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CNN INTERNATIONAL: CNN's Continuing Coverage On The War In Israel; Hezbollah Leader To Break His Silence With Public Speech; Israeli Adviser To Hezbollah: Don't Escalate The Situation; Israel Adviser: We Don't Want A Two-Front War, But If Hezbollah Starts One, We Will Respond Forcibly; Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 03, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. And everyone's streaming us on CNN Max as well. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

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LT. GEN. HERZI HALEVI, IDF CHIEF OF STAFF (through translator): Our soldiers have been operating in Gaza City for the past few days, surrounding it from several directions, deepening the operation. Our forces are in very significant areas of Gaza City.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Israeli military chief of staff there describing expanded IDF ground operations in Gaza to keep up pressure on Hamas. Flares overnight lit up northern Gaza in one of the most intense periods of Israeli bombardment since the war began. The IDF says 23 of its soldiers have died in the Gaza operations.

The primary objective now is locating and destroying the Hamas tunnel network and eliminating explosives and other obstacles. But the Biden administration is increasingly concerned about the climbing civilian death toll in Gaza and warns it could undermine international support for Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due back in the region on Friday to discuss U.S. concerns directly with Israeli officials.

CNN's Scott McLean is covering all this for us from London. So Scott, first of all, what is the latest in the war between Israel and Hamas?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim, yeah, the civilian death toll continues to rise, and so those American fears are well-founded. The Palestinian Red Crescent says that when it comes to children alone, more than 3,700 have died in Gaza since this conflict began, and there are still more than 1,000 who have been reported missing under the rubble. And just to put that into perspective, 500, or more than 500 children have been officially killed in Ukraine since that conflict began a year and a half ago. So now you have Antony Blinken going into Israel today, trying to make

this delicate dance, continuing to maintain support for Israel, but also seeming to apply some pressure wherever he can on the Israelis to try to really limit the number of civilians who have been killed.

Yesterday, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, came out with a statement proposing his vision to end the war, which would involve an immediate ceasefire, but the Israelis, look, they have said that this war will end when Hamas is completely destroyed. So that seems like a non-starter.

In terms of the war and where we're at so far, as you mentioned, Kim, the Israelis say that they have surrounded Gaza City. You also showed that video earlier, if we can bring it up, of the flares in northern Gaza. This is just inside the border, a community called Beit Hanun, not far from Gaza City. And in that video, you can see what looks like a smoke screen on the ground that perhaps could suggest the movement of Israeli troops in that area. Obviously, the IDF is saying precious little for obvious reasons about the precise location of their troops, but we have at least one marker, one reference point to go up by on the ground, and that is the Al Quds Hospital, which is located on the outskirts of Gaza City.

It is the second largest in Gaza. And the Red Crescent reports that it has seen -- it has been fired upon, or at least the vicinity of the hospital has been fired upon recently by the Israelis. It says the troops, it figures, were stationed about a kilometer away, fired at the hospital, wounded a child and a young man who were standing outside pierced the walls of the sixth floor as well.

This is the same hospital that received threats from Israel earlier this week to evacuate, otherwise the Red Crescent in their telling of the story would be responsible for any civilian deaths there. So implying that it could be bombed.

Now the Israelis haven't responded to these specific latest accusations of the firing, but they had previously said that Al Quds and other hospitals have been sheltering Hamas. That is something that the hospital very strongly denies though.

But look, that hospital also says that look, it cannot evacuate because there are so, so many wounded civilians there, including babies and incubators and thousands of civilians taking shelter there as well. So wherever we go with this ground invasion, Kim, those hospitals are likely to be another place where civilians continue to cling, figuring that they are likely one of the safest places remaining in Gaza.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. Alright, Scott McLean in London, thanks so much for that.

[02:05:07]

Now we want to go to CNN's Salma Abdulaziz, who reports on the third straight day of airstrikes on the bombed and battered Jabalia refugee camp. And we just want to warn you some of the images in this report are graphic.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The victims of Jabalia victimized yet again.

Some of the survivors of Israel's bombardment took shelter here, a U.N. school, only to be cut down.

Desperate moments after an Israeli strike nearby, shown on social media.

This is one of four schools in Gaza impacted by strikes in a 24-hour period, the U.N. said, in total, housing some 20,000 displaced people. Many of them frightened young children.

What did we do? This boy cries. We did nothing wrong.

The living conditions in these shelters are unbearable. But families come here for safety. That too is gone.

Bring me my son! Bring me my son! This father screams. It's unclear if his child is dead or alive.

Three straight days of airstrikes in Jabalia have wrought horror and bloodshed. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the latest attacks.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas infrastructure in this densely populated residential area. And says it killed a senior Hamas commander with its strike on Tuesday.

But with scores of civilians believed killed, the U.N. Human Rights Council warns what you see here are disproportionate attacks that could amount to a war crime. Gazans don't understand why the world can't stop this.

We keep pulling out bodies. small children, women. It is a catastrophe. This man says if the countries of the world had any shame we wouldn't be in this situation.

And more suffering is all but certain. Israeli troops are inching closer and as ground forces backed by near constant air raids move towards central Gaza, the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians hang in the balance.

The IDF has warned all residents in the north of the strip to leave, an order deemed inhumane and impossible by the United Nations. So many remain in the crossfire.

Where's the world? This woman screams. Our children are being torn up before our eyes.

And with the death toll mounting, pressure is growing on the U.S. and Israel to stem the violence.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And I want to bring in retired Major General Mick Ryan of the Australian Army who joins us from Brisbane, Australia. Thanks so much for being here with us again. So I want to talk about Gaza City here. The first stage of the attack is to isolate and surround the city. So what comes next?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY (RET.): Well, hello Kim. The Israeli Defense Force has achieved that in the last 24 hours. They've cut across to the coast and they have isolated the northern part of Gaza. What comes next is slowly squeezing Hamas on the ground and in these tunnels, whilst also allowing civilians to flow south and preventing any reinforcements flowing north into Gaza City for Hamas.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I wonder how they do that, letting civilians leave without letting Hamas escape.

RYAN: That's a pretty difficult problem. Hamas has always hidden amongst the civilians in Gaza and there'll be a fairly strict, I think, criteria when the Israelis are checking people going south. But at the end of the day, I think there's a humanitarian imperative to let people go south as quickly as possible.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. How long do you think that will all take?

RYAN: Well, this is proceeded at a fairly rapid clip so far. I mean, the Israelis were able to advance west to the ocean very quickly indeed, although that wasn't through urban areas. I think we'll see a slowdown in operations now. The Israelis are moving towards the heart of Gaza City. That is where the toughest fighting will be. That is where Hamas has its most weapons and fighters and leadership and supplies. So it could slow down and take a matter of weeks.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Some, I think it's 30,000 buildings have already been damaged in Northern Gaza sort of based on what we've seen from previous battles in places like Mosul and Fallujah, could we see you know much or most of the city entirely destroyed?

RYAN: I think we're gonna see a lot of portion of a destroyed unfortunately and destroyed buildings might very effective defensive positions and Hamas will be using them as well as their tunnel network to move between fighting locations. We're using drones, it'll be using IDs and everything at its disposal to slow the Israelis down and to hurt them as much as possible.

[02:10:09]

BRUNHUBER: You touched on the civilian casualties. As those casualties mount, as we've talked about, the patience of Israel's allies will be tested already. We've seen President Biden warning Israel that civilians suffering in Gaza will cause Israel to lose public support for the war. We've seen a growing number of Democratic lawmakers raising concern as well. How do you think that will affect Israel's timetable and their longer term aims here? RYAN: Well, there's no infinite clock here for Israel. They know that.

In 2021, they had 11 days before President Biden told Netanyahu that he'd run out of runway. They may have more time this time, but at the end of the day, the clock is ticking on this operation.

The support for Israel is finite amongst its closest supporters. There's only so many civilian casualties that people control.

BRUNHUBER: In the meantime, we've seen President Biden calling for a pause. What would the military consequences be for that, do you think?

RYAN: Well, it would depend where the pause occurs. It could occur just in the south and fighting continues in the north. If it occurred in the north, that would really take the pressure off Hamas, the IDF and the government of Israel is not clinging on a ceasefire at this point in time.

BRUNHUBER: Alright, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much as always for your insights, Mick Ryan in Brisbane, Australia. Thanks so much.

RYAN: Thanks, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: For a second day, hundreds of foreign nationals were finally able to leave Gaza. An Egyptian border official says more than 340 foreigners arrived in Egypt on Thursday via the Rafah crossing as part of the deal broken by Qatar. According to the White House, 74 Americans were among them. Listen to this.

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SUSAN BESEISO, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN CITIZEN: Unfortunately, I'm not even excited to leave Gaza because we have so many people that we live and care about. We love and care about. So right now I'm between ice and fire. I don't know if I'm ever gonna be able to see the family that I left behind or the friends that I left behind. People are dying, everybody's dying, nobody's safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Families are desperate for any news about their loved ones still being held hostage by Hamas. Lynda Kinkade sat down with three Israelis who had more than a dozen family members abducted. The youngest is a three-year-old girl. Listen to this.

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Of all the family members that have been taken hostage by Hamas, the youngest is just three years old. What are your hopes for the coming days, the coming weeks, in terms of getting news of your loved ones?

OR SELLA, RELATIVES HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: When you see the innocence of someone who has her, literally her whole life ahead of her, and then you try to imagine where she is now, under a tunnel, at gunpoint, she's three years old, we are at a point that any -- any news is good news. (END VIDEO CLIP)

And we'll have that full interview for you next hour here on "CNN Newsroom."

Nearly two months into the war, the White House says it's helped get its first group of Americans out of Gaza with details coming up.

Plus, gearing up for a clash in the U.S. Senate after the House passed a $14 billion aid bill for Israel. Why Democrats are opposed to the legislation, that's ahead. Stay with us.

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[02:15:00]

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BRUNHUBER: White House spokesperson says the U.S. helped 74 Americans leave Gaza Thursday. Evacuations come as Israel is stepping up its assault on Hamas. And the White House is calling for temporary humanitarian pauses to allow aid into the devastated area. MJ Lee has more from the White House.

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MJ LEE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden personally confirming that the first group of American citizens had left Gaza and are now in Egypt. He said that the process of getting Americans and other foreign nationals and wounded Palestinians out of Gaza and into Egypt would take place in stages over the course of multiple days.

The State Department has previously said that there are some 400 American citizens in Gaza that are wanting to leave. That is in addition to some 5,000 foreign nationals that are also believed to be in Gaza. The president's saying at an event in Minnesota that the administration has been working nonstop to reach this arrangement. This is what he said.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're in a situation where safe passage for wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals to exit Gaza has started. American citizens are able to exit today as part of the first group of probably over 1,000 will see more of this process going on in the coming days. We're working nonstop to get Americans out of Gaza as soon and as safely as possible.

LEE: And to give you a sense of some of those diplomatic conversations that have been taking place over the course of weeks. What CNN is told is that Hamas had been pushing for wounded Palestinians to be able to leave Gaza, but that notably one thing that they had demanded was for some of their own fighters to be a part of that mix and that was a demand that was denied.

We are also told that Egyptian authorities had expressed a lot of concern about the idea of Palestinians coming into their country and settling down there permanently and that -- that's something that U.S. officials had been discussing with their Egyptian counterparts for days and that Egyptian authorities also wanted to make sure that they were able to vet and look into every single person that was crossing over into their country.

The president also saying in Minnesota that he believed that Israel continued to have a right to defend itself but that it needed to do so in a way that adheres to international laws.

[02:20:01]

The president saying, quote, "every innocent life is a tragedy." This is, of course, noteworthy given the airstrikes that have struck a refugee camp in northern Gaza.

This has complicated the Biden White House's political standing and how it has been talking about the ongoing conflict. Of course, we know that Biden White House officials are very concerned about the continuing growing civilian death toll in the region, even as they continue to say that Israel has a right to defend itself.

MJ Lee, CNN, The White House.

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BRUNHUBER: As President Biden raises concerns about the situation in Gaza, the U.S. House has passed a $14 billion Israeli aid bill. It now goes to the Senate, where it's apparently dead-on arrival. Wolf Blitzer spoke to Democratic Representative Jim Himes about President Biden's messaging to Israel and why he opposes the aid bill. Here he is.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER: As you know, President Biden says he believes it's time for what he calls a pause, not a ceasefire, but a pause in this war between Israel and Hamas. Do you agree?

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): I do. And in fact, you know, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy made this point, I think, four or five days ago, that the Israelis should be open and should allow for pauses that would allow for the movement of innocent people that would allow for negotiations for hostages. Remember, the hostages, you know, are there and subject to the violence that is going on in Gaza, and that would allow the inflow of water, medicines, and all of those things that the civilians of Gaza need.

Without a pause, and you know, look, pause could mean geographic, it could, you know, go long or short, but without those pauses to set up safe areas, safe convoys, safe transit of civilians, the outcome will be far from what we would hope it would be.

BLITZER: You just voted against what's called the stand-alone $14.3 billion aid package for Israel, like almost all of the other Democrats in the House of Representatives. Tell us why. HIMES: Yeah, well, there's a bunch of reasons for the no vote. First

of all, you know, I have always voted in support of aid for Israel, and aid for Israel has always not had conditions on it. Now this bill and I'll come back to this because this is the first time we've seen in a very long time that an emergency bill and, boy, this an emergency comes with a pay for right in a pay for his in this case a democratic policy priority so people need to step back and think wait a minute emergency legislation is now in the congress the united states going to be subject to.

Well, yeah, will find Israel's effort here but we also want to achieve this policy win against the opposite party. That is a very dangerous path to go down the bill did not contain humanitarian aid with which we've just spent the last four minutes talking about in terms of its importance and of course splitting Israel from Ukraine reflects the fact that they are pandering that they being the Republicans to the roughly 50 percent of House Republicans who don't wanna help Ukraine in its fight against Russia. None of those things are good, Wolf, in my opinion and that's why I voted against this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Alright, and still to come, an upcoming address from the leader of Hezbollah, who's been unusually quiet since the start of the new war, even though his forces have been exchanging fire with Israel.

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[03:25:00]

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BRUNHUBER: In the coming hours, the head of Hezbollah is expected to give his first public address since the Israel-Hamas war erupted. Hassan Nasrallah's silence up to this point has been unsettling for those concerned about regional security. The switch will be closely watched for signals about the militant group's intentions.

And adding to the anxiety skirmishes. Hezbollah and the IDF become more frequent along the border with Lebanon. A rocket fired from Lebanon on Thursday caused a fire in a nearby Israeli town. No casualties were reported.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has a closer look at what to expect in the speech from Hezbollah's leader.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The message on clips circulating on social media, ambiguous but ominous. They're stoked in anticipation for a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Daily since the 8th of October, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire across the border. It's not a full-blown war, yet.

KARIM EMILE BITAR, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROFESSOR, SAINT JOSEPH UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT: This time I feel a sense of doom in Lebanon.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Professor Karim Bitar has lived through all his country's travails.

BITAR: Some of them are afraid that we might be on the verge of the apocalypse, so I have never seen this much tension in this country.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Tensions rising higher Thursday afternoon and evening, with the heaviest bombardment yet both sides of the border.

(on-camera): Hezbollah's leader has been unusually quiet since the war broke out in Gaza, but his allies in Iran have made it clear if Israel crosses red lines in its operations against Hamas, new fronts could open.

(voice-over): And what are those red lines?

AMAL SAAD, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY: You know, these red lines for Hezbollah, Hamas, the Hamas leadership, Hamas remaining intact as an organization, and of course the Palestinian people themselves preventing another Nakba from occurring are Hezbollah's red lines. They're also Iran's red lines. They're Hamas and Islamic Jihad's red lines. They're everyone's red lines in the resistance axis.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. is when in 1948 hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in what is now Israel.

As the fighting in Gaza intensifies and the civilian death toll soars, the prospect of regional war looms. And that could spell disaster for Lebanon, a country already in a state of economic collapse and political paralysis.

MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, MALCOM H. KERR CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: A war with Israel would literally send the country back not to the Stone Ages, but to pre-stone ages probably, unfortunately. It's not something that the country would, it would take it ages to recover from.

WEDEMANOn Beirut's Courtney's 70-year-old retired bank employee Besson waits for the fish to bite. Nobody knows what's going to happen, he tells me. Everyone is worried. This situation is not reassuring. The sea appears calm, but a storm may be coming. Ben Wedeman CNN Beirut.

BRUNHUBER: A senior adviser to the Israeli prime minister was warning Hezbollah not to get more involved in the conflict. CNNs Wolf Blitzer asked Mark Regev if Israel is sending a message to the Nelson (ph) group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: I'd send a message to his beloved now. I'd say to them, don't. I think I'm repeating what President Biden said. Don't. Don't escalate the situation in the North. We have no interest in a two-front war. That if you stop one, if Hezbollah forces us to respond, we will respond forcibly and decisively.

I hope cooler heads will prevail in Tehran and in Beirut. I don't think anyone has an interest in another war. If we're forced to fight, we will. But let me make it clear. We prefer to avoid that. We want to concentrate on what needs to be done in Gaza.

We fought two front wars in the past in 1967. In 1973, we will prevail in the two-front war. We prefer, however, to avoid it. We're watching very closely. We're mobilized. We're ready.

I hope as I said a moment ago, that more rational minds prevail both in Tehran and in Beirut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The past 27 days have been especially deadly for journalists in Gaza. On Thursday, a reporter with Palestinian TV was killed as he returned home after filing a live report on the war. Mohammed Hatab (ph) and 11 members of his family were all killed in an Israeli airstrike. According to his news organization. CNN hasn't been able to independently confirm the source of the explosion at Hatab's home and there's been no comment from the IDF. But Hatab's death sent shockwaves through his newsroom. Here's how one colleague reported the story on air.

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UNIDENFIED MALE: No protection. No international protection at all. No immunity to anything. This protection gear does not protect us not those helmets. These are just slogans that we're wearing. It doesn't protect any journalists at all. This protection gear does not protect us. We are only wearing slogans.

We are victims here live on air. We lose souls one after the other without any price we passed as martyrs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has just landed in Tel Aviv, Israel. You are looking at live pictures now as he just touched down the top American diplomat will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli leaders before eventually heading to Jordan and later Japan, South Korea, and India. Before leaving Washington, Blinken said he will be discussing quote concrete steps Israel can and should take to minimize civilian casualties and his visit comes after Israeli airstrikes hit the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza three times this week, causing many Palestinian casualties. Present Biden was reportedly disturbed by the deaths and injuries and his administration's warned that Israel risks losing support given the scale of the humanitarian crisis.

And Biden has also caused for Pause to Allow hostages to get out. (Inaudible) Israel has shown restraint in its offensive in Gaza. Blinken reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself and the responsibility to do everything possible to protect civilians. He said when he sees a Palestinian child pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building. It quote, "hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in Israel or anywhere else."

All right. I want to bring in Scott McLean again from London as we just saw. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landing in Israel. His third visit since this is all begun. A difficult balancing act for Blinken supporting Israel's defense while also protecting civilians, which seems to be a growing priority for the Biden ministration.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This was far easier in the earlier stages of war, Kim, when you didn't have this civilian death toll in Gaza which had ballooned this high. 3,700, more than 3,700 according to the Palestinian Red Crescent children alone had been killed. There are some thousand plus who are reported missing under the rubble and for comparison's sake, more than 500 children have been reported killed in Ukraine. That's a conflict though that's been going on for about a year and a half.

You have seen the Pentagon spokesperson. You've seen White House officials. All try to sort of twist themselves into knots figuring out how to defend Israel and this rising civilian death toll. You mentioned it already, Kim, that Blinken himself said wouldn't say one way or another whether or not Israel was showing restraint. Even if you go back two weeks ago. He was asked whether or not Israel it by his -- but if -- by his view is following international law. He wouldn't answer that question directly.

[02:35:32]

And you also have, you know, much of the Arab world who is seeing the situation much much differently than the Americans. Many of them see, you know, outrage amongst Western nations when it comes to the brutal terror attack in Israel, but they are not seeing the same level of outrage coming from the west when it comes to Palestinian lives. Obviously, Antony Blinken in his comments that you mentioned, Kim trying to set the record straight saying that America, you know, values the life of the Palestinian as much as the life of an Israeli and that Israel can and should take whatever steps that it can to limit civilian casualties. But it is going to be pretty difficult to get over the impression that has already been left.

You have had ambassadors from Jordan, from Bahrain, Colombia, Chile, all have been recalled. I'm sure there are more on that list as well. And even after this trip to Tel Aviv and to Israel, Blinken has a challenge on his hand as he goes to Jordan where they're going to tell him that this war needs to end quickly.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Huge challenge on his hands as you say. All right. Thanks so much, Scott. Appreciate it.

So much more to come here on CNN. Cross-border strikes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon continue amid Intel suggesting Syria may provide the group with Russian technology and that story straight ahead. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Rally military said on Thursday that it's responding to multiple missile launches toward Israel from Lebanon. Officials say most of the lunches came from Hezbollah this. As sources tell CNN that U.S. intelligence suggests Syria has agreed to give Hezbollah a Russian missile system. Earlier this week, the U.S. Secretary of State highlighted connections between Russia and Iran, which is also an ally of Syria and supports Hezbollah. Here it is.

[02:40:23]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Russia and Iran are working together to challenge our leadership to help us and globally to pose a growing threat to our own security as well as to that of our allies and partners. They've been partners in a devastating war in Syria. And now we have Iranian proxies firing missiles from Syria in northern Israel. Russia could stop this, but it doesn't. Instead to the contrary, its government is hosting Hamas for talks in Moscow. Iran is sending UAVs to Russia to attack Ukrainian civilians. So we're seeing the profound connections here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now according to source with the U.S., intel suggests that Russian mercenary organization Wagner group will help Hezbollah set up the defense system which was originally provided to the Syrian government. Now it's not clear whether the system has been delivered or how close it may be to delivering. I'm Kimberly Brunhuber. World sport is next for international viewers. For viewers here in the U.S., the news continues. Stay with us.

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[02:45:]

PATRICK SNELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. Welcome to Wellsville. Thank you so much for joining us on this Friday. As the celebrations continue for South Africa's all-conquering men's Rugby World Cup winning team. Last Saturday in Paris, the Springboks becoming the first country ever to win the tournament for a fourth time. The box also becoming back- to-back champs and writing their own very special piece of history in the process.

In the day since there nailbiting one point triumph over the New Zealand All Blacks South Africa led by their superstar skipper, Siya Kolisi have met their country's president. And on Thursday, tens of thousands of jubilant fans lining the streets of Soweto to catch a glimpse of their heroes at the start of a five-city Rugby World Cup Trophy tour. They will continue until Sunday.

Cnn Senior International Correspondent David McKenzie right there for us amidst all the celebrations.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, There Siya Kolisi raising what South Africans are accorded bill the Webb Ellis trophy. On his right, he have other members of the champion team a gold medal still hanging off their shoulders. One of the key members of the team in fact, gave it to a young South African out her presentation.

I've already sensed in the last few weeks South Africa come together in celebration. My daughters are screaming at the television. In big cities like Johannesburg, here in Soweto, in small towns, in rural villages all over this country. You had this excitement building and building and the tension mounting. The three one-point wins on Saturday I have to say.

Here in Soweto, people just spilled out onto the streets. If you can see him, Siya Kolisi, the second time wearing this hat. He said he's saying that is all for South Africans. Thought about the team. He said it's not even about competition. It's going to be (inaudible) behind me. And these incredible scenes and holding up their cell phones to capture the moment, put it on social media which are (inaudible) us out slightly out (inaudible). From here it's going to be a city began to (inaudible) cheer them to take them. And the (inaudible) country to celebrate.

I mean I'm stepping through the way. Let's go. Let's go, guys. Come with me. Okay. Here we go. So this is the to behind me. Siya Kolisi (inaudible) to their pride. Look at this. I mean (inaudible). Rugby World Champions 2023 and (inaudible).

What a moments for South Africa. I have to say this was even better than the last time, the fourth time winning this World Cup. The other (inaudible) came close with this nation actually won the cup. Back to you guys.

SNELL: All right. Thanks to David McKenzie there. Well, during the tournament, the team talked to have a responsibility to provide some distraction for their beleaguered country which is struggling in an economic downturn amid heavy unemployment right now crime and corruption as well. David also speaking with joyous fans who are well aware of a Springboks a very special place in history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENFIED FEMALE: What the box do for this country is amazing. They have managed to unite us like no one else has managed to unite us. They have done what no politician manages to do. And I think they carry the pride of the nation on their shoulders and we support them 100% and what they've done is just amazing.

MCKENZIE: What do the Springboks mean to you?

UNIDENFIED MALE: It means togetherness. It means unity. It means pride. It means glory. It's just amazing to see how everyone, people of different ethnicities or sizes, different colors all come together just to get behind this Springboks and that is just togetherness of South Africans.

MCKENZIE: Before this tournament, were you a big Rugby fan or it's really this one that you got excited about?

UNIDENFIED FEMALE: Not really. Just this one. Yes. This one was like everyone was all hyped up all in so yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:50:08]

SNELL: All right. Joyous scenes there in South Africa. Let's head to the Cricket World Cup now we're the host nation India the first country through to the semis after thrashing Sri Lanka Thursday Mumbai. A truly historic day for the two-time champs. And this now their biggest ever Men's World Cup victory Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill were in swashbuckling form to put on a second-wicket stand of 189 as India reached a gargantuan tally of 357 for eight from that allotted 50 overs. Both men falling in the end just a few run shy of their respective centuries.

And needing a World Cup record, 358 runs for the wind Sri Lanka's hopes were soon quashed by the outstanding bowling of Mohammed Shami. The Sri Lankans at one point reduced to 14 for six inside the first 10 overs. Would you believe, they never recovered from that. Charlene would go on to take five wickets for just 18. This was in the seventh when from as many matches in this year as 50 over tournament. They seal the win by 302 runs.

Now if you were following baseball's World Series you'll know history has been made. Why Texas Rangers fans are savoring one huge celebration decades in the making. Stay with us.

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SNELL: Welcome back. As history is made for the major league baseball team, the Texas Rangers who've just been crowned World Series champs for the first time in their 63 year history on Wednesday. The Rangers easily defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks on the night in Phoenix to secure the title in game five. The Ranger's victory giving them the best of seven series four games to one. This is the triumph that will mean so very much indeed to the Texas team just two seasons ago they lost 102 games and one of the worst teams in the whole of the sports but no longer and they did it in a way no one has ever done. They never lost a road game this postseason after going up perfect 11 and 0.

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BRUCE BOCHY, 4TH WORLD SERIES TITLE, 1ST WITH TEXAS: Especial, I'm not going to lie, especially become here in my first year. You know, with a team that was determined to play winning baseball, and never won a championship. But as far as me, that's a byproduct of what those guys did out there and what the front office did. I was alone for the ride trust me.

COREY SEAGER, 2023 WORLD SERIES MVP: It's truly as incredible. But it's not just me, man. What this team did and how we competed and all the guys in their rally and you know, we don't really have one leader you know. That whole clubhouse is a leadership there. They're all professionals in there. And we all knew we had a job and the task at hand and we competed and we did it, you know. It's pretty cool.

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SNELL: How the party keeps rolling right into the weekend with the Texan city of Arlington throwing a championship array on Friday afternoon. Huge joy for the Rangers fans. In 2011, they were one strike away from being champs, and they infamously blew it and lost to the Cardinals. It was one of the worst collapses in U.S. sports history. They don't have to talk about that anymore, as they can now rejoice as champions, and our congratulations to them.

Now in France, the Italian tennis star Yannick Center has withdrawn from the Paris Masters. This after a second-round match finished in the early hours of Thursday morning with his third-round tie. I scheduled for later on the very same day. CNN's clashed with Mackenzie, McDonald did not start until after midnight with his three- set victory not sealed until after 2:30 a.m. Would you believe, the 22-year-old was due to next face Alex de Minaur of Australia a matter of hours later, as soon as citing a busy few weeks ahead for him with a season-ending ATP finals, and Davis Cup still to come.

Tournament organizers, the ATP receiving some criticism over the scheduling from Sinner's fellow pro Casper Ruud. After the match, the young Italian taken his social media saying, "I finished the match when it was almost three in the morning and didn't go to bed until a few hours later. I had less than 12 hours rest to prepare for the next game. I have to make the right decision for my health and my body."

Meantime, powerful moving words now from the Tunisian Tennis to Ons Jabeur and a powerful tearful speech. The world number seven saying she plans to give part of her season-ending WTA finals prize money to help Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict Jabeur making the pledge during an emotional encored interview. This after beating the reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6463 in Mexico. The 29 year old isn't the only Arab athlete who have offered financial aid to help Palestinians last month. The Egyptian Red Crescent, which provides medical services and humanitarian aid confirmed that Liverpool's Egyptian star Mo Salah had made a donation to help its relief efforts in Gaza. Jabeur speaking in Cancun on Wednesday.

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ONS JABEUR, TUNISIAN TENNIS PLAYER: I tried to stay off social media as much as I can. But it's very tough you know you you you go through videos photos, the horrible, horrible photos every day and I mean it doesn't help me sleep or recover very well and it's -- and I the worst thing is I feel hopeless you know. I feel like I cannot do anything. I wish I can have you know magic hand and just and all this and just peace for everybody. But it is frustrating and I honestly I just maybe donating some money would help you know a little bit with what they been going through. But I know money doesn't mean anything right now to them. So I wish freedom for everybody and really peace for everyone.

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SNELL: Ons Jabeur speaking there in Mexico. Now we're down to the last three races of the 2023 Formula One season with Red Bull superstar Max Verstappen long since having wrapped up another driver's title. This weekend, it's all eyes on Brazil here now our latest Rolex minute for you.

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