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Isa Soares Tonight
Israeli Attacks On Lebanon Intensify; Biden And Harris Discuss Federal Response After Hurricane Helene And Milton Strike The U.S.; Iranians Give Harsh Warnings To Israel Amid Escalating Conflict; Red Crescent: Israeli Strikes Kills 28 At Gaza Shelter; Officials: 1.2 Million People Displaced In Lebanon; Author David Nicholls On His New Book "You Are Here"; A Dazzling Display In The Skies. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired October 11, 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, deadly airstrikes hit central Beirut.
U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon are wounded as well. We'll have the very latest for you. But first, we want to go to our breaking news coming in, in
the last few minutes.
Let me take you to the White House where U.S. President Joe Biden has just addressed Hurricane Milton in fact. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Before Kamala and I have just received a briefing, we've received these across our administration on
Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, and to state the obvious, I'm sure you feel the same way, our heart goes out to all those folks who have lost
not only personal property for their homes and some lost lives.
I'm grieving after the aftermath of a tornado, a brutal wind record, downpours and historic flooding. I must have spoken in the last three days
to 50 to 75 members of North Carolina all the way down in Florida, talking to mayors and county executives and -- anyway, it's just amazing what's
going on, and you know, this is the third major storm, a third major storm to hit California -- I mean, she mean, Florida in three months.
And experts estimate that early estimates, it could be more, it could be less, but estimates that its caused damage is around $50 billion from
Hurricane Milton alone, just alone, $50 billion. I want everyone in the impacted areas to know we're going to do everything we can to let you have
you pick back up the pieces and get back to where you were.
We've been in constant contact calling and reaching out to over 40 state and local officials as I said, and they need -- have to get moved with
hope. I mean, some of you have been through crises, you know, I mean, one thing you wonder about when things are really bad is there hope? Is anybody
coming? Is it going to happen?
And that's what's happened right now. State and local officials are doing everything they can to help these folks recover. My request, the primary
focus of this briefing has been on the power restoration and debris removal, because they're urgent needs. Milton left over 3 million people
without power, but with the dedication of 50,000 power-line workers, 50,000 power line workers from 43 states and the country again, Canada, have
stepped up and come down to help and to restore -- they've already restored power to 1 million people so far.
And by the way, if you ever watched these guys and women climb these polls in the middle of nowhere, this is -- anyway, they're risking while they're
doing this work. And we just spoke to the CEOs of the public and private electric utilities to thank them for surging their restoration crews to
people who urgently need power even in communities they don't serve.
That's one of the points. A lot of these folks are going into communities they have -- they don't serve at all. It is voluntary. And the energy
sector is real -- and by the way, our Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, Energy Minister, she calls it a mini NATO. The commitment, mutual assistance and
another shining example, Americans literally just when -- comes to shove.
They stand up and take care of one another. We're going to continue to prioritize up until everyone is reconnected and back online. We've been
able to get this work done quicker because of critical infrastructure investments we've made. But when I was Vice President -- both on as Vice
President and since I've been President, to harden the grid, the grid you all know, but the grid meaning for your listeners, the electric power grid
that transmits power.
Harden the grid by incorporating innovative technologies like bearing transmission lines on the ground, replacing wood power poles or concrete
power poles that were snapped in the wind to reduce the impact of extreme weather and climate change, we have to continue making these investments.
[14:05:00]
I was just talking about it with the utility companies on our team here and with the secretary. You know, over the years, the past several years,
Florida has taken the money back away, I got one when I was Vice President -- when I was Vice President to invest in putting these minds underground.
It costs a hell lot more to put the lines underground than it does up in the air, about -- up to six times more or seven times more.
But it makes sense, we can -- anybody who says we don't want to spend the money, think it as a three storm. After every damn storm, you wipe out the
power grid and you got to rebuild it. And so, if you can keep it and so it's not wiped out, it makes it a long-term safe. And the other thing, a
big deal is debris removal.
You know, FEMA and the Corps of Engineers and Florida National Guard are now on the ground helping to stay clear to be -- open roads and critical
porch as well. I mean, you've seen the pictures, some of you have been there. You see, for example, in North Carolina where half a mountain comes
down and bridge rolls in and the water and you got -- you got piles.
I mean, you see at the end of -- end of a river on a cul-de-sac, I mean, piles of 3-4-5 feet high with all kinds of debris in there. It's going to
take a lot of time and money to remove it. But the Army Corps and the Florida National Guard in Florida are on the ground helping clear this
debris and reopen the roads there.
And so, we can make -- have to do it for other reasons, to make critical deliveries of food, water and tarps and lifesaving supplies. The Coast
Guard is leading the effort to reopen the port of Tampa, which as you all know -- because everybody have been covering and they've done a good job of
doing it, covered it because it's a port that delivers a lot of -- a lot of fuel, it goes into the region and goods are necessary.
It's critical for the economy in the region, and again, let me say that the misinformation out there is not only just disgusting, but it is, it is
misleading. And again, the first thing it does -- and I mean it sincerely, I don't -- a lot of you have been through these crisis, some of you
personally.
People desperately want hope, tell me it's going to be OK. Tell me it's going to be OK. And they're in real trouble, a lot of them, and they hear
this malarkey -- they're hearing from some of the people -- I want to end there, but -- I lose my temper. But anyway, the truth is we're providing
all the resources that are needed.
Let me close with this. I want to thank you again to our brave first responders, power line workers, state, local officials, neighbors helping
neighbors and so many more. Look, it's a team effort, I know it sounds corny, but it really is a team effort. And everybody negating, we're
looking at very seriously and we're working together.
It's made a big difference. I think we've saved lives, not me, but we all, those folks out on the field who save lives. But there's more to do and
we're going to do everything in my power to get it done. And the fact of the matter is that we're in a situation where -- well, I'm going to have to
-- I know, I'm going to go to the Vice President in a second. The -- she's my boss here.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: We're going to be --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
BIDEN: Well, hang on a second Madam Vice President --
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Sure --
BIDEN: We're going to -- we're going to be going to the Congress, really need a lot of help. Going to need a lot more money, and why as we -- as we
identify specifically how much is needed. So, I'm just telling everybody now, I don't want to hear that this is going to be the end of it, so -- and
-- so with that, I yield to the President -- I mean, the Vice President.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Thank you Mr. President, and thank you to all of the men and women, representatives of the agencies that are represented by the members of the
President's cabinet for the work that they've been doing around the clock. In the wake of Hurricane Milton, we have of course, witnessed widespread
devastation, homes and neighborhoods have been severely damaged, millions of people are without power and thousands without clean water.
To the people of Florida, and you must know, and to all those in the region, our nation is with you, we see your incredible strength and
resilience, and we are working around the clock to keep you safe. We continue to coordinate resources with local and state authorities,
including food, water, medical supplies and generators.
And we will continue to work with the teams on the ground to restore water and power as quickly as possible.
[14:10:00]
In the coming days and weeks, President Biden and I will make sure that the communities that are there on the ground and have been affected will have
the resources they need, not only to respond to the storm, but also to recover. And we will continue to keep communities in Florida, Georgia and
North and South Carolina and across the southeast, ensure that they will recover from Hurricane Helene.
Finally, I will say once again, as Secretary Mayorkas and I have discussed, to any company or individual that is using this crisis to jack up prices
through illegal fraud or price gouging, whether it'd be at the gas pump, the airport or the hotel counter, we will be monitoring, and there will be
a consequence.
The bottom line is this, we are in this for the long haul, and the support and the coordination between federal, state, and local authorities and
leaders has been extraordinary and we'll continue for as long as it takes. I thank you all.
BIDEN: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Holla louder, holla, I can't hear you.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you still worried about --
BIDEN: Say again --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The misinformation that you've been --
BIDEN: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talking about related to this hurricane and the recovery efforts, do you think it's temporary or do you think and worried
that this might be permanent state of being for this country?
BIDEN: Me neither. Permanent state of being for some extreme people. I don't think it's worth their counties. About -- we're breaking through with
it, we're breaking through with the truth, and if you notice -- and I'm really proud of it, now on the phone and talking a lot to Republican mayors
and governors, they're standing up saying this is not Joe Biden, but conservative, hardcore Republican governors, hardcore Republican mayors
stand up and says it's got to stop.
It's got to stop. And I believe there's nothing permanent about it, I'm pleased that more Americans are coming together in truly voluntary way.
This is who the hell we are. When America is in trouble, we go and jump in and try to help, help your neighbor. And that's basically what's happening.
What -- the thing that borders me the most is there's a lot of people were caught in these crisis. We're basically alone. No widows -- widowers.
People in hospitals, people who are by themselves, and they don't know and they lose contact, and they get -- and they just get scared to death,
scared to death.
And anyway, so, I think it's -- I think those who have been spreading these lies to try to undermine the opposition are going to pay a price for it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Singularly to rainfall --
BIDEN: No, he's not syncing with me, he's just the biggest mouth.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speaker Johnson?
BIDEN: No, I haven't. We're going to -- I've spoken to Republicans -- we want to speak to Speaker Johnson. And I think Speaker Johnson is going to
get the message that he's got to step up, particularly for small businesses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you plan speaking to DeSantis in Florida?
BIDEN: I've spoken to him if he's available. Yes, he's been very cooperative. I've had no -- we got on very well.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you asking Israel to stop hitting U.N. peacekeepers?
BIDEN: Absolutely, positively.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Requesting these military aircrafts in final stages of the campaign?
BIDEN: I'm sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you approve Mr. Trump's request to use military aircraft in the final stages of the campaign?
BIDEN: As long as he didn't ask for 15s.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Look, I've told the department to give him every single thing he needs for his -- any other -- as if he were a sitting president, give all
that he needs, if it fits within that category, that's fine, but if it doesn't, they shouldn't.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, we are a rowdy bunch. That's us, but that's our job too to ask the President questions. And you have been listening to President Biden
there addressing Hurricane Milton's damage, of course, he said it's the third major storm to hit Florida in three months.
He said early estimates put damages around $50 billion, just of Hurricane Milton alone. He said they'll continue to do everything they can to get
people to pick -- just pick up the pieces and get people to where they were, of course, before Milton hit. And he hinted any -- basically -- gave
us the details in terms of the discussion he's been having with CEOs of public and power utilities because some 3 million people are still without
power across many parts of the United States.
[14:15:00]
So, that is a priority. He addressing once again what we've heard prior to Milton hitting, of course, this -- we have been hearing in terms of
misinformation on Milton. He said misinformation is disgusting and misleading, he said. Misinformation is a permanent state of being for some
extreme people. We also heard from Vice President Harris, of course, remotely as you saw there, thanking the first responders, telling people
there will be consequences for those who are price gouging.
And of course, as you well know, 16 people so -- have died so far, thousand people being rescued, and those rescues still underway as the damage very
much acute across many parts of Florida. So, that's the President -- we'll of course continue to monitor any new lines that come out of that.
But let me take you to our top story this hour, and that is the situation in the Middle East, because for the second day -- second time in two days,
in fact, a U.N. peacekeeping base in Lebanon has been hit by Israeli fire as the IDF continues, of course, a ground war against Hezbollah.
Two peacekeepers were injured in today's incident, Israel acknowledges it hit their base, saying soldiers identified a threat and then responded. The
IDF saying it had instructed the peacekeepers to move to protected spaces, but UNIFIL spokesman told CNN, those orders must come from the U.N.
instead. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREA TENENTI, SPOKESPERSON, UNIFIL: Three yesterday, three positions were hit by the IDF yesterday. Today, one position inside our main headquarters
in Naqoura was hit by -- two peacekeepers were injured. One more seriously, the decision will be taken, not by the mission, but by the Security
Council.
And the Security Council asked us to be here, we were deployed because of resolution 1701 by the Security Council, and the Security Council will need
to decide. At the moment we're staying, it's important not only to be present, but it's also important to ensure humanitarian assistance to the
population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Spokesperson for UNIFIL, of course, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. And just a short time ago, the Lebanese Army said two of its
soldiers were killed today in an Israeli strike on an army base. All this, of course, happening as Beirut is still reeling from devastating Israeli
strikes yesterday in the heart of the city.
At least, 22 people were killed. Fresh attacks are also reported on the other side of the border, the IDF saying around 180 projectiles were fired
from Lebanon at northern Israel today, and it says some were intercepted. I want to get more on these strands from our Ben Wedeman who is in Beirut.
And Ben, the strike today in Beirut and center in the heart of Beirut, it seems to be the deadliest so far. What more can you tell us?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's make clear, it's the deadliest so far outside of the southern suburbs --
SOARES: Yes --
WEDEMAN: Of Beirut behind me, which have been struck far more worse over the last few weeks than that strike that happened yesterday evening, about
24 hours ago. One of the strikes hit a four-story residential building in a very crowded part of town, a part of town to which many people had fled
from other parts of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, thinking that they might be safe.
But what we saw is that because the building was just totally collapsed, that rescue workers were trying throughout the night to find any survivors
under the rubble or of course, bodies as well. So, the toll -- the death toll at this point is 22 dead, 117 injured. There was another strike also
in Beirut proper, which was an eight-story building.
It was a targeted strike where a missile hit the third floor. So, that would indicate a targeted assassination. Now, Israeli officials haven't
commented, but the Israeli media and also Hezbollah, oddly enough, agreed on something they both suggested that the target was Wafiq Safa; who is
essentially the equivalent of Hezbollah's top diplomat, somebody who would travel around the Middle East to basically maintain any diplomatic
relations with various regimes in the region.
However, a Hezbollah source told CNN that he survived the strike, and we heard also live on Lebanese television today, a member of Hezbollah's
parliamentary bloc saying the same thing, that no Hezbollah leaders were in either of the buildings that were targeted. So, oddly enough, this for --
basically, since we got back from south Lebanon today around noon, there have been no strikes on Beirut itself, but that's no guarantee that there
won't be more at the moment. Isa?
[14:20:00]
SOARES: On intensification of Israeli fight in Beirut and beyond. Ben, appreciate it. Well, let's turn to Gaza because no food has entered
northern Gaza since October the 1st, putting 1 million people at risk of starvation according to the World Food Program. We're also learning that
two of central Gaza's main bakeries shut down days ago, not having enough flour as well as fuel to make bread.
All this as a hospital director warns some medical facilities expect to run out of fuel in the next 24 hours. The Israeli military launched a new
ground operation in the area on Sunday after seeing what it says are signs of Hamas rebuilding. Experts at the United Nations accuse Israel of
committing war crimes over its attacks on the healthcare system in Gaza over the past year.
I want to bring in our Nic Robertson who joins us from Tel Aviv in Israel. And Nic, let me start then on what we heard from the World Food Program
report of hunger, that no food has entered Gaza, northern Gaza since October the 1st. Give us a sense of what aid is going in, what the IDF
about -- saying about the aid, why isn't going in, and what this means about where are we on this ground operation?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The ground operation continues. The IDF says it continues to allow food to pass through the
principal checkpoints that come into Gaza, and that would be specifically Kerem Shalom. The situation in northern Gaza is desperate humanitarian
situation as the U.N. describes it.
There is absolute shortage of food and -- you know, hunger is rampant, is the term that they use, and that famine isn't far away. I think if you --
they give an example, the U.N. gives an example of how many food trucks were getting into the north. It was about 700 food trucks in August. That
was down to 400 food trucks in September. And nothing, absolutely nothing has gone in to northern Gaza in terms of humanitarian aid since the 1st of
October, that's what the U.N. is saying at the moment.
And this actually comports very closely with what we were hearing from U.S. officials just a couple of days ago, who have said and told us their
Israeli counterparts that they must stick and adhere to the international norms of humanitarian law. Which means you must allow food and water and
fuel, and the other humanitarian necessities to get through.
And that's what we're hearing from those three healthcare facilities you're talking about in the north of Gaza, which treats so many people that are
regularly getting shot, shelled, blown up, injured, that they are running out of fuel too -- that so bad that the doctors there say that they won't
be able to keep the ICU areas going, that they won't be able to keep the life-support medicine going.
And therefore, people needing that right now, who can't get out of the hospitals and can't get out of the way, even though they've been given
evacuation orders because it's not safe, they say, to leave those areas because the military offensive is so close to them that these people
needing life support when the fuel runs out.
Sadly, doctors say so will their lives. So, it is a very desperate situation, and those bakers you were talking about, they're not even in the
north, they're in central Gaza, and this really speaks, I think, to the fact that these shortages are writ-larger across Gaza than they were
previously. And I think some people will be struck by the timing of this, that it's been from the 1st of October, that humanitarian groups haven't
been able to get their aid into northern Gaza.
The 1st of October is also the day that the ground operations, the IDF ground operations began at the border with Lebanon in the north. It is as
if part of Gaza now is being really throttled back and restricted even in a way that it wasn't suffering earlier in the year.
SOARES: Yes, indeed, very desperate indeed. Nic Robertson, appreciate keeping your train of thought through that noise. Thank you very much, Nic.
Well, amid the growing conflict in the Middle East, Iran is cementing its ties with Russia, for the first time ever, new Iranian President Masoud
Pezeshkian met with Vladimir Putin during a summit and to connect.
The Russian President says he shares a very close worldview with his Iranian counterpart. The meeting comes as Tehran braces for Israel's
response to Iran's recent missile attack. But an official tells CNN, the Israeli security cabinet has not yet reached a decision on how to respond.
Our Fred Pleitgen is following all of this, he sent us this report from Tehran.
[14:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CROWD CHANTING)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Death to America and death to Israel chants at the main Friday prayers in
Tehran as Iran awaits possible Israeli retaliation for their recent missile strike against military installations inside Israel.
(on camera): Iran's hardliners are trying to send a very clear message to both the U.S. and Israel. Iran doesn't want escalation, but if escalation
happens, they're ready for a big fight.
(voice-over): Hezbollah flags in the crowd and a giant poster of the slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently killed in an Israeli airstrike
overlooking the prayers. Many here warning Israel to back off. "They will see a very harsh response from the IRGC, the army, and the people of Iran",
this man says.
"Be sure that this will happen". And he says, Israel has experienced this before and if they repeat this experience, they will definitely be
destroyed.
(EXPLOSION)
PLEITGEN: Iran hit Israel with around 200 ballistic missiles last week after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, using several
bunker-busting bombs and wounded thousands of Hezbollah members by making their pagers explode. Iran has vowed to stand by their long-time allies,
Hezbollah, providing medical help to many of those wounded in the pager attacks, and even bringing some to one of Iran's holiest sites, the Imam
Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad.
As a major military confrontation with Israel looms, Iran's new President on a diplomatic mission, trying to drum up support among Tehran's allies.
Meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin as ties between the two U.S. adversaries are increasingly growing stronger.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (through translator): We are actively working together on the international arena and our views of events in the
world are often very close.
MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, PRESIDENT, IRAN (through translator): The situation in the region is difficult now, and the U.S. and Europe do not want the
situation here to subside.
PLEITGEN: The situation that could soon escalate even more as Iran has vowed a crushing response to any attacks by Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: That report there from our Fred Pleitgen in Tehran. Let's turn to the United States, we heard President Biden at the top of the hour, of
course, saying and they'll do everything he can -- they're doing everything they can of course, to bring power up to the more than 3 million people
across Florida left in the dark after deadly Hurricane Milton.
At least, 16 people have died after the storm made landfall near Sarasota on Wednesday night, and the governor anticipate that number to rise. He
also says new deaths from Milton's aftermath can probably be prevented if residents take precautions. More than 2 million customers are still without
power.
U.S. President Joe Biden plans to visit those affected areas, and that will happen we're told on Sunday. Isabel Rosales is tracking the search and
rescue efforts, and she joins us now from Tampa Bay area. So, Isabel, give us a sense of what you are seeing on the ground?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isa, so we're in Valrico; this is a part of Hillsborough County, about a mile away is Alafia River, and people had
spent the overnight hours essentially blind-sided by this, not -- in the aftermath of Milton. Rivers, reservoirs have overflowed and passed their
banks, leading to this widespread flash flooding that is deeply impactful to this community.
You can see just how high the water is reaching. We've seen mail boxes, underwater mail boxes with mails still in there. People essentially trapped
on little islands inside of their homes. So, what we've been seeing as a Hillsborough County sheriff's office going out here in boats like this or
airboats or even amphibious vehicles called SHERPs and getting people out.
And we saw that for ourselves, a couple that we were following along with as they went inside of their home, filled up trash bags with all of their
belongings, and -- you know, went back on the airboat and back onto dry land. They are all going to a shelter, but the question becomes is where
are they going to continue to sleep?
What happens a week out from here, a month out from here? Luckily, that couple had flooding insurance, but rebuilding here is going to take a
while, and unfortunately, the threat is not over. Hillsborough County Sheriff, Chad Chronister, he's telling people, hey, take this thing
seriously, if you're out by the river, leave this area because this is not yet over.
And we know from our Derek Van Dam, our meteorologist, that the river has not yet crested. That's expected to happen here at midnight, crossing to
25.5 feet. That is not the record. That record is about 28 feet, but still that's a major flood stage and clearly, extremely devastating for the
community, for people who live here by the river, Isa.
SOARES: Yes, your reporting, Isabel has been terrific. We're incredibly grateful. Thanks very much, Isabel Rosales there on the ground for us.
Thank you, Isabel.
[14:30:00]
And still to come --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID NICHOLLS, AUTHOR: It's a bit like being your own dentist. You know, you know the work has to be done but it's really --
SOARES: You don't want to do it.
NICHOLLS: -- painful. You don't want to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Bestselling author David Nicholls reflects on the sometimes painful process of turning his books into TV magic. That's in today's Book Club.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Returning to the Middle East where the threat of an Israeli attack on Iran looms. The Iranian President is forging stronger tie today with
Russia while a source says Israel's Security Cabinet is yet to agree on its response to Iran's ballistic missile attack early this month.
One year into Israel's war with Hamas, a U.N. inquiry accuses Israel of war crimes, saying it has carried out a "concerted policy of destroying the
health care system in Gaza," a dangerous situation even for those seeking shelter. The Red Crescent says one Israeli air strike on a school turned
shelter killed at least 28 people in Central Gaza.
Nic Robertson has more. And a warning, this report contains disturbing video. You're about to see a severely wounded young girl and it may be
difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Across a hospital floor, a Gazen hellscape. Lean Hamadine (ph), a 13-year-old girl, has third degree burns, is in shock. She tells the
medic her name, ask for his, then reaches out to hug him, asking, will I die? You won't die. You'll be fine, he reassures her. What happened, she
asks? There is nothing wrong with you, he says. What happened? She ask again. He tells her, there's nothing wrong with your body except a few
wounds and then you'll heal.
Lean is one of the lucky ones, a survivor from an Israeli strike Thursday on a school turned shelter to thousands which according to Gazan health
officials killed at least 28 people. This day, those same officials announcing more than 42,000 Palestinians killed since October 7th last
year. The IDF said they were targeting a terrorist command and control center at the school compound.
Displaced like the school, they were sheltering in reduced mentally broken. This man with an angry message for Hamas. We don't want them and we don't
want their solutions. They sold us out long ago. Let their leaders come and watch us as we search for bodies with our bare hands.
The unlucky this day discorded from overstuffed ambulances. This death cycle repeated Beyond anyone's wildest nightmare day by day, sometimes hour
by hour.
My husband's name is Ahmed Abdul Hamuda. Show me where he is. They killed him. He was my support. The support of his disabled daughters. God is
great. God is great. Her final goodbye here at the hospital, a starting point for a pain and suffering already dreaded and endured for more than a
year.
Nic Robertson CNN Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[14:36:51]
SOARES: Well, for more on the humanitarian situation, UNICEF Spokesperson Tess Ingram joins me now from Beirut, Lebanon. She has also worked on the
ground in Gaza. Tess, I really appreciate you being with us. And the last time you and I spoke, you were on the ground in Gaza. So, I wonder whether
you can give me your reaction to not just the report we heard from Nic there but also to what we've heard in the last 24 hours from the U.N. that
no food has entered Northern Gaza since October the first, pulling million people at the risk of starvation here.
TESS INGRAM, SPOKESPERSON, UNICEF: It's hard to believe that a situation that we already thought was as worse as it could possibly get continues to
unravel. It's horrifying in fact having been in North Gaza, having met families there, and knowing the circumstances that they were living in.
This was in April, now six months later in October, as you said, no food or water for 10 days for these families. And they were already on the bare
bones, so it's incredibly concerning.
Combined with of course the ongoing air strikes that are affecting the hundreds of thousands of people that are now being forced to leave that
area to somewhere that's not safe again.
SOARES: Yes. And so many people have been mis -- displaced multiple times as you said. Let's turn to the attention in Beirut because you that's where
you are right now. You have been traveling from what I understand to south of Lebanon. We have seen so many people displaced, an exodus I should say
of civilians, right? Some 20 percent of the population displaced. Give us a sense, Tess, of what you've been seeing.
INGRA: It's really interesting at the moment here the tensions are incredibly high. People are really nervous about the current situation and
how it might escalate further. I've met with families in shelters here in Beirut, and also traveled to the south of Lebanon to meet communities who
have decided to stay despite the heavy shelling and air strikes in the south of Lebanon.
One of those towns, Tyre, was quite badly damaged and a lot of people had left. The other one, Rmaych, which is right on the border of Southern
Lebanon with Israel, there was quite a few people still remaining there. And people had come to Rmaych to band together and seek safety.
But the consistent thing that people keep telling me, Isa, is fear. People are scared and somewhat in shock because despite this having escalated over
the course of the last year, what has happened rapidly and intensely in the last three weeks has really shocked people.
SOARES: Oh, indeed. I mean, considering what we heard from the IDF that this was going to be localized and limited, that seem -- doesn't seem to be
the case. And we have seen, Tess, many coming to Beirut. Shelters seem to be full and overflowing. What support is there for children? Because we've
seen mothers, we've seen young children sleeping on the streets in Beirut.
INGRAM: Yes. Over a thousand shelters have popped up across the country and over 75 percent of them are full, especially the ones in Beirut. And so, as
you said, there are -- there are families that haven't got access to shelters and are sleeping on the streets. I met the other day a mom with
seven of her children who had just come after their house had been damaged. They have nothing. Now, they can't go home.
And they were saying they have no mattress. They have no water. They have no food. They have only the clothes that they're wearing and what little
they could stuff into their bag and they don't know what the future holds.
SOARES: I mean, I wonder, Tess, given that you -- you know, you've been on the ground in Gaza. you're now covering the conflict now in Lebanon,
whether you as -- you know, as you see this escalate, whether you believe - - and this is a fear that I've heard from our correspondent on the ground is that the fear that this could become another Gaza. Is -- as you see this
growing, do you fear that also? Is that a concern that you've been hearing from those on the ground?
INGRAM: It is something that people are afraid of and wondering. There are commonalities that you can see in the situation in people being displaced,
lacking the basics that they need to survive, living in fear of air strikes and shelling. And it really is horrible to consider that the situation in
Lebanon could continue to get worse, and we can't of course allow that to happen.
You know, if you think about Gaza, we've seen mass displacement, attacks on hospitals, and shelters, civilians being killed in large numbers, and
essential services being impacted. And some of those realities are beginning to exist in Lebanon, so I think this is the critical moment to
make sure that those calls for a ceasefire are heeded.
SOARES: Tess Ingram, as always, I appreciate your time, Tess. Thanks very much.
INGRAM: Thank you.
SOARES: We're going to take a short break. We're back on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Joining us on the Book Club this month is David Nicholls, the author of You Are Here. David, welcome to our Book Club. Great to have you
here. There's so much for us to talk about let's start though with this beauty.
NICHOLLS: Oh, thank you.
SOARES: It's incredibly witty. It is so moving and it is a much more grownup novel from the previous ones, the ones the majority of people know
so well like One Day.
NICHOLLS: Yes.
SOARES: And it focuses it on two main characters, Michael and it's Marnie, and they're both in need of some fresh air.
NICHOLLS: Yes.
SOARES: They're both in need of looking forward. Just talk to us about those two characters because they're so different and where you came up
with that idea.
NICHOLLS: Sure. I mean, the seed of the novel really was in lockdown. That moment where we all suddenly found it very hard to communicate, to step
outside out doors, that sense of claustrophobia. Afterwards I suddenly found it very hard to talk to my friends, people I've known and love for
years.
And I think it's planted the seed writing something about loneliness and also the outdoors and Spring, something that was hopeful and optimistic but
wasn't said in this city, was said in this countryside which I absolutely love. Michael is a geography teacher who spends as much time as possible
outdoors. He's recently separated from his wife. He can't bear being in the old family home.
Marnie, on the other hand, is -- lives in London. She's a copy editor. She works by herself, lives by herself, is perfectly happy by herself, and has
fallen into a kind of a trap I suppose of solitude. And they're both brought together on this long weekend's hiking in the Lake District.
Michael's intention is to walk all the way across the country on the coast to coast path, a very famous hiking path. Marnie just wants to be there for
as short a time as possible. But a bond forms between them and they continue to walk and talk. And it's a love story set on that long hike all
the way across England.
SOARES: And that where the novel starts and it's two miles --200 miles I think that coast-to-coast walk just for our viewers.
NICHOLLS: Yes.
SOARES: And just for our viewers to -- and listeners to get a sense of this, it's not pretty sunshine. It is wet.
NICHOLLS: Oh, yes.
SOARES: It is windy. It is miserable, right?
NICHOLLS: Yes.
SOARES: So, speak to -- because I believe you've done that walk.
NICHOLLS: I have, yes.
SOARES: So, speak to how you brought in the elements, the weather elements, but also the terrain to kind of match the characters and some of the topics
they were talking about.
NICHOLLS: Well, I'm a big hiker. You know, I love walking, particularly walking by myself. It's very much part of my writing process. And once I
decided to write about this long hike, the question was well, which hike? And the coast-to-coast has this terrific sort of symbolism. It's all the
way from the west coast of Cumbria right across the Pennines, to the east coast of Yorkshire.
You go down to the sea at Robin Hood's Bay and you -- you've carried a stone clear across the country. You throw the stone in the water and
there's an element of pilgrimage I guess to it. So, this seemed like a lovely setting for this walk.
And when I did the walk myself over about 10 days, I found myself kind of Imagining the characters in very specific situations and trying to work out
what the rain, what the beauty of the landscape, what the terrible pub would mean to them at that particular time. So, the novel was very much
devised on location. And that work is an extraordinary walk.
It's not all beautiful but what I particularly loved about it is it has three acts if you like. It has the beauty of the Lake District at the
beginning, a much gentler landscape in the middle with the Yorkshire Dales, and then finally a rather beautiful but harsh landscape with the North
Yorkshire Moors. And that seemed to fit the structure of the novel too.
SOARES: I'm finding intriguing that you said that this started almost COVID, like in kind of isolation. How much do you think that we spend --
one that the journey does help, you know, in us talking to each other and that you think that these things have changed the way we speak to each
other, we relate to each other? How much of that has gone into your thinking if anything at all?
NICHOLLS: Oh, no, it really has. I mean, during lockdown, I think we all -- whether we were, you know, with a group of people or by ourselves, we all
had to work out little strategies to make -- to make it bearable, to make that sudden loss of freedom and contact bearable. And when lockdown ended,
I think it was quite easy to stay in those habits, you know, to stay online rather than out in the world to -- and certainly I find my myself if I have
a moment of loneliness or self-awareness on a journey, I reach for my phone, I reach for social media, and it's not real friendship, it's not
real communication. It's a - it's a superficial parody of it really.
SOARES: And for viewers who of course would know you better from One Day, it came out in 2009, I remember reading it and then remember watching the
movie with Anne Hathaway, then it's been -- I mean, you sold millions of copies, and now you've got a Netflix series. Are you surprised at, you
know, a story that was set just a long time ago it's still gaining new audience in this traction especially in the United States?
NICHOLLS: I'm very proud of the book but I -- it feels as if another person wrote it, you know. I started writing it 15, 16 years ago. I love the book
but it's very specific in its setting. You know, it's a pre- internet age. It ends in 2007. No one sends an email in it really. You know, it's a very
it's a very real-world book.
SOARES: I read that you were an actor, you write screenplays. I mean, these working with the likes of Netflix or anyone else or movie directors, I
mean, speak to the challenges because it can get quite adversarial I imagine because there are moments like no, this needs to be in there, this
is a crucial part of the book. How difficult is it? What are the challenges?
NICHOLLS: It's often very difficult because the act of adaptation -- I'm as you say a screenwriter as well as a novelist and the act of adaptation is
usually about cutting things. And the harshest cuts are often with a character's internal life. You know, you you lose all of those thoughts and
feelings and you just concentrate on what characters say and do. And there are things that they can't express out loud. So, inevitably actors have to
fill in some of that. Music has to do some of the job. The editing has to do some of that work. The hardest thing is just cutting away at the text,
cutting, cutting, cutting.
As I've said before, it's a bit like being your own dentist. You know, you know the work has to be done but it's really --
SOARES: You don't want to do it.
NICHOLLS: -- painful. You don't want to do it.
[14:50:41]
SOARES: Readers who know you, who know your books, in particular, your most famous book, One Day, will perhaps be relieved that the ending is slightly
more upbeat in this one.
NICHOLLS: Yes, yes.
SOARES: I'm not going to give it away. It's slightly more upbeat. Did -- I mean, did you -- you change -- did you think about that given there have
been so many people who had a very strong opinions on how One Day ended.
NICHOLLS: I've never been very good at that great joyous kind of rush to the airport ending that you -- that you expect.
SOARES: Very Hollywoodly.
NICHOLLS: Yes. I've always slightly pushed against that in all of the books, really. And so there were a number of endings. And it's a little bit
like turning a dial some of them are very, very upbeat, some of them are more melancholy. I work very closely with my editor and we tried again and
again to get it just right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And you can find plenty more Book Club content on my Instagram page @IsaSoaresCNN. And we've got some great reading recommendation from CNN
reporters, correspondents, and anchors from right around the world. And here's what Eda Lavandera in Texas is reading.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have the horrible habit of reading five or six books at the same time, so here's just a sample of
what's in my soup right now. Ace Atkins' mystery writer has written a book called Don't Let The Devil Ride. It's got an international flare to it. One
of my favorite sports books of all time, Bottom of the 33rd by the genius New York Times writer Dan Barry. And also, Doug Peacock, an
environmentalist who lives out in Montana. He's written a memoir called Was It Worth It. Doug is one of the most fascinating people I've ever met.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: What a great selection there. And next time right here on the Book Club, war torn life in watercolor, a vivid collections of drawings that
give a more personal glimpse into life in Ukraine. Ukraine Remember Also Me by George Butler is later this month right here on CNN.
And still to come tonight, Mother Nature has been showing off in the skies around the world. We'll bring you a look at the Northern Lights next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:55:21]
SOARES: Well, the Northern Lights have been putting on quite a show around the world and we wanted to bring them to you. A really truly stunning
display of color like this one above the U.S. State of Maine. Look at that. The result of that of increased solar activity around Earth's poles. But
this time around the displays of lights also known Aurora Borealis also visible further south than usual. In fact, just outside my house, we saw
similar scenes. Absolutely breathtaking.
If you've seen, if you've taken any photos, do share it with us. Tweet me @IsaCNN and we of course will share it on next week's show while I can -- I
can retweet it. But I do love to see what you captured.
That does it for us in the meantime. Do stay right here. "NEWSROOM" is up next with Zain Asher. Have a wonderful weekend. I'll see you next week.
Bye-bye.
END
