Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Hezbollah Says, Retaliatory Strikes Against Israel Successfully Completed for the Day; Israel Conducts Preemptive Strikes Against Hezbollah; Russian Forces Approach Ukrainian City of Pokrovsk. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 25, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00]

IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the program. This is CNN's breaking news coverage of Israel's strikes in Lebanon. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong beginning with breaking news from the Middle East. That's where Hezbollah militants now say they've completed their retaliatory strikes on Israel for the day.

This is what played out in Northern Israel after the group fired at least 200 rockets from Lebanon. Hezbollah called that the first phase of its retaliation for the recent killing of its top military commander and called the strikes a complete success.

But earlier, Israel said it hit Hezbollah positions just as they were preparing to launch their strikes. The IDF says more than 100 fighter jets took part in the operation, destroying thousands of Hezbollah's rocket launcher barrels. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this about those strikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This morning, we detected Hezbollah's preparation to attack Israel. Together with a minister of defense and the chief of staff, we instructed the IDF to act proactively to remove the threat.

The IDF has since been acting vigorously to thwart the threats. It destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the north of the country. It also thwarted many other threats and operates with great strength, both in defense and attack.

I ask you citizens of Israel to comply to the directives of the home front command. We are determined to do everything to protect our country, return the residents of the north safely to their homes and continue to uphold a simple rule. Whoever hurts us, we hurt them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, CNN has reporters on the ground on both sides of this conflict. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Ben Wedeman joins us live from Beirut, Lebanon. Ben, I'd like to go to you first. Hezbollah has put out an announcement saying that its military operations for the day have been, as it puts it, successfully completed. Does that imply that there is more violence to be expected in the coming days?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In that statement, one of the statements they've put out today, they did say that this was the first phase. So, the indication is that perhaps there will be nothing along the lines we've already seen today. It'd be difficult to say what happens next.

Now, the statement put out by Hezbollah most recently said that a speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah will be scheduled later today.

Now, whether that speech takes place today or later is unclear, but that certainly will give us an indication of what Hezbollah's next move will be. As far as their strike on Israel, they insist that they had the initiative denying that it was an Israeli attack preemptive strike.

According to the first statement of the morning, they said they struck 11 positions in Northern Israel, exclusively military positions, and that that was designed to allow drones, attack drones to get into the depth of Israel. And, of course, they also mentioned that they hit a major military position. We have yet to hear any confirmation on that from the Israeli side.

Here, what we saw then was clearly the most intense series of Israeli strikes on Southern Lebanon since this cross-border strike and counterstrike began on the 8th of October. The Lebanese National News Agency saying that at least one person has been killed. And we saw the Amal Movement, which is a smaller Shia political party. And they said one of their fighters was killed earlier today.

Now, what we've been seen in the last few days is fairly intense strikes and counterstrikes in the south of the country, Hezbollah announcing day before yesterday that eight of its fighters were killed.

[03:05:03]

That's the single largest daily death toll for that group. Since the fighting began more than 400 of their fighters have been killed since October.

But to get back to today's events, it does appear that Hezbollah is pausing. The question is, are they going to say, okay, we have taken revenge for the 30 July assassination of Senior Hezbollah Commander Fuad Shukr and that is done and dusted, or is there indeed going to be a second phase, in which case the danger of escalation will obviously be much higher. Ivan?

WATSON: That's a very important question, Ben. Thank you.

I'm going to turn now to Nick Robertson in Tel Aviv. You know, Hezbollah claiming to have fired more than 300 rockets, Israel saying that more than a hundred or around a hundred fighter jets were involved in these airstrikes on Southern Lebanon. That sounds like a massive aerial sortie by any standards. Have you gotten any reports of the scale of the damage or any casualties that could have been inflicted in Northern Israel as a result of this latest round of fighting?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Certainly, Israel's military posture at the moment is much more forward leaning than it has been over the past few days. They've always had a strong fighter jet military response to Hezbollah ready and available, and it appears that they used it last night. In fact, while we've been standing here, we've just seen two Apache gunships fly side by side slowly along the coastline here, as if on patrol.

That's unusual. Usually, you get the occasional Black Hawk large larger sort of, troop transporting aircraft, if you will, pass along the coastline, but two Apache gunships, which are, as they say, gunships. They are offensive weapon systems, aerial platforms. So, to have them patrolling along the coastline here really underscores for Israelis, it is a slightly different day today.

In terms of assessment of damage, of course, that's key to the IDF's considerations on what to do now, what's known as BDA, battle damage assessment, not only of the impacts that Hezbollah claims that have precipitated on 11 military targets here in Israel, but also the IDF saw the Israeli Air Force as well, their own strikes inside of Lebanon.

So, that's what they do next -- and we're hearing fighter jets in the sky as well over us now. What they do next will depend on that battle damage assessment. And it does at the moment seem to be a pause and wait, but significant, as Ben mentioned, and as you questioned, the Israeli Defense Force are not speaking in any detail at all or giving any clarity or understanding of the extent of the damage at those sites.

And one of those sites is a significant major defense installation very close to the border with Lebanon, so strategically important for Israel. Not a standalone site, but one that's backed up by many others. But the integrated air defenses that Hezbollah is saying that they attacked, the integrity of those will also speak to Israel's next moves.

But at the moment, it does appear to be a pause and see what happens next, and only, according to Israeli officials, only one civilian casualty an echo up close to the northern border. A woman there was hit by shrapnel.

WATSON: All right. Nic, you certainly are pairing painting a tense picture with helicopter gunships and fighter jets flying over Tel Aviv. Thank you very much to both Nic Robertson and Tel Aviv and Ben Wedeman in Beirut for your live updates.

Now, I'm going to turn to Gideon Levy. He's a columnist for Haaretz Newspaper and was an adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and he joins us now from Tel Aviv.

I don't know if you just heard, Mr. Levy, our reporter's account there of the Apache helicopter gunships off the coast of Tel Aviv, the fighter jets heard in the air over the city. What does that tell you about where Israel is headed next?

GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: I can tell you that early in the morning, very early in the morning, while I was jogging in the park, I heard very well the jets going north, and my heart told me that bad things are going to happen. But right now, it seems that as the Hezbollah praised the mission achieved, and maybe it will be another very explosive phase, but maybe it will stop by now.

[03:10:05]

The feeling right now is getting back to normality, if there is any normality in the last ten months in Israel and Palestine.

WATSON: You know, from your vantage point, barring what has been inflicted in Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, from the signaling you've seen from all the different parties that are lined up against each other, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, militias in Syria and in Iraq, the Israeli government, does anybody want a full-fledged war in this region?

LEVY: That's a very good point. None of them wants a war now because it doesn't serve anyone. I just want to be very sure, and I'm not, but also the Israeli prime minister doesn't want a war, not because I think he likes wars, by all means not. He was always very careful, Benjamin Netanyahu, in using the army in the past.

But there might be a dream about a regional war, which will once and for all put an end to the Iranian nuclear capability. I'm not sure it is the case. It's very hard to get into his mind. But the only candidate who might want it is him, and still, I think, he doesn't want it.

But I must remind you that many of our wars started after everyone didn't want them and everyone declared we don't want a war. Usually, when Israel and Palestinians are saying they have no interest in war, we better check our shelters.

WATSON: Gideon, I want to ask about what you have been watching happening in Israeli society since the initial Hamas attack on October 7th that killed so many Israelis and took hundreds of Israelis hostage. We've been hearing reports of protests in Israel on both sides of this conflict, on clashes between kind of settler movements and even the military on moves to bring conservative elements of society into military service. What impact have you seen on Israeli society now through ten and a half months of conflict?

LEVY: A very, very deep impact and not for the good. The first trauma and humiliation and pain and sorrow and grieving turned into a new perception of Palestinians, of humanity, of international law. Almost all Israelis changed their minds after the 7th of October, claiming that after those events, Israel has the right, not only the right, the duty to do whatever it wants without any limits, no legal limits, moral limits, more than this.

Most of the Israelis do not feel any kind of empathy toward the Palestinian victims, toward the Palestinian punishment, the Palestinians of Gaza, obviously. Not only they don't feel empathy, they think that feeling empathy or expressing empathy toward Gaza is betrayal, is almost illegal in Israel today. In other words, Israel turned to become more militaristic, more nationalistic, more racist in those months with justification, which is questionable. I mean, as horrible as those atrocities on the 7th of October were, does it really permit Israel to kill 40,000 people, to distract the entire Gaza? And does it serve Israel at all?

But the name of the game in Israel right now is punishing, taking revenge, and not caring about none of the people in Gaza. And this is a very, very deep point in which Israel is losing its humanity.

WATSON: As you point out, Mr. Levy, more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed so far in this conflict. And that brings me to the ceasefire negotiations, another round of them that are supposed to be taking place in Cairo. Do you have any hopes for some kind of peaceful resolution to all of this killing?

LEVY: How can I have hopes for those negotiations, which lasts now for weeks and months and lead to nowhere and led to nowhere, when I know that Israel and the Israeli prime minister are not ready to put an end to the war right now and are not ready to release all the Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

[03:15:12]

As long as this is the case, add to this the objection to withdraw from the Gaza, neither Netanyahu nor other Israeli politicians are not ready for it. As long as this is the situation, how can you expect a ceasefire?

A ceasefire will be reached only if Israel will be ready to put the final end to this war, as the United States is urging, as the world is urging, and as the Israeli interest is urging, because Israel, after the 7th of October, and ever since the 7th of October, is in much worse position than before. We turned into a pariah state, economically, morally, militarily, no achievements whatsoever, only losses, and this must come to its end immediately.

WATSON: That sounds like just an agonizing assessment of what is going on in your own society. Gideon Levy, live in Tel Aviv, columnist for the Haaretz newspaper, thank you very much and take care.

We will be right back with more coverage. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

WATSON: Returning now to our breaking news, the back and forth exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The militant group says its first phase of strikes were successful. Hezbollah claims it fired over 300 rockets across the border, more than the 200 that Israel claims were launched.

Earlier, Israel's military initiated strikes against Hezbollah targets, saying the group was about to launch missiles and rockets. An IDF spokesman said Israel is acting in self defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESMAN: We're operating in self defense from Hezbollah and any other enemy that joins in their attacks against us. And we are ready to do everything, everything we need to defend the people of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Joining me now from Canberra, Australia, is Malcolm Davis. He's a senior analyst in defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Thank you for joining, Malcolm.

You know, the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, this conflict, is not new. It's been going on for more than ten months across the border between the two countries. This latest kind of spasm of violence of what sound like very significant strikes from both sides, do you think that it has crossed any red lines that it will take us into a new escalatory pattern or is it remaining within the kind of the red lines of a war on the border that's gone on for more than ten months now?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Look, firstly, I think we need some, you know, official bomb damage assessment of, you know, both sides' attacks. Hezbollah are saying they launched 300 missiles and drones. Israel is saying they launched 200 and they launched 100 aircraft and destroyed thousands of launching systems owned by Hezbollah.

So, we need some official information to see how today's raids back and forth have actually gone to in order to understand the probable next moves. If Hezbollah actually inflicted significant damage on Israel, and it's not clear that they have, then Israel, I think, will be certain to continue to prepare for further attacks to preempt Hezbollah from launching additional attacks. And the other issue, of course, that everyone I think is worried about is whether in a future Hezbollah attack on Israel, whether Iran joins that attack.

So, we are at very early stages of this. You know, this has only been happening for a few hours. I think probably the answers we're looking for will emerge in the coming days. But I don't think we're going to see much more today, but we could see additional action in the coming days. And the question then is, does Iran join in and does Hezbollah launch a much larger attack the next time around than it did this time? 300 missiles count as (ph) a large attack.

WATSON: It is important that you raise Tehran because the Iranian government has vowed retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, which Israel never claimed responsibility for. I want to ask about one of the other major players in the region, and that is the U.S. the Biden administration has rushed warships to the region, and it is also providing its ally Israel with weapons and ammunition in its ongoing conflicts, plural. What role does the U.S. have in whether or not this escalates or can be diffused somehow in the days ahead?

DAVIS: I think the U.S. role is very much a deterrence one. They are trying to deter Iran from joining this war on a large scale, and is known as deterrence by denial, in other words, what the U.S. is doing is deploying sufficient military force to make it very difficult, if not impossible, for the Iranians to get through a significant attack into Israel. The Iranians have basically said that if they attack this time around, it'll be much larger than the attack last April, and I fully expect that to be the case.

And so what you're seeing is a commensurate buildup of U.S. military capabilities that could defend Israel against a much larger attack and potentially strike at Iranian targets to prevent further attacks. So, it is very much deterrence. It's not about necessarily boots on the ground. It's about shooting down incoming Iranian missiles that are coming in from long range.

WATSON: All right. Malcolm Davis live in Canberra, thank you very much for your analysis.

DAVIS: Thank you very much.

[03:25:00]

WATSON: All right. We'll be right back after this break with more coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATSON: This is CNN breaking news coverage of Israel's strikes in Lebanon. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.

Now, you are looking at live pictures from Israel's border with Lebanon, the scene of months and months of cross-border fighting. We're showing this after Hezbollah says it's done for the day with its retaliatory strikes against Israel, which it called a complete success.

Hours ago, the militant group fired at hundreds of rockets across Israel's border with Lebanon, prompting a response from Israel's air defenses. Hezbollah called that the first phase of its retaliation for the recent killing of its top commander by Israel.

But earlier, the IDF said its fighter jets carried out preemptive strikes against Hezbollah, destroying thousands of its rocket launcher barrels in Lebanon.

Now, Alon Pinkas is a former Israeli consul general in New York. He joins me now and has been speaking to me as we've been covering this breaking news live from Tel Aviv, Israel. Good to see you again.

[03:30:00]

You know, the initial October 7 Hamas terror attacks into Israel were devastating. They killed more than 1,200 people took hundreds of Israelis hostage. I don't know if you heard earlier in this program, Alon, Gideon Levy speaking almost despondently about the cost since that initial shock and trauma that more than ten months of fighting have had on the Israeli society and on the Israeli economy, talking about it in moral terms. Is that a similar view that you share on what this past year has incurred on Israeli society?

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Well, I didn't hear Gideon Levy. I've been specifically on CNN. But I know him very well. I read his columns and I know where he's coming from. He's basically describing an accurate picture, a precise picture, or a zeitgeist, if you will, of Israeli society in the last ten months.

He probably goes back into the origins of the occupation and the incompatibility of having this green line this division and so on, and that led to things and terror and counter-terror. But in one thing, he's based on your quote, of course, in one thing, he's absolutely right, and that is the despondency, the devastation, the humiliation and the agony that people here feel since October 7th, which is hard.

If I take, you know, what's going on with Hezbollah in the last 12 hours, the best case scenario, as far as the vast majority of Israelis are concerned, is that both sides are telling the truth that we preemptively struck hundreds of missile silos successfully and that Hezbollah is also telling the truth that they struck -- I don't know yet, but that they struck what they intended to strike and that and leave it at that.

Again, I don't know what exactly Gideon said but I think you and I have discussed this previously. A lot of Israelis are not necessarily making the connection between what's going on in Gaza and escalation or de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. They just think it's a two-front war and they don't necessarily see how they are linked.

WATSON: Right. And as we discussed in the past hour, when there was a pause in the fighting back in November between Hamas and Israel, the northern border between Israel and Lebanon, the fighting there also subsided, which you cited as evidence that these two conflicts are in fact linked. And that brings me to what are supposed to be ceasefire negotiations underway in Cairo. Is Israel participating? Do you place any hopes that could be a way out from this vicious cycle of violence, as you've referred to it in the past?

PINKAS: Well, I don't have a definitive answer only because we've been in this -- you know, it's a Groundhog Day. We've been in this negotiation process for four or five six months and I, from the very outset, and many others later, have concluded that Mr. Netanyahu is not interested in a ceasefire, is willing to sacrifice the hostages, and is only pursuing the prolonging of the war, and even risking escalation because that keeps a war-like atmosphere that distances him away from October 7th.

But there's another possibility here. And that is that Mr. Netanyahu, even he came to realize that the war in Gaza exhausted itself, that there are very few achievable or attainable objectives that could still be accomplished, that he does now finally realize that the road to de-escalate the north goes through a ceasefire, and that he would be willing to entertain at least a first phase of the plan proposal that President Biden presented on May 31st, which calls for a 42-day, six-week ceasefire or cessation of hostilities, a return of about a third of the hostages and a realignment of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

I'm not optimistic about the chances because I think of the two explanations.

[03:35:01]

The first one overrides the second, meaning that he's not interested in the ceasefire. It sounds horrible to say, but that's my conclusion.

WATSON: Can I ask, does the Biden administration bear any responsibility for this prolonged conflict?

PINKAS: Well, in a way, yes. I mean, if you look at the management of the conflict and the way, and it's very sad to admit to this, the way that they were manipulated back and forth by Mr. Netanyahu, it began, if you recall, with the so-called post-war Gaza peace plan or now it's so post-war Gaza governance plan, call it what you want, you know, about a ceasefire and an international force with an inter Arab force in it with the Palestinian Authority extending governance from the West Bank into Gaza, you know, eradicating Hamas' political position. Israel said no, and then the Americans asked Israel to be more discriminate in how it uses munitions. Israel defied the U.S. And again and again and again, the U.S. never crossed that thin or almost invisible line between rhetoric and policy.

Now, the U.S. justified Israel, the U.S. protected Israel, the U.S. backed Israel, the U.S. supported Israel immensely, both materially and diplomatically. But at some point, I think the learning curve, the American learning curve became flat. They just didn't believe that Mr. Netanyahu was manipulating them again, and they went through the same motions hoping for a result, which didn't happen. So, in that respect, yes, they bear a certain responsibility.

WATSON: All right. Alon Pinkas, thank you very much for your insights there, live from Tel Aviv.

And we will be right back with more coverage of this breaking story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

WATSON: Okay. Let's bring you up to speed with the breaking news in the Middle East. Hezbollah says it has, quote, successfully completed its retaliatory strikes against Israel for the day. The IDF says the militant group fired at least 200 rockets from Lebanon in recent hours with Israeli air defenses working to shoot them down.

But earlier, Israel said it conducted preemptive strikes on the militants across the border using about 100 fighter jets in the operation. The statement said they destroyed thousands of Hezbollah's rocket launcher barrels.

Joining me now to explain more about this from London is Jasmine El- Gamal. She is a former Middle East advisor at the U.S. Department of Defense. Good to see you again, Jasmine.

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FORMER MIDDLE EAST ADVISER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: Good to see you, Ivan.

WATSON: So, I'd like to ask if you were still in your old position at the Defense Department, what advice would you be giving right now?

EL-GAMAL: Obviously, the most important thing right now, Ivan, and the top priority for the last few months has been trying to avoid an escalation that leads to an uncontrollable all-out regional war. So, that's what the U.S. has been trying to do. That's what the main sort of message that the U.S. has been communicating to the Israelis, to Iran indirectly is to lower the temperature, take a step back and try to focus on the ceasefire negotiations and to use that as an off-ramp to try to de-escalate the situation.

Now, Israel conducted two very, very high profile assassinations over the last few weeks. One was the assassination of Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was visiting Iran, and the other one was the assassination of a top Hezbollah military commander, Fuad Shukr, in Lebanon. And so we have been anticipating a retaliation by Iran and Hezbollah for the assassination of these two figures. Israel has been anticipating it and so has the U.S. as well.

So, the question was not whether they could successfully sort of convince Iran and Hezbollah not to retaliate. The question was whether they could convince them to retaliate in a limited way that was manageable, that could save face, that could sort of check the box as a retaliation, but not aggravate the situation so much that the region descends into a war.

And so that's what we're seeing playing out right now. Hezbollah has struck these targets in Israel. The Israeli military was well- prepared. They did launch that preemptive strike. And so what we're seeing right now is the retaliation that we had expected, but not in a way that is completely out of control.

WATSON: You know, Jasmine, in the last hour, we've had two Israeli analysts, a former Israeli diplomat and a Haaretz columnist, who've basically accused Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the U.S. government, the Biden administration, of not doing enough to bring an end to this conflict. Do you share that evaluation? Does the Biden administration -- have they gone far enough to try to bring an end to more than ten months of fighting?

EL-GAMAL: That's a great point, Ivan, and I was watching your coverage earlier with Gideon Levy and Alon Pinkas, and I completely agree with their statements, of course. You know, I was just talking a minute ago about the diplomatic efforts to get the Israelis and Iran and Hezbollah to de-escalate, but I think we can fairly objectively assess that the Biden administration has failed diplomatically to bring an end to the war in Gaza. [03:45:01]

They failed diplomatically to come to a solution when it comes to Israel's actions in the region, when it comes to Netanyahu's escalation of the situation.

You know, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has consistently, over the last several months, jeopardized the safety and security of people living in the Middle East, including Israelis, including his own hostages, the Israeli hostages in Israel. And I say that because, and, again, this is not my opinion, Ivan, but this is based on statements from Israeli negotiators who have said and complained that they have no mandate to sign a deal.

They have no mandate to bring the hostages home. They feel like they're engaging in these negotiations almost as a show, because the prime minister doesn't want a deal and hasn't wanted a deal over the last few months. And he continues to engage in escalatory actions like the assassinations that I've just mentioned.

And so the U.S. as Israel's strongest ally in the region as the country that objectively has the most leverage over Israel to stop this war and to bring the region back from the brink has failed to do so. And it is precisely because the Biden administration has refused to use any of that leverage over the Israelis. And, in fact, not only refuses to use it, Ivan, but continues to send Israel weapons and continues to fund what they know now is a war that is absolutely decimating and eradicating the Palestinian people and also bringing the region closer to war.

I understand that this is a harsh assessment, and I don't say that lightly, but I'm saying that based on everything that we've seen and heard over the last ten months. And it is a failure of American diplomacy that has brought us to this moment.

WATSON: Okay. Jasmine El-Gamal, thank you for joining us with those views from London.

We are keeping a close eye on developments in the Middle East, but we'll get in some other news right after this break.

Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

WATSON: This is CNN. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. We'll get back to our breaking news coverage from the Middle East in a few moments. You are looking at live images from the border of Israel and Southern Lebanon there, with some smoke on the horizon.

But, first, some other stories that we are following, to Ukraine. That's where the Ukrainian government says several people have been injured in a Russian missile strike on a hotel. The prosecutor general's office says a journalist is believed to be trapped under the rubble and two others are among the injured.

The strike occurred in Kramatorsk in the Eastern Donetsk region. Officials said a hotel often used by tourists and the media was demolished and a nearby high rise building was damaged. It comes as Russian advances are continuing into Eastern Ukraine.

CNN's Ivana Kottasova is in Pokrovsk and filed this report.

IVANA KOTTASOVA, CNN SENIOR WRITER: There's a real sense of dread here in Pokrovsk as Russian forces are getting closer and closer every day. The frontline is now just a few miles away from the city center. This here used to be a school turned into shelter where families were seeking safety. The local authorities are issuing evacuation orders and they're really urging people to leave now before it becomes impossible.

Pokrovsk is an important city. It sits on a key supply road that connects it with other military hubs in this area and together, these cities form the backbone of Ukrainian defenses here in this region. I'm standing here now, hearing the constant sound of explosions coming from the suburbs. It seems almost inevitable that this place will become the next key battleground in this long and bloody war.

Ivana Kottasova, CNN, Pokrovsk, Eastern Ukraine.

WATSON: All right. To U.S. politics now, the U.S. vice president, Kamala, Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, will hit the campaign trail again this week. They'll kick off a bus tour in the battleground state of Georgia, marking their first time campaigning together in the state. The tour will swing through Southern Georgia on Wednesday and conclude with a rally in Savannah on Thursday.

Meantime, former U.S. President Donald Trump will campaign in the Midwest this week in two battleground states that could prove to be decisive in this election. He'll deliver remarks on the economy in Michigan on Thursday and host a town hall later in the evening in Wisconsin.

NASA has decided the fate of two astronauts who've been stuck in space for nearly three months. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will abandon the Boeing Starliner that has been plagued with issues. Instead, they'll return to Earth on a SpaceX capsule early next year.

Michael Holmes reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): A village in India is seeking some help from above to bring U.S. Astronaut Suni Williams back to Earth. William's father was from the village, so locals feel a special kinship to her and are praying for her safe return after an extended stay in space.

But NASA has finally given a more down to earth solution, just how and when Williams and fellow Boeing Starliner astronaut Butch Wilmore will return to Earth after spending nearly three months aboard the International Space Station on a mission that was only supposed to last a little more than a week.

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: NASA has decided that Butch and Sonny will return with Crew 9 next February.

[03:55:03]

And that Starliner will return uncrewed.

HOLMES: It was Starliner's first time carrying astronauts to the ISS but technical issues with thrusters made NASA reconsider the ride home, opting instead to return the crew on a SpaceX spacecraft that's scheduled for an upcoming mission.

It's a setback for Boeing, which has struggled to keep up with SpaceX in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. But Nelson says hard lessons from the past, including the losses of two space shuttles, weighed heavily on the decision.

NELSON: Our core value is safety, and it is our North Star.

HOLMES: NASA says it's reconfiguring the upcoming SpaceX Crew 9 mission to send only two crew members to the ISS instead of four. Williams and Wilmore are both veterans of two long duration stays on the space station, and NASA says they're not only prepared to fill out the Crew 9 team, but they're already hard at work.

DANA WEIGEL, NASA ISS PROGRAM MANAGER: Since they've been up there, they've been a welcome set of helping hands. They've already done about 100 hours of work on 42 different experiments, and they've helped us with some of the critical station maintenance that we've had on board.

HOLMES: Wilmore's family said that they were aware there could be a delay, which means more months of FaceTiming to keep in touch.

DARYN WILMORE, DAUGHTER: It is so cool. He gives us a lot of Earth views. I especially like seeing the sunset.

HOLMES: And there'll be plenty more of those in space for Williams and Wilmore, which, at least in NASA's view, is a safer option.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. That'll do it for me now. But my colleague, Kim Brunhuber, will take over coverage of our breaking news right after the break.

Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:00]