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CNN International: Israeli Military: Bodies of Six Hostages Recovered in Gaza; Harris and Biden to Campaign Together on Labor Day; Trump has no Planned Events on Labor Day; Cousin of Killed Israeli Hostage Pens an Emotional Tribute; Russia Strikes Ukraine as Children Return to School; Funeral for American-Israeli Hostage Hersh Goldberg- Polin. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired September 02, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane, and this is CNN Newsroom. Just ahead, thousands of people are protesting across Israel, even after a court ordered the end to a nationwide general strike. We'll have a live report from Tel Aviv.
Then U.S. President, Joe Biden returns to the campaign trail, how his support may give new breath of life to Kamala Harris campaign? Plus, a look inside the largest U.S. overreach military base in the world just 60 miles from the North Korean border.
We begin in Israel, where tens of thousands took to the streets in one of the largest nationwide protests since the start of Israel's war on Hamas. A nationwide strike is also underway as pressure mounts on the government to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal. The anger, grief and outrage were sparked after the killing of six hostages taken by Hamas terrorists on October 7th, three of them were expected to be released in the first phase of ceasefire hostage release deal.
As protests continue today, many are blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for stalling ceasefire talks. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is on the ground for us in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, tell us what you're seeing, what people are telling you there?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now we are at one of the main intersections in Tel Aviv, where, last night, you saw hundreds of thousands of people coming out in the streets to demand a hostage release deal to demand that this government, in the wake of the killing of those six hostages in Gaza.
Their bodies recovered and brought back to Israel, that this government do more to secure the release of the remaining hostages, so that those hostages could return alive, rather than in body bags, as we saw over the weekend.
But today, we are still seeing continued protests in this area, albeit in smaller numbers. You can see right here behind me, you've got several hundred people who, moments ago, were actually blocking this main intersection, and they are continuing to chant, demanding the release of the hostages, demanding that this government do more to secure that deal.
Behind them is actually the Israeli military headquarters right now. And you can also see on this road as well, this street is entirely blocked off to traffic right now. It is a very active scene. We spoke actually with one woman who was blocking traffic about why she felt the sense of urgency and who she blames for the current situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIMI ZEMAH, PROTESTER: And the whole the Ministry of Defense, everybody in the army, is now saying we don't need to fight anymore. It's not about fighting. It's not about saving Israel anymore. It's about politics, the politicians wanting to stay where they are, and that is not a price anyone should pay for his freedom. Definitely not hundred and eight people have been there for 332 days now already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: And we have heard, of course, from the loved ones of some of these hostages as well, who said that, of course, they blame Hamas for taking their loved ones hostage and for killing six of these hostages over the weekend, according to the Israeli military. But they also hold this Israeli government, and specifically the Israeli Prime Minister, responsible for the current state of affairs, for the fact that there is not a hostage deal.
And what we've been hearing from the people here is exactly that sentiment, but also a tremendous sense of grief and a bit of hope, a bit of hope that in the wake of the deaths of these six hostages, that perhaps this time, there will be something different, as we saw a general strike across Israel. Today, we saw those protests ongoing, and tonight, we are expecting much, much more.
MACFARLANE: Jeremy, we heard that the government has seek an urgent injunction to stop these protests from continuing. What more do we know about that? And is there a sense that this is a turning point from speaking to the people as you have been doing there?
DIAMOND: There is certainly that hope that it is a turning point. But at this point, there have been moments of hope for months and months and months, and yet, we have not seen a change in posture from this current Israeli government.
What we are seeing, however, is one member of the government, the defense minister, Yoav Gallant growing increasingly vocal, in particular in these cabinet meetings, behind the scenes, as he did yesterday, saying that he believes that the government's position on the hostages right now is a quote, moral disgrace to be prioritizing maintaining control of that Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza Egypt's border rather than prioritizing the release of the hostages.
[08:05:00] But for now, Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, and his close advisors, they appear to be digging in their heels. They are not changing their position, at least not yet.
MACFARLANE: All right, Jeremy Diamond, they're reporting for us live from Tel Aviv. Thank you, Jeremy. And next hour U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet in the White House Situation Room alongside -- along with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team. The meeting will focus on efforts to secure the release of the 101 hostages still being held by Hamas.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, says the next few days are critical in pushing for the hostages' release. Kylie Atwood's joining us live from Washington. And Kylie, it's understood that three of the hostages who died had been expected to be released in any forthcoming ceasefire deal, of course, that deal is now been turned on its head. So, what can we expect to come from this meeting? How urgent now is this crisis?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, that is certainly one of the complicating factors that has arisen after this devastating news over the weekend that these six hostages were murdered by Hamas.
We should note that U.S. officials say that at this moment in time, because of what happened over the weekend, there is added urgency, but that complicating factor the fact that the U.S., according to a senior U.S. official, had been working on a final proposal, a final proposed deal with Qatar and with Egypt that they could present to Israel and Hamas.
And that some of the folks who were included, some of the hostages that were included in that final proposal, were actually murdered over the weekend. That makes things more challenging. So according to the White House, this meeting today here in Washington, in the Situation Room with President Biden and Vice President Harris is going to drive towards a deal.
They're going to look at what is possible to try and achieve a deal for the release of these 101 hostages, of course, 68 of whom are believed to be alive. And they want to do it expedient -- expediently, particularly because of what happened over the weekend. We heard President Biden saying that Hamas is going to pay for the death of these hostages.
But we also heard him say that he believes that they were on the precipice, effectively, of a deal, and he hopes that they can get there as quickly as possible. One of the things, of course, that we will be watching for is these conversations between all of these parties that have been involved, the United States and Qatar, the United States and Egypt, of course, Israel and Hamas.
And according to a senior U.S. official, if you look at what happened over the weekend, of course, it calls into question, from their perspective, just how serious Hamas is when it comes to actually accomplishing a deal to release these hostages in a ceasefire. But the senior U.S. official also said that this put added pressure,
as Jeremy was noting, on Israel and specifically, personally, on Prime Minister Netanyahu, to actually achieve a deal. So, there might be some more momentum at this moment in time. This is all something that we are watching incredibly closely, and we'll watch to see what comes out at that meeting at the White House today.
MACFARLANE: All right. Kylie Atwood, for now, thank you. We want to take a closer look at the situation in Israel now and the anger sparked by the killing of six hostages. Yossi Melman joins us now from Tel Aviv, Israel. He is an Israeli Security Writer and also the Co- Author of the book "Spies against Armageddon". Thank you for your time.
YOSSI MELMAN, ISRAELI SECURITY WRITER: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: I want to begin by asking you the last time we saw process of this size in Israel against the government. It was March 2023, and on that occasion, it succeeded in forcing Benjamin Netanyahu to halt his efforts to overhaul Israel's judicial system. How do you think he will be viewing these -- this scale of protest this time around. How will it be affecting him?
MELMAN: Well, it -- he came in under street demonstrations and decided not to pursue the judicial reform, which we called, many Israelis called as a regime change. However, this time, it depends if the protest would continue day after day after day. Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to happen, and because of that, Netanyahu will survive this -- this -- this crisis, or this strong, outrageous protest in the streets of Tel Aviv last night and around the country.
MACFARLANE: We know, and we have heard in the last few minutes how these protesters are now piling the pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to change his position, but that has been the one thing he has refused to do multiple times throughout the ceasefire deal talks.
[08:10:00]
How do you expect or think that change can come at this point?
MELMAN: Only if four five members of parliament from his coalition blog, will set an automatic for him, that if he doesn't accept the deal, then they will leave the coalition. The second possibility is, if the U.S. administration will bring, which is expected in the coming days will bring one more, a proposed deal, and will force the two sides to accept it, in a way of take it or leave it.
And if -- if this is -- if this is going to happen, but -- and this is the administration, move it have -- it has to be attached with -- with also sticks with -- with some sort of a punishment or threat to punish --
MACFARLANE: Yes.
MELMAN: -- decide that would not accept the deal. MACFARLANE: That the change or the pressure on Netanyahu within his coalition is unlikely to do it. I want to highlight one thing that you have written about as an alternative, and that is that Israel's security chiefs are currently facing a dilemma, and that is to continue to serve under Benjamin Netanyahu and be implicated in the deaths of these hostages, or resign. Do you see that as a real prospect at this time that that could happen?
MELMAN: Well, the question of to resign or not to resign is on their mind. And -- but I don't believe it's a real prospect at this moment, because they know, and I mentioned it in the article that he would be very happy if they resigned and would be replaced by people more to his liking, people who whom he would select and would be softer on him, and would be less -- would be more political and less state minded, looking for the interest of state and not for Netanyahu's political interests.
MACFARLANE: We did hear from President Biden and Vice President Harris yesterday in a statement where there was no explicit pressure coming from either of them on Benjamin Netanyahu directly. Why are the White House not taking a stronger position on Netanyahu at this point, and what sort of effect would it have if they were to do that?
MELMAN: Well, I think their decision is based, first of all, on domestic considerations. The U.S. is expecting a very tight elections very soon, in a matter of two months. And secondly, they know that they -- if they put pressure on Netanyahu, which means the pressure on Israel, it would benefit Israel's enemies like Iran and Hezbollah.
So, they have to somehow, like a juggler, to maneuver and to -- you know to keep all these balls in the air and to catch them, and it's very difficult this tight balance for the administration, especially at this time.
MACFARLANE: All right. Yossi Melman, we appreciate your thoughts and your time. Thank you. Now still to come for Labor Day, Kamala Harris is campaigning with her boss. We'll tell you who Joe Biden is targeting with his message today, in just a moment. And a little later this hour, getting hundreds of thousands of Gaza's children vaccinated against polio. What the UN is saying about it?
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[08:15:00]
MACFARLANE: It is sometimes said that the race for president in the U.S. really begins on Labor Day, and Kamala Harris is calling out a very powerful ally for her Labor Day Rally. Harris will campaign alongside her boss, President, Joe Biden on Monday in Pittsburgh. Harris will also travel to Detroit for a campaign event. Both stops are designed to highlight her campaign's commitment to working class voters, especially in swing states.
Well, let's go to the White House and Kevin Liptak, is there. A busy week for both campaigns ahead Kevin, just give us the overview of what we can expect and also the significance of President Biden appearing alongside Harris in Pittsburgh?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It really is kind of a new phase for President Biden, instead of being the candidate out on the trail, now he is out as a surrogate for his vice president, something as of a validator in chief as he works to get her to the White House in November.
And what you'll see them doing today in Pittsburgh is speaking at a union hall really trying to court union workers on this Labor Day. That's a group that Democrats really view as a mobilizing force for them in November, whether it's knocking on doors or making phone calls. In the last couple of elections, a lot of rank-and-file union workers have been tilting towards Donald Trump, and the objective today is to really bring them back into the Democratic fold.
And you really can't imagine a more Joe Biden type event than Labor Day in Pittsburgh. It's a place he's been on many Labor Days over the last several years, and so as we look for these various passing of the torch moments between himself and his vice president today is very much one of them, and it also exemplifies, I think, the campaign strategy that you'll see coming from President Biden over the coming months.
It's something that his team has been sketching out over the last several weeks, and they very much intend to focus on the so-called blue wall Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, those are states where they believe President Biden still holds a good degree of political capital in its places that you can expect to see him a lot over the next coming months.
It has been interesting in the time since Joe Biden dropped out of the race, his approval rating has actually seen something of an uptick, and you can expect the Harris campaign will very much want to use him in places where he will appeal, and you can expect that that will be among blue collar workers certainly.
Now this is, of course, the kick-off really, to the final sprint towards November. Kamala Harris is expected to be preparing for next week's presidential debate with Donald Trump that will take place in Pennsylvania over the weekend, we did get a glimpse of where the race stands.
A poll of likely voters showed her with a slight lead, but her campaign very much believes they are still the underdogs, and we heard from the Campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon, who said that as we head into this final stretch of this race, that they are the clear underdogs, very much looking to guard against any overconfidence among Democrats as they head into this critical stretch.
MACFARLANE: All right. Kick off begins now. Kevin Liptak at the White House, thanks very much. And as the 2024 race heats up, Donald Trump is promising an economic revival while focusing on the blue wall of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. He's planning to hold events in all three states later this week.
It comes as former president claims he had every right to interfere with the 2020, presidential election. He spoke to Fox News on Sunday about the updated indictment in his federal election interference case. It slims down the allegations against Trump in light of the Supreme Court's immunity ruling, but none of the four charges have been dropped. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's so crazy that my poll numbers go up. Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it, you get indicted, and your poll numbers go up. When people get indicted, your poll numbers go down. But it was such, such nonsense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:20:00]
MACFARLANE: Well, let's look at where both campaigns stand on Labor Day. Joining us is Thomas Gift he's the Director for the Center for U.S. Politics at University College London. Thank you for joining us. I want to begin by just directing our viewers to the latest IPSOS polling data, which shows Harris only at 50 percent over Donald Trump at 46 percent which means Harris and her campaign are not enjoying the post-convention bump that they had hoped for. How much of a blow is that at this stage?
THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTER ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, it's good to be with you. Christina, thanks so much for having me. I think generally, what we have seen is an uptick in poll numbers of Kamala Harris since she became the presumptive nominee. So maybe a lot of that was captured initially, and so we haven't seen as big of a post-convention bump as perhaps we expected.
She has received a lot of friendly media. Recently she's been in the press and the news a lot. I do think that this is maybe where the honeymoon period ends and she starts to receive more scrutiny. That was true of the CNN interview a couple nights ago, and increasingly, we're seeing journalists and the media point out specifics in policy that maybe don't motivate large fractions of Americans.
MACFARLANE: And we were just hearing Thomas there from Kevin saying how, talking about how Vice President Harris is deploying the president in Pittsburgh today? President Biden calling himself, I believe one of the most pro union presidents in history, and that is going to be important in the state of Pittsburgh. How much is VP Harris going to have to convince voters there of her own sort of pro worker credentials in that regard?
GIFT: No, I think that's a great point. Certainly, unions are a marquee part of the Democratic base, and so Harris needs for them to show up on Election Day if she's going to win. I think it does help campaigning with Joe Biden, simply because he has that Scranton, Pennsylvania background and can speak to white -- oftentimes blue- collar workers in states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, Wisconsin, et cetera. So, this is absolutely important for Kamala Harris. I think the one
challenge though, is that the more she campaigns with Joe Biden, the more she doesn't sort of point out very much daylight between he and her policies. Then, you know, she's tied more and more to the administration's record, and that includes good, it also includes bad.
MACFARLANE: I mean, the unions as well, have been some of the most vocal groups in calling for a ceasefire, and we know the Israel Gaza crisis remains one of the big variables in this election cycle. How difficult is it going to be for Harris to navigate that, especially when you consider the events the weekend the tragic news of the six hostages who were killed, and the fact that Donald Trump already is looking to politicize that against her?
GIFT: This absolutely a challenge for Kamala Harris, and I do think that she kind of wants to evade the issue as much as possible, simply because she knows that there's sort of no win in this scenario. We did see, back of course during the primaries that there was a huge protest vote in Michigan among pro-Palestinian voters.
Harris has to be concerned about that. She needs to be concerned about turnout. At the same time, she made very clear in the interview that she stands firmly with Israel and their right to defend themselves. So basically, she's kind of in a catch 22 right now, where she'd probably like to say as little as possible, but at the same time, I'm sure she's going to be pressed on this during interviews.
MACFARLANE: And just -- and just briefly Thomas, one other key election issue is obviously based around the abortion issue, and it's one that Trump appears to be struggling with, having flip flopped just a few days ago over the Florida amendment. Why are the Republicans grappling so hard with this?
GIFT: Well, you're absolutely right. Trump has sown a lot of confusion on the abortion issue, and it's not because voters are misunderstanding him. It's really because he keeps waffling on his position. Trump's campaign recently said that it was clarifying Trump's position on the abortion amendment in Florida.
What they really mean is that Trump was for the amendment to expand abortion rights before he was against it. Even so, as you know, Trump has been attacking toward the center on reproductive rights because he knows what happened in the 2022 midterms, Democrats significantly outperformed expectations, in large part because Democrats and moderate voters were energized by efforts to erode abortion rights after the overturning of Roe.
Trump doesn't want to lose all of those votes, but at the same time, he's very mindful that he can't alienate social and religious conservatives who were largely responsible for him getting to the Oval Office in the first place. So, it's a tough position for Trump to be in.
MACFARLANE: All right. Thomas Gift from University College of London. We appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.
GIFT: Thank you.
[08:25:00]
MACFARLANE: All right. Still to come, we'll bring you the emotional tribute from the cousin of Carmel Gat, one of six hostages whose bodies have just been recovered from Gaza. Then Russia unleashes a massive wave of strikes on the day Ukrainian children returned to school a live report on that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: More now on our top story, Israel's largest labor union tells CNN it will call a halt to its nationwide strike in about three hours from now. But a Tel Aviv court is ordering the mass walkout to end sooner than that. This comes as Israel's opposition leader says he met demonstrators earlier to show his support.
Angry protests have been sweeping the country after Israel's military recovered the bodies of six hostages killed in Gaza this weekend. Protesters say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn't done enough to protect the hostages. At the same time, observers say key negotiations for a hostage release deal have become more complicated.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to meet with the U.S. negotiating teams in the coming hours. And a little earlier, I spoke to Gil Dickman, whose cousin Carmel Gat was one of the hostages killed. He was damning in his criticism of both Hamas and the Israeli government.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GIL DICKMAN, COUSIN OF KILLED HOSTAGE: This blame game is a gain to me, and when I'm here for life and death, hell game, it's both sides are to blame. It's first of all the terror organization who took her and all of the hostages. They shouldn't have taken her. She is an innocent -- an innocent civilian, and she wasn't supposed to be taken in the first place, a 40-year-old woman not related in any way to not to the army and not to anything else.
She was supposed to be at home with her family, and she was taken just like kids and other innocent people were taken. And I blame -- of course, they blame Hamas, and I also blame my government, because these are the people that should be in charge of the security and the peace of people in Israel.
[08:30:00]
These are the people who are supposed to be responsible for the life of people here, and they were responsible for the lives of all the hostages. And they decided, cold bloodedly, they voted, just a few days ago that the Philadelphi, the border between Gaza and Egypt, is more important than the lives of the hostages, and that means that our government decided that they're willing to sacrifice the lives of the hostages.
They all voted. The cabinet voted for it. And we were shocked. And we said, me and my sister and all my family and all the families of all the hostages we said, this is crossing the red line, and that would mean the death of hostages. And saying this, I did not know how true it will be, and how specific and personal it is going to become.
And it was Carmel. It could have been anyone else, but it was Carmel. And the lives of all the other hostages are still in danger, so we must act now the Israeli government and the Israeli people, Israeli people chose to act. They came out to the streets last night, and they're out in the streets right now, and it's very moving. I'm sorry that we had to go through this horrible, horrible situation in order for them to get out. But they did, and I really hope that the government, our government, will make the right decision and push for a deal that brings the hostages' home. It's been too long.
MACFARLANE: And that was what you were calling for in your tribute to Carmel Gil. You were calling on people to come out and demonstrate in her memory, and they have done that. We've seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets. We're reporting on nationwide protests, nationwide strike today. Do you feel that this is a turning point we're witnessing here?
DICKMAN: I really hope that this is the turning point, or breaking point, or some kind of a change in reality, which will maybe, maybe help the government make the right decision. But if it -- if it's just a one-time thing, it -- it's -- it was reported to be the largest protest or demonstration in the history of Israel.
This is very moving, and I know that Carmel can't see this, but I know that's exactly what she would have wanted for people to come out and to demand the release of the other hostages. It's too late for her, but it's not too late for them. And I hope that they're not -- that the government is not just going to look away and to choose death over life, because this is not what we believe here in Israel, and that's not what we believe this war is about.
You know, you're giving a lot of air time to this war because of things that are going on, on both sides of the border. People think it's Israel versus Palestine, or Jews versus Muslims. This is, and has always been, a fight between people who believe in life and who choose life and who choose a ceasefire.
They'll bring the hostages home over the people who believe in death and choose death. And I know that the organization that kidnapped Carmel and that murdered her mother chose death. They believe that death is sacred, but I can't believe, I still can't believe that my government chose death. And I urge you, Benjamin Netanyahu, choose life. Please sign the deal, seal the deal, go to ceasefire and save the hostages that you can still save.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: And I also asked Gil to tell me what Carmel was like as a person. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DICKMAN: Carmel, my eldest cousin, is a peace-loving person. She had friends and people loving her from all religions and all languages. She is a person of love, and you can see her dancing with her niece. Her niece was also kidnapped, but unbelievably saved by Carmel's brother, alone, her father.
And the fact that she was able to be a beacon of light in captivity to shed light on the other hostages, on -- in the most -- in the darkest places, in the darkest times. It's heartwarming for me to know, and I think for all the family, she actually had yoga sessions done with them in order to keep them safe, and meditation sessions in order to keep their spirits up.
And one of the hostages who were with her posted yesterday, a very, very, very short post saying thank you, and you're the reason I'm here today. And I believe I don't know what she saw from there. I know that now it's too late to tell her that, but I really hope that she knows that she saved these wonderful people's lives.
And that she was a beacon of light to them, and that she was an inspiration to so many people here in Israel to support the cause and the life of the hostages and to support life and what she believed in her life. And I really hope that she knew that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:35:00]
MACFARLANE: Emotional Gil Dickman there, who was the cousin of one of the six hostages found dead in Gaza. And of course, his pain is shared by many more families who are still waiting for answers nearly a year into this conflict, 101 people are still being held in Gaza, and of that number, Israel believes 35 are dead.
Now the UN led drive to get the children of Gaza vaccinated against polio is now in its second day. The UN's Agency for Palestinian Refugees says close to 90,000 children have been reached, citing the World Health Organization, UNRWA is pledging to immunize more than 90 percent of Gaza's children under the age of 10.
CNN's Nada Bashir has been following this. I mean, this was an incredibly complex operation to vaccinate over 600,000 children, but as we've heard there so far, the pauses in fighting are holding enough for that to take place.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We've heard from the spokespeople from the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees describing day one of this vaccine rollout as a success. And there are hopes, of course, that this will continue to be the case over what is a 12-day period, which will see that vaccine campaign rolled out across all of Gaza in three different phases.
As you mentioned, 87,000 children were vaccinated yesterday. But again, there is more than 640,000 children under the age of ten. They are aiming to vaccinate. So, this is a huge challenge for the UN workers on the ground who are operating this vaccine rollout campaign. Again, this is taking place in a 12-day period, so there will be three
day pauses for each phase, three phases. The first which is happening right now is focused on central Gaza. So yesterday we saw the region of -- where the vaccines were being circulated there outside the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Phase two will move down to Southern Gaza to support children there, and then phase three, that final phase moving on to Northern Gaza. But as you mentioned, it is crucial for these medical workers on the ground, for the humanitarian organizations, and, of course, for the families waiting to have their children vaccinated, that this pause in fighting that the UN has called for is respected. We heard yesterday from a UN worker described just how important that is. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUISE WATERIDGE, SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, UNRWA: It's been an extremely complex vaccination campaign, probably one of the most difficult we've seen in the world. We have had ongoing bombardments. These have stopped this morning. It's quite quiet now. We're hopeful that this will last throughout the campaign. This is very critical, because we simply cannot vaccinate children while they are running for their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: And of course, what we've been hearing from organizations, aid organizations and the UN for some time now is that the security situation on the ground has made it incredibly difficult to carry out humanitarian operations. That is why these pauses are so important are critical, as you heard there -- for this vaccine campaign to be carried out.
But of course, Yesterday, we saw the vaccine rollout focus on an area which is being deemed as a humanitarian zone. Not all of the areas where these vaccine rollouts are considered humanitarian safe zones, necessarily. So, this is a risky operation for those workers on the ground trying to roll up this vaccine campaign, it really is dependent on all sides party to this conflict respecting that pause in fighting.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, and as we mentioned earlier, this is just phase one of two vaccines that will have to be administered in the months to come as well. Nada, thank you. Now Russia has launched a massive attack against two of Ukraine's largest cities on the day that children head back to school.
The strikes targeted the capital of Kyiv as well as Eastern Kharkiv and Sumi regions. And officials say they involved a combination of cruise and ballistic missiles as well as drones. It follows one of Ukraine's largest ever drone attacks on Russia over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin says Kyiv's Kursk incursion nearly one month ago has now stopped Moscow's offensive in Eastern Ukraine. And a beluga whale that became famous due to its suspicions it was a Russian spy whale has been found dead near Norway. The whale was first spotted off Norway's coast in 2019 not that far
from Russian waters, it was wearing a harness and what appeared to be a mount for a small camera, sparking allegations Moscow was using the whale as a spy. The Kremlin never responded. Local media report the whale enjoyed being around people and was spotted in several Norwegian coastal towns in the past few years.
Now Pope Francis will depart for Asia on Monday, he'll spend 12 days traveling across Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, making this the longest trip yet for the 87-year-old Pontiff. During Sunday prayers at St. Peter's Square, the Pope prayed for the people of Ukraine, Gaza and Burkina Faso. The Pontiff is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday. CNN's Christopher Lamb has more details.
[08:40:00]
CHRIS LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis is embarking on the longest foreign trip of his pontificate. He's going to four countries across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, covering almost 33,000 kilometers. It's the longest trip that any Pope has embarked upon. Francis will be going to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
Now top of the agenda of this trip is interfaith dialog. Francis will be in Indonesia, which is a country which has the world's largest Muslim population. He'll be taking part in an interfaith dialog event at the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest Mosque in Southeast Asia. It's a mosque that is connected via a tunnel to the Catholic Cathedral across the road.
It is an embodiment of the vision that Francis has for Catholic Muslim relations, the importance of coexistence and friendship. And he will be hoping that this message of dialog between faiths can resonate across the world at a time of growing conflicts and rising religious extremism.
Now, Francis will also have the opportunity to support the Catholic communities in these Southeast Asian and Pacific countries, countries that are increasingly playing an important role in global Catholicism. Now the Pope, of course, is 87-years-old. He uses a wheelchair. He's had some health difficulties.
Some are asking whether he will be able to carry out this trip at all. Nevertheless, Francis has shown he is determined to embark upon this trip the longest of his pontificate. And he's showing people, those critics who perhaps, are doubting whether he has still got the energy left to be Pope, that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.
MACFARLANE: Still to come, millions of travelers are taking to the roads and skies across the U.S. we'll have a live look at the travel conditions. And it's the biggest American military base outside of the U.S. and just a few kilometers from North Korea we'll look at life at Camp Humphreys after the break.
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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Now as we mentioned just before the break, Russia has launched a massive attack against two of Ukraine's largest cities on the day that children head back to school. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is joining us now live from Kyiv. Fred, what more can you tell us about the attack?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Christina. And Kyiv certainly was the prime target of the Russians in the early morning hours of today, I can tell you this city really had a very unquiet night. It was in the early morning hours that all of us here were woken by those air raid sirens, and shortly thereafter, the air defense systems here in and around Kyiv started working very, very intensely.
And the Ukrainians are saying that the Russians fired around ten or probably even more cruise missiles and ballistic missiles just at the Ukrainian capital alone. The way all that worked is the cruise missiles were flying all sorts of erratic courses and then finally making course for the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
[08:45:00]
And at the same time, then those ballistic missiles came in as well. Now the Ukrainians are saying Christina, that they were able to shoot down almost all of the ballistic missiles, and actually took down all the cruise missiles that were fired towards Ukrainian territory.
But of course, there were some hits here in the Ukrainian capital. Several people were injured on the ground. And it is indeed the first day of school after summer vacation. And that's also something that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of this country, mentioned, as well as he ripped into the Russians for once again, launching a massive aerial attack here on the Ukrainian capital.
Of course, it also comes exactly one week after that gigantic attack with missiles and drones that took place here, where they launched more than 100 missiles and more than 100 drones at Ukrainian territory. And you're also absolutely right to mention that Kharkiv, the second biggest city in Ukraine, also once again targeted in the early morning hours of today.
Several people were injured there as well. This comes as the attacks on Kharkiv really are intensifying. It is, of course, very close to the border with Russia. It has frequently, always suffered attack, but now there's even an uptick in that. And just yesterday, there was a huge attack on Kharkiv that wounded some 40 people there.
So, all of that definitely very much continuing, but the Ukrainians are saying the attack here on Kyiv tonight was definitely one that was extremely sophisticated, extremely dangerous, but they still say that they believe that they did a very good job defending against this missile attack Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right. Our Fred Pleitgen, there live from one of those cities under attack last night, Kyiv. Thanks very much, Fred. Now Labor Day in the U.S., which marks the unofficial end of summer, millions of people across the country are hitting the roads, rail and air. U.S. airports are expecting to deal with as many as 17 million passengers in the space of just one week.
CNN's Pete Muntean joins us live from Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C. How are the crowds looking to you there. Pete?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the crowds have been building. You know, the numbers are huge. And this is the end of a huge summer for air travel. A quarter billion people travel here in the U.S., according to the TSA between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
In fact, the numbers for this holiday weekend are really strong, 2.9 million people screened by the Transportation Security Administration here in the United States on Friday, that number even bigger than what they anticipated. They thought it was going to be about 2.8 million people today, about 2.66 million people traveling.
The good news is that the cancelations and delays have remained relatively low. They really peaked on Thursday, when bad weather moved from the mid-Atlantic impacting airports here in the Washington D.C. area, also in the New York City metro area.
So, the TSA is saying that things are moving relatively smoothly, even though the FAA says we could see some ground stops in places like Texas and Florida later on today, as thunderstorms start to build with the afternoon convection. Things getting a little bit warmer on those areas. Want you to listen now to passengers we talked to at the beginning of this holiday rush who said they were going to take all of those snags and snarls and stride listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN FLORES, LABOR DAY TRAVELER: Not really. We do this -- regulars. We travel for work and for leisure and family all the time, so and coming in here and seeing that it's not that crowded, and traffic is pretty light, so if I had any problems, they went away. Yeah, so we'll see how Monday looks. At least today looks good. I'm glad I'm going to fly tomorrow, and we'll see how Monday turns out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: One thing I heard from international travelers, somebody coming in from Frankfort to Washington, Dulles, just down the street here, they said that customs are moving relatively smoothly. People are able to get through pretty quickly. One thing you are seeing to try and get people through airport security here in the U.S. is more and more facial recognition technology.
And the TSA has rolled that out from just a few airport pilot programs to now about 80 airports nationwide, they have machines that where you scan your ID, a camera on the machine matches the live photo from that camera with the photo on your ID. They say it's a lot more accurate than humans checking it. The good news is that people are able to get through security pretty
quickly right now, the live numbers here from Reagan National Airport, standard screening taking about five to eight minutes, less than five minutes to get through TSA pre-check.
MACFARLANE: All right. Well, let's hope it stays smooth sailing today. Just approaching 09:00 a.m. there. Pete from Reagan National Airport, thank you. Now being deployed overseas can be tough on families, but one base in South Korea is changing that. We'll take you to the biggest space outside the U.S. after the break.
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[08:50:00]
MACFARLANE: It's been described as a little America, a bit like Texas, but just 60 miles from North Korea. 41,000 people live in the largest U.S. overseas military base in the world. It is within driving distance of North Korea, and those living there like to experience both American and Korean culture. CNN's Mike Valerio reports from Camp Humphreys, South Korea.
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MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's where rock concerts roar, donuts delight, Krispy Kreme on the conveyor belt, and where families find new homes in Korea, like the cook family trading their lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, for Camp Humphreys, South Korea.
It's the Army's busiest airfield in Asia and the biggest U.S. military base overseas. Camp Humphreys is about 60 miles away from North Korea, driving distance from the heavily fortified demilitarized zone the DMZ, which divides the Korean peninsula. More than 40,000 people call Camp Humphreys home, including the Cooks.
They have not one, but two sets of twins. The youngest just eight months old. They came here because of Sergeant Terry Cook, an Army IT Specialist here to support the critical U.S., South Korea military alliance.
TYRESE COOK, MILITARY SPOUCE: We met in Cincinnati, Ohio.
VALERIO (voice-over): But in dad mode with his wife free, he says it's all about supporting his parental platoon.
SGT. TERRY COOK, U.S. ARMY: I just really like to spend as much time maximize our time to get this whole unit I got here.
VALERIO: I just looking good right now. You are literally Super Dad. You could do like pearls.
VALERIO (voice-over): Camp Humphreys hosts, the only U.S. Army Division, which is partially made up of South Korean soldiers. It also serves as the Headquarters of United Nations Command, the international military force designed to protect South Korea since the Korean War. Now nearly 75 years later, the Korean peninsula's proximity to China and Russia makes South Korea a key linchpin in Northeast Asia Security for the U.S. government. But the goal for families here is to immerse in Korean culture, which is especially important for Ri since she lived in Germany as a kid when her dad was a sergeant in the Army.
TYRESE COOK: Being able to provide my children with the same cultural experiences that I was given as a child is extremely important to me as a mother.
VALERIO (voice-over): But for those looking for a slice of America, there's plenty. Texas Roadhouse beyond base golf course and one of the biggest Fourth of July celebrations on this side of the world. Then there's this, a giant bakery, Wonder Bread, Burger Buns and delicious Donuts made with the secret Krispy Kreme recipe, no less, for the schools, restaurants and grocery stores serving U.S. bases across South Korea.
There's also the feeling of belonging, jubilation after years in the army, finally becoming American citizens. Non-commissioned Officer NCO Sergeant Vanessa Ramo was born in the Philippines, supported here at her naturalization ceremony by her platoon.
PVT. RENEE MYATT, U.S. ARMY: She's an amazing NCO very, very supportive to us. I know I'm sorry.
VALERIO (voice-over): As for becoming a U.S. citizen in Korea.
STAFF SGT. VANESSA RAMO, U.S. ARMY: I didn't expect it to be here honestly. It's great to do it overseas somewhere, especially in Korea. I love Korea.
VALERIO (voice-over): Ramos Platoon Leader himself naturalized in Philadelphia.
LT. JACOB HAN. U.S ARMY: It just makes me really proud, because I'm a Korean American, meaning I can serve the people, like the country that I was born in, but also the country that also gave me a lot of opportunities, which is the U.S.
VALERIO (voice-over): A slice of America, inextricably part of the Korean tapestry, and for its newest residents, hardly far from home. Mike Valerio, CNN Camp Humphreys, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[08:55:00]
MACFARLANE: Now, in the next few minutes, a reminder, we expect the funeral for American Israeli hostage, Hersch Goldberg-Polin to take place. These are live pictures outside the cemetery in Jerusalem. The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, will give the eulogy.
And you can see the large crowd there paying their respects to the 23- year-old who was seized on October 7th and killed along with five other hostages in Gaza over the weekend. And that will do it for this edition of CNN Newsroom. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Stay with us. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
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