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Laura Coates Live

Truce Expiration Looms; U.S. Faces Rise In Antisemitism; Henry Kissinger Dead At 100; New Lawsuit Alleges "Unchecked" Antisemitism On UC Berkeley Campus; Season Two Of Anderson Cooper's Podcast "All There Is" Debuts Today; Deal Reached To Extend Israel-Hamas Truce. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired November 29, 2023 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

GAYLE KING, CBS NEWS HOS AND BROADCAST JOURNALIST: Just next time only. After that, it will be 10:00. And here is a little note, you shameless -- shameless bug. You can catch me tomorrow morning on "CBS MORNINGS" at 7:00 a.m. I'm leaving here and going right to bed. Where are you going?

UNKNOWN: Uh, I'm not going to bed.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm not going to bed.

KING: Should I stop asking you question?

UNKNOWN: Oh, yes, you should.

KING: Abby Phillip will be right here tomorrow night at 10:00. Abby, we love you, too. But don't you go anywhere. LAURA COATES LIVE where you met earlier today starts right now.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the countdown now is on. The truces literally saved lives. It might expire at the stroke of midnight, our time. But what will happen if it does? Tonight, on LAURA COATES LIVE.

We're literally minutes away from, well, the unknown. We don't know if a truce that has already been extended at least once will be extended again. And if it doesn't get extended, does that mean that the fighting will begin again and perhaps how soon?

The truce between Israel and Hamas set to expire at 7 a.m. local time, which is midnight Eastern, our time, a little over 59 minutes away from right now, and the only thing that can extend it is a last-minute list from Hamas of the names of hostages still to be released Thursday. But we, in the meantime, have got a lot of unanswered questions. And these questions, the answers, well, they're a matter of life or death. Israel says there are about 143 hostages that are still in Gaza. But where and who's got them? Is it Hamas or some other group? And for their desperate families, these are the real questions they're asking today.

In just a moment, I'll talk to Ela Shani, a 14-year-old survivor of the massacre on October 7th. Imagine what it is she has seen, what she has experienced. At just 14 years old, her father and many of her closest friends were murdered. She saw her cousin, Amit Shani, who turned 16 in captivity, abducted, ordered into a car, and driven away. And today, 53 days later, he's free. But what about the rest of the hostages?

And in the midst of all this, hate is fueling a poisonous rise in antisemitism. Jewish men, women, and children now feeling the fear. Swastikas on our streets. Allegations of antisemitism on campuses around the country. UC Berkeley, really thought to be a bastion of liberalism, they're now being sued over allegations of -- quote -- "unchecked antisemitism."

And today, on the Senate floor, the majority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history, in a passionate denunciation, calling the rise in antisemitism -- quote -- "a five-alarm fire," and he's warning that some of the left -- on the left are unknowingly aiding and abetting bigotry.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): After October 7th, Jewish Americans are feeling singled out, targeted, and isolated. In many ways, we feel alone.

Not long ago, many of us marched together for black and brown lives. We stood against anti-Asian hatred. We protested bigotry against the LGBTQ community. We fought for reproductive justice out of the recognition that injustice against one oppressed group is injustice against all. But apparently, Mr. President, in the eyes of some, this principle does not extend to the Jewish people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: We're going to unpack that more as well. Right now, I want to go right now to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is in Jerusalem. Ben, we've been talking about this. We are looking at our clocks. The deadline is now less than an hour away. And Hamas has a message for its fighters. What's that message tonight?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, but before we get to the message, let's talk about what seems to be the problem, why this has not been extended. Now, Hamas is saying that they have given a list of seven hostages, women and children, and the names of three bodies, the people who were killed as a result, they say, of Israeli bombing in Gaza to the Israelis, and that was unacceptable. Negotiators have been saying that they -- they had believed that Hamas had enough women and children to hand over, 10 every day, for the next two to three days.

[23:05:01]

But Hamas is saying that this is all that Hamas did -- all the Hamas detainees from the same category that was agreed upon. So, it appears that perhaps they don't have any more women and children to hand over to the Israelis, and as a result, we're just less than an hour away now to the deadline whereby the truce comes to an end.

So, Hamas has put out or rather the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which is the military wing of Hamas, has put out the following: We ask our active forces to remain on high combat readiness in the last hours of the truce in anticipation of the renewal of fighting in the event it is not renewed and to remain in position unless an official statement is issued confirming the extension of the truce.

And, of course, that statement has not come yet. We are still waiting. We know that the Qataris, who are the main mediators in this, have been in touch constantly with both sides, with the Americans, with the Egyptians, trying to work something out.

But the clock, as you said, is ticking, and if there is no agreement, Israel could very well decide to begin its ground offensive all over again with the grave consequences for everybody involved. Laura?

COATES: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for your reporting tonight. Joining me now, CNN military analyst General Mark Hertling and David Sanger, a CNN political and national security analyst.

First of all, taking a step back for a second, General Hertling, the idea that they're saying that they have essentially turned over all of the women and children that they had, knowing that the numbers are skewed in terms of who is still outstanding, so to speak, as a hostage, perhaps, and those who are thought to remain there, what does that tell you about who might actually have the remaining hostages?

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, RETIRED LIEUTENANT GENERAL: There are several organizations within Gaza, Laura. I would suggest it's probably either the Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other terrorist groups within the umbrella operation of Hamas.

So, you know, it just is an indicator that Hamas does not have complete control or that they are just flat-out lying about what they have and what they can give up as part of this deal with the operational pause.

COATES: But on that point, too, I mean, Hamas is telling, you heard from Ben Wedeman, they're telling the forces to be ready to fight. We know Israel is poised to fight. Does this mean that if the truce expires, we're talking about it doing it at the instance?

HERTLING: I would suggest absolutely yes. Hamas has known this. The statement that Ben just read is not a surprise to me, Laura. I think they knew they had to be ready. They were hoping for longer. But they also know that Israel is chomping at the bit.

They want to complete this operational objective that they have publicly stated, which is to destroy Hamas. Hamas wants to continue to basically attempt to embarrass Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.

Both of those strategic objectives are in conflict with what the United States has proposed, which is additional humanitarian aid and release of more hostages for as long as possible. Trading that action for more time is what has been the objective of Hamas, and they're not getting what they want from the Israeli government.

COATES: David, you know, this truce, I mean, it is down to the minutes, down to the minutes remaining. You've got Barak Ravid, a CNN foreign policy analyst, and he is tweeting this: Israeli officials say Hamas proposed via mediators to release less than 10 hostages or to release hostages that are not women and children. The Israeli officials said that if Hamas does not produce a list that includes 10 women and children by 7 a.m. local time, the fighting will resume.

When you look at this and thinking about the diplomacy at issue or the negotiations at issue here, why do you think the Israelis would turn down an opportunity to get any of the hostages back even if it didn't mean women and children?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, I think, Laura, this is the most vexing problem for the Israeli government, for the reasons you just heard before from General Hertling, but also because there's a huge division within Israel about whether the number one priority here should be the return of hostages or the number one priority should be the defeat of Hamas.

COATES: Hmm.

[23:09:57]

SANGER: And these two strategic objectives have been in tension with each other from the very beginning. And we are now seeing this come to fruition. We always knew that the start of the hostage release, difficult as it was, would be easier than the end, because if they do resume the hostilities, it's entirely possible you will never see the next 140 hostages out. And that's a key issue for many Israelis who you've seen on the streets in Israel protesting to put the hostages first.

COATES: Hmm.

SANGER: And then, of course, you had Secretary of State Blinken in town trying to argue for longer and longer pauses. Well, this would actually undo that.

COATES: General, when you think about that and that tension that has been explained by David, and we see this time and time again of really -- a really crude cost-benefit analysis of war, frankly, if fighting does resume, you know that both sides have had a number of days now to regroup, and the question for many looking at this militarily is, who now has the upper hand because of the pauses now?

HERTLING: Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious that Hamas, any kind of participant in these kinds of operations, have the upper hand if they're on the defensive because they have just slowed the momentum of the attacking force.

They have been able to regenerate some of their forces. They have been able to maneuver undercover and underground in this subterranean environment. They've more than likely move the remaining hostages that they have control of, and they think they can fight the Israelis on a better footing after the pause is over.

Israel has had this operational pause, which slowed momentum, but it also has allowed them to generate some intelligence, not only from the normal kind of intelligence capabilities like signals intelligence or human intelligence or overhead platforms, but actually getting some information from the hostages.

And that has been a very difficult situation because the hostages have been through a lot of trauma and it's very difficult to draw the kind of information that's needed in an operational context --

COATES: Of course.

HERTLING: -- at the same time trying to understand the trauma that they've been through and not pushing them too hard. But, you know, Hamas may have the advantage tactically, but I think Israel has the advantage strategically.

And there's one other point that I'd bring up, too. I think, you know, the focus has been on northern Gaza and the underground subterranean tunnels and shaft complexes. That's going to shift because I believe Hamas has used this time, these seven days, to move many of their forces undetected, they think, to new areas of operation, and they're luring Israel in again, to strike again like they did during the first phase --

COATES: Yeah.

HERTLING: -- of their operations over six weeks. It will hurt the people of Gaza like it did earlier. That's why President Biden has an entirely different set of strategic and operational objectives.

COATES: General Hertling, David Sanger, so important to hear both your perspectives. Thank you so much.

Sixteen more hostages were actually released by Hamas today with the possible expiration of the truce still looming minutes away. One of them, 16-year-old Amit Shani, his 14-year-old cousin, Ela Shani, is a survivor of the October 7th massacre, and she joins me now.

Ela, thank you so much for joining me tonight. I know that your cousin, Amit Shani, was just released by Hamas. I mean, your family must have been on and remains on a kind of emotional rollercoaster because he was on an earlier list to be removed -- to be returned, but then was removed at the last minute and not released initially. Now he is. What are you feeling tonight?

ELA SHANI, COUSIN KIDNAPPED AND RELEASED BY HAMAS: Honestly, I'm in euphoria. I mean, I'm so happy that he's back. I never felt that way. I never -- I was never so excited to see someone's picture. And I just feel so lucky that he's already back home.

COATES: You know, we actually -- speaking of the home, and I'm so -- we're so thankful when we are able to speak with people like yourselves who are having the ending that you're talking about and to have the joyful return of your loved ones. But what they're returning to, in some instances, is very startling.

I mean, there's a video up right now of your home in Kibbutz Be'eri. It's now destroyed after what happened in October 7th. And you were actually there that day. When did you first get word that he had survived the attack?

SHANI: Amit?

COATES: Yes.

[23:15:00]

SHANI: I got the message on October 7th night. At night, Amit's dad called me. His dad's house was set on fire, like burned completely. His dad called me, he's my uncle, and he told me that he's on his way to the hospital. His ex-wife and two daughters are okay. And he just said Amit was kidnapped. So that's all we heard in the same day.

SHANI: And now, I mean, have you -- have you heard -- you said you did talk to him or you were happy to hear from him. How is he doing tonight?

SHANI: I didn't really get to talk to him. He's not really ready to talk right now. I think he's exhausted. He went through a lot. I mean, I can understand that. I had to talk to him because I personally just had to tell him how proud I am of him and how much I miss him and love him. And I wish he'll be back to health soon.

COATES: And how was his -- do you know if he was physically healthy when he was seen by your relatives?

SHANI: Um, I don't know. They said he looks -- I mean, he didn't need like urgent medical attention. I don't really know what his condition is. I really hope he's okay. But -- I mean, he was able to talk to me. I don't know what his physical condition is because the picture I saw of him was wearing just long clothes, so I couldn't really see what his body looked like. I just -- I just really hope he's okay.

COATES: I share that hope with you as well. I mean, he was the only member of your family that was taken by Hamas. I wonder how you all been dealing with that over the past seven weeks.

SHANI: Honestly, I've been dealing like only with this. That's the only thing I've been thinking about. With everything that happened and all the people we lost, I'll be honest, I didn't really think about it. I didn't really mourn the people I lost. I just thought about the people who can still be saved.

And he was in my mind all the time, just hoping he'll come back and doing what I can. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm doing this interview from L.A. and not from Israel, because we need to bring the ones who can't come back.

COATES: Ela Shani, thank you so much for joining us. I'm so glad that he's home and I know there are others. Thank you for joining us tonight.

SHANI: Thank you. Good night.

COATES: Good night. Well, the truce between Israel and Hamas, it's set to expire in just under an hour. We're watching that very idea tonight.

Also, the legacy of Henry Kissinger, who has died at the age of 100. Next, his role in the Middle East and in shaping foreign affairs. Fareed Zakaria weighs in.

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[23:20:00]

COATES: Breaking news tonight, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100. That's according to his consulting firm, Kissinger Associates. President Richard Nixon appointed him national security advisor in 1969 and later secretary of state. Kissinger was vital in opening Communist China to the United States, negotiating the end of the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East and helping to bring America's role in the Vietnam War to a close.

Joining me now, Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." He knew Henry Kissinger for many decades. Fareed, thank you so much for joining me tonight. I mean, I wonder, knowing him the way you have and being a student of history as you are, how do you put his legacy in perspective with shaping what we think about as foreign affairs?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: It's a great question, Laura. I think you would have to say that he is probably one of the most influential American statesmen in his -- in its history. Certainly, one of the two or three most important secretaries of state. He would rank up there if you think about the modern era with Harry Truman, Secretary of State Dean Atcheson, who sort of really created the post-war world that the United States set up after World War II. After that, I think you would say it's Kissinger.

And partly because he was secretary of state at a time of incredible turmoil. Remember when he comes in as national security advisor in 1968. The United States is losing its first war in history. The Soviet Union is on the march everywhere. The United States is facing enormous internal, external challenges. And from that situation, he does the opening to China, which essentially completely transforms the Cold War because now, you know, the two great communist countries, one has allied with the United States and one against. He ends the Vietnam War, though that's controversial and some people believe he could have ended it earlier. He negotiates peace, as you said, in the Middle East, expelling the Soviet Union from the Middle East, which was in some ways the more dominant power ushering four decades of American dominance, and he begins serious negotiations with the Soviet Union on arms control, the so-called detente.

So, you take those four achievements -- and by the way, there are lots of mistakes and there are lots of tragic things that happened, in Cambodia and Bangladesh and places like that. But you take those four achievements, it's hard to find a secretary of state in American history who had achievements of that magnitude.

[23:25:00]

There are a few, but just a handful.

COATES: Well, when you talk about some of the achievements, there -- he also was -- as you point out, he was a very controversial figure as well, and people remember a lot of that as well. Talk to me about those controversies that is very much also tied to his legacy.

ZAKARIA: He is seen as the kind of ultimate realist, the practitioner of a kind of realpolitik that said, you know, America's national security interests are all that matters and human rights is less important. And I think that is a fair characterization and a fair criticism of some of his policies.

He acceded (ph) to a coup in Chile, perhaps, you know, by some accounts, even instigated it when richer (ph) democratically-elected government, Salvador Allende, was replaced by a general. Perhaps to me the most -- the most tragic one was he allowed the Pakistani government to commit real savage butchery in what was then called East Pakistan, what's now Bangladesh.

He allowed the bombing in Cambodia. And I say allowed because I think the one thing about these criticisms, which are all valid and these are all, I think, fundamental errors of judgment of morality in politics, but there is a one point I'd make, which is, you know, most of the problems and the and the mistakes and the deaths that take place in an administration are attributed to the president who is, after all, the man who made the decisions.

In Kissinger's case, perhaps because such was his aura and his influence, everybody regards them as his mistakes, his crimes, his misdemeanors. It was, after all, Richard Nixon who was president when all the things I just mentioned happened. And it's interesting to me that, you know, Kissinger often gets blamed for the mistakes, but perhaps that's because he also gets praised for the achievements.

COATES: Well, you know what they say, Fareed, success has many parents, but failure is always an orphan. Fareed Zakaria, such a complexity of the legacy. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

ZAKARIA: Pleasure. COATES: Ahead, UC Berkeley is sued by Jewish groups who say that it has become a hotbed of unchecked antisemitism. I'll speak to one of the students that are involved in this very lawsuit.

Also coming up, Elon Musk has a message now for companies that have pulled their advertising from X.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, CEO OF TESLA MOTORS: Go (bleep) yourself.

(LAUGHTER)

Is that clear?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

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COATES: A moment of reckoning on college campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas War. Now, while antisemitism is certainly not new, today, there is troubling new data from the Anti-Defamation League that finds that 73% of Jewish college students say that they have seen or even experienced it on college campuses since the school year began, and that far fewer Jewish students feel safe on campus in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack.

Next week, the presidents of Harvard University, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania are going to testify at a congressional hearing. House Republicans are promising to put their feet to the fire over claims of growing antisemitism on campus.

And now, there's a new lawsuit filed by Jewish students, faculty, and alumni. It's alleged that the University of California at Berkeley has failed to protect Jewish people from discrimination on their campus.

Joining me now is Berkeley graduate business student, Hannah Schlacter, who is part of the group that is bringing the suit, as well, Kenneth Marcus, an attorney and the founder and chairman of the nonprofit Louis D. Brandeis Center who's also a part of the lawsuit. Thank you both for joining me this evening.

I want to begin with you, Hannah, because the lawsuit alleging -- quote -- "Jews on campus have been receiving hate e-mails calling for their gassing and murder" -- unquote. And that Jewish students are also afraid to go to class. They describe the atmosphere on campus. The fear that is so pervasive there is stunning to so many people. Why do you believe there is so much fear right now?

HANNAH SCHLACTER, UC BERKELEY GRAD STUDENT SUING SCHOOL OVER ANTISEMITISM: Thank you so much for having us on and for wanting to hear our story as Jewish students on campus. What I'm able to speak to is the gap between the policy that exists to protect students and the university's enforcement of that policy.

So, for example, we've had two Jewish students physically assaulted on campus while holding flags and expressing their Jewish identity, yet I've noticed a gap in what the policy is in place to handle these situations, to what these students are being told by the UCPD when they file a report.

COATES: I mean, the fact that this is happening at Berkeley, when the university is saying they've taken multiple steps, you've intimated a little bit of it, but multiple steps, including communicating with Jewish campus groups about events, ramping up their security, they've also offered emotional and mental health resources with what they say they have provided, what is the specific relief that you would be seeking in this lawsuit?

[23:35:01]

To do more of that, something different, what is it?

SCHLACTER: Yeah, this is definitely a yes and (ph) situation. Yes, Jewish students are grateful to the university and especially the UC Regents, their recent 7 million investment in programming as well. UC Berkeley recently launched the antisemitism education initiative.

COATES: Uh-hmm.

SCHLACTER: So, those are incredible efforts. And at the same time, there's a gap and this is a systemic problem. The fact that the university, what I suspect, is not enforcing policy for situations and incidents that affect Jewish students compared to other minority groups, that to me is what I would call discrimination.

So, the reason that -- the reason that we're working now with the incredible team at Brandeis is that we want to create systemic change long term. And we also want to create a cultural shift on campus so that Jewish students feel safe, included, and there's no more hostility.

COATES: Ken, to that point, and with the objectives there and the idea of if it's selective enforcement, certain policies, or maybe turning a blind eye toward certain things, the university is responding, as you know, to the lawsuit today.

And I'm going to quote what they're saying. They're saying, "As a public university, Berkeley does not have the legal right to stop demonstrations or expression that many would consider to be offensive. Those demonstrations and expression are protected by the Constitution of the United States."

So, my question that many people are likely asking themselves today, Ken, why is this not a First Amendment concern that might be out of the hands of the university? What do you say to that?

KENNETH L. MARCUS, ATTORNEY ON LAWSUIT ACCUSING UC BERKELEY OF 'UNCHECKED SPREAD' OF ANTISEMITISM: So, sure, Laura, thank you for having us on, and what bravery from Hannah. I really respect that a great deal. There are huge First Amendment issues. But listen. We've just been hearing about students who are being literally assaulted. That is not First Amendment protected. It is not First Amendment protected to threaten, to assault, to obstruct, to exclude. The sorts of things that are happening at Berkeley that we're complaining about do not enjoy First Amendment protection.

On the other hand, Jewish students are continually prevented from expressing themselves or being punished, harassed, and marginalized when they do. If there is anyone who's being denied First Amendment rights, it's the students who are part of the Brandeis Center and part of this case and not anyone else.

COATES: Let me ask you, Ken, about the students -- I know you mentioned this as well, Hannah -- that have been assaulted. Has there been criminal investigations about this? Is this confined to the school handling it exclusively or has this been referred to the law enforcement officials even off campus?

SCHLACTER: I can speak to that. I know that the two Jewish students who were physically assaulted, they've been attempting to work with UCPD (ph). And my understanding is that UCPD (ph) is not investigating these as hate crimes. So, it's one thing to call it a hate crime. It's another to not even investigate it as a hate crime.

And just to give you a comparison, there was an Islamophobic hit-and- run incident down at Stanford recently. And my understanding is that Stanford, they don't know who the suspect is, yet they are still investigating it as a hate crime.

So, I think that this further illustrates that there's a disconnect between issues affecting Jewish students, what policies are in place, and why it appears to me that the university is selectively enforcing the policies as they see fit.

COATES: Ken, really quick, is this something that would be continued outside of this campus as well? Are other schools looking at the same issue along with what Hannah is describing to have a collective approach?

MARCUS: What we're seeing at Berkeley is both representative and also extreme. In other words, it is a symptom of a much larger problem that we're seeing all around the country at so many different universities that it's hard to keep track.

On the other hand, what's happening at Berkeley really is truly extraordinarily bad and really needs to be addressed, not just because of the problems at Berkeley, but because the University of California at Berkeley is one of the greatest public universities in the world, and others look to it as an example for better or for worse. We don't want the problem to expand out of Berkeley. We want to stop it here and now.

COATES: Hannah Schlacter, Ken Marcus, thank you both so much for joining me this evening.

SCHLACTER: Thank you.

MARCUS: Thank you.

COATES: Well, today is the season two premiere of Anderson Cooper's podcast. You've been waiting for it. It's called "All There Is." He'll join us next with a preview of what we can expect, and it includes President Biden.

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[23:40:00]

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COATES: You know, last year, Anderson Cooper started a podcast about grief while going through boxes of things that belong to his mother, his father, and his brother, all of whom who have died. The podcast is called "All There Is." And the second season starts today. Here's a peek at it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): The basement in my house is still filled with boxes of stuff belonging to my mom who died in 2019, and to my dad and brother who died decades ago. Their photographs and letters and notes have been sitting here, waiting for me to find the courage to sift through them for nearly a year.

I had started to go through the boxes last year, during the first season of "All There Is." But I had to stop. I found it overwhelming. All this stuff brought up a lot of pain and sadness that I buried long ago as a kid when my dad, Wyatt Cooper, died, and then again when my brother, Carter, died by suicide. But it turns out grief doesn't stay buried forever.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I have never shared anything like this before.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I lost my father when I was 10.

COOPER (voice-over): I was reminded of that this spring when I started listening to more than a thousand voicemails I'd received during the first season of the podcast.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I had to grieve the person that I was.

[23:45:01]

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We have to endure it. We have to get through it.

COOPER (voice-over): It took months, but I listened to all your calls, more than 46 hours of messages, and they moved me profoundly.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We lost our son, Brad, eight years ago.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I want you to know my son's name. Ian Alexander Lahikainen.

COOPER (voice-over): I learned the names of your loved ones. I heard your pain and your love. And I don't know how to explain it exactly, but it awakened something inside me. And I realized now, for the first time, that I've never really allowed myself to grieve. And in burying that pain, I've also buried my ability to feel joy. And I don't want to do that any longer. I can't. I want to feel all there is.

And so, that's why I'm doing another season of this podcast. I need to talk with others living with grief and learn from them how I can, too.

UNKNOWN: I think the impulse, at least for me, was just sort of how do I fix it, how do I manage it, and none of that works with grief. You can't fix it, you can't manage it, you can't push it away.

UNKNOWN: I was at a grocery store feeling like nobody could see me, and I was just screaming inside.

UNKNOWN: It felt like this unraveling of our family, like to be the only one left and to have no one I could -- I could really call and talk to and remember when this happened.

COOPER (voice-over): In the first episode, I talk with author Francis Weller (ph) about what grief can actually do for us in our lives.

FRANCIS WELLER, AUTHOR: We're told to buck up, to get over it, to rise above it, but we're never really taught how to be with it.

COOPER (voice-over): And in the next episode, I'll talk with President Biden at the White House about his grief and how he has come to live with it.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (voice-over): I think it is critical people understand that they're always going to be with you. Your mother is in your heart every single day. Your brother, in your heart. They're there every single day. And there'll come a time as you can sort of welcome that, that you have that, that you had that, that it was there.

COOPER (voice-over): There's a lot I don't understand about grief, but I do know that talking about it is the only thing that makes me feel less alone in it. And I hope it does for you as well. The new season of "All There Is: starts Wednesday, November 29th, wherever you get your podcast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COATES: Anderson Cooper joins me now. Anderson, I'm so glad to talk to you, my friend. I got to tell you, when I first heard this episode, it is unbelievable. It is so compelling. It completely draws you in. This podcast is something really to behold. And I understand that you actually found an essay that was written by your father that really compelled you to even do a second season. What was this essay for the audience?

COOPER: Yeah, it's kind of crazy. I hadn't planned on doing a second season and -- but there were about a thousand voicemails from callers, from listeners during the first season that I hadn't listened to. So, a couple of months ago, even though I wasn't going to do a show, I felt that the least I could do was listen to all these people who called in.

So, I listened to about 46 hours of people's calls, and it was one of the most moving experiences of my life. And it motivated me to start going through these boxes of stuff that belonged to my dad and my mom and my brother, which I'd stopped going through when the first season of the podcast ended because it was so overwhelming.

And literally, the first box I opened up when I went down the basement to start doing this again, turned out to be a box of my dad's papers. And the first file I opened and took out of paper was this essay he wrote 40 years ago entitled "The Importance of Grieving." And in it, he was writing about what happens to kids who don't -- aren't able to grieve as children when they experience a loss and the ripple effects of that throughout their entire life.

And it's literally what happened to me. And I just found it, kind of this extraordinary moment, really just stunning moment that -- what is the chances that I would be reading this, that my dad wrote, and it relates to me. It compelled me.

It made me realize how little I understood about grief and really that I frankly never allowed myself to grief, that I buried it as a child when my dad died and when my brother died. And like a lot of people, I just have been kind of running away from it. I realized that's not something -- it doesn't go away and it doesn't stay buried forever.

COATES: You know, the coincidence, and I don't believe in coincidence when it comes to this, that of all of the boxes, of all the moments --

COOPER: It's crazy. I know.

COATES: And you're a father now, especially, so just -- it must be so stunning to think about, he may have written that, there was no date, but he may have written that at a time when he was talking about you or grappling with what he thought you would perceive about life.

COOPER: Well, also, he knew -- the man in his family died at 50. His dad died at 50. His grandfather did as well. So, he very much knew he was at risk of dying early. He'd already had a heart attack.

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So, I think he was very cognizant of the fact he might die and that we would be left, I was 10 years old when he died, and worried very much about that. So, I just found it stunning. It was like a letter from him.

COATES: Well, here's to season two, and I wonder how many voicemails you're going to go through. It says a lot about you, Anderson Cooper, that you took the time to listen to all of it because you understand the community that we're all in. So, bravo, my friend. Nice to see you. COOPER: I appreciate it. Thanks.

COATES: Well, be sure to download the season two premiere of "All There Is." It's out today and it's wherever you get your podcast. We'll be right back.

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COATES: The truce between Israel and Hamas has now been extended to a seventh day, according to the IDF. The truce has resulted in the return of 70 Israelis under the agreement. Additional three dual Israeli citizens and 24 foreign nationals were also released outside of the deal. This is now the second extension of the initial truce that began on Friday for four days.

I want to bring in Ben Wedeman now. Ben, what's the latest?

WEDEMAN: Well, just minutes before the truce was set to expire, the Israeli military put out a statement saying that in light of the mediators' efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue.

Now, obviously, the sticking point was the fact that Hamas could only come up with seven women and children, a list of seven women and children, and the bodies of, they say, three hostages who were killed as a result of Israeli bombing of Gaza. That wasn't enough for the Israelis. That's why we've had this delay.

But it appears that perhaps because of the presence in Israel of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the continued efforts by Qatar, the mediator here, the Israelis relented and decided to hold their fire for now.

COATES: Do we know anything about -- is there a list of other names or additional people to make it to that 10? Do we have any idea about that, Ben?

WEDEMAN: No, we don't. And in fact, Hamas sort of clearly stated, this is all we can come up with.

COATES: Hmm.

WEDEMAN: Now, is that because other factions are holding the hostages or they cannot reach those cells of Hamas militants who are holding those other hostages? That is just not clear at this point.

COATES: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for your report. We'll continue to follow this story, of course.

Well, that is it for LAURA COATES LIVE. "KING CHARLES" is next. Good night. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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