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Deadly Blast at Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in Gaza; Aid Agencies Affected by Third Communications Blackout in Gaza; CIA Director Traveling to Middle East; Blinken Meets with Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah; Qatar Plays Critical Role in Diplomatic Negotiations; Jewish Students Reflect on War's Impact on Their Lives; Trump Leading in Polls in Some Swing States; Record-Breaking High Temperatures Expected This Week. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 06, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thanks for joining us on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:38]

We have now our continuing coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. And we begin in Gaza as the war between Israel and Hamas is about to enter its second month. The Israeli military says it is carrying out a significant strike right now on the territory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(ARTILLERY EXPLOSIONS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: An IDF spokesperson says the strike was, quote, "very extensive" and targeted Hamas infrastructure, both above and below ground. The IDF also says its soldiers have now reached Gaza's coast in an effort to cut the Northern part off of the enclave.

This comes as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has once again rejected calls for a ceasefire, saying all hostages must first be released.

Meanwhile, an intense diplomatic push is underway to prevent a wider conflict in the region. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landing in Turkey a short time ago. And the director of the CIA also is traveling to several countries in the Middle East to meet with, quote, "multiple intelligence counterparts and country leaders."

All of this coming as dozens of people were killed in a blast at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza, according to an official at a nearby hospital. He says it was the result of an Israeli airstrike.

The IDF says it is looking into the circumstances around the explosion.

Nada Bashir is following this developing story. A warning: her report includes graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this hospital in central Gaza, another day of seemingly unending horror. Bodies, some tiny, arriving in their dozens. No one is spared the devastation of this war.

Journalist Muhammed Alaloul, seen here at Gaza's Al Aqsa Hospital, not to report on his latest attack, but to identify his children amongst the dead.

MUHAMMED ALALOUL, JOURNALIST (through translator): I saw my son Kenaan; my daughter, Rahaf; and my sons Ahmad and Qais. I saw my three siblings killed. I saw friends who were at my house, all killed.

BASHIR (voice-over): Hospital officials tell CNN this latest disaster was caused by yet another Israeli airstrike. Among the numerous bodies, countless women and children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Fifty-two killed, and more than 70 injured. Most of those killed and injured are children, women, and elderly, and still a large number are buried under the rubble.

BASHIR (voice-over): In the now shuttered Al-Maghazi refugee camp, once home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, residents searched desperately for any sign of survivors.

Many digging frantically with their bare hands. This residential community is located in one of the zones deemed safe to evacuate to by the Israeli military. But Israel's airstrikes have proven unrelenting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): All of a sudden, I saw the entire house upside-down. I can't see. I don't even know where I am.

BASHIR (voice-over): Homes which are crowded on Saturday with entire families, have now been reduced to blackened rubble. This crater, a reminder of the force with which Israel continues to bombard the besieged Gaza Strip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I saw all my sisters screaming. Then I saw my father. When I found myself alive, I looked to see who is still alive. We turned on the torch, and my siblings were alive, but I did not find my father. I finally found him next to me. I moved him. I moved his hands. I moved his face. He did not respond.

BASHIR (voice-over): Gaza's hospitals are overwhelmed. The shortages mean it is virtually impossible to adequately treat those wounded.

But hospitals like Al Aqsa are also struggling to keep up with the mounting death toll. The bodies of those killed lay outside, awaiting identification. A gut-wrenching image, now an all-too-familiar reality here in Gaza.

Nada Bashir, CNN, Jerusalem. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Aid agencies say they lost contact with their workers Sunday as Gaza faced a third communications blackout. For more, let's go over to journalist Elliott Gotkine in London.

[00:05:05]

And yes, those aid organizations were hugely concerned about those loss -- that loss of communications. As well as this massive Israeli bombardment in the last few hours. Bring us up to date.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Michael, by some accounts, this has been the heaviest night of bombardment by the IDF since it started striking the Gaza Strip in the wake of that Hamas terrorist attack on October the 7th. So that's been a night of bombardment.

At the same time, as you mentioned just a couple of moments ago in your introduction, Michael, Israel says that it has now reached the coast of the Gaza Strip, effectively bisecting the enclave in two and helping it with its objective right now, or one of its objectives of surrounding Gaza City, where it is searching out for militants' infrastructure, and of course, trying to free some of those 240 or so hostages still being held by Hamas.

The bombardment continues, and we've seen some of the images there in that report as to the effects of those strikes. At the same time, there has been this communications blackout, the third time there has been one since October the 7th.

Now not only is that affecting people's ability within this trip to communicate with one another, to find out if their loved ones are OK, or even alive, but obviously, friends and loved ones overseas.

But as far as the humanitarian organizations are concerned, they are also very worried. The head of the World Health Organization saying that without connectivity, people who need immediate medical attention cannot contact hospitals, and ambulances. All channels of communication must be restored immediately.

Now I reached out to the IDF to understand a little bit more about what was going on, but for now at least, Michael, they say they have no comment.

HOLMES: All right. Elliott, thanks. Elliott Gotkine there for us.

Now police in Turkey had to intervene after pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to storm a U.S. airbase.

According to Turkish state news, protesters carrying Turkish and Palestinian flags chanted anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans. This was at the Incirlik Air Base in Southern Turkey.

Police stepped in after some protesters broke down barricades and attempted to enter the base, as you can see there. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, has arrived in Turkey, the last stop on his tour of the region before heading to East Asia and India this week.

Blinken is expected to meet with Turkish officials this morning to discuss the war. President Erdogan has been highly critical of Israel's offensive in Gaza, calling its actions crimes against humanity.

While in Iraq, Blinken met with the prime minister, Mohammed Shia Al- Sudani, who called for a ceasefire and the reopening of border crossings to keep the humanitarian crisis from getting even worse.

Blinken on Saturday found himself at odds with Arab leaders, who are calling for an immediate ceasefire, instead voicing support for humanitarian pauses, which he reiterated on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think everyone would welcome humanitarian pauses. There's no doubt about that. There are obviously different views, including on the question of a ceasefire, but there's no doubt from my conversations with all of our colleagues who were in Amman yesterday, that everyone would welcome the humanitarian pause, because again, it could advance things that we're all trying to accomplish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Earlier on CNN, former U.N. ambassador and former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the crisis.

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JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: I think the Biden administration is sliding away from its support of Israel. I think nobody's taken into account how Hamas and its puppet masters in Tehran really are manipulating public opinion in the United States and elsewhere.

This is a very serious matter that's going on here. And there is no connection between what Israel is doing in the Northern part of the Gaza Strip, and opening the border for proper shipments of humanitarian aid.

This is a problem Hamas has caused on both sides, letting the aid in, and letting people out who want to get out.

So I think Israel is entirely justified here in saying Hamas is so utterly untrustworthy that they don't get the benefit of a humanitarian pause, and certainly not a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The U.S. military says a ballistic missile submarine has arrived in the Middle East, sharing that photograph there, which appears to show the sub in the Suez Canal passing under the Al Salaam Bridge.

Since announcements like this are so rare, it is seeming to send a clear message the U.S. does not want the Israel-Hamas war to expand. A message to others not to get involved. Usually, these nuclear-powered submarines operate in secret.

This one joins two U.S. carrier strike groups that are already in the Mediterranean.

[00:10:05]

And the director of the CIA, as we said, also heading to the Middle East, where he is well-known and respected. A U.S. official says he will visit several countries to meet with leaders and intelligence counterparts.

CNN's Jim Sciutto with more from Northern Israel.

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Another senior U.S. official is coming to the region.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): A U.S. official tells me that the CIA director, William Burns, is traveling to the Mideast.

The focus of his visit, I'm told, is a number of things. One, the ongoing Israeli military operation inside Gaza; hostage negotiations; but also --

SCIUTTO: -- a continuing effort by this administration to help prevent this war from expanding further.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): That is similar to the message we heard from Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he made a surprise visit to Baghdad today. There, in addition to expressing his desire for increased protection for U.S. forces in the region, he said again, the U.S. wants to prevent any state or non-state actors from entering the war, expanding the war. That message directed principally at Iran.

We've been in Northern Israel watching crossfire across the border from Israel into Southern Lebanon, and from Southern Lebanon into Israel. An uptick in that fire today.

SCIUTTO: That is part of the focus of U.S. officials in the region to prevent a Northern front in this war from expanding.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, in Northern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back with more news, after the break.

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[00:15:30]

HOLMES: Welcome back. The chief of the IDF is warning that they're ready to shift into an offensive mode at any moment in the North of the strip. That's coming as both Lebanon and Israel announced civilian casualties from Sunday strikes along the border there, the Israeli- Lebanese border.

There's been a near daily exchange of fire there since October the 8th between Israel and militants from Hezbollah. That's something that the U.S. secretary of state raised deep concerns about as he met with Lebanon's caretaker prime minister in Amman, Jordan.

He thanked him for his leadership in preventing Lebanon from being pulled into a wider conflict, as well as for Lebanon's efforts in working with regional partners to pursue peace.

All right. Let's discuss more now with James Zogby, who is the president and founder of the Arab-American Institute, and author of "Arab Voices: What They are Saying to Us and Why It Matters." He joins me from Washington.

It's good to see you, Jim.

So U.S. Secretary of State Blinken, he met with the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday. By all accounts, it didn't go well. He had that almost awkward gap Saturday between Blinken and, for one example, the Jordanian foreign minister.

How angry are Arab governments with the U.S. and its unwillingness to support a ceasefire?

JAMES ZOGBY, PRESIDENT/FOUNDER, ARAB-AMERICAN INSTITUTE: Well, there's a lot of anger there. And there's even more anger in their public opinion.

We've been doing some polling in the region, and frankly, the bottom has fallen out in terms of attitudes toward the U.S. and attitudes towards Israel. Countries that had made peace with Israel, like Jordan, like Egypt, like others, are today furious, because they feel betrayed.

And -- and their voices don't matter, either to Israel, obviously, or to the United States. And I think that's what's most concerning here.

HOLMES: And to that point, I mean, Blinken can't even get a so-called humanitarian pause from Israel. Do you get the sense that Israel, you know, doesn't care what the U.S. says right now? That, you know, they have a mission. They're determined to complete it, no matter what anyone says or the cost?

ZOGBY: I have to say, it's comical that the United States is giving 3.8 billion a year -- we've requested an additional 14.3 billion from Congress. And we insist on giving it to Israel without conditions. And yet Israel places conditions on us. And we take it. And I -- I was asked by a reporter a couple days ago, what did I think

of U.S. policy. And I said I'm not sure we have a policy in the region right now. I think what we do have an -- Israel has a policy, and we're simply following it and enabling it.

And Israel's policy seems to be -- I hate to use the word, but it's pathological. They simply want to destroy Gaza.

And the idea that they're going to destroy Hamas and do away with it makes as much sense as 1982, when they tried to do away with the PLO, and they ended up with Hezbollah, or when they tried to do away with appeal with the PLO and -- with Hezbollah in 2006, and they got a stronger Hezbollah. Or we tried to get rid of Saddam, and we got Iran.

I mean, there are political issues here that we're not addressing, thinking that somehow military might is going to solve the underlying questions that confront Israel on the Palestinians.

HOLMES: To that very point, I mean, wars are full of unintended consequences. The U.S. knows that well. Do you fear that, you know, while Israel is trying to destroy Hamas after what was an unspeakable terror attack in Israel, that while trying to do that, it will create more radicalization, not less?

ZOGBY: I think we're already going to see signs of that. And you're right. I mean Hamas is a dastardly group with a nasty ideology and tactics that for decades have been deplorable.

But the solution is to pull the rug out from under them by giving hope to young Palestinians who live in despair, by giving promise and a future to Palestinians who see none.

And that's what Israel -- they want to have their cake and eat it, too. They want to destroy opposition, but they want to keep feeding the opposition to their very existence by continuing to deny humanity and rights to a people that they oppress.

HOLMES: And --

ZOGBY: So yes, there will be consequences, and it will, at best, be Hamas 2.0. It may be even more virulent.

[00:20:01]

HOLMES: So when it does come time to -- you know, when is the time to look at what comes after this latest conflict, start to make plans? I mean, not just to rebuild what's left of Gaza -- and there might not be much -- but what political tract needs to be created, both in Gaza, but also in the West Bank? And can a viable track even be created under this Netanyahu government?

ZOGBY: Of course not. And you know, you ask the question, what should come after? That question should have been asked before it started.

And Hamas should have asked the question. What do you think's going to happen on day two? Israel should be asked the question, what are you going to do when

it's over?

The U.S. should ask itself the question, what are we going to do? And we should have asked that question of ourselves and the Israelis before we ended up turning on the spigot and giving them the go-ahead to do this.

Frankly, it's going to be very difficult to figure out what kind of track we can be on. Look, there are today about half the population of Gaza, no housing at all, because that much has been destroyed in the North.

They have been pushed to the South, where there isn't an infrastructure to absorb them. At least 10,000 dead. Those families are not going to be ready to make peace.

And there are going to be hundreds of thousands of people living both in despair, but also, at the same time, in desperate conditions. And we have not thought of that.

And at least -- look, if Israel can't think straight, if Hamas can't think straight, we've got to be the adult in the room. But the U.S. has not behaved that way. Instead, we've been a coat holder and cheerleader.

And we've given a crazy government -- the Netanyahu government is a crazy government, without a doubt, given what they're doing in the West Bank, as well as what they're doing in Gaza. We should have been the one to provide restraint, and we have not done it. Instead, we've enabled a very difficult situation that we're going to be living with for a generation.

HOLMES: Yes, the fallout is going to be huge. I wish we had more time. Jim Zogby, we'll get you back. Thank you so much.

ZOGBY: Thank you so much.

HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, Qatar attempts to play mediator between Israel and Hamas. We'll have the latest on what the country is trying to achieve.

Also, running low on medicine and fuel while overrun with patients and residents seeking shelter. I'll speak with a doctor about the problems hospitals in Gaza are experiencing.

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[00:25:47]

HOLMES: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Now, as the fight between Israel and Hamas intensifies, some regional players are trying to de-escalate the conflict. Qatar working on two fronts, trying to secure the release of hostages and also reopen the Rafah border crossing.

CNN's Becky Anderson with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have been reporting from Qatar for some two weeks on and off now as the country tries to mediate on two critical aspects of this conflict. The reopening of the Rafah crossing to allow more humanitarian aid in, and civilians out.

And on the release of the -- some 240 hostages still being held by Hamas. Qatar foreign ministry spokesman --

ANDERSON (voice-over): -- Majed Al-Ansari told me at the news conference that both of those objectives are becoming more difficult, but that Qatar is still fully pursuing them.

ANDERSON: With regard to Rafah, Qatar says it is hopeful the crossing --

ANDERSON (voice-over): -- will reopen for evacuations, calling its first reopening in the war some seven or eight days ago, quote, "a very optimistic moment in a very gloomy month."

He says the events over the past few days are making the situation challenging.

MAJED AL-ANSARI, SPOKESPERSON, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTRY: The bombing of residential buildings, the bombing of hospitals, and the bombing of ambulances, which are part of this agreement for the ambulances convoy to move patients out of harm's way, certainly does not help us as a proof of concept for this agreement being successful.

ANDERSON: Well, Israel has accused Hamas of using ambulances to transport militants. A warning that the following images are graphic.

ANDERSON (voice-over): In the case of an ambulance targeted by an Israeli strike on Friday, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza has rejected that allegation.

Witnesses said dozens were killed and wounded in that strike.

And the Israeli prime minister says there will be no ceasefire until --

ANDERSON: -- the hostages taken by Hamas are released. Four have been released so far. Again, Ansari says negotiations around that issue, which are Qatar-led, are difficult given the most recent escalations.

AL-ANSARI: While we do acknowledge the difficulties that we have in this negotiation, there are still ongoing, and we are -- we (UNINTELLIGIBLE) our commitment to handle this mediation the best way possible.

We are continuing to reach out to all points of contact to all parties, in order to see how we can have this. But obviously, any hostage release has to be linked to the aid of -- that allows for hostages to be released. And we have not been seeing for a while.

ANDERSON: Becky Anderson, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Jordan has provided medical aid to Palestinians by air- dropping supplies to a field hospital in Gaza. That's according to the king, Abdullah II. He's been critical of Israel's assault on Gaza and has repeatedly called for a ceasefire.

U.N. officials have warned the truckloads of humanitarian aid now getting through are not nearly enough to meet even the basic needs.

Joining me now is Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care and humanitarian doctor with Medicins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders.

Doctor, good to see you. I know these are tough days for you and your people there. There have been more disruptions to communications Sunday. Are you in touch with your people? What are they telling you about the situation?

DR. TANYA HAJ-HASSAN, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: Yes. I was last in touch with a couple of my colleagues yesterday. But since then, the contact has been completely cut off again. They're desperate. They're screaming for -- for international protection.

You know, at least 182 healthcare workers have been killed to date. And they say that they have screamed. They have tried to expose atrocities that are happening, both to the civilian population where they live, but also to them and the facilities where they work to care for this population. And that has been met with silence.

[00:30:24]

I can quote a pediatric intensive doctor, two days ago, who sent this text message saying, "Unfortunately, we are on our way to collapsing from the horrible scenes that we see. Despite our strength, it's beginning to fade, and the world is watching. As if we were in a horror movie, and the viewers are all silent."

And I think that's exactly -- that's the impression that I have, as well as a humanitarian worker who has been screaming on TV, and in every avenue, I can possibly consider, as has every humanitarian worker and organization I know.

HOLMES: Yes, I can imagine that, you know, you're feeling helpless. You are saying these things, and so little is happening. I mean, I've been seeing reports that, you know, medical staff, they're running out of things like gauze to even bandage wounds, pins and rods for orthopedic surgery.

I heard somebody -- it may have been you, I read -- said that people are being treated without anesthesia, or painkillers, which is unimaginable.

What are the most desperate challenges for the medical staff?

HAJ-HASSAN: I mean, I can paint a picture for you. We have reached a new low in an endless stream of unconscionable violence. I can sit here and tell you that they need gauze.

But the reality is, the Israeli forces targeted at least four hospitals just this past weekend with direct strikes.

A convoy of ambulances that was evacuating patients, I saw my colleague, my previous medical student on TV over a body covered with blood. This is the reality outside of his workplace.

My other colleague, who I spoke to last night, said that he was on his way out to buy something from a vender just outside the hospital door when he was called back into the operating room for a child with severe burns.

He turned around, walked back in, and in the operating room heard this massive explosion. He -- that would have been him standing outside. This is a colleague of mine, a graduate of Oxford University who I have known for over 15 years.

HOLMES: Wow.

HAJ-HASSAN: They targeted four densely-populated UNRWA schools, U.N. schools where internally-displaced people were sheltering.

They massacred people that were trying to flee on the only access road in and out of Gaza, flee as they were told to evacuate.

Over half the population in the Gaza Strip is displaced. And you know, they're not only killing people by directly targeting them, they're also killing them by targeting behind the hospitals where they seek medical care, by targeting the doctors and the journalists who expose these atrocities.

And I want to get back -- to my targeting the water wells, the food supply, the medicine. The sewage system. Every single thing that's indispensable to human life.

And so people are dying -- and I want to quote my colleague, who sent me this message last night from Gaza. People are dying in 1,001 ways.

And the reason I want to make this very important point, as someone coming from Doctors Without Borders, is because our organization, Medicins Sans Frontieres, was founded exactly for this purpose.

We were founded on a -- one of our very core values and principles is temoige (ph). Temoige (ph) is a French word that means bearing witness. We were founded by journalists and doctors who wanted to bear witness on these atrocities that are sanctioned by the world, and to be able to -- to provide that testimony, and to treat the patients, and to relieve the suffering that happens. And that's why journalist and doctors came together. And we're left in

a situation where these atrocities are being committed in the dark, cut off from communication, having killed most of the large proportion of journalists. Having left them in a situation where there's very little international journalism present. Having left the doctors in a situation where they have very little access to all the tools of modern medicine, like you asked in your question, that are needed to care for the suffering.

Yet the world -- and when I say the world, I want to be very clear. The collective international humanitarian community is -- has reached very clear consensus about this three weeks ago.

We were very vocal to say this has to stop. There has to be a ceasefire. The push, the plea to end this unconscionable massacre, and the demand for a ceasefire has also been echoed by the overwhelming majority of countries on this planet.

[00:35:17]

The United Nations General Assembly just this past week.

And also by the billions of people that have taken to the streets worldwide, calling for a ceasefire. And yet, the American tax dollars are still being used to fund this unconscionable massacre.

HOLMES: I mean, it's -- the shortages are horrible, and it's also the people, perhaps -- you know, you've got to think of those with, you know, dialysis, babies in incubators and -- and all of those things.

We've got to leave it there unfortunately, Tanya. We're right out of time. Tanya Haj-Hassan. Doctor, thank you so much.

HAJ-HASSAN: Can I just add one last thing?

HOLMES: Real quick.

HAJ-HASSAN: A colleague of mine yesterday sent me a message from Canada, and she said when your mind races, come back to the child, and you will always be right. You will be heartbroken, but you will be right.

So please, for all of your viewers, and for Biden, and for Blinken, and for every single person out there who has power in this, and for every single person who thinks they don't have power because they're at home on their couch, you have power. Please make this stop. You do not want to be living in a world where you allowed this to happen.

HOLMES: Doctor Haj-Hassan, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it there with Medicins Sans Frontieres.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The former leaders of Britain and Australia played a visit to the Israeli kibbutz devastated by Hamas assault back in October -- October 7.

Ex-prime ministers Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison, along with Israeli soldiers and officials, walked around some of the burned houses.

Johnson says he believes the attacks might suggest that the memory of the Holocaust is starting to fade, but also stressed that antisemitism simply cannot be tolerated. Morrison sharing similar sentiments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MORRISON, FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Look around. This is -- this is the end of antisemitism. This is where it ends. Those expressions have heightened against Jewish people. This is what it becomes. What we're seeing around us here today. That's why it cannot be tolerated in its most smallest form, because it starts as a -- as a mustard seed, and it rises into this horror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Pope Francis again voicing his concerns over the Israel-Hamas war, urging both sides to halt the fighting so that aid can get to those who need it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): I continue to think of the grave situation in Palestine and Israel, where many people have lost their lives.

I beg you, in God's name, to stop, to have a ceasefire. I pray that every avenue will be explored to ensure that the conflict does not escalate further. But the wounded can be rescued and that aid can reach the people of Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is at its worst.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. For our international viewers, WORLD SPORT is next. For those watching us in North America, the news continues after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:41]

HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers here in North America. I'm Michael Holmes.

Pro-Palestinian rallies drew thousands of people in cities around the world over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: In Washington, protesters marched to the White House, waving signs that said "Stop the Massacre, Let Gaza Live."

Some pushed up against the White House gates and covered them in red hand prints, as you see there. During the rally, speakers accused the Biden administration of having blood on its hands for failing to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Secret Service said no arrests were made.

College campuses have become flashpoints for demonstrations and protests surrounding the Israel-Hamas war. And in some cases, ugly incidents of hate.

But it's not just college students. The war is a hot-button issue with younger students, as well. CNN's Athena Jones spoke to five Jewish high school students about how it's impacting their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a situation that hits close to home.

FRANCES GELLER, U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: We're such a tight-knit community. This is like our family.

NOAH IVES-KURTZER, U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: It's a shock that's, like, consistent and you can't escape it.

RIVKA TAMIR, U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I started reaching out to people to check up. And I -- it was hours later, and I was still checking up on people. And there were still more people to reach out to and talk to, and people that I was really worried about.

JONES: What have the last few weeks been like, being here in America, observing what's going on in Israel and Gaza?

ADIN LINDEN, U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I think it's been a sort of balancing act of worrying about, like, when's the other shoe going to drop here in America and caring for and, like, making sure to be a good support system for, like, my friends and family in Israel.

JONES: Waiting for the other shoe to drop? How do you mean?

LINDEN: I feel like right now in America, we're in kind of this grace period with Israel where Israel was attacked and the general feeling towards Israel is still fairly positive. That feeling is going to shift, and that pity is not going to be there anymore. And I think that that's when bad things are going to start happening in America to Jews.

DANIEL PUSTLINIK, U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I disagree with the fact that the majority of American sentiment is one of pro-Israel or pity or sympathy. I think now that, you know, Israel has been bombing Gaza, and there have been attempts to get the hostages back and all that the military operations going on, I think there's been a huge uptick in antisemitism. JONES (voice-over): They say the political response to the war has

been upsetting, especially what they're seeing on social media.

TAMIR: It's a very, I think, inherent Jewish value in times of grief to sit in your pain and sit in your discomfort, and fast during prayer and community. And acknowledge what's going on. That's our way of dealing with grief and processing. And I think to have such raw pain be turned into something political is very, very difficult to deal with.

IVES-KURTZER: It's an impossible situation when you've been attacked by this terror group that's also governing and hiding behind its own people. I can't, like, watch innocent Palestinians die, but it's like you poke a bear. And Hamas poked a bear and then went and hid behind a bunch of little cubs.

LINDEN: It's hard for me to hear "free Gaza, free Palestine," because that's -- Hamas is hurting Gazan citizens just as much as it's hurting Israeli citizens. Like being pro-Palestine or pro-Gaza should not mean being pro-Hamas.

JONES: How do you think this ends?

TAMIR: When you're working on the amount of precedent that there is with Israel, with Gaza, with Palestinians, Hamas, I don't see this ending in a way that will feel very final.

PUSTLINIK: Israel has lost. The innocent civilians in Gaza have lost. Nobody can win a war like this. And so what does the end look like? It looks like loss.

JONES: Where do you find the hope in a situation like this?

PUSTLINIK: I have no hope that this conflict will be resolved in the next century. Not at all. I think this will be almost immutable fact of the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

GELLER: This is where I turn to religion and prayer, God, you know really the core of Judaism, and that's helping me get through this.

JONES (VOICE-OVER): Frances Geller was planning to spend a gap year in Israel before going to college. That plan is now uncertain.

[00:50:07]

GELLER: I truly believe that perseverance is in our DNA. We've been -- we've been around for all this time. They tried to get rid of us. They won't.

And how can you not believe that's who we are, is hopefulness, and fighting? It's -- it doesn't add up.

JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Increasingly louder calls for a ceasefire in Gaza are putting pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to change his strategy with Israel.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria says whatever Biden is doing right now doesn't seem to be working.

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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: This is a really important test of American diplomacy.

The premise behind Joe Biden's strategy in this crisis has been one that I completely understand and largely agree with, which is the only way you're going to have any influence on Israel, which is the dominant military power here, the overwhelmingly dominant military power, is to hug them close.

To tell Israel that you support them. You have their back. You understand their trauma, and you understand the devastation of the attack.

And then, to use that political capital to counsel them on a wise source, on a restrained course, on a strategic course. Biden has gotten the first part right. He's tried very hard on the second part.

And it's my understanding that the Biden administration counseled the Israeli government not to do a ground offensive, to do a more targeted, selective series of incursions.

But it doesn't seem to be working. So what the Biden administration has to ask itself is now, that it has called for these humanitarian pauses. And you're right; this is all semantics. The Israelis are, fact, doing none of that.

What is the Biden administration going to do? Are they going to maybe be more public, more vocal? Are they going to make clear that this is important to them? You know, Bibi Netanyahu has a history of pocketing American support and rebuffing any American pressure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, with a year to go before the next U.S. election, Donald Trump seems to hold an edge over President Biden in several key swing states. New polling has Trump leading in some states where Biden won the vote in 2020.

White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A newly-released poll is painting a grim outlook for the Biden campaign a year before the election.

In a "New York Times" and CNN college poll -- ALVAREZ (voice-over): -- the president is trailing former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical match in four key swing states. That includes Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan.

It's notable, because President Biden won those states in 2020 and striking because former President Donald Trump faces a series of criminal charges.

ALVAREZ: Now, the Biden campaign is downplaying this poll, saying in a statement, quote --

ALVAREZ (voice-over): -- "President Biden's campaign is hard at work, reaching and mobilizing our diverse, winning coalition of voters one year out on the choice between our winning, popular agenda and MAGA Republicans' unpopular extremism."

The campaign goes on to say, "We'll win in 2024 by putting our heads down and doing the work, not by fretting about a poll."

ALVAREZ: Now, the campaign also cited the 2022 midterm elections, where Democrats had a grim outlook there and did better than was expected.

But there is still a long road ahead, and the president --

ALVAREZ (voice-over): -- fanning out across the country to sell his economic message to voters who are still dissatisfied with the economy and who still have doubts about the president's age and his ability to steer the country.

ALVAREZ: And the president, too, is facing risks within his own party, about the handling of the Israel-Hamas war. So several headwinds ahead on the domestic and international front, as the president goes into -- the next year, going into November of 2024.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, traveling with the president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, this latest polling is especially striking as Donald Trump faces a host of growing legal troubles.

On Monday morning, in fact, the former president is set to take the stand in his civil fraud trial in New York. It's expected to be a high-stakes day of testimony that could determine the fate of his New York business endeavors.

Trump could ultimately be forced to sell off his properties after a judge ruled that he and his company committed fraud for years while building his real-estate empire.

Now, from Arizona in the West to New York in the East, it's going to feel a lot like summer for the next couple of days. As CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar shows us, dozens of high temperatures are in the works.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The calendar may say November, but it won't feel like it this week. We're looking at 60 record highs possible all the way from Arizona to New York Monday through Wednesday.

And some of these cities may break the records multiple days in a row. Now, that heat starts in the Southwest and begins to spread off to the East by the middle of this week.

[00:55:09]

But notice very quickly that cold air settles right back in. So this isn't exactly going to be a very long-lived warming trend for many people. Take St. Louis, for example, going from a high of 83 on Wednesday, dropping to 61 on Thursday.

Denver, very similar trend. You're looking at a high of 75 on Tuesday, dropping back to a high of only 48 on Thursday, with a few possible snow showers mixed in in the morning.

Now, it's not just snow, but also rain for several locations, as we start to see that next setup begin to take place. So by Wednesday night and Thursday morning, you're starting to see that changeover from rain to snow for cities like Denver.

But also some rain showers from Texas all the way into the Northeast. So cities like New York, Memphis, and even Dallas looking at a chance for rain on Thursday.

In Dallas, it's not just the rain, but you'll also see the temperature drop, as well, going from 84 on Wednesday, dropping back down to a high of only 68 the very next day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Allison Chinchar there for us.

It was a record-setting finish on Sunday at this year's New York City Marathon. Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia pulling away from the pack and setting a new course record. There it goes. Tola won the men's race with a time of 2:04.58, beating the previous fastest time, set in 2011.

In the women's race, it was a sprint to the finish line. You see that there. Helen Obiri of Kenya crossing first, wrapping up the marathon in :27.23.

It's another big win for Obiri, who won the Boston Marathon earlier this year.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. I will be back with more news after a short break.

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