, our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, to ensure that together we stay laser focused on mitigating threats we have identified and continue sharing intelligence to keep our communities safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Joining us now, CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe, and Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel's special envoy for combatting anti-Semitism.

Guys, thanks for joining us.

Andy, I want to start with you. The -- what the FBI director says regarding moving quickly to mitigate what they're seeing right now given the increase, what does that mean?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Phil, it can mean a whole bunch of different things depending on the sort of threat that the FBI is focused on. So, if they have credible information about a specific threat, that will prompt an investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in the community where that threat exists. The Joint Terrorism Task Forces, there's about 200 of them around the country, they are made up of FBI agents and local partners for exactly this purpose.

But on the other end of the spectrum, it may simply mean reaching out to state and local officials or community officials, people in the faith based community, to explain what these threats are to help people understand what the threats are and to protect themselves during times of elevated risk.

HARLOW: Michael, you just returned from Israel. Your children, I believe, are serving. Is that right?

MICHAL COTLER-WUNSH, ISRAEL'S SPECIAL ENVOY FOR COMBATTING ANTISEMITISM: I live there.

HARLOW: Yes.

COTLER-WUNSH: I actually just came to be able to engage here.

HARLOW: Thank you for what you do and for what they are doing right now as well.

Can you speak to - it's one thing to combat this hate after you see it. It's another thing to work to change it from the inside out. Can you talk about that work in a moment like this?

COTLER-WUNSH: Well, I'll say the hate that we just saw is awful in the case of the story that we just heard about the little six-year-old boy.

HARLOW: Yes.

COTLER-WUNSH: I'll say that with the genocidal terrorists, that bludgeoned and murdered and raped and burned, that tore babies out of their mother's arms just last Saturday morning as we were celebrating the sabbath and the festival of joy in Israel that turned into living hell for thousands, we know that there are 199 abducted, but we also know that thousands were murdered and thousands are lying in the hospitals. That kind genocidal hate, I'd say, fueled by a deep hatred, not only for the state of Israel, but for Jews and Hamas charter, just like (INAUDIBLE) actually, stipulates clearly that its role is to annihilate the state of Israel and to murder Jews. That kind of hate I think is not one we can understand.

HARLOW: Here in the United States also, how do you combat it most effectively do you believe?

COTLER-WUNSH: I think that one of our biggest challenges is to identify - it's part of the reason that I'm here, that it's the same anti-Semitic hate that actually enabled or fueled denial, justification, excusing for those heinous crimes for the murder of entire families, for piling up 20 young boys, one on the other, and igniting them in front of their parents. If there is somebody that cannot condemn that unequivocally, then there is not anything that we can do without identifying the anti-Semitism that fuels it.

In order to be able to address or identify anything, we have to first define it. And anti-Semitism is defined not only as what we see here in the ground, in protests, as what we hear is we are Hamas, or on university campuses where we hear legitimization of what it was that happened last Saturday, but actually in many ways the understanding that anti-Zionism is our modern form of anti-Semitism. It's imperative that we understand that if we're going to be able to identify and combat it.

MATTINGLY: Andrew, from a law enforcement perspective, I mean, what Michel is laying out right now, how complicated is this moment given kind of the various threads, platform, all of the different dynamics fueling this?

MCCABE: It's incredibly complicated, Phil. It's -- you know, it's primary in the role of every counterterrorism official in this country is watching events overseas, understanding that terrorist attacks overseas can often inspire or drive reactionary attacks here in the homeland. So, that's what they're looking for.

I can guarantee that the FBI is reaching out to their partners in the Jewish community and the Muslim community in -- with concern over crimes like we saw in Chicago over the weekend. In addition, they're talking to informants, to sources of information. They're helping state and local officials protect locations that might be at greater risk. There is no question in my mind that the folks in the counter terrorism division at the FBI are working 24/7 right now with their eyes on this potential threat.

[07:00:00]

MATTINGLY: All right, Andrew McCabe and Michel Cotler-Wunsh, thank you very much.

COTLER-WUNSH: Thank you.

HARLOW: And CNN THIS MORNING continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Along Israel's border with Gaza.