While it may have seemed unintentional, CBS Mornings co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King disgustingly played a game of moral equivalency in an interview with the father of eight-year-old Israeli hostage Emily Hand when she complained to that “innocent children” in Gaza and “Palestinians...are dying” in Israel’s war against Hamas, the terrorist organization who’s holding his daughter captive.
The admonishment came after King had asked Hand to “tell us what your life was like” before October 7 and how much he “like[s] living in Israel” and Hand saying Israel’s still “a difficult place” because “[w]e’re constantly being bombarded by rockets, thousands and thousands and thousands of rockets for the last 20 years.”
Then, Hand gave King a history lesson from September 2005: “The greatest movement towards peace that Israel ever did was we pulled out of Gaza...[I]t got us nothing. [Hamas] didn’t make even a little baby step back to go towards peace.”
This statement drew King’s befuddlement and sorrow and it wasn’t for Israelis. Instead, it was Gazans:
But now, this seems to be all about politics. What do you say about that? You know, you have innocent children — Palestinians who are dying, innocent Israeli children who are dying, and no one seems to be able to say enough, stop that.
Hand, who was emotional throughout the interview, responded with class: “I’m not interested in politics at all. My only concern is getting Emily back, whatever that takes to get her back.”
The father of two kids who live in Israel, co-host Tony Dokokupil tried to reset things:
DOKOUPIL: Thank you for being here, Thomas, for keeping her name in our minds and the attention focused as it should be on their release. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I can barely talk to you because I think about my own daughter and I think about —
HAND: It’s a living nightmare. It is hell. Hell on earth.
This let King refocus, asking him if he’s gotten much sleep and if he’s been “standing and walking and communicating.”
Hand’s gutwrenching interview went to another level as he admitted he at least partially drinks himself to sleep: “I have a couple of pints of beer before I go to bed, and yes, I sleep. I don’t eat much. Like, my throat is closed. I can’t eat and the beer — a couple of beers helps me sleep. Otherwise, I’d be up all night going through all the nightmares that you don’t want to imagine.”
King showed her concern for Hand from the beginning of the interview, however, Admitting she’s “so sorry” he was talking to them “under these circumstances” and that she’s “so haunted by Emily’s story” and Emily’s a kid who’s “supposed to be blowing up the candles on [her] birthday cake” when she turns nine this week, but is likely being held by Hamas.
Making the Hand family’s story even more horrific was the fact that, as King noted, “Emily’s mom died when she was two-and-a-half years old and it’s been you and Emily”.
Earlier in the show, foreign correspondent Ramy Inocencio went full Hamas propagandist, fretting that, at Al Shifa, “[m]ore than 2,000 people are still believed to be inside says the World Health Organization, including dozens of newborns” and complained about the plight of Gazans to IDF spokesman Col. Richard Hecht (click “expand”):
INOCENCIO [TO HECHT]: Where are evacuees supposed to go after fleeing Al-Shifa?
HECHT: They physically have to move south.
INOCENCIO: But the south isn’t safe either.
HECHT: Where we see terrorists, we will attack terrorists. This is Hamas’s responsibility. They are hiding and acting within the civilian population.
INOCENCIO: And Colonel Hecht says that the Israel Defense Forces has killed at least 1,000 Hamas militants inside Gaza after October 7th. He says they’re doing all they can to try to avert civilian casualties, even aborting strikes if they see a lot of children, but he told me, “we are trying to kill as many terrorists as we can”, Nate
NATE BURLESON: Can’t help but to think about those civilian lives, especially those children.
Over on NBC’s Today, chief international correspondent Keir Simmons reacted to the IDF operations inside the Al Shifa hospital complex by peddling international groups slinging mud Israel’s way:
[O]utside Al Shifa, bodies have been piling up. This morning, Jordan says targeting a hospital is a war crime. The head of U.N.’s humanitarian affairs says he’s appalled. And the World Health Organization says it’s deeply concerned.
To see the relevant transcripts from November 15, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
November 15, 2023
7:03 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Israel-Hamas War; Gaza Hospital Siege; IDF Says It Has Raided Al-Shifa Hospital, Targeting Hamas]
RAMY INOCENCIO: More than 2,000 people are still believed to be inside says the World Health Organization, including dozens of newborns. The IDF says they’ve cleared an evacuation route. With all hospitals in the north now not functioning except one, medics and families are at a breaking point. Four-year-old Ahmed Shabbat’s home was destroyed in an Israeli airstrikes said his uncle, killing 17 members of his family. He moved south where another strike hit, doctors had to amputate both his legs. [TO HECHT] Where are evacuees supposed to go after fleeing Al-Shifa?
COL. RICHARD HECHT: They physically have to move south.
INOCENCIO: But the south isn’t safe either.
HECHT: Where we see terrorists, we will attack terrorists. This is Hamas’s responsibility. They are hiding and acting within the civilian population.
INOCENCIO: And Colonel Hecht says that the Israel Defense Forces has killed at least 1,000 Hamas militants inside Gaza after October 7th. He says they’re doing all they can to try to avert civilian casualties, even aborting strikes if they see a lot of children, but he told me, “we are trying to kill as many terrorists as we can”, Nate
NATE BURLESON: Can’t help but to think about those civilian lives, especially those children.
(....)
7:31 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Israel-Hamas War; A Father’s Plea; Thomas Hand Believes Young Daughter Is Being Held by Hamas]
GAYLE KING: Mr. Hand, thank you so much for coming. I’m so sorry it is under these circumstances. I am so haunted by Emily’s story, because I saw the interview with you when you had the news that Emily had been killed and you were crying and you said, I’m relieved. I’m happy because at least she’s out of this danger. And the thought of you thinking about what she was going through was haunting you and now, you receive the word that she is possibly alive. How are you processing this? How are you dealing with this?
THOMAS HAND: Yes, at first, I was informed that she was found in the kibbutz, she was found dead and yes, I was — I was relieved because it was all over for her.
KING: Yes.
HAND: Then later on, on the 31st, the Army came and told me that no, she is — she’s alive. They didn’t find any body of Emily. They didn’t find any blood in the house where she was during the sleepover. There was no blood in the safe room, the bomb shelter. There was no blood in the house. There was no blood on the streets outside.
(....)
7:34 a.m. Eastern
KING: You know, when you’re nine years old, Thomas, you’re supposed to be blowing up the candles on your birthday cake. You’re supposed to be surrounded by love. I know you told me that Emily’s mom died when she was two-and-a-half years old and it’s been you and Emily and I’m wondering what you’re — you are from Ireland originally, but you’ve lived in Israel for 30 years because you love the people there. How are you — how do you get through the days, the hours? What keeps you going? What sustains you? What do you want people to know? What do you want people to do as you sit here today?
HAND: Then the reason I’m here today is to — we have to fight and keep the pressure on all the governments of the world to keep the pressure on the Hamas to release the hostages, and that’s just full on. It doesn’t matter how sick I am, it doesn’t matter how tired I am, we are going to get her back.
KING: Yes.
HAND: We have to hope, we have to pray.
KING: Yes. You know what I keep thinking? When we throw out these numbers, 240 hostages, 38 of them, possibly children. These hostages are more than just a number. They are somebody’s everything. Like Emily is your everything to you.
HAND: Yes.
KING: And so, let’s be optimistic about getting her back. Can you tell us what your life was like when you were living there on October 7? You like living in Israel.
HAND: Yes. It’s a difficult place to live. We’re constantly being bombarded by rockets, thousands and thousands and thousands of rockets for the last 20 years. The greatest movement towards peace that Israel ever did was we pulled out of Gaza. You know, Israel has never made such a big step towards peace, and it got us nothing. They didn’t make even a little baby step back to go towards peace.
KING: But now, this seems to be all about politics. What do you say about that? You know, you have innocent children — Palestinians who are dying, innocent Israeli children who are dying, and no one seems to be able to say enough, stop that.
HAND: I’m not interested in politics at all. My only concern is getting Emily back, whatever that takes to get her back.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Thank you for being here, Thomas, for keeping her name in our minds and the attention focused as it should be on their release. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I can barely talk to you because I think about my own daughter and I think about —
HAND: It’s a living nightmare. It is hell. Hell on earth.
KING: You’re sleeping? How are you — how are you standing and walking and communicating?
HAND: I have a couple of pints of beer before I go to bed, and yes, I sleep. I don’t eat much. Like, my throat is closed. I can’t eat and the beer — a couple of beers helps me sleep. Otherwise, I’d be up all night going through all the nightmares that you don’t want to imagine.
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NBC’s Today
November 15, 2023
7:03 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Israeli Troops Raid Gaza Hospital]
KEIR SIMMONS: Hospital officials say Israeli soldiers stormed the Al Shifa hospital at 2:00 a.m. this morning. They say there are 650 patients inside, 400 medical staff and thousands of displaced people in the hospital complex. Israeli officials say the operation is based on intelligence information, is precise and targeted, and is against Hamas in a specified area of the Al Shifa hospital. This morning, the Israeli Defense Force releasing edited images it says showing fighting in the Gaza strip. And Gaza's Health ministry, run by Hamas, sending videos it says showing the intensive care unit of the Al Shifa hospital. “A shell hit,” he says, “there's gas and heavy smoke. We're evacuating patients.” NBC News cannot independently confirm what the footage shows. Israel announcing an operation to target, “terrorist activity” at Al Shifa. Al Shifa is where doctors say 36 premature babies are being taken care of with no power for incubators. One little boy injured was rescued from rubble. The doctor says four babies were born by cesarean, their mothers dead. The Israeli Defense Force, releasing images from Al Shifa with soldiers faces blurred, it says shows them carrying medical supplies into the hospital. Hours before Israeli forces moved in, the Pentagon saying the U.S. intelligence believes Hamas and Islamic Jihad operate from Al Shifa.
PENTAGON DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: Hamas and PIJ operate a command and control node from Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. They have weapons stored there and are prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against the facility.
SIMMONS: Hamas denies the claim and outside Al Shifa, bodies have been piling up. This morning, Jordan says targeting a hospital is a war crime. The head of U.N.’s humanitarian affairs says he’s appalled. And the World Health Organization says it’s deeply concerned. The U.N. says the Hamas terror attacks on October 7 and holding of hostages is also a war crime.
