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New Israeli Strikes On Southern Lebanon As Hezbollah Confirms Death Of Senior Commander; Hezbollah Leader's Death Is "Measure Of Justice" For His Victims, Biden Says; Trump Focuses On Border Security At Wisconsin Rally; Protesters Demand Netanyahu Focus On Freeing Hostages; At Least 61 Dead And Millions Without Power After Helene's Deadly March Across The Southeast. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 29, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:43]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York. This is CNN Newsroom with Paula Newton.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Paula Newton in New York. It is 9:00 a.m. and Beirut, where Israel is carrying out new air strikes, and fears are growing that the exchange of missile fire between Israel and Hezbollah could turn into a ground war.

Now U.S. officials say Israeli troops have mobilized and are moving to the border with Lebanon in what could be preparation for a ground incursion. Israel is saying that such an offensive is only one option being considered now. The IDF is continuing meantime its air offensive with blasts hitting close to the Beirut airport on Saturday. Saturday strikes in Lebanon reportedly killed more than 30 people and wounded close to 200 others.

Hezbollah fired back saying it launched missiles toward Jerusalem, prompting a response from Israeli air defenses. Police say pieces of an intercepted missile crashed in the suburbs.

All this is happening after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, prompting new fears of a wider war in the region. Hezbollah is pledging to continue its fight, while Iran says Israel will face, quote, a crushing blow for the assassination. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is now one step closer to achieving its military goals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The elimination of Nasrallah is a necessary condition for achieving the goals we have set, returning the residents of the North safely to their homes, and changing the balance of power in the region over the years, because as long as Nasrallah lived, he would quickly restore the capabilities we took away from Hezbollah. That's why I gave the directive, and Nasrallah is no longer with us. (END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Earlier, CNN spoke with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, we asked him if a ground offensive would be necessary to achieve Israel's military objective. Listen,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, the objective is actually to remove the threat of Hezbollah once and for all. Hezbollah has been terrorizing Israeli people for about 35 years now, they have shot tens of thousands of rockets on Israelis throughout the year. The years, murdered hundreds of Israelis. They killed my own best friend. And it's time to remove this whole threat from Israel. And this is an opportunity.

How to achieve it, you could do it with or without an incursion. I'm not going to give the government advice, but this is what we need to do, because this is a watershed event and huge opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: For more let's go to Abu Dhabi, where Paula Hancocks has been standing by with our updates. I mean, Paula Naftali Bennett, you heard him there, and he reminded us again, this was the conflict that Israel has prepared for so many years now, something you know so well from your experience there.

What does it seem that Israel is intent on doing now in terms of preparing for an escalation that would include ground troops?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, there's no doubt that the public signaling is that they are preparing for a ground invasion. This is what they want Hezbollah to believe. This is certainly what they have to prepare for as well, in case it does become a necessity.

One Israeli senior Israeli official, though, tell CNN that it's not their preferred option. Now we remember back in 2006 just how damaging that war was to Israel and just how difficult it was at the time, and certainly even more difficult for those civilians on the Lebanon side as well.

So it's something that Israel has to think about very carefully, because what they are doing at this point is the aerial bombardment, they say. And we heard this from the head of the IDF to soften, in their words, the Hezbollah targets so that they could go in for a ground incursion.

Now we are seeing troops being taken up to the border. We're seeing the areas, according to a U.S. official areas being prepared along the border, which would suggest that would be potentially where troops would be stationed for a ground invasion.

[02:05:09]

But we are hearing as well, including from the Israeli U.N. ambassador, that they don't want to have an incursion into Lebanon at this point, but we have been hearing from the IDF that it is an option. It is not the only option. Let's listen to Peter Lerner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. PETER LERNER, IDF SPOKESPERSON: I would suggest that Iran look very closely how we've dealt with Hamas, the leadership of Hamas, and how in the last week and a half we've effectively decapitated Hezbollah from its senior leadership all the way down to the operational and tactical staff. There is a lot to lose here. I don't think anybody is interested in a further escalation a broader war, but Israel needs to be prepared for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So with the assassination of Nasrallah, certainly that has been a massive blow to Hezbollah. It is demoralizing for the group. It's not necessarily going to have a direct impact on the control and command and the operational capabilities of the group.

But of course, Israel has for weeks now, have been taking out commanders in different areas of Hezbollah, so that certainly could have an impact. And of course, those the pager and walkie talkie explosions that belong to Hezbollah just last week is going to have an impact as well.

But Israel does know that the assassination of a leader does not eradicate a movement. It is something they have been doing for decades with both Hezbollah and also with Hamas, and certainly those groups have not been weakened significantly. So the question, of course, for Israel now is whether a ground incursion, a ground invasion, into southern Lebanon, is necessary, and it's a question that has many in the region on tenterhooks. Paula.

NEWTON: Absolutely. Paula Hancock, appreciate you keeping us up to date there. We'll check in with you again. We want to go live now to Dr. Tania Baban. She is in Beirut. She's Country Director for MedGlobal Lebanon and I thank you for joining us, doctor.

You know, with so many displaced now and the airstrikes really ongoing this hour. How are civilians in Beirut and beyond, frankly, coping with everything?

DR. TANIA BABAN, COUNTRY DIRECTOR, MEDGLOBAL LEBANON: Thank you, Paula, for having me. To be honest, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to find the words to describe what we're seeing on the ground. I mean, we're seeing that as a scenario unfolding all over again. Thousands of people have been displaced from the south into Beirut, and more displaced from Beirut into the streets with no shelter to go to.

The designated shelters right now are at full capacity that necessitating the Ministry of Education to open university campuses and parks to hold the more displaced people from within Beirut. I mean, this comes on top of the fact that Lebanon has the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, with 2 million Syrian refugees and almost 300,000 sorry, Palestinian refugees.

And this with everything the country has been through in the last few years, this war has really been the nail in the coffin, so to speak, hospitals are overwhelmed beyond their capacity, with the injuries coming in constantly.

As MedGlobal, we've been on the ground with local and international humanitarian organizations working around the clock, but unfortunately, not only is the financial aid only trickling in, but we're finding it very difficult to meet the large demands that we're facing in terms of basic needs for the displaced, and to be able to bring in shipments of medical and medical supplies to support the ministry of health, to give those to the hospitals that are in the front lines. You know, airlines have stopped flying into Beirut, and all our shipments have been grounded.

NEWTON: You know, doctor, this brings me to my next logical question. This is only right now been going on for a few days. What challenges do you fear you will face if this continues for weeks potentially?

BABAN: The Ministry of Health months ago, has asked us to gear up to plan up to the end of the year. But what we fear is that this danger will not only affect Lebanon, but there seems to be a scenario that can -- that it can escalate to the whole region, and the implications of this can be really unimaginable from a humanitarian standpoint. And the question is not why we should prepare, or how or where should people go to. The question is, why is this war ongoing for the last year? Why has this not been stopped? There are many civilians and many children and women that are being killed as bystanders, and there needs to be a strong action to make this stop.

[02:10:00]

NEWTON: Well, you know, in terms of Hezbollah itself, as you know very well, it is a political and a social movement as well as a militia. Of course, they have been very divisive in the last few years, especially. But how are people reacting to Netanyahu's promise that he continues to strike at, quote, our enemies, and but at the same time trying to reach out to Lebanese citizens, saying, to rise up against Hezbollah. I'd imagine there is a lot of shock and, quite frankly, confusion on the part of many civilians right now.

BABAN: I mean, of course there is confusion, but I refrain from answering like the political aspect of this, but what I can say is the whole country has been stressed for the past year. Like I said, we've been witnessing what's been happening in Raza, and we know that, you know, this would be trickling down into Lebanon.

Lebanon is a small country, and like I said, it's already overwhelmed with everything that's been happening in the past year, the economic collapse, the Beirut blast, and with this happening, the Ministry of Health can only hold on for as much as it can to be able to cater to the injured and the sick people on the ground.

Many people have fled the country, and the people who stay are still probably hopeful that this will stop in the next few months and we're left with no choice. This is home. It's so difficult to decide whether or not you can leave your home. What do you take with you? Where do you go? It's just one of the most difficult decisions I've ever faced in my life. And I hope it doesn't get to that.

NEWTON: Yes, you know, you are so right that it has been for a generation that people in Lebanon have had to make these decisions on again off again, about whether to stay or to go or where to seek shelter. Dr. Tania Baban, we thank you for your insights, and we'll continue to check in with you. Appreciate it.

BABAN: Thank you so much.

NEWTON: Now after the break, Kamala Harris reacts to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's death while on the campaign trail. Plus, we'll talk about how the Middle East is factoring into the U.S. presidential race with our top political analysts. That is next.

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[02:15:28]

NEWTON: We're following the latest developments in the Middle East as Israel and Hezbollah continue to launch cross border attacks. Israel is carrying out new air strikes right across Lebanon today and U.S. officials are warning that Israeli troops may be preparing for a limited ground incursion into Lebanon, but they stress Israel does not appear to have made its decision as of yet. It comes after an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut Friday. Iran is now calling for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to quote, stop Israel's ongoing aggression.

Meantime, U.S. leaders say they did not know about the strike in advance, but President Joe Biden is hailing the death of Nasrallah as a welcome development, stating his death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese civilians.

Ultimately, our aim is to deescalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means. Here's Mr. Biden earlier in Delaware.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, is the ground incursion in the Lebanon inevitable?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Time for a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Time for a ceasefire, he says. Now Meantime, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is monitoring the situation in the Middle East while campaigning on the U.S. West Coast. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT Vice president Kamala Harris, echoing President Joe Biden on Saturday over the developing situation in the Middle East, saying that Israel has right to defend itself, and also calling for deescalation, saying this in a statement, Hassan Nasrallah was a terrorist with American blood on his hands. Across decades, his leadership of Hezbollah destabilized the Middle East and led to the killing of countless innocent people in Lebanon, Israel, Syria and around the world. Today, Hezbollah's victims have a measure of justice.

And the Vice President also joined a call with President Joe Biden and the national security team to continue to get an update on the situation, review the U.S. military posture in the region, and also direct those continued diplomatic efforts.

But all of this was unfolding as the Vice President has been on the campaign trail. On Friday, she was in Arizona speaking on immigration along the U.S. southern border. Then on Saturday, she was at a fundraiser, and on Sunday, she will be at another fundraiser here in Los Angeles, before heading to Nevada for a rally.

Now the situation in the Middle East has factored in politically, as she has also had to grapple with some protesters at her rallies who are protesting the situation in Gaza, and in those moments, the Vice President has said that the administration is working toward a ceasefire and calling for deescalation in the region.

Now the Vice President, I'm told by sources, is continuing to monitor the situation as she's on the trail the next several days, and also staying close with her national security team. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Donald Trump, meantime, hit the campaign trail on Saturday, making a stop in Wisconsin. He focused on immigration and border security. His inflammatory rhetoric was on full display once more attacking Harris' record after her visit to the border. He told the crowd that every town in America would be, quote, transformed into a Third World hellhole if Harris is elected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Border czar Harris went to the border to lie in the most shameless and horrible way possible at the very site where she released so much suffering, misery and death. There's no greater act of disloyalty than to extinguish the sovereignty of your own nation right through your border, no matter what lie she tells, Kamala Harris can never be forgiven for her erasing our border, and she must never be allowed to become President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: During his speech, Trump again referred to undocumented immigrants who commit crimes as animals and called them, quote, stone cold killers. Joining me now from Los Angeles, CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein. He is also the senior editor over The Atlantic.

And Ron, I am glad to see you and glad that you're going to help us out here. I mean, look, it has been weeks now, and most principally in the last few hours, that I have been schooled by Middle East analysts when I say that the Biden administration looks impotent when it comes against Netanyahu, and clearly the way he wants to press ahead in both Gaza and now in Lebanon.

[02:20:06]

They say, no, no, no, this has nothing to do with impotence, that it's calculated. So if we try and then reflect this on to the campaign, can you explain what's at work here? Because this continued refrain from both Harris and Biden that there needs to be a ceasefire certainly doesn't seem like anyone's listening.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, look, this has been the pattern for 30 years. I mean, Bill Clinton left the meeting with Netanyahu famously saying, Who's the blank, blank superpower here? You know, particularly with Democratic presidents, Netanyahu has a long history of kind of taking their advice and then, you know, depositing it in the trash as he walks out the door.

So, Biden has been -- has put himself in this position, really, over time. I mean, he talked about the bear hug after October 7. He thought he could influence in Netanyahu by, you know, embracing him, that people who work for Clinton and Obama were dubious of that. I think the events of the past year has, you know, confirmed that.

No one in American politics will mourn the death of, you know, the leader of Hezbollah, but the question of whether Israel has a kind of landing, you know, an end game for this escalation of military activity, both in Gaza now and in Lebanon, is a genuine one, and Biden has, I think, put himself in an incredibly weakened position by refusing to impose any real consequences on Netanyahu for all of the times that he has said one thing and done another with the U.S -- about U.S. advice.

NEWNTON: Yes. And that reluctance to do anything seems to continue for both Trump and Harris, though, Ron what are the risks to their campaigns if they are seen as being too critical of Israel?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, neither one really wants to take, you know, take that chance, and it's striking. I mean, it is still more striking for Biden and Harris, because the overwhelming majority of their voters are deeply disaffected from the way Netanyahu has prosecuted this war.

I mean, there was one poll a few months ago he had a 6 percent approval rating among Democrats, and three quarters of Democrats in various polls, have wanted them to cut off offensive military aid to Israel. I mean, all of that is really just in the background.

I think Harris, on a lot of fronts, has put tremendous focus on seeming tough. You saw the way her border speech went on Friday, where she talked about her role in prosecuting transnational gangs. And she does not really, I think, want to accept in the, you know, the most fleeting ways signal any daylight, any more willingness to confront Netanyahu than Biden has done. She does not want to let Trump portray her as, you know, someone who is kind of soft in pursuing these challenges in the Mideast.

But I think the people around her certainly, and I think the broad range of experts in the Democratic Party are deeply concerned about the direction this is heading, even as they may cheer some of the Israeli successes on the battlefield and disabling a terrorist organization. At least we debilitating a terrorist organization.

NEWTON: Yes, and you do mention her speech at the border there. I mean, look, her border policy looks more like the Republican policies of old. This could be a different era. How far to the right has she stepped in terms of policy, and could this be a winning move, or does it risk alienating her own, you know, faithful who are looking at her going, these border policies seem, in your words, pretty tough.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I mean, I think there's a little bit of both. The Biden administration, look, the fact is, the challenge of the border has changed. Under the Biden administration, you know, the challenge has not been so much, people sneaking in in the dark of night hoping to melt away into the population in Phoenix or Los Angeles or Houston.

The challenge is people openly presenting themselves for asylum because they know that the process takes years, and while their cases are being adjudicated, they can stay in the U.S., and after a few months, begin to work. The Biden administration took a long time to kind of acknowledge that change in the problem on the ground, but when they did, they announced a significant shift in policy, which has had a significant effect.

I mean, the number of encounters on the border have gone from about 250,000 a month at the end of last year to 50,000 a month now. Now, Harris is basically signal that she will continue in that direction, extend that direction. This is still not the Trump policy, though.

NEWTON: Ron Brownstein always good to see you. Appreciate it.

Now concerns are growing about a wider conflict in the Middle East after the killing of the top Hezbollah leader.

[02:25:03]

Still ahead for us, the U.S. believes Israeli troops may be preparing their next move. Will Lebanon be on the receiving end of it?

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NEWTON: A quick update on our breaking news story out of the Middle East. Israel says it's carrying out new air strikes today in Lebanon, and fears of a wider war in the region are growing after Israel's killing of Hezbollah's leader in Beirut. U.S. says Israel is moving troops to the border with Lebanon, a possible sign of preparations for a limited cross border incursion.

Israel says a ground operation is only one option it's considering. Meantime, the two sides traded fire Saturday, including Israeli strikes on Beirut. Lebanon says more than 30 people were killed and close to 200 wounded. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike Friday. Hezbollah says it will keep fighting while Iran is threatening to deliver what is says will be a crushing blow against Israel.

Protesters in Israel are demanding their government turn its attention from Lebanon back to the hostages in Gaza. More than 1,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu focus on freeing those still held captive by Hamas in Gaza, though some believe that. Hamas ally Hezbollah is a step toward keeping Israel safe.

[02:30:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UZI RON, PROTESTER: If you're asking for the current, sorry, the latest operation. What it did, I hope that it will -- that it will deter Hezbollah from continuing to create, to have a terrorist attacks against Israel. The fact that these are more tense days in that there's other activities in Lebanon, don't change the fact that these are still there. We need to do everything to bring them back safely.

ORNA RAZ, VOLUNTEER WITH HOSTAGE FAMILIES: The North is a different problem. We should attack Hezbollah. It's an OK move, but first we have to reach a deal to get all our hostages back home now alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Gideon Levy is a columnist for Haaretz and a former advisor to Shimon Peres. He joins me now live from Tel Aviv. Glad to get your perspective here. To follow up on what the former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told CNN Saturday. He claims that this is a huge opportunity, his words, for Israel to remove this whole threat of Hezbollah. Is that plausible in your estimation, and at what cost to both Israelis and civilians in Lebanon?

GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: Again and again, the Israeli fantasies of eliminating all its enemies by force, it's a good idea, but it's not achievable. Hezbollah got now a hit. I mean, Hezbollah is weaker right now, no doubt about it. But Hezbollah will not vanish, and the ideas of Hezbollah will not vanish. And the solution again and again, I will say, here, is not by force, and Israel sees everything as being solved by another war and another aggressive attack. It doesn't lead us to nowhere.

NEWTON: And given what you're saying to us, what is the mood in Israel? We just heard from some of the protesters there, but Israel could be now looking at wars on two fronts, with hostages still struggling to stay alive in Gaza. So, you know, we saw about 1,000 protesters there, but certainly not tens of thousands that have come out. And it does seem that politically, Netanyahu may be on firmer ground.

LEVY: Absolutely, there were no tens, thousands yesterday, because the instructions of the home command was not to gather more than 1,000 people. But in any case, you are very right in describing the mood. On one hand, there is some kind of pride about the success of the operation of the assassination. You know, those who like this genre, that's very good, but they have to ask themselves, what comes next.

On the other hand, there is still a very, very heavy atmosphere in Israel. It's nobody knows where are we going to, where are we aiming? The hostages are still there. Security is far of being in better place. I mean, yesterday, I was sitting in the park and there was a siren and missile following it.

So it's a very, very heavy atmosphere in Israel. There was some relief after the assassination of Nasrallah. But when you wake up the morning after, you understand that nothing changed. We are in deep troubles.

NEWTON: And yet, Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to feel no pressure at all from the U.S. calling for ceasefires, both in Gaza and Lebanon. How has he become so confident, seemingly deaf to any American pleas for restraint and caution? Is it because he knows the U.S. is compromised right now by its election campaign. What do you think?

LEVY: Why would it be different? There is no real American pressure. Let's face it. There are bookings and advises and requests from Israel, and they are supplying and demolition are exploring to Israel in an unconditioned way. So why would he bother about the United States? I didn't see any real pressure. I saw talking and talkings. They were all totally hollow.

If the United States would have liked to put an end to the war in Gaza, for example, it could have done so very easily. You don't arm your partner with heavy arms when you want him to stop to use them. That's basic logic. So there is no real pressure. And Netanyahu, rightly so, feels free to do whatever he wants. He was asked award not to penetrate to Rafah. He ignored it and nothing happened.

[02:35:04]

He was asked to go for a ceasefire in Lebanon. Now he totally ignored it and nothing happened. So why would he bother?

NEWTON: I have to ask you, if Israel does go on and have a ground incursion, what do you think the risks are to Israel, given what happened in 2006 when they really did strike a blow to Israel in terms of understanding Hezbollah's capability.

LEVY: I think you answered by yourself and your question. Ground operation will be a game changer. It will complicate Israel, first of all, in staying there, because with those ground operations, you always know how to get in, or at least Israel knows how to penetrate, but it never knows how to get out, because you need certain conditions. Wait until Israel will pull out of Gaza. We are very, very far of this moment. It might take years now, same for Lebanon.

But above all, there is the risk of a regional war. I mean, there will be a certain stage in which Iran will have to, I know they don't want it at all, but there will be a stage in will in which they will have to do something and to get involved directly, because otherwise all the reputation will be gone. And this might be when a ground operation, when Israeli boots will step on the soil of Lebanon, and maybe even continue beyond the Litani River, this can end up in a catastrophe.

NEWTON: And as we hear you, we can certainly understand why so many Israelis are feeling anxiety at this hour. Gideon Levy for us in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Now, Israeli today -- Israelis military is today carrying out new air strikes in Lebanon and preparing for a possible ground invasion, as we were just talking about. Next, we will be live with a former Palestinian negotiator about the conflict and what it means for the region.

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[02:40:44]

NEWTON: And an update on our top story, Israel is carrying out new airstrikes in Lebanon this hour. Meantime, U.S. officials say they see the possibility of a limited ground incursion into Lebanon as Israel moves forces to its northern border. You are looking at live pictures right now, as we continue to see smoke rising there in Beirut.

The death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has sparked fresh fears over escalation in the region. U.S. President Joe Biden is hailing Nasrallah's killing as, quote, a measure of justice, but he is still calling for a ceasefire. Vice President Kamala Harris is echoing that sentiment.

Now, the weather system that was once hurricane Helene is still causing chaos far from the U.S. Gulf Coast, at least 61 people have been killed, and nearly 3 million remain without power in five states, officials say a Tennessee dam that was in danger of collapses, thankfully holding, but many roads and bridges right across the region are closed due to flooding or landslides, and if you can believe it, more rain is expected this weekend.

In western North Carolina, emergency services are just overwhelmed, and overnight curfew is in place In the Asheville area, where dozens of search and rescue operations were conducted on Saturday alone. CNN correspondent Rafael Romo is there in Asheville and has more on what residents are dealing with.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The accumulation of mud on this street, as you can see, is about two inches deep, and there are debris everywhere, as you can see, this is a table. This is a door that came from a house or building somewhere. There's a chair right there. And this is the way many streets here in Asheville look.

Now, officials facing a massive recovery effort, just to be an idea of how bad the situation is here, there are still 105,000 customers in Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, where we are without power. Crews are working to try to make way to reach people who may need help. Also, 130 swift water rescues were made since Thursday, and a total of 5,500 people called 911.

Now, if you can imagine the force of the floodwaters, take a look at this metal power pole. It was brought here by the storm, and we don't even see where it came from. So that gives you an idea about how bad the flood was. And there's also, according to the city of Asheville, 578 people who are seeking shelter.

Now it rained since Wednesday and Thursday, about 10 inches of rain, that was the accumulation, and then that was even before the hurricane, or the remnants of the hurricane, I should say, tropical storm Helene, which brought an additional 12 inches of water. This is something that, according to officials here, is a one in a 1,000 year rainfall event. So that tells you exactly what people here are facing some of the scenes that they tell us they had never seen before. Reporting from Asheville, North Carolina, I'm Rafael Romo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Earlier, CNN I spoke with Mike Cayse, the fire chief for Asheville, North Carolina. He gave us the latest updates about the situation with people on the ground and what they're dealing with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE CAYSE, FIRE CHIEF, CITY OF ASHVILLE: We have had three or four days now some significant rain. Fortunately, the rain has stopped now, but all the cascading events that come from that are starting to pile up. We've lost communications capabilities. We -- it's very difficult for us to move around the community. Many, many of the roads are closed, trees are down. We're clearing those as quick as we can. And a lot of the critical infrastructure that we become used to every day in normal times is now gone, and we have to work around it. And all that is bringing on numerous cascading events as we work through all this.

Our biggest need right now is to take care of the people that live in this community.

[02:45:00]

We need water desperate. We have yet to receive any water. We're -- have ordered water food. We have relief crews coming to try to give our crews that have been working overnight for three days straight now some rest, but basically, we're looking to give the basic needs of our community to them, so water and food and shelter are all higher priority still even three days into this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: At least 100 people have been killed and 67 others are missing after two days of heavy rain triggered landslides and floods in Nepal. That's according to local officials, who say schools have been shut for three days. Authorities say students and their parents have faced difficulties as rain has damaged university and school buildings. 37 of the deaths have been in the Kathmandu Valley, where Nepal's

capital is located. Flooding has brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the region, which is home to some 4 million people.

OK, still have come for us. Our breaking news coverage in the Middle East continues as U.S. officials warn that Israel may be preparing for a ground offensive in Lebanon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:50:00]

NEWTON: And we continue to follow our breaking news in the Middle East, where Israel is carrying out new airstrikes in Lebanon, fears of a wider war are growing following the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday. Now the Iranian-backed militant group is vowing to continue its fight against Israel as cross border attacks ramp up.

Iran, meantime, has declared five days of national mourning for Nasrallah and warned that Israel faces a crushing blow to come. The Israeli military says they are preparing for the possibility of a ground incursion in Lebanon, but says it's only one option being considered.

Yezid Sayigh is a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center, and a former Palestinian negotiator to peace talks with Israel. He joins us now from Beirut, and it's good to have you with us.

It has been interesting to see Israel's moves in the last 48 hours. Why do you believe Israel has chosen to escalate the conflict at this time, knowing that it's not what the United States had advised and perhaps risks the lives of those Israeli hostages in Gaza?

YEZID SAYIGH, VISITING SCHOLAR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: I think there are two separate parts to the answer to that question. First is that Israel is clearly implementing a multifaceted, multi-stage plan involving a range of platforms and tactics, and they've gone for Hezbollah to basically break it up, break it up from within, so to speak, by starting by destroying internal communications, then going for mid level and then high level and then top level commanders.

And now it's clearly continuing a bombing campaign to take out as much of the military infrastructure, weapon depots, missile launching sites, et cetera, as it can before and if and when there's meaningful diplomatic pressure to ceasefire. So that's part of it. And I think therefore, everything we've seen over the last roughly two weeks has been one single plan that's unfolding. And therefore Israel wasn't about to do bits of it and not continue with the rest.

The other part of this is that, in Netanyahu perspective, all this is -- a lot of this is about leverage with the United States administration. He's now in a position where there's a lame duck president in the U.S. who's very supportive anyway, but can't do anything really to rein in Israel. So this is a great opportunity to inflict maximum damage before the U.S. presidential election.

I'm not suggesting that Netanyahu can't continue to leverage the U.S. administration after the election. I think on that to the contrary, he'll be in an excellent position to maintain this threat of bigger war with Iran, to keep the U.S. administration toeing the line, as it were.

But for now, I see no reason for Israel to stop. And the real question is, what if anything, can Hezbollah do beyond fire, continuing to fire, a relatively small rockets at Israel.

NEWTON: And given that point, could Israel inflict fatal blows on Hezbollah render them impotent and keep its northern borders safe? I mean, they say their stated goal is so that those residents can return to the north. So many people, even within Israel say this is just not possible.

SAYIGH: That's a very good question. It's a tough one. Israel has inflicted massive damage on Hezbollah as a coherent, you know, well led organization. It's not clear that it's able to operate on a sort of strategic level, individual units have apparently always had their orders to operate entirely on their own if their leadership is decapitated, and that's why we continue to see rocket fire against Israel. And I think that can't easily be stopped.

But to decisively and definitively defeat Hezbollah is a totally different question, because that, in theory, involves going after, what remains of Hezbollah membership, which is very large, and fighting ability and so on, which remains, you know, partly remains in other areas of Lebanon and that I think Israel is doing a lot from with air attacks, drone attacks and so on.

And it may well come in on the ground in the southern border strip, but that is no longer the sort of major strategic focus of this campaign. That is just a sideshow part of rolling up and destroying other capabilities of Hezbollah in that area.

None of that, in and of itself, means that Hezbollah cannot continue to fire on Northern Israel. And what we haven't seen at all is Hezbollah's use of what we believe are major rocket and missile assets, ballistic missiles, precision guided missiles, and these may could still threaten Israel.

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So I think we're in a situation where Israel will continue to at least portray itself as pursuing total victory, as Netanyahu calls it, without necessarily translating in, you know, absolutely every meaning of that word. So it's about Hezbollah's political will, and whether it'll continue to fire back or not.

NEWTON: I only have about a minute left, but I do want to get your opinion on what you believe Iran's next move will be.

SAYIGH: It looks pretty much, you know, without any doubt, I think at this stage that Iran has taken a strategic decision, which is not new. I think it's the case, it's been the case all year long, that it will not be drawn into a bigger fight with Israel, which it believes would then escalate into a bigger fight with the United States.

And that means that, for now, it's accepting the degrading by Israel of its strategic deterrent, which is Hezbollah in Lebanon, and it's accepting the losses, and I believe, is expecting Hezbollah to take the blows and to replenish and rebuild at a later stage. So I don't think we're going to see much real action, so to speak, from Iran.

NEWTON: Interesting, tense days ahead for everyone. Yezid Sayigh, thank you so much for your insights there from Beirut. Appreciate it.

I'm Paula Newton in New York. We will be right back with more of our coverage. I'll be joined by Becky Anderson, who is on the ground in Tel Aviv, and we will bring you right up today.

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