Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Israel Tanks, Troops Line Gaza Border for Possible Incursion; Calls For More Aid After Trucks Deliver Supplies; House Republicans Scramble to Elect a New Speaker; Detroit Synagogue Leader Found Stabbed to Death; Michael Cohen to Testify at Trump Fraud Trial Tuesday; Israeli-Americans Fund Aid Efforts as War Rages. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired October 22, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:21]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, October 22nd. I'm Amara Walker.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining us this morning.

We continue our coverage now of war in Israel. Thousands of Israeli troops and hundreds of armored vehicles are at the Gaza border, ready to strike Hamas. On Saturday, the Israeli military said its airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza will become even more relentless, as they prepare for the ground incursion.

Today, the Palestinian ministry of health and Gaza says the number of killed there is up to 4,651. Two hundred sixty-six of those died in the last 24 hours. The hospital in Gaza central district says it's overwhelmed with bodies, following overnight airstrikes.

I want to warn you that some of the images you're about to see are disturbing. This is videos obtained by CNN show dozens -- the dozens of body wrapped in shrouds on the ground, surrounding the hospital because at the hospitals morgue is already at capacity. Families can be seen grieving, trying to identify the bodies.

WALKER: As fighting increases at Israel's northern border with Lebanon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. military is taking steps to increase its readiness in the region, including deploying additional missile defense systems to the Middle East, and placing additional American troops on standby to deploy at a moments notice.

A few minutes ago we learned another aide track cast in two Gaza from Egypt, over the Rafah border crossing. Earlier, Egypt's Red Crescent said 17 eight trucks carrying food and medicine are ready to enter. Aid workers inside Gaza are calling for more aid to be allowed through, saying the trucks that have crossed through so far are just not enough. CNN's Scott McLean joining us now from London.

Scott, what more do we know about these trucks moving through? Will more be allowed in?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest word that we have from my colleague on the ground is that there are trucks moving through that border area. Obviously there are multiple checks along their, and it's not clear how many trucks have gotten through, and where they are in the process of getting checked, but as you pointed out, all told, the Egyptian Red Crescent, excuse me, said that there should be 17 trucks crossing, the Rafah border crossing today, into Gaza with the essentials, food, medical supplies, and water. What they will not have on board, we are told, is fuel, which is so desperately needed.

The U.N., for instance, says that its operations will run out of fuel in just three days, unless they get more. We also know that hospitals are running desperately low, trying to -- trying to conserve fuel for their generators, as much as they can. Some have shut already because they simply don't have the fuels to run their generators. And this could add to the already mounting death toll, you mentioned it, the Palestinian say more than 250 people died in just the last 24 hours, including more than 100 children.

And when it comes to northern Gaza, as well, the Palestinian Red Crescent says that look, telling hospitals in that area to evacuate is essentially amounting to the death penalty, they say because they simply do not have the ability to safely move critically injured patients.

And, Victor, you showed that video earlier of the bodies wrapped in those white shrouds. That's from a hospital in Deir al-Balah. This is in central Gaza. This is in the area where Israelis had told people to go to, outside of the northern part.

And so, that is evidence deaths even southern Gaza is not safe at this stage. And the person that shot that, my colleague on the ground says that they have actually seen, in one case, the bodies of three children with their names written on their calves, in markers, when they say that it has become more and more common to see children's names written on their bodies, by their parents, just in case something happens to them, or to their parents -- guys.

BLACKWELL: Such a morbid detail, that tells us what's happening there.

Scott, you mentioned northern Gaza, those hospitals unable to evacuate. There is a new warning from Israeli military though that northern Gaza section, 1.2 million Palestinians, should evacuate. What's the latest?

MCLEAN: Yeah. So, this was another round of leaflets or flyers that have been dropped from the air on the northern part of Gaza, the top one third, almost one half of the territory, where most the population in Gaza actually live, or had been living, at least. [08:05:07]

And the wording of these particular leaflets is raising some eyebrows. I'll read you part of it. It says: Urgent warning to the residents of Gaza Strip. Your president -- your presence in north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Everyone who chose not to evacuate from the north of the strip to the south of Wadi Gaza might be considered as a partner for the terrorist organization.

Now, the IDF did respond to that, they confirmed that they dropped the flyers, but it insist that there was no intention to consider those that have not evacuated from the area of fighting as a member of a terrorist group. They insist that they do not target civilians, they also say that in the translation that has been circulating widely on the Internet, that they say it's imprecise, didn't clarify which part.

The translation I read you, by the way, is CNN's translation of things and as I said, look, there are hospitals in that northern part of Gaza that say they cannot and will not evacuate. Ordinary people, many of them uninjured, are also taking shelter in those hospitals, because they figure that at this stage, it is still probably the safest area for them to be in.

WALKER: And speaking of hospitals and bombings, we know last week, the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City was bombed, killed a few hundred people, civilians. We are learning more about what caused the explosion there. Tell us more.

MCLEAN: Yeah. So, a team of my colleagues here went through dozens of videos, live broadcasts, footage shot by our stringer on the ground in the aftermath. I spoke to experts in explosives and weapons and tried to piece together what happened and what the most likely scenario is, and they've drawn the same conclusion that's been drawn by U.S. intelligence, and that is that this was a rocket that originated from Gaza, broke up in the sky, partly detonated and then the rest of it came coming down to earth, and then detonated on the ground there.

One of the pieces of evidence that they looked at, again, they can't be a hundred percent certain about any of this without actually getting access to the site. But they looked at live video broadcast by Al Jazeera Arabic, which showed a flash in the sky, then another flash on the ground, at the time of that hospital bombing, they also looked at the crater size, left behind. Experts say that the crater would've been much larger if it have dropped from an Israeli aircraft.

But again, nobody can be certain without getting full access to the site, examining the shrapnel, et cetera. It is also worth noting that look, even if this were to be a hundred percent the case that we know this, and no one does know for certain, the reality is that many across the Arab world have already made their mind.

The Jordanian foreign ministers perhaps summed it up best, that said, look, good luck finding anyone in this part of the world that believes the Israelis. They've been known to deny things that first, and then later changed their stories, or admit to them. And he points to the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American journalist who was killed in the West Bank, initially, the Israeli said that they had nothing to do with it, only later did we learn that they actually had -- Victor, Amara.

WALKER: Yeah, so much distrust on both sides. Scott McLean, thank you very much.

The Israeli military has prepared an enormous fighting force poised on the border with Gaza.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on the pending Israeli ground operation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in case there is any question that Israel intends to go into Gaza strip with troops, a ground invasion, those questions are being put to rest this evening by Israel's military chief of staff, the top general saying, quote, we will enter the Gaza Strip. What he is also telling his troops is their mission, and he says that it is to quote, destroy Hamas operatives and infrastructures.

Now, these comments add to others by the defense minister, by the Israeli prime minister, all making clear that a ground invasion is certainly approaching. Now, on the ground, what we also see, are the signs of a potentially imminent ground invasion as well. As we are driving along that Gaza Strip today, within about eight kilometers or so of the Gaza Strip, what we found was not one, not to, but for different groups of dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers, as well as these D9 bulldozers, which the Israeli military uses ahead of ground troops to try and dig up and set off any potential IEDs, as well as any other obstacles that may be in the way of those forces.

Now, put together, these four groupings that we saw, in just about one square mile of an area, represented hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as those bulldozers. And there were also infantry troops positions along the way. Now, the only question appears to be exactly when the Israeli military will move forward with this invasion.

[08:10:06]

Certainly, Hamas seems to continue to be dangling the possibility of additional hostages being released as one way to try to delay this ground invasion. But Israel's military continues to insist that it will move forward at a time and place of its choosing.

And in line with that, Israeli military officials now say that they are increasing their strikes, that they are intensifying those strikes, in order to try and minimize the risk to their own troops, when they move in, on the ground.

But the question of what the impact will be on Gaza civilians, who have already suffered so much in two weeks of bombardment by Israeli forces, more than 1,600 children are believed to have died, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. That question of civilian casualties still remains going forward. Israel's military has directed civilians to move out of the northern

part of the Gaza Strip, and to move south. And when I spoke with the special forces commander just the other day, this commander said that civilians have been directed out of those areas and he said quote, anyone who is chosen to stay there has chosen a side, indicating to his troops that any person who remains in that area could potentially be an enemy, and could potentially be a target.

Now, at the same time, that commander said that his troops will still try and avoid civilian casualties, but those comments, and the broader specter of this war, and how it has already impacted civilians inside of Gaza, certainly raises the possibility of a very bloody time, bloody days, bloody weeks, ahead.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Ashkelon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Joining us now for analysis, Robin Wright, author and contributing writer for "The New Yorker".

Robin, good morning to you.

Secretary Blinken has said that for as long as America exists Israel will not have to defend itself alone, even the president, some domestic critics have praised his support for Israel. But when we see the civilian cost in Gaza, 4,600 dead, 1,600 of them children, 14,000 plus wounded, does the humanitarian situation in Gaza have -- could it stress or strain the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, between Biden and Netanyahu?

ROBIN WRIGHT, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: Well, President Biden has consistently talked to the Israeli leadership about need for restraint when it comes to civilians in Gaza. He's made that point in every comment to the American people as well, so this is clearly a focus, and yes, I think it will cause tensions with the United States if we see vast pictures of children and women, noncombatants, killed in the conflict in the same way we are all felt moved by the atrocities that Hamas carried out.

But this is a moment that, just as Israel is going to war, so does the United States face the dangers of getting sucked into this war, in a much bigger way. Not just diplomatically, not just in trying to define the parameters of Israel's war or limit its focus. The United States is now deploying two aircraft carriers in the Middle East, as U.S. forces outside of Israel are becoming targets.

This week, we've seen Americans in Iraq, in Syria, get -- become a targeted by pro Iranian proxies, the Houthis in Yemen have fired at Israel, as your correspondents have noted, Lebanon's border is now a hotline, too, if not a frontline.

So, there's a sense that this war is already edging toward something much bigger, and that's what will become a political hot potato in Washington, too. BLACKWELL: To now former American hostages are out of Gaza in Israel,

and will soon be back in the U.S. There are the latest estimate -- I think it's 210 that Israel says, hostages that are in the custody of Hamas.

How much did the release of those two hostages do you believe altered timeline of a potential ground incursion?

WRIGHT: It may have delayed it by a day or two, and the humanitarian delivery of goods to southern Gaza may also have been a factor. But the hostages, in the end, other greatest leverage that Hamas still has. And my fear is, that they will be held long after the end of, for the cessation, of hostilities, whether a cease-fire, or a final end to the war, because they are so valuable.

[08:15:05]

And these are assets for which Hamas hopes to get concessions, whether it's the release of Palestinian prisoners, or something else down the road. Hostages, I covered this issue for more than 40 years. The human drama creates a whole different dynamic in a conflict.

BLACKWELL: So, I want to stay with that. If they want Palestinian prisoners released, and I mentioned this earlier in the show, that for a single Israeli soldier, a little more than a decade ago, Netanyahu freed more than 1,000 Palestinians.

Is there any likelihood of a deal to get those Israeli citizens out now, or the foreign nationals all over the world? Is there any potential for negotiation, do you think?

WRIGHT: There is potential for negotiation, but the danger is, with 220 hostages, they do it in drips and drabs, and it could be -- women, children, the elderly, released an early stages for humanitarian concessions. But I think there are many that end up being stuck there a long time.

These, again, are the only things that Hamas has in terms of the military balance of power.

BLACKWELL: So, we just heard from Jeremy Diamond the details of ramping up of resources along the border that a ground incursion is likely eminent. The goal, we've heard from the IDF, is to decimate Hamas, the military wing, the political wing.

Then what? What happens then? Once Hamas is gone, who is in control?

WRIGHT: Well, that's one question the challenge is also that they can you eliminate an idea. Hamas is just more than a number of troops, or number of political leaders. This is a movement, as we've seen elsewhere in the Middle East, that extremist ideologies play to situations where people feel helpless, they feel there is no alternative, and that resistance, or as they call it, or terrorism as it's called by its victims, is the only alternative.

And so, yes, it's possible that command post personnel equipment will be eliminated in this Israeli military operation, but what happens not just to who rules Gaza, but what happens to the public, the passions, the fear is, and the sense of helplessness among Palestinians, and others in the Middle East.

Remember, this is a war that already has broad sympathies elsewhere in the region, threatening some of the governments that are allied with the United States, the neighboring Jordan, in Iraq. So, the potential down the road.

But Israel has occupied Gaza once, and it was not a viable solution. It withdrew unilaterally, pulled out its settlers, and look, where we are now, with an even bigger challenge.

So, the bottom line in the Middle East, the modern Middle East, is that war inevitably begets another war.

BLACKWELL: Robin Wright, thank you.

WALKER: Coming up, more Republicans are entering the fight to be the next speaker the House. The deadline they face today.

Also, Detroit police say a trail of blood led them to a home of a synagogue leader, who is found stabbed to death. What officials are saying about the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:40]

BLACKWELL: House Republicans are a little more than three and a half hours away from the deadline to declare their candidacy for speaker the House.

All right. Here's a look at who is in the race thus far. We've got Representatives Mike Johnson, Kevin Hern, Austin Scott, Jack Bergman, Tom Emmer and Byron Donalds.

WALKER: Long list there.

CNN chief congressional correspondent and anchor of "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY", Manu Raju joining us now from Washington.

Manu, this list could grow, right? Does it make it more difficult for Republicans then to coalesce around one candidate in due time?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is going to be incredibly hard. We're expecting a seventh there, Pete Sessions from Texas. He announced he's planning to run.

They have until noon today to actually make their bid -- their intentions known, and then next week, on Tuesday, will be the private leadership election, just a majority is necessary in order to get the nomination to be speaker of the House, but the challenge is going to be getting the votes on the House floor. 217 votes is what you need to be elected speaker, meaning you can't lose more than four Republicans, if all Republicans are voting. And that has been the challenge for Jim Jordan. That's what

essentially ended his bid for the speakership. That was the challenge for Steve Scalise, who was trying to go forward but found more than about roughly a dozen up to two dozen threatening to oppose him. And this, of course, all started after that unprecedented moment, now nearly three weeks ago, when Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a historic fashion, members of his own party joining with Democrats, initiated by Republicans, to push him out of the speakership. Nothing can get done on Capitol Hill into that is resolved.

And there's been so much finger pointing and blame, particularly those Republicans who initiated this, who outvoted to oust Kevin McCarthy. They were eight of those Republicans.

I caught up with one of them, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, and I asked her, what did you get out of this effort? And this is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I stand by my vote. And always will. And I've agreed with my party, I've supported them, and I've disagreed. I've called them out.

RAJU: What did you get out of this?

MACE: We're changing the direction of Washington, doing the same thing we've always done is not going to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: It's unclear how exactly the direction will be changed given that things are completely stalled at the moment. It's unclear which of the seven, or potentially even more of these candidates could become speaker the House, and how much different they would be then Speaker McCarthy was.

[08:25:09]

They will have to confront those major, major issues that are waiting for the House to get -- move ahead, including trying to deal with aid to Israel, aid to Ukraine, avoiding a government shutdown by mid- November, all these issues that they're no been no action on, because of this leadership fight, now going into this week, we're about three weeks since McCarthy was initially pushed out, if they can't resolve this, suspected to go into the another week after this, because there's no certainty that this can be fixed by sometime this week, guys.

BLACKWELL: Manu, I was just thinking as we are sitting here, I remember after the 15 rounds of McCarthy, the next question was committee assignments, who gets on the rules committee, who gets -- does that -- does all that realign once you get a new speaker? And they'll have to reassign some of these committee memberships?

WALKER: Pretty set. RAJU: Those are all set, and this is a real challenge for this happening in the middle of a congressional session, because at the beginning of a congressional session, you can give out all these favors, all these things that you can give out to people, to try to get their votes, and that's what happened, that's what Kevin McCarthy did, he gave some powerful concessions to members who are initially opposing him.

These candidates cannot do that right now, because those are essentially already set. So, they have to try to convince their members that they will be unified, that they will bring them into the fold, that their voice will have some say, at the leadership table, provide some of those assurances. But at the end of the day, the members will have to essentially trust their word that they will actually be the case here, which is why it's so difficult to have a leadership election like this, in the middle of a congressional session.

Such a messy, messy ordeal, that has led to complete paralysis because of the fact that they can't figure out who to get behind, who to trust, who can put the pieces back together, and who can ultimately get the votes, all huge questions for House Republicans as this crisis persists, guys.

WALKER: Manu, I mean, just before we let you go, give it to it, like the real low down, because you're the one who's there, behind the scenes. You talk to the elected Congress people, you see the mess, you see the tensions you see that the shouting and the cursing at each other. Are you optimistic that this will come to an end soon with a resolution?

RAJU: I'm just not sure, because look, one of the most internal belief is that Tom Emmer, who is the Republican whip, would probably has the leg up in the secret ballot leadership election on Tuesday, but it's hard to say for sure, because that is a secret ballot election, so no one really knows how members could vote, lots of times it's relationship-driven, it's personality driven, people make their decisions based on their trust and their relationship with the members.

Emmer has institutional advantages being the whip. However, it is not certain he can get the votes on the floor to be speaker the House, because he's already hearing some backlash for some elements of the far-right, some elements aligned with Donald Trump. Will that translate to anti-Emmer votes on the floor if he gets the nomination? That's just one of the complications for candidates here, in the days ahead.

They can get a majority of the vote in the conference to be nominated, that's a majority in the full House, that's only 110, 111 members in the majority of the conference. It's not 216 votes to be elected speaker.

So, optimistic, at this point, I'm not so sure. I think it's going to take sometime to play out. But Republicans are tired and they're frustrated, they have to know they have to get behind a candidate, but perhaps that will lead to some resolution here. But absolutely no certainty if that will happen.

WALKER: All right. Manu, we'll just have to work around the clock for the foreseeable future.

Manu Raju, thank you. Good to see you.

Make sure to join Manu on "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY" today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here, on CNN.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, President Biden is pressing Congress for $100 billion package that includes aid for Israel and Ukraine. Coming up, the additional steps the White House has taken to address the growing crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:54]

BLACKWELL: Well, CNN has confirmed this morning that another aid truck -- truck singular -- one truck entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

WALKER: Egypt's Red Crescent also informed us that at least 17 trucks were waiting for their turn to cross into Gaza. 20 aid trucks so far passed through the Rafah crossing yesterday.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joining us with how President Biden is responding. I mean there is much more need than just 21 trucks at this point. Priscilla, what is the president saying?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. But the president is attributing this to days of diplomatic talks at the highest levels. And of course this comes on the heels of President Biden's trip to Israel and the high-stakes shuttle diplomacy of Secretary of State Antony Blinken the last several days.

Now in a statement on Saturday, after those initial aid trucks passed through the Rafah crossing, the president said the following. He said quote, "I made it clear from the outset of this crisis in both my public statements and private conversations that humanitarian assistance was a critical and urgent need that had to get moving. And I expressed my deep personal appreciation for the leadership of President Al-Sisi of Egypt, Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and the United Nations to allow the resumption of the assistance."

Now, the president also went on to say that the United States will continue to assist and to be in touch with partners to make sure that operations continue so that this aid can get moving into Gaza.

But we have heard from aid organizations who say that while this is the start of this aid, it is certainly not enough and more is needed in the coming days.

Of course, this continues to be a complicated endeavor and one that the White House is working on behind the scenes. And there is recognition of the difficulties and challenges ahead with this crossing, not only to get aid through but also to get Palestinian- Americans out of Gaza.

[08:34:50]

ALVAREZ: But all of this very much ongoing. And for now the president attributing the aid that has gone in again to those days of diplomatic talks.

BLACKWELL: Priscilla Alvarez for us. Thank you so much.

Coming up, the leader of a synagogue in Detroit was found stabbed to death at her home. What police are now saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: This morning, the Detroit police chief is asking people to be patient and not to draw conclusions as detectives investigate the death of a synagogue leader.

WALKER: Authorities found the body of Samantha Woll, Saturday morning at her home. She had been stabbed multiple times. It is still unclear what led up to the killing and authorities have not identified a suspect.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

[08:39:54]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Detroit police are searching for a motive right now in the murder of the president of a local synagogue. The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue of Detroit confirmed the death of their board president, Samantha Woll.

Investigators believe that she was stabbed to death at her home but she was discovered Saturday morning on the sidewalk outside.

At this stage in the investigation, homicide investigators can only say that she was stabbed multiple times. And insists that the motive in this killing is still unknown.

They are calling on the community for any potential tips or information as they try to piece this case together. The FBI also said that they have been made aware of this murder and they stand ready to assist Detroit police, as requested.

Meanwhile, those tributes are pouring in. Many describing Woll as a kind member of the Detroit community who has been previously active in political campaigns. Michigan's own attorney general Dana Nessel writing on social media that Woll used her faith and also her activism to improve her community.

And then there is Moreno Taylor who says that he previously worked alongside Woll on Nessel's campaign. On Saturday he fought back tears as he told CNN about the friend that he lovingly called Sam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MORENO TAYLOR II, WORKED WITH SAMANTHA WOLL: I was always taught, you know, in these positions that you always look out for your teammates, you know. So you know, I was again, she was kind of a little sister and I wanted to make sure that we protected one another, you know, whether we were out on doors, whether we were at events, you know, trying to watch out for crazy stuff.

Because as we all know, last campaign cycle was extremely tense. And so we got to know each other very well. And it is honestly a devastating loss. You know, as someone who has sisters, this is just kind of one of those things you can never really -- can never really prepare for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Another tribute from Detroit's Mayor Mike Duggan over the weekend wrote that he recently celebrated alongside Woll, the recent innovation of that synagogue that Woll helped with that project. Duggan writing that the loss has left a huge hole in the Detroit community. A community left not just with a deep sense of grief but also lingering questions about the circumstances of this murder -- Amara, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Polo, thank you.

Police throughout Tennessee are now searching for a man who shot and wounded two police officers Saturday outside Nashville. They say the suspect is the estranged son of Nashville's police chief. Authorities say 38-year-old John Drake, Jr. shot two officers during a confrontation over a stolen vehicle. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation warns that he's armed and very dangerous.

And Drake's father says his son is a convicted felon and that they have not been part of each other's lives for a very long time.

WALKER: Maryland authorities investigating the death of a judge say they have found the suspect's car in a remote area. But they're still looking for Pedro Argote. That is the name of the suspect.

He is accused of fatally shooting Judge Andrew Wilkinson outside his home on Thursday. Authorities believe the judge was targeted because the judge ruled against the suspect in a child custody case.

Police say Argote has no prior criminal record. They consider him armed and dangerous. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest.

BLACKWELL: Coming up, what to expect when Donald Trump's former fixer testifies at Trump's civil fraud trial later this week.

[08:43:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: The attorney who once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump -- remember that -- he is expected to testify against Trump in a New York courtroom on Tuesday.

BLACKWELL: Michael Cohen is set to give testimony in Trump's civil fraud trial in front of his former boss. The former president is expected to be there.

Let's bring in now former U.S. attorney Michael Moore. First, I've always been told that these financial crime cases are on paper, right. So we all know Michael Cohen's name but how crucial is he to proving this case.

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yes. Well, I'm glad to be with you. This -- the trial in this case was probably over back before it ever started. I mean the judge made his ruling. He already said there was fraud.

Cohen coming in is really giving it a little bit of heat to the case and maybe putting some meat on the bones of the attorney general's case and it is a boring case, financial cases are, and this livens it up a little bit.

The issue really coming in is he's already admitted he's a liar, right. And so you have that at play. It is not going to be critical like it might be if Trump was in a jury trial.

The judge could take this or leave it but he's already said, look, I don't believe what you said. You know, this doesn't matter and it is not going to play into whether or not this effort by the Trump team to change the value of the companies was an accepted variation of accounting practices or was actually fraud. I think the judge has already made his mind up about this.

WALKER: Ok. So you think in your mind that he's already lost this civil fraud case. But it's will go to appeals then and then that is up for grabs?

MOORE: I think that he -- I do think he lost it before he came in. I mean really what we're seeing is just people building the record now for an appeal and that is what he's aiming for.

I mean he's already asked an appellate court to intervene on a temporary basis and so I think really, he already sees the judge and the writing on the wall and now he's just trying to fill the record up.

And remember, too, for Trump, I do think this is often just sort of continuing to campaign inside a courtroom. It doesn't always mean that he's just only focused on the evidence of a particular case. He's getting his message out at the same time.

BLACKWELL: So if you're a Trump defense attorney and, you know, we take what you just said about he's losing before he started with a judge's determination before the start of the trial, are you looking forward to having Michael Cohen on the stand to give you some fodder for appeal?

[08:49:50] MOORE: Maybe so. You might look to attack him in ways that again continues to get out some of Trump's message. There was some litigation between Trump and Cohen recently that was sort of disposed, or resolved, or dismissed if you would.

And I think he'll look at a way to put some jabs back in there and talk about -- you're going to hear, I promise you, he's a liar, he's admitted he's a liar and those kinds of things. But again the judge can take or leave that. We're not talking about arguing to a jury where you might have somebody sympathetic to that argument.

WALKER: Ok. So let's turn now to the criminal case. This one being the Georgia case -- hard to keep track of all of it.

BLACKWELL: Right.

WALKER: But it was a bad week, right for Trump, you know, with two of his former lawyers reaching these cooperations deals. How do you see that? How, I guess, big of a setback is it? And is Chesebro's testimony going to be a bigger deal than Sidney Powell's?

MOORE: It is never a good thing if you're a criminal defendant to have co-defendants plead guilty and agree to testify. The question is how much could they put the finger on Trump.

I think they clearly have some information about other people around them so let's think about Chesebro. He's talked about the idea of the fake electors. We've got fake electors charged in the RICO indictment. How that goes back directly to Trump, that is still to be determined.

Same thing about Powell. Her charges really dealt with this Coffee County case, not so much about, you know, Trump individual activity like making the call to Raffensperger in the state of Georgia.

But Powell was at the White House when some of the crazy meetings took place. So she may be able to talk about who pulled the strings, who was directing the organization. Those kinds of things I think will come in. I thought the pleas themselves practically were a little bit -- the sentences were a little bit lackluster. Especially for a case built up as such a huge election case.

And what it told me at the same time, is that state does not want to move this case forward at this point with these two defendants because they're going to have to give the Trump team a clear preview of everything to come.

So rather, they get some cooperation, they took a little less sentence than they might have otherwise taken and they will have cleared now the trial calendar.

Think about this. All -- I think almost all, if not all of the January 6 defendants who came into the Capitol, did some jail time, right.

Here, the lawyers were able to negotiate a plea were the people who were accused of masterminding the basis for the January 6 walk away with really no criminal record because they're either misdemeanor, first offender and slap on the wrist.

BLACKWELL: And they got to write that letter to the people of Georgia --

MOORE: That's right.

BLACKWELL: -- to apologize as well.

MOORE: I look forward to the apology.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Last one here, how much does Jack Smith care about Chesebro specifically on the January 6 case?

MOORE: I think he will likely find more benefit from the testimony of these folks than you'll see in the state of Georgia. I think because it kind of paints that overall picture and it gives him some filler to use in his federal case.

WALKER: Thanks so much for coming in, Michael.

MOORE: Glad to be with you.

WALKER: Michael Moore.

We'll be right back.

[08:52:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: We're just getting this into CNN, more aid trucks have entered the crossing area in preparation to head into Gaza.

CNN crews have now seen 15 trucks crossing from the Egyptian side. Now according to Egyptian officials, the trucks are carrying medicine, medical supplies, food and water.

WALKER: Now here in the U.S., Israeli-Americans are coming together to raise money and collect humanitarian aid as the violence in the Middle East rages.

The head of one nonprofit talked to our Camila Bernal about their efforts to help.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor -- the focus here is to raise as much money as possible, to collect as many supplies as they possibly can, but also to try to help with mental health resources and try to fight misinformation.

I talked to one organization Bulletproof Israel, and this is specifically what they're trying to do.

The CEO of the organization told me, look, I felt heartbroken, sad and in a way helpless by seeing what was going on and being here in the U.S. So he said, he essentially stopped working, did everything he could to provide these resources to the people of Israel. He told me that initially the need was for tactical gear, for things

like bulletproof vests. But right now they're very focused on medical supplies and really just the basics, anything they can. They've been shipping things from L.A., also from Miami and from New York. And they say they will continue to do this as long as there is that need.

Here is the CEO and what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me, it wouldn't make sense to go back. But knowing so many people in Israel and knowing what they're going through, what my goal is just to do everything that I can to help them out. Everything. Everything.

It doesn't mean -- there's no limit to what I would do. It doesn't matter. They're there and they're fighting for us and they're trying to get my family out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And Leon told me that two members of his extended family have been kidnapped which is also part of the reason why he's trying to do as much as possible from the U.S.

Now, I also reached out to a number of organizations that are trying to help Palestinians in Gaza and I heard back from one organization, Yalla Indivisible, and they say it is extremely difficult for them to try to get any aid to that area.

They're trying to raise as much money as possible because they know that getting supplies there is almost impossible for them, which is why they're focused on the funds but they're also focused on trying to reach out to political leaders to get them to listen to their demands -- Amara, Victor.

[08:59:47]

BLACKWELL: Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

And thank you for starting your morning with us.

WALKER: We appreciate it. CNN's coverage of the war in Israel and the GOP Speaker fight continues right now with Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION".

Have a great day, everyone.