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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Israel & Hamas Agree to Extend Truce 2 More Days; Truce Gives Gazans First Days of Calm After Seven Weeks of Bombs; Donald Trump to be Final Witness in New York Civil Fraud Trial; Arctic Air Brings Heavy Snow, Chilly Temps Across U.S. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 28, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:43]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, on EARLY START:

The temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended by two days, and could go even longer.

Plus, Israel has received the list of hostages that could be released today. How many and how soon?

And lawyers reveal the final witness at Donald Trump's civil fraud trial. The former president himself will take the stand last in New York.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: Good day to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Kasie Hunt. It is Tuesday, November 28th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington. It's noon in Gaza where Israel and Hamas that reached a deal to extend the four-day truce that began last Friday, by an additional two days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: Now, in order to extend the pause, Hamas is committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days. We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that would depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: On Monday, Hamas freed another 11 hostages, mostly women and children, all Israeli dual citizens, none of them American. Israel released 33 Palestinians, most of them teenage boys. In total, that makes 69 hostages released by Hamas, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and detainees that were freed by Israel.

Several dozen humanitarian aid trucks meanwhile rolled into Gaza on Monday. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society say there have been 150 trucks total since the truce began.

Clare Sebastian is live for us now in London.

Clare, good morning to you.

We've learned a lot more about the conditions these hostages have been facing. We knew almost nothing about it until Friday.

What have learned since?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kasie, before this truce, there were only four hostages released. So there has been a lot more information coming out. Certainly this by all accounts, was not a comfortable experience. These hostages, lack of food, weight loss is a common theme. One of the families, the Munder family, a mother, a grandmother, a nine year old boy, they said that the mother and grandmother, according to relatives, lost some 68 kilos each. So, quite a bit of weight over seven weeks, they mostly had rice and bread, and sometimes just bread.

The lack of food the elderly felt acutely. Hygiene and other problem, one elderly hostage, Adina Moshe, who's 72, her nephew said that she was not able to shower in seven weeks, and was kept underground.

A separate issue, the lack of available medical supplies, lack of medication was a particular issue for Alma Avraham who was 85 who is now in Israel, in ICU, in a life-threatening condition, according to doctors. One of her family members said that they had hoped to get her thyroid medication to her while in captivity via the Red Cross, but we're not able to do so. That led to the conditions she is in now.

So, look, in terms of physical recovery, it gives you a sense of why these hostages needed to be transported to hospital. Some have already been discharged, it is clear that there will be a rehabilitation period. And that's even before you start talking about mental recovery. Don't forget, they were in a situation, it seems, of information blackout. And in the case of two teenagers who were released on Saturday, that meant that they had no idea until they were released, that their mother had been killed on October 7th. So, that is the sort of mental trauma, in an extreme case, that they are going to have to deal with.

HUNT: Yes, very, very difficult period of time for all of these people, even as they are able, of course, to celebrate their freedom now.

Clare Sebastian, thank you very much for that report.

All right. To help us understand more about this, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges joins us this morning.

General, thank you very much for being with us.

Let's talk. You know, I'm interested in your view of this extended truce. What helped move these parties toward an extension, and how fragile is or isn't it?

LT. GEN. BEN HODGES (RET.), FORMER COMMANDER OF U.S. ARMY FORCES IN EUROPE: Well, Kasie, the administration of course deserves huge credit, for the tireless efforts by the president, Secretary Blinken, and others who brought about enough pressure on both Hamas and Israeli government to create conditions to have a pause, or truce, and to begin the exchange of hostages.

[05:05:08]

And so, you can imagine the relief of those families who have gotten some of their loved ones back. We're talking about a terrorist organization, Hamas is a terrorist (ph) organization. I think that they are going to use -- continue to use hostages, which is at the core of their strategy, to string this out as long as they can, and that's also why I think they haven't released, but one American hostage, because that will keep the U.S. involved and keep the U.S. putting pressure on Israel.

HUNT: General, actually, to that point, the White House, the administration has according to CNN reporting, they basically have said there were two American women that they expected to be on the list for yesterday's release that were not. But they say at this point that that was not purposeful, or they don't believe it was purposeful on the part of Hamas.

What's your view about what could be going on there?

HODGES: Well, I think there probably is a degree of chaos on the Hamas side of this equation. There are different militant organizations that could have taken advantage of this, or have their own objectives. So, I don't imagine that Hamas is a totally cohesive organization. But, again, when we are dealing with a terrorist organization, they really do not care what torturous circumstances they are putting people through.

At some point, you know, the Israeli government, and the U.S. -- the Biden administration will have to make a decision. How long does this go on? And this is where, I think the Israelis could change the entire narrative if they were to adopt a narrative of -- yes, we will do a two-state solution as soon as all the hostages are released. We will move towards a two-state solution. And we also -- we, Israel will crackdown on these illegal settlements and our own right wing extremists in the West Bank area.

That would put, I think, a lot more pressure on Hamas and other Arab countries would be motivated to help bring this to a conclusion.

HUNT: Do you think that would be a tenable reality, though, for Benjamin Netanyahu considering the domestic political situation he has on his hands?

HODGES: Well, you are exactly right, that is the main problem. The prime minister has no interest. He's had not interest for years in a two-state solution.

So, I think, again, part of the challenge for the U.S. and others who want to see a peaceful outcome here, and, of course, we're going to hope to continue to destroy Hamas by providing capabilities the Israelis need. This is never going to end, until what every American administration has sought for decades, a two-state solution.

And so, somehow, there has to be leveraged on the prime minister both internally, which there is a lot of pressure there, and leverage from us (ph).

HUNT: All right. Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, thank you very much, always grateful to have you on the show, sir.

All right. Just ahead here, Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, pressure building on both of them for different reasons during this pause in the Gaza fighting.

Plus, questions remain as the suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian college students has pleaded not guilty.

And less than seven weeks until the Iowa caucuses. Can Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis make any dent in Donald Trump's lead?

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[05:12:54]

HUNT: Welcome back.

The extended truce between Israel and Hamas giving Palestinians a brief period of calm, after nearly 50 days of relentless bombardment. It's allowed aid convoys to scale up delivery Gazans time to stock up on essentials and assess the devastation before Israel's planned assault on the enclave resumes.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Gaza City, they collect the dead, lying in the streets. They load them onto donkey carts. Hundreds, perhaps thousands more remain trapped under the rubble. The fate of so many is still unknown.

We can't contact our relatives, says Reda Al-Jamal, we don't know who has died and who is still alive.

According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry, the death toll the day before the truce began reached nearly 15,000, two thirds of whom were women and children. A few days of relative calm have allowed people to emerge and see what this war has wrought, destruction on a scale Gaza, which has been through so much over the decades, as never seen before.

According to the U.N., around 1,700,000 Gazans have been displaced, about 80 percent of the population. Many of those crammed into the south.

The pause has allowed people to resupply, but so far it has only been a drop in the ocean, says the U.N., all the while, people are hoping, wishing today's calm will not be followed by the storm. We hope, says Abu Odal, the truce continues and holds permanently and

the Israelis pull out of the north so that everyone who is forced to flee can return to their homes, even if they are in ruins, even if they have to live in tents.

With winter's grip tightening, hundreds wait for a bag of flour from the U.N. More supplies are getting into Gaza, not enough.

"How many days is this bag of flour supposed to last us?" asks Sabrin Al-Najar. One, two, three days? How many days before this war flares anew?

Ben Wedeman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNT: Our thanks to Ben Wedeman for that report.

All right. For more on all of this, let's bring in CNN's Max Foster in London.

Max, good morning. It's always wonderful to see you.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HUNT: So, these extensions have been for these brief periods of times. We have planned for days. Now, we have another two.

Wolf Blitzer, our colleague, spoke with one of Netanyahu's senior advisers on Monday, he asked about the pause.

Let's take a look at what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: As long as they keep releasing hostages, ten a day, the humanitarian -- the humanitarian pause will continue. So, people who want to see the pause continue, should be putting pressure on Hamas to continue to release hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: What do you hear when you hear him talk about that? It really does seem to me, that if they -- Hamas is using them as leverage. There's also a big difference between the women and children that they have been releasing, and military aged man.

FOSTER: Absolutely. So women and children they will run out as it were, as a bargaining tool as more are released, and then they do get on to the man. And then it becomes the soldiers as well, the serving IDF soldiers that they have in captivity. So, at what point do they start releasing them, and at what price?

So, one would assume that, you know, if you look back at the release of Gilad Shalit, if you remember that story, 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were released in return for him. At the moment, we are talking about three Palestinian prisoners being released for each Israeli. I imagine Hamas would ask for more as they move on to the men, and on to the IDF soldiers. That's one thing that might change the dynamic a bit.

Also, it does depend on Hamas. We've talked about this a bit, haven't we, Kasie, managed to get a hold of all of the hostages. And we know that some are being held by Islamic jihad. Those two groups seem to be working and coordinating well right now.

I was speaking to an analyst in Israel earlier on, saying there are other's hostages being held by as he put it, families, other people may call them groups. These are hostages that he says, were taken in during this chaos on October the 7th. Other groups are the families, other individuals even taking hostages. They are with those hostages right now.

And the analyst I was speaking to was saying that there is a price for returning the hostages to Hamas so they can become part of this truce agreement. So, there the complexities behind the scenes, and they really define whether or not Hamas is in a strong position to negotiate.

HUNT: Yeah, very complex indeed. Max, can we talk about Benjamin Netanyahu because they are -- and you can sort of hear this in the Israeli officials voice as well, the sort of like the certainty underneath, this deal that this bombing campaign is clearly going to continue when these hostage releases cease. And that is due in no small part to political pressure that is on Netanyahu internally inside Israel. How do you understand the dynamics he is facing right now?

FOSTER: He vowed to destroy Hamas, so it seems that he asked to complete that goal, to live up to his promise. He's got to be shown to be a strong leader, because within this country, he is very weak politically.

I think the challenge, is almost international amongst the allies because more and more, the longer this war grinds on, the more civilians that die, the more Israel is accused of war crimes. Obviously not proven, but those allegations are starting to be made. There will be more fractures I think, within the international alliances for Israel. And that's a challenge for America because they are seen as the most closely aligned to Israel.

So, perhaps Biden and his administration will become under pressure from countries in Europe, for example, and that does change the dynamic a bit, to put pressure on Israel.

HUNT: Yeah, our colleague Stephen Collinson wrote, there will be no pause in Biden's headache over the Israel-Hamas war -- which I think you are alluding to there.

Max Foster, thank you as always my friend for being with us this morning.

I'll see you tomorrow.

FOSTER: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Just ahead here, when lawyers say we'll see Donald Trump back on the stand in the New York civil fraud trial.

And winter is on the way, if it's not already with you, where it feels like it and looks like it this morning.

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[05:24:09]

HUNT: Quick hits across America now.

Authorities in Vermont are investigating whether the shooting of three Palestinian college students is a hate crime. Two men remain hospitalized, and one has been released. The suspected shooter Jayson Eaton has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges.

Border patrol officials say a new spike in migrant encounters has forcing them to redirect personnel, shutting down to busy crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. Bridges for vehicle traffic in Texas and Arizona were temporarily closed, to deal with what they call an unprecedented flow of migrants.

Attorneys for Donald Trump say he'll be the final defense witness in the civil fraud trial in New York, on December 11th. His younger son Eric Trump is set to testify next Wednesday. Trump and his business organization have already been found liable for inflating the value of his assets.

[05:25:02]

All right. Time now for weather. Chilly temperatures across much of the U.S. bringing heavy lake effect snow for some regions, like northern New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, causing major headaches on the roadways.

Let's get straight to our weatherman Derek Van Dam. He is tracking it all for us.

I will say it's chilly here in Washington as you know, in terms of my local weather report to you.

What have you got for us?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS CERTIFIED METEOROLOGIST: OK. So, it's this lake effect snow, we are focusing in on it because it is so hazardous across very localized areas from Upstate New York, to parts of Pennsylvania, and into parts of Ohio. This is what it looked like in Hamburg, just outside of Buffalo City region.

You can see multiple spin outs. There were car crashes, interstate 90 just piled up with snow. We are talking about wind of two inch snowfall, per hour. Even some reports of some lightning, or thunder snow as I should say.

Erie County, Pennsylvania, low visibility because of the intense lake snow effect snow bands will. You've seen a foot of snow in some of these locations, and the radar shows these narrow bands of snow that continue to impact Cleveland, just south of Buffalo. This is interesting, there's Erie, Pennsylvania.

These snow bands really are only a couple of miles wide, so you go to the south and you've got, well, let's clear skies overhead. So, very localized, but nonetheless, there are still about 3 million people under the lake effect warning, down wind from Lake Ontario and Lake Erie as well.

So, as the cold air that is surging across the northeast moves over the relatively warm lake waters, it draws the air into the atmosphere, cools, condenses and ultimately creates the snow. The point that I'm getting to, once the cold air goes away, like it's forecast to do, we turn the lake effect snow taps off, and this will come to an end by this time tomorrow.

So, that's the good news. Here's a quick look at your temperatures, for you, Kasie, 40 degrees in D.C.

HUNT: Thank you very much, our weatherman Derek Van Dam, I appreciate it. We'll see you tomorrow.

VAN DAM: All right.

HUNT: All right. Still ahead here, what we know so far about the possible release of hostages from Gaza in the coming hours.

And Republican Congressman George Santos facing expulsion when the House returns to the Capitol today.

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