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Hagai Levine and Sharone Lifschitz are Interviewed about the Released Hostages; Biden to Push for Extended Pause in Fighting. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 27, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also, Thomas Hand spoke with CNN when he thought his little girl had been murdered. Well, look at that, now she is back in his arms. Their remarkable reunion, next.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: There are more and more images coming in of hostages being reunited with their families after nearly 50 days in Hamas captivity. Like the Brodesh (ph) family, who reunited with their father at Schneider Children's Medical Center. But some of the freed hostages are now facing severe medical issues, like 84-year-old Elma Avraham, who is now in an Israeli hospital. She was flown there following her release yesterday. Hospital officials tell us she's in critical condition in the ICU due to, quote, significant medical neglect during her time in captivity.

Joining us now are two people with different vantage points of what it's like dealing with hostages after their release. Dr. Hagai Levine is the head of the medical team for Hostages and Missing Families Forum, and Sharone Lifschitz, whose 85-year-old mother, Yocheved Lifschitz, was freed form Hamas captivity last month. Sherome's father, Oded, was also kidnapped on October 7th and is believed to still be in Hamas captivity.

I want to thank you both for joining us this morning.

[08:35:02]

Professor Levine, I want to start with you because it's our understanding that you were with Elma and her family last night. What can you tell us about her condition?

DR. HAGAI LEVINE, HEAD OF MEDICAL TEAM, HOSTAGES AND MISSING FAMILIES FORUM: Yes. I've been with Elma Abraham and children yesterday night and today. And she is now in critical condition. She's simply fighting for her life. She's now ventilated. She came in a very, very poor condition.

Obviously, in a state of total neglect, both medically, but also from the basic human rights and dignity. Her body temperature was 28.5 Celsius degrees, which seems like for a long time like that her body - her body was full of bruise. Not clear, maybe she was taken like sack of potato from place to place. This is how (INAUDIBLE). No human being should suffer this kind of suffering.

And I might say - I must say personally, because I have been with the family in meetings with the Red Cross, we told them that this is what could happen if she would not get her medications, that she could be dying. And it's a disgrace for all of us, as a world, as mankind, that this beautiful, you know, woman who was a grandmother, raising her grandchildren, and happy with life, and well-adjusted and independent before she was abducted, although she had medical problem (ph), she reached such state for 51 days in captivity.

And her family requested me to come to you and tell her story to save the others because we can still save the other hostages. We must release them, or those who are not released now, at the very least, to allow a Red Cross visit to treat them now, today, because they could be dying.

MATTINGLY: Professor, just to follow up, before I get to Sharone, the -- when you talk about being moved from place to place, is there information about how she was transferred at various points? There's so little we know about kind of the day-to-day for the hostages. What do you mean by that?

LEVINE: We can't ask her because she's not conscious. She could not communicate with her children. And it was, you know, heartbreaking to see how they tried to tell her, you are now in good hands after you've been in the bad hands of the Hamas. You - you -- we - we love you. We want to speak with you. You are now in Israel. And she didn't answer.

So, we don't know what kind of passage she had, but we know from her CT scan how poorly she was treated. We know from her blood samples that it's been a long time that she was not with it. And you know some of her medications are rather simple, thyroxine (ph) for thyroid problem. It easily can be given in Gaza. It's really shame that she was not given this medications, which could have been given if the Red Cross would be there.

MATTINGLY: Sharone, I have thought often about the words we heard from your mother after she was released, the strength to give what I think amounted almost to a press conference about what had transpired, describing her experience. Just to start, how is she? It's been several weeks now, how is she?

SHARONE LIFSCHITZ, MOTHER FREED LAST MONTH BY HAMAS: My mom is OK. I'm going to refer to what Professor Hagai just said because, you know, we know now, from the early return hostages, that my father was seen alive in Gaza and we know that he was injured but OK. And my father, too, has very - varied medical conditions. He had cancer. He has fluctuating blood pressure.

And listening to Hadai here brings back home, and I'm kind of hard able to speak just now, it really brings back home how complicated this situation is, how desperate we are, how these elderly people must come home now, that we need to get them home now. There's no time to waste. And the world must do what it can to bring them. The Red Cross, the U.N. These are people that were taken alive. They are peaceful people. I - I am lost for words just hearing this now.

MATTINGLY: I can't imagine the pain in this moment. What other -- if I can ask, information, do you have? There has been, as you noted, some information. Do you know anything more, particularly in the wake of the most recent releases?

LIFSCHITZ: Well, we knew before that my father's DNA was identified in Gaza. We knew from my mom that my father was injured. We're the first people that came from my kibbutz, kibbutz Nir Oz, that still have over 60 hostages, including 12 children.

[08:40:02]

From my kibbutz, we knew that my father was injured. The last we knew about him was that he was taken to Gaza, but we did not know if he was dead or alive. Since then, we heard that he was alive and seen in Gaza for sure and that he had injuries in his legs, but they were not life- threatening as such.

But my father too needs his medicine. He needs it urgently. He will not survive very long without it. And we know also that he may - he might be not well now. So, this is really the case that Hadai is speaking about is bringing forward the urgency, the absolute urgency of everybody now seeking to extending this exchange of hostages to continue beyond the 50. There is an opportunity here for many more. We must come to releasing the elderly people too. We must then work to release all hostages. This is unacceptable.

MATTINGLY: You know, as those talks continues right now, and I think the urgency is certainly understood.

Professor Levine, for the hostages that have been released, what is the path ahead? What should, for caretakers, for family members, what should - what should the considerations be as they deal with 50-plus days in captivity and now being free?

LEVINE: They face a long phase of recovery mentally, physically, also here in Soroka Medical Center, also hospitalized, Maya Regev. Maya had a gunshot in the leg and was operated here and she now will face a physical recovery for injury, but also mental recovery. It has been a long time for them and they really need the families with them, they really need professionals from all aspect, from diet and psychology and medical issues and dental issues to recover.

They are in good hands. I met with Sharone Lifschitz, and her mother, Yocheved, and me and the others were very pleased to see Yocheved and others recover. But there are still shades for a long time.

And, you know, for all of the released hostages and also for Maya Regev, for example, they have other family members for her, (INAUDIBLE), still in Gaza. So, it's very difficult in terms of, you know, when there is traumatic event, you are in a safe place now, you can recover. The event is over. But for them, the event is not over for all of us. As long as there are still hostages, some of them family members, still there, they could not really recover. And this is something that I don't sleep well at night because of

that. And I think that everyone with a heart cannot sleep well at night when there are baby, 10 months old baby (INAUDIBLE) is still in captivity. And there are elderly people who really need their medications and there are people with all kinds of problems and no one deserves to be in the dark for so long without a sign of life. We are very concerned, although we do have some hope because we see that for some of them who were released, they are able to slowly recover.

MATTINGLY: Yes, the complexity of the cross-cutting emotions here, I don't even know that you could put words to it.

Dr. Hadai Levine, we appreciate your time.

Sharone Lifschitz, please keep us posted with whatever you need. Certainly we are all hoping for the release of your father soon.

Thank you both.

LIFSCHITZ: You're welcome.

LEVINE: Thank you.

HARLOW: Really powerful to hear from them together.

Well, nine-year-old Emily Hand, she was held hostage by Hamas for 50 days. Now, look at this. That is her being freed on Saturday. She was reunited with her father at a hospital in Israel. Her father, Thomas Hand, spoke to CNN really multiple times throughout this harrowing ordeal.

First, in the immediate aftermath of the attack on their kibbutz, and then about his efforts lobbying for his daughter's release.

Here is a look at their remarkable journey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice over): A reunion 50 days in the making.

THOMAS HAND, DAUGHTER HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: We finally got Emily back from the hands of the Gazan terrorists. She's lost a lot of weight from her face and body, but generally doing better than we expected.

HARLOW (voice over): Nine-year-old Irish citizen Emily Hand was freed on day two of the truce between Israel and Hamas. She was taken hostage when Hamas attacked kibbutz Be'eri on October 7th. Her father says she was sleeping at a neighbor's house when militants stormed the kibbutz in the early morning hours.

[08:45:00]

He waited two agonizing days for news of his daughter.

HAND: They just said, we found Emily. She's dead. And I went, yes. I went, yes, and smiled because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew. She was either dead or in Gaza. And if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death.

HARLOW (voice over): Thomas Hand planned to bury his daughter beside her mother, who died of cancer when Emily was two years old. Weeks later, the Israeli army informed Hand that they believed Emily was alive and being held hostage in Gaza. Her father agonized over her upcoming ninth birthday.

HAND: She won't even know what day it is. She won't know what day it is. She won't know it's her birthday. There'll be no birthday cake, no party, no friends. It will just be petrified in a tunnel under Gaza.

HARLOW (voice over): Hand worked nonstop lobbying for his daughter's release. He traveled to New York to feature Emily on a billboard on Times Square on her ninth birthday. Hand says his entire focus now is on helping his daughter heal.

HAND: I'm not going to send her to school for at least a year. We're - we're going to give her the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (on camera): He plans to take her to Disney World, he has said, and Beyonce and everything fun that she deserves.

MATTINGLY: Just ached for that moment to actually come, that we saw, of them embracing. It's -

HARLOW: And it came.

MATTINGLY: President Biden said the U.S. will push to extend the military pause as he faces growing pressure from his own party over the rising civilian casualties in Gaza.

HARLOW: Also this morning, Israeli officials met, look at that, with Elon Musk, who traveled to Israel after he shared an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on X. Pretty striking to see him there now with Benjamin Netanyahu. More on that reporting ahead.

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[08:51:33]

HARLOW: Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING. Here are "5 Things" to know for this Monday, November 27th.

Hamas and Israel both open to extending the temporary truce. It is set to expire today. Israel says it will pause fighting for an extra day for each ten additional hostages released.

MATTINGLY: But there is a delay with today's hostage release. Outstanding issues regarding the number of mothers on the list is putting an exchange on a slight hold, at least for now.

HARLOW: Elon Musk met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, touring a kibbutz that was attacked on October 7th. This visit comes after Musk amplified anti-Semitic comments on X.

MATTINGLY: And yesterday set a new record as the busiest day at American airports. The TSA says it screened nearly 3 million passengers.

HARLOW: Tomorrow, President Biden and the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, will attend a tribute in Atlanta for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died at the age of 96.

Those are "5 Things" to know this morning. Don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast.

To politics now.

President Biden says the U.S. will push to extend the military pause in Gaza as he faces growing pressure from some within his own party and some within the White House over rising civilian casualties there.

Joining us now, Jamal Simmons, who served as Biden's deputy assistant and communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Jamal, great to have you at the table, as always.

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

HARLOW: "The Washington Post" really laid out this division within the White House extraordinarily well. I think 27 interviews, those reporters did, within the White House about a key meeting that happened between some of the top folks around the president and younger staffers who are -- who don't see proportionality here in terms of the response.

SIMMONS: Yes.

HARLOW: What did you make of that and what it means for where the president is going to be on Israel going forward?

SIMMONS: Look, I think a couple things are happening this morning, Poppy. Good to see you both.

A couple things are happening.

One, there is a real tragedy that's happening in Israel that happened on October 7th. Hamas -- what's happening, the Hamas attack. There's another tragedy that's happening inside of Gaza, where we see so many kids, 1,200 people died in Israel October 7th. Ten times that number or more have died, women and children, in Gaza. So, what you're seeing in a Democratic Party is a real reckoning over these two paths, these two things that are happening. And it's happening also inside the White House.

And now what's different about this White House that's happened in previous administrations is it's a generational divide. It's a -

HARLOW: Yes. SIMMONS: Now you've got a lot of young people who are inside the White House who, instead of, you know, back in my day, you know, when I was a young White House staffer in the Clinton administration, you would argue your case with your superior, right? You'd present some evidence. You'd talk about your concerns. Then your superior was sort of either, you need to convince them to go along with you, or they had a different position. And that would be the position that they would take.

Today, that's not what's happening. You're seeing young people taking on and having their own say. And you've got the White House chief of staff, Anita Dunn, others coming together to kind of talk about what's happening. And so that's a very different thing. And I think we're going to see the president sort of wrestle through this.

But let me just say this, the Democratic caucus, the Democratic Party writ large seems to agree with where Joe Biden is, which is that Israel is our ally, we stand fast with Israel. Then they're going to argue with Israel about what to do about how to minimize the damage that may be taking place.

MATTINGLY: Is that not a generational issue as well, though, because I think younger Democrats, younger progressive-leaning members of the party, that coalition, and I think they are critical to the electoral coalition, are in a different place than where President Biden is on this issue than where the last generation of Democrats may be.

[08:55:03]

Is that fair?

SIMMONS: Yes, that's probably what's happening in the Democratic caucus on The Hill as well.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

SIMMONS: Which is that, you know, younger Democrats, more diverse Democrats, are raising questions that older democrats aren't really -- aren't raising in the same way.

HARLOW: Well, unless you're Bernie - unless you're Bernie Sanders.

SIMMONS: Right, right, unless you're Bernie Sanders. But even Bernie Sanders isn't for a total ceasefire. What he's saying is perhaps there should be conditionality on the - on the (INAUDIBLE).

HARLOW: Oh, he's not saying perhaps there should be conditionality, he's saying there needs to be conditionality. (INAUDIBLE) and Chris Murphy echoing that.

SIMMONS: Yes, well, you know, the Leahy Law, which is already on the books, says that the U.S. cannot give money to a security force that's committing humanitarian problems. So, I think that the - so there is question about what -- you need a new law, right? The law may already be on -- exist on the books. The question is now kind of is this -- does this law apply to the IDF. And we don't know if that's the case. But let me just say this.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

SIMMONS: I think in the Democratic Party this is a real problem, which is why I think you're hearing Bernie Sanders echoing this, you're hearing Murphy say this, because what do we do about young Democrats who are really raising this and are going to be critical to Democratic support in the next election? And so how they reckon through that -

MATTINGLY: Is there an answer to that?

SIMMONS: Listen, this is what - this is what the argument's about. I think the White House has taken a position and I think you've got some members of Congress who are looking for a door that's based on values to have a conversation to bring both wings of the Democratic Party together to find a solution.

HARLOW: Quite a conundrum really when this president -

MATTINGLY: Yes. Sorry, my pause was trying to think how you actually balance that.

HARLOW: Well, and you know this from covering the White House. I mean this president,, it's been pretty clear that politics and polling on this has not, so far, changed what he has said about standing side-by- side with Israel on this.

SIMMONS: Yes.

HARLOW: So, we'll have you back as this continues.

SIMMONS: There -- there are also about 130 or so former Obama and Biden staffers who has written a public letter who support the president's position.

MATTINGLY: Who support, yes.

HARLOW: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

SIMMONS: So, the -- the reports of internal strife may be overwritten.

MATTINGLY: We'll have to see.

Jamal Simmons, we appreciate it, as always. Thank you. HARLOW: Thank you.

SIMMONS: Thank you.

HARLOW: And thanks so much for starting your week with us. We will see you right back here tomorrow. But it is a very big day ahead as this hostage release is anticipated in just hours. Stay with CNN for all of that.

"NEWS CENTRAL" is next.

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