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CNN This Morning
Qatar To Announce When Israel-Hamas Truce Begins; CEO Of DeSantis Super PAC "Never Back Down" Steps Down; NBA Legend Doc Rivers On Basketball, Leadership, And Family. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired November 23, 2023 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: 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 in limbo for 47, going on 48 days now.
That includes Dani Engel, who joins us now. His brother, his sister- in-law, and his two nieces were taken hostage by Hamas amid those October 7 attacks.
Dani, I can't even imagine what it's like to just -- to just be waiting to hear from press officials at a press conference or really anyone what the status of this is. How hopeful are you feeling right now?
DANI ENGEL, FAMILY HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS (via Webex by Cisco): (INAUDIBLE) Almost 50 days that we are not know nothing about our loved ones. About -- Yuval is only 11 years old. Mika is 18 years old. All the fault of what is happening them -- what was happening to them in that Saturday morning it's hard -- it's hard to get up every morning and make it through the day. And it's very hard to just sit and wait. But when we seen what the Hamas did on that day -- what they made to (INAUDIBLE) -- I think that now it's your time. It's early in the morning and that was almost the morning on Saturday that they were taken in their pajamas from their beds.
I don't want to -- it's very hard to think what happened to them because last week I was in the kibbutz in the house and the Hamas murderers threw a grenade into the house. I don't want to think -- I don't think anybody can imagine what happens if a grenade takes off in your house when your children is there. It's nothing here that you can realize that could happen.
And now we are --
COLLINS: Yeah.
ENGEL: -- just waiting and we know that we are -- it's not somebody that you can really talk to make negotiations of something. We don't know what will happen. You can't trust anything --
COLLINS: And Dani, I wonder --
ENGEL: -- anything because -- yes, I'm listening.
COLLINS: I wonder what you -- I mean, what we have heard from our sources is that this additional deal would be for women and children. And obviously, your brother is one of those hostages, along with his wife and your nieces.
Are you worried that they're going to be potentially split up if your sister-in-law and your nieces are part of that initial release?
ENGEL: All this thing that is -- people -- all the hostages and we don't know exactly how many will come back. It is very hard. And I understand that this is my family. It's harder because when I'm thinking that my brother may not be coming now, if at all, because my brother was -- my brother was with the weapon and on that Saturday morning and he tried to -- I think that he tried to defend his family.
And we are not certain about what is happening with him -- with him. We are not certain of anything but with him it's harder. And we are hoping all the time that Karina, and Yuval, and Mika will come back to us soon.
COLLINS: Yeah, Dani. I think everyone is hoping that. And I'm so sorry that you're having to be on the edge of this waiting to figure out what's going to happen to your family. We are obviously keeping all of you in our -- in our minds as we are waiting and reporting this out. Dani Engel, thank you so much for joining us this morning -- Poppy and Erica.
ENGEL: Thank you.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: It encapsulates how difficult it is for all of these families in these moments.
In the meantime, we do want to update you on this warship patrolling the Red Sea. We're learning it has shot down multiple one-way attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. This is according to U.S. Central Command. Officials adding that the USS Thomas Hudner was not damaged. None of its crew were hurt.
The Israel-Hamas war has inflamed tensions in the Red Sea. On Sunday, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels hijacked a cargo ship linked to Israel. The U.S. has called for the immediate release of the ship and its crew.
[07:35:07]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, to U.S. politics now. Another blow to Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign. The head of its Never Back Down super PAC stepping down. We'll tell you why.
HILL: Plus, President Biden and the first lady Jill Biden announcing they'll travel to Atlanta on Tuesday for a tribute service for Rosalynn Carter. The former first lady died on Sunday at age 96. The Bidens honored her earlier this week saying she, quote, "walked her own path inspiring a nation and the world along the way."
(COMMERCIAL)
HILL: The struggles continue for Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign. Just yesterday, the head of the DeSantis-aligned Never Back Down super PAC stepped down amid reports of infighting over strategy.
HARLOW: In a statement, Chris Jankowski said, quote, "Never Back Down's main goal and sole focus has been to elect Gov. Ron DeSantis as president. Given the current environment, it has become untenable for me to deliver on the shared goal."
With us now, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic, Ron Brownstein. That's kind of quite a statement, right?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC: It really is. Good morning.
HARLOW: Good morning.
BROWNSTEIN: Happy Thanksgiving, guys, and everybody watching.
HARLOW: Happy Thanksgiving.
BROWNSTEIN: Well look, there's been tension for quite a while between this super PAC, which is really just a thinly disguised extension of the campaign -- they are doing more core campaign functions than we've ever seen --
HARLOW: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: -- and the DeSantis campaign. He is someone who has had a tight circle, historically.
Look, the strategy they have chosen so far is not showing a lot of return. I mean, basically, their theory was run at Trump almost entirely from the right, chip away at his support on his kind of core Trump supporters, and get down to a one-on-one choice. And then eventually, people in the center who are the most resistant to Trump will have no choice but to go with Ron DeSantis because he'll be the only alternative standing.
[07:40:03]
Right now, he's not really making much progress on either front. He's -- he hasn't peeled away a lot of Trump supporters and he has left this enormous vacuum in the middle that Nikki Haley has largely filled among the voters who are most resistant to Trump. And she's in the process -- you know, I think many would agree -- of passing him as the one most likely, though not guaranteed, to become the principal alternative to Trump.
HILL: It's fascinating, too, because we had just -- just yesterday, we were talking with you about, of course, the Vander Plaats endorsement that he got --
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HILL: -- in Iowa. And the fact that, too, part of that strategy was also going all in on Iowa --
BROWNSTEIN: All in.
HILL: -- which has not necessarily been shown to work if you look at recent --
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HILL: -- history.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HILL: And yet, that's what they chose.
BROWNSTEIN: The last three Iowa winners did not win more than a dozen states. None of them got even to 12 percent of the vote. In New Hampshire, they all got pigeon-holed, essentially, as the candidate, as we said, of evangelical Christians. And once they had that stamp on them, they had trouble appealing beyond it.
DeSantis hopes that he has a broader appeal. He'll get a chance to show that. But right now, if you look at the results in New Hampshire, he looks like he's on the same track.
Haley hasn't defined herself as clearly ideologically as DeSantis did, but without doubt, the voters -- the more centrist parts of the party are gravitating toward her. Now she is moving -- you know, she's taken some steps to move to the right lately. She said she would sign the six-week abortion ban as governor.
HILL: Yeah, that was (INAUDIBLE).
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. I mean, look, the problem she's got is that even if she consolidates the parts of the party that are the most resistant to Trump, that's not enough to beat Trump even if you get down to the one-on-one choice.
And life comes at you fast. This year's primary is very front-loaded. The most -- the best-case scenario for Haley is probably third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire. Beat Trump in South Carolina. Even if you do that, you then have to turn around on Super Tuesday in early March and compete in a broad array of states. She'll need a broader coalition than she has been able to attract so far.
But it does seem like she has more runaway after Iowa than DeSantis does.
HARLOW: Remind -- so remind people of the history of Nikki Haley surprising people and winning campaigns --
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HARLOW: -- and elections that no one expected her to win. BROWNSTEIN: Yeah -- no. People in South Carolina talk about that all the time. The very first primary, she was not expected to win. I mean, she is putting herself in position for an epic South Carolina primary.
In many ways, this reminds me of what we saw in 2000. George W. Bush won Iowa by consolidating conservatives. John McCain then beat him in New Hampshire unexpectedly. I was having lunch with Karl Rove that day and Mark McKinnon and they left ashen-faced halfway in the middle of the lunch --
HILL: Ooh.
BROWNSTEIN: -- because as the early results were coming in.
But that then set up a month -- three weeks between New Hampshire and South Carolina, which was the best primary I've ever covered in my career, where McCain and Bush dueled in South Carolina. Ultimately, McCain couldn't beat him, you know. Bush won and then won the nomination even though McCain won a few more states.
And that, I think, is what -- the best-case scenario for Haley is that she comes out of New Hampshire with a chance to beat Trump. And she's a plausible candidate, she's credible, and she'll get a chance to make her case in her home state of South Carolina. If she wins that, she can maybe make it a race. If Trump wins that, that's probably the end. And the winner of South Carolina has won the Republican nomination every race since 1980 except for one.
HARLOW: Hmm.
BROWNSTEIN: In 2012, Newt Gingrich won. And the backlash against some of the questions that were asked him at a CNN debate. That was the only time that South Carolina did not pick the Republican winner.
HILL: So it's interesting. Politico has this piece about how she's consolidating -- Haley is consolidating the support of some of the never-Trumpers.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HILL: How she is starting to -- after I think, in their words, they said she was trying to hold space for everyone's feelings --
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HILL: -- up until this point. But as you noted, in this last debate, right, her voicing support for a state six-week abortion ban there has been a lot of back-and-forth with Nikki Haley over the years --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
HILL: -- specifically with Donald Trump, but on a number of issues.
How much does she need to really tell people where she's at in this moment? BROWNSTEIN: Ultimately, she needs to make a stronger case against Trump. I mean, right now, her principal goal is to -- is to elbow out DeSantis as the principal alternative. But if she gets to that point --
HILL: Um-hum.
BROWNSTEIN: -- she's going to have to explain to the majority of Republican voters who are satisfied with Trump's record and basically think he can why it should be her instead of him. She hasn't really done that so far and no one really has.
HARLOW: Ron Brownstein, thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving, guys.
HARLOW: Enjoy the turkey --
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HARLOW: -- and time with the grandkids.
HILL: Happy Thanksgiving.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HARLOW: All right, see you soon.
HILL: We are standing by at this hour for a press conference. We're waiting to hear from Qatari officials on the timing of the pause in fighting and, of course, the release of the hostages being held by Hamas. We'll bring you that.
HARLOW: Also, being a coach is about so much more than just drawing up a play. We sat down with the legendary NBA coach Doc Rivers to talk about his career and a lot more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: What's the best coaching gig you ever had?
RIVERS: Well, you know that gets me in trouble, right --
HARLOW: I don't care.
RIVERS: -- but, Boston.
HARLOW: I don't care.
RIVERS: Boston, by far.
HARLOW: Why?
RIVERS: It was just -- well, we won a title.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL)
[07:48:29]
HARLOW: You don't just coach basketball; you coach life. That is what NBA legend Doc Rivers told me when I sat down with him to talk about his singular career. It has had its ups -- his 2008 title win with the Celtics -- and its downs. He was let go from the Sixers this past May, making this season his first time not coaching in more than two decades.
But through it all he has managed each and every challenge with a message that has defined his career -- don't be a victim. It guided him through one of the league's most painful chapters. Doc Rivers was in his first season as the head coach of the L.A. Clippers in 2014 when owner Donald Sterling was caught making racist remarks in recorded conversations with his girlfriend. And what followed, Doc described to me, was one of the hardest experiences of his life and one that defined his leadership.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS CHIEF ANCHOR: L.A. Clippers owner Don Sterling and those racist comments that rocked professional basketball.
SCOTT PELLEY,CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Sponsor after sponsor deserted the Los Angeles Clippers.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Team owner Donald Sterling clipped (PH) hard and hit fast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unified statement from the Clipper players wearing their warm-up shirts inside-out so the word "Clippers" are not across their chests.
RIVERS: I'm not on the floor until five seconds before the tip-off.
HARLOW: Why?
RIVERS: I'm arguing with Donald Sterling on a cell phone. Donald Sterling was actually going to come to the game.
HARLOW: You're telling him not to come?
RIVERS: I am yelling to the owner of our basketball team he cannot come; he will not come. I'm threatening.
HARLOW: What? To walk out?
[07:50:00]
RIVERS: No, I'm threatening to have the police meet him at the door. I didn't have any of that power. I'm just saying these things. I just knew Donald Sterling sitting across from our bench would be a disaster and I couldn't understand how they didn't know that. No one was happy about it. JJ Redick was just as pissed as Chris Paul, you know, and that's the way it should be. That's adversity that we didn't want but we have it. We have to deal with it.
HARLOW: You were not only the voice for the team, you were the shield.
RIVERS: I was the only thing. We were trying to win a title so I didn't want my players to say something that would become a bigger story than what Donald Sterling did.
HARLOW: Right.
RIVERS: I was so mad at what he did, I wanted the spotlight to stay on him.
Adam was unbelievable.
HARLOW: He really -- well, that was the test of leadership.
RIVERS: That was Adam Silver being tested. The only time I broke down was I got in the car and I called Adam. I said, I need help.
HARLOW: You called him crying?
RIVERS: Yeah. I said, I need help. I'm over -- I'm over my head. And he said I need you for 24 more hours and you're going to be very proud of where we're going. You've just got to get through the day.
ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: Effective immediately, I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA.
HARLOW (voice-over): Leading the Clippers through the Donald Sterling crisis was far from the only time legendary NBA coach Doc Rivers has been confronted with over racism and hate. He lost nearly everything after his home was burned down in San Antonio.
RIVERS: Someone broke in our house and burned our house down -- arson -- skinheads -- not for anything that I did; just because of the color of my skin.
And R.C. Buford, who was the president and GM of the Spurs -- he literally ran into the house on fire where the firemen told him he couldn't go in because it was completely on fire and saved my Ali photo that I have and this boxing glove. It reminds me of what Ali went through and the tough things that he had to fight.
We still live in a country that is really not reconciled --
HARLOW: No.
RIVERS: -- from doing something really bad.
HARLOW: I want to play something for you. You're in the bubble --
RIVERS: Yeah.
HARLOW: -- and Jacob Blake is a 29-year-old Black man shot seven times by a white police officer.
RIVERS: Um-hum.
HARLOW: And I want to play -- this is part of that press conference.
RIVERS: We've been hung, we've been shot, and all you do is keep hearing about fear. It's amazing why we keep loving this country and this country has not loved us back.
Hmm, I've never watched that ever. It's funny -- that still touches me. I didn't mean to get emotional. That was not a prepared -- that was me speaking from my heart and I believed that -- that was a cop, so that one really touched me. That one really bothered me, yeah.
HARLOW: And yet, you played.
RIVERS: Yeah. You can't be a victim. You just can't.
I really believe by doing your job shows a strength that you're not getting to me. You're not affecting me. I'm going to keep going forward and keep moving forward.
HARLOW (voice-over): Growing up as the youngest son of Grady and Betty Rivers in Chicago in the 1960s during the civil rights movement, shaped the man Doc Rivers would become.
RIVERS: My dad was tough. My mom was tough on loving and just sacrificed everything. I don't ever remember my mom buying a new dress. My mom did everything for us. I'm trying to say this without being emotional but when you had two parents and they're both gone you don't realize how tough that is. Because for me, whenever I had problems, I always called them. And then when you lose them you realize that you're an orphan.
HARLOW: Yeah.
RIVERS: Thank God that they were so good that they make me emotional just thinking about them.
HARLOW: What's the best coaching gig you ever had?
RIVERS: Well, you know that gets me in trouble, right --
HARLOW: I don't care.
RIVERS: -- but, Boston.
HARLOW: I don't care.
RIVERS: Boston, by far.
HARLOW: Why?
RIVERS: And it's just -- well, we won a title.
HARLOW: I think back to the Celtics in 2008 -- open your hearts.
RIVERS: Yeah.
HARLOW: What's that about?
RIVERS: I believe for you to be a champion you have to open up your heart. You have to take a step out. You have to risk. You have to get out of your comfort zone. You have to give yourself to the team.
And we had this word "Ubuntu." You know, a person is a person through other people. I can't be all I can be unless you are all you can be.
HARLOW: That we are nothing alone.
RIVERS: We are nothing alone and you can't live in isolation.
HARLOW: Do you think more about the wins or the losses?
RIVERS: No. I wish I thought about the wins. That would be great. No -- because I've had so many more wins than losses, but you don't think about them. It's a -- it's a curse. It's a coach's curse.
[07:55:07]
HARLOW: You said I'm not going to coach the man you are; I'm going to coach the man you're going to be.
RIVERS: I'm not going to coach you to who you are today. I'm going to coach you to who you should be someday. And if you can achieve that then you will be satisfied. And I won't be satisfied if I don't push you to achieve that.
HARLOW: You walked in here and I said, "Hi, coach."
RIVERS: Yeah.
HARLOW: But do you think, in many ways, you're also a teacher?
RIVERS: I am a teacher. I think that's what a coach is for the most part. You know, I got it wrong. Really, in coaching, I thought you just coach basketball, and then I realized you coach life.
HARLOW: That's sort of an anthem of your life --
RIVERS: Yeah, it is.
HARLOW: -- right?
RIVERS: It should be the anthem of everybody's life because I think most people think success is just like that, and that is not true. This is how it looks, and we should understand that. And the bumps are just part of the ride -- it really is.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HARLOW: You know, I walked out of that interview with Doc Rivers changed because I can't stop thinking about how he's lived his life -- don't be a victim.
HILL: Um-hum.
HARLOW: Character is defined by how we deal with the worst things in our life --
HILL: Um-hum.
HARLOW: -- not the best things. Not when it's easy. So I'm really grateful to him for opening my eyes to that. And I learn so much sitting down with these coaches.
HILL: It was -- it was such a great interview. I love -- I love this series.
HARLOW: Thank you.
HILL: And I do love what he said about can it be --
HARLOW: You know, I'm not a sports girl --
HILL: I know you're not.
HARLOW: -- so maybe it's a surprise to people.
HILL: But I think that's why it really works, too.
HARLOW: Ah, thanks.
HILL: You're coming, right, and you're getting those lessons not just as someone who is an (INAUDIBLE) maybe with basketball, right, but because you want to learn from this coach and from this teacher.
HARLOW: I think coaches right now are some of the best leaders in America and we're highlighting that. We'll have another one for you next month.
My deep thanks to Doc Rivers. He's now lead analyst for basketball on ESPN. And he hasn't ruled out coaching again, so maybe we'll see that.
HILL: Ah, ah -- there we go.
We are, of course, still standing by for this press conference. We're waiting to hear from Qatari officials for an update on the timing on the pause in fighting and also the release, of course, of its hostages held by Hamas. We're keeping a very close watch on that and we'll bring that to you as soon as it happens.
HARLOW: And after they are freed, the Israeli hostages face the daunting task of how do you even get back to somewhat of a normal life after enduring such trauma. We will be joined by a doctor who will help transition them back into society. The unique physical and emotional challenges they face, especially the children. (COMMERCIAL)
