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Israeli President: Hamas Militant was Carrying Chemical Bomb Instructions; U.S. Asks Israel to Delay Invasion for Hostage Talks; IDF Claims Overnight Strike on 'Terrorist Cell' in Lebanon; 9 GOP Reps Join Speaker Race after Jordan Withdraws. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 23, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:30]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: We're glad you're with us on this Monday morning. I'm Poppy Harlow with Phil Mattingly in New York. Erin Burnett live with us on the ground in Tel Aviv, Israel.

And overnight, the Israeli military launching raids on the ground and ramping up those airstrikes on Gaza. The IDF says troops are preparing for the, quote, "next phase" of the war against Hamas.

Take a look at this. This is video of the aftermath this morning.

Sources tell CNN the U.S. is urging Israel to delay a ground assault in the hopes of getting more hostages out and humanitarian aid in for the millions of Palestinians who are running out of food and water.

But a senior Israeli official tells CNN there will be no ceasefire. The IDF now says 222 people were kidnapped during the Hamas attack and massacre just about two weeks ago.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: And this morning, Israel's president is now claiming one of the militants who was killed was carrying instructions on how to make chemical weapons.

Let's start with Erin Burnett in Tel Aviv. Erin, we've seen escalatory rhetoric. We've seen escalation in terms of both ground operations and airstrikes. What's the latest?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Well, certainly, our teams right along that Gaza border have observed a real increase in activity. But it's spotty. Right?

You'll see a big increase for a few hours and then a bit calmer. So that's the best way to describe it right now.

Our Nic Robertson has been there for the past two weeks, and we're on day 17. These increased strikes overnight, the IDF just a few moments ago, putting out the latest numbers saying that they had 320 strikes, Poppy and Phil, on Gaza overnight.

Three hundred and twenty targets. And they specifically say that they hit done [SIC] -- tunnels, I'm sorry, and what they say are dozens of operational command centers. And just to sort of do the math here, that's 320 overnight. Sunday,

they had said that they had done more than 200 the day before.

So when you look at, say, 500 over a two-day period, you look at the 17 days since this has begun, there has been an incredible, incredible number of strikes already on Gaza. They say they have taken out the chief, for example, of the rockets command of Hamas, who was in charge of rockets that have been firing into Israel.

So they have taken out a bit of the Hamas command. But as we say, these sort of strikes have been picking up. We'll see, though, during the daylight hours what happens.

HARLOW: Erin, just talk about the significance, if you could, about what Israeli President Isaac Herzog is saying there. The IDF found instructions for a chemical attack on the body of a Hamas operative. CNN hasn't verified it, but do we know, and what would the implication of that be, if true?

BURNETT: All right. So obviously, very significant. I've seen some of the documents. You know, our Matthew Chance had the opportunity to obtain a lot of these. And I've seen some of the documents that were on Hamas operatives, in Arabic, that showed the attack plans for some of the kibbutzes on that border. Incredibly detailed battle plans dated on them about a -- for a full year. Showing the operational level of planning.

This specific chemical weapons claim that the Israel -- the IDF is saying, they're saying they found a USB on one of the terrorists that had on it chemical weapons plans or how to -- instructions on how to make accrued chemical weapon, with a drawing that -- that referred to distributing cyanide.

They say that this specific plan was from an al Qaeda manual from 2003. So it's -- in a sense, shows the crudeness of this, right? They didn't have anything new, but when it comes to something like mass cyanide distribution, that isn't something that you necessarily, you know, need technological innovation on.

So they would say the significance of this is -- is obviously notable, but they don't -- they don't have any evidence that there was anything with this individual that would enable them to do this. It's just the presence of the plan existed on the USB.

And that's the latest we have from the IDF. As you point out, Poppy, we haven't confirmed it ourselves.

MATTINGLY: And we spend so much time talking about aid convoys, whether or not they could get through the Rafah crossing. They started to trickle in over the weekend. It will be the third aid convoy, just crossed into Gaza a short while ago. But they need much more. What's the latest there?

BURNETT: This is the third day in a row that trucks have gone in. U.N. had said you need about 100 trucks a day, and we were talking about 14 yesterday. So obviously, we're not anywhere near the number that are needed.

Two important things to note. One, they're doing extra screening. That slows it down, to make sure that weapons and fuel aren't going in. There has been -- Israel has been adamant that fuel cannot go in, because that would be diverted, they say, to Hamas.

[06:05:05]

But we have hospitals in Gaza right now, saying that they're operating without morphine. So you have a dire need.

You also have these generators that run the hospitals. Right? They rely on fuel and need fuel coming in. Fuel is so far not part of these humanitarian convoys.

So while it's good they're coming in, it certainly does not address in any way the magnitude of the crisis that is -- is facing Gaza right now, here of course, in the early afternoon on this Monday morning.

We do understand when we talk about the pace of strikes, Poppy and Phil, 300 -- as I said, 320 targets overnight. The U.S. government, even with that, has been asking Israel to delay the ground assault on Gaza. This is the latest reporting we have.

Basically, the reason is to allow more time for talks with Hamas about releasing hostages and that aid into Gaza.

Hamas released two Americans on Friday. And there had been hope and speculation, and in fact, clearly discussions going on, hope that there would be more released over the weekend; but there have not been.

We understand that there are still 222 hostages being held. And I absolutely think it's important to make the point that we'd been told 150, then 199, and now it's gone up even further. The number keeps inching up. And we don't yet know whether that means IDF is getting more intel, but it is important to notice it.

Our Natasha Bertrand is live at the Pentagon. And Natasha, you have been reporting on this pressure the U.S. government is exerting. Are they putting a time line on it? Is it just, like wait, wait every day? Wait, wait? Or is there something more specific around this?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, we don't know if there is a specific time line at this point or if the U.S. is simply telling the Israelis let's see how all of these negotiations play out to give it a chance to actually work.

And we have been told that the Qataris are actually the key intermediaries here. They have been talking to Hamas about potentially releasing even more hostages.

So that is what the U.S. wants to see. They want to see if, before Israel launches a ground incursion, they can secure the release of even more hostages, because of course, there are several Americans who are believed to be being held by Hamas inside Gaza. And the other aspect of this, of course, is the humanitarian aid. The

Biden administration wants to see whether more humanitarian aid can flow into Southern Gaza before Israel launches that ground incursion and just give that an opportunity to work.

Now, of course, it remains unclear how Israel is responding to this behind closed doors, but the fact that they have not yet launched that much-anticipated ground incursion does suggest that they are perhaps heeding the U.S. calls here.

And Israeli officials have said publicly that the U.S. has been pressuring them very intensively to allow that humanitarian aid, food, medical supplies to get into Gaza.

And so it does seem at this point like that delay is working. But still, the Israelis are obviously very keen on launching this invasion, something that Israeli officials have said publicly they plan to do -- Erin.

BURNETT: Right. And of course, they -- you have all these people. This country is -- is known for being an economic juggernaut. That has been its entire power to the world.

And right now, it's not open for business. That's the reality. And you have so many young, talented, best and brightest on that border. They are not going to work. Schools are not fully open. It's not functioning here.

So they need to make their decision, and they feel that acutely.

But Natasha, over the weekend, the Defense Department said they were increasing their military presence in the region, more troops ready to deploy, missile defense systems. What have you learned from Pentagon sources?

BERTRAND: Yes, I can tell you that here, people are really concerned about the recent escalations that have been observed over the last week or so.

Several drone attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria, as well, of course, as the interception -- intercepted missiles that U -- a U.S. Navy warship conducted last week off the coast of Yemen. Several missiles intercepted that were launched by Houthis from Yemen towards Israel, according to U.S. officials. It appears that that was the trajectory they were taking.

And so things are really kind of ramping up across the region. And officials here are very worried that U.S. troops and U.S. forces could be the target of that, as they have been over the last several days.

So the U.S. defense secretary, he decided to increase the force posture in the region by sending additional air defense systems to try to defend, of course, U.S. troops and bases across the region.

Here's what Secretary Austin said over the weekend about why he decided to do this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: What we're seeing is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.

We maintain the right to defend ourselves, and we won't hesitate to take the appropriate action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:10:09]

BERTRAND: Right now, Erin, it is unclear just how involved Iran is on these kind of escalations across the region. The U.S. has said that these are Iran-backed proxies who are carrying out these various attacks on U.S. forces and coalition bases there, but unclear how much Iran is directing this, as with everything else, they're continuing to look at the intelligence and seeing whether Iran has a direct hand in this or not.

BURNETT: Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much.

And an Israeli-American, we understand, this morning has been killed while serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.

The IDF says Omar Balva was a staff sergeant reservist in the artillery corps. He was killed, they say, on Friday on the Northern border, Israel says by anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon by the militant group Hezbollah.

Balva rushed from his home in Rockville, Maryland, came to Israel after Israel called up more than 300,000 reservists. He was among the first to jump and heed that call.

The Jewish day school from which Bava recently graduated called him -- and I quote -- "an unabashed advocate for the state of Israel."

Omar was just 22 years old.

Overnight, new strikes in Lebanon. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah terror cells in the North, as concerns grow about the fighting on a possible second front.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is sending more military assets, including missile defense systems, putting American troops on prepare to deploy orders.

So what more is being done right now to prevent a wider escalation in the region? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:14]

MATTINGLY: New overnight, Israel says it struck what it called a terrorist cell in Lebanese territory. It follows two IDF strikes in Lebanese territory on Sunday.

At the same time, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expressing concern about a wider escalation toward American troops in the area.

Let's bring in CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, thanks for joining us.

To start with the -- the concerns about escalation, we have seen U.S. assets move into the region. We saw the comments from Secretary Austin. How real is this concern right now?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it's pretty real. Good morning to you.

And when you look at the whole region right here, you've got so many different areas that you can actually look at from the standpoint of what could potentially harbor possible threats against -- against U.S. forces.

And that includes, of course, Hamas and Gaza plus forces in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, even; and of course, down South in Yemen.

So all of these areas could potentially harbor places that could affect U.S. troops in the region. And in fact, they've done that, because they've gone after targets, U.S. bases, that have been targeted in places like Iraq and Syria and that of course has been a significant aspect to this deployment of U.S. Forces as well as the overall balance of forces in the Middle Eastern region.

HARLOW: You know, Colonel, what was striking, obviously, everyone was struck by what Defense Secretary Austin said yesterday morning, to that effect.

But also Secretary Blinken, on one of the Sunday shows, said there's a likelihood of escalation by Iranian proxies, directed against our forces, directed against our personnel. So sort of doubling down with the specificity on Iran.

And my question about that is the fact that the U.S. has deployed this additional missile defense system to the region. We know that there is the interception of those shot by Houthi rebels in Yemen, Iran-backed, as well, last week. What does this deployment tell you?

LEIGHTON: So what it tells me that is the U.S. is basically getting ready to have a presence in the region, an expanded presence in the region.

And the defense system that you're talking about is this one right here. This is the terminal high altitude area defense system. So if you think of this as complementary to the Patriot system and to other air defense systems that are out there, this is the kind of battery that would actually be used in a situation like this.

And it fires from a tube-like system here, multiple launching possibilities here, multiple missiles. And they, of course, are designed to come into an area and take out targets that, you know, would be out there.

So this is what the U.S.S. Carney did when it came to the missiles that were fired from Yemen. And they were able to, of course, knock those out of the sky, as well as the drones.

So it's basically a force protection measure for the U.S. forces. But it also serves to send a message to any of the forces that are thinking about doing things against the U.S. that we will respond.

MATTINGLY: Well, the secretary also talked about the prepare to deploy orders that have been given to additional U.S. troops. What does that mean in practice?

LEIGHTON: So in practice, Phil, what that means is that these forces are being told they need to get ready. There's heightened tension here in the Middle East. We are bringing forces in. We have brought in, for example, the U.S.S. Eisenhower and moved that over here.

So we've got two carrier battle groups, one over here, one possibly in the Persian Gulf, depending on which part of the Arabian Sea area and the Persian Gulf that they've come into.

So what we're doing with the prepare to deploy order, it means get ready. Get your stuff ready, so -- Because when you are given the order to actually deploy, you will have 24 hours to get into theater.

And that is what that means for the U.S. forces that have been given that direction. And it also puts everybody else on notice that we're potentially coming in with more forces into places all around the region that would help us protect Israel, as well as protect our own national interests.

MATTINGLY: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you, as always.

LEIGHTON: You bet.

HARLOW: Obviously, we're staying on all the latest in Israel's war on Hamas. But also here at home, we still do not have a speaker. Third week, no speaker. And now nine Republicans are in the running. Which, if anyone is getting traction? That's ahead.

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[06:23:35]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHE, CAST MEMBER, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Potential new candidates for speaker include Tom Emmer, Kevin Hern, Jack Bergman, and six more candidates who are clearly George Santos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Should not stand for that Gary Palmer erasure. "Saturday Night Live" poking fun at the House GOP circus to elect a speaker. Two Republican leaders, including former House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, they aren't laughing, calling the chaos, quote, "embarrassing."

Republicans will meet tonight for a candidate forum to hear from the nine -- yes, nine -- there's all nine of them -- Republicans expressing interest in the job.

This will be the House Republican Party's third attempt at rallying behind a candidate after Representative Jim Jordan withdrew following three failed votes on Friday.

Joining us now, CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox.

Lauren, the Republican majority whip, Tom Emmer, has some big-time support behind him including McCarthy. Can he get to 217? Can anyone at this point?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the question of the week, Phil. We're going to be covering every moment of this race.

Obviously, tonight is very important. It's the first opportunity that candidates are going to have to talk to the broader Republican conference. They're going to meet behind closed doors after 6 p.m. tonight.

And then tomorrow at 9 a.m., the voting begins. And this, again, happens behind closed doors. It's a secret ballot. And essentially, because there are nine candidates, expect it's going to take a little bit of time tomorrow.

But the expectation is that someone will emerge with the majority. That person will be the speaker designee. And then, of course, the hard fight to win on the House floor begins.

[06:25:07]

They can only afford to lose a handful of votes because of the narrow Republican majority. And that has been what has bedeviled every candidate before them, from Steve Scalise to Jim Jordan last week. No one has been able to clinch the necessary 217 votes.

Now, Tom Emmer, the Republican whip, certainly starts out with a bit of an advantage. He got an endorsement last week from Kevin McCarthy. Here's what McCarthy said about his deputy whip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): This is not a moment in time to play around with learning on the job. We need someone who understands how to do this job.

I believe Tom Emmer, our whip, he's been in the room with all of our successes. He sets himself head and shoulders above all those others who want to run.

We need to get him elected this week and move on and bring this not just party together but focus on what this country needs most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And I think one dynamic to keep in mind is that, because they are voting by secret ballot tomorrow and because there's going to be vote after vote, the lowest vote getter will drop off the ballot. Then they'll continue voting until someone has a majority. That does create some unpredictability in the room tomorrow.

So while Tom Emmer goes in definitely with a strong advantage, given the fact that he's been in leadership before, it's not clear that some Republican hardliners are going to want anybody who has been in leadership in the past.

A lot of Republicans have argued they want a new start. Again, we're going to see. Can anyone clinch 217 this week? That is the major question.

HARLOW: Lauren Fox, going to be a busy one. Thank you very much.

MATTINGLY: Well, two American hostages released by Hamas. What that means for the others still being held captive.

HARLOW: Also thousands of Palestinian refugees forced from their homes with nowhere to go. Why their relocation from Gaza and the West Bank is being called a red line by the king of Jordan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]