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Israel's Ground Assault on Gaza Intensifies, IDF Says Dozens of Hamas Fighters Killed Overnight; IDF Releases Video of Strikes on Hezbollah Military Infrastructure; Investigation Underway After Matthew Perry Found Dead in Hot Tub. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 30, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If she can bring in some votes in a few key states, she would be politically a very potent addition to the Republican team.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: 32 percent for her in that suburban poll respondents versus Trump at 24.

LOUIS: No, that's exactly right. Exactly right. And, look, she was in his cabinet in the first term. So, it's entirely possible that they'll figure out a way to work together again.

HARLOW: Thank you, Errol. Thanks, Jeff.

CNN This Morning continues now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The situation here in the Middle East is heating up dramatically.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST : Mortar and artillery fire going out from Israel, also heard artillery fire coming from Lebanon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Biden talked to Netanyahu about immediately increasing humanitarian assistance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People desperately trying to get their hands on U.N. supplies inside U.N. warehouses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not only what's happening in Gaza. It's what's happening in the West Bank and also what's happening to Palestinian-Israelis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Russian state media says the crowd was protesting the Israel-Hamas war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not just a narrow geopolitical conflict. It's a clash of civilizations.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That Marine Rapid Response Force will be in the Eastern Mediterranean quite soon.

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: If attacks continue, we will respond.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Friends and allies of Israel recognize that not only could this situation escalate against Israel, but it could very much inflame the whole region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everyone. I'm Phil Mattingly with Poppy Harlow. It is 7:00 A.M. here in New York, 1:00 P.M. in Gaza, where Israel's ground assault is intensifying as tanks and infantry push deeper into the strip. Overnight, Israeli forces say they killed dozens of Hamas fighters who were barricaded in tunnels and buildings.

HARLOW: And this morning, we are seeing another round of heavy airstrikes pound in Gaza as Israel ramps up attacks from the air and on the ground. Iran is now accusing Israel of crossing red lines. And the White House is warning there's a real risk of this war becoming a wider conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: And we, of course, are taking every measure necessary to protect our forces, to increase our vigilance and to work with other countries in the region to try to keep this conflict that is currently in Israel and Gaza from spinning out into a regional conflict.

But the risk is real and, therefore, our vigilance is high and the steps that we are taking to deter that and prevent that are serious, systematic and ongoing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Well, right now a rapid response force of U.S. Marines is on the move and getting closer to the region as concerns about a wider conflict grow. A U.S. official tells CNN the warship carrying the troops is expected to pass through the Suez Canal soon.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, United Nations aid workers say civil order is breaking down with hunger and desperation accelerating.

HARLOW: The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal also reporting Israel has agreed to allow 100 trucks with humanitarian aid to start crossing into Gaza daily. That would be a significant increase. This is video of 59 trucks waiting at the border crossing in Egypt this morning.

Sara Sidner starts our coverage this hour live from Tel Aviv. Sara, good morning.

I want the update on Israel's ground operations, but also that news that we just said, if Israel were to allow with Egypt 100 trucks a day of aid into Gaza, that would be back up to the levels where they were pre-war.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it depends, because the U.N. says, look, it is normally about 455 trucks that used to enter daily long before the war. 100 trucks a day is far better than what we have been seeing over these past three weeks. But it still isn't anywhere near as much as the kind of aid that Gaza was getting before the war started. But it is certainly a start where you have a real humanitarian catastrophe that is going on in Gaza.

And as you can see, it is extremely windy here, so I apologize for that, but nothing we can do here in Tel Aviv. But in Gaza, you are seeing just these sites of just enormous destruction, and now you're hearing from, say, the children, that more children have been killed in Gaza in this span, this three-week span, than have been killed over a four-year period globally.

So, there is a huge amount of sorrow and desperation there. You also saw some people who had just gotten so desperate, they went into the stores of an aid organization and started trying to take things out, things like rice, bags of food that they can use for their families.

So, you can see the desperation is just really exploding, as it has been for the past three weeks. It's gotten more and more serious over time. We also know, as you have mentioned, that there is a new phase in this war, according to the prime minister and the defense minister who spoke on Saturday, there is a ground operation that is going on.

And the ground operation, Poppy, is small in comparison to what a lot of people had thought that it was going to be this major ground offensive. It has turned into something a bit different than that. We are seeing troops on the ground, but it is not in large numbers.

[07:05:04]

Now they may add to that as this goes on, because now we're in that phase of the war, Poppy.

MATTINGLY: And, Sara, one of the questions that we've all had, I think, is you see what U.S. officials have said behind the scenes to Iran. Have they had any response as this clearly moves into a new phase?

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, the president of Iran said a red line had been crossed and warned of a reaction from, as he put it, everywhere.

But the prime minister -- the foreign minister, who spoke to our Bianna Golodryga over the weekend, actually was asked very directly, does this mean that you will go to war with the United States? Are you willing to do that? Is that what you're talking about when you're talking about a red line? And the reaction was, we don't want to expand this war. So, a little bit of a different stance there, although he also, to the U.N., said a red line had been crossed by Israel.

We are waiting to see what happens. Iran has its fingers, of course, in backing Hamas. It also has its fingers in backing Hezbollah, which is in Lebanon. And they have fired rockets over into the Israel side. There has been some fighting on that part of the border, in the northern border. So, there is great concern that this is going to escalate into a regional conflict.

Speaking of escalation, I want to talk to you about this airport in Russia that was forced to shut down after a mob of anti-Israel protesters broke in and charged the tarmac after they learned that a flight from Tel Aviv had arrived on Sunday. Take a look at this.

A terrifying scene for people who are coming off that flight. It was a scene at the Dagestan Airport, a region that is mostly Muslim. Videos show a large crowd storming the airport, making people their way onto the runway.

You can also see some of the people waving Palestinian flags. There has been a great deal of support for Palestinians in Gaza as they watch these massive airstrikes and ground operations there and the number of people who have been killed.

Joining us now is Frederik Pleitgen. He is in Berlin watching all that's happening there in Dagestan. Tell us what you can about what happened here as we look at these pictures that if you were on that plane landing from Tel Aviv would have been extremely frightening.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, all the planes that were at the tarmac at that point in time when that happened. And I think one of the things that we can certainly ascertain, Sara, from what we've seen so far is that this was something that was a lot worse than just a protest.

Essentially, what this descended into was this mob of people, this crowd of people hunting Jews and hunting Israelis. That's essentially what transcended at that airport in the town of Makhachkala, which is actually the capital of the Dagestan region in the North Caucasus of Russia.

There's some really troubling scenes not just of that protest that took place inside the terminal building, where that was charged, that crowd overwhelming the security forces, then getting onto the tarmac, but also some of the people in that crowd singling out folks who apparently were on that flight from Tel Aviv, taking away their passports, and essentially making them prove that they are not Jews.

There's also some reports on Russian media and Russian social media as well about another crowd of people, or people from that same crowd also charging a hotel and going room to room, also once again, searching for Israelis, searching for Jews, so, definitely a troubling development that happened there in Dagestan.

And you're absolutely right, it was after that flight from Tel Aviv landed, obviously a very angry crowd, was already there at that airport. It was quite interesting because we did see this morning there was some condemnation from the religious leader of that region, but we have also just heard from the Kremlin, they are blaming outside influence, as they put it, for inciting that crowd, Sara. SIDENR: All right. Well, there have been protests, this one is very

different, but there have been protests around the region here in Jordan, in Egypt and in Lebanon as well. But this is a very different look where they are literally hunting down Israelis and Jews that are landing there in Dagestan.

Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for your reporting there, and it's also back to you, Phil and Poppy.

HARLOW: Thank you both.

Just in the CNN, the Biden administration is announcing new actions today, executive order, named at combating a dangerous scourge of anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses across the country. We'll have more on that ahead.

MATTINGLY: And the world is mourning the death of actor Matthew Perry. We're going to take a look at his legacy and his impact, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW PERRY, ACTOR: Kind of reminds me of when I won my first Emmy. We were -- I'm sorry, what? Oh right, I haven't won a damn thing. Well, maybe today is the day.

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[07:10:00]

MATTINGLY: Israel Defense Forces have released a new video of fighter jets striking on Hezbollah military infrastructure inside Lebanon in response to earlier rocket fire. The IDF says it hit terror cells and sites belonging to the militant group which has been preparing to carry out new attacks on northern Israel.

Skirmishes have been breaking out on the Lebanon border for several weeks now as fears continue to grow of opening a new front in the war.

CNN's Jim Sciutto is live for us in northern Israel with more. Jim, it is probably the biggest question I hear from U.S. officials is, is Hezbollah going to join? What will keep them from actually getting involved here? What's your sense of things on the ground?

SCIUTTO: Well, Phil, one thing is clear up there here is that they are already involved. It's a conflict, a low grade conflict, but a conflict underway on the border multiple times a day. Hezbollah and other fighters, Al-Quds force, firing artillery, IEDs coming in via small parachutes, also attempted ground incursions, breaking through the walls here, Hezbollah fighters and others and Israel firing back.

We got caught, my team and I, in the middle of that yesterday in one of those villages right up along the edge of the border, in fact, a village that is cut right down the middle by the wall separating Israel from Lebanon.

[07:15:04] And it shows us the intensity of this conflict up here so far. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice over): Towns like Arab al-Aramshe along Israel's border with Lebanon are mostly deserted now, evacuated due to fear of attacks by Hezbollah. Makes is one of the few who stayed behind. And from his roof, he shows us where Hezbollah fighters attempted to cross the Israeli border just a few days ago.

Minutes after we arrive, we see the threat is constant.

Hezbollah shells fired from across the border land on the hillside just opposite us.

We are on a border town between Israel on this side and just beyond the fence is Lebanon. And as we've been standing here, if you see the smoke off in the distance, that is the result of Hezbollah artillery fire from Lebanon into Israel.

You could see the smoke rising in the distance. And speaking to residents here, this is a regular event. It's happening every day.

Makes and his twin brother sent their families south for safety, but stayed behind themselves to protect their homes. The question for them and others like them is how long before this area is safe again.

Does anybody talk about how long people will have to leave here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know. We don't know what's going to happen. He hopes that a month, other people think until the end of the year, but we don't know.

SCIUTTO: As the shelling picks up, we head back south. Minutes later, Israeli soldiers block the road, warning of more incoming Hezbollah fire.

We're very close to the Lebanon border in northern Israel, and soldiers have just blocked the road here in both directions. We can't go either way.

You can hear mortar and artillery fire going out. That is from Israel towards Lebanon. We've also heard artillery fire coming from Lebanon. And the concern is, the soldiers telling us that there are possible infiltrations across the border from Lebanon by presumably Hezbollah fighters. And that's why the level of concern is so great.

The Israeli military is focused on Gaza, but the northern front now faces daily attacks. On Sunday, a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in the city of Kiryat Shmona, setting this home ablaze. Hezbollah also claimed this strike on an Israeli tank a few days ago, with the IDF responding by targeting Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon. All the while, the constant exchange of artillery fire rumbles across the frontier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (on camera): The IDF updated just a short time ago, which seems to explain that incident that we got caught in the middle of yesterday that they saw a fighter approaching the border fence and they responded with fire and they say they eliminated that fighter. These are regular attempts across the border and many times a day fire across the border.

Now, Phil, this is not a full scale war in the north by any means, but it is a low grade one. And, of course, the question becomes do these sporadic attacks turn into something more significant? And that would be truly a two-front war for Israel, and that's part of the reason, frankly, Phil, that you have this enormous presence of U.S. forces in the region, including in the Eastern Med to send a message to Hezbollah and its backers in Iran that if that were to happen, the U.S. would be here in the region as well with at least the capability of responding. Phil, that's the level of concern up here and it's one I hear from residents and from soldiers.

MATTINGLY: Yes. Jim Sciutto for us live in Northern Israel, thank you.

HARLOW: New this morning, the Biden administration announcing new actions aimed at combating a dangerous scourge in anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses in the wake of Hamas' terror attack on Israel on October 7th at Cornell. Threats were made against Jewish students on an online forum not associated with the school and authorities are investigating and warning students to stay away from a building that was specifically named in the threats, which houses a kosher dining hall.

Athena Jones joins us live with more. I know Cornell has also brought in some extra resources to help protect students there. I mean, that's how concerned they are.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. There's a lot of concern among Jewish students. There's a lot of distress and anger and fear. We're talking about a series of posts made as you noted on a website that's not affiliated with the university but a series of anti-Semitic threats against Cornell's Jewish community.

We're talking about violent, dehumanizing language threats to included shooting Jewish students, encouraging others to kill them and commit other acts of violence.

And as you mentioned there, there was a specific building that was mentioned in these online posts, 104 West. That's the home of the Center for Jewish Living. It's where the kosher dining hall is, the multicultural dining hall.

[07:20:02]

And so the Cornell Hillel, which is a Jewish group on campus, is advising students to stay away from those buildings just out of an abundance of caution. But we know there is a stepped up police presence at those buildings. And the university's president, Martha Pollack, put out a statement. Here's what she said in part. We will not tolerate anti-Semitism at Cornell. The virulence and destructiveness of anti-Semitism is real and deeply impacting our Jewish students, faculty and staff, as well as the entire Cornell community. This incident highlights the need to combat the forces that are dividing us and driving us toward hate. This cannot be what defines us at Cornell. And so we know university police are investigating.

We also have a tweet from the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, sent out a couple of tweets saying that this is disgusting -- these are disgusting posts, but also that she's in touch with officials at SUNY CUNY, so state and city universities across the state, also private colleges and universities, about engaging New York State Police to make sure that students on these campuses feel safe in the wake of these threats.

MATTINGLY: Just to be clear, though, this isn't a one-off thing. There's actually been incidents at Cornell since October 7th, right?

JONES: Right, at Cornell and at other universities. At Cornell specifically, we know the university newspaper reported that earlier in the week, there were vandalized sidewalks. So, anti-Israel statements put on sidewalks. I believe we have a picture of one of them. Said things like, Zionism equals racism, Israel is fascist. So, those are some of the graffiti that we've seen around the campus.

Also earlier in recent weeks, a professor, an associate professor, has asked for a leave of absence after making positive comments about Hamas. So, a lot going on at college campuses, according to all among them.

MATTINGLY: No question about it. Athena, thank you.

HARLOW: So, a major deal in the works for the union, the auto workers, we will have that ahead.

MATTINGLY: And the world is mourning the death of actor Matthew Perry. We're going to take a look at his legacy and his impact. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: Tell you what when we're 40, if neither of us are married, what do you say you and I get together and have one?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why won't I be married when I'm 40?

PERRY: Oh, no, no, no, I just meant hypothetically.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Hypothetically, why won't I be married when I'm 40? PERRY: No, no, no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, what is it? Seriously, is there something fundamentally unmarryable about me? Well?

PERRY: Dear God, this parachute is a knapsack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That, of course, was the delightful, always hysterical Matthew Perry, his iconic portrayal of Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom, Friends. Perry was found dead Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. The cause of death remains unknown this morning, but records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office do note that his death will require additional investigative steps.

He was best known for playing Chandler, but he said he didn't want to only be remembered for that role. Last year, he wrote a memoir detailing his struggles with addiction. Matthew Perry was 54.

And our Camila Bernal joins us live from Los Angeles this morning. I can just imagine the tributes that are pouring out for him, especially there.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So, many people who are just remembering all these times that he made us laugh. And so there is a big sense of shock, many just heartbroken here in Los Angeles and, really, all over the world because everyone watched Friends.

And so in terms of the investigation, we do know that the medical examiner's office has released his remains to the family. They are still conducting this investigation and say that a toxicology report is needed to complete and let us know what the cause of death is here. And, normally, these autopsies and toxicology reports could take several weeks, which means that we likely will need more time before we know what caused his death.

Sources have told CNN, though, that no foul play here is suspected. The L.A. Times reporting that he was found unresponsive in his hot tub on Saturday. The 911 call came in at 4:07 and it was a water rescue emergency. Then it was LAPD who took over at 4:10 P.M., and they said that it was a death investigation. So, again, more is needed to exactly find out what happened here.

His family released a statement to People Magazine saying they were heartbroken by the tragic loss of a son and a brother. But they also said that he brought joy to the world with his acting, but also as a friend.

And he was a person that wanted to be remembered as someone who helped people. He was willing to be open and to share his struggles with addiction in order to help people. He said he wanted to talk to people one-on-one as a group, anyone going through those struggles, because he said he was able to overcome them and wanted others to overcome them as well. He wanted to be remembered as someone who lived well and loved well and was a seeker.

Of course, a lot of us remember him by Chandler. That was really the role that brought him to fame. And it was, you know, him making us laugh, that sarcastic, very funny one-liners and the jokes. That truly was what brought so much laughter to so many of us in the 90s and the early 2000s. But there were many roles. He started out with smaller roles, got more prominent roles, and it was Friends, though, that really brought him to fame.

But this is a group of people that were really close on and off screen. They negotiated their contracts together. We haven't heard from them, but we have been hearing from others in Hollywood who say that he will be deeply missed. Poppy, Phil?

BERNAL: And so much joy he brought. You're exactly right.

Camila Bernal, thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, in money this morning, the United Auto Workers Union has reached the tentative agreement with Stellantis who makes vehicles under the Dodge Ram, Chrysler, and Jeep brand. This means the 14,000 UAW workers members on strike at Stellantis will be returning to work within days.

[07:30:04]

UAW President Shawn Fain said they've, quote, done the impossible. A lot of the details of the agreement --