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Israel, Hamas Both Announce Last-Minute Truce Extension; Israel Incursions Wreak Havoc In West Bank; Famed, Revered And Reviled U.S. Diplomat Dies At 100; Israel-Hamas War; Ukrainian Soldier Defies Odds on Battlefield; Suspect in Shooting of 3 Palestinian Students Pleads Not Guilty. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 30, 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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[01:00:31]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to viewers all around the world also here in the United States. Coming up this hour on CNN, where the truce extended for another day in Gaza, allowing in more humanitarian supplies as well as the release of more Israeli hostages by Hamas.
Dead or alive, the fate of an Israeli mother and her two young boys in Gaza remains unclear. Hamas says they were killed by an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military is investigating.
And famous or infamous, a look back at the life of Henry Kissinger, the architect of U.S. foreign policy under President Nixon and Ford.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Hello, breaking news this hour, Israel and Hamas have both announced a temporary truce will continue for at least another day. The news came just minutes before the pause in fighting was set to expire just over an hour ago.
Israel says it has agreed to extend the deal in light of efforts by mediators to continue the process of negotiating for the release of hostages. We have now learned that Israel has received a list of 10 people, 10 names to be released in the day ahead by Hamas.
Officials with Hamas who said Israel initially refused an offer for an ongoing pause in fighting in return for seven Israeli hostages, as well as the bodies of three others who they say were killed by Israeli airstrikes. Earlier I spoke with Mark Regev, senior adviser to the Israeli prime minister. I asked him about the terms of the current extension.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel has expressed a willingness to continue the pause on the assumption that hostages are released. So our position is clear. The question is, will Hamas continue to release hostages 10 for every day have a continued pause. The Israeli condemned -- position is crystal clear on this. If Hamas continues to release hostages, 10 a day, we will extend the whole -- the pause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Regev also was out about 10 alive hostages he said. On Wednesday, 10 alive Israeli hostages along with dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship were released or four Thai nationals and two Russian- Israeli women were also released under two separate agreements with Hamas.
Another 30 Palestinian women and children have been released from Israeli prisons as part of that agreement with the militant group in Gaza. Many of those prisoners had been held under administrative detention and had never been officially charged.
Live now to Tel Aviv, Shlomi Eldar, a journalist, filmmaker and former fellow with the Woodrow -- with Wilson Center's Middle East program. Shlomi thanks for being with us this hour. We appreciate it.
SHLOMI ELDAR, ISRAELI JOURNALIST AND FILMMAKER: Thank you.
VAUSE: I guess the question is how much longer can these 24-hour pauses continue, 10 hostages for 24 hours, they are limited. What? We're looking at just another few days here before they get into what, men and then Israeli soldiers. And are they actually going to be up for negotiation at any point?
ELDAR: Yes, sir. Hamas leadership Sinwar leadership, Sinwar is very clear. He needs more time for ceasefire. And we're asking ourselves why we are there. There's no truce of releasing all the hostages, or at least the citizens. It is clear he needs the ceasefire. He needs a ceasefire because Sinwar believes that after days and days, it can get the permanent ceasefire.
It's very important for him to declare winning of this is war. And this is the problem. The dilemma of the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu getting the ceasefire, declare a permanent ceasefire. It means this is will be the end of his political career because the Israelis, especially his base, the right wing base, encouraged him to fulfill his promise to eliminate Hamas regime in Gaza Strip.
VAUSE: We're looking at I think, what, 90 maybe more hostages who have been released. I mean, the numbers is creeping up there as part of this one deal amongst, you know, the Israelis and Hamas. Others have also been released in separate agreements. It does then get to a point that Netanyahu has to decide when the deals just cannot be made any further and that military operation will resume. What will that point be? Yeah. And how will the Israeli public accept that?
[01:05:14]
ELDAR: They won't accept it, because Netanyahu's promised and his government promised to eliminate the Hamas regime in Gaza Strip. And they won't accept it. But another way, I can see Netanyahu restart the war. Because even if Hamas release the hostages, the citizens hostages, we have a problem. They are holding about 80 soldiers. And I don't see Sinwar releasing the soldiers so easily.
Soldiers will be kept by Hamas for the end of the war as my opinion. I'm following Hamas for over 30 years. I researched now we -- Yahya Sinwar. And I think that we can understand his game. He's playing with the Israelis. And these requests will be releasing all the prisoners, the Palestinian prisoners from the Israeli prisons, and declare a permanent ceasefire.
I can see Netanyahu accept this offers. I don't see the Israeli public opinion, except this for the time. And especially as I mentioned before, this will be the end of Netanyahu's career.
VAUSE: Well, I guess the question is, you know, is Netanyahu willing to sacrifice the lives of 80 soldiers to continue on with this military operation? And that's what it gets down to. And only he is the man who knows what decision he will make, I guess at some point. CNN though is also reporting that privately once his fighting resumes, if it does, and the assumption is that it will, Biden administration officials, including President Joe Biden himself, are telling the Israeli counterparts, they do not want to see the IDF resumed the kind of airstrikes from earlier in the war that led to massive casualties and widespread destruction.
One senior official telling CNN there is an understanding that a different type of campaign has to be conducted in the self, than was conducted in the north. So the question here is --
ELDAR: Yes.
VAUSE: -- can there be a different type of operation conducted in the south where there are currently about 2 million people, 1.7 million people crowded into a very small part of the Gaza Strip? And are the Israelis going to listen to that? Is there an understanding? What do you know about this?
ELDAR: I don't see Netanyahu or the IDF now, after seven weeks of war, moving the Palestinians in the south to the north, back to the north, we are talking about 1.2 million Palestinian refugees staying at the south. I really don't see it. I don't know how we can restart now the war again. But here it is. This is the dilemma. I think that Netanyahu and the war cabinet in Israel, considering their next step.
And the next step is how to release the hostages and restart the war. And the war is very complicated because we have to fight in the south, southeast refugee camp in Khan Younis and Rafah. It's not simple. It's only the beginning of the war to start in the south. So I really don't know how Netanyahu and his war cabinet believe that they can restart the war.
VAUSE: And I guess this is one of the things which we will find out in the coming days. As you say it is complicated. It is difficult. And Hamas knew exactly what they were doing when they took 240 hostages on October 7th. Shlomi Eldar, so thank you very much. Appreciate your time and your insights.
ELDAR: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: Thank you, sir.
Israeli-American dual citizen Liat Beinin was among the hostages released Wednesday. Here was President Joe Biden says he's quote, deeply gratified. She will soon be reunited with her family. Details now from CNN's MJ Lee.
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Very welcome news for the White House on Wednesday, Liat Beinin, a dual Israeli-American citizen released from Hamas's captivity in Gaza. She is the second American citizen after a four-year-old Abigail Edan was released on Sunday. President Biden celebrating the news of her release after learning that she had arrived in Egypt.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I talked with her mother and father. They're very appreciative. And things are moving well. She'll soon be home with her three children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: There is one additional American woman that the White House has talked about that they believe is also being held hostage, but no word from the White House tonight on her condition or potentially the prospects of her being released as well. There are also seven other unaccounted for Americans that the White House has spoken of. They have said that they are all men, but of course again, no word on their condition either.
This is one of the biggest reasons that U.S. officials are currently pushing for an extension of the current truce. They say the longer the truce, more time for more hostages to get out. But officials that we are speaking to really emphasizing that this is a one day at a time kind of situation. They're very much focused on getting out all of the women and children hostages first, and then the attention will turn to men and soldiers as well as remains, the bodies of those that were killed in Gaza.
[01:10:23]
But we have reporting that discussions have already begun between U.S. and Israeli officials about what Israel's military operations will look like once the truce is over, with U.S. officials emphasizing that their military operations do need to be more deliberate, more precise and more careful once the truce is over.
MJ Lee, CNN, the White House.
VAUSE: In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians say confrontations with Israeli forces and Jewish settlers have been escalating there and escalating for years. Frequent Israeli military incursions have cost Palestinian lives including two children that was on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. CNN's Ben Wedeman takes us inside one of the flashpoints, the refugee camp in Jenin. And a warning, images in his report are graphic.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israeli forces with bulldozers and jeeps entered the camp under the cover of darkness. This has become a routine. And this is the usual aftermath, wreckage and rubble, asphalt roads plowed down to the dirt. Once the damage is repaired, there's another raid and it's the same thing all over again.
WEDEMAN: For almost two years a low intensity war has been raging in the occupied West Bank. Residents here in Jenin's refugee camp say that there have been more than 30 Israeli military incursions since August of this year.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The camp is home to militants who Israel has accused of involvement in attacks on his rallies. But here are those whom Israel calls terrorists are seen as fighters against a decade's long military occupation. With Liam Cuscus (ph) is not a fighter, he works for the local government.
WEDEMAN: Tells us, the kid's room.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): But last week Israeli soldiers took over his home during yet another raid. As he shows me around the remains of what was a family's life crunching in our shoes. Brutal is how would the sums up the soldiers behavior. Scars of battles past pockmark the camp's walls, debris on almost every corner.
Um Sammy (sp?) shows me spent cartridges on the floor of her house, saying Israeli troops used this room to fire down into the street. They took my husband bound his hands and pushed him outside in the cold, she says. They kept him there from 6:00 in the evening until 5:00 in the morning. Eventually the soldiers let him go, but took away her recently married son, after ransacking his bedroom, searching for weapons.
Eighteen-year-old Mahmoud Abulheji (ph) was shot last Thursday evening. Shot through his bedroom window. His mother, Hidam (ph) holding a blood-stained towel, recounts how Israeli soldiers wouldn't allow medics to take into hospital.
I was sure we were going to the hospital, she says. We went downstairs. A second officer was there and made the medics put the stretcher down. Mahmoud (ph) bled to death in front of his home.
Tuesday night, Israeli forces raided the camp again, sparking gun battles with militants. And in the process, Israeli troops killed at least four people, including this eight-year-old boy. And then they left.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: In response to inquiries from CNN, the Israel Defense Forces told us earlier today during IDF activity in the Jenin camp, a number of suspects hurled explosive devices towards IDF soldiers. The soldiers responded with live fire towards the suspects and hits were identified.
One of the most influential and polarizing foreign policy leaders of our time has died. Henry Kissinger, longtime U.S. Secretary of State, as well as national security adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford was 100 years old. John Laurence recounts Kissinger's breakthrough successes, his controversial policies which brought him both widespread praise, as well as widespread scorn and deep hatred.
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HENRY KISSINGER, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: I have never done with a group of people as treacherous as the North Vietnamese leadership.
JOHN LAURENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Henry Kissinger once said, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac and he would have known. After escaping Nazi Germany in his childhood, Kissinger would become one of the most powerful figures in politics during the Richard Nixon administration.
[01:15:06]
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Kissinger provided a genius or multilevel, playing multilevel diplomatic chess, which allowed the U.S. government in the Nixon administration to implement Nixon's policies, the most famous of which, of course, was the opening to China.
LAURENCE (voice-over): Kissinger was criticized by some for his decision to increase U.S. military action during the Vietnam War.
KISSINGER: I would then recommend that we start bombing the bejeezus out of them within 48 hours.
LAURENCE (voice-over): Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in helping arrange the end of the U.S. military's involvement in the Vietnam War.
NAFTALI: Henry Kissinger was a towering figure in U.S. Foreign Relations, both admired and hated.
LAURENCE (voice-over): Kissinger was 100 years old.
I'm John Laurence reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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VAUSE: In the U.S. federal prosecutors have charged an Indian national what they say was a murder for hire plot to assassinate an American citizen. But the alleged plot is steeped in international political intrigue, extending well beyond American borders. CNN's Brian Todd explains.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the second time in only about six months, we're learning of an alleged assassination attempt by the Indian government on North American soil. According to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday, U.S. prosecutors have charged an Indian national in an alleged murder for hire plot against a Sikh activist in New York City.
The indictment doesn't name the man who was targeted. But U.S. officials familiar with the case tell CNN, he is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an activist who has been pushing for a separate Sikh state in India. According to U.S. prosecutors, the man charged in the latest case, Nikhil Gupta, agreed to pay an undercover officer who he believed to be a hitman $100,000 to target the victim and did so at the direction of an Indian government official.
ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER: You know, Brian, it's very sloppy these things and so risky, especially from a country who's got good diplomatic relations with the United States. This is such slapstick Hollywood, I can't believe it.
TODD (voice-over): The suspect in this alleged plot was actually arrested back in June, around the same time as another alleged Indian assassination plot against a Sikh activist which succeeded, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was gunned down near Vancouver British Columbia, an attack which prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to point the finger at the Indian government.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen.
TODD (voice-over): Why would the government of nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to kill Sikh activists who are thousands of miles away. Analysts say while some Sikhs are pushing for an independent Sikh state in India, they're not considered a major threat to Modi's power. Still --
MICHAEL KUGELMAN, THE WILSON CENTER: To the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Modi always wants to project strength that wants to show that it is willing and able to go after any type of potential threat to the Indian state.
TODD (voice-over): "The Washington Post" reports that President Biden and his security team complained to Modi's government about the alleged plot in the U.S. and urged Modi to hold people accountable. But as for long term consequences for Modi --
KUGELMAN: I would argue that the U.S. is willing to give some free passes to India that it wouldn't necessarily give many if not most other countries, because it views India as a critical partner to help the U.S. counter China.
TODD: The Indian government vehemently denied any involvement in the assassination in Canada. Regarding the alleged assassination plot in the U.S., the Indian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the Indian government takes the information seriously and is investigated. But the statement didn't confirm or deny the existence of a plot or any Indian government involvement in it.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We have this footnote, Pannun faces multiple charges from the Indian government. He is the general counsel for a New York-based group called Sikhs for Justice, which is held referendums calling for a separate Palestine state around the world. The Palestine movement is outlawed in India considered a national security threat by New Delhi. A number of groups associated with the movement have been listed as terrorist organizations under India's Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. It is not listed as a state group a terrorist group in the United States or Canada.
The 28th U.N. climate conference or COP28 because they've had 28 times to get it right, gets underway soon. Controversy has surrounded this year's summit in the United Arab Emirates, mostly because it is being held in the United Arab Emirates, one of the biggest oil producers on the planet. Leaked documents reveal the conference president intended to offer visiting officials oil and gas deals. But that man, Sultan Al Jaber, who's head of the National Oil Corporation of Abu Dhabi, says those allegations are just not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SULTAN AL JABER, COP28 PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE: These allegations are false, not true, incorrect, or not accurate. And it's an attempt to undermine the work of the COP28 presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's David McKenzie is covering the summit. He is live this hour in Dubai. False, not true, not accurate, did they prove they're untrue? Any evidence?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For what they're saying is that these briefing notes weren't used in meetings. And they're saying it's trying to get away from the real point of these cabinet meetings, which as you say, for 28 times have tried to solve the climate crisis.
But the fact that it's been held in the UAE, John, is always going to be shown as an ironic moment to say the least from activists and others, because the whole point of climate change mitigation is to primarily ease off our addiction to fossil fuels. Here's a bit of a cheat sheet. That kind of gives a sense of the main things that they hope to achieve here.
[01:25:02]
Now the world is wildly off track and reducing emissions to get to a point of warming that will be bearable for the planet in the coming years. This means that countries need to pledge to deeply cut their emissions at the very least, to try and avoid the worst impact of the climate crisis and impact on that we've obviously seen this year in stark relief. This is not a future issue. This is a current issue.
So of course to do that, you know, U.N. officials in particular are hoping that they will be concrete pledges to phase out fossil fuel uses. Now, that will be a hard ask potentially when this climate change conference is happening here in a major oil producer, but they are hoping for timelines and concrete pledges, not just vague assertions that we have to transition to renewable energy away from coal and oil. Otherwise, this planet will be reaching a boiling point, as the U.N. Secretary General says.
Finally, it's really about how are we going to pay for all of this, this has often been the sticking point in these climate conferences, John, that if you are going to transition away from fossil fuels, you need money to do that. The developing countries are hoping for concrete pledges again for how the rich world is going to pay for the damage that they will face in mostly the global south in areas where they didn't even contribute largely to the crisis that we face.
These are very delicate, very difficult conversations. And, frankly, the time has already run out. It's to see whether they can in fact, make the damage less than it's certainly going to be at this point. John?
VAUSE: This thing about climate change, those least responsible for the crisis are the ones who will pay the highest price. And that's where this is so unfair. David McKenzie in Dubai, thank you, sir.
Well, we're following breaking news out of the Middle East this hour. When we come back, Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their temporary pause in fighting, but for some hostages sadly, it might just be too late. Live here in Gaza in 26 minutes past eight, no fighting at least not now.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended to a seventh day, in a last-minute deal just moments before this deal was set to expire. Israel says it has now received a list of hostages names of those who will be released by Hamas on Thursday.
This is the second extension of an initial four-day truce which began last Friday. These are live images of Gaza right now, the Israel-Gaza border, 31 minutes past 8:00 on a Thursday morning.
Meantime on Wednesday, 10 Israeli hostages were released taken to different hospitals in Israel. In addition to that two Israeli- Russians and four Thai citizens were released outside the framework of the initial agreement.
Israel believes dozens of hostages, as many as 140 or so are still being held in Gaza. 30 Palestinians, 16 miners and 14 women were released from Israeli jails on Wednesday, including Ahed Tamimi, a high-profile activist, who rose to prominence in 2017 after a video emerged showing her slapping an Israeli soldier.
Very sad (ph) news though for the family of the youngest hostage held in Gaza. Hamas says 10-month-old Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old Ariel brother and their mother have all died in an Israeli airstrike. Israel says it's now assessing that claim.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has details.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The searing image of Shiri Bibas captive and clutching her two small children etched into the collective memory of October 7th.
Now Hamas claiming that Shiri and her two children, ten-month-old Kfir and four-year-old are dead. Hamas claims they were killed in an Israeli airstrike though they haven't provided any evidence.
The Israeli military says it is assessing the accuracy of Hamas's claim.
In a statement the Bibas family said they have learned of Hamas's latest claims, and are waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully refuted by the military.
MAURICE SCHNAIDER, GREAT UNCLE OF KFIR AND ARIEL BIBAS: We don't even know if the family is alive. That is the most painful thing here that you wake up in the morning, I wake up, and that's when my nightmare starts.
DIAMOND: The boys' great uncle speaking with CNN one hour before Hamas released a statement soon after the family learned once again that their relatives were not on the latest list of hostages set for release.
YOSI SCHNAIDER, FAMILY MEMBER: It's like the Schindler's list, you know, waiting to see who is going to survive, who is not.
DIAMOND: Day after day, the Bibas family has waited in agony for that list, all while advocating relentlessly for their release.
OFRI BIBAS LEVY, FAMILY MEMBER: Hamas took them, and Hamas is required to bring them back right now. They are responsible for their health and their freedom is directly in Hamas's hand. DIAMOND: Days earlier, the Israeli military claiming the Bibas family
were no longer in Hamas captivity, held instead by another militant group in Gaza.
Neither Hamas nor the Israeli military providing any update on Yordan, the boys' father, also believed to have been kidnapped on October 7th.
If they are alive, the Bibas family are among the 145 hostages believed to be held in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. 97 have been freed in the last week.
[01:34:43]
DIAMOND: Among them 12 newly-freed Israeli hostages and four Thai nationals welcomed home by this crowd in southern Israel after more than 50 days in captivity. Amid the cheers, 73-year-old Irina Tati (ph) now smiling and waving.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- Ofakim, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Meantime, much needed supplies of fuel and cooking gas have arrived in Gaza. According to Israel the consignments were transferred from Egypt to U.N. aid organization in Gaza via the Rafah Crossing on the border with Egypt.
The deliveries are part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas. Another 200 aid trucks carrying food, water, medical supplies have also entered Gaza after being checked by Israeli officials at the (INAUDIBLE) crossing.
More than 30 percent of those living in Gaza have been displaced due to the war. Over a million people are now in shelters provided by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees also known as UNRWA.
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JULIETTE TOUMA, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, UNRWA: I mean I was there myself from just a few days ago and you could see in one of the shelters that I've visited, people were literally on top of each other. there was not much clean water, there was no cleaning supplies. it was very, very overcrowded. There was not much food around. People were forced to sleep on the floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We will take a short break. when we come back, to Ukraine and survival against all the odds. How an injured Ukrainian soldiers stranded on the battlefield for weeks is alive.
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VAUSE: Still no agreement in the U.S. Congress over crucial financial and military assistance for both Israel and Ukraine. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress should be able to pass an aid package in the coming days. He met with Senate minority leader and fellow Republican Mitch McConnell on Wednesday.
Some Democrats concerned over the civilian death toll in Gaza and widespread destruction and conditions on aid sent to Israel.
As for Ukrainian assistance which is being delayed by Republicans, Democrats say they are willing to consider some new immigration rules as part of the deal.
But Speaker Johnson says House Republicans will only accept a meaningful border security package in exchange for approving Ukraine assistance.
Meantime in Ukraine, a courageous story of survival from the battlefield. One soldier hit by shelling near the besieged city of Bakhmut was left stranded for two weeks. But his unit came together in a remarkable way to send him help where he eventually managed to reach safety.
CNN'S Anna Coren has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the stairwell of a public hospital in central Ukraine, Serhii draws back on a cigarette. The 36-year-old soldier picked up the habit during the war, but after what he endured this past few weeks, it's the only thing that calms him down.
Last month he and his unit were in Klishchiivka on the outskirts of Bakhmut trying to hold trenches. After a few days their dugout was shelled by Russian mortars and Serhii was hit.
SERHII, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): I was wounded in both legs. I immediately touched them to check they were still there.
COREN: But there were far worse injuries amongst other soldiers, broken legs and jaws. When the evacuation team arrived under heavy shelling, Serhii insisted they take the others first. He would wait for the next team.
Another unit arrived but were pinned down because of constant Russian bombardment. So supplies were sent in by drone.
SERHII: Our commander dropped snacks, painkillers, water from drones. Even cigarettes and the lighter if we wanted to smoke.
COREN: As another soldier scrambled out to collect the supply, water had become an issue as almost every bottle burst on impact. But their problems were about to get a lot worst when an enemy drone dropped a grenade into their small dugout landing on the soldier next to him.
SERHII: I was wounded again, but he was in really bad shape. Two people from his brigade took him away. and I realized I was alone. COREN: For the next three days, Serhii hid in his dugout alone
surrounded by the enemy, who he could hear just meters away. Whispering on the radio, he gave his commander their coordinates basically calling in artillery on his very own position.
He says multiple evacuation teams had tried to reach him over the two weeks, but some of the soldiers were killed.
In the end, his commander said the only way out was to pray and crawl, which he finally did. With the radio in one hand and his unit's drone overhead he crawled back to safety, dragging his legs that we're now beginning to rot.
SERHII: Only one way to escape, and I even didn't hope that I survive.
COREN: As Serhii recovers in this hospital in central Ukraine eager to go home, he maintains his story is nothing special and that it is the soldiers now fighting on the battlefield who deserve the world's attention.
SERHII: What I have seen cannot be expressed in words. Every guy in this war has gone through something like this. Our guys are paying a very high price.
COREN: A price Ukrainian soldiers are continuing to pay as this war painfully grinds towards its second year.
Anna Coren, CNN -- central Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Finland has closed the last operating checkpoint on its border with Russia in an effort to stem the flow of migrants. It will remain closed for two weeks, it follows the closure of four other crossings (INAUDIBLE) on Finland's eastern border with Russia.
[01:44:48]
VAUSE: Helsinki says the closures are to protect its national security from what it calls a Russian hybrid (ph) operation. Moscow says the decision is irrational and Finnish citizens will suffer as a result.
In a moment a performance fit for a Pope. A circus performance that is and a moment of joy, as the Pope deals with his ongoing health problems.
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VAUSE: New details this hour on the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont. The mother of one of the students, Hisham Awartani is now in the U.S. and has been reunited with her son in hospital. Elizabeth Price says it was painful seeing her son quote "incapacitated".
We're also finding out how the attack unfolded last Saturday. One of the victims told CNN he saw a man standing on a porch, who came down and quote "came down the stairs, pulled out a pistol and shot at them".
Kinnan Abdalhamid says after he was shot, he managed to knock on a neighbor's door who called 9-1-1. Abdalhamid was released from hospital earlier this week while his two friends Awartani and Tahseen Ali Ahmed remain hospitalized with their more severe injuries.
[01:49:53]
VAUSE: Abdalhamid says he's convinced the attack was motivated by hate.
The suspect in the attack, 48-year-old Jason J. Eaton has been arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
CNN's Polo Sandoval has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New details about the man who Burlington Police say stepped off the port of his apartment building Saturday night and shot three Palestinian students walking by.
Jason James Eaton pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second degree murder, while Burlington investigators have revealed evidence they say links the 48-year-old Burlington man to the shooting. The motive remains elusive, says the mayor of Burlington.
MAYOR MIRO WEINBERGER (D), BURLINGTON, VERMONT: Nothing that I have heard at this point is that kind of critical piece of information I think we are looking for that would explain how he could've done this.
SANDOVAL: Police say the three Palestinian students were walking down the street speaking in Arabic and English, two of them were wearing traditional scarves associated with Palestinian identity when Eaton approached and opened fire, according to authorities.
Hisham Awartani's mother, Elizabeth Price, says her son recalled one of his friends screaming with pain from the chest wound. Once the shooter fled, Awartani was able to dial 9-1-1.
Eaton had recently purchased a 380-caliber pistol which was recovered when authorities searched his residence, and police say they matched the gun to casings recovered at the scene of the shooting.
Investigators are turning to his online history in order to build a profile of the suspected gunman. Eaton's work experience span from finances to farming. He most recently worked at the (INAUDIBLE) financial services. In a statement to CNN, the company said Eaton worked there for less than a year and was terminated in early November.
He was an assistant scoutmaster with the Boy Scout. That organizations says upon learning of his arrest he was banned from registering in scouting in any capacity.
He also appeared to experience financial trouble according to his former landlord.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, he got a little bit weird because he really could not hold a job down.
SANDOVAL: (INAUDIBLE) Goldstein and her husband rented a room to Eaton over their Syracuse antique shop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went out and he bought this thing for the back of the door so the mail would get caught in this bag, and then bought four little baskets for each of the tenants, put their names on them so all the mail could get divvied up in the baskets. Like, does that sound like --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anybody should be (INAUDIBLE) or forgiven, for what he did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I see it. It's to me it was a hate crime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our thanks to Polo Sandoval for that report. (INAUDIBLE)
The circus came to the Vatican on Wednesday.
With a performance for Pope Francis during his weekly audience. The 86-year-old pontiff who is in poor health thanked them for offering him a moment of joy.
But for the second time in a week, he allowed an aide to read his prepared remarks because of a lung inflammation. On doctors' orders he canceled a trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate summit.
More now from CNN's Barbie Nadeau reporting in from Rome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN VATICAN REPORTER: Pope Francis, one of the most traveled world leaders has been grounded. He will not be going to Dubai to address COP28 on climate change -- doctors' orders.
After suffering a lung inflammation last week, the Pontiff who turns 87 in December has been told to stay put. Extra care for a man who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man.
At his Wednesday audience in Rome he was on his own two feet, but he admitted he isn't quite his usual self.
POPE FRANCIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): I'm still not well with this flu. And my voice is not nice.
NADEAU: Since his election in march 2013, the Pontiff has taken 44 trips to 62 countries. But he has also had some serious medical problems and has been hospitalized three times in the last two years.
He had part of his colon removed in July 2021, and returned to the hospital twice in 2023. The last time in June for an abdominal surgery. Whenever a pope is sick, it's assured the faithful start to pray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope and wish him a speedy recovery. Obviously, his health is most important, and hopefully he can get back soon to leading and to getting back to work.
[01:54:45]
NADEAU: Last year Pope Francis said he signed a resignation letter in case he becomes incapacitated. The hard-working Pope still has plans for the Catholic Church and doesn't seem ready to leave center stage anytime soon.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN -- Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Before we go, get ready to turn up the volume to 11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Spinal Tap.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a fine line between stupid and clever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, there's a fine line. A sequel to the 1984 cult classic "This is Spinal Tap: the Mockumentary" began shooting in February. That's Rob Reiner who directed and starred in the original. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer all set to return. Reiner says look out for some special guest appearances including Sirs Elton John and Paul McCartney. There they are.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. My friend and colleague Rosemary Church takes over after a very short break.
See you back here tomorrow.
[01:55:46]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, as we continue our breaking news coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
