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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Hamas Terrorists Killed Hundreds In Israel; Families Wrapped With Sadness; U.S. Lawmakers Witnessed Terrorism; Israel's Defense Minister Orders "Complete Siege" Of Gaza; Hamas Claims 100 Plus Hostages, Including Israeli Army Officers; Israeli Army: At Least 900 People Killed In Hamas Attacks. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 09, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:38]

This is CNN Breaking News.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And we start this hour with breaking news.

The United States is surging military aid to Israel after the devastating surprise terrorist attack by Hamas which killed at least 900 people, most of them civilians. We have also just learned that number includes at least 11 Americans.

This afternoon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel's response to the horrific attacks is just beginning. You are looking right now at images from Gaza just moments ago where we are seeing that response play out as Israeli forces have fired dozens if not hundreds of rockets into Gaza.

Hamas terrorists have taken an unknown number of innocent civilians as hostages today threatening to broadcast their executions if Israel strikes homes in Gaza without warning. We are hearing continued reports of rape. We are hearing reports of people dragged out of their cars and shot.

CNN crews witnessed mass execution sites where innocent attendees of a music festival spent their last moments huddled together in a bomb shelter. The shelter was no match for terrorist infiltrators who had guns on the ground. These are images that you should not have to see because, frankly, such depravity should not exist, but it does.

And that depravity, which I discussed, led to this response from White House official National Security Council spokesman John Kirby when I asked him about some of the images we've been seeing on The Lead just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, SPOKESMAN, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Yes. I'm sorry, it's very difficult to look at these images, Jake, it's -- and the human cost. And these are human beings. They're family members, they're friends, they're loved ones, cousins, brothers, sisters. Yes, it's difficult. And I apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Of course, he has nothing to apologize for. Some of the images I was referring to had to do with elderly people at a bus stop who had been slaughtered. Young women taken, who's taken hostage, their pants filled with blood, presumably because of being repeatedly raped.

Our coverage started -- starts now with CNN's Nic Robertson. Nick, you were in Re'im, Israel, earlier today. That's the site of the music festival where Hamas did mass slaughter of young people taking hostages. Rapes, reportedly there were young women raped next to the bodies, the dead bodies of their friends.

Now you're in Sderot, Israel, just miles from the Gaza border. Israel's been pummeling Gaza all day. What do you expect will happen this evening?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Jake, I was hoping we might talk. I'm hit emotionally by listening to the testimony of the people that you were talking to just there because we've been there in Re'im and witnessed firsthand what I think they're talking about that they've seen the video images of where people had come out. Those young partygoers at the music festival there had run away from Hamas who were just murdering and slaughtering them in the fields as they ran away.

And they got to their cars and we saw the line of cars and how they were shot up and how they were strewn across the road as people were trying to -- were trying to escape and trying to save their lives and drive away. And next to that was one of those rocket shelters. There's one just here but there was one just there.

And I went to have a look and there were torn up shoes outside. then I could see blood stains as I went inside. And this is why I wanted to speak about it now, because, you know, being there, I'm trying to be professional and I'm trying to tell the story and bear witness to the -- to the barbarity and the callous, cruel, cold-blooded, calculated killing that Hamas was ripping upon those poor innocent young people.

[17:05:00]

But that listening to that conversation you were having there with John Kirby, it puts me in mind to reflect on physically what we saw, so let me explain. Because the smell when you step into the shelter is kind of what hits you first, and you realize that this stuff on the floor is what you fear it is.

It's blood, and you realize in an instant, looking at the strewn shell casings on the floor, looking at the bullet holes in the concrete in front of you, and you're sort of, you can understand what happened that people were used to going to these shelters for safety and security from Hamas rockets.

And when Hamas were chasing them, they hoped that there was safety and security in these concrete bunkers. And of course, there wasn't because we could see what happened. Hamas had gone in there with guns and quite literally shot them. This is a deployment that military hardware going by. I'm going to pause.

Had quite literally shot them in calculated cold blood as they were cowering there on the floor and the bloods on the wall and the bloods on the ceiling and the bullet holes are in the concrete wall and you know in that instant how horrible and how terrible it was. And your conversation brought that back. But I'm moving on.

But I wanted to share that because it's important for people to understand. But I'll move on to tonight and what's happening here where we are now.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: You don't actually -- Nic, you don't actually have to move on.

ROBERTSON: It seems and feels a bit -- yes.

TAPPER: You don't actually have to move on because, look, this is one of the most horrifying terrorist attacks in the history of the world. And one of the things about it is not only is proportionally, if you look at the size of Israel in terms of population, is not only in that sense, is it worse than 9/11.

Is that this was done person to person, individual to individual, you know, terrorist to child, terrorist to young girl, terrorist to senior citizen. The remarkably up close and personal nature of this barbarism is one of the things that strikes you about it. I mean, terrorism is all horrible no matter how it's done, whether it's an airplane into a building or a suicide bomber or whatever, it's all awful.

But the viciousness, the pure inhumanity of these teams of Hamas terrorists going into these neighborhoods, these towns, these kibbutzim, into this music festival where young people were just trying to listen to music and wreaking this evil upon them.

ROBERTSON: And it -- and it was so organized, Jake, that you look at the Hamas vehicles there and they've all got numbers written on them and you see the body armor of Hamas lying there on the ground where they've been killed. You see everything's numbered. This was organized. They came in a systematic way and just, as you say, unleashed this barbarism.

But when you -- when you're standing there in front of it, you un -- you understand it as you do, as John Kirby does, as our audience does, you understand that this was, as you say, face to face, utter barbarism, and terror in the final moments for those -- for those people and we can only think about their families in this moment.

Yes, that's what -- that's what we come here to do, to bear witness, to tell what we see and we have and thank you.

TAPPER: Nic Robertson, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time and your description of what you saw. Thank you for that. We are getting new video from Saturday's music festival massacre. And

a warning, it is disturbing, but we are here to tell you what happened. We are not here to hide from you what happened.

Dash cam video obtained by CNN shows the terrorists shooting and killing people at point blank range. And the terror, at least 260 people killed, experienced.

CNN's Nada Bashir filed this report for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was Israel Nova music festival in the early hours of Saturday morning. But in the distance rockets seemingly intercepted in the dawn sky. The festival then brought to an abrupt, terrifying end as Hamas gunmen launched a deadly rampage, killing hundreds and taking dozens hostage.

Twenty-one-year-old Adi Maizel was among those targeted in the ambush. Her mother hopes she could still be alive, held captive in Gaza. But fear's time is quickly running out.

[17:10:00]

UHUVA MAIZEL, ADI MAIZEL'S MOTHER: I'm a mother who is looking for her daughter. She's missing. I think I believe she's hurt. She's bleeding somewhere. And like me, there are more hundreds families that are looking for their beloved.

I'm a mother, I want to protect my kid. That's all I want to do. And I'm sure that all mothers in the other side, in Gaza, in everywhere, that they are not me, are thinking the same thing.

BASHIR: Dashcam footage geolocated by CNN shows Hamas gunmen at the site, shooting and killing people at point-blank range. The site of Saturday's massacre now stands eerily quiet. Chart cars line nearby streets. Hamas claims it has captured more than 100 Israeli citizens, though no exact figure yet from the Israel Defense Forces.

The result, dozens of families left in anguish. All hoping against hope for a miracle.

MIRAV LESHEM GONEN, MOTHER OF MISSING DAUGHTER (through translator): She called and said, mum, they are shooting at us. The car is hit. We are all wounded. I don't know how you feel, but the nightmare of a parent sitting and hearing her child saying, mum, come and help me, and we cannot do a thing. Nothing. Only to be with her on the phone and say to her, Romi, I love you. Romi, hide.

BASHIR: But as their anxious wait continues, questions are also beginning to mount as to how an attack of this scale was allowed to take place.

URI DAVID, FATHER OF MISSING DAUGHTERS (through translator): What is happening is unbelievable, simply unbelievable. I join, we join in the grieving of all the families. We demand answers. Not all the answers will be happy ones.

BASHIR: Nada Bashir, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Nada Bashir for that report. Nearly three days after the Hamas terrorist attack, the desperate and heart- wrenching work of first responders in Israel continues.

Joining us now is Miriam Balin. She runs the trauma and crisis response Unit called United Hatzalah. Miriam, thank you so much for joining us. What has been the response so far?

MIRIAM MIEDZINSKI BALIN, FOUNDER, PSYCHOTRAUMA & CRISIS RESPONSE UNIT: Well, horror. We're just in horror. We've sent over 1,500 volunteers for United Hatala, which is a network of community-based volunteer. EMTs, paramedics, and doctors down to the south. They have constructed a field hospital on the border. They are seeing sites that they've never seen before, and we are just horrified.

We're doing the best we can to be able to stay on top of all of the, you know, the medical, medical care that needs to be given in these very difficult circumstances.

But just to give you an idea of some of the calls that we've been seeing. Our field hospital had a woman come with her children. After having been inside her home, inside a bomb shelter, with terrorists actively trying to break down the door, she stayed there for hours. They eventually then burned down her home to try to get her out.

She miraculously lived and came to our field hospital with second- and third-degree burns. We had a woman come to us right after having been rescued after five hours of playing dead in a field near bushes after having been shot at the festival, music festival. And she just had to lay there in the bushes waiting for somebody come rescue her with an open wound to her arm begging us to save her arm so that she'd be able to be a personal trainer which was her dream and her ability to be able to provide for her family.

I mean, the things that we found, two children all alone in a bomb shelter right after their parents had been murdered in the same house and brought them to the field clinic and had to take care of them. Orphaned. Just slaying people, murdering people, vicious, barbaric, it is unbelievable to see what's going on here.

As a mother, I'm torn, you know, I'm trying to be a first responder as well as a mom. The kids are asking hard questions. We have no answers for most of the questions. Tying to be able to stay calm with all these fighter jets overhead, with sirens going on all the time, with having to bring children up to the bomb shelter every couple of hours and then stay there, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. It's a really difficult situation here right now.

TAPPER: God bless you for the work you're doing. I mean, I can't even imagine it. And then you have five children of your own.

BALIN: Yes.

TAPPER: And you can't ignore their questions. They have a right to ask questions. But --

BALIN: Absolutely we're trying to be honest with them but at the same time you know not create panic and let them feel calm. It's my job as a mother to put a smile on my face and be able to tell them everything is going to be OK.

[17:15:00]

But at the same time, I don't know what's going to happen the escalation and now that Hezbollah and, you know, the border of Lebanon is now chimed in. And we really don't know what's going to end up happening. United Hatzalah is already, you know, turned their attention to the north as well and kind of pivoted an area over there where they can set up a field hospital and to be prepared for anything that may take place up north in the coming days. Trying to get equipment all over the country.

The only beautiful part of it that I can say is watching the community try together to get through this is one. The donations, the volunteer work, the camaraderie, the boosting of morale.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Miriam, if people watching -- if people watching want to help out, where can they go? Where can they contribute?

BALIN: There are organizations that are doing incredible work. There's a lot of information online. United Hatzalah of Israel is trying to get as much equipment as possible for the people in need down south. They need to have their bulletproof vests and their helmets to be able to do this work safely, especially with terrorists on the loose. This is just really life-threatening work that we're doing --

TAPPER: Yes.

BALIN: -- for the sake of our community.

TAPPER: Miriam Balin, thank you so much for everything you're doing. We're going to keep you and your family in our thoughts and prayers. Please stay safe.

BALIN: Thank you so much, thank you.

TAPPER: Every few minutes we see smoke plumes rising in Gaza as even more strikes hit. Day three of this horror. It's tragic, it's inhumane, it should not be happening.

My next guest was in Israel when the first blasts went off. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:21] TAPPER: And we're back with our breaking news coverage. Two members of

the United States Congress were in Israel when Hamas launched its brutal terrorist invasion over the weekend.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey says he huddled with people inside bomb shelters and stairwells in his hotel. Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman of New York was in Israel for a bar mitzvah. He was there with his family. Both have now made it back to the United States safely.

Congressman Goldman joins me now. Congressman, tell us what you and your family experienced when Hamas launched this attack. What part of Israel were you in?

REP. DAN GOLDMAN, (D-NY): Well, we were in Tel Aviv and at 6:30 in the morning. I had a daughter on either side of me in bed and we were woken up by the sirens that in Israel are well known to reflect missiles being shot into Israel from some border territory, border area.

We ran to the stairwell in the interior of the hotel, which is the bomb shelter for the hotels. And we remained there until we got the all clear. We had to do that several more times in the morning and again in the evening. And we heard the Iron Dome defense system blowing up rockets outside of our window.

As the -- as we know now, Hamas was raining thousands of missiles against Israel while infiltrating on the ground as well and committing a horrific massacre, unlike much that we've ever seen in this -- on this earth.

TAPPER: I wonder what your response has been to some of the responses we've seen on the left, including from some Democratic officials that seem to almost even justify these attacks as part of quote, unquote, resistance. I'm sure you've seen them and know what I'm talking about.

GOLDMAN: Yes, look, I have and I think a couple things that we need to emphasize here. First of all, this was a horrific terrorist attack by a terrorist organization that committed brutal and atrocious war crimes against children, against raping women, elderly, indiscriminately killing innocent civilians. There's no both sides to what Hamas did.

And secondly, we also need to recognize that right now we need to be firmly in Israel's corner, having suffered such a horrific genocidal attack in a country that was founded in the aftermath of one of the worst genocides ever, the Holocaust. And what we need to remember is that this is not about Israel versus Palestinians. This is about Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to the eradication of Israel and all Jews. It should not exist. It should not be in power. And like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, it needs to be eliminated.

And the Palestinians deserve a robust government for themselves that can be a partner in peace and security and prosperity. And Hamas is not that. TAPPER: I saw a post on Instagram today from, I don't want to pick on

Yale, your alma mater, but it was from Yale-ies for Palestine. And they promoted a march taking place at Yale this afternoon and says, we call on our allies in the Yale community to uplift the calls of Palestinian resistance. And march this Monday, October 9th at 3 p.m. at New Haven City Hall.

I mean, uplift the calls for Palestinian resistance two days after the murder of kids and elderly people, the rape of young women. Is that what Palestinian resistance is to these students?

GOLDMAN: No, and I think that's the unfortunate reality of being young and being idealistic and not having necessarily the maturity or the experience to understand where things fit in history.

This is not like the regular, I should say regular, this is not a cycle of violence that has persisted in the Middle East for quite some time. This is wholly different. This was a terrorist attack. And it is not about uprising or resisting. It is out and out war crime terrorism that occurred.

And I hope that everybody who's paying attention over there recognizes that we, as Americans must condemn all terrorism, just like we do with al-Qaeda, with ISIS.

[17:25:01]

Terrorism has no place in this world. And we must condemn it, and we must root it out. That does not mean that we don't support the Palestinian people. We do, and we want them to flourish. And the reality is that they are being governed by a terrorist organization that has no interest in supporting them, that only has interest in eradicating Jews.

And we must, as Americans and as global citizens, stand up to that kind of horrific, atrocious brutality and terrorism. And that is what we're facing here. We are not facing any kind of resistance or freedom fight. Let's make no mistake about it.

TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman of New York, we're so glad that you and your family are OK. Thank you so much for being here.

GOLDMAN: Thank you, Jake. Coming up next, the horrific scenes of war, what day three of this war looked like in Gaza before nightfall. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:22]

TAPPER: You're looking at bombed out areas of Gaza today after Israel order to complete siege. In response to the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks over the weekend, Israel has ordered the siege of Gaza as it retaliates against Saturday's deadly terrorist attack. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live on the ground following the launch of Israel's counter offensive. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Moments after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, desperate calls for help the dead, the dying and the injured covered in dust and blood. Israel's wrath is now unleashed upon Gaza.

The Israeli, say Ahmed Shamalakh, hit the building without warning. They didn't ask us to evacuate. They didn't say anything. Suddenly, we heard the airstrike and we ran to the building and found it had completely collapsed. Around 75,000 people in Gaza have already been displaced, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency which deals with Palestinian refugees.

In this cramped strip of land along the Mediterranean, 2 million Palestinians are now in the crosshairs of an enemy bent on revenge for Hamas's surprise attack, which left hundreds of Israelis dead and thousands wounded, and dozens now in Hamas captivity. By mid- afternoon, the death toll in Gaza was approaching 600 with almost 3,000 wounded according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Gaza and Israel have gone to war many times before since Hamas took control. This will not be yet another brief outbreak of attack and counter attack before it return to the status quo. Israel is massing troops and armor on the outskirts of Gaza, preparing in all likelihood for a ground invasion on a scale not seen before. And now Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, has ordered what he called a complete siege of Gaza, cutting off all food, fuel and electricity.

That is in a place where according to the World Food Program, 63 percent of the population was food insecure before this war began. So much has happened since Saturday morning in Israel and Gaza. And it's only the beginning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And it may also be the beginning of trouble on the border with Lebanon. Today, three Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli air raid after that Hezbollah responded they say by targeting Israeli military barracks near the border and what we saw for several hours was a Israeli helicopters firing at targets just inside the border in Lebanon. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Ben Wedeman thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[17:35:00]

Israel confirms Americans are among hostages taken by Hamas. One correspondent here at CNN has experienced in the FBI looking for missing Americans. His take on the calculations U.S. officials are likely making now as they try to find those Americans. That's next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHAL HALEY, MOTHER OF LAOR-ITZHAK, MISSING SINCE SATURDAY: We are desperate, desperate to find our children, please, if anyone can just contact someone that can help us.

AHUVA MAYZEL, MOTHER OF MAYZEL, KIDNAPPED SATURDAY MORNING: As a mother who was looking for her daughter, every minute that passes by, the chance to find her alive, you know are reducing. And there's nothing anyone can do. So I'm asking you if you have my daughter, OK, I'm asking you to remember what it's like to be human.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Families are desperately, desperately pleading, pleading with the terrorists who kidnapped their loved ones. They're pleading for any information on whether they're missing sons or daughters, parents, even grandparents are alive, whether they're wounded, whether they're dead, Israeli authorities have opened a missing persons command center to try to help these families try to help them get any answers.

I want to bring in CNN's Josh Campbell, who previously was an FBI agent who worked on missing persons cases. Josh, you served on an FBI global response team investigating kidnappings. Where do you even start looking into a case like this one?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, most critically, its intelligence. This is obviously a very complex fraught environment, there's still this fog of war. And that's why, you know, we've heard officials say they don't even know how many people are kidnapped much less where they might be.

We do know that our White House team here at CNN is reporting that the Biden administration is sending advisors over that are experienced with hostage situations. I'm told by a law enforcement source just a short time ago that includes personnel from the FBI. The Israelis, obviously very adept themselves at hostage rescues, but all those personnel need to know where to go. And so that is what is happening behind the scenes right now in this fog of war. Those are the critical components.

You have to know you know where to send forces if a rescue operation is staged, but you ideally also want to know the number of captors and, you know, the circumstances of the confinement. Right now it's just seems too soon but that's certainly something that officials are working on.

[17:40:06]

TAPPER: You heard the moms plea every minute counts. Take us through how you calculate rescue and risks. I mean, it seems clear that these hostages are in Gaza somewhere.

CAMPBELL: No, absolutely. I'll first say at the outset, I mean, we can understand the family members, you know, friends of those who have been taken captive, we can understand their grief and these demands for some type of urgent action. But, you know, the hard reality here is that they need that information. But once authorities identify particular locations, you know, where they might be able to stage a particular rescue operation, they have to make that calculation to ensure that the rescue operation itself doesn't put hostages in greater harm than they are right now. And that is tough work to do.

You know, I can tell you having worked these cases overseas, it is soul crushing to have to deal with family members, you know, obviously the grief demanding answers. And one thing I'll just note as well, as you and I are talking right now there are, you know, no doubt hundreds, perhaps thousands of security officials in Israel that are working to secure the safe return of these hostages, that does weigh on you every night that, you know, goes by where you realize that there are more of your compatriots that are being held in captivity, that certainly weighs on you.

These officials are obviously steeled, they're trained, but they're not robots. And they're certainly, you know, feeling the strain of this and all of us can spare a thought for the weight that comes with that this urgent effort to try to find these people safely.

TAPPER: I don't know how many people watching know that Prime Minister Netanyahu's older brother, Yonatan Netanyahu was the leader of a special forces group that went in to save a bunch of hostages, Israelis who were taken hostage in the famous raid on Entebbe, and he was killed during that Rebby -- during that raid, as were some hostages. What's your response to Hamas warning that they will execute some of these hostages if Israel, you know, continues to bombard Gaza?

CAMPBELL: Well, first you summed it up perfectly earlier calling this depravity calling this barbaric, it is certainly that. I mean, the idea of taking hostages, but also, you know, more problematic, obviously is the long term, you know, Senator Marco Rubio, you were speaking with earlier, and he described that the end goal for Hamas is the annihilation of the Jewish state of Israel that tells those who are trying to secure the release of these hostages, that they're not dealing with rational actors.

In any type of hostage situation, obviously, this is on a much larger scale than any of us have ever seen. But you try to identify, well, what are the motivations of these attackers that can bring this to some type of resolution if the resolution itself is not rational, then that certainly puts the authorities in a much more difficult position. I will note that the now is the time for other interested parties there in the region, other Middle Eastern countries, ideally to, you know, come forward and try to assist to help bring this to an end.

I know our colleagues, Natasha Bertrand and Alex Marquardt are reporting that the Qataris have offered to marshal resources to that end. But in an ideal world, other nations in the region will be doing the same thing. But as we've seen, with all this barbarism Jake, obviously we do not live in an ideal world.

TAPPER: Josh Campbell, thanks so much.

A three-year-old girl was among the Hamas hostages. She's one of the lucky ones. She and her father escaped. Her mother did not. Just a moment another family member, we're going to tell their story. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:47:37]

TAPPER: And we're back with our coverage of the ongoing war right now in the Israel-Gaza area. So many lives have been forever changed in the worst ways since Hamas terrorists unleashed their brutal attacks on Israel mainly on Israeli civilians on Saturday. Joining us now is Gili Roman, his brother in law and three-year-old niece were able to escape after being kidnapped by Hamas terrorists but his sister, Jordan, remains missing. Gili, I'm so sorry to hear about everything your family has gone through and is continues to go through. Are you able to tell us how your brother in law and your niece escaped?

GILI ROMAN, BROTHER OF MISSING WOMAN, JORDAN ROMAN-GAT: First of all, thank you for thank you for the interview. And to allow me to share this horrific family story that I never imagined that I will need to tell such a story. You know, then my sister alone her husband and Geffen (ph) under three years old child were taken from their home from the shelter of their home on Saturday morning. And they were taken by vehicle stolen vehicle towards Gaza.

Along the way, really nearby the border, they managed to seize an opportunity where the terrorists had to get out of the car for a few minutes. And they decided to run for the life and escape my sister to Geffen (ph) in her hands and they just ran out of the car starting to look for shelter. Then the tourists noticed them and started shooting and chasing them.

Basically what happens from there is that they went to south -- to a place that seemed like a possible shelter but was irrelevant as they got to it and they decide to keep on running and then Jordan gave Geffen (ph) to Alon (ph) that he will be able to carry her for longer and run faster with her which he was able to do. And Jordan at a certain point we're talking about brief moments here under fire she decided to hide behind the tree, hoping that terrorist will not find her.

[17:50:14]

While Alon (ph) and Geffen (ph) in his hands were able to move farther away and to hide themselves in a place that the terrorists were not able to find the states in this battlefield for 24 hours and then certain point Alon (ph) to take Geffen (ph) in his hand towards the back towards the kibbutz. And after 24 hours, they managed to get there and find the troops that were already in the interest of the kibbutz. And now they're happily thankful here with us.

And, but we don't know what happened to Jordan since then. The last point in the last time that Alon (ph) saw her saw her was by the street. I was in the last two days in this battlefield going with the troops in the troops in and around very towards this plate.

TAPPER: Looking for her.

ROMAN: To try to find her, looking for her. Yes. TAPPER: Yes. What do you want people to know about Jordan? How old is Jordan?

ROMAN: Jordan was supposed to celebrate and she will celebrate her 36th birthday on two weeks from now. And we are definitely hoping to have the celebration with us here in our family home.

TAPPER: And your brother-in-law's mother and his sister were also kidnapped and there was video circulating of his mother. Has he heard anything else about their whereabouts?

ROMAN: No, they each one like they were kidnapped from the same house but separately. So he did not see where they were taking but we assume that they were also that they're also hostage as we are assuming that most probably because we've been searching for two days and there were no findings, also not harsh findings that like blood and, you know, any signs of injuries or fighting in the area where Jordan was last seen.

So we assume while we are hoping that she's still in Israel and we will find her in the next few days. We are most probably and most likely that she was just taken again in that and now also hostage. So in our family basically we have three innocent women in under Hamas' hands.

TAPPER: Yes. And Gili, what -- if you could talk to the terrorists right now if you could talk to Hamas right now, about Gili about getting her back? What would you say to them?

ROMAN: Well, I don't think that this type of conversation is something that it's practically for me to imagine. I think that what they have done and what they are doing right now it's completely inhumane. And I think that only someone who can understand that taking hostage of innocent civilians and making them a target, they are not even a mean towards an end. They are the end. They were the target. They are the symbol of this terrorist attack.

And I think that it's not Hamas who needs to realize that because obviously, this is not part of their value sets. But I think that the world needs to understand. And also, I think U.S. needs to understand that this is a new case study for terrorism, which is targeting as a symbol, children and mothers and elderly people as the main target and as the main symbol.

And I think that every single terrorist in the world is watching us right now looking what is the price tag for that? What is going to happen? When you are aiming for this and celebrating the fact that this is happening and still after the devastating deaths that are that have happened. They're still holding innocent people, probably hundreds of innocent people including as we already mentioned, my sister and Alon's (ph), his family, his mother and his sister as hostages so I don't think I have anything specifically to say to them.

[17:55:09]

I think that the pressure needs to come from every nation that not only respect human values but also want to send a message of how severe and how clear the message -- this message should be of what we are not willing to tolerate. And the fact that we cannot bring, unfortunately we cannot bring close to 1,000 people who died who were murdered back, but those people we can get back and I think that it should happen. It shouldn't happen fast.

And I think that every single voice in the world I should say right now bring them back immediately. I think that this is the call that I expect. It's not a call -- it's not a conversation between me and Hamas. It's a conversation between the world and Hamas.

TAPPER: Yes. Gili Roman we'll be praying for your sister. Thank you so much for your time.

ROMAN: Thank you.

TAPPER: And we'll be right back.

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[18:00:31]

TAPPER: Thank you for joining us on The Lead today. I'm Jake Tapper. Our coverage continues now with Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.