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CNN This Morning

Soon, Qatar to Announce When Israel-Hamas Truce Begins; Israel Says, No Hostage Release Before Friday; New York Governor Says, Car Explosion at Canadian Border Not Terrorism. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 23, 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]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And what about the claim against Axl Rose?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is -- I'm sorry. This is 1989, so just a long time ago she met in a night club. Axl Rose, he invited her to his hotel along with others. So, it was like an after party. She said there were drugs there, cocaine, there was alcohol, that he started to kiss her. And she consented to that she liked him. she even alleges in the complaint she might spend the night.

But then she saw him starting have sex, violent sex with another woman at the party and his hotel room. She left to go to apparently another room. He found her, brought her back and she said it was absolutely violent, she alleges in this civil complaint. And, remember, this is monetary damages, it's not a criminal case.

But Axl Rose, his attorney released a statement, and we want to say, simply put, this incident never happened. Though is it doesn't deny the possibility of a fan photo taken in passing, Mr. Rose has no recollection of ever meeting or speaking to the plaintiff and has never heard about these fictional allegations prior to today.

And she also is famous. She was Penthouse pet of the year in 1983 and wrote a book in 2014.

HARLOW: Jean, thank you. Keep us posted. I appreciate it.

CNN This morning continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Qatar's Foreign Ministry says it will announce in the next few hours when the truce between Israel and Hamas will begin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A surprise delay in the agreement, no hostages to be released before Friday.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The pause in the hostilities will not go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The war continues until all our goals are achieved. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Officials in Israel are still hopeful that this deal is going to happen.

JOHN KIRBY, COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Nobody is doing any touchdown dancing here. There's still work to be done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanksgiving, please have an empty seat for the hostages. There are families that are not whole.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A fiery high speed car wreck near Niagara Falls.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: The explosion at a crucial bridge linking the U.S. and Canada.

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): This is a local individual. At this time, there is no indication of a terrorist involved attack.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: As you roll backwards through the story, it looks like an accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: It's the top of the hour. Good morning, everyone. So glad you are with us on this special holiday edition of CNN This Morning. And we have live team coverage from Tel Aviv to Cairo. We are, I should note, waiting to hear from Qatar on the timing of this temporary truce between Israel and Hamas for hostages to start being released. This four-day pause in fighting, remember, that was supposed to begin this morning. But Israeli officials are now saying it won't begin until tomorrow.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We're told the Biden administration has a working list of ten hostages they believe will be released on the first day. Meantime, the fighting continues to rage in Gaza. Israeli troops, tanks and drones still striking targets ahead of that truce.

HARLOW: And part of this deal is to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. This morning, we are seeing convoys of trucks loaded with food and water and other desperately needed supplies lining up at the border crossing in Egypt.

Earlier today, Qatar said its prime minister did speak with the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on the phone, to talk about how the truce will play out.

Our Kaitlan Collins starts us off live in Tel Aviv. Kaitlan, to you on the ground, I wonder what the latest is on the timing. Because it's you on this program yesterday that got the reporting that it was going to start at 10:00 A.M. local time today. We're four hours past that in Tel Aviv. So, what are we hearing now?

COLLINS: Yes. It was a big surprise to Israeli officials when the National Security Council here announced that that deal would actually not be put in place today, as we had expected, many officials here had expected. I mean, we had just heard in this press conference last night from Prime Minister Netanyahu and the rest of the war cabinet and they very much sounded like it was imminent, that that was going to be implemented.

That deal, of course, to release hostages and also to stop the fighting and send in more humanitarian aid to Gaza, but right now, that has not happened. And what we are hearing the latest on the timing is that the earliest this could happen is tomorrow.

And reason everyone is keeping their eye on this press conference that is set to happen soon with the Qatari foreign minister spokesperson is because, of course, they have been the middle men in all of this in between Israel and Hamas and the United States. They have been the ones helping negotiate this deal, send the disagreements back and forth between the two sides, bringing them both to the table to get this agreement here.

So, we will be looking for any clues that they offer about what the timing could look like or whether or not the delays here are serious.

Right now, we have no reason to believe that this deal is not going to go forward with the same broad outlines that we have been talking, but it is those final details that still remain to be seen. And as of just a few hours ago, we had heard from senior Israeli officials, Poppy and Erica, who had not yet gotten a list of the names that Hamas was expected to release of those first ten or so hostages that are expected to be released on day one. And that is part of the agreement that they were going to each give the other side the list of names that they were prepared to release that next day.

[07:05:07]

That has not happened yet.

So, we are still waiting to see, of course, what the timing here is going to look like and what's really important here is that these families, their loved ones, are really what's hanging in the balance.

HARLOW: And you've been talking to families dealing with that agony, Kaitlan, of not having their loved ones, not knowing it for when they'll come home.

COLLINS: And one thing that we've kind of heard from all of them is they're not getting their hopes up because they feel like over the last, you know, 47 or so days that this has been going on, I believe it's 48 days now here, that they've felt like they've gotten close to an agreement, they've heard hopes of a deal only for it to not actually happen.

And so we spoke with Ruby Chen, who is the father of Itay Chen. He's an Israeli-American IDF soldier. He is being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas right now. And he's someone who grew up in New York. His son grew up in New York. They grew up doing Thanksgiving dinner. And as we were getting close to Thanksgiving, obviously today, I asked him how he was looking at the holiday this year. This is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBY CHEN, FATHER OF MISSING IDF SOLDIER ITAY CHEN: I think Thanksgiving is one of those cross-religion holidays where I think all religions celebrate it. We have been celebrating Thanksgiving ever since I was a little kid, you know, having a good meal with the family members and watching some football and enjoying the day with family.

I would like to ask all of the U.S. families that are celebrating Thanksgiving, please have an empty seat for the hostages. Remember that there are families that are not whole. And all that we ask is that you call up your congressman, call up your senator, ask them what are you doing in order to bring the hostages back home and solve this humanitarian problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We also heard from Ruby Chen saying that he feels like the Israeli government could take a lesson from the U.S. government when it comes to informing families, keeping them updated on what's happening. A lot of the families said they had not been kept updated by the Israeli government. Many of them found out about this hostage deal that's in the making right now from the media, not from the Israeli government.

So, still a lot of questions for officials there. And the other aspect of this that is also incredibly significant when you look at what is happening to people in Gaza and the desperately needed aid that so many of the civilians there need is the humanitarian aid that is expected to be part of this deal. That has not gone into Gaza yet as a result of the delay. There is no pause in fighting yet, no release of hostages, and no surge of humanitarian aid.

CNN's Eleni Giokos is in Cairo for us covering this where, of course, we know a lot of trucks are preparing, Eleni, to go in in that Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, where we've seen so many of those trucks going in. But are they essentially just waiting in line at this point?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're waiting in line at this point. We have team on the ground that is telling us that they've seen an increase in activity more than they have seen since the start of this war. And we've seen just a huge convoy of aid trucks waiting to go in.

And just to reiterate the point that you mentioned that in terms of when this comes into effect, we just heard from the Egyptians, from the state information services, and they say they're working out the executive procedures that are required to be implemented and adhered to by both sides when it comes to the streets. And it's going to enter into force starting tomorrow. So, that's from the Egyptian side.

So, this is when we're expecting the aid trucks to finally enter Gaza. You know, over the past few days, we've been speaking to the Egyptians in terms of how much aid has actually entered the Gaza Strip. And while it's thousands of tons of medical aid, of food, as well as water, it is just a trickle. We have heard time and time again from the U.N. and from other international agencies that it is not enough to cope with the needs on the ground.

And we've heard some of the harrowing stories from hospitals where they've run out of anesthesia for surgeries, for amputations. I mean, it's really hair-raising stuff. And it's been reiterated by what we've been seeing on the ground, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, and most importantly, fuel is expected to be part of that, and that has been such a key part of all of this, even for those operating rooms that don't have anesthesia that have been using ketamine to operate on patients as we had heard weeks ago.

You know, Eleni, the other thing that I am watching really closely is what we have heard from Israeli officials, but essentially no one else, and that is what, you know, the idea that the Red Cross is supposed to be able to go into Gaza to tend to the hostages who so far will not be able to get out of Gaza. We're not going to be that first group released by Hamas. I want everyone to listen to what Prime Minister Netanyahu said about this, about the Red Cross just last night.

[07:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The agreement achieved does not include the release of murders, and it does include the agreement of the Red Cross representatives to visit the hostages and transfer of medication.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So, Eleni, how do we square that with the Red Cross saying today that they haven't heard anything about this?

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, there's a real big disconnect in terms of what we heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu and what the International Committee of the Red Cross are saying. They're saying that this has not been relayed to them. They didn't know that this was part of the agreement. But if it is in the agreement, they are willing to step in and help.

They have also categorically stated they haven't been part of any negotiation, but they have been assisting the hostages that were released to evacuate out of Gaza. So, that is their role.

But what is really interesting here is that this would be a real big breakthrough because this is the first time that the Red Cross would have access to the hostages that have been trapped inside of Gaza, understanding their states, whether they need any healthcare, any intervention. And that would be a big part of this conversation.

But really interesting to know that the Red Cross doesn't have this information right now. And frankly, the aid organizations have also said that they're not really sure about how the aid is going to be brought into Gaza, what those safe passages are going to look like to deploy that aid. So, frankly, there's a lot of information that still needs to be relayed across the board, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. It seems like there's some massive disconnects here. Eleni, thank you for that. Poppy?

HARLOW: Kaitlan, thank you so much.

While we stand by to hear when the first wave of hostages will be released, their families are in anguish. Yesterday, we spoke with the great aunt of Israeli-American three -year-old Abigail Idan. Her relatives tell us she was kidnapped after Hamas militants murdered both of her parents on October 7th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ NAFTALI, GREAT-AUNT OF THREE-YEAR-OLD HAMAS HOSTAGE ABIGAIL MOR IDAN: Abigail's fourth birthday is on Friday, and no child should spend their birthday as a hostage somewhere in the dark. And so we don't have any confirmation, but it is our hope and it is our belief that she will be one of the first hostages to come out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Joining us now is Itay Milner, the consul for media affairs with the consulate general of Israel right here in New York. Thank you, Itay, for being here. Good morning to you.

Can you shed light on why this delay?

ITAY MILNER, CONSUL FOR MEDIA AFFAIRS, CONSULATE GENERAL OF ISRAEL IN NEW YORK: At this point, everything is pretty much dependent on Hamas, and Hamas is known to be playing all kind of psychological warfare. I think it's just part of it.

Of course, there are some things that are concerning how the truth would look like. I mean, you have so many soldiers in the Gaza Strip and you have 2 million citizens. And so, you know, you have to make sure that there's no fractions and nothing that will compromise the truth.

HARLOW: Should these families be at all worried that this delay could impede the entire deal or no? Is it the belief of the Israeli government that this is going forward just perhaps 24 hours later than expected to begin?

MILNER: We are under the impression that it's going forward. It's going to happen tomorrow. The delay is technical and not something that the family should be --

HARLOW: What do you mean it's technical?

MILNER: It's technical because of things -- you know, there's a lot of different sides here. We don't speak directly with Hamas. It's going through a third party. And when you do that, there are always some technical issues.

HARLOW: Okay, and we're waiting to hear from the government of Qatar some more, so we may get some more details on that in just moments.

There is a big misunderstanding this morning between what the prime minister of Israel said about the Red Cross being allowed access to the hostages and what the Red Cross is saying. Let's play what Benjamin Netanyahu said. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: The citizens of Israel, I'd like to be clear, the war continues. The war continues. We will continue with it until all our goals are achieved, to bring back our hostages, to demolish Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And on top of that, he said the agreement achieved does not include the release of murderers, but it does include the agreement of Red Cross representatives to visit the hostages and transfer medication.

The Red Cross this morning says they have not been made aware of any agreement to that effect. Is there an agreement for the Red Cross to go to the hostages or not?

MILNER: First of all, the Red Cross is mandatory to visit hostages. It's outrageous that until now, 47 days, they haven't visited any of the hostages, and we don't know anything about their well-being.

In this specific agreement, I understand that there is a refer to the Red Cross and their ability to visit the prisoners, the hostages, that will stay there.

[07:15:01]

HARLOW: Meaning Hamas has agreed to that?

MILNER: That's what I understand.

HARLOW: But why doesn't the Red Cross know about that?

MILNER: Like I said, there are many different sides here. And it could have been agreed by Israel, the Qataris and Hamas, and still not go to the --

HARLOW: Communicated?

MILNER: Yes.

HARLOW: Okay. I want a response to something really important that our colleague, Kaitlan Collins, in Tel Aviv just brought up, and that is that a lot of families on the ground that are missing their loved ones that are being held hostage have told her that they have not been kept updated by the Israeli government. For example, they learned about this hostage deal this week from the media and not from the Israeli government.

Is that going to change? Can you commit to those families the government will do a better job of talking to them directly so they don't have to find out on television?

MILNER: Those families deserve the best treatment possible. Their loved ones were not abducted by being abroad or by going on their own with the Gaza. They were abducted from their own homes on Saturday morning when the country felt to secure them.

So, the country owes them the most. And we expect that the country, the state, the government will do the most, and that's the intention.

Having said that, you do have 240 hostages and a lot of families, and not always it's possible to keep everyone in the loop when things are going that fast.

HARLOW: It's possible to have teams calling them. Is that going to happen? I know it's hard and it's a lot, but they need to hear.

MILNER: I agree. They need to hear, they need to be the first one to know, and they should even be part of the process of decision-making. But, unfortunately, when you're in a time of war, there's a lot of war fog and you don't always control all the information.

HARLOW: Itay Milner, we are hoping for the best for this deal to proceed and to see as many hostages come out safe as possible. Thank you for your time.

MILNER: Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

HARLOW: Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. Thank you very much.

HILL: A fatal crash at a key bridge on the U.S.-Canadian border. Why authorities are ruling out terrorism. That's next.

HARLOW: And a U.S. warship in the Red Sea has shot down, quote, multiple one -way attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. Those details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

HILL: This morning, New York Governor Kathy Hochul says the fiery bridge explosion that killed two people near Niagara Falls on Wednesday is not terror-related. The officials say, in fact, it was a married couple speeding Bentley that hit a median, flew through the air and burst into flames.

That crash creating havoc at the U.S.-Canadian border Wednesday afternoon, of course, one of the busiest travel days of the year.

CNN's Athena Jones is live in Buffalo, New York, this morning. What else are we hearing from the governor about this, Athena?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica. Well, she's been in touch -- she was in touch all along with state and local authorities, saying that this was two people who died in what appears to be a tragic accident. This is, of course, coming at a time when there is increased concern about terrorism and terrorist acts. And when heightened alert, a law enforcement agency is on heightened alert in places all across the country, it was remarkable, though, to see the speed with which the FBI, working together with its partners, was able to conclude its investigation into this terrible, massive explosion, concluding that it was not a nefarious act.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOCHUL: At this time, there is no indication of a terrorist attack.

JONES (voice over): New York's governor trying to piece together for the public what happened when a car crashed into a secondary border checkpoint at the U.S.-Canada border, causing the shutdown of four land crossings on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

In video of the incident provided by law enforcement, you can see a car driving at an extreme rate of speed and jumping a curb and a barrier.

RICKIE WILSON, NIAGARA FALLS TOUR GUIDE: I've seen something airborne. I first thought it was an airplane. It looked like slow motion. And I said, my God, it's a car. And it's a vehicle and it's flying through the air.

JONES: Authorities believe the car involved in the explosion was a 2022 Bentley. Sources say the car, coming from the U.S. side of the border on the Rainbow Bridge, went through an initial checkpoint just before noon.

Passports and licenses were checked before the car was directed to another area for a secondary search. After the car speeded to that secondary checkpoint, an explosion occurred. Authorities are investigating what caused the massive explosion, which covered the area in smoke for hours.

HOCHUL: This vehicle basically incinerated. Nothing is left but the engine. The pieces are scattered over 13-14 booths. So, it is a large seam.

JONES: Authorities have not identified the driver, but law enforcement sources say the driver was a man traveling to Canada with his wife to attend a concert by the rock group, Kiss, but going to a casino in the U.S. instead when that was canceled, investigators believe. The crash occurred sometime after the couple left the casino, law enforcement sources tell CNN.

The couple died in the accident. A Border Patrol employee in a booth was also injured. The FBI concluded their investigation saying no ties to terrorism or explosive material was found.

MATTHEW MIRAGLIA, FBI SPECIAL AGENT-IN-CHARGE: We fell at this point that this might be just something that occurred. There's no larger picture here to look at.

JONES: All movement between the U.S. and Canada halted for hours, leaving holiday travelers stuck.

RYAN SMITH, TOURIST: We came over here hoping to see the falls just for the day we walked over. Our car is actually in New York right now.

JONES: The Rainbow Bridge where the accident took place remains closed, while the three other crossings have reopened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can't go home --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not really.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I don't know how long it's going to last.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (on camera): So, it was a frightening few hours here at the U.S.-Canada border behind me that you can still see some activity this morning and some of the damage to the fence, but you cannot see the vehicle.

[07:25:04]

One law enforcement official I talked to last night said he was still kind of keyed up about the heightened state of alert they were under for those few hours, even after authorities had concluded that there were no links to terrorism, no explosives found. The cases are now being referred to local police as a traffic investigation. Erica?

HILL: Athena, I appreciate the reporting this morning. Thank you.

HARLOW: The delay in the hostage release just amping up the anxiety for the families who have been waiting 47 days to be reunited with their loved ones. We will be joined next by a man who had four family members taken by Hamas on October 7th.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We're standing by this morning for an update that we are expecting to get from Qatari officials on potentially the timing of when this hostage deal could begin to take place. Of course, that would also mean a pause in the fighting, the release of hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza that is so desperately needed there.

Right now, the latest that we know from Israeli officials is that it is expected to start on Friday at the earliest, but that delay, of course, is an eternity for the families of the more than 200 hostages who have been.