Transcripts For CNNW The 20240703

Heres why you should switch from chrome to duckduckgo. Duckduckgo is a browser you download to your mobile and desktop devices. Unlike chrome, the Duckduckgo Browser has privacy builtin. It comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesn■t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. And theres no catch. Its free. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you around. Join the millions of people taking back their privacy by Downloading Duckduckgo On Mobile and desktop today. And welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. This hour, breaking news, two u. S. Citizens Judith Raanan and her 18 yyearold daughter who d been kidnapped have now been released are and now back in israel. We got a photograph from theize raely military. They believe that hamas still has around 200 hostages and they believe most of them are still alive. Plus, will they or wont they. That remains the key question at the rafah border. Between gaza and egypt. There are trucks lined up inside of which are muchneeded food and water and fuel and medicine. But promises that these trucks would be let into gaza this morning have not been realized. Here is the u. N. Secretary general at the key crossing earlier today. Behind these walls, we have 2 Million People that is suffering enormously. So this truck is not just trucks, they are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death for so many people in gaza. What we need is to make them move. To make them move to the other side of this wall. To make them move as quickly as possible. Inside of gaza today, a strike there israel hit a Greek Orthodox church where both elderly and Young Children were taking shelter. Here is how one resident described it. They came here to escape the air strikes and destruction, it followed them. We also have reports of at least 13 People Killed including five children in the west bank after Israeli Forces entered the nor shams refugee camp. These scene that are igniting protests in the streets from egypt to jordan to yemen, to turkey, tensions are high and emotions are raw and there are legitimate fears that this violence could spread to become a wider regional con flick. Lets start with erin burnett in tel aviv. Were getting more details about the release of the two american hostages. Reporter yes. Judith raanan and natalie raanan, are both now in the hands of the idf. You saw the aimages. An incredible moment. Every would look at that and say what an incredible moment it was. And antony blinken, the Secretary Of State said that soon they will be in u. S. Embassy hands and moves to reunite them with their family. This deal was broker by the government of the qatar. They deal with nonstate actors in such hostages, whether it be with the taliban or in this case with hamas. Antony blinken thanks the government of qatar when it was announced they will be release and said there are ten additional Americans Still missing and they believe some if not all may also be hostages. So well see what happens next. But huge news for this family. Natalies brother ben, he talked about her as getting ready to go to next stage of life and college and wanting to be loving art and wants to be a Tattoo Artist and all of the things that she wanted to do. This is a few days ago when he didnt know if she could come home alive. And now incredible news for this one family with the most joyful news one could imagine. And there are still hostages that are not released. Although we know from the idf that the majority of them are alive. We have gotten more information on the hostages today than any other day. And oshs this incredibly significant news here in just the past couple of hours. Begging the question of whether there will be more releases or what comes next as were waiting for what comes next and weve heard more thuds in the past ten minutes from gaza here in tel aviv than in the past few days. It had been an initial bombardment and then very quiet and then in the past few minutes we did hear quite a bit. Stay safe. And mj lee is at the white house. What are they saying about the release . Reporter it has been an incredibly dark and challenging two weeks. And the release of these two american hostages has marked a very rare dark spot. The president saying in a statement this afternoon that he is simply overjoyed that these two women now get to be reunited with their family. But he acknowledged that this is far from over. U. S. Official confirming to me that afternoon that there are additional hostages being held by hamas. Though we still dont know an exact number. U. S. Officials are continued to use language like a handful of hostages that are believed to be there. And the president saying that he is committed to working around the clock to get more hostages out. Now, u. S. Officials have been stressing for a while that it has been extraordinarily difficult and challenging to ascertain any information about american hostages, theyre condition, their number, where theyre being held, whether they are even in one place. But it is clear that the israelis played a very Important Role in Sharing Intelligence with the u. S. And that the qataris also played a very Important Role in mediating this situation. One piece of reporting that i will note from earlier today, jake, that i think is important. Is that according to a u. S. Official, they are still not aware of any socalled Proof Of Life videos concerning american hostages. That is akin to the video that was released earlier this week by hamas of a 21yearold french israeli. So, jake, just needless to say, this is been an incredibly dark sort of focus for the president , trying to get these american hostages out. We know that this was a significant focus for him when he traveled to israel earlier this week. And it remains his top priority, he said, in the statement that celebrated the release of these two hostages. Mj lee, thank you so much. I want to bring in cnns alex marquardt. What do we know about how this Hostage Release unfolded . Well this is really sudden. This was a surprise. We had not been given any indication from sources that there was much headway being made with the hamas and the release of any of the hostages. This afternoon Kaitlan Collins and i heard from different sources that this was underway. That two american hostages, a mother and a daughter, were on their way out. We didnt know who it was. Of course now it has been confirmed as Judith And Natalie raanan. I was told they were handed over to the red cross. Which operates in gaza. Their a relatively independent organization as far as any organizations are independent in the gaza strip. And they were driven south. There are two crossings out of gaza into egypt and into israel. And so we know that very quickly from the time that we learned that this was happening, they did get out and they were handed over to israeli authorities. The israelis say they were taken to a military base. We heard from Secretary Blinken who said they will be visited soon by u. S. Embassy officials and given anything that they need. The priority is on getting them home as soon as possible so they could reunite with her family. Here is more of what blinken had to say. Welcome their release and we share in the relief that their family and friends and loved ones are feeling. But there are still ten additional americans who remain unaccounted for in this conflict. We know that some of them are being held hostage by hamas. Along with an estimated 200 other hostages held in gaza. So some 200 remain. Ive been told by a source who is familiar with the discussions that the mother, Judith Raanan, was in poor health and that may be an indication of why hamas decided to release her at this point. Could i just interrupt. That doesnt make any sent. They go into israel. And she slaughter babies and kill civilians and then this womans unhealthy so they release her. Out of the goodness of their heart. For humanitarian reasons . That doesnt make any sense. No, not out of the goodness of their heart and it serves their purpose. How . Because it is a burden to take care of some 200 hostages. So just kill them. They already killed 1300 israelis . Because they could still use the hostages as leverage. For what . To get concessions from the israelis, to get they want to wipe israel off the face of the earth. What concessions. If you look back at the release of shallive in 2011, as we prepare for the Ground Incursion by israel, hamas may believe that they could get aid, a temporary ceasefire and be able to trade these remaining 200 prisoners for palestinians who are in israeli prisons. I could see that part of it. But, i mean, doan get me wrong, i do not believe this is out of the goodness of their heart. But it is tough to feed and water and move around 200 people. I think it is more likely that theyre americans. Absolutely. That is also the case. These are not these are not other nationals. These are not solely israelis. And they werent even dual citizens. They were just purely americans. And to point about getting concessions out of israel, theyre releasing israels biggest backer, the biggest supporter as they go into gaza to confront them. To be continued. Thank you so much. Cnns whitney wild is in evanston, illinois, where the two freed american hostages come from. Youre talking to the friends and family of the raanans. How are they reacting . They must just be so relieved because hamas is capable of anything. Relieved, over joyed. Consider this, this community had been waiting in agony not knowing if they were alive or dead for two weeks. Their rabbi spoke with us and spoke so glowingly of Judith And Natalie, saying over and over how their kindness was simply boundless which is what made their being hostages especially cruel. Here is what rabbi hecht had to say about just the collective feeling here, knowing that now these two women are going to be able to come home, jake. Judith is the type of person who would come over to our home, to our congregation all of the time with gifts for the children. Wanting to be there to spend this spiritual moment of prayer with everyone together. All wanting to join a class or any kind of gathering. A person would loves life, who loves humanity, who loves being together with other people. And like mom, like daughter, natalie has been described by all of her friends as such a kind and sweet and generous girl. It is been so challenging, jake, to wait moment after moment, not knowing if they were alive or dead. Not knowing if they could come home. And that is still the experience for other American Families whose lovers oned are still over there and it is those families pain that is weighing on this community still. Because this community will not be healed until this is over and until this conflict is over and until the rest of these americans come home, jake. Whitney wild in evanston, illinois, thank you very much. Between the Hostage Releases today an the confusion over whether there will be any aid arriving in gaza to help the innocents in gaza, there is a lot to ask the white house and in just a few minutes ill get to ask john kirby from the National Security council about all of this. Well be right back. Youre looking at a new photo of the first known hostages released by hamas since the Terrorist Attack on october 7th. Judith raanan and her 17yearold daughter were in israel when they were kidnapped. They are now safe in israel. And the white house said President Biden spoke with Judith And Natalies family this afternoon. Joining us now, white house National Security Council Spokesperson john kirby. Admiral, how much did the white house have to do with the release of these two americans . We were very much involved in helping secure their release. And we certainly give credit to the government of israel and the government of qatar who obviously played key roles in this. It was a team effort. Across the inner agency but also internationally and all, were just glad that theyre safe and sound and hopefully soon well be able to get back to illinois with the family where they belong. But why would hamas release them . They wouldnt do it out of the goodness of their heart. Theyre a brutal ruthless terrorist organization. Why would they release these two americans. I think well have to be careful about what we say in terms of the machinations that were required to get them home or out of there. Because we know there are still some americans being held hostage and we want to get them back to their families too, but i hope you could understand we cant talk much about motivations an the details here. Were just glad that theyre safe and sound and hopefully home soon. Just to explain for ow vurers what is going on. I assume there are protesters outside of the white house which is a right that we as americans celebrate. The right to peacefully protest or not so peacefully. Are they protesting for any particular cause. It is difficult to understand exactly what their saying is, what their point is. Im trying to focus on you and your questions. I dont know what theyre saying. Fair enough. So do you think or is the white house advising the Israeli Government that the longer they wait before aGround Incursion, the more successful it will be to get hostages out of gaza . I, again, i want to be careful about what i talk about in terms of the diplomatic conversations with israel. I wan to make it clear, were not interfering in Mir Military Operations or not directing their military operations. Their a sovereign state and a very capable military. When President Biden went, he of course asked questions of israeli counterparts, the Prime Minister to find out what their thinking was and what their intentions was and how their planning was shaping up. We want to be careful to proer tect their operational security. But clearly the issue of hostages, not just americans but all hostages was front and center on the president s mind when he met with the Prime Minister and he had the chance to meet with some families of the homages while he was there. So Hostage Recovery was key to one of the president s agenda items. Do you know thinking about the the damaging, the strike of a Church In Gaza today . There appears to to have been a strike against against an Orthodox Church in gaza . Yeah, ive seen some press reporting on that, jake. But i dont have any detail about what exactly happened. In terms of the continued effort to get humanitarian aid from egypt into gaza, yesterday President Biden and egyptian officials said that the rafah crossing would be opening this morning. It did not open this morning. When will it open and what made President Biden confident despite the fact that it that confidence apparently was misplaced. I would beg to disagree on the police placed confidence. He had a good conversation with presidency si si and to get into gaza and hes confident and said so again today, that in the coming hours, if not a couple of days, we should be able to see that humanitarian assistance get in. One of the obstacles was quite frankly the road. Road that leads into the gate was damaged and there was no confidence that the trucks will be able to traverse that road so the egyptians are working on repairs to that road. That is one issue holding it up. But again were confident that it is going to happen. We hope very, very soon. I have to say, it sounds like there is a full scale rebellion going on at the u. S. State department, where according to many press reports, as well as public statements, officials and now former officials are concerned that the Biden Administration is not doing nearly enough and in some cases they believe the Biden Administration is derelict in protecting innocent people of gaza and i know youre going to say hamas uses them as Human Shields and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that that is true. But that doesnt necessarily mean that the Biden Administration is doing as much as you could be doing to protect innocent people in gaza right now. So how respond to that those charges being made by officials in your own administration . Well certainly, they should be able to speak for themselves. I would simply say that really from the very early hours of this, we have been concerned about civilian casualties, weve been concerned about Collateral Damage inside of gaza and you and i talked in the early days about the concerns that we had expressed to israeli counterparts about that and the abiding of the by the law of war. It is something that has been front and center from the beginning. And as far as humanitarian assistance, weve said that it is important that the people of gaza, the palestinians, that they dont suffer any more than hamas is making them suffer already. They didnt do anything wrong. Theyre being victimized. They need food and water and electricity and medical equipment. They need all of that and the United States is right there with them. Were going to do everything we can to not only get the gate open and get that stuff in, but put in place a sustainable method for it to keep going so. So weve been focused on this from the very early hours on. I respect not everybody has the same opinion and make decisions about their careers as they see fit. But im comfortable in the meetings ive been in my conversations with president that hes been laser focused on this from early on. Retired rear admiral john kirby, thank you very much, appreciate it. And an israeli soldier has left his family behind here in the u. S. To go to israel to join the fight. Im going to talk to him next. As the Israeli Defense forces prepare for their expected Military Incursion into gaza, my next guest left his home and family here in the United States and arrived in israel yesterday to fight with the idf. Major shy, and were not giving his last time, it a Restaurant Owner and chef who has lived in the u. S. For more than a decade. Hes also an idf major and he joins us from israel in a location were not going to disclose and not using his first name either. Major, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it. What kind of fighting are you expecting . Are you expecting to take part in Combat Operations . I cant i can not talk about what we do here. Im an operations officer, so i support part of our operations in coordinating communications. It must have been tough to leave your family. How did you explain this to your kids . Um, it was really hard. That part was very hard for us. My wife and i sat them down, we didnt fully tell them that im going to fight, we told them that im just going to help. We have family here in israel, my daughters, they grew up visiting their family in israel. And we explained to them that israel is under attack and we need to do help them because that is our family and friends and they need our support and our help. Unfortunately, throughout the world, and in the United States, there has been an increase of both antisemitism and Islamo S Phobia since the war began. Has your family experienced any of that . We have. This is actually ive never experienced that kind of antisemitism in the u. S. Until i got here last week. Unfortunately my family my daughters could not go to school two days last week due to threats on our community by even the fbi even arrested somebody that threatened our community and our school and our jcc and it is just something that ive never thought i had to deal with in the u. S. As a grandfather as a grandson of holocaust survivor thats came to the u. S. , and in the way the u. S. Rescued us, my family, ive never thought that im going to have to deal with that kind of stuff and not being able to send my kids to schools in america because theyre being threatened. You have personally seen any expressions of antisemitism in the United States that surprised you . Yes. In the last two weeks, previously i did a little bit, but not to that extent. Nothing in the past that has been you know, im very connected to israel and my family here. And that same notion all of the time that were not antisemitic, were antiisrael and i let that go which is obviously a mistake. We see now. But now i see the full picture and it is not antiisrael, it is antisemitic. Because kids that go to school in the u. S. Should not fear for their lives just because of their heritage or religion. Do you have relatives in israel who were affected by the hamas Terrorist Attacks in any way . Yes. I have several relatives and friends that lost their life there that attack. You have relatives who were killed . Really hard and brutal. Friends. Very, very close friends. Im so sorry. You were also in israel for the 2014 israeli operation against hamas called operation protective edge. Could you tell us what you did back then . Same thing. The same thing that you wont tell us what it is. I cant really. Yeah, i mean well let me ask you another question. I support yeah. It is it is horrible what happened on october 7th. Horrible. And i understand the argument that the Israeli Government makes certainly about you could not allow hamas to operate right next door and have gaza be a Staging Ground for future Terrorist Attacks against the israeli people. Who do you think when you see the pictures, the images of innocent palestinians and i get the argument again that hamas uses its own people as Human Shields. I hear the argument. But what is your reaction when you see the images of innocent palestinians wounded or killed in israeli strikes . It is heartbreaking to be honest. It is heartbreaking and i could tell you that it is part of what i do is that we try to avoid it as much as possible. We do not target the palestinian civilians. I have i have palestinian friends in the u. S. And israeli arabs. Our fight is not with the Palestinian People. Our fight is with hamas. It is heartbreaking and devastating when the Palestinian People are trapped in the middle of hamass attacks and the whole notion of we have to destroy everyone in israel, jews and arabs and muslims and the Palestinian People have to carry this burden. And allow hamas to hide behind them with their brutal and inhumane attacks. And for me, seeing them trapped is just as painful as seeing jewish people trapped in this conflict. But, we cannot allow that, and we could not allow hamas to hide behind them. We have to fight hamas and somebody who is trying to fight you, youre going to do everything we can to prevent casualties and innocent people getting hurt. But we cannot let that stop us from stopping hamas. Major shy, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. This unprecedented uncertainty in the middle east quickly became political here in the United States. As does everything. Up next, former Vice President and 2024 president ial candidate mike pence will join me live to discuss the war and all ask him about the dysfunction among House Republicans back here in d. C. Stay with us. As the middle east is engulfed in war with fears of it spreading to the region, there is absolute chaos here in d. C. Among House Republicans. We now turn to former Vice President current candidate for the republican president ial nominee and former member of House Republican leadership, mike pence. Vice president pence, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, jake. We have the news two americans previously held hostage have been released and now in the care of Israeli Forces an there are still 10 americans unaccounted for. How would you, if you were president at this point, how would you be handling the situation in the middle east . Well first i think it is extremely important that every leader in this country speak with one voice. And make it clear to the world that america stands with israel. And that well stand with israel today, and well stand with israel tomorrow, and through all of the difficult days that lie ahead. Look, after that horrific and unprecedented taste attack on israel, jake, israel has no choice but to hunt down and destroy hamas at its source. And i believe that there should be no daylight between the United States of america and our most cherished ally, israel. And we need to make it clear particularly to other powers in the region, beginning with iran and also Assad In Syria and hezbollah, that any effort to expand this into a wider conflict will be met with with a complete and Seamless Alliance between the United States and america. Only american strength is going to create the conditions in which israel is going to have the room to do what they need to do to secure their country for the future and end the reign of hamas once and for all. Would you as perfect consider using special Operations Forces to rescue american hostages if you were president right now . Well, i said the better part of two weeks ago, jake, that if i was president , i would have already been on the phone with joint special operations command, i would have given orders for delta force and the navy s. E. A. L. S to be prepared to work with Israeli Defense forces engage in Hostage Rescue. And then i would have told hamas that you have you have 12 hours to turn loose every american or every israeli hostage or were going to come and get them. I welcome the release of the two american hostages today. But at the end of the day, we simply have the best Fighting Force Hostage Rescue capability in the world. And hamas needs to understand that we would be willing to use that and and we need to appreciate them and demand that hamas turn those americans and turn those israelis loose. But if you were if you did give that order, and im not judging it, but im saying if you were in fact to give that order, delta force and navy s. E. A. L. S into gaza to rescue the american hostages, you would be sending boots on on theed ground into a place that is ten times bigger, if not maybe i might be wrong about that, maybe 30 times bigger than fallujah. It would be a difficult battle and that is boots on the ground into mother middle eastern war. Right. And look, but were talking about americans now. Jake, were talking about americans that have been captured and taken hostage by the brutal hamas terrorists. And that is what our team exists for. So, look, i have seen the delta force rehearsals at fort bragg. Ive stood on the beach at coronado with the navy s. E. A. L. S. These are the best in the world. But look, i also believe that we need to stand shoulder to shoulder with israel on the issue of aid into the gaza strip that israel has made it clear, no aid will pass across any border between israel and gaza until those hostages are turned loose. I think we need to make that u. S. Policy and i would stand by that. If i was president of the United States. Speaking of aid. There cant be any additional aid package until the House Of Representatives picks a speaker. Which we have not had in the United States for 17 days because House Republicans cannot pick a speaker. You used to be House Republican leadership. It certainly was a lot more calm and organized back in those days, i remember when you were i believe you were caucus chair if memory serves. I was. And in those and in those 17 days, weve seen americans captured and killed, weve seen all sorts of things happening in ukraine, the government is facing a shutdown. What do you make of this unbelievably display of dysfunction, incompetence, selfregard, i could go on and on but it is only a twohour show, that weve seen from House Republicans. Like, what is going on . And if you were an American Voter, right now, what do you think you would be thinking well you are an American Voter but i know you would vote republican any way. But if you were independent and watching House Republicans, what do you think you could be thinking . I got you. All roads lead back to the Group Of Eight republicans that i call the chaos caucus. I was the republican conference chairman. I was a third ranking leader in the House Of Representatives and i cherish my years in the house. But never in all of my time, when i led a lot of fieghts against big spending republicans, i battled a republican president in my own Party Fighting against Big Government programs but never in my Wildest Imagination could i have conceived of a handful of republicans joining with every democrat in the congress to oust a republican speaker of the house. But that is where we are today. But look, here is how it is supposed to work. The conference is supposed to get in a room, vote in a majority about who the conference wants to support as speaker of the house, and then every member in the conference is expected to go out and vote for that speaker. Steve scalise won the round the first time around and he would have been an outstanding speaker of the house. Jim jordan won the second time around, jim jordan would be an outstanding speaker of the house. But my message to my former colleagues is, with everything going on in the world today, with the struggles and American Families are facing in this economy, with crisis at our border, people of this country want republicans in congress to stop fighting with each other and start fighting for them. I think it is time that they got in a room and they decided whether or not they want to be on the team, choose a speaker, get to the floor and get back to work. Former Vice President mike pence, thank you very much for joining us. Always good to have you on. Thank you, jake. Another one of trumps codefendants have flipped and why what was admitted in court today is so significant. Stay with us. The gold plated walls around fo former President Trump appear to be closing in on him. Sidney powell flipped on trump and now wisconsins own Ken Enl Chesebro took a plea deal. What happened in court today . Reporter this was a Stunning Development out of Fulton County as part of the plea deal, ken chesebro has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit false documents and it is a felony count but hes also going to pay a 5,000 fine and do 100 hours of Community Service and hes agreed to testify for the remaining codefendants in this case and that includes former president donald trump. After ken chesebro took this deal, i spoke to his attorney Scott Grubman outside of the courthouse and i asked what he would say to critics that believe that chesebro has turned their back on the former president and a snitch. He didnt snitch against anyone. He went in this and accepted responsibility as one of the minor tag on charges in the indictment. And that was that. I mean, i could absolutely tell you that, again, if hes called, hell go testify and answer their questions. But i would disagree. I dont think mr. Chesebro snitched, i think it decided for him to put this behind him and go on with his life. This was a significant win, a huge win really for the Fulton County District Attorneys Office because not only did they secure Sidney Powell on thursday as a state witness against the former president and now they have ken chesebro. Two key witnesses as the Fulton County District Attorneys Office could narrow its case against former president donald trump. Nick valencia, cnn. And our thanks to nick in Fulton County for that report. Donald trump punished today. Related to a Different Court case. Why he was fined thousands of dollars. That is next. Ellier today, a new york judge fined former President Trump 5,000 for violating a gag order. Judge Arthur Engeron banned them from speaking about any members of the court staff. The gag order was issued after trump attacked judges clerk on his truth social page. The post was removed from truth social. But it was not erased from Trumps Campaign website. Judge engoron called it a blatant violation of the gag order and warned that future violations could lead to steeper financial penalties or even jail time. Before we go, so many of that you have been watching our coverage have wanted to help israelis and palestinians with humanitarian relief efforts. For the innocents who dont deserve any of this. Cnn has been compiling resources and head to cnn. Com impact to find a list of vetted organizations on the ground responding, trying to help. That is cnn. Com impact. Coming up on sunday on the state of the union, ill talk to mike turner and former republican congresswoman and january 6 Committee Cochair liz cheney. Shes going to join me for her first media interview in a year. That is sunday at 9 00 a. M. At