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Israel Claims Hamas Tunnel Found at Hospital Raided by IDF: Dire Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding Across Gaza; Final Day of Indo-Pacific Leaders' Summit in San Francisco; Refugees Describe Atrocities in Darfur; Egypt's Health Minister Says Ready to Help Patients from Gaza; New Technology Helping Clean Up the Ocean; Brothers Travis and Jason Kelce Release Christmas Jingle. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired November 17, 2023 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:38]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD, with me, Lynda Kinkade. It is 10:00 a.m. here in
Atlanta. It's 5:00 p.m. in Gaza.
Israel is facing mounting pressure to justify its siege of Gaza's largest hospital Al-Shifa. The Israeli army now says its troops have recovered the
bodies of two hostages nearby. 65-year-old Israeli grandmother, Yehudit Weiss, seen there on your left, and Noa Marciano, a 19-year-old corporal in
the IDF. The video released by Hamas claims the young woman what was killed by an Israeli airstrike.
Well, the IDF released this video, which it says shows a Hamas tunnel shaft close to the hospital. CNN cannot independently verify this video or the
claims. Hamas have called the claim ridiculous and doctors and hospital officials have continuously denied the existence of a Hamas control center
under Al-Shifa Hospital. They're also raising the alarm about just how dire the conditions have gotten there. The hospital's director describes
patients on the brink of death and children close to starvation.
The Israel-Hamas war is about to enter its seventh week. And the IDF now says it estimates the number of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas is 237. The
death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is rising every day. The Palestinian Health Ministry citing sources from the Hamas-controlled enclave says
almost 11,500 people have been killed in Gaza, including over 4,700 children. That's around one in every 200 people.
Our Scott McLean is following the developments and joins us now live from Istanbul.
Good to have you with us, Scott. I want to start first on those photos and videos handed out by the Israeli Defense Force, claiming that it is some
evidence of a Hamas tunnel in the facility near that major hospital. But at this stage they've shown no evidence of Hamas control and command centers
under that hospital.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so the pictures that you mentioned, Lynda, of this tunnel shaft, they are taken -- they've been geolocated by
CNN. They are taken about 30 meters or so away from one of the main hospital buildings on the campus on the Al-Shifa Hospital. But let's
remember that the Israeli claim to justify going into that hospital in the first place is not that there's tunnels in Gaza or there's tunnels near the
hospital, the claim is that there is a sophisticated underground multi- level tunnel system that serves as a command and control center for Hamas.
And while the U.S. says that it is confident in its intelligence assessment that that in fact does exist, that Hamas headquarters is under the
hospital, the evidence that at least has been made publicly available thus far doesn't stack up with the accusation that has been made. The Israelis
say, though, that look, it may take days, may take weeks for them to fully figure out where all the tunnels are, where all the entrances are, and
fully reveal what they say is under the hospital.
As you mentioned, though, Hamas denies that there is anything to see at the Al-Shifa Hospital. The U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Turk, he's calling
for an investigation into all of this and access to be granted to international groups like the United Nations because he says, look,
international law is clear and also there is two very different, very competing narratives here. And oftentimes they don't stack up.
Even if you look at the humanitarian situation at the hospital, the Israelis say that they are providing food and water to those who remain at
the hospital. Two doctors inside the hospital, one said there are children near starvation because there is not enough water to make milk or baby
formula. And then another has said that the -- you know, the food that they are getting is only some 40 percent of what is actually needed.
And obviously when it comes to the tunnel claims, they're on very different pages as well. And the pressure on Israel here really cannot be understated
because you have so many eyes, especially in this region, who are looking at Israel very skeptical of their claims in the first place. The president
of Turkey is one of the ones who has been amongst the most skeptical. We heard from the Jordanian foreign minister as well who said that, look,
Israel is lighting a fire in this region. He is also highly critical of the Israeli claims of what's going on in that hospital -- Lynda.
[10:05:06]
KINKADE: And of course, Turkey's president is in Germany. Those two countries, poles apart when it comes to the stance towards Israel's war
against Hamas. Of course, Turkey's leader this week referring to Israel as a terrorist state. What can you tell us about the meeting and what are the
expectations?
MCLEAN: Yes, these two men are on different planets when it comes to what is going on in Gaza. You have the German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said
that -- it was previously said that Germany has one place and that place is alongside Israel. And he said that the security of Israel is Germany's
reason of state. Now he has signed a joint letter, he has called on Israel to respect the laws of war and respect international law as it goes about
trying to root out Hamas.
On the other hand, though, you have President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who not only called Israel a terror state this week -- a terrorist
state, he has also said that Hamas is not terrorist, called them a liberation group, trying to protect their land. And so these two men don't
share the same view on what to do about Gaza, but frankly there are a lot of issues that they do need to discuss.
And so it is impossible to ignore Turkey. They need to discuss the migration issue, Sweden's membership in NATO, and of course Turkey has also
been a major player in trying to broker some kind of an agreement on the war in Ukraine -- Lynda.
KINKADE: Scott McLean, seeing across all the developments for us from Turkey. Good to have you there for us. Thanks so much.
As Gaza's largest hospital finds itself on the frontline of the war, a grim picture is emerging of the humanitarian crisis there and throughout Gaza.
CNN's Nada Bashir has this report. But we must warn you it contains graphic images that are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a scene that should be filled with innocence, but these drawings, sketches of houses, paint a
picture of all these children have lost. Home for the displaced, now makeshift shelters in Central Gaza, lives in limbo with nowhere to go.
In the south, as more children are buried, another warning. Leaflets dropped by the Israeli military on Thursday telling civilians in Southern
Gaza to move and find shelter. A foreboding signal that Israel's ground incursion could soon extend its punishing reach.
ATYA ABU JACAL, DISPLACED GAZAN IN KHAN YOUNIS (through translator): Now they are asking us to leave. Where do we go? We want to understand where
exactly we should go.
BASHIR: The U.N. rights experts on Thursday warned that grave violations committed by Israel point, in their words, to a genocide in the making.
As darkness encompasses doctors in the south, already grappling with the impact of Israel's intensifying bombing campaign, there are growing fears
over what could come next. Desperate scenes from the north of Gaza almost entirely destroyed by Israel's unrelenting airstrikes, show just how dire
the situation can quickly become.
DR. NAHED ABU TAAEMA, DIRECTOR, NASSER HOSPITAL (through translator): We have lost contact with our colleagues, patients and everyone inside the Al-
Shifa medical complex.
BASHIR: Israeli forces say they are still active in and around the Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, claiming to have found an operational tunnel
shaft at the hospital complex. With no access to the complex, CNN is unable to verify either side's claims.
Israel says its military operation at Al-Shifa will take time, raising fears over the safety and security of more than a thousand patients and
medical staff now trapped inside.
DR. RICK BRENNAN, REGIONAL EMERGENCY DIRECTOR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: We are looking at options for medical evacuation, but there are a lot of
security concerns, there are a lot of logistics constraints, our options are rather limited.
BASHIR: Allegations of people at Al-Shifa being interrogated and even stripped are beginning to emerge. While doctors are detailing the harrowing
decisions they are being forced to make, including amputating limbs to stop the spread of infection. But with the communications blackout cutting
Northern Gaza off from much of the outside world, CNN has no ability to verify these accounts and has reached out to the IDF for comment.
No videos have emerged from staff at Al-Shifa Hospital since the raid began in the early hours of Wednesday morning. These are some of the last
pictures to have been shared with the world, premature babies in intensive care.
[10:10:01]
There is no way to tell if all are still alive. Their cries, some of the last sounds heard before the voices of those inside Al-Shifa were silenced.
Nada Bashir, CNN, in Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: I want to bring in Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan. She is a pediatric intensive care doctor with Doctors Without Border.
We appreciate your time today, Doctor.
DR. TANYA HAJ-HASSAN, CO-FOUNDER, GAZA MEDIC VOICES: Thank you for having me.
KINKADE: So despite the communication issues connecting with Gaza, I understand you have been able to speak to colleagues at Al-Shifa Hospital,
the main hospital in Gaza. What are they telling you about what they've been dealing with these past few days?
HAJ-HASSAN: Yes, so just a correction on that, we have not been able to contact anyone at Al-Shifa Hospital for two days now. Like you and the rest
of the media world, we have lost complete contact. And last we heard the situation was harrowing.
You know, this is prior to the actual invasion into the hospital. The hospital was under complete siege surrounded by military tanks. The staff
were not able to move, even within the hospital. They describe being shot at through the windows when they tried to move her through the hospital
corridors. They said that two nurses were killed, shot through the window. Several patients were shot as well.
And they described being stripped of food, running out of water. I think the exact words where people are screaming for thirst -- of thirst. They
had no access to water either. And obviously the medical staff described being extremely concerned for their patients. The intensive care unit
patients unfortunately could no longer receive oxygen when the oxygen supply was hit. This includes both adults, children and newborn babies, the
(INAUDIBLE).
They were not able to sustain their life support and equipment for patients on dialysis. The same applied there. And they were extremely concerned and
they were begging the international communities to help them evacuate the patients and provide safety. Remarkably, to their patients, even now in the
most harrowing times, the recurrent theme is their desire and commitment to protecting patients.
They also described very harrowing scenes of the over 100 dead bodies that they were unable to bury. They dug one mass grave, I was told, and buried
80 individuals there and the rest of the bodies they tried to reach to bury but anytime they tried to access them they described being targeted and
shot at. They also described having injured people within the vicinity of the hospital that they could not reach because the ambulance vehicles could
not come and go without being targeted.
So they -- I think some of the words we heard were that they were unable to articulate what they are seeing. They were speechless. That these are
scenes that no creature can and should endure. And yes, very concerning. And I think even most concerning is the fact that we cannot contact them
anymore. We cannot bear witness on what is happening. And that is a fundamental principle of the organization I work for, the (INAUDIBLE), the
concept of bearing witness on these atrocities and relieving the suffering associated with them.
KINKADE: Doctor, we saw the images of the 36 babies, huddled on a bed together, no incubators. What are you hearing about the most vulnerable,
the victims? You're a pediatric intensive care doctor. What more can you tell us about the youngest at Al-Shifa Hospital?
HAJ-HASSAN: Yes. I'm certainly concerned for the 36 babies that, you know, all patients are vulnerable. There were hundreds if not over 1,000 patients
that evacuated several days ago when the hospital was directly bombed. So the patients that did not evacuate are the patients who cannot evacuate.
They are all vulnerable. And I know that several of the intensive care patients have since passed away due to lack of access to life support and
therapies.
Several of those babies have also died. But they're all vulnerable. And I want to also clarify because there's been a lot of focus on Al-Shifa
Hospital as there should be, but there are also, you know, several other hospitals in the Gaza Strip that have been targeted.
[10:15:07]
There was a Gaza health report issued by the World Health Organization on the 14th of November that described 27 of the hospitals being out of
service and only nine functioning at partial capacity. That is the complete manmade destruction of an entire health care system for a population. Their
lifeline, where you go to to relieve suffering.
You know, I've worked at hospitals in the U.K., in the United States, in Canada, people come to the hospital because they need help. Civilians,
individuals, children, adults, elderly. This is an entire health care system that is being systematically destroyed. And we talk about Al-Shifa
but there is Al-Shifa, Al Awda, Al Quds, Al Aqsa, Rantisi, specialist pediatric hospital, psychiatric hospital, the eye hospital, the Turkish
cancer hospital. All these hospitals have been targeted in a variety of ways.
KINKADE: Yes, I mean, we know at least a dozen hospitals can't even operate at all. But in terms of Al-Shifa Hospital, you have been to that hospital
before. Israel says it bombed and conducted raids there because they believed that there was a Hamas control and command center under that
hospital. So far the only evidence they have shown is one single tunnel shaft within the vicinity of that complex.
What do you make of that claim? To go in and carry out these raids at that hospital?
HAJ-HASSAN: Look, I am not an investigator or a politician. What I will tell you is having been in the hospital, it is a very busy, chaotic trauma
hospital with -- that is a tertiary center for the entire Gaza Strip. So if you imagine the equivalent wherever you are based right, or the equivalent
wherever I'm based right now it is an extremely busy functional health care facility that is a lifeline for an entire population.
When I have been to that hospital I have never seen any evidence of military activity. All I have seen is health care providers dedicated to
caring for their patients and thousands of patients flocking there for care. That is also the messages that I have received now during this raid
on the Gaza Strip. It is video footage, constant testimonies both from MSF, Doctors Without Borders staff, and other health care workers in the Gaza
Strip that they are doing their best to keep patients alive in these facilities.
And that they are being directly targeted without any evidence or concerns from their part or knowledge of their part of any military activity
occurring in these hospitals.
KINKADE: Yes.
HAJ-HASSAN: I also want to point out that, you know, in war times, a lot of justifications are made for targeting civilian infrastructure. What I can
tell you for certainty, for certainty, is that this hospital is functioning as a health care facility.
KINKADE: OK. Doctor --
HAJ-HASSAN: That in and of itself would make targeting it under any capacity prohibited under international law.
KINKADE: Exactly.
HAJ-HASSAN: And considered a war crime.
KINKADE: Dr. Tanya --
HAJ-HASSAN: I'm sorry, just going back real quick. You know, all of those other hospitals that were targeted, we're focusing on this justification
for Al-Shifa, but there's no justification for targeting the entire health care system of a population.
KINKADE: You make some really, really valid points. And we appreciate your perspective, having been to the Gaza Strip to that main hospital. Thank you
so much for your time today, Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan. Thanks very much.
We're going to take a quick break. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:21:09]
KINKADE: Welcome back. It's the final day of the APEC Summit in California. Leaders and top officials from the block's 21 economies spent this week in
San Francisco trying to shore up alliances and to court investments. Later today, U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with his Mexican counterpart.
They'll discuss ways to curb fentanyl production.
I want to bring in Kevin Liptak, who's covering the summit in San Francisco.
Kevin, good to have you with us. Let's start first with what we can expect in the coming hours when President Biden meets the president of Mexico.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and this hasn't always been an easy relationship for President Biden. They are allies, but
it is somewhat tense sometimes between President Biden and President Lopez- Obrador. But they do have a lot to talk about certainly. And you'll remember, the last time President Biden held a major summit of leaders in
the United States, the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, President Lopez-Obrador decided to skip it.
But he is here. He is in San Francisco today. And they will sit down and they will talk about issues like fentanyl. And you'll remember that was an
important outcome of President Biden's meeting with President Xi. They decided that China would help cut down on the component chemicals of
fentanyl. But the issue for President Biden is that once the fentanyl comes to North America, it makes its way across the border from Mexico.
And so this is sort of another link in the chain that he wants to address on the growing narcotics crisis in the United States. They'll also talk
about migration. And of course, those two issues are connected. And certainly it shows you that President Biden, even though he is here
focusing on, you know, the long awaited pivot to Asia, American foreign policy in the Pacific, he's also very focused on these domestic issues that
have caused him so many problems, political problems at home, including the situation at the border.
He is under pressure from Republicans but also critically from Democrats, governors, mayors who are confronting these waves of migrants without a lot
of direction from the federal government. And certainly he wants to demonstrate that he has his eye on these important domestic issues, even
though he is confronting all these foreign crisis as well. And certainly the situation in Israel has loomed -- the summit this week as a backdrop of
some sort.
And certainly President Biden wants to talk to all of these leaders about coming to some sort of global consensus about how to confront that crisis.
And so I think as President Biden wraps up the APEC summit, that's sort of the question, is what he really was able to accomplish. That meeting with
President Xi certainly was very important in setting sort of a level set for that very critical relationship between the two largest economies.
And that is what the leaders -- the other Asian leaders at the summit were really looking for with some stability in the Pacific. And I think on that
front, President Biden certainly thinks he was successful -- Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Kevin Liptak, we'll leave it there for now. Live from San Francisco, thanks so much.
Well, the U.N. Refugee Agency says it's gravely concerned about escalating violence in Sudan's Darfur region. In recent weeks armed groups aligned
with the paramilitary RSF have reportedly killed more than 700 people in western Sudan. The U.N. says reports of sexual violence, torture and the
targeting of specific ethnic groups are deeply alarming. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to neighboring Chad since the beginning of
that war.
CNN's Nima Elbagir and her team have spoken with refugees in Chad who detailed horrific cruelty. Some describing systematic rape and being sold
like cattle. And a warning, the images and the content of Nima's report are graphic and disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A scene all too familiar in West Darfur.
[10:25:01]
Social media footage widely circulated last week showing RSF soldiers and supporting militia rounding up men.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Come on, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), let's go. Pulverize them.
ELBAGIR: Harassing them, threatening them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Kill them.
ELBAGIR: CNN has been able to geolocate these videos, placing them in Ardamata, an outlying district of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur,
where some of the worst atrocities during the recent war have taken place. Over the last year during the war in Sudan, the RSF have targeted members
of African tribal groups, including the Masalit, who claim Darfur as their ancestral land. Many of the RSF belong to tribes which unlike the Masalit
claimed Arab ancestry.
What we are about to show you is very disturbing. These are the most recent images emerging from Darfur. What you are looking at is a mass grave,
filled with over a dozen bodies, some are alive, others clearly dead. One man can be seen throwing earth on top of another, even though he is still
alive.
A man off-camera can be heard shouting as someone appears from beneath a pile of dirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Hey, get back down. Hey, that guy's alive.
ELBAGIR: He quickly buries his head back into the earth. We don't know the fate of these men. It's also unclear whether the men seen in the ditch are
the same men as those in the video running from RSF soldiers and militia loyal to the RSF. But it does illustrate the newest, most terrific pattern
of violence in the region.
Communication in Darfur has been deliberately choked by the RSF. It's been excruciatingly hard to understand exactly what's happening there. A few
months ago, we travel to a refugee camp in Adre, Chad, where survivors and eyewitnesses of these brutal attacks were able to cross the border.
One by one, brave survivors came forward wanting to share, to document what has happened to them. Describing the horrors from the city of El Geneina,
stories of rape and enslavement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): From within our family, we lost more than 40 men.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They said to my father we're going to rape your daughter in front of you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The RSF said leave these ones. We will find better ones to sell. These ones, let's rape them.
ELBAGIR: Textbook ethnic cleansing. These are the hallmarks of genocide.
CNN interviewed over a dozen survivors and eyewitness in El Geneina, where civilians were targeted and were women were being sold from slave houses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There were RSF soldiers outside, and they beat me until they force me into the building. Inside I saw nine
or 10 girls, some without clothes.
They told us they will sell us very cheaply. They said, we kill all the men, we will not leave any black skin here. You have to leave, get out.
They said they will be the only ones to sleep with us, because if we have our own children, our sons will one day take revenge.
ELBAGIR: She managed to escape but was recaptured and brought to a different location where she was repeatedly raped. But it's not just women
being affected, Mahadi (PH) who's only 16 was kidnapped by the RSF with his brother and forced to work at a farm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): We were eight people. We were all tied up. They would come and say, I want the strong boys. Someone came
over and started to feel my arms. I was tied up and blindfolded.
ELBAGIR (through text translation): You can't see them but you can feel them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): I couldn't see at thing. I could just feel him hitting me here. Then I heard them say I'll buy him off
you, I'll give you money.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): The word slave in Arabic is a racial slur, equivalent to the N word, so we're bleeping it out in his testimony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): They said this is a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They hit me and said (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
ELBAGIR (through text translation): They called you (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Yes. They beat me and said (EXPLETIVE DELETED), where did you get this (EXPLETIVE DELETED)? They kept
hitting me.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Mahadi doesn't know how much they bought him for, but he was eventually taken to another location where he was forced to work. He
says his brother taken at the same time was killed by the RSF.
Survivor after survivor told CNN how the RSF spoke of wiping out the African descendant Masalit. It's Masalit ancestral land in Darfur that the
RSF are currently occupying. Part of a fertile land mass that the commander of the RSF has been strategically looking to secure for the last 20 years,
changing the demographics from African to Arab.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:30:03]
KINKADE: You can watch Nima's full report on "THE WHOLE STORY," "Going Home, the War in Sudan." It airs on Sunday night at 9:00 Eastern in the
United States.
Egypt's health minister says his country is ready and waiting to help some of the most vulnerable patients in Gaza's hospitals. But he says the
challenge of getting them across the border is out of his control. Have his exclusive interview with CNN, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD, with me, Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.
Medics in Egypt are standing by to provide urgent care for patients from Gaza. Some severely injured people have already been evacuated to Egypt.
But all those, including newborn babies, still at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza remain trapped. This week the director general of Gaza's hospital said
those babies are in severe danger.
Egypt's minister of health gave an exclusive interview to CNN's Eleni Giokos about what's going on and what Egypt can and can't do.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Would you characterize what you're seeing in terms of injuries as crimes against humanity?
DR. KHALED ABDEL GHAFFAR, EGYPTIAN HEALTH MINISTER: For me, I can say that definitely. I mean, how do you explain, you know, a playground, people or
children playing in a playground, or staying at school, or you know, getting treatment at the hospitals, and they get killed or sleeping on
their homes and they are getting killed for no reason? And for me, I don't see any reason.
From my perspective, at least as a minister of health, I don't -- I think the patient has the right to live. The patient has the right to get the
chance to get treatment. How do you see patients on cancer, and he is 5 years old or 6 years old, he's not getting the chemotherapy in four weeks
or five weeks. How do you name that? How do you name that? Accident? How do you call it?
How do you know that there's a neonate that needs ventilators, and they are out of electricity, and they're out of gas and they are out of medication.
And they told me that they are trying to put three neonates in one incubator.
[10:35:03]
Can you believe that? And they sent me photos for it because they don't have anything else to do. So they put the kids, three of them in one
incubator because they don't have that much source of energy to support. And even though they stopped losing those newborns, and they want to get
them out, how do you call that, how do you name that?
GIOKOS: So with the babies from Al-Shifa Hospital, what is the timeline in terms of getting them into Egypt? Who dictates that timeline? And how are
you able to intervene?
ABDEL GHAFFAR: Unfortunately this is not in our hands. I mean, as I told, our ambulance is now, as we speak, waiting in the borders ready to move
them right away. Even the hospitals to be equipped with ventilators and with the incubators for that purpose are ready. So we just need the other
side to get them in, most importantly that we are ready to receive 10 times, 20 times, 30 times more than that.
We are ready to do that. I mean, we allocated 37 hospitals. We allocated more than 11,000 beds, more than 1700 ICUs. More than, you know, 150
ambulances, ready to move those patients. So we decided, we dedicated and deployed more than 38,000 physicians, and 25,000 nurse staff, ready to
operate. So whatever numbers we're going to get, we're going to deal with.
GIOKOS: Why are you giving those numbers? Because you can deal with the bigger number of injured people? Why are you not getting them?
ABDEL GHAFFAR: Again, it's not Egypt's decision.
GIOKOS: Whose decision is it?
ABDEL GHAFFAR: I don't know. But certainly there is someone that has to check and has to clear out and give the clearance for those patients to
come out from these territories to the Egyptian side. But I told you, my team and my staff are staying day and night waiting for every single case
to get in, to start dealing with him.
GIOKOS: Do you think that Israel has the final say about which patients get out?
ABDEL GHAFFAR: I have no information to tell you about this. I cannot say something that I'm not sure of. But definitely there is a certain authority
on the other side to take decisions whom to come out. Otherwise we could have just waited for thousands of patients to come because they have 28,000
patients ready. We can say 10 percent, 20 percent of them need extensive interventions that they don't have.
GIOKOS: Would you be able to absorb 28,000 patients right now?
ABDEL GHAFFAR: The health system in Egypt accommodates more than 70 million to 80 million Egyptians. So we do have the capacity to accommodate and this
is in terms of capacity but most importantly the passion that we have in the hearts of Egyptians and the heart of our community, and with the
leadership of our president who's directing us from the day one that whatever facilities that we have, we have to bring it and we have to give
it to our sisters and brothers and families from Gaza. So the idea is the system can accommodate, definitely yes.
GIOKOS: So to be clear, there is no basis or criteria in which exists in terms of accepting patients into Palestinians --
ABDEL GHAFFAR: No limits. No limits.
GIOKOS: So how many ambulances do you have at the border right now? How are you managing which patient goes where? And what does it take from a
planning and logistics perspective for Egypt?
ABDEL GHAFFAR: That's a good point. Because I told that we put ourselves in an emergency plan since day one. And we sit down together with our team and
we put the plan from the very beginning. The ambulance has to be there at the borders. And from that point, we have triaging and we have three
hospitals in Mount Sinai as phase one of hospitals. And then we have phase two of hospitals in the Suez Canal region which is Port Said and Ismailia
and Suez, as well as Damietta, and Sharqia, with our neighboring (INAUDIBLE).
GIOKOS: Is Egypt going to be embarking on any investigation with regards to the types of injuries that you've been seeing? I'm sure you're collating
data at the moment and in terms of how it relates to the weapons that are being used right now inside of Gaza?
ABDEL GHAFFAR: Certainly. I mean, this is very huge. We have specialists and researchers from different areas that they have -- when we have
suspected injury or something that we need to get more evidence, more scientific knowledge about what's going on, we do that all the time. And
that's something that until we get proof and until we get evidence of what we have seen, I think this is too early to talk about.
GIOKOS: I want to talk about the types of injuries you've come across and what I witnessed today was, you know, one young boy, a small little body,
seven injuries that requires intervention from multiple different doctors. So give me a rundown of what you've been seeing.
ABDEL GHAFFAR: I mean this is just a sample of what you saw. We have cases even much deeper wounds like what you have seen. I mean, injuries coming
out of fragments and debris from missiles that, you know, even get to the brain, fractured the base of the skull, deep cut wounds, (INAUDIBLE)
fractures, open -- loss of tissues.
[10:40:16]
As you can see, injuries of vital structures, quadriplegia, hemiplegia, amputations of the limbs. Things that you can never see in your regular
medical life. You know, and as we mentioned, that needs multidisciplinary teams to work with. And that's what we're doing, bringing plastic surgery
with orthopedic surgeon, with definitely psychological, you know, counseling because you have seen part of them, they are in the case of a
mental shock.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Our thanks to Eleni Giokos for that interview. We're going to take a quick break, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome. Previously on "Call to Earth," we shared the story of an effort to save Hawaiian forest birds from extinction due to the spread of
avian malaria. That same disease was recently discovered in southern Chile. Researchers there are hoping to prevent the spread of it across Patagonia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The south Antarctic Island of Navarino near Chile's southernmost tip is home to a wide variety of birds. Some are
permanent residents. Others only summer here during their annual migration.
It's an idyllic destination and a safe haven for the birds. But the recent discovery of another airborne creature here has some scientists concerned.
JAVIER RENDOLL, DOCTORAL STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MAGALLANES: When I found the first mosquito, that was a signal of things are changing and are
changing probably not in a good way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With an average temperature of 43 degrees Fahrenheit, the island is not a place where mosquitoes would typically thrive.
RENDOLL: We know from everywhere else in the world that mosquitoes can carry diseases. It is more than just a mosquito in a particular place. This
has its consequences.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While the pests were only recently detected, the path that led them here actually began decades earlier in Navarino's neighbor to
the north. In 1946, the Argentine government introduced 10 pairs of Canadian beavers to Tierra del Fuego, as seen in this archival clip from
the program "Sucesos Argentinos." The idea was to establish a fair trade. The industry struggles but the non-native beaver population took off and
eventually spread to Chile.
Today, they number in the tens of thousands, leaving behind swaths of felled trees and ponds of stagnant water, conditions that when combined
with rising temperatures create a scenario where both mosquitoes and other invasive species can survive, according to Javier Rendoll.
[10:45:18]
RENDOLL: It's a pattern. You will see that you get first the mosquito. You get the yellow jacket, you get the European bumblebee, European earwigs.
And you can track in time that every year we are detecting new exotic or introduced species. So something is happening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the Cape Horn International Center, researcher Juan Rivero is on the lookout for what he fears the mosquitoes may have brought
with them, a strain of avian malaria called plasmodium.
JUAN RIVERO DE AGUILAR, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CAPE HORN INTERNATIONAL CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF MAGALLANES: Here, the purple bruise thing is the
parasite. This is the whole body. The parasite is inside these cells. So parasites infect the cells and start growing inside and start feeding on
the red cell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Avian malaria does not affect humans but it can be deadly to birds.
RIVERO DE AGUILAR: Here, an entire colony of penguins dying from avian malaria at Exmoor Zoo, U.K.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It can be particularly devastating to local species who may have no resistance to the disease.
RIVERO DE AGUILAR: We have a limited response, two plus million infections in resident birds. So that confirms at least the presence of plasmodium in
this (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): While there is currently no foolproof solution to stopping the spread of avian malaria, by sounding the alarm
from this remote corner of South America, Juan and Javier hope to preserve Patagonia's birds and also have a positive impact on the human population,
too.
RIVERO DE AGUILAR: Birds conservation is a matter of international issue because birds fly between countries. So when you think how we can stop the
spread of infection or disease has to look into the mosquito. We need to change our way of life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag CalltoEarth. We are going to take a very quick break now. We'll be
back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, university researchers using -- around the world are using things to drive
innovation in robotics that were unheard of just a few years ago. In a new series called "Bold Pursuits," Will Ripley meets with the scientists behind
these incredible machines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our oceans, they remain largely unexplored and contain many mysteries and challenges.
On the shores of Abu Dhabi, I have come to meet a team investigating what role robots could play in our oceans.
IRFAN HUSSAIN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CENTER FOR AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS, KHALIFA UNIVERSITY: We use different types of robots, some robots are
called unmanned surface vehicles that stay on the surface of the water. And then we have the underwater drones that are used by the underwater
operations.
RIPLEY (voice-over): They're deploying these robots to perform various challenges. Today they're simulating a task where robots could one day be
used to clean up our oceans.
[10:50:03]
HUSSAIN: So it has its own camera, basically it identifies autonomously the plastics. It goes there and picks the plastic.
RIPLEY: So it picks it up, picks it up itself.
HUSSAIN: Picks it up. And then we have the other boats that has these baskets and it drops there. And then this boat can bring towards the coast
and where you can remove the plastics.
RIPLEY: This research into autonomous marine robotics is being conducted by a team at Abu Dhabi's Khalifa University.
LAKMAL SENEVIRATNE, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS, KHALIFA UNIVERSITY: We have about 90 researchers working in different
aspects of robotics, plus cleaning, coral reef inspection, a swam robotics, aquaculture.
RIPLEY: In this robotics, lab students attach an array of technology, including cameras and sensors. In this research pool, waves simulation
technology allows them to conduct their studies. Using advanced software, AI and algorithms, they analyze the data.
SENEVIRATNE: I've been working in the field since the 1980s, and there's never been a time like this.
RIPLEY: Advances in technology are changing scientists' approach to robotics. The arrival of AI is a game-changer. Achieving their goal of
building autonomous underwater robots is not easy.
SENEVIRATNE: You don't have a GPS, for example, underwater. Your visibility is poor. You have waves and screens and you are buffeted every which way.
Communication is very difficult as well. So many challenging problems.
RIPLEY: Challenges that, through sheer determination and continuous research, these scientists aim to overcome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, officials say the risk of a volcanic eruption in southern Iceland remains high. Words of (INAUDIBLE) as earthquakes continue to rock
the region.
Joining me now for the latest is CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
Good to have you with us, Derek. So there have been 800 earthquakes in 24 hours. Talk to us about the concerns over a volcanic eruption.
DEREK VAN DAM: Yes, Lynda, these earthquakes are a direct result of magma actually funneling underneath the town of Grindavik in southwestern
Iceland. And people there have evacuated but they noticed that the ground was literally separating from each other, causing cracks by upwards of one
meter. Just incredible to notice what's happened. But it begs the question, why in the world would the ground sink if magma is pushing up towards the
surface for this imminent volcanic eruption?
Well, there's a reason for that. And that is because as the magma actually makes its way towards the surface of the earth, it is thinning the crust of
the earth. And as it does show the result is that the ground sinks from the stretching motion that is actually happening. So we get that ground
defamation or that drop of over one meter, that you saw an imagery just a few moments ago. How do we confirm this? Well, satellites are actually able
to detect this drop in the ground.
You see the town of Grindavik here located with some of the road grids there on the map. Kind of difficult to see but that shading of purple is
actually satellite imagery detecting that one meter drop that has occurred since the volcanic earthquakes that started to erupt last Friday. So this
is the magma corridor, there is Grindavik, that magma again thrusting towards the surface. That is what scientists are concerned about.
Eventually breaking through when one of those cracks or one of the fissures, and unfortunately impacting the parts of Grindavik where people
call home -- Lynda.
KINKADE: Wow, we will keep an eye on that. Good to have you with us. Derek Van Dam, thank you.
Well, it looks like Taylor Swift is not the only singer in her relationship. With the holiday season now in full swing, her boyfriend,
Travis Kelce, and his brother Jason are recording a duet.
Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Move over Mariah. It's going to be a very Kelce Christmas. As the football bros Jason and Travis Kelce
dropped their holiday song. And here you thought Taylor Swift was the singer of this couple.
TRAVIS KELCE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS TIGHT END: Everybody can hear me sing like a church boy.
MOOS: Their new song is not exactly "Silent Night." It's part of the annual Christmas album Jason's team, the Philadelphia Eagles, puts out to raise
money for Philly charities.
Jason's brother, Travis, from the Kansas City Chiefs, joined in to sing "Fairytale of Philadelphia." They reimagined the 1980s Christmas classic by
the Pogues.
[10:55:06]
Travis feared the worst.
KELCE: I'm going to get just absolutely butchered.
MOOS: And he was, by someone who posted, "I'd rather hear a test of the emergency broadcast system on repeat than listen to the Kelce brothers. But
there was tons of rave reviews. What can't these brothers do?
That's awesome. Now add Taylor. But she's not making the duet. The trio yet. What's next for these two? "Will there be Travis and Jason ornaments
for our tree?"
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: And their song has already gone to number one on the iTunes chart.
Well, that does it for CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us. Have a great weekend. "STATE OF THE RACE" with Kasie Hunt is
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
