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CNN International: IDF Targeting Hamas Leader In Gaza, Yahya Sinwar; Heavy Gunfire In Northern Gaza, Clashes Continue In Khan Younis; Israel Forces Push Deeper Into Southern Gaza. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 07, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNNINT HOST: Hello. You're watching a CNN Newsroom. I'm Bianca Nobilo, in for Max Foster today. Just ahead,

heavy fighting continues in north and south Gaza, where officials warn the humanitarian situation is close to collapse. We'll have a live report on that. Then, U.S. President Joe Biden urges Senate Republicans not to let Russia win, and to approve a crucial Ukraine aid. We'll have a first account report on how desperately Ukrainian soldiers need this U.S. support. Plus, we'll have some of the most fiery exchanges from last night's Republican presidential debate. Who tried the most to come out ahead and who was a no-show? Anyone has guessed.

It's been two months to the day since the October 7th Hamas attack, and Israel's Military offensive is intensifying throughout Gaza. The southern city of Khan Younis appears to be the focus right now where the IDF says a top militant leader could be hiding underground. But, further south, this video shows the aftermath of a strike where civilians can be seen digging through the rubble. And we're also getting word of heavy gunfire in northern Gaza. All of this is only adding to a deepening humanitarian disaster. The World Food Program says everyone in Gaza is hungry.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins me now live from Jerusalem to talk about this. Ben, we've heard so many superlative humanitarian warnings, all of which have been borne out by the evidence. In practice, what does a humanitarian situation close to collapse mean for people in southern Gaza?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it means for one thing. The health system is basically barely functioning. One hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central part of the Gaza Strip said today their -- the hospital is full. The morgues are full. And yesterday, they received, rather, in the last 24 hours, 114 bodies, which outnumbered the number of actual injured people. Now, what we're hearing is that, for instance, the World Food Program is saying that in the north of Gaza, 95 percent of the population has adopted what they're calling extreme consumption strategies to cope with food shortages. In other words, they're reducing the amount of food they're eating because there is no food available. So, they need to make their supply, and that percentage for the south is 82 percent. There are large incidences or percentages of the population who is

basically starving at this point. Only in the Rafah district in the southern part of the Gaza Strip is any aid getting through, and that is by all accounts completely inadequate. I think yesterday, 80 trucks went in with medicine, with some fuel, with food supplies. But, it's really inadequate for the needs of a place where a population -- 85 percent of the population of about 2.2 million has now been made homeless. So, they're living in -- many of them on the streets or in -- under tents made with thin plastic sheeting, without any sanitation, without any access to clean water, regular supply of food, medical care or any of the basics that many people take for granted.

And Oxfam has put out a statement which I think very well sums up the situation. It says the Israeli Military onslaught in southern Gaza is causing destruction, danger and civilian terror and suffering. It's such a scale that makes any humanitarian response impossible across Gaza.

NOBILO: Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem, thank you.

Egypt says the Rafah border crossing that it shares with Gaza will open Thursday for a limited number of foreign nationals to get out of the territory. A handful of UN personnel are expected to use the opportunity to enter Gaza as well.

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All of this as the Palestine Red Crescent Society says about 80 trucks carrying food, water and other aid crossed into Gaza on Wednesday. But, as Ben was just outlining, this is nowhere near enough, and less than half the average number of trucks that were able to enter Gaza each day during the seven-day truce at the end of last month.

CNN's Larry Madowo is live for us in Cairo. Larry, tell us more about the movements expected through the Rafah crossing. Who would be exiting, and what is the mechanism that's in place to get people in and out?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's cover the number of foreign nationals leaving the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. The border authorities say they will -- it'll be open today for foreign nationals, including 63 that hold the U.S. citizenship, and other nationalities including the UK and Romania and Kazakhstan and Ukraine. We've already seen some dozens of them go through. We'll have final numbers later in the day. So, that's one aspect.

Another is that there are more people, about a dozen injured, who have crossed over from the Gaza Strip into Egypt to be treated at Egyptian hospitals. I have been to the New Administrative Capital hospital here in Cairo where some of the premature babies that were transferred from the Al Shifa Hospital are being treated. More have come in the week and a half since that. But, the big problem remains aid and getting more aid into the Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing is the only way to get in or out of the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel. It's where this aid has been coming in. But, it is a tiny fraction. In fact, to put it bluntly, it will not move the needle when, as Ben said, more than 1.8 million people are estimated to have been displaced.

And that is why for the first time you're seeing this call from the UN Secretary General, invoking Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time, calling for humanitarian ceasefire, and referring to that situation in Gaza to the UN Security Council. A bit of a statement from the UN Secretary General is important to highlight. He says "While delivery of supplies to Rafah continues, quantities are insufficient and have dropped since the pause came to an end. We are simply unable to reach those in need inside Gaza."

The capacity of the United Nations and its humanitarian partners has been decimated by supply shortages, lack of fuel, interrupted communications, and growing insecurity. And this is not just from the UN. Every other aid organization operating within the Gaza Strip has been sending out alarm bells, saying a humanitarian catastrophe is about to unfold. The situation is appalling. There is no food. There is no water, and especially, there is no fuel. So, yesterday, Israel's war cabinet approved a minimal increase in the amount of fuel coming into the Gaza Strip. That is not going to move the needle again when there is just so much need across the street. Bianca.

NOBILO: Larry Madowo for us in Cairo, thank you.

As the humanitarian crisis worsens, the UN Secretary General has invoked a rarely used clause in the United Nations Charter, formally referring the situation in Gaza to the Security Council. Antonio Guterres is calling for a ceasefire, and urging the Security Council to "avert a humanitarian catastrophe", as we've been discussing. Israel's Ambassador to the UN called the Secretary General's move a new moral low, which was "playing into Hamas' hands", and demanded Guterres' resignation.

Clare Sebastian is here with me. Clare, what are the dynamics between Israel and the UN, and the fact that they seem to be deteriorating in terms of the interactions between both camps? What impact is that having on what's happening in Israel and Gaza?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, I think there were certainly disputes between Israel and the UN before the October 7th attacks and this war in Gaza, but certainly, we've seen it escalating. There has been a lot of upset over some of the rhetoric that's been coming from the UN Secretary General, the conflict -- with the dispute between the UN and Israel escalated to such an extent last week, or even just a few days ago, that Israel revoked the visa of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Gaza.

So, I think this is an escalation of that. Israel is very upset about that. The Foreign Minister even saying now that the tenure of Guterres is a danger to world peace. But, I think this is not just sort of exposed that, this invoking of Article 99, which by the way, hasn't been done, according to the UN, since 1971. It has exposed some of the criticism of the UN, whether or not it's essentially up to the job of what it was set up to do, which is to be a guarantor of peace and stability in the world. And some of that came out. It was a pretty sort of tense press briefing that the UN spokesperson gave yesterday. I want to play you a clip from that so you can see some of the questioning that they got. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, UNITED NATIONS SPOKESPERSON: It is a very powerful move on behalf of the Secretary General, and we hope that members of the Security Council will be moved by it, and we hope the international community will be moved by it to push and put in place a humanitarian ceasefire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, it's essentially there to bring attention to an issue that the Council's -- had has the Council's attention already. So, I don't understand what the point is.

DUJARRIC: Well, the point is to push a little bit more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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SEBASTIAN: So, there was a lot of that, what is the point of this, and I think, look, it's a pressure tool. It's not legally binding. The UAE has now come in and said that they are tabling a draft resolution to push for an immediate ceasefire. But, we've seen already that, because the U.S. is so far not in favor of a ceasefire, and they have veto power on the Security Council that these things have not got through the Security Council. So, I think this will certainly rumble on. The Secretary General the UN is likely, as the spokesperson said, to call a meeting this week where it'll be discussed.

But, meanwhile, of course, the trigger point, the reason for invoking Article 99 and the fact that the UN thinks that its humanitarian efforts are now on the verge of paralysis, that will also not improve if the fighting goes on.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you.

On Capitol Hill, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a bill that would have delivered more financial aid for Ukraine and Israel. Republicans blocked it because they want to tie the aid with major changes to U.S. border policy. The vote makes it increasingly unlikely that fresh funding will be approved this year. President Biden says failure to support Ukraine will benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We can't let Putin win. It's in our overwhelming national interest and international interest of all our friends. Any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin's position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Priscilla Alvarez joins us now live from the White House with details. Priscilla, what political pathways remain open at this stage to deliver more aid to Ukraine, and which is the most likely? PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the President laid

it out himself in his remarks just yesterday, and saying that he is open to significant policy changes on the border. Now, this is important because Senate Republicans have said that they want to see robust border policy changes to move forward any of this aid to Ukraine. And so, the President is signaling to those lawmakers that he is willing to do that.

Now, sources tell me that the White House telegraphed to Senate negotiators last week what they were willing to give, and that included, for example, raising the credible fear standard for asylum seekers. That would essentially have the effect of weeding out those who do not have a credible claim. And then also, casting a wider net of undocumented immigrants who could be placed under a fast track deportation procedure, that effect being that more people, undocumented immigrants, could be deported more quickly.

And so, those were some of the major concessions that the White House was willing to give. But, it is just not enough for Senate Republicans or for House Republicans who want to see even stricter border policy changes. And so, what this has boiled down to is this very delicate political issue for the White House now undermining his foreign policy agenda. Now, what the President and top White House officials have done is made clear to the American people that this isn't just about conflicts that are playing out abroad, but it speaks directly to the U.S. national security and the U.S. leadership on the world stage. As you heard there, the President saying that we can't let the Russian President Vladimir Putin win. And so, a top White House official just making that even clearer this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHALANDA YOUNG, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: This is not hyperbole. You've heard it from the President. There is a risk that if Putin is allowed to go through Ukraine, he is on NATO's door, and then our sons and daughters could possibly be a part of conflicts. So, this is -- these are political games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: But again, it's still an uphill battle for this White House as it tries to push forward this supplemental request and also find some middle ground with Republicans on the U.S.-Mexico border to see it through.

NOBILO: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

Later in the show for you, CNN's Anna Coren will show us a first-hand account of how desperately the Ukrainian Army needs military aid from the U.S. to fight off the Russian invasion.

Boris Johnson is facing tough questions about the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic for the second day in a row. Specifically, the public inquiry is looking into the former Prime Minister's government implemented lockdowns and other measures. Johnson admitted a short time ago that the rules put in place were too complex for police to enforce, and for the public to understand. He added that more common sense should be used for future rules. The inquiry also announced today that current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will testify early next week.

Still to come, there was plenty of finger pointing and name calling Wednesday night, as the Republican Party staged its fourth debate of the campaign season. A complete wrap straight ahead.

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NOBILO: The question of whether any Republican can beat Donald Trump took center stage in American politics again on Wednesday night, as four contenders battled out the fourth GOP debate. Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie, each made arguments as to why they should be the Republican to take on Joe Biden next fall. Trump, as he has done in previous debates, skipped the event. He figures that his big lead in the polls makes attending these debates unwise.

With a complete wrap of the evening's proceedings, here is Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nikki Haley at the center of a firestorm, as Republican rivals sought to slow her rise Wednesday night during a heated final debate of the year.

RON DESANTIS, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Her donors, these Wall Street liberal donors, they make money in China. They are not going to let her be tough on China, and she will cave to the donor. She will not stand up for you.

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is mad because those Wall Street donors used to support him and now they support me.

ZELENY (voice-over): Ron DeSantis furiously tangled with Haley and her newfound support from some big name donors in a bitter battle to become the leading alternative to Donald Trump. The former President continues to dominate the campaign despite thumbing his nose at another debate.

HALEY: You can't defeat Democrat chaos with Republican chaos, and that's what Donald Trump gives us.

ZELENY (voice-over): 40 days before the first votes of the 2024 race are cast in the Iowa caucuses, the sparring among the contenders on stage in Alabama reached a new level of urgency and incivility, particularly between Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in America. So, shut up.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Chris, your version of foreign policy experience was closing a bridge from New Jersey to New York.

CHRISTIE: Yeah.

RAMASWAMY: So, do everybody a favor, just walk yourself off that stage, enjoy a nice meal --

CHRISTIE: Yeah.

RAMASWAMY: -- and get the hell out of this race.

ZELENY (voice-over): Christie stood alone in issuing a dire warning about the prospect of Trump returning to power.

CHRISTIE: Do I think he was kidding when he said he was a dictator? All you have to do is look at the history. And that's why failing to speak out against him, making excuses for him, pretending that somehow he is a victim, empowers him. You want to know why those poll numbers are where they are, because folks like these three guys on the stage make it seem like his conduct is acceptable. Let me make it clear. His conduct is unacceptable. He is unfit.

ZELENY (voice-over): It was the fiery exchanges between DeSantis and Haley that may have resonated the loudest, like when he amplified his conservative Florida record and his law banning gender affirming treatments for minors.

DESANTIS: I am sick of Republicans who are not willing to stand up and fight back against what the left is doing to this country. And you have other candidates up here like Nikki Haley. She caves anytime the left comes after, anytime the media comes after her.

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HALEY: I actually said his "Don't Say Gay" bill didn't go far enough because it only talked about gender until the third grade. And I said it shouldn't be done at all. But, that's parents to talk about. It shouldn't be talked about with schools.

ZELENY (voice-over): For much of the debate, Haley receded into the background, standing silent as her rivals piled on, and her long- running feud with Ramaswamy bubbled over again.

RAMASWAMY: I don't have a woman problem. You have a corruption problem. And I think that that's what people need to know. Nikki is corrupt.

HALEY: It's not worth my time to respond to him.

ZELENY (voice-over): It was also a night of revealing alliances, with Christie coming to Haley's defense and firing back at Ramaswamy.

CHRISTIE: I've known her for 12 years, which is longer than he is even starting to vote in the Republican primary. And while we disagree about some issues and we disagree about who should be President of the United States. What we don't disagree on is, this is a smart, accomplished woman. You should stop insulting her.

ZELENY (voice-over): Yet, Christy and Haley are also on a collision course of their own, with moderate Republicans and independent voters in New Hampshire a centerpiece of their respective strategies. But, the first stop in the Republican contest comes in Iowa, where DeSantis is staking his claim on slowing Trump's march to the nomination by whittling away his support to emerge as the leading alternative.

DESANTIS: It is not a job for somebody that's pushing 80. We need somebody that's younger. We need somebody that's going to be able to go in there and clean house on day one and do it for two terms.

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NOBILO: CNN's Jeff Zeleny reporting there for you.

As U.S. lawmakers bicker about new aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers battling to secure a strategic town, grow concerned about this eroding support. You'll hear from them right after this break.

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NOBILO: Along the frontline in eastern Ukraine, soldiers are watching Washington's political battles over aid with increasing concern. Russia is intensifying its attacks particularly around the strategic town of Avdiivka where Ukrainian forces worry about having to fight with aging weapons and eroding support. CNN's Anna Coren is there.

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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down a muddy road hedged by a bank of spindly trees and branches, sits an old farmhouse. Its owners left some time ago, but it has new residents. These are soldiers from the 47th Mechanized Brigade.

SASHA, GRAD UNIT COMMANDER, 17TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE: That's where we keep our missiles.

COREN (voice-over): And they're part of the fight for Avdiivka, one of the most fiercely contested battles on Ukraine's eastern front. Camouflage under the thicket is a grad, a multiple launch rocket system from the Soviet era. As outgoing artillery fires from nearby field, 32-year-old Sasha wishes they had better and more modern weapons.

SASHA: So, when you hit us, when hit with the modern weapons and with the Western weapons, of course they're more accurate and they bring let's say more damage to the enemy.

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COREN (voice-over): In the past two months, Russia has been sending waves and waves of troops to Avdiivka as they try to encircle the town. But, Sasha and his fellow soldiers know this war could become even more difficult if U.S. aid, now under threat, suddenly dries up.

SASHA: All the delay is just because it's the lives of the best Ukrainian people. We have the spirit. We will continue differently, but we need some kind of support.

COREN: If you as Congress does not pass the military aid package, then Ukraine will not receive the advanced weaponry it desperately needs to fight this war. And that means it will have to rely more heavily on decades-old Soviet equipment like this grant to combat Russian forces who are gaining supremacy on the front line.

COREN (voice-over): A sobering reality for these soldiers almost two years into this war.

SASHA: I'm afraid Ukraine will not be able to stand without our partners and allies. So, this is there. As simple as that.

COREN (voice-over): Weighing even heavier on their minds is last week's alleged execution of two unarmed Ukrainian soldiers who were surrendering to Russian forces, not far from Sasha's position. Drone footage shows the POWs climbing out of their dugout, arms above their head, before being shot a close range. Ukraine is now investigating what the Prosecutor General calls a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions.

SASHA: Every similar event brings a lot of pain and suffering to us. That's for sure. It will not make us weak. It will not scare us. We will continue doing what we have to do.

COREN (voice-over): Which is fighting a seemingly endless war as they build more trenches, uncertain if the West will truly be there for the long haul.

SASHA: If we let Ukraine go, if we let Putin win, then who will feel themselves safe here? I think no one.

COREN (voice-over): Anna Coren, CNN, on the outskirts of Avdiivka, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. World Sport with Amanda Davies is up next.

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