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Israel Marks One Year Since October 7 Hamas Attacks; Harris Weighs More Breaks With Biden 28 Days Before Election; LeBron James And Son Bronny Make History By Playing In Same Game. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 07, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:40]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: One year after the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7, questions still remain about potential warning signs that may have been missed in the leadup to those terror attacks.

CNN's Jim Sciutto reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voiceover): One year after October 7 visiting the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel brings Eyal Eshel both a chance to honor his daughter Roni and the most painful memories.

EYAL ESHEL, FATHER OF OCTOBER 7 VICTIM: From here, they came in the October 7.

SCIUTTO: This is where they entered the base here?

E. ESHEL: Yes. This is the way they came from Gaza.

SCIUTTO (voiceover): Roni was one of more than a dozen IDF soldiers in an all-female observer unit who raised the alarm as Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel that morning after warning for months of an impending attack.

RONI ESHEL, IDF OBSERVATION SOLDIER: Four people are running towards the fence, confirm received. I see two armed people running towards the fence, confirm received.

HAMAS FIGHTER: Allahu Akbar.

SCIUTTO (voiceover): As Hamas fighters overran the base, even filming themselves as they did it, Roni and her fellow observers waited six hours for a rescue that never came. They were killed along with more than 30 other Israeli soldiers at the base while several others were taken hostage.

For Eyal today, each location inside the base brings pain.

E. ESHEL: Here is the table that the girls were sitting, and eating, and smiling, and laughing.

IDF OBSERVATIONS SOLDIERS: (Singing).

SCIUTTO (voiceover): Just what they were doing the very night before the October 7 attack in this video recorded by Roni's fellow soldier.

This week, in the destroyed operations room, Eyal light a candle to mark the Jewish new year at the very same spot where Roni issued those ominous warnings and close to where she died.

E. ESHEL: We don't have any holidays. We hate holidays. She's not here. She's not with us.

SCIUTTO: This is where the observer unit was based. This is where they were issuing those warnings prior to the attack that something was coming. And sadly, on the morning of October 7, this is where many of them were killed.

SCIUTTO (voiceover): The IDF's failure not just to heed the observers' warning but also to come to their rescue remain crucial questions a full year since October 7, part of a much broader security failure that day. It was on these now-burned up computer screens that Roni and her colleagues told their parents they'd seen worrying signs from Hamas, including accounts of fighters testing the fence line.

The Israeli military ignored other warning signs as well, including these training videos Hamas posted openly online in the months before, and earlier intelligence since uncovered by Israeli media about Hamas' intent to attack Israeli communities and even take multiple hostages.

Retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi is former deputy commander of the IDF's Gaza division.

AMIR AVIVI, FORMER DEPUTY COMMANDER, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES GAZA DIVISION: They felt that Hamas is mostly worried about the stability inside Gaza and the economy.

[07:35:00]

SCIUTTO: Um-hum. So you're saying it was a misreading of Hamas rather than not listening to internal warnings.

AVIVI: Generally speaking, yes. But I think that also at a certain point where the observers said again and again and again that they think things are out of usual --

SCIUTTO: Um-hum.

AVIVI: -- at a certain point there were commanders who said OK, that's it -- we don't want to hear about this anymore.

SCIUTTO (voiceover): The IDF and Israeli government have insisted a full investigation into what went wrong that day cannot take place while the country is fighting a war on multiple fronts now.

E. ESHEL: We put the picture -- SCIUTTO: Uh-huh.

E. ESHEL: -- of the whole girls today.

SCIUTTO (voiceover): Eyal and the other families have built a memorial for their lost daughters overlooking Nahal Oz Base.

E. ESHEL: Here is Roni.

SCIUTTO (voiceover): But they're still waiting for what he wants most now, accountability.

SCIUTTO: Has anyone from the army or the government ever said to you I take responsibility?

E. ESHEL: No one.

SCIUTTO: Hmm.

E. ESHEL: No one.

SCIUTTO: Has anyone ever said I'm sorry?

E. ESHEL: No one. I need answers, and I need the responsibility, and I need the truth.

SCIUTTO (voiceover): A father's simple demand after the worst loss imaginable.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Nahal Oz, Southern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Our thanks to Jim for that.

All right. New this morning, CNN has learned that top aides to Vice President Harris are wrestling with how much space she should put between herself and President Biden.

CNN's Isaac Dovere has this new reporting. All right, how exactly does this manifest itself, how strong is the feeling, and how might it affect plans over the next 30 days?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, it's a big question for the Harris campaign over the course of this next month. One person that I spoke to called this the ultimate balancing act. Harris has to speak to the change that voters clearly say that they want but also be credible about this. She is -- she has been part of this administration, and she continues to be part of this administration.

But you look even at what's going on this week. Even today we are talking about how she and Joe Biden are marking October 7. She has not distanced herself from Joe Biden on any of the policy issues when she is also sitting in the Situation Room with him dealing with these things. But they put out separate statements this morning marking the

anniversary. They will have separate appearances. Joe Biden lighting a candle in the ceremony at the White House; Kamala Harris planting a tree at the Naval Observatory.

They will not be together. That is not a mistake. They're both in Washington. They could be together, John, but they are choosing to be separate as Harris looks for various ways to show that she's separate from Biden and also talk about policy ideas and more promises that she will have -- that she will try to put in place should she be elected president.

BERMAN: And Isaac, I was reading in your reporting they actually have data which indicates that when policies, or proposals, or statements are tied to President Biden they do worse than if she says it independently of her. Can you explain that?

DOVERE: Yeah, that's data that was put together by an outside group called Blueprint that tested a bunch of statements that people said -- that they said well, how would you feel if Kamala Harris said this versus that? And any time she mentioned Biden it did worse. Any time she said this is what I would do differently than what's been there that did better.

That data has gone through a bunch of people on the Harris campaign. They are aware of it. They are paying attention to it. And that is part of what is going to continue driving this here with Harris looking, whether it's on abortion, or immigration -- what's going on at the southern border -- or economic proposals. Ways that she can say there is more work to be done rather than the Biden approach, which has generally been this has been successful.

BERMAN: Very interesting reporting. Isaac Dovere, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us.

So this morning one answer from Vice President Harris -- her appearance on the wildly popular podcast "Call Her Daddy" is setting social media ablaze this morning -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDRA COOPER, CO-CREATOR AND HOST, "CALL HER DADDY" PODCAST: I saw the governor of Arkansas said, "My kids keep my humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble."

How did that make you feel?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who want -- are not aspiring to be humble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky, founder of Lift Our Voices. And Republican strategist Neil Chatterjee. He chaired the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during the Trump administration.

So it's interesting. Different generations of people see things differently. We had Priscilla on reporting on Vice President Harris -- her answers on choice and abortion. But what seems to be resonating with younger women really in a huge way are these comments that people are not necessarily aspiring to be humble.

[07:40:00]

On social media, Jemele Hill wrote, "I'm not aspiring to be humble. Put that on a t-shirt." We saw someone else posting on TikTok, "Kamala Harris saying there are women who are not aspiring to be humble healed me."

So what do you think?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, CO-FOUNDER, LIFT OUR VOICES: Well, first of all, I just want to take this moment to say I know it's October 7 and I just want to say to the hostage families my heart is with you. And before we get to American politics, I just wanted to get that out.

Look, I'm a few years younger than Kamala Harris but not much. And I'm so glad she said it because women are so tired of waiting in line. And that's really what this is, right? Be humble, be demure, wait your turn. And the reality is so many of us are sick of doing that.

And I -- and I'm not suggesting that this is a Democratic or a Republican talking point. I think there are lot of Republican women who probably feel the same -- that we don't want to get in line. That we're not sitting here waiting to have somebody approve of us. Women are constantly asked to be seeking approval from somebody. Well, we're kind of tired of seeking approval from anybody but ourselves.

And I think she spoke for a lot of us. I'm Generation X. I know there are millennials and Gen Z women who feel the same way. I know there are baby boomer women who feel the same way.

We're sick and tired of sitting around waiting for somebody to pat us on the head and to say good job -- way to go. Enough, enough. We're supposed to be doing it for ourselves. And I'm glad she said it.

And by the way, if you're talking about humble there's really not a contrast. I mean, are you suggesting that her opponent, Donald Trump, has even been humble about anything in his life?

Yet, she's expected maybe as a woman, maybe because the same rules don't apply to anybody than Trump, to suddenly sit there and pretend that she has to wait her turn or in some way, shape, or form ask for permission. And she doesn't. None of us does. And I love that, and I think it's great for women for her to say that.

BERMAN: Neil, this podcast -- how does appearing on this and the other types of media that the vice president is doing -- how does this help her break through, and with whom? NEIL CHATTERJEE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: Look, it's smart. She needs to be out there. She needs to be introducing herself to American voters. The fact is she's the Vice President of the United States, yet a lot of Americans aren't familiar with her. And I think this brings out her personality.

I think going on Howard Stern is very, very smart. Look, I love Howard Stern. He's a fantastic interviewer. And so the types of deep-dive questions that he will do, which will tap into not just her policy perspectives but her life and who she is.

I think she needs to be doing these kinds of things. I'm actually curious as to why the campaign hasn't had her out more frequently. Why they've been trying to hide her.

Donald Trump's out every day on every platform imaginable talking. She needs to be doing the same thing. I think these kinds of things -- doing this podcast, going on Stern, it's the smart play.

BERMAN: Do you have an answer to that question? Like, why not do Stern three weeks ago or why not do the Call Her Daddy podcast three weeks ago?

ROGINSKY: Um, I have said from the beginning she should have been doing local media from day one, from the jump, and she should have been doing stuff like this from the jump. So I don't have an answer because I don't think it's a smart strategy.

I will say Donald Trump has been out there on Fox. He's been out there talking to his own echo chamber on Twitter and with Elon Musk. I don't necessarily think that he's been out there doing the hard interviews that apparently, she's been doing -- and she's being doing. He won't even do "60 MINUTES." I mean, "60 MINUTES" is the gold standard and Trump refuses to do that. She's doing that.

BERMAN: It's under -- it's under -- I actually want to shift a little bit. It's under Julia (sic), right now -- Julie right now. But I do want to ask you, Neil, about this hurricane. We have this Hurricane Milton, now a category 3 storm, headed right at tens of millions of people in Florida.

Just what the -- what is the impact that these constant natural disasters have on a campaign so -- with so little time to go before Election Day? I mean, we saw it, to an extent, with Sandy in 2012, but New Jersey wasn't exactly a swing state. I'm not saying Florida is, but this does impact millions of people.

CHATTERJEE: Look, I was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. My role in that was to make sure that the lights stayed on. So I focused on how we could keep power affordable and reliable, and on in the face of these kinds of extreme weather events.

I've been very vocal. I believe climate change is real, and we need to take urgent steps to mitigate emissions. We're seeing right now the real life impacts of climate change. That's my focus. I understand we're a month out from election and everyone wants to talk about electoral politics. For me, I am more focused on the people in the line of this hurricane and what the impact will be on their lives, and on climate change. I'm not focused on the political impact of it.

BERMAN: No, and clearly, saving lives is what's important and getting people back up on their feet after it hits is what's most important.

You know, how careful do you have to be if you're a politician when talking about this, or how much can you help?

[07:45:00]

ROGINSKY: Well, of course, if you're the president or the vice president you have a tremendous amount that you can do to help. And the federal government has been having a wonderful response north of Florida and in some parts of Florida obviously also with the previous hurricane.

But I will say that there's so much disinformation.

BERMAN: Um-hum.

ROGINSKY: There's so much information going out there that is contrary to helping people. It's being spread by people like Elon Musk. It's being spread on social media. Donald Trump is helping to amplify it. And I think enough. I mean, enough. These are people's lives at stake.

And you have Republican officeholders in places like North Carolina saying you are harming -- actively harming my constituents by saying what you're saying, which is completely false information.

So I think we need to just stop with that and focus on the fact that there are rescue efforts already underway a little north of Florida. There may be, in the coming days, in Florida itself. And for the sake of Florida and the sake of the South, I think it's time for people to stop talking about nonsense and start focusing on what they really need to focus on.

And thank you, Neil, for saying that about climate change because you're absolutely right.

BERMAN: All right, Julie Roginsky, Neil Chatterjee. Thank you so much for being with us -- both of you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, LeBron James is making history again, this time with his son, Bronny. The two are now the first father-son duo to play together on the same NBA team. LeBron James is entering his 22nd season. And he posted on social media after the game, calling it "surreal," understandably so.

CNN's Coy Wire has much more on this big debut. There was so much leadup to it. It is so wild to see them on the court together. Tell me more. COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, Kate. LeBron entered the NBA when he was 18 years old. He's now 39. The league's all-time leading scorer. Bronny was drafted by the Lakers out of USC in June. Yesterday was his 20th birthday.

Here was the moment Bronny entering the game and the record books in the second quarter -- a father-son duo playing in an NBA game at the same time.

LeBron would go on to drop 19 points in this game, five rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in just 16 minutes. Bronny didn't score in his 13 minutes, but he did snag two rebounds.

And you have to listen to how much this moment meant to LeBron James.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, FORWARD, L.A. LAKERS: As someone who didn't have that growing up, to be able to -- to be able to have that influence on your kids and have influence on your son, to be able to have moments with your son, and then ultimately to be able to work with your son, I think that's one of the greatest things that a father could ever hope for or wish for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: A very cool moment, Kate, and I'm sure we'll see many more of those moments to come and we'll get you those updates as they come. I'm thinking about having my 6-year-old daughter do a hit with me here just because that would be so cool.

BOLDUAN: I'm just saying I know -- you know, I don't want to diminish what we do but having our -- having our children talk on TV with us or reporting live slightly different than playing at the league level together with your father -- slightly.

WIRE: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you. Thank you so much, Coy.

WIRE: Good to see you.

BOLDUAN: It really is remarkable, John, to see these -- the two of them on the court together.

BERMAN: Yeah. A little bit less dunking in basketball than on TV.

All right. This morning, students being forced out of their dorms for the rest of the school year after hundreds of bats moved in.

And new reporting on which presidential candidates' economic policies would add more to the national debt. Here's a hint. One of them would add twice as much.

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[07:52:40]

BERMAN: All right, we have new stories of survival from Hurricane Helene. In North Carolina, Richard and Kathy Poole's home sustained damage. But Kathy had been battling cancer, and during the storm she fought for two hours to keep the floodwaters from rushing inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD POOLE, SURVIVED HURRICANE HELENE: Do you see how beat up my legs are? That's the debris underneath the water rushing. I mean, like, 10 or 15 mile an hour and hitting me. And it just kept knocking me down. Luckily, I was -- you know, was able to get back up and I didn't drown in my own backyard. She really fought it.

KATHY POOLE, SURVIVED HURRICANE HELENE: Yeah.

R. POOLE: I'm proud of her.

K. POOLE: That was why I was put on this Earth. My husband would have drowned if I hadn't been here that night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Kathy said adrenaline kept her going.

This morning an investigation underway over Frontier Airlines. A flight seemed to catch fire as it made a hard landing in Las Vegas. Smoke was reported in the cockpit and flames seen under the plane. Airport officials say the tires blew. One hundred ninety passengers and seven crew were on the flight from San Diego. All are OK.

So, more than 500 students at Northern Arizona University forced out of their dorm after the building became infested with bats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZREAL MURPHY, NAU STUDENT: I just heard like squeaking coming from, like, the walls and stuff. And I was like oh, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were sent out an email telling us to shake out all of our clothing and move items around in our rooms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, in and of themselves, bats not that dangerous except university officials said one of the bats tested positive for rabies. That is a serious concern. And due to those health concerns the students will stay in a different location for the rest of the school year, Kate.

BOLDUAN: I mean, that is crazy, and they've got a lot of school year left. All right, much more on that, maybe. We'll talk about that later.

This we're following this morning. This morning Israel's military launched a new ground operation in Northern Gaza saying their troops have encircled Jabalya after seeing signs of Hamas regrouping. Israeli military -- the Israeli military also issuing evacuation orders in southern Gaza after ordering residents to evacuate the north. The IDF carried out airstrikes over the weekend in northern Gaza.

[07:55:00]

This new push comes as the world marks one year since the Hamas terror attack on Israel that ignited this war and as Israel now faces a growing conflict with Hezbollah to its north and Lebanon. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now calling it a war on seven fronts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Today, Israel is defending itself on seven fronts against the enemies of civilization. For defending ourselves against this barbarism Israel is defending civilization against those who seek to impose a dark age of fanaticism on all of us. Rest assured Israel will fight until the battle is won for our sake and for the sake of the peace and security of the entire world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is retired Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson. General, it's good to see you. Thanks for coming in.

Netanyahu's description of the seven-front war that's against Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, Hezbollah, and Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, various Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. Tehran's effort to arm Palestinian militants in the West Bank. And then, of course, Iran itself.

What do you see as the greatest challenge for Israel now to manage that successfully, and also for the United States to support that successfully?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (RET.) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, thank you, Kate, for having me on.

And I think what Netanyahu's comments and the present situation -- the new attacks in Gaza point to the operational success of this -- these efforts this past year, but the political failures of Israel and Netanyahu. I mean, they have not made any progress on a two-state solution and that's the only way this is going to end. Otherwise, Kate, we're going to be having this conversation in a year.

I mean, they've been able to control Gaza. They essentially have an occupation force there. They've been able to take a lot of leadership in Hamas and Hezbollah. They've had remarkable success there. Their intelligence has probably penetrated the Iranian leadership.

But we still have 101 hostages, seven of whom are Americans. It's been an absolute humanitarian disaster there. Over 40,000 Palestinians have died. The Israeli economy is in bad shape. They had to mobilize for the past year. And there has still been no accountability for the egregious failures on the seventh of October to protect the Israeli people.

So the fact that they do not have a two-state solution -- that's why this is going on and that's why it will continue. And that's why this war seems to be expanding.

BOLDUAN: Hmm.

The French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend actually called on the international community to stop supplying weapons to Israel -- kind of a partial arms embargo. Weapons, though, would be earmarked or used in Gaza. There is no sign that the United States is any closer to agreeing with that position. But if the international community would move that direction as this continues to drag on what impact would that have?

ANDERSON: It would have a huge impact because Netanyahu needs the support of the world. But world opinion is going to change against him if he doesn't find some kind of a political solution. They just can't continue to escalate this event. They can't continue to attack.

Now look, I get it. The 200 missiles that struck last week, they need to retaliate to that. And, of course, what happened on the seventh of October is absolutely terrible. But his cannot continue to go on for years. I mean, that's what's going to happen if we don't have some kind of a political solution.

It's easy for me to say that because I'm a military guy, but doggone it, that's what we need. We need the politicians to take charge. The Palestinians need self-rule. We need to have a two-state solution to this problem.

BOLDUAN: I want you to just kind of -- on this day to look back on the last 12 months -- a year since the October 7 terror attack in Israel. How do you describe how much things have changed in the Middle East in the last 12 months?

ANDERSON: Well, it's gotten much worse and it's obvious to see because we're now on the brink of a major regional conflict, if we're not there already. Again, it just points out to the failures politically in Netanyahu and the Israeli people.

And, of course, what happened was absolutely terrible. But we've got to make sure that the -- that Israel -- that Netanyahu understands that he needs a coalition to support him. And if he loses the support of the world -- in particular, the United States -- he's going to have a very, very difficult road to hoe. So we've got to do everything we can to drive him to politically solve this problem.

BOLDUAN: Retired Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson. Thank you so much for coming in -- John.

BERMAN: All right, we've got new reporting this morning. A study on what the presidential candidates' economic plans would do to the national debt. Matt Egan has been digging through this. I understand one candidate a lot more.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, absolutely, John. Listen, the national debt is going up no matter who wins in November, but it's going to go up much, much faster if Trump wins. That is according to this new analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.