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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Sides Consider Extending Truce On Last Day Of Hostage Releases; Report: White House Faces Internal Divisions Over Gaza War; Falcons Celebrate 50th Anniversary Of Hip-Hop. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 27, 2023 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:30:36]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks for being up early with us. I'm Kasie Hunt. It is 5:30 on the nose on the East Coast; 2:30 out west.

Israel is in suspense this hour waiting for the fourth and possibly final group of hostages to be released by Hamas. The four-day pause in the war between Israel and Hamas has gone well enough that both sides are talking about extending it. Under terms already agreed to Hamas would release 10 more hostages for each additional day of the truce up to 10 days running.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a day-by-day approach, hour-by-hour process. Nothing is guaranteed and nothing is being taken for granted. But the proof that this is working and worth pursuing further is in every smile and every grateful tear we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again -- and the proof is little Abigail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: "Little Abigail." That is 4-year-old American-Israeli Abigail Edan, the first U.S. citizen, so far, released by Hamas. She was among 17 hostages released on Sunday by the group in exchange for 39 Palestinian teenagers released from detention or prison by Israel.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us live from London. Clare, what do we know about today's planned exchange and any possibility of extending the truce?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.

Every day of this is bringing new challenges. Today is no different -- this fourth and potentially final day of this agreement.

We know from the Israeli prime minister's office that they have received a list of potential hostages to be freed overnight. They are evaluating that.

We are hearing from a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations that there might be a slight issue with the list of hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be freed. We don't know what the issue is but it could delay the hostage release. We're hearing from that source that it is likely that it could delay the hostage release on Monday. That issue is now being -- attempted to be ironed out by Qatar, which has been the main broker in these talks.

We have also heard from the Palestinian prisoners' authorities that they have yet to receive a list of the prisoners to be freed. So, as the president said, it's hour-by-hour every day with this and it's fragile and an extremely hard one.

On the issue of whether the truce could be extended -- look, it seems like there is will on both sides. Hamas has said that it is keen for this. That it wants to see more Palestinian prisoners released. The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said to President Biden that he would welcome it if more hostages could be freed.

Look, this is not a major breakthrough in itself. This was baked into the original agreement that they could potentially extend 24 hours of truce for each additional 10 Israeli hostages that were released. So we'll watch and wait to see if that happens.

Of course, the major complicating factor for that is that Israel says that it intends to continue with the military operation once this truce is over. That it has not finished the job of dismantling Hamas.

We saw Prime Minister Netanyahu apparently in Gaza on Sunday saying that they continue -- that they aim to continue pursuing this until victory. He was wearing a flak jacket. He was wearing a helmet. I think the optics of that speak to that intention -- Kasie.

HUNT: Yeah, they sure do. He's very conscious of those.

All right, Clare Sebastion. Thank you very much for that.

Let's bring in, for more, Joel Rubin, the former deputy assistant Secretary of State for the Obama administration. Joel, good morning. It's always -- it's always nice to have --

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Good morning, Kasie.

HUNT: -- you here.

How solid is the ground under this truce reality for today -- it's the final one -- and how does that affect the possibility of it being extended?

RUBIN: Well, Kasie, it's great to be with you as always.

Look, this is thin ice but it's solid. And as Clare mentioned, a day- by-day agreement is already there in place from the earlier agreement for this four-day period. But my fear is that we're going to enter this uncertainty and it's inherently unstable.

There are multiple actors here at play -- obviously, Hamas and Israel, but also different groups in Gaza that have the hostages. And so, to get a longer chunk of time solidified -- another multi-day agreement would be really beneficial to creating more stability for continued waves of exchanges of hostages for prisoners because this is day-by- day and anything can happen in that moment -- in that environment.

[05:35:01]

HUNT: Yeah, for sure.

So, one of the things that looms over this obviously is the prospect that Israel is going to resume its bombing campaign in Gaza. Obviously, the humanitarian situation there is incredibly dire. It's coming into more focus.

There is also mounting pressure here at home for President Biden to call for a ceasefire. So far, that has been a nonstarter.

What do you think the administration should be doing in these days, what are they doing behind the scenes, and how do you see what may happen next?

RUBIN: Well, the opportunity here is very unique in that there has been calm. And this provides a window for diplomacy. Secretary Blinken is heading out to the region. Other officials are engaged actively with the actors. We've seen Qatar, as a mediator, be highly effective at corralling an agreement out of Hamas.

And so, for the administration, this is an opportunity to demonstrate how diplomacy right now and leaning can lead to longer-term goals being realized or at least discussed. President Biden's been talking about a two-state solution. He's been talking about the need for a diplomatic endgame. And they haven't yet had that defined by the parties but this is the opportunity -- this is the window to do that.

I think this can really help to engage, as well, Congress who is calling for this and get that discussion going and embed it within the discussion about the supplemental funding for Israel and the Palestinians as well.

So this is where the Biden administration has a window to try to lean in on their diplomatic goals.

HUNT: Yeah. So look, I'm glad you mentioned that supplemental because it is -- it's in Congress's court, quite frankly.

RUBIN: Yeah.

HUNT: But Republicans are basically starting to say hey, we don't think that we can get this done by the end of the year. And they say the problem is actually border policy.

Take a look at what the House Intelligence chairman Mike Turner said yesterday about this -- watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): I think it would be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year. And the impediment, currently, is the White House police on the southern border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So we showed everyone what these numbers are -- $60 billion for Ukraine, they're asking for; $14 billion to Israel; $14 billion for border security.

So my understanding of this is that it's not the money that's the problem, it's the policy. It's a conversation around asylum and other changes to the rules that Republicans are demanding in exchange for this.

I mean, do you see Democrats giving in on these border policy questions in order to get this bigger picture -- I mean, it's very critical aid -- to get it done?

RUBIN: You know, Kasie -- look, the Republicans don't have the votes on these policy changes on border security and they're trying to extort, as they continually try to do throughout the appropriations process, any kinds of policy changes that they can make when there is an emergency -- and there is an emergency right now. Our ally, Israel, is trying to defend itself. They're a territory and protect its people. The Palestinians are trying to have a better quality of life and deal with the humanitarian issues as a result of this war.

And to try to seek some kind of long-term policy change on the border that would mean that Republicans would need to actually win elections to get that enacted. And instead, they want to extort the Palestinian and Israeli suffering for that goal. That's really not going to fly.

And I think there's a bit of a window here for everybody to step back and look at the reality, which is that the United States is a global leader. We have been bringing the parties together to get this truce for this period. We have allies in the region appreciating that.

And now, the Congress is going to what -- undercut the president in his diplomacy, both in engaging on a truce and potentially long-term stability in the region? How does that advance the American goals? It doesn't. And the Republicans don't have the votes on the border so they're willing to sacrifice these relationships and these gains in the Middle East for that? No. I think that's really bad policy.

HUNT: All right, Joel Rubin. Thank you very much for your time this morning, sir. Hope to see you soon.

RUBIN: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right.

Over the weekend, new reporting from The Washington Post indicating that the White House is struggling with how to handle internal divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. While Biden's support of Israel has remained steadfast, some of his top advisers acknowledge that the conflict is hurting America's global standing.

The Post reports that Biden told a group of frustrated Muslim- Americans, quote, "I'm sorry. I'm disappointed in myself."

So how is the Biden administration reacting to this internal turmoil? Let's bring in political reporter at Axios, Stef Kight. Stef, good morning.

I read this report in the Post over the weekend with some interest because it does seem very personal. We're talking about White House staffers who are unhappy with how the senior leadership in the White House has been talking about this.

And I think my question was are we seeing the divisions in the broader Democratic Party play out in this very personal way, and how much of that is generational?

[05:40:05]

STEF KIGHT, POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS (via Skype): You know, we are continuing to see this division within the Democratic Party over how Biden is addressing the situation in Israel. We've seen this bubble up on multiple occasions. And, of course, the reporting over the weekend is just another sign of the fact that there are so many people within the Democratic Party, within the White House, within Biden's campaign arm who have a different idea of how to be approaching this.

We saw division within the Democratic National Party which, of course, is -- the DNC is the main driver behind Biden's 2024 campaign.

Axios reported at the time that there were many staffers within the DNC who disagreed with Biden's stance and are more in support of Palestinians. And as you noted, this is generational. We're seeing continually in these polls that younger voters, in particular, tend to be much more supportive of Palestinians rather than Israelis.

HUNT: Yeah, it is -- it is really interesting.

I mean, one of the quotes that stood out to me here from this report, too, is that they recognize the pressure that they're under for standing too staunchly with Israel. And this was an anonymous official but they say, quote, "Even top advisers said they recognize the conflict has hurt America's global standing." Quote, "We're taking on a lot of water on Israel's behalf."

That seemed to me to be kind of an acknowledgment of a reality that they certainly are not making that in public.

KIGHT: No, exactly. I think that is a very interesting quote to look at.

And, of course, we look at how many images we have seen of the destruction in Gaza. We see the role social media has played and more young people turning to TikTok and social media in order to get their news and seeing some of these images.

And we are seeing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to limit the civilian casualties in Gaza. To put more pressure on Israel to be more aware and wary of those things. And we have seen the Biden administration sort of start to move in that direction in the way they talk about the conflict in recent weeks and months. And I do think we're starting to see a little bit publicly of that shift even if Biden, of course, has continued to stand by Israel.

HUNT: Yeah.

One thing that's also evolving on this question with kind of the tension among Democrats are increasing calls for aid to Israel to have conditions placed on it, which it traditionally does not have.

I want to show you what Chris Murphy had to say over the weekend and we'll talk about it -- watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I guess I'm not sure what would be controversial about simply saying that aid we give any country has to be used in compliance with international law. And, you know, yes, of course, I do think that Israel needs to be more careful in the way that it is conducting these operations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And then you also had Bernie Sanders who said that "The United States must make clear while we are friends of Israel, there are conditions to the friendship and we cannot be complicit in actions that violate international law and our own sense of decency."

Pretty remarkable. And I'm interested to know what the president and the Biden administration -- how they may react to this.

KIGHT: You know, we're going to be watching these calls very closely, especially given the fact that we've seen this come from various parts of the party. And we are starting to see more and more Democrats say they need some kind of guardrails here for the Biden administration for the U.S. to continue to support Israel in the way that it has moving forward.

And we know the Biden administration is very aware of the political tension within their party on this issue. We know that they're very aware of how sensitive this topic is, and so we know that they're paying attention to these kinds of suggestions that something that the Biden administration has indicated they may be interested in.

So that is certainly something we are going to continue to keep an eye on as we move into these next few days as we see the pause in the fighting continue potentially for the -- for future days.

HUNT: All right, Stef Kight from Axios. Thank you very much for being with us this morning. I really appreciate it.

KIGHT: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Up next, the delicate pause in Gaza is holding for now. What could threaten to unravel it? That's next.

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[05:48:27]

HUNT: Welcome back.

President Biden headed back here to Washington last night after he spent the holiday weekend in Nantucket as the possibility of a renewed war between Israel and Gaza looms large. The president is pushing for an extended pause while both he and Netanyahu face mounting pressure to curb the bloodshed.

Let's bring in the author of the piece that you just saw on your screen, CNN's Stephen Collinson, our resident big-picture painter. Stephen, it's always good to see you. Thank you for being here.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Hi.

HUNT: You described this pause as surprisingly enduring. And we've talked some this morning with others about how each day has brought a problem or a little bit of a hang-up and yet, it has continued.

How do you expect today to play out? Do you think that there is the will on both sides of this discussion to try to continue this for up to -- it sounds like at least 10 days are possible from the Israeli side.

COLLINSON: There appears to be the will for now to extend this because it is in the interest of everyone involved in this situation for that to happen. I think the question becomes how long it can last and when that strategic equation changes.

Israel wants it to go on because Prime Minister Netanyahu is getting Israeli hostages home. That's relieving a little bit of pressure that he's felt from the families throughout it. Hamas, clearly, will use this pause to regroup for what it expects is an assault by Israel on its southern strongholds in Gaza to come. And obviously, the United States, as we've been hearing, wants it to go on both for humanitarian reasons and because President Joe Biden has been under extreme pressure from within his own party over the political reverberations of this have played out.

[05:50:19]

At some point, though, if hostages keep coming out the question becomes does Hamas try to use that increased leverage to increase the price of hostage exchanges? And when does the pressure rise within Israel -- within the military and the security establishment, and Prime Minister Netanyahu's far-right coalition for it to continue what it says is its overarching mission -- and that is the complete eradication of Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 attacks?

So the longer this goes on the more blessed humanitarian relief it brings, but the window may become more and more narrow.

HUNT: Right.

So, Stephen, you wrote something that I kind of want to focus in on and that's this question of American hostages. Obviously, we say 4- year-old Abigail Edan released much to the sigh of relief to policymakers and so many people here in the U.S. But there are still American hostages.

You say, quote, "The delicate U.S.-Israel dynamic explains why it makes sense for Hamas to hold onto some American hostages in the hope of forcing Biden to constrain Israel."

Expand on this. What do you mean?

COLLINSON: Well, there are political games going on all over this crisis. It's clear that one of the sources of pressure on the president has been the fact that Americans are held. The administration hasn't been clear exactly about the fate of all the Americans. It doesn't appear to know exactly where some of them are held.

But this, of course, is something that puts pressure on the president. We saw President Biden yesterday mark the release of a 4-year-old Israeli-American girl. That reflected the political pressure that he's been under and the administration was very focused on getting her out.

U.S. pressure on the Israelis will continue if there are American hostages. That seems pretty clear. And that's one part of this equation.

What we're seeing right now, I think, is that Hamas -- because it's using hostages as leverage and has been able to engineer this pause, has grabbed back a little bit of the initiative of the situation and it's controlling the tempo of the conflict. That is something that's going to make things more difficult politically for the Israelis.

HUNT: Yeah.

COLLINSON: So a lot of leverage is being exerted across the board by all the players here.

HUNT: All right, Stephen Collinson for us this morning. Thank you very much for joining us. I really appreciate your time.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

HUNT: All right. The U.S. Navy foiling a hijacking attempt on an Israeli-linked commercial tanker. We're going to have details on that attack and what happened next coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING."

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[05:57:34]

HUNT: Welcome back. My Philadelphia Eagles were trailing at halftime but they have been

trailing in their past four games at halftime and we have Jalen Hurts at the helm.

Coy Wire has this morning's Bleacher Report. Coy, it was -- I had a wonderful --

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Why?

HUNT: -- weekend in sports. Tell us about it.

WIRE: I used to play for the Bills. Why'd you do it to us?

HUNT: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Love ya, but --

WIRE: (INAUDIBLE) quarterback match-up -- the Eagles' Jalen Hurts hosting Josh Allen of the Bills. The first time in NFL history opposing quarterbacks each had multiple passing and rushing touchdowns.

Let's pick this up in the fourth quarter -- 11:20 to go. Bills up 24- 21. But that's when Jalen Hurts goes to work, scrambling around and throwing a touchdown to Olamide Zaccheaus. Eagles get the lead.

But Mr. Allen would jab back, grabbing the lead from Buffalo and firing a bullet to Gabe Davis for one of Allen's four total TD's on the day. Buffalo up three with a minute-52 to play, but it's not over till it's over. Jake Elliott from 59 yards out and it's good, sending it to overtime.

After Buffalo kicks a field goal on their first possession, Kasie, Jalen Hurts hurts Bills Mafia. He runs it in for the game-winning score. Three passing touchdowns and two rushing for Hurts in a 37-34 win for Kasie's Philly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: Never a doubt. Never a doubt. By any means, we will find a way. That's just the mentality that we have and what it takes. And it just takes a -- it takes a special group to be able to do that -- playing together and sticking through things. Seeing things through. Got a lot to clean up, so back to the drawing board to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Houston's CJ Stroud continuing to make history -- three total touchdowns and 304 yards passing against the Jags putting them -- him over the 3,200-yard mark on the season. The most passing yards ever by any rookie through the first 11 games.

But it came down to a 58-yard field goal attempt for Houston's Matt Ammendola. Down three with a chance to tie but he doinks it off the crossbar. Jacksonville escaping with a 24-21 win.

And defense. Falcons' safety Jessie Bates picking off the pass by the Saints' Derek Carr and taking it real far -- 92 yards to the house. D.B. coach Steve Jackson raised him right.

Atlanta takes sole lead of the NFC South Division with a 24-15 win. Dirty Birds is looking playoff-bound.

[06:00:03]

The vibe inside Mercedes-Benz stadium was "Ludacris" celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, Kasie. Luda putting the rap in rappelling, spitting fire while floating down from the roof. But Atlanta's mascot, Freddie Falcon, says move -- get out the way. Bungee cords swinging from the roof from zero to 70 miles per hour, Kasie. Unreal adrenaline. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

HUNT: Wow, that's something else.

All right, Coy Wire. Thank you very much for that. I'm sad you didn't do the big Michigan win over Ohio State but, you know. Thank you.

And thanks to all of you for joining us. Don't go anywhere. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.