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Israeli Military Releases Video Footage Of Tunnel Shaft Under Al-Shifa Hospital; Sources Say Negotiators Nearing A Deal For Gaza Hostages; Former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter Dies At 96; Argentina's Presidential Runoff; Volcano Threat Forces Town's Residents to Flee; IDF Blames Houthi Rebels for Hijacked Cargo Ship in Red Sea. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 20, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak. Ahead on CNN Newsroom. CNN goes to the scene of what the Israel Defense Forces says is an exposed Hamas tunnel shaft at the Al-Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza.
Javier Milei wins Argentina's presidency, the far right candidate ran on inflammatory claims that he will break the status quo.
And for us first lady Rosalynn Carter has died at the age of 96. We'll take a look at her remarkable legacy.
Israeli military is releasing new video from near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as international pressure mounts for Israel to show more evidence of its claims that the hospital was the site of an underground command center for Hamas.
The video which runs just over three minutes was filmed by the Israel Defense Forces on Friday, and shows the inside of a tunnel shaft on the hospitals grounds. Israel has long said that Hamas uses Al-Shifa to cover up what it says is an extensive terror infrastructure underground, something Hamas and hospital officials deny.
The IDF is also accusing Hamas of killing army Corporal Noa Marciano at the hospital refuting the claim by Hamas that she died as a result of an Israeli airstrike. The body of the 19-year-old was recovered last week in Gaza City.
CNN's Oren Liebermann entered Gaza with the Israeli Defense Forces to see the tunnel shaft near Al-Shifa and what lies beneath. And to be transparent, CNN reported from Gaza under IDF escorts at all times. As a condition for journalists to join this embed, media outlets had to submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for review. CNN retained editorial control over the final report. Here's Oren.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We go in under cover of darkness, and as we crossed the border fence, it's lights out across the Gaza Strip. Escorted by a tank we switch into an armored personnel carrier for the final stretch.
Even through a night vision screen, you can see the magnitude of the destruction on the streets of Gaza City. We offload at the Al-Shifa Hospital, pick our way along given synastry or what's left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch your feet, let's go.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): We'd have to keep our lights off most of the time or risk exposing our position. CNN reported from Gaza under Israel Defense Forces escort at all times as a condition for journalists to join this embed with the IDF, media outlets must submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military censors for review.
Now with the hospital compound, we wait inside a structure to make sure the area is secure before moving the short distance to the exposed tunnel shaft.
LIEBERMANN: And here's the entrance you can see what looks like a ladder accessing to it. And as I step over here, it's very difficult to see how far down it goes. But it looks like there's almost a central shaft for a staircase and then the shaft of it disappears then down into the darkness.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): We move around the opening for a better look at the shaft itself. What's clear from here, is this meant to go deep underground.
LIEBERMANN: Which direction does the funnel go?
MAJOR NIR DINAR, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: We assume that the tunnel goes out and it has another corridor to this way.
LIEBERMANN: Towards the hospital.
DINAR: Towards the hospital. Meaning it connects the hospital to outside, which implies with the way the Hamas is working. Hamas is going out somewhere shooting down the forces going back inside to a safe place.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): We weren't allowed to enter the shaft but the Israeli military send special gear down to see where this leads. Inside, the video shows a spiral staircase and as the camera orient itself, it moves forward into a tunnel.
The tunnel makes a sharp left turn and at the end of another path with concrete walls and an arched concrete atop, a metal door they say they have not yet opened because they fear it's booby trapped.
IDF spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari says some of the Israeli hostages taken October 7, were also brought to the hospital. He says the body of Noa Marciano was discovered 50 meters from the compound. REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: We have evidence that they were holding hostages in Rantisi but also we have evidence that they were bringing them to Shifa Hospital, we're still looking for the places they might have held them.
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LIEBERMANN (voice-over): This is not proof of the Hamas command center headquarters underneath the hospital. But Israel continues trying to build its case that Hamas uses the sanctuary of the hospital for cover, which Hamas and hospital officials have denied.
The IDF ability to continue its operation in Gaza and the credibility of Israel are at stake here, as the number killed in the fighting surpasses 12,000. According to the Hamas run Ministry of Health, the IDF says one of its missions is to destroy Hamas. But with international criticism mounting, Israel has to show the terror organization is using Gaza civilians and infrastructure as cover to justify an ongoing war. Oren Liebermann CNN in Gaza.
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HARRAK: The IDF has also released videos and stills that it claims show Hamas bringing hostages into Al-Shifa Hospital on the day of the attack on October 7. CNN cannot confirm the identities of the individuals in the video or their affiliations, including those the IDF says our hostages.
CNN also cannot independently verify the content of the videos or the series of events the IDF said to place. But according to the IDF, this CCTV video shows a hostage being brought in through the hospital's main entrance that day. And you can see a man is being frogmarched through the building.
And this other video purportedly shows a second hostage. That person has a bandaged hand and is being pushed on a gurney down a hospital hallway and into a room.
Well, Hamas-run Gaza health ministry is questioning the authenticity of the videos and stills but says if true, they showed that hospitals were providing medical care to anyone who needed it.
Sources tell CNN that a deal to secure the release of some of the hostages Hamas is holding could be days away. They say a recent draft of a possible deal proposes a four to five-day pause in fighting in exchange for the release of some 50 hostages. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the details.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Negotiators from various countries who are working on the release of hostages held by Hamas express rare optimism over the weekend but the direction of those talks. Sources tell CNN that a draft of a possible deal includes a four to five-day pause in fighting for the initial release of 50 hostages and potentially more pauses thereafter. But the source is stressed that no deal has been struck yet. And that
text has been going back and forth for weeks underscoring how delicate and intensive these talks have been.
Now deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said on CNN Sunday that disagreements have been narrowed down and that they are the closest that they have been since these negotiations started weeks ago. But he went on to say that nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon, again going to show how difficult this has been for everyone involved.
Now, just as an example of how tenuous these talks can be, Hamas sources say, stepped away or went dark from the negotiations at least once when Israel raided Al-Shifa Hospital. Another key issue that sources pointed to was how to implement the deal including aid shipments.
Now, U.S. officials have stressed that this is something they are working on minute by minute hour by hour over the course of multiple days and the President when asked about it on Sunday so that he couldn't share anything as of yet but what is clear is that all of this is going on behind the scenes intensively as they try to reach some resolution on the hostages who are still held by Hamas. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.
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HARRAK: Every November 20th, the United Nations celebrates Children's Day. And this year's theme is for every child every right but right now in Gaza. UNICEF says there are more than 700,000 children who are displaced and the aid agencies chief is warning that there are grave violations against children occurring in the enclave and doctors treating 31 neonatal babies evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital say they're all fighting serious infections, and 11 are in critical condition.
And the human rights chief says the pain, dread, and fear etched on the faces of children, women and men is too much to bear. This must stop.
UNICEF chief of communications Toby Fricker joins me now from Amman, Jordan. Toby, thank you for your time. You know we're talking to you right now on World Children's Day and this is when the world is witnessing in real time basically the immense collective suffering of children in Gaza.
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There's also the unknown fate of children that have been abducted and are kept in Gaza. Just give us a sense of how this war is shaping children in Gaza.
TOBY FRICKER, CHIEF OF COMMUNICATIONS, UNICEF: Yes, thank you. I mean, it is a tragic World Children's Day, let's say. You have children inside the Gaza Strip going through these horrors day in day out. We have children who were abducted from Israel still not released. So it's very sad.
We did a film with our partners inside the Gaza Strip, you know, just asking children about what were their dreams, you know, before this happened and talking about wanting to get a skateboard, wanting to get a bicycle the usual things that any child in inside Gaza, any child in Israel, any child anywhere would want. But it's really been, you know, horrific to see what's been happening.
And unfortunately, the situation has been getting worse rather than better. You know, we've had a horrific 48 hours, let's say where schools have been hit where people were sheltering. We've seen, you know, the conditions where people are sheltering getting worse and worse in terms of the winters here, heavy rains today as well this morning.
But one of the positives, if you can put it that way is the 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa were moved to the southern part of the Gaza Strip to another hospital that has slightly better conditions, and are being stabilized now. We hope those 31 babies can survive and be cared for as they should be.
HARRAK: Yes, we desperately hope that they will be. Well, in the words of your colleague at UNICEF, Gaza has become a graveyard for children. You know, we've all seen the countless children, you know, walking around dazed with burns and injuries alone, often looking for their family.
Can you tell us what happens to them to those separated from their loved ones? Or who are now the sole survivor of their family?
FRICKER: Yes, I mean, it's a critical question. Because what we see is the hostilities have been so in tents that are normal work in in terms of unaccompanied and separated children, where we work with multiple partners to help to first of all, identify who's the child, you know, when they're -- how can we then trace the parents or the caregivers or extended family and then reunify them has been extremely difficult.
What we've been trying to do is we set up like sort of little hubs in hospitals or hubs in the shelters where people are, but because it's been so chaotic, overcrowded, so many injuries to the hospitals have not been safe. That work is extremely difficult.
So we're trying to do that now working with multiple partners on the ground with the 31 premature babies for made sure that we can identify where their parents are, if they're still alive, are there extended family members around as well.
So, doing that work is absolutely vital, particularly as you said, you've see so many children who have been who are dazed alone, you don't know. We've had footage where a man's carrying a baby say, I don't know whose baby this is and taking it to hospital.
So this work is absolutely critical. We're trying to scale that up, because that's an area of work that UNICEF does across conflict zones. And we're urgently trying to trying to scale out to make sure that we can at least identify and then reunify children as quickly as possible.
HARRAK: And of course, there's also that that horrifying situation of, you know, children who have been abducted and I presume we don't know where they are. What is being done to secure their safe return?
FRICKER: Well, I mean, UNICEF, we've called for the immediate and importantly, the unconditional release of the hostages, particularly children who need to be returned to their families they need to be at home like any other child cared for nurtured for.
There's a lot of work going on partners and others trying to do that. And we really hope that, you know, it's well children's day to day. We really hope that that can happen as soon as possible. These children need to be back at home with their families.
HARRAK: Absolutely, Toby Fricker in Amman Jordan, thank you so much.
FRICKER: Thank you.
HARRAK: And up next humanitarian activist and former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter dies at the age of 96. How her impact is still being felt long after her time in Washington.
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HARRAK: Public memorial services will be held in the U.S. state of Georgia early next week for former first lady Rosalyn Carter, who died on Sunday at the age of 96. A private funeral will take place next Wednesday. Mrs. Carter passed away surrounded by family in her hometown of Plains, Georgia, the small southern city that became a household name after her husband Jimmy Carter was elected 39th President of the United States back in 1977.
While the Carter is only served one term in the White House, it would provide memories to last a lifetime.
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ROSALYNN CARTER, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: I loved it. I liked it all intimidated to any and all of the time that he was present with all of the criticisms. He thought he was doing the right thing and the best thing for our country, and we enjoyed it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Mrs. Carter was known for humanitarian contributions and was a strong advocate for access to mental health care. She had just entered hospice on Friday. According to the Carter Center, the organization founded by the couple to quote wage peace, fight disease and build hope and CNN's Wolf Blitzer has more now on Rosalynn Carter's life and legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A soft spoken small town girl, Rosalynn Smith Carter became one of America's most charming first ladies. Born in Plains, Georgia on August 18, 1927, she was valedictorian of her high school class, and met and marry Jimmy Carter when he was in the U.S. Navy.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: My love and respect and cherish and honor, my wife Rosalynn.
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BLITZER (voice-over): When Mr. Carter's father died in 1953, they moved back to plains to manage the family's Peanut Farm.
CARTER: I didn't want to go home. I was having a good time. I think I had thought I had outgrown Plains, Georgia was -- had gotten a little too big for my britches. I'm only part of it for about a year after we got home.
BLITZER (voice-over): They had four children, three boys, Jack, Chip and Jeff, and later daughter Amy. In 1962, Jimmy Carter entered politics and Rosalynn hit the campaign trail.
CARTER: Campaigning was fun, up to a certain point because I got to travel and see the whole country the most fun of the people you meet.
BLITZER (voice-over): She supported her husband's successful bids to become governor of Georgia and later President of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So help me God. Congratulations.
BLITZER (voice-over): Mrs. Carter was actively involved in her husband's presidency, attending Camp David meetings and cabinet briefings. She was a strong advocate for equal treatment of the mentally ill.
CARTER: If they had coverage for their mental illness, then the overall health care costs would come down.
BLITZER (voice-over): When the Carters left the White House in 1981, they spearheaded a new challenge Habitat for Humanity, building houses for the poor.
CARTER: The whole community has come together to get rid of poverty.
BLITZER (voice-over): A year later, they established the Carter Center, a foundation devoted to promoting human rights, resolving conflicts and eradicating diseases. Mrs. Carter continued to focus on reducing the stigma of mental illness.
CARTER: I'm really, really proud of you. I've been very impressed with you.
BLITZER (voice-over): Another focus, caregiving and issue close to her heart as she told a congressional committee. CARTER: It's been part of my life since I was 12 years old. And my father was diagnosed with leukemia at age 44. We lived in a very small town and all the neighbors rallied around. But I still vividly remember going to my secret hiding place, the outdoor probe if you can believe that to cry, betrayal could be alone.
BLITZER (voice-over): In 1999, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest honor for civilians.
CARTER: Rosa and I have visited now more than 150 nations in the world.
BLITZER (voice-over): Mrs. Carter was often irritated that her husband was praised more for his achievements after his presidency than those of his administration. But she accepted that was politics.
R. CARTER: Doesn't matter what you do, you're going to be criticized for and so do what you want to do.
BLITZER (voice-over): And they were remarkably close first couple. Jimmy Carter used to say Rosalynn was much more than his wife.
J. CARTER: It's always Rosalynn, to whom I turn for the primary advice and we make the decisions together. She's the matriarch when our 11 grandchildren, our four children have a problem they call Rosalynn first because they know that they'll get a sympathetic ear.
BLITZER (voice-over): She remained by his side, occasionally joining with other first families, and later supporting each other in their twilight. She with dementia, and Mr. Carter in hospice, and in the 39th, President, Rosalynn Carter got more than just a husband.
CARTER: My life with Jimmy Carter has been more adventurous than I ever dreamed it would be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Joining me now is Kate Andersen Brower, author of "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies." Thank you so much, Kate, for joining us a somber moment, but what a full life. She was an influential figure in President Carter's career. But she also paved her own way. What do you think her legacy as First Lady is?
KATE ANDERSEN BROWER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, she was a transformative First Lady, because she was the first lady who really took the job incredibly seriously, in terms of, you know, professionalizing the role of first lady. She would go to her East Wing office every day. And, in fact, she had a secret way of getting there, through the basement of the White House to avoid crowds.
And she worked diligently in the office, she expanded the number of aides the first lady could have. And she made sure the Chief of Staff to the first lady would get paid the same as the president's chief of staff because she was trying to make the point that the responsibility is a very serious one.
But I think her greatest legacy will be her mental health work because she was talking about mental health in the 1970s at a time when very few people were talking about it. And now you see, it's a major, major issue around the globe. So, the fact that she was open and honest about that issue is really her greatest legacy.
HARRAK: And very groundbreaking indeed for that time. What are the obstacles she faced?
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BROWER: Oh, I mean, so many. And it's funny. I interviewed her a few times for a couple of my books. When really fairly recently in 2018, I interviewed Mrs. Carter and President Carter in their home in Plains and talk to her about the role of first lady but also what she thought of President Trump. And it does say a lot about her this little anecdote is that Jimmy Carter said, you know, Trump isn't that bad, Ronald Reagan lied to and Rosalynn Carter kind of playfully touched his elbow and said, Jimmy, this is very different. You know, what President Trump is doing is nothing like what Ronald Reagan did.
So she could talk really bluntly and openly and honestly. And when she was first lady, she would sit in on cabinet meetings, and she was often criticized for that. And she told me that, you know, no matter what you do, as first lady, you're going to be criticized, so you might as well do what you want. And I think that that's a really powerful message that other First Ladies have followed.
HARRAK: Very powerful indeed. You know, obviously, we cannot speak about the First Lady without, you know, discussing the presidential couple. What made the Carter union according to you stand out when it comes to public service, for instance?
BROWER: Well, I mean, they actually were each other's best friends. And they give each other space. You know, there's a funny story they like to tell about, they wrote one book together. And that one book was the closest they ever came to getting a divorce. It got so bad that she would write her sections under Rosalynn, and his would be under Jimmy because they had such different styles of writing and getting the job done.
And yet they admitted this, and they talked about the difficulties in their marriage. And I think it made them stronger. They were together longer than most people live, you know, it's a long, long marriage, ups and downs. There were times when she felt she wasn't getting the respect and attention she deserved.
And I think that in the end, he realized what an asset she was, and she would campaign tirelessly for him. And she was more political than he was. She was a very strategic thinker. And she would give him advice that sometimes went contrary to his own, you know, moral compass, for instance, he wanted to cut funding ahead of the New York primaries.
And she said, you can't do that because it'll impact your polling numbers and your votes. There were times when she kind of was sort of the rail politic of the marriage. She was the one that was very grounded in politics, and they work together beautifully.
HARRAK: Yes, as you described there, I mean, they really complemented each other. Before I let you go. Do we know what the funeral arrangements are?
BROWER: Well, we know that next week. She will be lying in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, and that will be after Thanksgiving. And then a couple of days later on the Wednesday, not this Wednesday, but the following Wednesday because of the holiday, she will be buried in Plains, Georgia. And there will be a service at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains where Jimmy Carter would do his Sunday schools, which is a very special church to them family.
HARRAK: Kate Andersen Brower, thank you so much for sharing some of your interactions with her. Thank you so much.
BROWER: Thank you so much.
HARRAK: And still had on CNN Newsroom, a former TV pundit who will be Argentina's next president. After the break, we'll get the latest and look at some of the promises that political outsider has made.
Plus, an entire town in Iceland under evacuation and staying on high alert for a possible volcanic eruption. We'll hear from some of those forced to flee their homes.
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HARRAK: Welcome back. I'm Laila Harrak. And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Right-wing former TV pundit Javier Milei has won Argentina's hotly- contested presidential runoff election. Officials say Milei won at least 55 percent of votes cast. That's compared to about 44 percent for center left finance minister Sergio Massa.
Journalist Stefano Pozzebon reports.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Javier Milei is the new president-elect of Argentina, the far-right politician and self-described, anarcho- libertarian, won the runoff on Sunday night against the current finance minister Sergio Massa by a comfortable margin of over 11 percentage points.
Massa himself conceded his defeat and congratulated Milei on his victory just hours after the polls were closed.
And in his first speech as president-elect, Milei struck a confident tone over the future of his country. JAVIER MILEI, ARGENTINA'S PRESIDENT-ELECT: I want to tell Argentina
that today begins the end of the decadence of our country. Today we began to turn the page of our history and return to the path we never should've left. Today we go back to the path that made this country great.
POZZEBON: He inherits however a very complicated situation. Argentina is suffering from the worst economic crisis of the last 20 years. The inflation is over 140 percent this month. And the country is once again struggling to pay back international debtors.
Milei has proposed to dollarize the economy and shut down the central bank, together with a group of ministries, as his strategy to bring in the country's finance back in order. And he will take office on December 10th.
The transition has already begun.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon -- Bogota.
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HARRAK: A fishing town in Iceland is staying on high alert, with the possibility of a major volcanic eruption at any time. The town, with about 3,400 residents, has being evacuated and people have only had brief opportunities to return to their homes and gather their belongings.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nature's brute force punching through the ground, cracking roads and houses here in Grindavik, southern Iceland ahead of what could be a massive volcanic eruption threatening the entire town.
Residents are on the run, like Paul Petersson, who evacuated his wife and three small children.
You had to leave quickly?
PAUL PETERSSON, GRINDAVIK RESIDENT: Yes, Friday night.
PLEITGEN: What was that like?
PETERSSON: I don't know. It was horrible?
PLEITGEN: Iceland is in what is called a hot spot, where magma often breaks through the earth's crust which can result in massive eruptions.
And what happens here can affect large parts of the globe. In 2010, ash spewed into the atmosphere by a volcano here brought transatlantic air travel to a virtual standstill for weeks.
Iceland's government says this time around, the effects could also be devastating, with both Grindavik and a geothermal power plant nearby, which provides energy to Iceland's main international airport, in the possible of lava.
The authorities here are highly concerned about the town of Grindavik. It, of course, has been evacuated a few days ago. But also about the geothermal power plant here in this area. And they are working 24/7 to try and dig a trench to redirect the lava if it comes to the surface.
Government experts here acknowledge they're not certain the trench would prevent lava from damaging the powerplant. The main problem isn't even the size of the possible eruption, but the fact that it is so close to urban areas geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson of the University of Iceland tells me.
MAGNUS TUMI, GUDMUNDSSON, GEOPHYSICIST, UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND: It's so close to the town of Grindavik and the power plant and that is the main concern, that it could damage one or both of these facilities.
PLEITGEN: Because the eruption could happen anytime, Grindavik's residents can only return for a few minutes on some days to retrieve personal items from their home.
Are you hopeful about the situation that maybe the town will be spared if a big eruption happened?
ELIZABETH OLAFSDOTTIR, GRINDAVIK RESIDENT: Regarding our house, no, not really. Because the lava tunnel is laying very close to our house. So we are expecting to lose everything if it will erupt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: And thanks to Fred Pleitgen for that report.
Grindavik is only about 50 kilometers from Iceland's capital, Reykjavik. But authorities don't believe the capital would be affected by an eruption and no evacuations have been ordered there.
The Israeli military says Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have hijacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea and they're threatening to target more.
CNN's Ben Wedeman has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Houthi rebels seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea Sunday afternoon, just hours after the Iranian-backed group's military wing had warned that in retaliation for Israel's war on Gaza, they would target any ship flying the Israeli flag or owned or operated by an Israeli company.
The ship we are talking about, the Galaxy Leader, flying under the flag of the Bahamas was bound for India from Turkey. Israeli officials insist the Galaxy Leader is not Israeli-owned, and
that there were no Israelis among the crew. In a statement, the Israeli military described the seizure as a very grave incident of global consequence.
A spokesman for the Houthis later confirmed that their forces had seized the ship, which he described as Israeli. He said the crew were being treated in accordance to Islamic values and warned that any Israeli ship would be a legitimate target for Houthi forces.
The Houthis, along with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria, and various militias in Iraq, are part of what is known as the "Axis of Resistance" led by Iran.
Since the war began between Israel and Hamas, the Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles towards Israel, all of which were intercepted.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Still to come, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his late wife, Rosalynn, weathered more than three-quarters of a century together. How they worked together in love and life, just ahead.
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HARRAK: The current and former U.S. first ladies are sharing their thoughts on Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96. First lady Jill Biden shared the news of Carter's passing with military members and their families in Virginia on Sunday. She asked them to remember the Carter family during the holiday season.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I have to lead this off with a sad announcement. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has just passed. And she was well known for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and women's rights. So I hope that during the holidays, you will consider saying -- you include the Carter family in your prayers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Former first lady Michelle Obama released a statement saying, in part, "Guided by her abiding faith and her commitment to service, Mrs. Carter used her platform in profoundly meaningful ways. Barack and I join the world in celebrating the remarkable legacy of a first lady, philanthropist, and advocate who dedicated her life to lifting up others. Her life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch."
And Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter recently celebrated 77 years of marriage.
CNN's Randi Kaye has more on their love and life together.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I knew that she was -- she was quiet. She was extremely intelligent. She was very timid, by the way, beautiful and there was just something about her that was --
OPRAH WINFREY, TELEVISION HOST: You're blushing.
J. CARTER: -- irresistible. I can't help it.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jimmy Carter telling Oprah why he fell in love with his wife, Rosalynn.
[01:44:46]
KAYE: The Carters grew up together in Plains, Georgia, before tying the knot in 1946. Theirs is the longest marriage in the history of U.S. presidents. They celebrated 77 years together this year. As he tells it, he took Rosalynn to a movie on their first date and was smitten.
J. CARTER: The next morning, my mother asked me what did I do when I knew I had a family reunion. I said, well, I had a date. She said, who'd you go with? I said, Rosalynn Smith. She said, what did you think of Rosalynn? I said, she's the one I'm going to marry.
KAYE: They married after he graduated the U.S. Naval Academy. He was 21. She was 18.
Their decades-long marriage has had its challenges, but shared interests seem to be the glue.
Over the years, they skied, fly-fished, and bird-watched, and read the Bible together every night. Both volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
ROSALYNN CARTER, FORMER UNITED STATES FIRST LADY: I'm going to talk a little bit about Jim, and he's not going to like it.
There has never been any kind of damage at all to Jimmy Carter's heart.
I knew he had a good heart.
KAYE: On the campaign trail, Jimmy Carter called his wife his secret weapon. Rosalynn visited more than 40 states during the 1976 presidential campaign. After her husband became president in 1977 --
J. CARTER: I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear --
KAYE: The Carters teamed up in the White House. When he lost his bid for re-election, they moved back to their same home in Plains, Georgia.
In this interview, Barbara Walters wanted all the details. BARBARA WALTERS, TELEVISION HOST: I don't know how to ask this, so I'll just ask it.
J. CARTER: Go ahead.
WALTERS: But do you sleep in the double bed or twin bed?
J. CARTER: Double bed.
R. CARTER: Double bed.
J. CARTER: Always have. Sometimes we sleep in the single bed, so it makes more comfortable in a double bed.
KAYE: Rosalynn has been by his side through it all. Skin cancer that spread to his brain in 2015, a mass on his liver, a broken hip.
Jimmy Carter has credited his loving marriage for the reason he's otherwise been in good health.
The Carters had certainly slowed down with age, but have still been enjoying a full life, with four children, 12 grandchildren, and 14 great grandchildren.
According to "The Washington Post", the couple had a Saturday night routine of walking a half mile to a friend's home for dinner and a single glass of chardonnay. They also managed to figure out what else it takes to keep their love alive.
J. CARTER: First of all, we give each other plenty of space to do our own thing.
KAYE: And their love only seems to have grown stronger. Jimmy Carter has said marrying Rosalynn was the pinnacle of his life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you look back, what are you most proud of?
J. CARTER: In my entire life experience, I would say it was marrying my wife Rosalynn. She's been a very profound beneficial factor in my entire existence and still is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:47:36]
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HARRAK: The tax fraud trial for popstar Shakira begins in just a few hours here in Barcelona, Spain. The Colombian-born Grammy-winning singer is accused of not paying more than $15 million in Spanish income taxes between 2012 in 2014.
Shakira denies the allegations, insisting she did not live in Spain during that period. If convicted, she could face up to eight years in prison and a fine of more than $25 million. And heartbreak for India in the Men's Cricket World Cup. Australia
defeated the host nation by 6 wickets in Sunday's final, winning a record-extending 6th World Cup.
CNN's Don Riddell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Nobody plays 50 over cricket better than the Australian team, and they have proved yet again that they are just the best in the business, thrashing India in the World Cup final on Sunday to win it for a sixth time.
It was heartbreaking for India though and for their 100,000 plus fans who packed into the stadium in Ahmedabad to support them.
India had very high hopes in the tournament that they were hosting, they were unbeaten on route the final, and of course, therefore within reach of their first world title since 2011.
But the Australian bowlers got stuck (ph) in, dismissing their host for just 240 runs. The Aussie batman then ran into some difficult themself. India's bowlers taking advantage of a slow pitch to claim 3 quick wickets for just 47 runs.
But after that, Australia settled down, thanks in large part to Travis Head, who blitzed a sensational sentry (ph) as the Aussies cruised to a 6th wicket victory and with 7 overs to spare.
It's been a brilliant year for Australia. They retained the Ashes (ph) against England, and they also beat India to win the World Test Championship. Their sixth World Cup titles are four better than anyone else.
MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE, AUSTRALIAN CRICKETER: What we've achieved today is unbelievable. It's the best achievement I've ever been part of. Just to come to India, India, you know, 10 from 10, with one to play, they've been the team of the tournament. They're quite unbelievable. But you knew if we played our best cricket, we can.
PAT CUMMINS, AUSTRALIA CRICKET TEAM CAPTAIN: This here (INAUDIBLE) we'll remember for a long, long time. Yes, it's been awesome. It's been pretty much spent the whole Aussie winter away overseas playing, but we've had a lot of success. And this beats it all. This is top of the -- top of the mountain.
RIDDELL: It was just devastating for the host team India, who were unbeaten on the way into the final. They had such high hopes for winning again. But these Aussie players are just second to none this year.
They've had an absolutely brilliant run, retaining the Ashes against England, also beating India in the World Test Championship. And they just thrashed them here, winning this match by six wickets, with 7 overs to spare. It's the sixth time they've won the Cricket World Cup. And that is 4 times better than anyone else in the history of this game.
What an incredible team they are. Heartbreaking though for India, and all of their millions of fans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:54:53]
HARRAK: And millions of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving are facing thunderstorms, snow, and even tornadoes. And that means possible delays at all major connecting flight hubs in the U.S.
CNN's Allison Chinchar has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's all thanks to this low pressure system sitting right across the central U.S. Out to the west, we've got a rain, snow mix. But further east, you're looking at the main concern to be rain which could be heavy at times and some gusty winds in the Midwest.
And then down to the south, the main concern is actually going to be the potential for severe thunderstorms. The main threat there will be damaging winds, hail, and even some isolated tornadoes, especially for places like Shreveport, up to Memphis, and all the way back down to New Orleans.
The timeline there is really going to be the afternoon and continuing into Monday evening, as that low pressure system continues to progress eastward.
By Tuesday, now the big concern is going to be a lot of the folks traveling in the air. A lot of those connecting hubs like Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, up to Washington, D.C. and New York could all end up seeing some delays as we go through the day Tuesday, and even continuing into Tuesday night.
And by Wednesday morning, we start to see more of the impacts across areas of the northeast. So for Monday specifically, we're looking at more of the delays early in the morning. Still out west, places like Denver where you've got the rain-snow mix, Las Vegas for high winds.
By the time we get later into the day Monday, now you're talking more the Midwest and the southeast. And then by Tuesday, you start to see a lot of those delays potentially spreading into areas of the northeast, such as New York and Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Two turkeys from Minnesota heading to the White House for the annual presidential pardon ceremony. Liberty and Bell made their debut at the historic Willard Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday, where they will be spending the night. They waddled through the crystal ball room beneath grand chandeliers to get ready for the crowds and loud noises.
Both turkeys listen to music, including hits from Taylor Swift and Prince.
Thank you very much for watching.
I'm Laila Harrak.
Rosemary Church picks up our coverage after the break.
Take care.
[01:57:06]
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