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IDF Rescues Four Israeli Hostages During Deadly Raid In Gaza; Trump Hold First Campaign Rally Since Conviction; Caitlin Clark "Motivated" By Being Left Off Olympic Team. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 10, 2024 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:25]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:30 a.m. here in Washington. A beautiful look at New York City on this Monday morning where the sun is coming up. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
New details coming to light this morning about the Israeli raid, which rescued four hostages from Hamas over the weekend. This new video edited and provided by the Israeli military appears to show helmet camera from Israeli soldiers coming under fire while rescuing those hostages. One resident of a refugee camp in Gaza claims he saw special forces with the Israeli military disguise themselves as Hamas fighters and Palestinian civilians during the operation.
The operation did come at a great human cost. Scores of Palestinians dead. Just how many, we don't know. Gaza's Health Ministry says the number is at least 274. Israel says it's fewer than 100.
I am joined now by Joel Rubin. He is the former deputy assistant Secretary of State in the Obama White House. Joel, good morning to you. Wonderful to see you this morning.
JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Good morning, Kasie -- thanks.
HUNT: Let's start with the raid for people who are down on a summer weekend just waking up to this news -- these four hostages rescued. This clearly was something that -- I mean, Israeli families of hostages have been increasingly more and more upset about the fact that their loved ones have remained in captivity.
What does this mean for them?
RUBIN: Yeah, it was a dramatic rescue without a doubt, and at a very high cost, as you described with Palestinian loss of life.
What it means is that the Israeli Defense Forces -- for a day, for a moment -- restored confidence in the Israeli public about their capacity to deliver and to get their people out. But in the big picture, the best way to get Israeli hostages out has been through deals. Through a ceasefire for hostage exchange like the one that we saw back in November.
So a good day for Israeli unity. It didn't last long. Obviously, the politics in Israel are very dicey with Benny Gantz now exiting the coalition government. But it was something that the Israeli public has been demanding and now they want more action. They want to see the prime minister lean in on getting a deal to get these hostages out.
HUNT: Of course, the toll here was very high in terms of --
RUBIN: Yeah.
HUNT: -- Palestinian life. It also served to highlight some of the tactics that Hamas uses.
RUBIN: That's right.
HUNT: Talk a little bit more about where these hostages were found and why there was perhaps so much collateral damage. Obviously, much of it should be laying at the feet of the Israeli forces that invaded here, but that's not the only thing at play.
RUBIN: Not at all, Kasie. And you're right -- it was a despicable display of how Hamas devalues Palestinian life. To be very clear, these hostages were held in private civilian homes. They were there for months, and they were in the midst of what everyone in those areas knew was a civilian area. So Israel, by finding these individuals and by rescuing them, it was clear that there were going to be civilian casualties.
Hamas doesn't care about Palestinian civilian life. I know we've talked about this before, but this is perhaps one of the most stark examples of that. If they cared about Palestinian civilian life they would be agreeing to the ceasefire proposal that has been out there and discussed. Secretary Blinken is going out to the region to try to push for this.
But in the meantime, Hamas is embedding hostages in civilian areas with the clear understanding that this will cost Palestinian civilian lives for a propaganda bonus and maybe for Hamas. But I don't see how this is a real bonus for anybody in the middle of this conflict. They clearly are not looking at civilians as something to protect inside of Gaza.
[05:35:06]
HUNT: So let's talk big picture for a second. You mentioned Benny Gantz, of course --
RUBIN: Yeah.
HUNT: -- announcing over the weekend that he's going to leave the war cabinet. He is, of course, someone that the U.S. has really relied on in the course of these negotiations and this push for a ceasefire that President Biden actually announced on a recent --
RUBIN: Yeah. HUNT: -- Friday.
Here is what Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, had to say over the weekend. Let's watch.
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JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He thinks the best way to get all of the hostages home is in a deal where they're brought out diplomatically where there's no need for military operations to get every last hostage out. What we would much prefer to see is a ceasefire where the hostages come out peacefully. That is available. Israel has said yes to it. Now Hamas needs to say yes to it. That's where President Biden's full effort, energy, and attention is.
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HUNT: So, bottom line, Joel, what's the holdup?
RUBIN: Well, the holdup is Hamas. The holdup is that Hamas does not want to agree to a ceasefire that essentially pushes them out of power. And that's the genius of this proposal, which is that it lays out a roadmap for preventing at the end state a resurgence of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Now, that is, of course, very frustrating as well to the White House because what we're seeing is the far-right ministers in Israel's government rejecting that proposal as well. And now, with Benny Gantz leaving the coalition, it gives them a little more power in the near term. But it also puts the question to the Israeli public -- and I think this is why the president did go public with his proposal to get the Israel public to recognize the stakes. To put it back in the political arena this question about how to end this war in a manner that we don't see a Hamas resurgence in Gaza.
And so, the holdup right now is that Hamas understands that this proposal is against their interest and that's why we see the secretary going out. That's why it's frustrating that it's not yet done. But Hamas -- they're hoping for more days of violence, like on Saturday, where they don't have to make this agreement. And that means more Palestinian lives are put at risk.
HUNT: All right, Joel Rubin for us this morning. Joel, always appreciate you.
RUBIN: Thanks, Kasie.
HUNT: Thanks very much for being here.
All right, let's go now to politics. Donald Trump trying to win over voters in Nevada, a key swing state, with his first official campaign rally since he was convicted on felony charges.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll tell you what. No third-world country has weaponization where they go after political candidates like we have either. This guy can't get elected anything without cheating. The only way he can get elected is to cheat.
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HUNT: So, all of those folks enduring triple-digit temperatures as Trump rallied them at an outdoor event in Las Vegas. And Nevada, of course, is one of a handful of states that could help decide the presidential election this fall. A new CBS poll shows Trump in a virtual tie in a head-to-head race with President Biden, both nationally and in these key swing states.
Today, Trump is scheduled to have a hearing with his probation officer ahead of his sentencing next month in New York. CNN has learned today's interview will be virtual with his attorney, Todd Blanche, present.
Joining me now to discuss, Nicholas Johnston, the publisher of Axios. Nick, good morning. Great to have you here.
NICHOLAS JOHNSTON, PUBLISHER, AXIOS, FORMER MANAGING EDITOR, BLOOMBERG: Good morning. Great to be here.
HUNT: So, yeah, probation hearing for a presumptive presidential nominee.
JOHNSTON: Yeah, that sentence you just -- that sentence you just read off the teleprompter there I think speaks to the kind of interesting election we're in, where that sentence one --
HUNT: Interesting, yeah.
JOHNSTON: -- tied across the country. Tied in swing states.
HUNT: Understatement, yes.
JOHNSTON: Sentence two, one of the candidates will have a virtual interview with his probation officer today.
HUNT: Yeah. That CBS poll actually interesting because it's one of the first things -- places where we seem to see maybe a little bit of movement.
JOHNSTON: Yeah, yeah.
HUNT: Obviously, the official way we talk about it is that it's tied. There's no clear leader. But there is a little bit of movement toward Biden compared to where this poll previously was.
What does that tell you?
JOHNSTON: It's pretty -- I think it's pretty clear across the board that with -- again, within the margin of errors in all of these polls, we've seen a slight polling bump for Biden.
And then a lot of the surveys where the vast majority of people say the conviction won't have any impact. There is 20-30 percent of Republicans who say it will. And remember, we've been talking about for months and months and months this is a very tight election. For Donald Trump to win he needs to get more voters than he needs to get the last time. And so far, being convicted of a felony in New York is not leading to more voters for that.
But again, all of these are in the margin of errors -- like, going from Trump up two to Biden up one -- that is essentially a coin-flip election still.
HUNT: Yeah, it is -- yes, very, very, very close.
So let's listen a little bit to some of what Trump had to say in this --
JOHNSTON: Yeah.
HUNT: -- rally over the weekend because there were a couple of things that stood out to us, including how the former president talked about -- well, I mean, he always uses very often inflammatory language about Joe Biden -- but in this case, he was talking about suicide as well. Let's watch this.
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TRUMP: You were there. This is a front-row Joe. He's at every one. This guy -- wouldn't it be incredible -- he's gone to 250 -- if he voted for Biden? He's going to vote for Biden, I don't think so. I think he'd -- it would be suicide before Biden, right?
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HUNT: A bit extreme.
JOHNSTON: I don't know how front-row Joe thought about that. I think we're seeing that this is Trump being Trump.
Like, we've been -- like there's a big conversation a lot about how much will he stick to the issues. There's polling out over the weekend that shows what a strong issue the economy is as opposed to a conviction. And so, can Trump come out and just talk about the economy and immigration for the next six months? I think that little snippet shows that will remain a challenge for some of the president's -- former president's advisers. They've got to do that.
HUNT: Yeah.
Let's talk about Nevada specifically --
JOHNSTON: Yeah.
HUNT: -- for a second. Trump also was up there. This was sort of a typical line, but he said it in front of a crowd. Again, it's a very -- it's a heavily Hispanic state. Let's watch what Trump had to say about Hispanic and African American voters.
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TRUMP: Joe Biden is also waging an all-out war on the workers of America, especially African Americans. And Hispanic Americans and African Americans are the ones suffering most with this incredible illegal alien group that's coming in.
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HUNT: So, this is typical -- this is pretty for how Trump --
JOHNSTON: Yeah.
HUNT: -- talks about this kind of thing. But I think what's going on in Nevada is particularly interesting. I will say I have talked to a lot of sources recently who think that it actually may go for Trump --
JOHNSTON: Yeah.
HUNT: -- this time around. And it's part of -- it's -- part of the reason is because of some of the themes that he is talking about there.
There are a lot of workers -- the tourism economy, casino workers -- who, in the past, have gone for Democrats who may actually go Republican this time.
JOHNSTON: Yeah.
HUNT: What is -- what are you hearing about that?
JOHNSTON: This is a big -- I mean, again, this is a coin-flip election. There's a lot of things happening that people don't really understand because this is such a different election than ones previously.
And I think one of the ones the Republicans are trying to capitalize is those inroads on minority voters with Hispanic Americans and with African Americans as well. That's clear in the polling data that Donald Trump is doing better with those groups than previous Republican candidates. And I think that the -- his campaign -- his advisers see that as a huge, massive opportunity.
Again, the same way that it's a small amount of those Republican voters are moved by the conviction, if a small amount of minority voters are moved by some of the president's -- former president's economic arguments, that's the election right there.
HUNT: All on the line.
All right, Nick Johnston for us. Nick, always grateful to have you.
JOHNSTON: Great to be here.
HUNT: Thank you. All right. Coming up next, an update on the condition of those four rescued Israeli hostages. Plus, Caitlin Clark rebounding. How she's turning rejection into motivation.
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[05:47:03]
HUNT: All right, welcome back.
Eight months of prayers for four families finally answered this weekend as the Israeli military managed to pull four Hamas hostages from two locations to safety.
One of the hostages rescued, Noa Argamani. She was kidnapped by Hamas from that music festival and was seen on video being forced onto the back of a motorbike. Noa's father said that the reunion that she had with her family was difficult. Her mother has late-stage brain cancer and was unable to express her feelings.
Professor Hagai Levine is the head of the health team at the Hostages and Missing Family Forum and joins me now from Tel Aviv. Professor, thank you so much for being here.
Noa is being treated at the same hospital as her mother is. What are the primary concerns for her as she tries to recover after spending eight months in captivity?
HAGAI LEVINE, PROFESSOR, HADDASAH MEDICAL CENTER AND HEBREW UNIVERSITY (via Webex by Cisco): Well, of course, it's very emotional to be back in Israel to meet her mother. Unfortunately, her mother is very, very sick and we are even sure if she understood that Noa is here. That's terrible. That shows that when the innocent people were kidnapped, also the families were kidnapped.
And we see and we also know Almog's father Yossi's funeral was last night and he did not -- he just died a few hours because he received before the news that his son is arriving.
About Noa, I cannot disclose her personal information but I can say in general, she's in a much better shape than what we were concerned. There are not only psychological but also physical issues related to captivity. I brought her personally the glasses that she needed for eight months where she had to use contact lenses. Obviously, it's not good for her eyes.
And now she has a struggle because her mother is so sick. So it's the joyfulness of coming back home and she cannot be completely happy. And her friend -- 120 hostages, including her friend, (INAUDIBLE), was still in captivity.
HUNT: Can you give us a sense for the others who also were rescued what their physical condition was like, what their mental state was like, and what the coming months are going to look like for them?
[05:50:00] LEVINE: So, Almog, Andrey, and Shlomi were together for a long period of time. I must say that their resilience and their support of each other are remarkable. It's really showed us what the human spirit can do. And, you know the stress -- any time in captivity could be your last moment. Sometimes, it's a small anecdote as they taught each other languages and they taught them Russian and some Arabic and staying together with all their physical and mental and other assaults (PH) it's also very reassuring in a sense to see how they were able to cope with the situation.
Which reminds me, you know, the stories about Carmal Gat, who is a student at the Hebrew University where I teach for occupational therapy, and she provided yoga lessons for, remains in captivity. We don't know what is going on with her right now.
It's clear they will need a very long recovery process.
And Shlomi cannot return to his home up in the north because there is war going on there and his home is attacked.
And it will take months and years. It's also -- for the other families, it's great joy but the concern is enormous. They cannot really -- the released hostages -- they cannot really fully recover when they know that their friends are still there.
And I must say with some worry because today, in the Israeli Parliament, the families of the hostages were attacked by the extreme right-wing members of the Parliament which, in a way, told them that they should be sacrificed. I am sorry to say that.
And we know that the only way to get all the 120 hostages back, dead or alive, is by a deal. There was a deal that was put on the table by President Biden and I think it's -- all of us -- and I am -- through your show I want to deliver to the world we must put the pressure on the Hamas and its allies to accept the offer and to stop the bloodshed and release all the hostages. Because all of them are entitled to go back home.
HUNT: All right. Professor Hagai Levine for us this morning. Sir, thanks very much for your time. I really appreciate it.
LEVINE: Thank you very much, Kasie.
HUNT: All right, time now for sports.
The Boston Celtics now just two wins away from a record-breaking 18th NBA Championship after rallying and then holding off the Dallas Mavericks in game two of the NBA Finals.
Coy Wire has this morning's Bleacher Report. Coy, good morning.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Top of the morning to you, Kasie.
The Celtics faced pressure all season of past playoff failures and being the league's best team, but it looks like they have what it takes this time around. Mavs star Luka Doncic in the pregame was all wrapped up and icing up
and was potentially going to miss game two with everything from his chest to his knee banged up. But he did go and he did register a triple-double. Thirty-two points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists.
But the Celtics were just too much. One of the unsung heroes, Jrue Holiday, clamp-down defense. He calls himself the "Utility Guy." But he leads the team in scoring last night with 26. He was nine for nine in the paint.
And watch this effort. The Mavs have a chance to bring it within three with under a minute to go, but Jaylen Brown and Derrick White hustle and block the shot. Brown finished with 21. White and Tatum, 18.
The Celtics take a 2-0 series lead with a 105-98 win.
Here's the two-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist Holiday on what makes this year's Celtics so special.
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JRUE HOLIDAY, GUARD, BOSTON CELTICS: I think when you sacrifice together and you do something together, it brings you closer. I think being able to go through wins and losses and to build something, it means a lot, and I think that's what this team has done. From one to 15, somebody has sacrificed something. So it's been great and the journey has been awesome, but at the end of the day, the job is not done.
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WIRE: Scottie Scheffler has been through it all over the past month. He and his wife Meredith welcoming their first child, his arrest at the PGA Championship in Louisville, and then having the charges dropped.
Yesterday, he found himself back on top, winning the Memorial Tournament, finishing eight under. It's his fifth win in his last eight starts -- his first win since baby Bennet, though.
Scheffler full of emotion after the win.
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SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, 5TH WIN OF 2024: Yeah, it's pretty fun. Yeah, it's -- yeah, it's fun. He's getting a full sunburn right now, it looks like, but it's all good. This tournament is very special to us and it will be for a long time because of this moment.
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WIRE: The future of tennis is in good hands with 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who rallied from being down two sets to one to claim his first French Open title. He's now the youngest man to win a grand slam on all three surfaces, running around like the Tasmanian Devil, bewildering.
[05:55:00]
Alexander Zverev on the famous clay.
Alcarez falling to the ground in victory and then going over to give mom and dad a big old hug. He said he's been dreaming of winning the French Open since he was five years old.
And finally, Caitlan Clark has commented on not being picked to play for Team USA at the Paris Olympics next month. The Indian Fever rookie phenom who has helped shatter women's hoops viewership and attendance records says being left off the roster will only make her better -- listen.
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CAITLIN CLARK, GUARD, INDIANA FEVER: Honestly, no disappointment. Like, I think it just gives you something to work for. That's a dream. Hopefully, one day I can be there. And I think it's just a little more motivation. You remember that. And hopefully, in four years -- when four years comes back around, I can be there.
I'm going to be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics, so yeah, it will be -- it will be fun to watch them.
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WIRE: Her Fever coach, Christie Sides, said that Caitlin texted her about not being selected, Kasie, and she said they woke a monster.
The U.S. Women are seeking an eighth-straight gold at the Olympics and they don't have any players currently on the roster under 26. Caitlin's just 22. Plenty of time to still get some -- wear that red, white, and blue.
HUNT: She does have plenty of time. We'll all be pulling -- we'll all be pulling for her.
Coy, thanks.
WIRE: You got it.
HUNT: I really appreciate it.
Coming up next here, more details on how four Israeli hostages were rescued in a deadly operation in Gaza.
Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a (INAUDIBLE) shark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
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HUNT: Oh my God. Beachgoers on high alert after two shark attacks leave three people hurt in Florida.
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