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Israel Remembers 1,200 People Killed In Oct. 7 Terror Attack; Biden Honors Victims With Traditional Candle Lighting; World Marks One Year Since Oct. 7 Hamas Attacks; Hurricane Milton Now Category 5 As It Nears Florida; Trump Spreading Lies About Response To Hurricane Helene; FEMA Chief: Biggest Effect Of Rumors Is On Those Impacted By Hurricane. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired October 07, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Dana Bash in Washington. And today we are marking one year since the barbaric Hamas terror attack on Israel, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. On this day last year, 1200 innocent people were murdered, countless others were raped and beaten, and more than 250 people were taken to Gaza as hostages. The pain is still palpable.

Families gathered today at the site of the Nova Music Festival where hundreds of young people who came to dance a year ago were instead slaughtered. The horrors of that day still haunt so many across Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing will bring us back what we lost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We still haven't accept that she's gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, once something happens, you know that it can -- you always have that in the back of your mind that it can happen again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They killed my sister over there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a trauma of living in a house where vicious terrorists invaded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And the nightmare continues with more than 100 hostages still being held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. That siren sounded for two minutes outside Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem today, as devastated and exhausted families urge the Israeli prime minister to bring their loved ones' home.

We begin our coverage with CNN's Erin Burnett, who is in Tel Aviv. Erin? ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Dana. You know we're here right now at what's called hostage square. And I know you've seen this so many times. There are members of the public, people mourning. There were a group of young men from a yeshiva school singing, all of them here to grieve, to hope for the return of those hostages. 97 people who were taken hostage on October 7, one year ago today, are still in Gaza.

Right now, the latest that we understand is a third to a half of them may not be alive. It is an incredible tragedy, and their families still do not know. And what you're hearing behind me, Dana, this is just the beginning of -- it's going to be a very large video screen that is going to be broadcast across Tel Aviv. There are thousands of families nearby at (inaudible) square. There were going to be, Dana, about 40,000 people.

There could be many people gathering in this, as I said, the public location, but they were allowed to be 40,000 that was dramatically scaled back because Israel, of course, is not a country just grieving. It's a country at war, a war in north, a war in Gaza, a war with Iran. All of that going on sirens, of course, across Tel Aviv.

Just within the past hour, Dana, as there were ballistic missiles apparently coming in, perhaps from Yemen. Those were intercepted, but everything lights up red. People have to go to a shelter. They're prepared to go to a shelter here if they need to. There's a plan that's been told to everyone in this square, and that is the reality of the life that they are living every day.

As now, Dana, as they grieve in these early moments of darkness, there is the possibility that Israel will choose tonight, as it's night, to strike Iran, with that imminent strike that the U.S. has been prepared for and searched 40,000 troops over these months to the region to support Israel and its defense after that anticipated attack. An attack, Dana, of course, is that we all know could come at any moment, with very little warning, even as Israel tonight griefs, Dana.

BASH: And Erin, just quickly before I let you go. How is what you just described, the reality of the multi front war going on right now, affecting this day -- this absolutely horrible day of remembrance and the scene that you are a part of right now?

BURNETT: You know, there are people as you -- as you show to the top of your hour. There is grieving, there is crying, there is an incredible feeling of sobriety. And yet, Dana, I will tell you, being along the frontlines in the north, as we have been in recent days, where there is the constant thud of artillery, on average. One a minute going out, and the projectiles coming in.

even today, as I said, across the north and here in Tel Aviv along the Gaza Strip. The reality is, Dana, there is a feeling of it is time to go, hit hard. Hit harder than Israel was just hit. That is the feeling. And those soldiers in the north, some of whom we met, you know, in a ghost town where it's just basically a temporary barracks near a school, those soldiers are ready to go.

[12:05:00]

They've served in Gaza over this past 12 months. They're now up along the Lebanese border, tens of thousands of them. And they want to go in, and they want to go in, and they want to win. They want to hit hard. There's just a feeling of visceral anger. But Dana, there isn't really anyone who could define at this point what winning actually means.

And that's the real question for the war cabinet and the Israelis if they're trying to make those final decisions on strike targets. You know, under pressure from the Biden administration to perhaps scale that back as those final negotiations are going down. The reality here is it's a country ready to win that doesn't really even know what that word means.

BASH: Wow. Really powerful reporting. Erin, we're lucky to have you there. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for that. And here in the United States, at the White House, President Biden is remembering the victims by lighting a yard-side candle. That is a Jewish custom to honor the dead.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is there. Arlette, what are you hearing from President Biden today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, President Biden this morning, spoke by phone with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, head of holding a candlelight ceremony here at the White House to commemorate the somber day of the October 7 attacks.

President Biden did not deliver remarks today, instead opting to hold this candle lighting ceremony. He was joined by First Lady Jill Biden, as well as Rabbi Aaron Alexander, who prayed for the souls of the holy ones, men, women and children who were killed on October 7.

It's worth noting that Rabbi Alexander is actually a friend of the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was killed by Hamas in captivity in late August. It really adds a very poignant and personal touch to today's remembrances.

President Biden is using this day to once again, renew his calls for a ceasefire deal between Hamas in Israel, saying that he wants to ensure that they can get these hostages back home for their families, get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, as well as find an end to this war.

He said in that statement, Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity and peace. But the president, even as he's renewing these calls, is running up against the reality that there has been little to no traction in those talks to secure a ceasefire deal.

And as Erin was noting, this conflict has now widened out on several fronts. As Israel is not just battling Hamas, but also Hezbollah and Lebanon, and now potentially Iran as well, promising that they will respond to the attacks.

So, President Biden certainly is juggling this on multiple fronts today, trying to commemorate those lives lost on October 7, while also dealing with this conflict potentially widening something that he's really hoped to try to prevent since October 7, one year ago.

BASH: Yeah. Arlette, thank you so much for that reporting. Vice President Harris and former President Trump will also mark today's somber anniversary. Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff will plant a memorial tree at the vice president's residence in Washington, a pomegranate tree, which for Jews, represents hope and righteousness.

Trump did two radio interviews this morning where he attacked the Biden, Harris administration's handling of the war. Later today, he'll participate in memorial events in New York and Florida.

Joining me at the table to discuss all of this, CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Priscilla Alvarez, and the Atlantic's Frank Foer. Thank you so much for being here all of you. Frank, you wrote a truly extraordinary piece for The Atlantic, and the title is, The War That Would Not End. We're going to talk a little bit more about that later in the show.

But just picking up where Arlette Just left off about the fact that the Biden administration has spent the past year. And you detailed it in extraordinary detail, trying to prevent a war from widening. And at this where we are right now, they have failed to do so. Talk about that, and specifically how it affects what this show is about right now, which is for 29 days from an American presidential election.

FRANKLIN FOER, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: So, Joe Biden, somebody who grew up hiding under his desk in nuclear drills, has this abiding fear of escalation. And almost from October 8 on, that's been the primary goal of the administration's foreign policy, is that they could see that Israel is encircled in a sense, by Iranian proxies that in Israel. Also in that moment, their nerves were so jangled, they experienced such trauma.

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The intelligence failure that was experienced on October 7 was something that meant that they couldn't be sure they were reading the region correctly. And so, they started seeing showers -- shadows everywhere. And so, there was this abiding prospect that the war would widen, that it would widen in the north Hezbollah, and eventually it would put Iran and Israel in direct confrontation. And so, here we are.

BASH: And the backdrop of this, the pressure points that this administration is feeling, both from its left and from the political right is really astounding. And I want to kind of dive into that a little bit here. Jeff, our friend Leigh Ann Caldwell at The Washington Post, she spoke with Representative Brad Sherman of California. He said something that was kind of jaw dropping, but very instructive.

He said, you're fighting on eight fronts, and on one of those fronts, you're not winning. The eighth front is world opinion and opinion in the United States, particularly the left half of the United States, the Israelis have to win the eighth front.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, and that is something that really is hanging over, as you said, the last 29 days of this campaign. It is unimaginable a year ago, as we all sat here and watched in horror in the days -- in the hours and days after October 7. What the -- we weren't thinking about domestic politics, what the effect domestic politics would have.

But since that year has moved along, the hope in the Biden campaign and administration initially, and then the Harris campaign initially was, by the fall, there will be a ceasefire. By the fall, things will be better. I've been to Dearborn, Michigan, which, of course, is home to a very large concentration of Arab Americans and others.

And there was the abandoned Biden movement, giving way to a bit more hope for the Harris campaign. And there is still some hope. She definitely had a bit of a different moment in some time. But even then, still back in July -- by the fall, by October, there still may be a ceasefire. That, of course, is out the window. And that is why --

And so, this has unintended or uncertain domestic political consequences and effects that we don't know. But the margin is so tight, it's crass to talk about the raw politics of this on this -- on this day, but that is the reality.

BASH: But that's driving a lot of votes.

ZELENY: It is driving a lot of votes, and other sides are exploiting that. So, this is what is an absolute. One of the many questions about Michigan and other states, it is revolving around this issue.

BASH: So, put a pin in that notion of exploiting it, because I want to come back to that in a second. But just really quickly. We do have some new comments from Kamala Harris, who has been doing more interviews, including this clip from a 60-minutes interview that will air tonight, when she was asked about Bibi Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think, with all due respect. The better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What she didn't answer there, of course, is the direct question about the prime minister --

(CROSSTALK)

ALVAREZ: By not answering, it was answered.

BASH: She answered there, yeah.

ALVAREZ: So, this is something that we have seen over time. Remember when the prime minister came to the White House, the vice president came out and gave remarks after that. That was pretty extraordinary. We have not seen that over the course of this White House. And it was a moment for her to try to define herself, while also maintaining that she is in lockstep with the president on a policy toward Israel.

And this has been one of the great challenges of her now campaign is trying to -- by all accounts, and by everyone I've spoken with, say we are in lockstep with the president. But there is also so much pressure on her, including at a meeting that she had in Michigan on Friday with Arab American leaders. For her to show that she is willing to be different from President Joe Biden on this, and that is that answer, in some ways, was telling of that.

I will also just say that when we're watching the developments over the last year, the statements that were put out by the president and the vice president today sort of indicated that and put a pin in that. Because not only was it the first half of the statement saying Israel has a right to defend itself, and we need to think of the Jewish people today. But also included in that was the situation in Gaza and the Palestinians. And I think that sort of set a marker as to how much this has evolved.

BASH: But on the question of where the votes are? And we're not talking about the biggest populations in this country. I mean, they're very small, both the Arab and especially the Jewish population in these key states. But you mentioned that people are -- maybe you did, trying to take advantage. Those people -- that person is Donald Trump.

[12:15:00]

Again, this morning, Donald Trump used language that, I'll give context to you on the other side. Listen?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voiceover): Nobody's done more for the Jewish people than I have. Nobody's done more for Israel as a president, maybe beyond being a president, if you want to know the truth. Golan Heights, I moved the capital, ended the Iran nuclear deal. I should get 100 percent of the Jewish vote, and I don't. It's amazing. October 7 never would have happened if I was there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And Frank, he says that, and then he says, Jews have to get their head examined if they vote for the Democrats, which is wading into an age-old trope that Jews have a dual identity -- dual national identity. And yet, there are some Jews who listen to that, who look at the statement today, or others by the Democrats, and say, maybe Trump will be better if this is our issue.

FOER: Yeah. So, he's both -- he's also scapegoated in advance the Jews for his election defeating that --

BASH: Thank you for adding that. That's very important. FOER: -- which is we know the way when he blames people for his defeats, that oftentimes it instigates violence against them. But I think one bitter irony of this whole thing, for the Biden administration, for Kamala Harris is a candidate, is that one of the perils of incumbency is that you get blamed by all sides.

So, you have Arab Americans who said they're going to vote for Trump as a protest. And you have a lot of Jews who are going to vote for Trump to protest. What they see is softness on the Israel question by the administration.

BASH: Yeah. Scapegoat is key. When you say, if I lose, it's his fault. I mean, that's by definition, a scapegoat. OK. Everybody don't go anywhere, because coming up, we do have breaking news. Hurricane Milton is strengthening into a category five storm. Florida is bracing for another direct hit just two weeks after getting slammed by hurricane Helene. We're going to tell you what to expect after a break.

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ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa in the extreme weather center. We have a category five Hurricane Milton sitting in the Gulf of Mexico. It rapidly intensified all morning. Right now, it has winds of 160 miles per hour, gusts are nearing 200 as it sits 700 miles away from Tampa. It is just mind boggling.

We went to sleep last night, and it was a category one hurricane, and look at how it just increased. The winds in this thing have increased nearly 100 miles per hour in just 24 hours, all fueled by incredibly warm ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, as it heads towards Florida, it will start to weaken some. But we are still looking at a major hurricane making landfall on the west coast of Florida, where we have these hurricane watches in effect right now. We are incredibly worried about the threat of damaging winds, incredibly heavy rain and storm surge, looks like the most destructive winds could be right around the Tampa Bay area, down towards Sarasota and Fort Myers.

That would put some of the biggest storm surge totals in the areas that got record storm surge in Helene. Eight to 12-feet of storm surge in the Tampa Bay area would be something that they have never seen before, and something that eclipses the damage that was done in Helene. So, something we need to watch incredibly closely, as Milton just continues to gain strength. Dana?

BASH: Elisa, wow. I mean, if you just showing us those images, but also how quickly, as you said at the beginning, this has gone from a cat one to looks like a cat five. Very, very scary. Thank you so much.

And the Biden administration is blasting Donald Trump's barrage of lies in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The former president is falsely accusing federal relief agencies of maliciously withholding and misusing aid. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A lot of the money that was supposed to go to Georgia and supposed to go to North Carolina and all of the others is going and has gone. Already it's been gone for people that came into the country illegally. We give foreign countries hundreds of billions of dollars, and we're handing North Carolina $750. If you want a president who won't even try to save you when the flood waters are rising, vote for Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said minutes ago, flatly. What you just heard is not true. There are rumors and their lies, and they are hurting the very people that thousands of FEMA emergency responders are trying to help as we speak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: The rumor. I mean, what it does is it really affects the morale of our people who are trying so hard to get into communities. But the biggest effect, I would say, is people that have been impacted are afraid to apply for our assistance. If I can't get them to apply. I can't give them the money and the resources that they're eligible for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The panel is back. And Priscilla, I know you have some reporting on this. I will just say that I had Lara Trump, the former president's daughter-in-law, but also co-chair of the RNC. She's a native North Carolinian. And we went back and forth about this. And it's just not stopping.

ALVAREZ: It's not. I've covered FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security for many years. And what is being completed here, are two completely separate pots of money. There is money that is the disaster relief funds that we often talk about in this phase in rescue and recovery. And then there is a shelters program. That is money that goes to shelters who are helping and housing migrants.

[12:25:00]

I have spoken to multiple homeland security officials about this. The money has not been and never has been transferred over, and it is monies that are authorized by Congress. All of this to say that when I have been talking to my sources about what the former president is saying, the ultimate concern is that people will not apply for assistance. As you heard there from the FEMA administrator, because they believe there is no money.

So, what is being said has the real-world effect of people refraining from, applying for the help that they can receive through FEMA when these two pots of money are unrelated to one another.

BASH: It's raw politics and dangerous politics.

ZELENY: Without question. And look, we've seen this from the former president before, but not -- but in the moment watching this when there literally are still search and rescue missions in some of the mountains of western North Carolina. It is absolutely dangerous. But it also just gives you the sense of, he is, you know, preparing North Carolina as a swing state. And there's a lot of worry underneath the rescue and recovery from both sides how this will impact the election.

BASH: Right.

ZELENY: And these comments are not obviously helpful, but also, the blame is beginning in North Carolina.

BASH: And not for nothing. A lot of the people who are believing these lies are Trump voters, who are not getting help because they're believing conspiracy theories coming from the top of the ticket. Don't go anywhere. Coming up. We're going to talk a little bit more politics. Kamala Harris is hitting the airwaves, hammering the issue. She hopes will define the home stretch of this wild presidential race. You hear it for yourself, right here next.

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