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Connect the World

CNN International: IDF Pounds Beirut's Southern Suburbs While Hezbollah Fires Rockets into Northern Israel; Israel Intercepts Five Projectiles from Northern Gaza; Biden, Harris Again Call for Diplomatic Solution to War; CNN Interviews Former Hostage Aviva Siegel; Hurricane Milton Heads for Florida at Category 4 Strength; Israel Marks One Year Since Hamas Attacks on Oct 7. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired October 07, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene in Reim, Israel, where, a year ago, many hundreds of young people attending

the Nova Music Festival were brutally killed by Hamas terrorists. It was October 7th. Well, it's 04:00 p.m. in Israel, it is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu

Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson, you're watching "Connect the World".

Also happening, Israel continues to hit Hezbollah targets in Beirut and its southern suburbs with aerial attacks. And Hamas fires rockets from Gaza to

the outskirts of Tel Aviv, injuring two people.

Well, we start with the Middle East and the world marking an anniversary that, one year on, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and left this

already tense region far more dangerous than before. Hamas militants stormed into Israel from Gaza last October 7th, killing 1200 people and

taking more than 250 hostages. Israel today is remembering those victims and those still held captive with vigils and protests.

Well, its visit -- president visited the side of the Nova Music Festival where many young people were killed, calling the attack a scar on humanity.

Well, a year later, fighting still rages. The resulting war in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and left large swathes of the enclave

in ruins.

And now Israel fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, where more than 1400 people have been reported killed and more than 1 million displaced. Well, CNN's

Nic Robertson revisited the site of the Nova Music Festival and reports that the pain and sorrow runs-deep.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Before dawn, a day of pain about to break you. A minute silence commemoration

where 347 were brutally killed, 40 taken hostage. A year ago, these fields filled with fear. Hamas overrunning the Nova Music Festival. Raz Grofi

survived missing her friends riven by guilt.

RAZ GROFI, SURVIVOR: Unequivocally, crazy guilt feelings. I have friends who came here because of me and they are not with us. It's something you

live with every day, probably forever.

ROEY DERY, SURVIVOR: Nothing will bring us back what we lost. We came back here with other friends that we were together. Some didn't come back.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Roey Dery trembles as he talks here for his friends who didn't make it.

DERY: Yeah, it's praying memories every time we remember another piece.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nova today, a sea of sorrow, sadness, tears and suffering, a rawness that knows no easing.

RINAT LIOR, AUNT OF VICTIM AMIT LAHAV: It feel like yesterday. We still -- we still haven't accepted that she's gone.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Aunt of Amit, 23 when she was murdered.

LIOR: She was murdered with her best friend Shira (ph). That's very difficult to be here.

ROBERTSON: (Inaudible).

LIOR: We didn't anticipate that it's going to be one year. We thought it's going to be one week. We're going to bring the hostages back, and that's

it.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): That war still close, helicopters overhead, deterring attack, remembrance punctured by explosions, suffering not

limited to these families and these fields. Nic Robinson, CNN, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Israel's Northern Front, the Iran backed group Hezbollah, began firing rockets into Israel on October 8th in support, they say, of Hamas.

And the back-and-forth attacks have been getting more and more intense.

[09:05:00]

Here's a look at smoke over Beirut, after our team heard a large blast just a short time ago. Earlier explosions lit up the skies over the capital,

southern suburbs. Meantime, five people were wounded in what appears to be the first Hezbollah rocket attack to hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa

during this war. Well, CNN's Ben Wedeman has been in Beirut for us as this conflict has escalated, and he joins us now.

Israel pounding the city in recent days with some of the most intense bombing of its war against Hezbollah, which, of course, has killed more

than 1400 left more than a million displaced. What's the very latest there, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Becky, within the last half hour, there was a massive explosion to the south of us. The

Israelis say it's a targeted strike on what they say is the -- or the southern suburbs, which they described as a Hezbollah stronghold, although

many people live there who have no connection with Hezbollah whatsoever.

This blast was significant because we believe it is the closest strike so far to Beirut International Airport. That despite -- despite that, the

flights keep on coming in and taking off. But definitely, what we're seeing is certainly over the last few days, at night, really intense strikes, and

during the day, hourly strikes on the southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, in the south of the country, the Arabic Spokesman for the Israeli military has put out yet another series of evacuation orders, this

time to 25 villages in the south, many of them in the western sector on the border near the Mediterranean, clearly indicating that Israel is planning

something far beyond the so called localized and targeted raids in the south of the country.

Clearly, they are setting the groundwork for something much larger. They've told all of these, perhaps at this point, as many as 100 the residents of

150 towns and villages to go north of the Awali River, which is about 50 kilometers north of the border, and told them not to come back to their

homes until further notice.

The worry is that Israel will come in accompanied by massive destruction, of course, and then nobody knows when they will be able to go back. Keep in

mind, Israel has invaded Lebanon before the first time in 1978. They didn't withdraw from the great mass of the occupied territories until May of 2000.

The worry is here that history could repeat itself Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben, we know that Hezbollah has the capacity to strike a target attack on Haifa injuring five over the weekend. The immediate region where

you are engulfed by war on several fronts and attacks continue. You've reported in Lebanon and Gaza within Israel today. Where is this headed Ben,

it seems simply insufficient to describe this wider region as quote, on the brink at this point?

WEDEMAN: Yes. Well, I recall the words of the Former President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, who warned the Americans before the invasion of Iraq in 2003

that they were in danger of opening the gates of hell. Certainly, the Iraq invasion opened it a bit, but I think that those gates now are gaping wide

open.

What we have is a war that started in Gaza, expanded to Lebanon, has now included Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran, all attempts to stop this, the war

that started in Gaza from spreading, have failed what we've seen as a weak American administration that's expended lots of time and effort with

diplomacy.

But it has not been able to stop this drift toward regional war, which we're really just on the brink of. I mean, in fact, if you think about how

many belligerents are involved, it really is a regional war that has huge potential to spread. Of course, everybody is anticipating, waiting for the

Israeli counter strike to what we saw last week on Israel.

And looking down the road, if the Iraq war spawned ISIS and spawned huge suffering and displacement and destruction, certainly this is a war that's

going to have a very dark legacy that could haunt the world for generations to come.

[09:10:00]

And I think at the end of the day, we have to look to Washington to why they have not been able to exert the kind of influence we've seen previous

American administrations do to stop these wars in the Middle East. This time, they seem to be sitting on their hands putting out sort of lame

statements about the need for ceasefire stability in the Middle East.

Stability forgets about it that's out the window and ceasefire when I -- we haven't really seen any effort at achieving a ceasefire. For weeks there

was talk about a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. But of course, we heard from the Abdullah Habib, the Lebanese Foreign Minister, saying that

Hassan Nasrallah had agreed to a ceasefire that the Americans and the French were pushing.

And there was a very detailed "New York Times" article along the same lines, but Israel went ahead, assassinated Hassan Nasrallah just days after

this proposal -- proposed ceasefire looked like it was going to happen, and here we are now Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman is in Beirut. Ben, thank you. The Israeli military says it intercepted five projectiles launched from Northern Gaza today,

earlier, the IDF reported nine projectiles have been launched from the south of the enclave, injuring two people.

Meanwhile, Israel has issued fresh evacuation orders to residents in part to the north and the south. The military saying its forces are responding

with, quote, extreme force to Hamas, terror actions in those areas. Well, Nada Bashir, following developments for us.

41,000 killed, many of them women and children. Many, many of those who are dead are women and children. This war goes on in Gaza on a day a year on

from October 7th. Of course, the IDF launching new air strikes on targets inside Gaza, a refugee camp and a hospital compound. Why were these

targeted? Do we have any detail and what do we know about casualties at this point?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Becky a year on, and we are still hearing the same messaging from the Israeli military. They maintain that

they are targeting Hamas infrastructure -- Hamas militants in these areas. But of course, as we've seen throughout the year, the civilian toll is

significant the implications for many of those civilians have been displaced is immense.

And of course, as you've described, we have seen a number of strikes being carried out overnight and over the weekend, and of course, impacting

civilians there as well. Just overnight, a series of strikes on the Al Borage Refugee Camp in Central Gaza, we've seen a number killed and several

injured there.

Again, the Israeli military saying that they are targeting Hamas infrastructure, but this is an area known to be housing countless

civilians. And over the weekend, that's more troubling development is that we've seen the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, or at least the compound of the

hospital, coming under attack.

It was known that, of course, civilians had gathered around the hospital building makeshift tents to take shelter on the hospital compound. This is

a hospital that is getting support from Doctors Without Borders at this stage. It is one of the last remaining hospitals still functioning in Gaza.

Of course, it's a hospital where we receive footage from on a daily basis, because it -- because it takes in such a huge amount of wounded patients

from across the Gaza Strip. But according to the Israeli military, they did target the compound with a drone strike. They have described the hospital

rather the compound of the hospital's housing, Hamas Command and Control Center.

Of course, no evidence has been provided of that, and we do know that a number of civilians were also killed in that strike. At least eight people

injured. And what we've also seen in that area of Central Gaza is a broadening out of these airstrikes. We've seen the Al Aqsa Martyrs Mosque

being targeted over the weekend, at least 21 people killed there.

Again, we've also seen a nearby school being struck as well. So clearly, the situation in Gaza has not changed over the last year. We are still

seeing these strikes taking place across the strip, particularly now concentrating on that Central Gaza area. And of course, what we have seen

over the years these repeated evacuation orders, the vast majority of Gaza's 2.2 million strong population is now displaced. And of course, real

fears as to where there is left for civilians to go for safety.

ANDERSON: Briefly, what do we know about these fresh evacuation orders now being issued by the IDF?

BASHIR: Well, Israeli military has called on civilians in a number of neighborhoods in the south surrounding the Khan Yunis area to evacuate now

to the Al-Mawasi coastal area. It's been designated as a humanitarian zone. We previously heard evacuation orders for Palestinian civilians in Northern

Gaza, particularly around the Jabalia Refugee Camp.

[09:15:00]

Again, being told to head to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone. We know that the Israeli military has been conducting strikes on Northern Gaza. They say

that their troops have now encircled the Jabalia Refugee Camp. They have said that they will begin to target what they have identified as Hamas

infrastructure in the south.

But again, as we've seen in the past, these humanitarian zones have also become targets. So real concern for where civilians are supposed to go

next.

ANDERSON: Nada Bashir, reporting for you today. Thank you. Well, one year since the Hamas attacks on Israel, the horrors of that day still haunt the

country and many around the world, as questions swirl over whether it could have been stopped. More on that is coming up. Plus, Joe Biden and the U.S.

presidential hopefuls putting campaigning aside for the moment, how all three are commemorating the anniversary of the Hamas attacks and a live

report from the White House. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, a day of anguish and remembrance across Israel one year since the Hamas attacks of October 7th. Today, survivors and families of

those killed gathered at the site of the music festival that became one of the biggest targets in the attack, and images of those taken by Hamas and

others were projected onto the walls of Jerusalem's old city yesterday, a powerful reminder that they are not forgotten.

Well, on this somber anniversary of the attacks that claim some 1200 lives. Questions remain unanswered about warnings ignored and catastrophic failure

of Israeli intelligence. CNN's Jim Sciutto has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): One year after October 7th, visiting the Nahal Oz Base in Southern Israel, brings

Eyal Eshel both a chance to honor his daughter, Roni and the most painful memories.

EYAL ESHEL, FATHER OF OCTOBER 7 ATTACK VICTIM: From here they came in the October 7.

SCIUTTO: This is where they entered?

ESHEL: Yes, this is the way they came from Gaza.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Roni was one of more than a dozen IDF soldiers in an all-female observer unit who raised the alarm as Hamas terrorists crossed

into Israel that morning. After warning for months of an impending attack.

LATE RONI ESHEL, IDF OBSERVATION SOLDIER AT NAHAL OZ BASE: Four people are running towards the fence, confirm received. I see two-armed people running

towards the fence, confirm received.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): As Hamas fighters overran the base, even filming themselves as they did it, Roni and her fellow observers waited six hours

for a rescue that never came. They were killed, along with more than 30 other Israeli soldiers at the base, while several others were taken

hostage. For Eyal today, each location inside the base brings pain.

[09:20:00]

ESHEL: Here is the table that the girls was sitting and eating and smiling and laughing.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Just what they were doing the very night before the October 7th attack. In this video recorded by Roni's fellow soldier. This

week in the destroyed operations room, Eyal lit a candle to mark the Jewish New Year at the very same spot where Roni issued those ominous warnings,

and close to where she died.

ESHEL: We don't have any holidays. We hate holidays. She's not here. She's not with us.

SCIUTTO: This is where the observer unit was based. This is where they were issuing those warnings prior to the attack that something was coming, and

sadly, on the morning of October 7th, this is where many of them were killed.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): The IDF's failure, not just to heed the observers warning, but also to come to their rescue, remained crucial questions a

full year since October 7th, part of a much broader security failure that day. It was on these now burned up computer screens that Roni and her

colleagues told their parents they had seen worrying signs from Hamas, including accounts of fighters testing the fence line.

The Israeli military ignored other warning signs as well, including these training videos Hamas posted openly online in the months before and

earlier, intelligence since uncovered by Israeli media about Hamas' intent to attack Israeli communities and even take multiple hostages. Retired

Brigadier General Amir Avivi is Former Deputy Commander of the IDF's Gaza division.

AMIR AVIVI, FORMER DEPUTY COMMANDER OF IDF GAZA DIVISION: They thought that Hamas is mostly worried about the stability inside Gaza and the economy.

SCIUTTO: So, you're saying it was a misreading of Hamas, rather than not listening to internal warnings.

AVIVI: Generally speaking, yes, but I think that also, at a certain point, what the observers said again and again and again, that I think things that

are out of usual. At a certain point, there were commanders who said, OK, that's it. We don't want to hear about this anymore.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): The IDF and Israeli government have insisted a full investigation into what went wrong that day cannot take place while the

country is fighting a war on multiple fronts now.

ESHEL: We put the picture of the whole girls.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Today Eyal and the other families have built a memorial for their lost daughters overlooking Nahal Oz base.

ESHEL: Here is Roni.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): But they're still waiting for what he wants most now accountability.

SCIUTTO: Has anyone from the army or the government ever said to you, I take responsibility?

ESHEL: No one, no one.

SCIUTTO: Has anyone ever said I'm sorry?

ESHEL: No one. I need answers, and I need the responsibility, and I need the true.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): A father's simple demand after the worst loss imaginable. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Nahal Oz Southern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, a brief pause in campaigning today in the U.S. with just four weeks until America picks its next president as Donald Trump and

Kamala Harris, mark a year since those Hamas attacks. Meanwhile, both Harris and President Biden are calling for a diplomatic solution amid the

now ever-expanding war between Israel and Hezbollah,

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live at the White House, and there will be many who say that this has simply gone beyond a diplomatic solution, but both Biden

and Harris releasing statements commemorating what they call a solemn anniversary and calling for diplomacy here. Just explain what we are

hearing about from them.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are each marking this October 7th

anniversary in their own ways, both mourning the loss of Israeli lives on October 7th while also acknowledging the suffering facing the Palestinian

people in Gaza.

Now in their statements, Harris and Biden both called, issued renewed calls to try to reach some type of ceasefire deal to secure the release of

hostages and end the fighting in Gaza. President Biden wrote, quote, we will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that brings the

hostages home, allows for a surge in humanitarian aid to ease the suffering on the ground, assures Israel's security and ends this war.

Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity and peace. Now, the families of some of the Americans believed to be held

hostage by Hamas did speak yesterday with some senior White House officials. But the calls come at a time when there really has been little

to no movement in the talks to try to secure such a ceasefire deal.

[09:25:00]

You also have Biden and Harrison their statements calling for a diplomatic solution to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. But

that is something that so far, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown no signs of signing on to. And this all comes at a time when the

U.S. is navigating this conflict in the Middle East that's really spreading on multiple fronts, as Israel is fighting not just Hamas in Gaza, not just

Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also facing threats from Iran.

In the statements released this morning, both Biden and Harris reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to ensuring that Israel has what they need

to defend themselves, including in the face of threats from Iran. But it does come as the U.S. has remained in contact with Israeli officials trying

to ascertain what their next steps what their response may be to Iran's missile attack against the country just last week.

So, all of this really presents a very complicated dynamic for President Biden as he's dealing with a precarious moment in the Middle East. He has

long said that he wants to prevent this conflict from widening even further. There are big questions on whether that's even possible at this

moment.

ANDERSON: Meantime, I know that Biden and Harris and indeed, Donald Trump will all mark the one-year anniversary of these attacks with separate

events. What do they have planned?

SAENZ: Well, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, this morning, will hold a candle lighting ceremony here at the White House with a Rabbi. This

will be a traditional candle lighting ceremony that's usually used in the Jewish faith to observe the anniversary of a loved one's death.

A little later this afternoon, Vice President Harris and her husband second gentleman will deliver remarks and also plant a tree on the grounds of the

vice president's residence. They will be planting a pomegranate tree, which, in Judaism, is a symbol of hope and righteousness.

Then you have Former President Donald Trump, who will be attending a commemoration event up in New York City, before holding a remembrance event

down at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. All three of those individuals really trying to highlight this anniversary, trying to mourn the deaths of

those killed on October 7th, while also showing solidarity with the Israeli people going forward.

ANDERSON: Good to have you Arlette thank you. Law enforcement across the U.S. stepping up their presence in some communities amid the escalating

conflict in the Middle East. It comes just as new data from the Anti- Defamation League shows a record spike in anti-Semitic incidents. CNN's Josh Campbell has the details.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. tripled since last October's deadly terrorist attack

in Israel by Hamas. That according to new data out from the Anti-Defamation League.

They say this is the largest number of incidents that they've recorded since they began tracking threats in the U.S. back in 1979. They say as of

this point, over 10,000 incidents that they recorded since October 7th. Let's take a look at the numbers. They say least 8015 incidents involved

verbal or written harassment. There were at least 1840 incidents of vandalism and at least 150 incidents of physical assault.

Now, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League was on CNN Sunday with our colleague, Dana Bash. He spoke about this very dire milestone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: It has been around for over 110 years, and we've never seen data like this before. Think about it.

Like we are honoring, commemorating the solemn anniversary of the murder of 1200 people simply because they were Jewish, right?

They were slaughtered. They were tortured. They were killed. They were kidnapped. And yet, here in the United States, that triggered a tsunami of

anti-Jewish hate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now the FBI, which enforces federal hate crimes law and collects statistics of its own on violence in this country, say that the number of

incidents involving Jews far surpass any other hate crime regarding religion. Take a listen here to FBI Director Christopher Wray. He spoke to

Congress just after the October 7th attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: The Jewish community is uniquely, uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum.

And when you look at a group that makes up 2.4 percent roughly of the American population, it should be jarring to everyone that same population

accounts for something like 60 percent of all religious based hate crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And finally, we're learning that the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have issued a public advisory warning that Monday's

one year anniversary of the October 7th terrorist attack in Israel, along with continued Mideast turmoil, could serve as motivators for violence by

extremists. They didn't point to any specific and credible threat to the homeland, but they are urging the public to remain vigilant to report any

suspicious activity to law enforcement.

[09:30:00]

Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

ANDERSON: Well, there is more news after this short break you are watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson, just half past 5 here in Abu

Dhabi.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Israel today, marking the anniversary of the October

the seventh attacks by Hamas. Thousands attending a vigil in Tel Aviv earlier. And in Jerusalem, the Knesset lowered flags to half-staff, while

hundreds of people, including family members and friends of victims, gathered.

The Israeli President Isaac Herzog gathered at the side of the Nova music festival where Mr. Herzog described the attacks as a quote, scar on the

face of the earth and called for countries to support Israel. Well, the Co- Founder of the Nova music festival spoke with CNN earlier about the lasting effects from the October the seventh attacks. He says, although a year has

passed, it still feels as if he's living the same day.

OFIR AMIR, CO-FOUNDER OF NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL: October 7th is a year has passed, but we still feel like we're on October 7th, and it's just a long

day that never ends. October 6th was one of our happiest, one of my happiest days of really, we accomplished to create the biggest festival we

wanted to in Israel with collaboration of the biggest festival in Brazil.

Having over 300 people coming to Israel for this festival from all over the world to celebrate love, peace, freedom, the dance floor is supposed to be

the safest place on earth where, who, it doesn't matter where you come from. You can be wherever you want to be. And we believe that when you're

in the dance floor, it doesn't matter who you are, what religion, what color, we're all the same.

So, for the dance floor is supposed to be the most sacred and safest place and it's unimaginable what happened on that day. It started on 06:29 with

the rockets and what happened next, no one could ever believe. And, yeah, unfortunately, years past, but like me and most of the survivors and the

families we still feel unfortunately on October 7th.

[09:35:00]

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Jeremy Diamond joining us now. He has a former hostage with him, whose husband is still being held in Gaza, Jeremy.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, this day is ultimately about the atrocities that happened a year ago on October 7th, not only the

roughly 1200 people who were killed by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, but also, of course, the hostages who were taken.

And I'm here now with one of those former hostages, Aviva Siegel, whose husband Keith is still being held hostage in Gaza to this day. A year

later, Aviva, have you begun to process what happened to you and what happened to so many others on that day?

AVIVA SIEGEL, FORMER HAMAS HOSTAGE: I'm just the saddest person in earth. All I want to do is to cry thinking about Keith -- underneath the ground.

And all the hostages, it's just breaking my heart to think about that these so many days has passed, and every minute that they're there is too much.

DIAMOND: Tell us about that day to the extent that you can right now. You woke up that morning, and within hours, you were being taken away to Gaza.

SIEGEL: In my pajamas and Keith in his pajamas, we were in complete and utterly shock. I was in a shop and Keith was in a shop for a couple of

weeks in Gaza. We used to look at ourselves and say, what are we doing in Gaza with our pajamas? And I mean, we behaved all the time, while they

treated us like we would do it, but like we were nothing in earth.

Whatever they wanted, they did. They wanted to starve us. They stopped us. They didn't want to give us water. They didn't give us water. They just

told us to sit, we had to sit, even though Keith had his broken ribs and it was very difficult for him to sit. He could hardly breathe, and he had a --

from being shot.

I just can't imagine what Keith is thinking now, and if he's able to keep strong enough to keep alive, because I know that so many minutes I just

wanted to die. And the hardest thing for me is when they tortured Keith, and when they tortured the girls. And I do know that Keith with the same

people and being tortured, and my heart is broken up into pieces.

And I want to tell you that while I was in Gaza and the Hamsters told me, they interviewed me, and I had to speak, I told Keith that I think I'm

going to cry. And he said, no, Aviva, don't cry. Your children don't want to see you like that. They want to see you strong. Show them that you're

strong.

And in April, the video came out of Keith and keep strong. And that means, it just means that he's in really bad shape, and you can see out the knees,

his bones are out, and I know that he's going to come home like a skeleton, but I just so badly want him back. I'm finished of worrying about him and

knowing exactly where he is and worrying about all the hostages a year is too much.

It's just too much. It's cruel. It's the cruelest thing you know, knowing what they're going through, and meeting them there.

DIAMOND: You endured 51 days of captivity. Do you imagine being in Gaza for a year like your husband?

SIEGEL: Not at all, not at all, in those 51 days, I was sure that I was forgotten, and they just can't find us because we underneath the ground.

And to think about Keith -- it's seven times more than me. I don't know. I just don't know what kind of people going to get back, and -- the

cartridges are going to come back.

We do know from the six cartridges that came back a month ago, the conditions were the worst, and that should have woken up the leaders of the

world. You cannot allow yourself to leave human beings underneath the ground to die slowly without medicine. This one of the hostages has celiac,

and another he's been forced to eat pita bread.

Kids got high blood pressure, and there's children that don't have their parents because their mothers been killed and the fathers there. And it

just breaks my heart. I think we've all gone through enough. I don't know what more to do.

I don't know what more I can do, because I do know that Keith and not to just cannot stay there, because I'm a human person. I've got a heart, and

Keith got a heart, and I feel for them. And I feel that it's the cruelest thing in us to live --

DIAMOND: And several weeks ago, I had a chance to question the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. I spoke with you on the phone before

that, and I then asked him this question, which I want to point out.

[09:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: I spoke to Aviva Siegel tonight, a former hostage whose husband is still being held in Gaza. She told me that she believes that you are

sentencing her husband Keith to die by prioritizing the Philadelphia corridor over a deal. And she has this question for you, is Keith going to

come home alive or dead?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I'll do everything to make sure that Keith and all the other hostages come back --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And so, you heard the Israeli Prime Minister there, I will make sure that Keith and all the other hostages come back. He didn't stay alive.

What was your reaction when you heard his response there?

SIEGEL: -- the first moment when I heard that, but I do know that I'm not going to lose my hope, even though what Netanyahu said, I'm going to keep

my hope. I'm going to keep screaming for Keith, and I can't even imagine Keith coming home dead. I just can't imagine him coming home dead, it won't

happen.

We have to bring them back. We have to bring Keith back. We have to bring the hostages back. We can't allow ourselves to bring dead bodies back.

DIAMOND: Keith is also an American citizen, and I know that you've met with President Biden. You have spoken with senior White House officials

regularly. Are they giving you any more reason for hope these days and do you have any more faith in the U.S. government or in the Israeli government

at this point?

SIEGEL: Nobody's really giving me hope. Nobody, no sides are giving me hope. But I'm not going to lose my hope. I know that I'm pushing myself

forward, and I'm going to keep pushing, and I'm going to keep strong. I'm talking for Keith. I'm talking for Keith that's begging to get out of

there.

That's 65 years old. It does not just it should -- you should not be underneath the ground, lying on a filthy mattress with other hostages and

trying to think, what are they going to do to me now? Are they going to hit me again? Are they going to push me again? Are they going to stop me again?

Maybe they'll decide to rape one of the girls next to me or touch her. That's torture, and that should not be allowed in any place in the world,

and to let the hostages that died without the medicine slowly. I think that's the cruelest thing you know, and it should never, ever happen

anywhere, anywhere and to anybody, if it's a Jew, a Muslim, a Christian.

Anybody in the world should not suffer like the hostages are suffering. And I have been there, so I know what it's like, and I for 51 days, just try to

survive -- And I want to tell you that there were so many moments that was so hard for me that I just wanted to die.

To see them torture kids was for me, the end of the world for me to see them touch the girls was too much for me, for see them beat one of the

girls with sticks and I had to keep quiet. I wasn't allowed to cry. I wasn't allowed to shout, and those I felt like they were my daughters, and

I could not protect them.

I had to keep quiet. I wasn't allowed to even show that I'm upset in any way. I wasn't allowed to cry forgive what they did to him and to the girls.

And there's so much sadness and so much cruelty in the story that we've been Netanyahu, so while Biden, they need to wake up, it's too much, it's

too much suffering.

And they suffering every minute, all the time, because I was there and I suffered every minute. There wasn't a minute that I could just lie down and

say to myself, OK, Aviva, you mean guys have just relaxed. I could not relax because all the time something happened.

DIAMOND: Thank you so much, Aviva. I am so glad that you are home. I pray for your husband. We will pray that he will come back alive soon and I will

be able to speak together someday. Thank you so much --

SIEGEL: Thank you so much.

DIAMOND: And Becky, this is the story of so many of these former hostages, so many of those loved ones still have their family members stuck in Gaza.

It has been an interminable year of roller coaster of emotions. The hopes that you have seen over the course of the year, when it seems like

agreements might be possible, the desperation that followed when those agreements, those negotiations, fell apart and now there is just hope and

please for things to change --

ANDERSON: Understood and apologies viewers for the inconsistency on the sound there. Thank you, Jeremy. We're going to take a very short break.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

ANDERSON: Florida officials say they are preparing for Hurricane Milton, the category 4 storm has been rapidly intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico,

and it is set to make a direct hit near Tampa, Florida, midweek. Now, all of this as the state, of course, is still reeling from Hurricane Helene's

devastating landfall just 11 days ago. Let's get you the very latest on this storm. Check in with CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Becky, it's just incredible to see this rate of intensification that this storm has undergone over the past 24 even

30 hours or less. We're talking about nearly 100 mile per hour increase in strength from this storm from what it was yesterday, so in the morning of

Sunday morning local time.

So right now, we're staring down in the eye of a category 4 Atlantic hurricane. The Gulf of Mexico water is here just abnormally warm. So, it's

fuel for the storm to rapidly intensify and strengthen, which it has done. In fact, it's actually double the criteria for that rapid intensification.

And the beauty of the technology that we have at our disposal is that we can get these minute-by-minute updates from the National Hurricane Center

and the hurricane hunters. This is an actual airplane, AC-130 that flies directly into the heart of the storm, and they are measuring flight level

winds of in excess of 240 kilometers per hour now.

That's not exactly what's being realized at the surface, but that just gives you an indication how strong it is. Their minute-by-minute updates

have all caps locks on them saying that they're experiencing extreme turbulence and hail in the center in the southwestern quadrant of the

storm.

So, what does this mean? Well, we've got a rapidly strengthening storm. We're getting these new updates almost by the hour from the National

Hurricane Center, and this forecast track has done a couple of important things overnight. Not only have we seen it move a little further to the

south, but it's also slowed in its forward progression.

So, landfall for the Gulf Coast of Florida is delayed by about 12 hours compared to what it was yesterday at this time, I do want to take note for

our international viewers, this may brush the Northern Yucatan Peninsula here within the next 12 hours. Remember yesterday at this time, we did not

anticipate a category 4 monster to be that close to the Yucatan Peninsula.

So, something to take note of. But we got to focus in on the U.S. and just how rapidly and quickly this storm actually intensified. And that's really

just putting into perspective there. But in terms of what we may experience on the ground some of these hardest hit areas from, let's say, Hurricane

Ian in September 2022 remember devastating Fort Myers Beach.

What about just two weeks ago? Less than two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene, moving just off to the west, but also sideswiping this gulf coast area near

Tampa Bay, setting record storm surge levels. They're still cleaning up debris here in Tampa Bay, and this is only going to complicate matters, is

that debris lines, the roadways with catastrophic winds potential here, right, where you see that shading of purple, that's where we could

experience major hurricane strength winds.

This is Pinellas County, there's Sarasota, there's Lee County, where Fort Myers Beach is located. That's winds in excess of 110 or 111 miles per

hour.

[09:50:00]

So, this is the initial storm surge forecast. We're talking 3.5 meters. OK, so not only will that eclipse some of the records that were set just two

weeks ago Becky, but this would be extremely damaging and life threatening for this coastline. And I'm highlighting Tampa Bay because we know what two

weeks ago did to that area.

We saw the visuals. We saw the images. We were on the ground, and this was the real-life storm surge forecast. And if I was to go back on this

graphic, you can see the highest levels from Helene, which was well offshore, was nine feet, just a little over nine feet.

Now we're calling for 8 to 12 feet, and this will likely go up as well, Becky, with the projected, what we call trajectory of approach, means that

it will become more of a perpendicular storm to the Florida peninsula. So, it will bring all of that surge into Florida, at least the coastline, and

it's also going to bring a flood threat as well. So, we can't forget about that factor, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you, sir. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. And a call in

Moscow is sentenced to an American man more than six years in prison for allegedly fighting for Ukraine, according to Russian state media, 72-year-

old Steven Hubbard, who is originally from Michigan, was reportedly accused of fighting for Ukraine as a mercenary.

A huge explosion outside Pakistan's Karachi Airport has killed two Chinese nationals. The separatist group says the suicide attack targeted a convoy

of Chinese engineers and investors. Sunday's blast shook the country's biggest airport, and you can see vehicles engulfed in flames there.

Well, the official Saudi press agency is reporting that Saudi Arabia's King Salman was hospitalized on Sunday. The 88-year-old was admitted for lung

inflammation and was undergoing medical tests, according to the report, was previously hospitalized for another lung inflammation in May.

You're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson, just after 10 to 6 in the evening here in Abu Dhabi. More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, a scar on humanity. Those words from Israel's President visiting the site of the Nova music festival, where many young Israelis, of

course, were enjoying a day of fun when Hamas attacked a year ago today. The anniversary of the attacks which triggered what is the current war in

the Middle East is being marked across the country.

Flags lowered to half-staff outside parliament in remembrance of the more than 1200 people killed and the more than 200 taken hostage. Well, Alon

Ohel was 22 years old when he was kidnapped by Hamas on October the seventh. He fled the Nova music festival in his car, but his mother says

terrorists found the shelter he and others were hiding in and threw grenades inside.

He was one of just a few who survived after that, his family knew he was still alive after seeing a video of Alon getting pulled into a Hamas truck.

She says the world can't forget innocent people are still being held.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IDIT OHEL, MOTHER OF HOSTAGE ALON OHEL: Innocent civilians, they just want to left alone. Just went to a Nova festival trying to have fun, and was

taken from Israel.

[09:55:00]

He did nothing wrong. And I say to everyone, to every mother, you know, Alon is not just my son. He's everyone's son. And when you think about it,

if your son was taken from you, you know, kidnapped or daughter, if you do everything in your power to bring them back home.

So, when you think about that, and you take all the politics aside, this is a human thing to do. And you know we have to continue thinking about them

and doing what we can. We could not forget that they're still there. I think about Alon as being in 367 days. I don't know if he have seen those

days, he have ever seen sunlight.

I don't know if he's getting enough food. I don't know anything, but I know that this is wrong and what Hamas did is not human. It's not human. It's

something that you don't do, and we have to change that. You have to make sure that this will never happen again, and we have to bring, all the

hostages home. It's crucial. It's crucial that if this is happening, this will happen soon, now, tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. "Connect the World" continues at the top of the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END