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Army Spokesman: Israeli Ground Forces Inside Gaza; Police: Suspect In Maine Shootings Found Dead From Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound; Maine Authorities Begin Long Investigation Into Mass Shootings; Teen, Fathers, Members Of Deaf Community Among Victims Of Mass Shootings. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 28, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:01:46]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Amara Walker.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell.

Israel now has ground forces in Gaza. An IDF spokesman confirms that it's infantry, artillery and other units entered into Gaza from the north overnight, just one day after the IDF said it's expanding ground operations.

Over the past couple of days, we've seen Israel expand its forces in Gaza with targeted raids. But those forces retreated back across the border after the raids. It's -- right now, unclear if this new movement is part of the promise major ground offensive that the IDF has been preparing for since the start of the war three weeks ago.

WALKER: Israel also seems to be ramping up its airstrikes on Gaza. Our -- near Israel -- Israel's border reported -- our correspondents near Israel's border reported a series of intense and sustained bombardments in Gaza.

New video from Gaza City shows the level of destruction there as people continue to dig through the rubble.

CNN's Jim Sciutto was with us from Northern Israel.

Jim, Israel has said that it will send troops into Gaza to seize territory. Oh, is that what's happening now? What's the situation?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That is what the IDF is saying this morning that Israeli troops, both artillery units, tank units, armored units, infantry, as well as engineering units have entered Gaza for sustained and expanded ground operations.

Well, we should acknowledge, as we report this, that we have limited visibility that we're relying on the IDF for their description of the extent of this operation. And what we can see -- largely what we can see are Israeli strikes from the air. And beginning last night, our correspondents on the border there, we could see the explosions, which were at a rate that we hadn't seen since that those October 7th attacks. Then, we saw those airstrikes, artillery strikes, calmed down a bit, and appears what followed is this expanded ground operation.

But again, we just know what the IDF is telling us about the extent as well as the goal of those operations. They say they're expanded. They say they include units, again, armored infantry and engineering units. The question is, how long will they be on there? And what are the numbers of those forces on the ground?

We can say that the U.S. view of this is somewhat clear, because we have a comment from the Marine commandant following the return of a U.S. marine general who was advising Israeli commanders here that what is happening now is purely an Israeli operation that the U.S. offered its advice and in a public statement from the commandant -- the Marine commandant that Israeli commanders took some of that advice and didn't take other parts of that advice.

We do know that the U.S. was counseling, a conservative approach here based on the U.S. experience in places like Fallujah and Mosul. It appears from those public comments that Israeli commanders were not heeding all of that advice in that experience.

BLACKWELL: So, you're in northern Israel. Let's talk about the Israeli border with Lebanon.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BLACKWELL: And this firing back and forth between the IDF and Hezbollah overnight.

[07:05:05]

What's happening on that front?

SCIUTTO: So, we've been up here for a number of days. And we have spent some time with IDF forces here who've been saying that they've been receiving regular fire, sniper fire, artillery fire, as well as attempted missile fire.

And what we've seen in the last 24 hours, or at least two instances, where Israeli forces fired back. Strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, they say, one of those strikes in response to anti- tank missiles that Hezbollah forces fired. And another one of those strikes in response to what they say was an attempted surface-to-air missile strike from Hezbollah.

So, Hezbollah forces making their presence known, taking shots at those Israeli positions in the north, not though to the degree it seems that Hamas has wanted. Hamas had some public comments saying they've expected more from Hezbollah. But, of course, we're watching very closely, Victor and Amara, because that could change at any moment, particularly, as we learn more from the expansion of Israeli ground operations inside Gaza, because the fear had been among Israeli forces and others, that as those operations expand in Gaza, that Hezbollah will expand its own retaliation here in the North.

So, we're watching very closely. We know that those Israeli forces are watching very closely as well.

WALKER: And Jim, so, what is the situation now in terms of the bombardment we've been reporting on overnight, you know, especially the artillery strikes and the airstrikes? Have things kind of slowed down a bit?

SCIUTTO: Yes. You're talking up here in the North, it's been a regular pace of firing back and forth. Not a high volume, not unprecedented. More each, I think, each side testing the others defenses.

In terms of in Gaza, the pace of airstrikes and artillery fire has been lower today than we saw last night. And that would make sense, right? That typically you'll have that expanded aerial campaign to soften up defenses. That's the intention before a ground operation is underway.

And if what the IDF is saying is true that you have a large number of IDF forces there now, then, it would only be natural that those airstrikes artillery strikes slowed down a bit because they wouldn't want to threaten Israeli forces on the ground.

BLACKWELL: Jim Sciutto, for us in northern Israel. We'll check back. Thank you.

The White House says that they are not going to try to dictate limits for Israel in regards to their expanded military operations against Hamas in Gaza. They are intensifying ground and air operations by Israel complicated the Washington -- excuse me, with Washington's ongoing efforts to arrange humanitarian aid for Gaza, and the act of negotiations to release the hostages held by Hamas.

WALKER: Yes, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the administration would not comment on Israel's expanded ground operations and reiterated America support for Israel to defend itself.

CNN's Kevin Liptak, joining us now from Wilmington, Delaware, where the president is this weekend. Kevin, what is the latest?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the White House is certainly being very careful and deliberate not to weigh in, specifically, on what's going on, on the ground in Gaza. They aren't even saying whether they got a heads up of this expansion of Israel's response to those terror attacks.

But one thing we can say is that this does deeply complicate some of the American objectives on the ground there. Chief among them, the release of these hundreds of hostages that are currently being held by Hamas, including potentially Americans. There are 10 Americans who are unaccounted for, some of them could be being held hostage by Hamas.

And really, as recently as yesterday, it did seem as if negotiations to free those hostages had been intensifying, with the help of the Qatari government, certainly, talks between Israel, Hamas, Qatar, really trying to secure the release of a large number of hostages.

But certainly, this will complicate that deeply. And you'll remember, the United States had been encouraging Israel to delay a ground invasion while these negotiations were underway, because certainly, securing the release of any hostages will be logistically much more difficult if Gaza is being bombed by Israel.

So, certainly, the U.S. says that those talks will not end, they are not dead. They are in what -- one official told me last night, in hour-by-hour conversations to try and get these hostages released.

One thing that the U.S. government has been recommending more vocally over the last several days is the idea of a humanitarian pause to allow these hostages to come out. That is something that the president certainly has been talking about more and more.

We did hear yesterday from John Kirby that the U.S. has in active conversations about this idea of a humanitarian pause.

Now, in addition to releasing the hostages, the U.S. also wants more aid to flow into Gaza, of course, this escalating conflict will increase the desperation of the civilians who live on the strip, including hundreds of Americans who are trying to get out, and many Palestinian Americans who are stuck in Gaza.

[07:10:14]

The U.S. says it wants to work to get them out as well. It also wants to work to get more aid into Gaza. Things like food, water, medicine, and fuel. Fuel has not been allowed into Gaza thus far. Certainly, this escalating conflict, the bombing, the potential for a ground invasion is complicating all of those objectives today, guys.

WALKER: Yes. And continuing to be a terrifying situation for those civilians. Kevin Liptak, thank you.

Let's talk more about the situation there and Gaza in this war, CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger is joining me.

David, good morning to you. So, let's first focus on this ground invasion, or at least, the fact that you have some Israeli troops or ground forces inside Gaza for these very targeted raids, according to the IDF spokesperson and this expanded ground operation. What does this mean for the hostages?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good morning, Amara. You know, the first and interesting thing is that this isn't quite the ground invasion that we had initially envisioned, you know, when this whole tragedy began two weeks ago.

What we thought at the time was sort of a massive invasion that would try to hold all of Gaza, or at least the northern part, in Gaza City. And I think the more that those discussions took place with the United States, the more it became clear to the Israelis, that if they did that, they were going to take tremendous casualties among their own troops. So, here, they are doing much more of a kind of command -- of targeted attacks, as you said, which enable them to go in and then turn around, and leave. That doesn't leave much of a target for Hamas.

And the interesting question is, is this a stage? Or is this what is going to go look like? And to your question on the hostages, it also then gives them the opportunity to be doing some intelligence gathering about where the hostages are, and makes it easier to do a pause and not have to pull out a large force if it looks like Hamas is ready to negotiate.

So far, it's very hard to tell, because we're kept at such distance from this. We haven't seen a whole lot of progress in the hostage area, so, only four people have been released.

WALKER: And I know this question has been asked over and over. But, of course, on the heels on Friday, with, you know, the United Nations having this vote. 120 nations voting for a "sustained" humanitarian truce, a pause or a ceasefire, whatever you want to call it. There were 14 countries who voted against that, including the United States, because it didn't explicitly criticized Hamas. Why has it been so difficult to, you know, get a humanitarian pause so that the civilians can get help? And some of those people stuck inside, at least, the foreign nationals to get out?

SANGER: Well, it's a really good question. And, you know, there are sort of three answers, and they don't all line up with each other. The first is that the main Israeli objective here, they say, is to destroy Hamas.

They haven't said over what time period. But if they were planning to do that on a rapid basis, then, obviously any humanitarian pause, and so forth, not only keeps them from doing that, but it also gives Hamas time to regroup, move hostages, improve defenses.

The second answer to this is that they are fearful that as they bring in the humanitarian goods, they're also going to be helping Hamas. That's inevitable. And if you have a group of people suffering like this, I can't see an option. But yes, some of this aid is definitely going to help Hamas.

And I think a third question, which is, you know, the one that no one's really breaching here yet is, why haven't the Arab states stepped up to help open the Rafah gate and allow some of these long- suffering people to go into the Sinai, where you could see tents and relief operations set up?

I think the answer is the Egyptians simply don't want to have them there.

But the whole idea of trying to push everybody down to the bottom end of the bottle here and to the southern end of Gaza, just means you're moving the suffering south.

WALKER: So, and David, publicly, what we're seeing is, of course, the U.S. unwavering in its support, saying that Israel, reiterating that Israel has the right to defend itself that it will not dictate how to carry out its military operations, but you also have, you know, comments from the president, from the defense secretary Lloyd Austin, reiterating the importance of protecting civilians during these operations.

[07:15:07]

Can you give us a sense of what kind of conversations or pressure might be being applied from the U.S. side to Israel? I mean, do you think that there is a different, I guess, tenor, privately?

SANGER: So, Amara, you've identified here, I think, what's the really fascinating arc of what this conversation has been like, so, when the president first came out, right after the October 7th terror attack that killed 1,400 people and started all of this, he was completely unwavering, as you said, in his support for Israel.

And then, of course, he went to Israel, the next week. But that next week, you began to hear tenors of we understand you have a right to defend yourself, anybody's going to want to make sure that they get rid of Hamas, because they can't live with events like this, taking place ever again. That goes to the core of Israel's being.

But as they hug them in this tight embrace that were whispering in the -- in their ear, it makes a difference how you do this. And I'm told by administration officials, that they have been very careful to talk to the Israelis first and give them these warnings before going public at each stage.

And by the end of this week, you are hearing the president really talk more about being careful about the Palestinians and the humanitarian issues and sort of emphasizing that piece of it. And the question is, has that fully sunk in, in the Israeli strategy.

The fact that they haven't done an all-out invasion at this point, partly may reflect that and partly may reflect the divisions within the Israeli war Cabinet about how to go about this.

WALKER: David Sanger, thank you for your time.

SANGER: Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Jim Sciutto just reported on the gunfire across the border between Israel and Lebanon. We're going to dig deeper into Israel's increasing tension with Hezbollah fighters.

Plus, 48 hours after a shooter killed 18 people in Maine, the suspect has been found dead. The latest on that investigation.

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[07:21:20]

WALKER: In about 2-1/2 hours from now, police in Maine plan to have an update on the mass shootings there that shattered a community and left 18 people dead. The suspected shooter is also dead, authorities believe he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

BLACKWELL: Now, police are trying to figure out why this happened. They say the suspect left behind a note, but they have not revealed many details about what's in that note.

Let's get now to CNN's Omar Jimenez. So, what do we know so far about the investigation and what happens now that the search is over.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, as far as a note goes, a law enforcement source says, at the very least it gives an indication -- it gave an indication to authorities that he did not plan to be alive when that note was found. So, we're telling where things can be found of that nature.

But it's all part of what is essentially two planes of investigations. One, of course, was the more urgent one, the more urgent manhunt part of things, and that came to an end, as we understand a little bit after 48 hours last night, when they found the body of the 40-year-old suspect Robert Card. Now, as we -- as we understand from a law enforcement source, the body was found near the Maine -- near essentially, a recycling center where he used to work and was recently fired. Though the exact location were still not sure.

And those are all part of the questions. We're hoping to have answered at the press conference is supposed to be happening a little bit later this morning, including how long they believe this body was actually there. Because, obviously, this is a manhunt that took days at this point.

So, that, that was the more urgent plane of investigations. The other comes from trying to piece together why this happened? This is a shooting that took place Wednesday night across two different locations, each about 10 minutes from each other.

And then, his vehicle was found abandoned 10 minutes from the second shooting site, which is nearby here. And that was about a 15-minute walk to around the area where his body was found.

So, investigators are going through his social media history, also each of the shooting sites as well. At the end of the day, though, this is a sigh of relief for many in this community who were just anxious about where this armed and dangerous suspect, as police described him, could have been.

Take a listen to Maine's governor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JANET MILLS (D-ME): Like many people, I'm breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone. I know there are some people and many people who share that sentiment, but I also know that his death may not bring solace to many. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And that's the thing here. On one hand, it is a sigh of relief. But on the other, there are still people recovering in the hospital. So, people wondering if their loved ones are going to be OK.

It doesn't bring back the 18 that were killed as well. So, as one chapter closes, arguably a more difficult one ahead for this community.

BLACKWELL: Omar Jimenez, reporting for us this morning. Omar, my thank you.

Joining us now is CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey. Chief, good morning to you.

So, there will be no prosecution. The threat to the public is no more. What now happens to the investigation? Getting to the question of, why? But what else will be part of this probe?

CHIEF CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, this is a huge relief for everyone concerned. The -- that the town, the families, the police, everyone that we now know he's no longer a threat to anyone.

But the investigation will continue. They have to find out why. They have to get to a motive, in some cases, you never really quite understand what the motive is.

[07:25:05]

In this case, I think they'll come pretty much to a conclusion as to what it possibly was. But there are a lot of unanswered questions. The press conference last night didn't really shed a lot of light on anything other than the fact that he is, in fact, dead. So, hopefully today, we learned a little bit more.

I was listening to Omar, and he's absolutely right, we need to know, from a medical examiner, the approximate time of death, how long had he been there, that they searched that area before?

This is an area that really was close to where he was fired -- the business where he was fired from, which might one of my fears was that he had a third target. And that would have either been where he was fired, or perhaps his girlfriend, or something like that, if he was still in the area.

So, there are a lot of unanswered questions, but at least, he is not a threat any longer. And that's huge.

BLACKWELL: And these are unanswered questions. Certainly, the family, for as many as they can get, they deserve to know those answers. The survivors of these shootings deserve to know them.

But from a law enforcement perspective, you mentioned, you know, had they searched this area before? It seems that there are elements here, answers they can get that would be valuable to the police departments, to state and federal investigators, maybe not in getting an answer to this, but in setting patterns and understanding maybe future situations like this.

RAMSEY: Yes, you're right. I mean, first of all, this is -- I don't know if this was a heavily wooded area where the body was found or not, but it wasn't far from where they found his car. So, that would be an area that, at the very beginning, you would want to search because you'd have to figure he left that spot, either in another car, in a boat, on foot, but you wouldn't want to search that area.

If you were searching that area, depending on how long he's been dead. You know, did you hear a gunshot? You know, I mean, so there are things that we would like to know, because what they -- what investigators do now, I mean, and we've had, unfortunately, so many mass shootings in this country, that they want to do a profile on this guy, because he's part of a larger group of people who have done this sort of thing.

And so, psychologically, you want to know exactly what are the warning signs? What are those things we ought to be looking for before the event takes place? And so, they will be piecing together a lot of information from social media, interviews with family, friends, relatives, forensic evidence that they find at the scene, all that together to try to really put together a puzzle that right now is exists that really kind of get a better sense and feeling about the individual and what drove him to this.

BLACKWELL: It's interesting, you mentioned a profile, because we have seen when these shootings end with the death of the gunman, maybe they commit suicide there, or they die by suicide, self-inflicted gunshot wound on the scene, or suicide by cop, where they intentionally engage with the officers by shooting at them.

But you suggest that there is -- it's possible that this facility -- male facility was maybe a third target.

What do you make of where he was found?

RAMSEY: Well, that's all -- that's things that they'll have to look into, because that is unusual.

I mean, was he going to go there, and then, suddenly change his mind? I don't know.

I mean, the weapon that was found in the car was -- that was the same one that was used in the previous two shootings. What's actually in that note, I know, they said that it kind of indicates that he wasn't planning on being a lot.

What does that really mean? Taking his own life, suicide by cop? I mean, what exactly to the best you can? I mean, he's dead. So, you certainly can't question him.

But they may be able to piece together a few things to try to find out exactly what was actually on his mind at the time. And again, we may never know, because the suspect is dead. It is unusual.

Usually, that takes place at the scene, or they get into a shootout early on with police and wind up getting killed. This guy, you know, this was a well-planned event. This wasn't something that was spontaneous, apparently.

BLACKWELL: So, you are, obviously, a law enforcement analyst and not a political analyst. But I'm going to ask you this question, anyway. This is the new House Speaker. This is Mike Johnson, when he was asked her about demands to do something legislatively, about mass shootings in America. I want to play for you what he told.

We don't have the soundbite.

What he said was that this is a matter of the human heart. What's your reaction to that?

RAMSEY: Yes, I heard that. So, I mean, is he suggesting that all these guys get heart transplants? I mean, I don't know what he's suggesting from that. The problem is a little deeper than that. I think the only thing that proves to me is the fact that he doesn't plan to do anything about this.

[07:30:04]

You know, listen, I listened to the politicians when they talk about this, and they want to get into the thoughts and prayers -- and I'm a believer in prayer too. But prayers be followed with legislation. We have to really do something to stop this carnage. And we only talk about it when it's a mass shooting, and it gets this kind of national attention.

We're losing people on the streets of our city every single day. And many of those deaths come as a result of assault weapons that are in the hands of people that should not have them.

And believe me, not all of them are mentally ill. Some of these guys are just flat out violent and evil, and they just don't care. And so, we need to find a way to get guns out of the hands of people that should not have them, not just focusing on mass shootings, it would be great if we could track the number of deaths overall, that are the result of these assault weapons, not just from mass shootings.

And I think you'll be surprised. I mean, I can't remember the last time I went to a crime scene and we found one or two shell casings on the scene. You find 30, you find 40 or more.

I mean, these -- this is a terrible problem in many of our cities. It's not just about mass shootings.

And our elected officials need to stop with the nonsense and actually sit down and figure this out where we can have that balance between the Second Amendment and actually keeping people safe.

BLACKWELL: Chief Charles Ramsey, thank you.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

WALKER: Now, all 18 of those victims have now been identified. Many of them were fathers and several were members of the local deaf community, who were playing in a cornhole tournament, Schemengees Bar and Grille, when the gunman opened fire.

Leroy Walker says his son Joseph Walker was the manager at that bar, and he died trying to stop the shooter. But he says he can't hate the man who took his son from him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEROY WALKER SR., SON KILLED IN SHOOTING: This something that went wrong and I just can't hate him. You can't run around this world hating people. If you do, these kind of things will happen more and more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: So, painful to hear.

At the bowling alley, a father Bill Young on the left, and his son, Aaron, on the right were killed while playing a game. Aaron was just 14 years old.

And married couple Bob and Lucille Violette were gunned down as well. Bob was teaching a youth bowling league. And witnesses say he stood in between the shooter and the children to protect them.

Those deaths shattered the town of Lewiston, which is only about 38,000 people strong. May every single one of their memories be a blessing.

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[07:36:42]

WALKER: Right now, Israeli ground forces are fighting inside Gaza. Israel's military is also confirming this information -- this morning that their air -- warplanes targeted 150 underground locations or tunnels in northern Gaza, including terror tunnels and underground combat spaces. They say their operations killed several Hamas operatives and took out communications and Internet services in Gaza.

CNN's chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is in northern Israel. Hi there, Jim. What's the situation on the ground?

SCIUTTO: Well, the concern from the beginning is been that this would become a two-front war for Israel in Gaza, in the south and with Lebanon in the north with Hezbollah.

So far, the activity back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah has been regular. There have been a number of strikes just in the last 24 hours. Hezbollah firing in or attempting to, and Israel firing back with both airstrikes and artillery fire, which we've heard frequently up here. What that has meant for Northern Israel is that a large swath of the communities along the Lebanese border have evacuated these are mandatory evacuations. Those residents now replaced by Israeli soldiers.

We visited one of those towns, Metula, just across the border from Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice over): Main Street, Metula, Israel. Normally the busy center of town, now abandoned.

Metula's 2,000 residents fled in the wake of the October 7th attacks.

Part of a mandatory evacuation of communities too close to Israel's border with Lebanon and too close to Hezbollah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem is, for many -- from too many windows, we're under threats.

SCIUTTO (voice over): Now based here are hundreds of IDF soldiers. We don't identify them due to security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a few hours, we're under attacked, here or in other places in the area. So, we need to keep ourselves on the cover to make sure that we won't be exposed.

SCIUTTO: Metula is surrounded on three sides by Lebanon, by territory controlled by Hezbollah, and that is why the town has been evacuated because of that threat. And soldiers based here now say they face three threats from Hezbollah: sniper fire, rocket fire, but also the possibility of ground incursions. One happened here several days ago, and they're on constant alert for the possibility of the next one.

SCIUTTO (voice over): The town's mayor has the job now of relocating residents to safer areas further south and keeping Metula ready for residents to return. The when is far from clear. What is clear is that the old status quo is no longer sustainable for those living this far north, not with Hezbollah fighters on their doorstep.

DAVID AZULI, MAYOR OF METULA (through translator): We don't want a war. We just want to end the current status quo and move Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon. We can either make a peace deal through the Americans and Iranians, or if not, we will have war.

SCIUTTO (voice over): The Israeli military does not comment on its plans for the north. For now, this is an operation designed to defend and deter. And the threat is real. We were advised not to linger too long in Hezbollah's line of fire.

[07:40:05]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can find more than 400 soldiers looking at you.

SCIUTTO (voice over): For the soldiers, their job now is to make sure that someday Metula can come alive again.

SCIUTTO: Do you believe people will be able to come back to a town like Metula again? Or is it just too close to Lebanon to Hezbollah?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that we will do everything to make them feel protect, to make them feel safe. I saw someone who packed his last luggage with tears in his eyes and asking why? And he told me, I don't know if I will --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I will return here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (on camera): Well, that's still very much an open question. In the sense we left Metula, there has been more fire back and forth, Hezbollah in Israel out. And the question is when you will reach a level of safety, that the people are confident that they can come back safely?

And as I've been speaking to them and the soldiers, it's just not clear when that will be, Victor and Amara.

WALKER: All right. Jim Sciutto, appreciate your reporting. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Coming up. Israel says Gaza's largest hospital is being used as a Hamas command and control center. Palestinians and others reject that claim, and thousands are sheltering there. More on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:42]

WALKER: Israel says Gaza's largest hospital is being used as a Hamas command and control center. And thousands are sheltering there and in surrounding areas. However, Palestinians and others reject that claim.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Nada Bashir joins us this morning from Amman, Jordan with more on the situation. So, what do we know about what's happening inside these hospitals?

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: Well, look, as we've seen for now, three weeks, the situation inside Gaza's hospitals, and particularly, inside the al-Shifa hospital, which is the largest hospital inside the Gaza Strip has been deteriorating rapidly as a result of the siege, as a result of the overwhelming number of patients that are requiring urgent care because of the ongoing airstrikes that we are seeing.

You mentioned that warning from the IDF spokesperson yesterday, Daniel Hagari is saying that there are Hamas command post beneath the al- Shifa hospital.

Now, this has been flat out rejected by Palestinian officials and health authorities inside Gaza. It has been rejected by medics that we've been speaking to on the ground, including one Norwegian doctor, Dr. Mads Gilbert, who I spoke to yesterday. He has worked at the al- Shifa hospital for decades.

Now, both in peacetime and wartime, he said that if he had any inclination that this was the case, no foreign doctors would stand by and allow patients to be used as human shields.

And, of course, there is real concern, of course, from medics, from patients, inside the hospitals in Gaza that this could be a common that potentially in the coming days would lay the groundwork for the legitimization of attacks against hospitals.

And that is a concern because, of course, as we know, there are thousands and thousands of patients currently receiving treatment in these hospitals.

We've heard from the doctors there, we've heard from Doctors Without Borders, they have said that their doctors refuse to leave their patients behind. They will say that despite evacuation orders from the IDF.

But, of course, the secondary issue that we are seeing now also is that there are tens of thousands of people, Palestinians, who have been displaced, either by airstrikes, or because they've been told to evacuate, now sheltering outside on the street, around these hospitals.

And that is the fear now. Because for many Palestinians who have been displaced, they see these hospitals as a safe haven. But these latest remarks from the IDF has really raised fears and concerns that they certainly aren't safe havens anymore.

In fact, we had warnings repeatedly that if hospitals are targeted, we could see unimaginable bloodshed. But, of course, there is still an ongoing siege there is a limitation on the amount of medication getting into supplies, the reduction in the amount of fuel, and electricity available to these hospitals.

And we've heard the warnings from the health ministry in Gaza spokesperson. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ASHRAF AL-QUDRA, SPOKESPERSON, GAZA MINISTRY OF HEALTH (through translator): Hospitals aren't just for patients or the injured, they have become the place for hundreds of thousands of displaced people who were forced by the Israeli occupation to flee towards hospitals and schools.

That led to a difficult health situation that will have dangerous health consequences. The lack of water is leading to problems with personal hygiene, which affects all patients and injuries in hospitals. Some patients have open wounds and third- and fourth-degree burns. Infants who are in the E.R., under surgery, and kidney patients. All of those are going to be exposed to health issues due to the spread of disease among displaced people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, Victor, Amara, we saw intense bombardment yesterday in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces. And, of course, as we learned overnight, last night, communications were cut off, and that raised concerns between aid groups between hospital workers, they weren't able to speak and communicate with their colleagues on the ground at different hospitals had interrupted the ability of ambulance workers and emergency response teams to respond to these ongoing emergencies that we are seeing as a result of those airstrikes, and now artillery fire as well.

Of course, we've heard the warnings from regional leaders, particularly here in Jordan, where they put forward that resolution that was passed yesterday at the U.N. General Assembly, calling for a pause and immediate cessation to the violence to allow for humanitarian aid, to get through for to allow for humanitarian truce.

WALKER: Nada Bashir, thank you.

Right now, Israel is still hitting targets in Gaza. And a spokesman confirms forces are now on the ground inside.

[07:49:46]

Ahead, what we know about which areas have been a focus of Israeli strikes today.

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WALKER: This morning, Israel is ramping up its offensive in Gaza, with ground forces moving into northern Gaza, backed by heavy airstrikes.

BLACKWELL: Here is CNN's Tom Foreman, with a detailed look at how this assault is unlike anything Gaza has seen in recent history.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Victor. Hey, Amara. Gaza has not seen an attack like this in decades. This is a really powerful assault on the area by the Israeli forces right now.

Lots of explosions going on here being dropped by aircraft, fired by tanks, fired by artillery, coming from the sea, coming from the land. A tremendous amount of pressure going on here.

The New York Times has it at about 7,000 targets have been hit for an awful lot of strategic reasons from the Israeli standpoint. For example, along the borders of Gaza, we've seen these groups of tanks and bulldozers moving in knocking holes in the defenses, wearing away at minefields or anything explosives out there that might stop them from bringing in heavier equipment.

[07:55:01]

And literally, shaping what looks like the coming battlefield for the Israeli forces against Hamas in this area.

The result of all of this? Well, we've seen some of the video of that. And it's really quite a sight to see. In some cases, whole buildings gone and other places whole blocks gone.

The Israelis have insisted that what they are doing is trying to target military assets, although that may include, for example, the home of a Hamas leader, where there may be a lot of people involved.

There is a hospital in which Hamas says, well, that's a hospital, Israeli say, yes, it's a Hamas base, hiding in a hospital. That sort of thing.

Going after the entrances to tunnels. The tunnel network there is a big deal going after command-and-control structures. If you look at an overall satellite map of the area, you can see that in the northern part here, this is where most of this has happened. That's where most of the population lives.

Every little orange dot there represents one of the strikes that we know of, has been talking of Israeli troops coming into this area as well.

What it all adds up to is really as we said at the beginning, an extraordinary military assault on this area.

Yes, Hamas has still tried to fire some missiles out striking Israel. Some of them have struck. That seems to be greatly reduced as this tremendous military pressure comes into this area. And we wait to see what might come next. Victor, Amara?

BLACKWELL: Tom Foreman, thanks so much.

Right now, Israel says its ground forces are inside Gaza. We'll go back live to Israel next.

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