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Israel will Retaliate for Latest Hamas Rocket Attack; U.N. Vote on Gaza Resolution Expected Friday; Czech Republic Reels from Deadliest Mass Shooting in Decades; American Paul Whelan Concerned for Safety in Russian Prison; IDF Has Struck Locations It Said Would Be Safe in Gaza; U.S.: Hamas's Influence Has Grown Since Oct. 7th Attack; Giuliani Filing for Bankruptcy. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired December 22, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN. After a wake of delays, the U.N. Security Council expected to vote on some kind of pause in the fighting in Gaza.
[00:00:45]
Talk of American disease spreading across Europe after 14 people were killed in a mass shooting in the Czech Republic.
And a spectacular view from a high above Iceland's erupting volcano.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: After four days of delay -- delays, rather, and a week of intense negotiations, the U.N. Security Council looks set to vote Friday on a resolution calling for more humanitarian aid for Gaza and a pause in the fighting.
The delays were caused by multiple objections from the U.S., but after a closed-door session Thursday night, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. declared support for the latest draft resolution, denying it was a watered-down version of the original.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I won't share how I will vote, but it will be a resolution if the resolution is put forward as -- as is that we can support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The resolution calls for a suspension of fighting between Israel and Hamas and an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is now desperately needed.
A new report from the World Food Programme, another U.N. agency, says more than one in four households currently face extreme hunger. And Gaza is headed for a famine, should the conflict continue.
And a CNN analysis finds that Israel has struck at least three locations in Gaza this month where civilians were told by the Israeli military to seek safety.
Well, after 76 days of Israel's military offensive, widespread devastation to Gaza, close to 20,000 dead, Hamas remains a very real threat, launching a fresh round of rocket attacks at Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Meantime, Gaza -- in Gaza, doctors describe unbearable conditions as nearly constant Israeli bombardments continue. Here's CNN's Will Ripley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another day in Israel, another round of rocket fire, Hamas targeting Tel Aviv with a barrage of rockets from Gaza, Israeli media reporting some 30 rocket interceptions by the Iron Dome. No injuries or major damage.
The Israeli military warning Gaza residents it will retaliate with more airstrikes, aimed at areas already reeling for more than two months of brutal bombardment.
U.S. intelligence agencies warn Hamas's credibility and influence has grown dramatically in the more than two months since the October 7th terror attacks, as global outrage grows over Israel's military response.
Nearly constant Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, plunging hospital hallways into total darkness; putting countless patients in peril, the World Health Organization warns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we found here is a hospital that's really almost completely stopped functioning.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The WHO says Northern Gaza has no functioning hospitals left. Only nine of 36 hospitals operating in all of Gaza, all of them in the South. Doctors describing unbearable conditions.
On the ground in Gaza, fierce firefights. Israeli forces going door to door, building to building. Snipers opening fire, with deadly results. The Israeli military says it killed hundreds of Hamas militants.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning more bloodshed is coming.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The choice I am offering Hamas is simple: surrender or die. They do not have, and will not have, any other option.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Those grim words after Hamas rejected Israel's offer for a one-week pause in fighting in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages, prioritizing women, the elderly, and patients desperately in need of medical care.
A Hamas statement saying they won't agree to any talks about prisoner swaps until after Israel ends its military operation in Gaza. An operation that only seems to be intensifying. The Israeli military taking the fight underground, uncovering what it
calls hidden Hamas tunnels, underground bunkers beneath the battle- scarred streets.
RIPLEY: And that massive explosion you just saw there is what Israel calls the demolition of a massive underground tunnel complex underneath Palestine Park in Gaza City.
[00:05:11]
They say they have apartments and living quarters, along with offices for senior Hamas leadership. Israel claims that, since the cease-fire, they have killed at least 2000 Hamas militants. The overall death toll in Gaza, as reported by the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah, around 20,000 people.
Will Ripley, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Washington is Aaron David Miller, former Middle East negotiator at the U.S. State Department for about three decades.
Good to see you, Aaron. Thanks for being with us.
AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Thanks for having me, John.
VAUSE: OK. So one of the reasons why the Security Council is taking so long to vote on the cease-fire resolution is a disagreement over the inspection process for humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
A spokesman for the U.S. delegation to the U.N. told CNN, "There are still serious and widespread concerns that this resolution as drafted could actually slow down delivery of humanitarian aid by directing the U.N. to create an unworkable monitoring mechanism. We must ensure any resolution helps and doesn't hurt the situation on the ground."
OK. So that was the reason on Thursday for the delay, and yes, inspections may be a legitimate concern. But they seem to be almost tangential in the bigger picture.
So on the day before that, you know, the reason for a delay were U.S. concerns about the wording of the resolution that called for a cessation of hostilities.
There's a delay, after delay, after delay. And all time time, 266 are being killed on average every day in Gaza, and half of the Gaza population is actually starving, according to the WHO.
So maybe at this point, there's a need for urgency here which is lacking at the U.N. Security Council?
MILLER: Under normal circumstances in the Middle East, you know, negotiations had two speeds: slow and slower. This is obviously a much more difficult proposition.
I think the American position, I think read between the lines, is that I suspect they don't think any action in New York is going to remedy the situation on the ground.
Their view is clear, and that is the only thing that's going to work overtime is working with and, at certain moments, pressing the Israelis hard.
There would have been no humanitarian assistance into Gaza, not a scintilla, because Benjamin Netanyahu and the current in Israel would denied any aid to Gaza. Only as a consequence of the Biden administration's efforts do you have any aid coming.
And that's the same with hostages. There would have been no hostage releases without the intervention of the president.
So here we have a situation in which the Israelis clearly play a critical role in determining what goes in. And I think the administration understands that and is trying to figure out a way to meet their sensibilities, as well as facilitate and expedite aid.
Clearly, Gaza needs much more than even a surge of aid could provide at this moment.
VAUSE: All this sort of back and forth continues at the U.N. Security Council. And Jordan's foreign minister warned that a cease-fire vote was crucial to avoid what he called dangerous double standards.
You know, to be fair, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, they use their veto power to their protect allies, like China does for North Korea.
But what we have seen play out over the last couple of days, is this some kind of unprecedented move by the U.S. in protecting Israel, or is this just simply business as usual?
MILLER: I think it's a little bit of both. I mean, U.S. foreign policy is filled with hypocrisy, contradictions and anomalies. That's certainly true with the behavior of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
Look, I think the reality is a cease-fire, to the administration, certainly to the Israelis, is viewed as a defeat. A ceasefire in which Hamas would release hostages, all the hostages, not a bad idea.
A ceasefire in which the Brits and the Germans the other day argued for demilitarization. Hamas lays down its weapons, that's a quid pro quo.
But a ceasefire just to have a ceasefire, leaving Hamas in place? That won't fly.
VAUSE: Well, if Israel had transitioned to a more targeted military operation, then I guess the need for a ceasefire may not be as urgent. With that in mind, here's National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, SPOKESPERSON, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: The Israelis say they, too, recognize the need to transition to a different phase of fighting.
I mean, in any military campaign, Trevor, you're going to -- you're going to transition to a different set of objectives, and you're going to achieve those different set of objectives through different tactics and operations. And that's just standard for the conduct of military operations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And so from a military point of view, that makes a lot of sense. And here's the Israeli prime minister talking about the current stage of operations in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU (through translator): We are fighting until victory. We will not stop the war until we achieve all its goals: destroying Hamas and releasing all our hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: They seem to be talking over each other in many ways. You know, the Israeli prime minister gave every indication that this military offensive in Gaza isn't about to scale back at any time soon.
[00:10:05]
MILLER: I think, come January, a new administration is going to be reluctant to put out any public deadlines. Come January. Certainly by the end of January.
The operational temple of the Israelis set to chain (ph), from a sort of division ground campaign to division-size forays in an operationally-intelligence driven set of tactics, then I think the administration is going to face the decision.
And the options they have are not great. One is slow-walking and denying Israel military assistance.
A second is voting -- or abstaining on a U.N. Security Council resolution, or voting for it.
And a third would be to push the Israelis toward a ceasefire. I think, frankly, none of those things are going to happen. I suspect in January you will see a fundamental change in the operation of the Israelis, certainly inside of Gaza.
And it should create time and space for reliable humanitarian corridors and searching of much-needed assistance. If it doesn't, the administration will have to face the proverbial
moment of truth with respect to what to do about a recalcitrant Israeli government.
VAUSE: Aaron, you know, that's -- that's pretty bleak. Thanks for being with us. We appreciate your insight. Appreciate your views. Thank you.
MILLER: All right, John. Take care.
VAUSE: Still no word on why a lone gunman opened fire at a university in Prague, killing 14 people.
Students ran for their lives while others barricaded themselves inside classrooms on Thursday. Others tried to hide on a building's ledge high above the ground.
Police believe the gunman then took his own life. That is yet to be confirmed. And his motive remains under investigation. The worst mass shooting in the Czech Republic in decades has left the country in shock, and will observe a day of mourning on Saturday to try and help students who are struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA MARIE NEWKIROVA, STUDENT, CHARLES UNIVERSITY: I really can't even come to understand what's happened here today.
KRISTYNA BORECKA, PRAGUE RESIDENT (through translator): It looks like it's something totally unprecedented in the Czech Republic. And I think everybody is completely shaken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Police received a tip about the shooter before the rampage. They tried to stop him but weren't successful, obviously. But more details now from CNN's Melissa Bell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Terror on the streets of Prague, students risking their lives to escape a gunmen's bullets that killed more than a dozen on Thursday afternoon.
More than 20 were injured, ten severely in the shooting of Prague's Charles University, before the gunmen, an enrolled philosophy student was eliminated, police said.
It's an attack that has rocked the Czech Republic.
PETR FIALA, CZECH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): There's absolutely no explanation, no justification for this. Like many of you, I'm feeling a deep sorrow and disgust over this incomprehensible and brutal violence.
BELL (voice-over): As night fell on Prague, details emerged about the 24-year-old suspect.
Before the deadly shooting in the capital, police said the shooter left his home village where his father was found dead. Intent on further bloodshed, he made his way to the Czech capital.
Tipped off, police forces rushed to evacuate the building where the shooter was a due to attend a lecture, but he struck elsewhere, forcing students to barricade themselves inside classrooms, later evacuated en masse.
Their preparation for end-of-year exams, brutally shattered by the country's deadliest shooting in decades. No indication of a link to international terrorism, the Czech interior administer confirmed, but tonight, a city in shock on a continent where mass shootings are few and far between.
Melissa Bell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Juliette Kayyem is a CNN senior national security analyst and former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
Professor Kayyem, good to see you.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: OK. So right now, we don't know the name of the shooter. We don't know a motive. But we do know this could have been worse. Here's the police chief of the Czech Republic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN VONDRASEK, POLICE CHIEF (through translator): The information that the student is a student of the faculty and that he was supposed to attend a class today. We found that out ourselves. His class was supposed to start was 2 p.m., but in a different building, away from the shooting scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, there was a tip-off, which was fortunate. The fact it actually made it to the right person, the fact it was accurate, and timely, and then acted on was also fortunate, as well.
KAYYEM: Yes.
VAUSE: But one -- could the -- force have done more with the information that they received, apart from just closing the one building.
KAYYEM: I mean, they could have. Obviously, we know that now, that whatever notification they've given to the university or, and especially in particular to the students was either didn't exist or was inadequate. [00:15:09]
Part of it may be that the -- that the tip that they got was related to someone who might be suicidal rather than a mass murder. So they may have been responding to trying to keep that person or trying to catch that person before they got to the university or college.
They closed down one building, and that person was intent on a mass murder. There's a lot to learn here.
VAUSE: I've lost count of the number of times you and I have spoken about mass shootings in the United States. But, you know, seems this country's now almost numb to gun violence.
But that's not the case in Europe. Listen to what a student at the university said to CNN. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKOB WEIZMAN, CHARLES UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I lived in the U.S. for a very long time. And I would never -- I would have -- you know, if it were to happen anywhere, it would have happened to the U.S. But now it's spreading like a -- like a disease. You know, to Europe, as well, like this -- this copycat mentality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I mean, I'm just wondering if this is actually kind of a legitimate concern. That you know one mass shooting leads to another mass shooting. It leads to more. And then it sort of takes hold.
KAYYEM: That's exactly right. And that's the -- that's the sort of culture of social media that these people get glorified, these -- social media has no borders, so people in other countries will begin to follow them, or copycat them, or see the kind of notoriety that is raised.
We don't know his exact motive. The fact he killed his father? And then went to an institution that he had, an affiliation which, you know, may suggest that, you know, this was quite personal, obviously, that there were -- there were issues related to the family and or the school. We'll learn more about that.
But part of the investigation is also going to be what were his social media networks because those, whether they're based in the United States or they're just reflecting on things of the United States is -- is quite relevant in terms of radicalization, in terms of violence.
We just simply don't know what that triggering motive was in this instance we will definitely learn more over the next couple days.
VAUSE: And when it comes to gun laws, there's sort of a quirk here, too, which sort of moves the Czech Republic closer to the U.S. than Europe. Because gun ownership in the U.S. is a constitutional right, while in Europe and the Czech Republic, owning a gun is allowed and controlled by government legislation. The Czech Republic has relatively liberal gun laws compared to the
rest of the European Union. To obtain a gun legally, a person needs a firearm license, which requires a medical examination, a weapons proficiency exam, and no previous criminal record.
It's incredible to think those are liberal gun laws.
There is also, though, a crucial amendment made to the Czech Republic's charter of fundamental rights, back in 2021, which legally guarantees the right to defend one's own life or the life of another person with a weapon.
So get that right to bear arms sort of thing. And it turns out the shooter in Prague, legally owned multiple fire alarms. And over the years, the Czech Republic, I guess, has seen more gun violence than the rest of Europe. So there seems to be a correlation there in terms of gun laws, and the U.S. and where the Czech Republic is in a diagram.
KAYYEM: That's exactly right. I mean, look, these rules, whether it's our constitutional amendment or in the Czech Republic. But obviously, they create a floor of sort of expected conduct, right?
And in these instances, the floor is rather high. And people -- there's an expectation that people, you know, would allow, or would be allowed to own a gun, and then you'd put additional requirements on them. That's what the Czech Republic has done.
They're saying yes, you can have a gun. We're going to put these restrictions on them. And these are real restrictions. I mean, the medical examination, the training, no criminal record whatsoever. These are in significant restrictions.
But I think the -- what the Czech Republic is going to have to look to is are those restrictions enough? The quantity of guns in terms of ownership. You know, do you want people owning, you know, eight, nine, or ten guns depending on how many this -- this gunman had.
And then, you know, thinking about how permissive does the society that does not experience a lot of mass murderers, but compared to its neighbors, is -- is more violent or has a potential to be more violent. I should be careful here. Doesn't want to reflect some of the more stringent laws throughout the European Union.
And that is something that I -- I have no doubt will be debated in the Czech Republic.
VAUSE: Juliette, good to see you. Thanks for being with us. Happy holidays.
KAYYEM: Thank you.
VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN. American Paul Whelan tells CNN he's being targeted inside a Russian prison. When we come back, why he says he's afraid for his safety.
Also, while lave flows from Iceland's volcano appear to be slowing. The view from a Coast Guard helicopter high above remains spectacular.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[00:20:03]
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an amazing thing to be witnessing from up here. We can see just how active the volcanic zone still is. We can see the lava. We can smell the magma! We can feel the power that our planet has!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, eruptions from Iceland's volcano appear to be slowing. Authorities warn the area remains dangerous.
Iceland's Coast Guard flew sorties over the eruptions on Thursday. They say no volcano activity was visible, but it's too soon to declare this eruption is over.
Decreased inactivity allowed residents of Grindavik to briefly check on their homes. Four thousand residents have been allowed back occasionally since they were evacuated back in early November.
Now the town's mayor says residents will not be able to return to their homes before Christmas. And many are worried about what the future of their community will hold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTHJON EMIL GARTHARSSON, GRINDAVIK RESIDENT: How this is? Is -- I don't think, not soon, but maybe in the future, hopefully, but we'll just have to say because the crack goes through the town. So we'll just have to see if it's going to arrive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Fred Pleitgen to arrive with Iceland's Coast Guard as they monitored the eruption from the sky.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Iceland's Coast Guard flying into the eruptions on any arctic night.
PLEITGEN: These flights are extremely important for the Icelandic Coast Guard. On the one hand, they have to survey the area. But they also have to practice, in case they need to do mass evacuations at night.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Iceland was prepared for the massive eruption that started early this week, a more than two-mile-long fissure spewing magma hundreds of feet into the air.
But while residents have been evacuated, authorities are still working in the area.
JENS POR SIGUROARSON, COMMANDER, ICELANDIC COAST GUARD: So this is highly important for us to do this during the night. And there are a lot of hazards involved.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The crew even spots a person walking close to the lava, and say they notified police to check it out. The eruption has weakened considerably, but magma is still bubbling below us.
The crew strap me in for a closer look.
PLEITGEN: This is an amazing thing to be witnessing. From up here, you can see just how active the volcanic zone still is.
We can see the lava. You can smell the magma. You can feel the power that our planet is unleashing.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The chopper drops us off right by the lava field to train evacuations. This is extremely challenging, flying for these aviators.
Right now, they are practicing hoist operations in case they have to medically evacuate a casualty from this area in the dark. As furious as the eruption was initially, it also seems to be subsiding fast, Seismologist Kristin Jonsdottir tells me.
KRISTIN JONSDOTTIR, SEISMOLOGIST: It was quite active in the beginning, four kilometers long, a fissure that opened. And very high rates of magma flow. So it's a bit of a surprise that it has all culminated.
[00:25:10]
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Those evacuated cannot return home yet, as the magma tunnel here remains active, and authorities say further eruptions are still possible.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Grindavik, Iceland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: An unexpected strike by French rail workers on Thursday paralyzed the Eurostar, the high-speed train service linking London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
The industrial accident initially closed down the Euro Tunnel, the undersea rail link between the U.K. and France, and then spread to all Eurostar services.
Stranded passengers arrived at the Paris rail hub, blindsided by the news and left scrambling to find a way home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHALIE FRANKS, BRITISH TRAVELING IN FRANCE: We're about to return back to England today. We just got a text saying that the train had been canceled, so we come to the station to try to sort it out. And other than that, we're just trying to see what we can do now and how -- and how to get home.
TUSHAR RUSHANI, TOURIST: We were traveling for just tourism, to come to see Paris. And we were supposed to be going back to London in Eurostar. And without no notice, no nothing, they just told us when we came here two hours ago, said it's on strike and no trains today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The strike, it seems, was over year-end bonuses. Workers rejected the 1,000 euros which was being offered, and demanded triple. Eurostar later announced an agreement had been reached between management and union representatives.
An update now to American Paul Whelan, who has been wrongfully detained in Russia since 2018. In a call with CNN on Wednesday, Whelan said he's afraid for his safety after being assaulted by another inmate in a Russian prison camp last month.
The U.S. Marine Corps veteran is serving a 16-year sentence after he was accused of being a spy, which he vehemently denies. More now from CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American Paul Whelan, wrongfully detained in Russia for five years, now faces new dangers in Russian prison camp.
Whelan tells CNN he's being targeted by an official at the remote camp in the Mordovia region where he's being held. Whelan says the official is retaliating against him, because the official was admonished following an assault on Whelan by another inmate on November 28th.
We spoke with Whelan's sister about his latest account.
ELIZABETH WHELAN, SISTER OF PAUL WHELAN: I am concerned and horrified, but not surprised to hear of these latest issues he's having. Mordovia is very isolated. I'm sure the prison guards are used to being able to get away with an awful lot without anybody paying any attention to them whatsoever.
TODD (voiced-over): According to Whelan, the prison official, who he did not name, called on prisoners to instigate fights with Whelan so that Whelan himself would be disciplined.
He says prisoners, on the official's behalf, asked him for 1,100 dollars in protection money, the exact amount that's in Whelan's prison account.
Quote, "Prisoners would not have known that unless they had been told."
Then he said of the prison official, quote, "Having no luck with obtaining the money, he ordered me to move to a different barrack, which would expose me to criminal behavior, as well as the potential of assault."
The White House calls Whelan's latest accounts troubling and says it will address this with Russian officials.
KIRBY: We did in recent days put forward a serious proposal. The Russians rebuffed it, regardless of what Mr. Putin says. And we're working hard to see what we can do to get another proposal that -- that might be more successful, to get both him and Evan out.
TODD (voiced-over): John Kirby is referring to "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich, who's also wrongfully detained in Russia.
Paul Whelan gave CNN even more chilling details of the dangers he now faces from other inmates: quote, "Most people carry knives here, and many use stimulates, which can make them wild and violent."
SARAH MENDELSON, FORMER U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL AT U.N.: The conditions, like all Russian prisons, are very bad. Right? So the prison guards are controlling access to the bathroom, food, light, day, your mobility. And, you know, this fact of corruption is particularly intense.
TODD (voiced-over): I asked Whelan's sister if he carries any kind of a weapon to protect himself.
WHELAN: Paul has gone out of his way to make sure that there's nothing that can be done or said about him that would cause him to incur additional charges, because that's what the Russians will do. They will add charges onto your sentence.
TODD (voiced-over): Whelan also told CNN he feels threatened because he's an American, and that the prisoners in his camp, quote, "don't look too kindly upon the U.S. support of Israel in Gaza."
TODD: Paul Whelan told CNN that when he spoke to prison officials about his security concerns, they told him he could go to solitary confinement 24 hours a day.
CNN has reached out to the prison for comment on all of this. We have not heard back.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, a dire new warning about extreme hunger and disease in Gaza. A grim look inside a collapsed hospital system, unable to cope. That's next on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:32:37]
VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
When fighting in Gaza resumed after a seven-day pause, and in an effort to reduce the number of civilian casualties, Israel started instructing civilians in Gaza to evacuate areas that were would see intense fighting.
But a CNN analysis shows that this month alone, the Israeli military has struck at least three locations where they told people to seek shelter.
At this point, it seems, there is nowhere safe in Gaza.
As our Nima Elbagir reports, Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals just can't keep up with the crush of victims.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Airstrike after airstrike, after airstrike. In the daily bombardment, Gazans rarely find a reprieve.
When the smoke clears, it's back to the daily routine: searching the rubble, hoping for miracles, hoping to find survivors. A journey that leads many to the overflowing morgues.
At the European hospital in Southern Gaza, there is no relief in identifying the dead.
Roughly 20,000 people killed in Gaza, after 11 weeks of Israeli bombardment, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
A number CNN can't verify, but U.N. officials say they've found the ministry's figures from past conflicts to be accurate. A grim landmark. With every lost life, the pain is inconsolable.
RIDAAN ABU MA'MAR, GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): There is nowhere safe in the whole of the Gaza Strip. My whole family is gone. We are only four people left out of a family of eight.
ELBAGIR (voiced-over): In Southern Gaza, the bombs don't stop. Nor does the flow of the injured to overwhelmed hospitals, disrupting the rare moments of respite where children can play.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was at my aunt's house, and we were playing. We saw a big and fast airplane flying over, and suddenly it bombed our place. And stones fell on me, and then people removed me from the rubble.
ELBAGIR (voiced-over): Israel's ground offensive continues across Gaza. Despite the U.S. Raising concerns about civilian casualties, it continues to back Israel's war.
The U.N. warns of a toxic mix of disease, hunger, and lack of hygiene and sanitation. Outbreaks of infectious disease add to the impossible task of survival.
Most of the 2.2 million population is displaced and struggling to find food and clean water. The World Health Organization says there are no functioning hospitals left in Northern Gaza.
[00:35:00]
The once sprawling al-Alhi (ph) hospital complex is barely providing relief.
SEAN CASEY, WHO EMERGENCY MEDICAL TEAM: What we found here is a hospital that's really almost completely stopped functioning. Two days ago, a number of staff were detained.
ELBAGIR (voiced-over): Instead of preparing for Christmas, this church has become a hospital ward.
CASEY: They're not able to perform surgery. They're able to only provide pain management, some wound care, some trauma stabilization. They're doing their best with a very small team of only about ten clinical staff left at this hospital.
ELBAGIR (voiced-over): Hours after posting this video of the first aid center at the battered Jabaliya camp, the Palestinian Red Crescent said the center was raided, and communication was cut off.
And yet, the dead and dying just keep coming.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that Hamas is making dramatic gains in credibility and influence in the two months since the October 7th attacks on Israel and Israel's military response in Gaza. More details now from CNN's Katie Bo Lillis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. intelligence agencies have been closely tracking how the October 7th attack on Israel impacted Hamas's influence and popularity, both inside the Palestinian territories as well as across different parts of the Arab and Muslim world and amongst extremist groups that share an ideology with Hamas.
And what they have seen is that Hamas got a major credibility bump after October 7th, and there's a couple of reasons for this.
One is that, from a purely operational perspective, October the 7th, this truly awful attack, was wildly successful. And since then, Hamas has been able to use the hostages that it took that day to successfully --
LILLIS (voice-over): -- negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Hamas has essentially been able to cast itself as a defender of the Palestinian cause. This kind of lone armed force fighting back against Israel, seen by some communities as a brutal oppressor. We can see a couple of the indicators that intelligence officials are
tracking in the public space. There are protests in Jordan, where Hamas's name has been chanted. There's been some polling data that shows Hamas's popularity in the West Bank rose after October 7th.
And there have been public warnings from both U.S. and European officials of a heightened risk of potential lone wolf attacks by extremists inspired by Hamas.
Some officials that we spoke to are deeply concerned that Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza, which has led to a stream of images of civilian suffering that have gone viral. That that -- that those images are only going to exacerbate this dynamic, and further legitimate Hamas, and potentially radicalize others, both inside and outside of Gaza.
Even though, of course, we know that Hamas is hiding itself amongst civilians, and carried out unspeakable atrocities on October 7th.
Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, summed up some of those concerns earlier this month. He said, in this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.
LILLIS: So important, I think, to keep this flurry of assessments in mind as we see Biden officials make increasingly pointed statements, both publicly and privately, to Israel about the need to protect civilian life, even as it supports Israel's efforts to root out Hamas leadership.
Katie Bo Lillis, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: Well, first he lost a multi-million-dollar defamation case, and now disgraced -- disgraced attorney Rudy Giuliani is heading back to court to file for bankruptcy. Details in a moment.
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VAUSE: This has been a bad week for Rudy Giuliani, one of Donald Trump's closest henchmen. First came the defamation payout of tens -- tens of tens of million dollars for two election workers in Georgia.
Now, Giuliani claims he has assets of up $10 million of but debts of up to half a billion dollars. So he's broke. And he's heading back to court to file for bankruptcy.
CNN's Kara Scannell has details.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rudy Giuliani fired for bankruptcy court protection on Thursday. That's just one day after a federal judge --
SCANNELL (voice-over): -- ordered him to begin making payments in a nearly $150 million defamation award awarded by a jury to two Georgia election officials just last week.
Giuliani has claimed in this filing that he is saddled with debt. The biggest one being the nearly $150 million jury award. But he also indicates that he owes nearly $1 million in unpaid taxes. He owes $1.7 million to attorneys, and he has a $30,000 unpaid phone bill.
SCANNELL: But the biggest unknown is just how much more in debt he could occur. That's because he is facing a number of lawsuits, including three defamation lawsuits relating to the 2020 election.
He's also facing a lawsuit from Hunter Biden, who alleges that he hacked into his laptop computer. And a $2 million lawsuit brought by a grocery store worker who alleges that Giuliani got him falsely arrested. He's also facing a lawsuit from a former employer [SIC] who is -- employee, who is alleging harassment.
SCANNELL (voice-over): A spokesman for Giuliani says it should come as no surprise that he's filed for bankruptcy, saying that it's unreasonable for anyone to think that he'd be able to make these payments.
Now a lawyer for those two election workers say that Giuliani's, quote, "maneuver to file for bankruptcy" is not going to stop them from seeking their payment.
SCANNELL: These election workers filed a new defamation lawsuit against Giuliani on Monday, for continuing to spread these election lies.
So Giuliani's legal and financial problems continue to mount.
Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
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VAUSE: Thanks for watching. I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break.
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