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CNN This Morning

Freed Hostage Describes Hamas Kidnapping and Captivity; New Hope for Families as Hamas Frees Two More Hostages; House GOP Pushing to Elect Speaker by Tonight. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 24, 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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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't even express how happy I am and relieved to see her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a small ray of light in a big story.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The story is not over until everybody comes back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A huge amount of hope for the other families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The support is there. The empathy is there. We want action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe the best way to do that is to keep the pressure up on Hamas.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It is important to keep Rafah crossing operation critical and urgent need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without electricity, this hospital will just be a mass grave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We desperately need a humanitarian ceasefire.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. has rushed an American three-star general to help the Israelis.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The troops are ready. They're ready to go.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everyone. I'm Phil Mattingly with Poppy Harlow in New York. Erin Burnett is live with us in Tel Aviv.

And that's where we're now hearing from one of the hostages released by Hamas yesterday. This morning, the 85-year-old grandmother described her abduction and captivity. Her daughter was by her side translating.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yocheved Lifshitz says, quote, hordes of Hamas fighters stormed her kibbutz during the massacre and kidnapped her on the back of a motorbike and beat her with sticks once in Gaza. She said she was held underground with five other hostages. She says they were treated well by guards, a doctor and a paramedic who made sure that they had the medicine they needed. She says Hamas had a stockpile of shampoo and other toiletries all ready for them.

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SHARONE LIFSHITZ, MOTHER RELEASED BY HAMAS: There are a huge, huge network of tunnels underneath. It looks like a spider web.

When she first arrived, they told them that they are Muslims and they're not going to hurt them and that they shared -- they ate the same food that their -- that Hamas was eating.

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MATTINGLY: Hamas has now released four hostages as Israeli troops gear up to launch an assault on Gaza by ground, sea and air, according to top officials. The Israeli military says it struck more than 400 targets across Gaza in the past day, killing Hamas commanders and fighters. More than 200 hostages are still believed to be inside Gaza, including 30 children.

Let's go straight to Erin Burnett live in Tel Aviv. One of the most striking things, Erin, in listening to the entire thing was striking given the lack of visibility we have had into how hostages are being treated, but was the care that they had or the availability of the care. Take a listen.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

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YOCHEVED LIFSHITZ, HOSTAGE RELEASED BY HAMAS: We had close doctor who came to see us every two to three days. The paramedic took it upon himself and took care of medicines. If there were not medicines, they would bring substitute medicine, equivalent medicines.

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MATTINGLY: Erin, when you heard that, were you surprised?

BURNETT: You know, Phil, on one hand, of course, right, because, you know, last night, somebody who had spent a career speaking to Hamas leaders and, in fact, was texting with one of them on the day of the attack, told me about a video he had seen from a Hamas Go-Pro camera they had on, of course, we know they were wearing there, describing the absolutely brutal rape of a young woman who was dismembered and bloodied and the actual rape is on camera, as he described it, that he saw.

Even saying that, I have to pause, right? And then you talk about what you're hearing here, that the care of the hostages that Hamas wanted it to be this way, that they prepared for it to be this way because they eventually wanted the sound bites that you're getting now, that they were humane and took care of their hostages. Of course, there are still hostages. And you must celebrate the fact that we have four home and that hopefully there will be more.

But this is very much a part of what Hamas wants to portray to the world, right, that their the David against the Goliath and they take care of their hostages and look what we've done, and it's humane. But you have to, in the same breath, remember what it is that they were also doing that day on October 7th. And it is that juxtaposition, which, yes, on the one hand is so surprising and shocking and impossible to hold those two things as true in your head even though they are true, but on the other hand, Phil, yes, this is, in a sense, what could be expected because this is the public relations perspective they would want to impose upon a broader world to gain sympathies.

HARLOW: That is such a crucial point. One cannot really be said, Erin, without the other truth of the massacre on October 7th. Also the fact that we heard from her daughter, Sharone, after the news conference about the fact that her mother's husband, so her father, is still missing. Listen to this.

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S. LIFSHITZ: My mom and my dad were separated at the very beginning. And so, we do not know, from my mom's story, what happened to my dad. We do know that he was injured.

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HARLOW: So, Erin, that's also the brutal reality. They were separated, and they have no idea where he is.

BURNETT: Right. And this is actually a crucial point, right? You remember she referred to a spider web of tunnels. And we know that that's the truth, that there is a complex network of tunnels, some of which are very deep under the ground, and perhaps even in that sense, immune to Israeli munitions, unless they move to some sort of bunker- buster bomb type of situation.

But also consistent with what the IDF has said since the beginning, which is that they believe that the hostages were not only being held underground, but in locations underground, tunnels that in the past had not been -- Hamas had not been known to use, which is a little different than saying Israel doesn't know where they are. Their wording was very careful on that. But it does show, right? They're going to release the wife, but not the husband.

This context really matters when you talk about what this is really about, right? And then you want to say humanity and well-treated, they shouldn't have been there in the first place. They shouldn't be separated. And these realities all exist at the same time, Poppy.

HARLOE: They do, absolutely, Erin. Thank you. We'll get back to you very soon.

MATTINGLY: And joining us now, CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Andrew, thanks for being here.

To start with, you heard the level of preparation. I think that there's almost one guard for every hostage. Let's take a listen to it.

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Y. LIFSHITZ: We were five and for each of us, there was a God. They took care of every details.

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MATTINGLY: And again, I keep saying so many elements of this were striking, but the preparation, the lead up to the attack, I think, was stunning to everybody. The preparation clearly to take the hostages and be prepared for them was also done. What does that tell you?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it tells you, as we've seen with many aspects of this operation, it's incredibly well-organized, well-planned. They took their time putting this entire thing together. The hostage piece is a big part of that strategy.

We have to remember, Phil, that hostages are an asset for Hamas now. They stand between -- they are the kind of final barrier between a full-on entry into Hamas, a tactical resolution by the Israelis, and they will continue to use the hostages to buy time. They have many to work with. The reports have been upwards of 200 hostages. And we will likely see a continued very small drip day in, day out of a few releases now and then to kind of maintain this anticipation that a diplomatic resolution to getting them all returned is right on the brink and, therefore, maybe the Israelis should hold off a major military operation.

HARLOW: What was also striking is that in this press conference, let's remember, I mean, she had just got out of the ambulance, she had just been released from one's worst nightmare. She also took a moment to speak about her criticism of the IDF and lack of preparedness despite some warning signs for this. Let's listen to what she said.

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Y. LIFSHITZ: The lack of awareness by Sheen Bet and IDF hurt us a lot. They warned us three weeks beforehand. They burned fields. They sent fire balloons and the IDF did not treat it seriously.

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HARLOW: We also know from some CNN investigative reporting that dug up social media posts that showed literally models of the kibbutzim that they had made and practiced attacks on that was online before this attack happened. MCCABE: It's extraordinary. And I think the levels of -- well, let's just say, the questions about the Israeli defenses and particularly their intelligence collection in the lead-up to this massive attack, those questions are important. And the further we go, I think the more people are going to be looking very critically at their preparation or the lack thereof.

MATTINGLY: The strategic intent of releasing two hostages on Friday, two hostages again yesterday, is the U.S. clearly has been trying to ask Israeli forces, until you know exactly what you're doing and you want to try and get more people out. How does that end? It just feels like that would be stretched as long as possible and I don't think the Israelis have the patience for that at this point.

MCCABE: It's almost impossible to imagine that they'll play it that long, right? You have to remember that every hostage recovery operation begins with intelligence. You need exquisite intelligence on the location, the conditions, the numbers, the numbers of guards, the infrastructure around containing them. From all publicly available reporting, we're far from that level of intelligence.

So, there really is no legitimate tactical option right now, which is why there's so much emphasis on the diplomatic resolution to getting these folks out.

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And if we're getting some of them out, that kind of continues to hold the carrot on the end of the stick to say, let's hold off until we can save as many lives as possible.

HARLOW: But the criticism of that is that every day you give Hamas, right, you gain more stress (ph).

MCCABE: That's right. You deny the Israelis the response that their society so desperately craves.

HARLOW: That's right. That's right. Thank you, Andrew.

MCCABE: Sure.

HARLOW: New this morning after two more hostages were released from Hamas captivity, one man was abducted alongside the two U.S. citizens who were also released on Friday. We'll speak to his family next.

MATTINGLY: And moments ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war against Hamas could, quote, be a long war. What we're learning about the timing of a potential ground invasion. That's next.

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S. LIFSHITZ: I hope we can share in this happiness and that when we can all join it together. This isn't over, you know? My mom is one ray of light and my phone is going berserk and everybody are happy for us, but I'm waiting to also be happy for them.

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MATTINGLY: That was the daughter of released hostage, Yocheved Lifshitz, relaying her message to the rest of the families who are still waiting to get their loved ones home. Lifshitz is one of two Israeli women released by Hamas yesterday. We heard about her experience in captivity just a short time ago.

HARLOW: Her release comes just days after Hamas released American hostages Judith and Natalie Raanan. But Israeli officials say Hamas is still holding more than 200 people captive. An Israeli husband and a father, you see him right there, Omri Mehran (ph) is believed to be among them. His wife says she watched him being taken away from their kibbutz in handcuffs.

And joining us now is Moshe Lavi, Omri's brother-in-law. Thank you for joining us.

MOSHE LAVI, BROTHER-IN-LAW FEARED KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: Thank you. Good morning.

HARLOW: The pain is something no one can imagine who has not gone through this. But what can you tell us about any hope you may have now that we've seen four hostages freed? Does it bring you some hope?

LAVI: It does bring some hope. It's a conflicted feeling. I think we're realizing that dual nationals, first of all, would be prioritized by the parties involved, and second, probably women and children. My sense is that Omri, my brother-in-law, hopefully will be released eventually, but my sense is that it will take a long time.

MATTINGLY: Do you have -- there's been such a dearth of information for anyone, government officials, families, in such an incredibly difficult time. What have you been told about the status of Omri or any of what's happening right now?

LAVI: It took the government and all the relevant bodies a long time to understand who was taken. There're still a lot of people who are missing, actually. They're finding, discovering, sadly, bodies every day and discovering new people apparently in the Gaza Strip. We know that he's there. We is confirmed hostage there. But there's no signal from his phone, which was taken. There's no information about his whereabouts or his physical situation. So, we don't know much. We just know that he was taken by Hamas. And we hope that he's, given the circumstances, well, or if he's unwell, hopefully receive some treatment. And that's all we know right now.

HARLOW: We did hear from Yocheved Lifshitz, an 85-year-old hostage released, that the medical treatment that they got actually was pretty remarkable for being held as hostages. So, I hope that that can give you some comfort. We were just looking at these pictures of Omri and his wife and child, a beautiful family. What do you want people to know about him? LAVI: Yes. Omri is a gentle, self-speaking guy. He was a wonderful father. He invested a lot of time raising his and then my sister's two daughters, six months old and two years old. He really wanted to let my sister continue developing her career and supported her.

I was a shiatsu therapist and he studied also healthcare management, was really connected to nature and would go with his daughters all the time to the fields outside and have basketball, we support the same team in Israel. He is a wonderful man and I can't wait to see him again, and all of us in the family hoping that we will see him again. His daughters really need him.

The two-year-old already expresses her emotions. She knows exactly what went. She understood the violence she experienced in front of her eyes and on her with guns pointed at her face with a body lying next to her of a teenage girl, and she cries every night for her father and we cry with her.

So, it's hard for us to see because it was so connected and involved in raising the family. It's hard for us to see how this was taken from Rani and Alma (ph), his daughters.

MATTINGLY: The pain is incomprehensible, I think, if you're not going through it but we're grateful for your time. We're thinking about you and your family and extremely hopeful for what comes next. Moshe Lavi, thank you very much.

LAVI: Thank you very much.

HARLOW: Thank you. To Washington, it has now been three weeks since the House had a speaker. We're going to take you live to Capitol Hill with the latest on the chaos in Congress.

MATTINGLY: And dense fog is being blamed for more than 150 crashes and seven deaths on Interstate 55 West of New Orleans.

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We're going to bring you the details next.

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MATTINGLY: Well, top House Republicans are hoping they can finally elect a speaker, maybe even by tonight. They're set to hold a secret ballot election today to pick a nominee from eight candidates, but it's unclear if any of them can get to 217 votes, which they ultimately need to actually get the gavel.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live for us on Capitol Hill. Lauren, two primary questions, those lawmakers I've seen that believe they could have a speaker by tonight, have been living in a cave for the last three weeks? But the second one is can any of the eight people that are running right now actually get to 217 votes?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Phil, those really are the two questions. And I'll be frank with you, I think some of the members who are hoping that they can get a candidate and vote on that person by tonight on the House floor, they're desperate knowing that their constituents are fed up, that there's frustration within the conference, and they want this all to be behind them.

We are now at the three-week mark since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job. That is why there is desperation and optimism that they could pull something together and get a speaker by this evening.

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It may be wishful thinking, but it is the thinking that so many of them are holding on to right now.

At 9:00 A.M., they are going to gather behind closed doors for a series of votes until one candidate gets the majority. Once that happens, there is some discussion about trying to make sure that that person can get 217 votes before they head out to the floor to avoid the embarrassment that Jim Jordan had to face going to the floor three times and never clinching the speaker's gavel. So, that is under discussion right now.

There is some sense that they could move to a floor vote tonight if they feel like that person can get 217 votes. But here's the huge if, Phil. That is assuming that anyone, any of these eight candidates, are going to be able to garner the support that they need.

You know, one interesting tidbit from our colleague, Manu Raju, last night was he asked a series of House Freedom Caucus members if they would support Representative Tom Emmer. He's the Republican whip. He's largely seen as the frontrunner in this race. Both Boebert and Bob Good were noncommittal. They wouldn't say if they would vote for Emmer on the floor.

There is a sense right now within the Republican conference that there needs to be new leadership, new blood, and just pulling from the ranks of leaders that have already existed in the House Republican conference, that may not be good enough for some conservatives.

Again, important to remind everyone, this is a very narrow Republican majority, which means whoever goes to the floor today, dependent on attendance issues, can only lose four votes. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yes. Those guys who think it might happen by tonight, whatever they're having, if you could grab me some of it, I would appreciate it. Lauren Fox, I appreciate you as always. Thank you.

HARLOW: All right. I want to update you on what happened in Louisiana. Very dense fog there is being blamed for more than 150 crashes. This happened on Interstate 55. It's just west of New Orleans. Seven people were killed. Look at that.

State police say more than two dozen people were injured. Wildfire smoke and very damp conditions created what meteorologists call super fog. It made visibility less than ten feet. Some vehicles, including trucks caught on fire. First responders were forced to go on foot because the area was just completely gridlocked.

All right, there's new reporting out this morning that says Israel may be willing to delay its planned ground invasion of Gaza to negotiate the release of a large number of hostages. The reporter with that news joins us next.

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