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Israel and Hamas Hint at Extending Truce As More Captives are Slated to Be Released; A Report Cites Divisions Over the Israel-Hamas War have Roiled Biden's Team Like No Other Issue of His Presidency. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 27, 2023 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
KASIE HUNT, ANCHOR, EARLY START: Right now on EARLY START, the final hours of a truce between Israel and Hamas, both sides say they'd like an extension. Plus, more Gaza hostages could walk free in the coming hours. Israel says they have a list of who gets released next.
And internal turmoil at the White House. One report says divisions over the Israel-Hamas war have roiled Biden's team like no other issue of his presidency. Good morning to our viewers in the United States and around the world, I'm Kasie Hunt, it's Monday, November 27th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, it's noon in Gaza where the truce between Hamas and Israel is entering its fourth and possibly final day.
Overnight, Hamas sent Israel the list of hostages it plans to release today. The militant group released 17 hostages yesterday including 4- year-old American-Israeli Abigail Idan. Israel released 39 Palestinians in return, and both sides are now discussing the possibility of extending the truce, the exchanges and the influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The terms already set grants and extra day's pause in the fighting for every ten hostages that Hamas frees. Israel's war cabinet discussed the possibility last night, and both Qatar and the U.S., key intermediaries have expressed support.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's our goal to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those who are in need in Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier. Kim, good morning to you, thank you for being here. The president, of course, saying that he'd like to see this truce extended, which reflects the behind-the-scenes posture of the United States. How much influence does the U.S. have in this right now?
KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the U.S. has influence over Qatar, which is the only state right now that has some sort of influence over Hamas, it seems. Also Qatar is the main interlocutor between Iran and the rest of the world. So, yes, they want to give this pause another four days at least and get more hostages out.
But the Qatari prime minister has told the media that it all depends on Hamas being able to find the rest of the women and children who were being held. There's a total of 90 being held. And with the first four days, that means about 50 of them have been released.
So another four days or up to ten days, which is what the Israeli cabinet originally approved with this truce deal, that would basically take care of all of the missing women and children. But the question is, are they all alive? Are they all in Hamas' hands? And can they be turned over in time to buy an extension of this truce?
HUNT: And how fragile are things in terms of this going from a situation where there is nefarious at a period of time to one where anything could happen on any given day?
DOZIER: You know, almost each day of this pause, there has been some problem with the exchange. Hamas at one point slowed down the exchange because they said -- they claimed that buses of -- trucks of aid weren't reaching northern Gaza quickly enough.
So there have always been near-breakdowns. I think if Hamas can find the rest of the women and children, it's likely that there's momentum on both sides that this will continue for another few days, which means more aid to Palestinians inside Gaza as well. But the problem will come with once you get to the men who are being held, especially the military-age men, and Israeli officials I've spoken to expect that, that is when Hamas will raise the stakes, raise the price for returning the hostages. And demand, perhaps, more Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
[05:05:00]
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is the small more radical faction of militants within Gaza has said that it doesn't think any military- age men, any of the IDF troops who were taken should be released unless all 8,000 some-odd Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails are released. And that's a price Israel probably isn't willing to pay.
HUNT: And very briefly, does that mean that we go back to seeing bombs across Gaza immediately when that happens?
DOZIER: That means after the moment Hamas raises the price, yes, that probably means a return to an Israeli offensive. And as multiple Israeli officials have said publicly, they prefer to negotiate under fire. They think that's the only thing that works with the Hamas group.
HUNT: All right, Kim Dozier, thank you very much for getting us started this morning, I really appreciate it. And in recent days, President Biden focused on one Gaza hostage in particular. And that was 4-year-old Abigail Idan; the first American hostage that Hamas has released. A senior administration official telling CNN, the president discussed her case in nearly all of his phone calls with leaders in the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Two days ago -- two days ago, one of our fellow Americans, a little girl named Abigail turned 4 years old. She spent her birthday, that birthday, and at least 50 days before that held hostage by Hamas. Today, she's free. And Jill and I, together with so many Americans are praying for the fact that she is going to be all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, White House reporter Camila DeChalus joins us live now. Camila, good morning. So we understand the U.S. was tracking Abigail so closely on her journey out of captivity. Clearly, this was personal for the president.
CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's right, he spoke about her at length, especially when talking about the hostages that Hamas has had in captivity. And exactly what's at stake when we're talking about the people that have been taken. And why the U.S. has played such an active role, especially the president at this time in taking an active role in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas to strike what -- somewhat of a hostage negotiation agreement, to call for a pause to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
But then also most importantly, the people at the center of this have been taken on, you know, the -- going from that Palestinian prisoners and also the hostages that Hamas has taken. And so, the fact that she's the first one Biden has signaled that he is still going to play an active role in these talks to make sure that the pause is -- can be extended for a period of days, but then also to make sure that there are more release of American hostages, but then overall hostages that Hamas has.
HUNT: And they were, of course, very closely tracking the van that she was held in as she was driving out of Israel -- or out of Gaza, excuse me.
DECHALUS: Right, I mean, especially when he's talking about the length of these negotiations and exactly the process of where the hostages have been released. It's through a third party. And so, the fact that, you know, he has given an update saying that she is now safely with her family members. There's been video released of her, you know, embracing her loved ones.
And so, I think that is very telling. And it also just kind of puts his message forward, saying that he's optimistic that more negotiations can move forward to release even more hostages in the future. And look, I think the bigger picture here is that President Biden has to move very carefully when it comes to how he responds to this conflict abroad.
Especially because there's been mounting frustration within his own administration of how he has not fully supported a ceasefire. And you even have pressure from outside groups having Biden, you know, be more vocal about just some of the international humanitarian laws that some feel that have been violated.
So how Biden has -- is going to just kind of proceed in this, and him kind of laminating and talking about the 4-year-old to really talking about the human element --
HUNT: Yes --
DECHALUS: Of this -- of this conflict, has really brought home especially just what's at stake.
HUNT: All right, Camila DeChalus for us, thank you very much for being with us this morning. Hope to see you soon. And National Security adviser Jake Sullivan says other groups are also holding hostages. What he means by that just ahead. Plus, a suspect arrested after three Palestinian college students were shot in Vermont.
And he's trailing in third place in the GOP primary race in New Hampshire. What Chris Christie says he plans to do, next.
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HUNT: Welcome back. New twist in the hostage talks. A diplomatic source tells CNN that more than 40 hostages abducted on October 7th are not being held by Hamas, but by other terror groups, and this, of course, creates a complication because the deal to return hostages exists with Hamas. Here's what National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said on "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
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JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, UNITED STATES: We also are aware that it's not just Hamas holding hostages. Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist group that participated in the brutal massacre on October 7th is holding some. And other groups who are not directly affiliated, but have loose connections to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are also holding hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, let's bring in CNN's Max Foster in London. Max, always good to see you. This obviously is very complicated. The IDF and other Intelligence operations including the U.S., they've been trying to locate these hostages in Gaza and haven't been able to after weeks of searching. This clearly, part of it, that there are multiple groups holding these hostages.
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What are the hopes at this point to get them out? And how does it complicate what is going to be this evolving situation now that we're ending this first four-day period and hitting territory that's so far unknown?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's complicated because it's complicated for Hamas. Because the deal is -- the truce deal is with Hamas, as you said. They need to know where the hostages are to really be able to hold up this truce agreement. Islamic Jihad is a group you heard about there, but there are also other groups not necessarily with political motivations.
They could have just gone in and grabbed some hostages. We don't actually know what their motivations are. That's for Hamas to try to figure out. And the Qatari Prime Minister actually spoke to "The Financial Times", and said that Hamas needs to be able to locate all of these hostages really to extend the truce. That's their view, Qataris obviously mediating all of this.
And our source also said today that there's a slight issue with Monday's list of hostages and prisoners to be freed, which might delay Monday's hostage release. So that might be linked to what Qatar is saying. Hamas needs to explain where all these hostages are, when they might not necessarily know. So, we're waiting to see what Hamas -- how Hamas responds to that. And really, we don't really understand the relationship between all of these groups fully.
HUNT: Right -- no, for sure. I mean -- and I think it's important to distinguish too, it really seems like the conversations right now are around the women and children. And that sort of the -- whatever future line where things really start to change is going to be when we start talking about men. Do we have an understanding of, you know, are there women and children among -- you know, with these other groups? And how does that kind of complicate how everyone is talking about this in public?
FOSTER: Well, this is -- this is the thing, isn't it? We just don't know who is with who. And you're right. It's easier to release women and children for both sides because less-politically controversial. The really difficult ones, of course, are serving officers of the Israeli IDF, for example, who are in there, because that's going to be -- you know, they're going to be the last person to leave.
And I've spoken to relatives of Israeli soldier who's held hostage, and you know, it's absolutely -- you can imagine the pain that they're going through, and they're seeing other hostages released, and there's absolutely no chance of their hostages being released.
They need -- I think what the Qataris are trying to do is get a proper list of exactly who is held hostage and where they are. It's really over to Hamas to find out who that is, because they're acting as the umbrella group here. And we also need them to keep, you know, good relationships with those other groups to get the data that they need.
HUNT: Right -- no, it's just so incredibly complicated and emotions running so high as families wait to figure out if their loved ones are on the list, if they can actually be located at all. Max Foster, thank you as always for being here. Happy Monday.
FOSTER: Thanks, Kasie. Thank you.
HUNT: See you soon. All right, still ahead, memorial services to honor the former first lady Rosalynn Carter in Georgia this week. And the season's first big snow! Where we saw that and where it's going to hit next. Stay with us.
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HUNT: Welcome back. Quick hits across America now. A suspect arrested overnight in the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vermont. Police are searching for a motive, but they say two victims were wearing traditional Palestinian scarves.
President Biden and the first lady will attend a tribute in Atlanta for former first lady Rosalynn Carter who died Sunday at 96. Several ceremonies are planned to honor her this week. Former Governor Chris Christie says he's staying in the GOP primary race until the convention. He also tells CNN he is not interested in consolidating support with Nikki Haley to try and challenge Trump.
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CHRIS CHRISTIE, POLITICIAN & FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: This race is consolidated very nicely. You're really now in my view, have four major contenders for the nomination: Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, me and Nikki Haley. And the fact is that we're the major contenders for the nomination. And you know, everyone else who is still hanging around the fringe of the race, you know, is not a serious contender.
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HUNT: This despite a recent CNN poll that shows him trailing Trump and Haley in New Hampshire. All right, let's go now to weather, the Central Plains and in particular, Kansas, they got more than a foot of snow, and the Midwest was snowed under, too. Travel delays affected millions who were headed home after the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Let's get to our weather man Derek Van Dam who is tracking this on several fronts. Derek, I'm so glad to see you got some time off last week, but we missed you very much. Welcome back --
DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Thank you --
HUNT: What do you got?
VAN DAM: Oh, you're looking at a very refreshed and recharged weatherman this morning. And I'm happy to be back, I truly am. But you know what? I don't think the people that had to deal with the delays yesterday at Chicago O'Hare Airport are as refreshed as this weatherman is.
Look at the lines, the queues of people, it was a difficult travel day for people heading home from Thanksgiving, family, loved ones just at O'Hare International, over 500 delays reported. At JFK, there were 259 reported delays yesterday. Countrywide, in and out of the country, out of the United States, it was over 7,000 delays on Sunday.
Of course, which has a wonderful timing with our busiest holiday and travel week of the year. Look at the snowfall totals across parts of the plains. Yes, this is impressive, over a foot of snow in parts of Kansas.
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New York, we know, we have seen that you had your snow drought for the past couple of years, we're going on 650 consecutive days with less than 1 inch of snowfall. And there's no snow in your forecast at the moment. Hopefully, that tide will turn by the time Christmas comes around. And look at this, you can see the snowfall that was blanketed across the plains and into the Midwest, that is thanks to a system that moved through, that's kind of dissolved across the Appalachians.
But we do have another low that formed off the east coast, it's brought some rain to Boston and Portland. High elevation snowfall for Upstate, New York, and then, of course, the cold air machine helping cook up the lake-enhanced snow showers across Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
So anywhere down-wind from those two lakes will see several inches of snow going forward through the next couple of days. Some of our computer modules picking up on a couple of feet. Countrywide, you can see sunshine throughout the interior, here's a quick look at your temperatures. Kasie, I think you'll hit about 49 today.
HUNT: Thank you very much for that, Derek. I do need my personal forecast every morning in addition to one for all of us who are watching. Our weatherman --
VAN DAM: You're welcome --
HUNT: Derek Van Dam, thank you very much. I'll see you tomorrow --
VAN DAM: All right --
HUNT: My friend. Just ahead here, more hostages in Gaza expected to be released as the truce between Hamas and Israel enters its fourth and possibly its final day. And internal divisions inside the Biden administration. The White House trying to weather tension over the war.
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