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Isa Soares Tonight
Vice Presidential Candidates Prepares for Tuesday's VP Debate; Children Sleeping on Beirut Sidewalks; Israeli Ground Invasion of Lebanon Could be Imminent. Aired 2:00-3p ET
Aired September 30, 2024 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, Israel says it's preparing for the next
stage of war against Hezbollah, as sources say, a ground offensive into Lebanon could be imminent. We are live for you this hour in Beirut.
Then a path of death as well as devastation. That's what Hurricane Helene has left behind in North Carolina. We'll take you live to one of the worst
affected areas. And in just a few moments, former U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to give remarks after visiting some of the areas
affected by Hurricane Helene in Georgia.
We'll bring you those remarks, of course, right here on the show. But first this hour, this breaking news. An Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon looks
more likely than ever. U.S. officials tell CNN the U.S. believes a limited incursion could be imminent. And Israel's Defense Minister says the next
stage of the war with Hezbollah will start soon.
During a visit to troops in northern Israel, Yoav Gallant, you see there, also said the IDF will use all means to accomplish its mission including
forces from the air, from the sea and on land. According to U.S. officials, Israeli special forces have already carried out very small raids into
Lebanese territory as they keep up relentless airstrikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SIREN BLARING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And you are looking really chaotic scenes in Beirut after an Israeli airstrike hit within the capital city limits. Now, that's for the
first time during this war. Hezbollah is vowing to fight on despite losing its chief Hassan Nasrallah and other senior leaders in Israeli attacks.
It says it's confronting Israel in support of Gaza and in defense of the Lebanese people. Hezbollah says it will choose a new leader soon. Well,
U.S. President Joe Biden says he's not comfortable with Israel's apparent plans to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon. Once again, he is calling for
a ceasefire, but so far, he has declined to use his considerable leverage as Israel's main weapons supplier.
He says he will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the conflict soon. A U.S. official tells CNN, the Biden administration is
working with Israel on defenses, worried that Iran is planning a response to the killing of Hezbollah's leader. Today, Mr. Netanyahu issued this
direct message to the people of Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: Iran's tyrants don't care about your future, but you do. When Iran is finally free, and that moment
will come a lot sooner than people think, everything will be different. Our two ancient people, the Jewish people and the Persian people will finally
be at peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, Mr. Netanyahu's meeting with his national security cabinet this hour after earlier talks with senior security officials. And just
moments ago, in fact, we learned that Israel has declared that three communities on its northern border a closed military zone. That's just
coming in the last few minutes.
That's declaring three zones, three towns from the border a closed military zone. That tells us a lot. Ben Wedeman is in Beirut, Natasha Bertrand is at
the Pentagon. So Ben, first to you, we are hearing rumblings and signals first from the Israeli Defense Minister, the next stage of the war with
Hezbollah will start soon.
We don't know what that might look like. We don't know how imminent it is. But just talk to the preparedness from the Hezbollah side if this ground
incursion limited or not goes ahead.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, we are seeing the reports in the Lebanese media that there are -- is already
sustained tank, Israeli tank and artillery fire on the eastern sector of the border between Lebanon and Israel. We've -- everybody here is well
aware of these reports of an imminent Israeli incursion.
The worry is that even though the Israelis are suggesting and the Americans as well, that it could be a limited incursion, here memories are long and
people very much remember back in 1982, then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon informed that the Israeli cabinet, which informed the United States, that
it would -- that Israel's operations in Lebanon would be a limited incursion, they ended up besieging west Beirut.
[14:05:00]
So, the worry is that this could easily expand as far as Hezbollah's preparations -- well, we don't really know, but certainly, this is what
they've been waiting for. In fact, Nasrallah in his last speech broadcast in Lebanon, he said to Israel, you are welcome, send in your troops, we are
ready for them. Keep in mind that this is a very rugged part of the country, very mountainous Hezbollah, has decades of experience fighting
against the Israeli occupation that ended in May of 2000.
And they certainly will pose a challenge to Israeli forces, and there's one point that's worth pointing out, that in the last two weeks, Israel has
dealt repeated body blows to Hezbollah with the pager attacks, the walkie- talkie attacks, the elimination of almost the entirety of the military command structure.
But the Hezbollah militants on the border with Israel have continued to fire uninterrupted throughout that entire period. So, clearly, there are
aspects of Hezbollah's military structure that can still function. Now, as far as Lebanon is concerned, that's a much more worrying situation.
What we've seen as according to the Prime Minister Najib Mikati, that as many as a million people have fled the south, the southern suburbs of
Beirut and the Beqaa Valley, 100,000 of them to Syria. This has put a massive strain on the resources of a government that is essentially
bankrupt.
And let's keep in mind that in though -- although hundreds of thousands of people have fled the south, there are still many left behind, what I recall
from the 2006 war, there was a massive exodus of people from the south. But when we made it to the villages that were caught in the fighting, you
always found elderly people, sick people, the handicapped who are still stuck under sustained Israeli bombardment back then. So, we could see a
repeat of that sort of grizzly situation yet again. Isa --
SOARES: Yes, stay with us, Ben, let me go to Natasha. And Natasha, we heard and we played the sound, but we showed some of the sound there. We
heard President Biden just in the last what? Two-three hours, call on Israel to stop the raids that have been happening in Lebanon.
But you know, that comment, like much of what we've seen in terms of relationship between Biden and Netanyahu, that's pretty much fallen, I
think it's fair to say on deaf ears. So, what is the U.S. doing to try and stop this from escalating?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're essentially deploying additional assets to the region, just being prepared
for every possible contingency in the event that this does escalate further, because as you said, it does not seem like Israel is prepared to
accept those -- that proposal that the U.S. put forward for a 21-day ceasefire.
And so, it does seem like things are poised to spiral further. And so, what the Pentagon has done is they have ordered additional air support
capabilities to the Middle East. And what does that look like? That's essentially additional fighter aircraft as well as the thousands of troops
that come along with that for support, for actually flying the planes, for logistics of course.
All of this, you know, huge apparatus that is required to maintain this huge presence in the Middle East right now, of all of this, you know, air
firepower, and they also have issued 'prepare to deploy orders' to forces here in United States, that essentially allows them to be ready on a
shortened timeline to prepare to deploy to the region if necessary.
U.S. forces in the Middle East as well, they have had their -- you know, status changed so that they are on a more heightened state of alert. And
so, all of this really is meant to send a message, of course, primarily to Iran that the U.S. has all of these assets in the region, that it is
capable of deploying really at a moment's notice, not only to defend the Israelis, but also of course, primarily to defend U.S. forces who are in
the region.
There are thousands and thousands of them there, and the U.S. is very worried that not only could Iran get involved in this, but of course,
Iran's many proxy militias which have been attacking U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere over the last several months repeatedly. And so,
the Pentagon now is basically trying to prepare for all possible contingencies, including, of course, the possibility that things get so bad
that there needs to be some kind of evacuation operation from Lebanon.
That is why currently in the eastern Mediterranean, there is the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, which is comprised really of thousands of Marines
who are capable of carrying out this kind of evacuation operation, a large- scale operation as it would be.
[14:10:00]
There are so many U.S. citizens currently in Lebanon as well as deploying troops to Cyprus to help with that kind of evacuation if it becomes
necessary. Isa.
SOARES: And I'm seeing that the U.S. is not evacuating American citizens from Lebanon at this time. This is according to Matt Miller just in the
last few minutes, and the State Department's spokesperson. So, Ben, let me just go back to you, just picking up really where Natasha left off. Of
course, we heard President Biden trying to avoid a regional war.
But yet again, talking about this need for the ceasefire, for the 21-day ceasefire. When you hear President Biden continue to talk about this
ceasefire, when people on the ground, they hear that, what are they thinking? Is anyone there putting their hopes on this ceasefire? Just give
us a sense of the mood on the day, of course, where, you know, more strikes in Beirut and the exodus civilians continues.
WEDEMAN: Nobody is taking President Biden's words seriously. These are the same words we've heard going back to October, and just to sort of -- I'm
coming off of what Natasha said, they're talking about -- she's talking about military assets. What we're not seeing is any sort of active
diplomatic presence to try to head off what could be a full-scale invasion, despite what the Israelis are saying.
There is no -- nothing being done by the United States beyond President Biden said -- saying, I think his words were, I won't be comfortable with a
ground incursion. It's not that he's against it, opposed to it, or he rejects it all together, he's just saying he wouldn't be comfortable with
it. But the fact of the matter is that what we've seen -- sort of going back to Friday when Prime Minister Netanyahu was at the U.N. making a
speech, he never mentioned any ceasefire efforts or even the word ceasefire.
Whether it's in relating to Gaza or Lebanon. And what we've seen is they -- the Israelis seem to be acting as if the White House had nobody in it. It's
true President Biden is essentially a lame duck President. You have the United States utterly consumed by this election campaign, war -- what we've
seen over the last year, going back to October 7th, as the United States has talked a lot about trying to halt the fighting, about a ceasefire. But
the war has only gotten worse, the death toll in Gaza is beyond 41,000, the war --
SOARES: Yes --
WEDEMAN: Is spreading, it spread from Gaza, now it's come to Lebanon. And of course, there are worries about involvement of the Iranians and others,
but the fact of the matter is, there are two full-scale wars going on in the Middle East, and the United States is just coming out with these blend
statements and absolutely no action, concrete action on the ground to stop the situation from deteriorating even further. Isa?
SOARES: Yes, and it does look like things are about to escalate if we go by some of the signals we are seeing, not just visual, but some of the
comments we're hearing from Israeli Defense Minister, saying the next stage of Hezbollah war will start soon. Ben Wedeman for us there, Natasha
Bertrand, thank you very much. Thanks to you both.
Well, let's get some analysis, more analysis here on what Hezbollah might do next. Joining me now is Matthew Levitt, he's a Senior Fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and author of this book, "Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God". Matthew, great
to have you back on the show.
Let me just pick up where I'm sure you heard our correspondents there and the signaling that we are getting that a ground invasion could be imminent
in fact. The next stage will start soon. This is -- this is what we're hearing. We're also hearing that from the U.S., they could be limited and
focused on southern Lebanon. Just, you know, give us a sense of the capacity for here of a ground incursion for Hezbollah. How may they counter
this?
MATTHEW LEVITT, AUTHOR & SENIOR FELLOW, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY'S STEIN PROGRAM ON COUNTERTERRORISM & INTELLIGENCE: Isa, it's good
to be back the show, thanks for having me. But the Israelis made it very clear just before they started with the pagers and the walkie-talkies that
their new war aim is to enable the 60,000-plus Israelis displaced from their homes in the north to go home.
To do that, they have to deal with two sets of threats from Hezbollah. The one is the rockets that most people are paying attention to. The other is
the potential for some type of October 7th-style ground invasion. That October 7th attack that Hamas carried out in Gaza, that came straight out
of Hezbollah's playbook.
And the Israelis say that when they killed Ibrahim Aqil and several red ones, special forces commanders last week, they were meeting in person to
plan such a cross-border raid. So, I think that this is what the Israeli decision to move into the towns and villages just across the border is
about, they've been very clear, not for weeks, but for months that if the diplomatic effort by Amos Hochstein and others in the U.S. and France and
Germany did not successfully convince Hezbollah to redeploy 10 kilometers or so from the border, the day Israel would redeploy Hezbollah by force.
[14:15:00]
And that's where we are right now after this 11.5 months of escalatory fire from Hezbollah into Israel.
SOARES: OK, let's look further then on what we can expect in terms of Hezbollah's capacity here, Matthew, to hit back. Because for the past ten
days or so, we have seen the IDF trying and succeeding on many occasions to diminish and degrade Hezbollah. How successful do you think that the
decapitation strategy has been on in terms of compromising the group from communication to arsenal to manpower.
Just speak to that because that will give us a sense of what we can expect in terms of their -- the opportunity, the capacity to hit back here.
LEVITT: This has been the opposite of a decapitation strategy. Decapitation would have been -- if they hit Hassan Nasrallah and nothing
else. This is open-heart surgery. The Israelis have taken out not one or two, but three or four levels of Hezbollah commanders --
SOARES: Oh, we seem -- oh, do we have him? We seem to have lost him. Can we try and see if we can -- have we got him still? OK -- oh, Matthew, I'm
sorry to interrupt, if you're hearing me. We are trying to fix your audio and we'll come back to you. Of course, it is an important -- it's an
important discussion.
It will -- he is the person to hear from when it comes to Hezbollah's capacity and what we can expect from the group and whether Hezbollah --
Lebanon, parts of Lebanon, I should say can decouple from Hezbollah. We'll reconnect, we'll try to fix all the tech -- technical problems and we'll
get back to him.
Well, as the war between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Germany has sent a military plane to Beirut to evacuate non-essential embassy staff as well as
other German nationals. The German Foreign Office says it raised emergency level for its diplomatic missions in Beirut.
Tel Aviv, as well as Ramallah over the weekend, many civilians are scrambling to get out of Lebanon. All Middle East airlines flights from
Beirut to Istanbul on Monday were fully booked. That is according to the company's website. Fly Dubai has canceled flights from Dubai to Beirut up
to October the 7th, while Emirates extended flight cancelations on this route until October the 8th.
But as we told you in the last five minutes or so, we've heard from the U.S. State Department's spokesperson, Matt Miller, who says that the U.S.
is not evacuating American citizens from Lebanon at this time. So, we'll keep across all the developments when it comes to evacuations and flights
out of and into Beirut.
Still to come tonight, one official describes it as post-apocalyptic scene. We'll go live to one of the areas reeling from the impact of Hurricane
Helene. Plus, Donald Trump is in the U.S. state of Georgia today. We'll have his comments as well as a live report, we'll bring you those stories
after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want them to know we're not leaving until the job is done. I also want you to know, I'm committed to
traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible. But I've been told that it'd be disruptive if I did it right now. We will not do that at the
risk of diverting or delaying any, any of the response access needed to deal with this crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, U.S. President Joe Biden promising those impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Helene will help -- will have help from the
federal government. Vice President Harris is in Washington today being briefed on rescue efforts. The death toll from the storm across six states
is now 119 and officials believe that number is likely to rise among.
Among the hardest hit areas, the mountainous communities of western North Carolina who find themselves isolated without much needed supplies after
flooding washed out hundreds of roads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ESTHER MANHEIMER, ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: I've never seen anything like this. It's hard to describe the chaos that it looks like. It
really feels like, you know, a post-apocalyptic scene in some TV show you watched. And I've never thought I would see it myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, more than 2 million people from Virginia to Florida are without power right now. Marybel Gonzalez is in hard-hit Asheville and she
joins us now. And Marybel, not only are there millions of people without power, but also hundreds of roads from my understanding, including looks
like the one behind you completely closed off. Give us a sense of what you are seeing on the ground, Maribel.
MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN REPORTER: Good afternoon, Isa, that's right. This one is just one of 300 roads that are closed right now, and as you can see,
it's pretty easy to see why their roads are completely covered in mud, this heavy sludge making them impassable for pedestrians and also dangerous for
vehicles.
But take a look around and you'll see that work is already starting to be done to clean up some of those roads. These behind us are all people of
this community, also residents that live nearby. We do know that there were emergency crews on the scene making the rounds in the neighborhood, but as
you can imagine, getting access into these communities has been pretty hard.
The Asheville mayor spoke to our CNN's Jim Acosta earlier today, telling him that the community is cut off on three out of the four major highways.
And just to give you a sense of the destruction, he described the power lines as looking like spaghetti. So, all hands are on deck here to try to
clear out some of that debris, surrounded by us right now are small businesses.
This historic neighborhood, one of them being a dairy distribution plant that you see right behind me, we took a look inside, it's completely
covered in mud, in slush, all of their product, as you can imagine, spoiled, everything inside of those refrigerators as well.
But despite that, the workers here we spoke to, they're trying to get whatever can be salvaged and not just distributed here in their
communities, but also in retirement communities that need the help that are even, if you can imagine in a worse situation than they are. So, there's
definitely a sense of neighbors helping neighbors even in the toughest of times.
SOARES: Yes, real sense of community as you can see there playing out. I wonder with the slush, we are seeing some cars moving behind you, Maribel,
I wonder though, how much the fact that these roads are -- some of these roads are closed off. How much has that been hampering kind of the delivery
of badly-needed supplies?
GONZALEZ: It definitely is. And like we mentioned, these people are people who live in this community, so they were here since very early hours of the
morning, just trying to help out in any way that they could -- that they can. But we do know that people are here and not just cut off from
transportation, for example, it's also difficult to get supplies in.
So, some of that water that they need right now, they're going on days without water, running water, they're without power, 450,000 customers and
counting in the whole state are in that same situation. And another one of the big things here is no internet, no cellphone service, it's very spotty
even for us, we've been having difficulty all throughout the day, but that's been hard because people cannot reach their loved ones.
[14:25:00]
So, people have been -- there have been over 600 reports of missing persons this weekend in this county alone. But the good news is officials are
telling everybody, hold onto hope because once those services are restored, very likely that people can get in touch, that their loved ones are safe.
It's just that right now it's impossible to reach them there.
SOARES: Yes, that must be so petrifying and so horrible to wait, of course. Marybel, appreciate it, thank you very much indeed. Well, let's
stay in United States and focus on politics. U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is in the state of Georgia today.
He's there to receive a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene as well as help with the distribution of relief supplies. He criticized the
White House response just a short time ago. I want you to have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The governor is doing a very good job. He's having a hard time getting the President on the
phone. I guess, they're not being responsive. The federal government is not being responsive. But they're having a very hard time getting the --
getting the president on the phone.
He won't get on, and of course, the Vice President, she's out some place campaigning, looking for money. So, they've got to be -- they have to be
focused over here. This is a really bad one that the governor is doing a good job, but he's having a hard time getting the President on the phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: So, criticism and attacks continue. Let's get more from Washington, CNN's Alayna Treene. So, Alayna, of course, just for our
viewers to understand, Georgia, of course, is a key battleground state in this presidential election. Just give us a sense what Trump's intentions,
goal is with this trip today.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: All right, and it's not just Georgia. I mean, we know North Carolina where you just saw --
SOARES: Yes --
TREENE: A lot of the flooding and devastation and Asheville, that is also a major presidential battleground as well. And so, this is despite, you
know, many of local officials and national officials saying this is a moment for unity that people need to come together. This is of course,
developing as we're seeing into a political story.
Now, I do want to be very clear where you just played that clip of Donald Trump talking about Georgia governor Brian Kemp, he's a Republican and
claiming that he couldn't get President Joe Biden on the phone. You actually heard Kemp say today that he spoke with President Joe Biden
yesterday, and that he had offered him support with Kemp saying that he appreciated that.
So, not exactly, you know, the full picture right there of what Donald Trump was saying. But what I found really interesting, Isa, in watching
this -- these remarks and seeing Donald Trump's visit today is that, he is being treated like a principal in Georgia. He is receiving a briefing from
the government agency, FEMA, that is something that normally a sitting President and a sitting leader in the United States would get, not
necessarily a former President like Donald Trump is.
So, I would -- I found that to be pretty notable. And also, I thought it was notable that he is trying to make it seem like he has the resources,
Donald Trump, to really aid in this. He said that they brought water, that they have a tanker truck filled with gasoline. Of course, things that we
know, people who are in these devastated communities are seeking.
But I would also - keep in mind that again, he is not in government currently, so, there's only so much Donald Trump can do. But again, I think
as much as this is an important moment, this is, of course political. Now, one other thing he said during those remarks as well is that he -- you
can't get into North Carolina, that he would also like to visit North Carolina at some point.
It's hard with these -- with these different storms and the immediate aftermath because a lot of like, for example, in North Carolina, the
Governor Roy Cooper, who is a Democrat, but also Republicans on the ground are saying, now is not the time to come for a photo-op. The damage is too
extensive and you need to focus your resources -- or the states do, on what is happening on the ground.
I think it's a different case where Donald Trump is today in Georgia, but I think for our viewers questioning why you're not maybe seeing other U.S.
leaders in these states, that's a big reason why.
SOARES: Context, and your context Alayna, is so -- is so important. Let's focus on what is happening tomorrow, and that is the big vice presidential
debate tomorrow night, I believe what appears -- what are you hearing from the Trump camp or what the strategy is here in the final stretch?
We've heard plenty of attacks in the last 24 hours from the former President against Kamala Harris. What is the strategy going into this
debate?
TREENE: Well, it's interesting because vice presidential debates don't normally move the numbers. I know when I talked to Donald Trump's team and
as well as Senator or Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, his running mate's team, they say the same thing. You know, you want to see -- you doubt that this
will move the needle for the ticket overall.
You know, it really comes down to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, not J.D. Vance and Tim Walz, their respective running mates, but there could be an
opportunity to really muddy up the waters and maybe change the news cycle and the media cycle around them.
And so, you'll see, I know when I talked to Vance's team, that they are confident in his abilities, they told me that really, the goal for Vance
and what he's been really prepping for over the last several weeks now has been to try and undercut Walz's image.
Walz, they believe has this folksy image. He tries to paint himself perhaps more as a moderate candidate.
Vance's goal tomorrow is going to try and make him appear more liberal and to really attack him on certain things. I know some attacks that they've
previewed, the Vance side has been on, talking about immigration. crime, the economy, all of the issues we know that Republicans believe are their
best issues as they look ahead to November 5th.
Part of that, I wouldn't be surprised if you hear Vance bring up Springfield, Ohio, despite that being a very controversial story that we
have covered. I think you'll also hear him talk about Vance's military record, something we've heard Vance do in the past, things like that to
really try and undermine Walz's credibility.
We'll see if he's successful. I know that Walz on his side, but again, I'm not sure how much this will move the needle overall for the broader
presidential race.
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: We shall see how much in terms of policy we hear, of course, from the Republican side. Alayna Treene,
appreciate it. Thank you very much.
And still to come tonight, children in Lebanon paying the price of war. We'll have a report from Beirut where many are displaced, and you can see
they're sleeping on the streets. We have that report from Jomana Karadsheh. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. Fears of a ground invasion into Lebanon loom as Israel ramps up attacks against Iran-backed militants. U.S. sources
say Israel has conducted targeted special operation raids inside Lebanon, and one official says a full ground invasion looks imminent. This as Israel
declares a closed military zone around three towns on its northern border. And that in was the last 25 -- well, actually, in the last 34 minutes or
so.
The Israelis have also attacked Central Beirut within Airstrike, and this marks the first strike within the Lebanese capital city limits since the
war began. Israel confirms it also carried out airstrikes against Iran- backed Houthis in Yemen.
[14:35:00]
While the war has displaced at least one million people in Lebanon in just a few days, that is according to the country's prime minister. Our Jomana
Karadsheh met with terrified civilians on the streets of Beirut. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): War has arrived to Beirut, and this is what it's done to so many of its children, exhausted
and homeless. They now sleep on the streets and parks like this one, most here fled the densely populated southern suburbs where Israel's rained down
bombs on Hezbollah targets. But like every war, it is the innocent who paid the heaviest price.
Abeer's home was hit in one of the strikes. She grabbed her little girl and ran and they've been out here since.
I've never fled my home before, not even in the 2006 war, the single mother says, but now, I have a child. The children are terrified.
Far from the air strikes, eight-year-old Batul (ph) tells us she's very scared. The roof was falling on us, she says. Every time my mom would tell
me they're not going to strike, they would. I wish the war would stop.
Batul (ph) plays with new friends she's made, children trying to escape a new reality. They're too young to understand.
But beneath their playful giggles, trauma and fear so deep, 10-year-old Fatima (ph) can't hold back her tears. The whole country is being
destroyed, she says. Born in Syria, she fled war a baby Beirut's the only home she's ever known.
My dad was killed in Syria, she says, I only have my mom. I'm scared my mother and siblings will also get killed.
Syrians, Lebanese, and migrant workers all found themselves with nowhere to turn, but this park. Schools now house the displaced, but there are too
many in search of shelter, and this all happened so fast, a million people, the government estimates, have been displaced in a matter of days.
We found many Lebanese families like this one camped out on the side of the road for five days, they say there was no room for them at government
shelters, their disabled young girl sleeps in the car. The rest have mattresses outside, no toilets or showers here, they've heard their home is
still standing, the women tell us, but their neighborhood is devastated.
Our area has been emptied out, Uhm Mohammad (ph) says, there is no one left.
In the heart of the capital in Marchers Square the remnants of crises passed with a poster that reads, Beirut never dies, and here many more with
no roofs over their heads. For how long? No one really knows, but they fear this may only just be the start of a long war on.
Emfozi (ph) fled barefoot. It was real horror, she says, air strikes were all around us. People were collapsing and fainting. She only grabbed her
medication and these tissue packs, her livelihood. She sells them for about 50 cents. Emfozi (ph) escaped Syria, her home, there is gone.
Wherever we go, she says, death follows us. It's all just too much.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Just heartbreaking. Joining us now to discuss the escalating crisis, Maureen Philippon, the country director for Lebanon with the
Norwegian Refugee Council. Maureen, I appreciate you being with us this hour. I mean, 1 million people were seen displaced. I mean, that's 20
percent of the country's population. Give us a sense of what you're seeing on the ground for so many right now.
MAUREEN PHILIPPON, COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR LEBANON, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: I think chaos, sadness and distress and catastrophe, other words that come
to my mind. As you said, it's -- according to the government estimate 1 million people who fled over just five days. I've been saying that it's
about the entire City of London, should that happen in the U.K., over 5 days having to flee.
So, we have people stuck in parks, still sleeping in their cars, sleeping in unfinished buildings. We have a minority of them who found a spot in a
designated emergency shelter, mostly schools. 800 schools have been opened by the government. Two-thirds of them are already full. And the conditions
in these schools are fairly basic, I should tell you, despite the effort of the team of NRC, other organizations, and a lot of Lebanese solidarity.
It's quite a shattering.
[14:40:00]
SOARES: And, Maureen, in terms of what the NRC is doing on the ground, give us a sense of how many people are seeking shelter, how many people
have you had -- you and your team have had to turn away, if you've had to turn away any, because of the numbers of the exodus of people, of course?
PHILIPPON: So, we don't manage the shelter. This is mostly a government of Lebanon led response, but we hear stories. We know -- again, we see people
sleeping in their car, parked in Nati (ph), as was said in your -- in the clips. There are still people sleeping outside. We still have people
sleeping in cars.
We hear stories, including from my Lebanese colleagues, that they could find a shelter for a couple of days and then they have to move again and
then move again. So, it's a bit of a never-ending story. I think the conditions are not conducive to people finding a minimum stability they
can.
SOARES: Yes, that is for sure, especially when we hear, just in the last - - you know, the last 20 minutes of the next stage of a Hezbollah war will start soon. That's from the Israeli defense minister. When you hear that, I
mean just talk us through the fears, really. We've seen tanks lining up along the border What would this mean for the people in the south, many, of
course, who, as we've seen, have only left really with the clothes on their back, Maureen?
PHILIPPON: Very true. The -- I think what it shows is an almost total lack of effective diplomacy in the region that's bringing the entire region and
millions of civilians very close to catastrophe, honestly, that Lebanon, as a state, doesn't have the means to cater for these people. It's a broad
country been gone through, according to the World Bank, one of the worst economic crises in 2019, 2020.
So, the people and the state are left to their own device. There is a super strong mobilization by the -- you know, every neighbor in every
neighborhood helping out. There's also a strong mobilization of the International Community of which NRC is part of. And we're all trying our
best because -- but because everything happens so fast, we are really struggling with meeting the needs of the people who've been displaced.
SOARES: Maureen, we really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us here on the show. Maureen Philippon of the Norwegian Refugee Council, thank
you very much.
And of course, we'll stay across this story for you here on CNN. Living Gulf is up next for many of you, but for our viewers on CNN Max, we're back
after this very short break.
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