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One World with Zain Asher
Cross-Border Fire Tensions Rise Along Israel-Lebanon Border; Gaza Hospitals Running Out On Fuel And Gas To Operate; Donald Trump Remains The Frontrunner In The Republican Presidential Race; Donald Trump Jr. Is Back On The Witness Stand Testifying For The Defense In The Trump Civil Fraud Trial. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired November 13, 2023 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:32]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: The Director of Gaza's largest hospital says all essential units at the hospital have collapsed.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: "One World" starts right now. Doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital are refusing to lead their patients as the IDF
issues an evacuation order.
ASHER: Cross-border fire tensions are rising along the Israel-Lebanon border, raising concerns of a wider war.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, Donald Trump Jr. takes the stand again in the civil fraud trial against him and his family. Hello everyone, live from New York, I'm
Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". Under siege, Gaza's two major hospitals say conditions are now beyond grim. As you can
actually see from these pictures, health officials and aid agency say that patients, staff and thousands of displaced civilians are trapped inside Al-
Shifa hospital amid a dramatic escalation of gunfire all around the hospital's complex.
GOLODRYGA: Gaza's largest hospital is now in the crosshairs of this war, Israeli tanks closing in and surrounding it on all sides. The IDF says the
hospital hides the Hamas command and control headquarters. U.S. officials agree, adding that Hamas is hoarding fuel meant to keep patients alive.
ASHER: As the hospital finds itself at the center of combat, what is next? What is next for the patients inside is simply anyone's guess. The
conditions right now are so dire that premature babies, as you see here, are being wrapped in foil to keep them alive amid a shortage of oxygen.
And as you'll probably know from watching this program, Gaza's hospitals mean a lot more than patient care, especially Al-Shifa, which sits at the
center of Gaza City. It's seen as a refuge by the thousands of Palestinians who have taken shelter there.
GOLODRYGA: That's also true at the Al-Quds Hospital, Gaza's second biggest. And now, the IDF is saying Israeli troops opened fire at that hospital's
entrance, killing what it says were Hamas fighters.
ASHER: We're also hearing that patients have to be moved away from the windows at the Al Quds hospital because of gunfire. I want to bring in
CNN's Nada Bashir. So, Nada, if I'm a patient, okay, if I'm a patient at Al-Shifa hospital right now with serious injuries or perhaps a life-
threatening illness, given the situation there, given the fact that people are talking about a lack of food, lack of water, lack of oxygen, what am I
experiencing right now? Just talk to us about what you're hearing from people on the ground there.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look Zain, it is certainly a dire situation for patients seeking that urgent care at the Al-Shifa Hospital,
Gaza's largest hospital. Doctors at El Shifa, including doctors working with Doctors Without Borders, have described the situation as being
catastrophic, that they aren't actually able to provide this care, that patients are dying because of the situation inside the hospital.
They have run out of supplies of food, water, medication. In fact, we were hearing last week that doctors were carrying out surgeries without
anesthesia. We've seen the videos now of bodies lined up outside the hospital. The morgues are too full to have any more bodies placed inside.
They've run out of white fabric, white cloth to shroud these bodies They are being wrapped in blankets. And as you mentioned, oxygen supplies in
Alshifa's neonatal unit have completely run out. Babies are now being wrapped in foil and placed by boiling water to keep them warm. It is a
horrifying, catastrophic situation at Al-Shifa. Doctors say they are only really able to provide first aid at this point.
But it isn't just Al-Shifa where we have seen intense bombardment, edging closer where we have seen the situation inside deteriorating. It is all
across Gaza's hospitals. And of course, as we know, across northern Gaza, where we have seen civilians being told to evacuate southwards, there are
many patients who cannot evacuate, many civilians who are taking shelter at these hospitals who cannot evacuate.
And of course, the vast majority of Gaza's hospitals are now out of service. Al Shifa is just one of them, all of them now experiencing these
devastating shortages, this catastrophic inability to really provide care for patients anymore. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASHIR (voice-over): These are the sounds of the final gasps from Gaza's collapsing healthcare system.
[12:05:00]
Medical staff in Gaza City working under near relentless Israeli bombardment for over a month. But now, this chorus of frantic voices seen
here working under torchlight tells its own gut-wrenching story. The Al Quds hospital, the second largest in Gaza has now collapsed. The hospital
no longer operational, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
But these scenes are all too familiar across the besieged Gaza Strip. The vast majority of hospitals here are already completely out of service, the
Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah says, and those remaining now on a cliff edge.
UNKNOWN (through translator): There was a direct injury in the head, internal bleeding, and we can't do surgeries. No surgeries, no oxygen, no
electricity. We work manually. We are using a manual resuscitator. It is a clear injury. It needs an urgent surgery, a lifesaving one. He is less than
a year old.
BASHIR (voice-over): Remarkably, this baby survived. But his father, who was in the very same building when an Israeli airstrike hit, did not. At
Gaza's largest hospital, Al Shifa, officials say newborn babies had to be moved and that at least three babies in the neonatal unit died after a
generator-powering incubator was damaged in an Israeli strike. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. The IDF regularly says it
is targeting Hamas but doctors here say the hospital is now completely surrounded.
MOHAMED KANDIL, DOCTOR: The situation overall is difficult. According to our colleagues there, there is no water, no electricity, they cannot
communicate between each other. There is a lot of targeting around the hospital.
BASHIR (voice-over): Under a near constant barrage of airstrikes, it is impossible for both patients and staff to safely evacuate. Doctors are
overwhelmed, morgues now long beyond capacity. And with communications frequently cut off, contact between medical teams on the ground and with
the outside world is growing increasingly difficult.
Hospital officials say thousands of displaced civilians are still thought to be in the compound taking shelter in what once was thought to be a
sanctuary in the midst of this seemingly unending nightmare.
UNKNOWN (through translator): We thought the hospital was a safe place but it wasn't. If we had stayed another five minutes we would have been killed.
They started to bomb us and we ran away from Al-Shifa.
BASHIR (voice-over): The Israeli military says it is now enabling passage from three hospitals in northern Gaza, with an additional route said to
have been opened to allow civilians to evacuate southwards.
UNKNOWN (through translator): This is another form of torture. We have about six kilometers to go, no less. She got a stroke that caused her brain
damage. She can't speak and is paralyzed.
BASHIR (voice-over): But the United Nations itself has raised doubts over the so-called safe zones outlined by Israel, warning that nowhere inside
Gaza is safe for civilians anymore. And for those too injured, too sick, evacuation is impossible. Many doctors on the ground, vowing to stay beside
their patients no matter what.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASHIR (on-camera): And we've been hearing from medical teams saying they are still seeking guarantees that these evacuation corridors that have been
established from hospitals are indeed safe. There are fears amongst medical teams and patients around even moving between hospital buildings on the Al
Shifa complex because they feel they are surrounded now by fighting on the ground and also, of course, the airstrikes which are edging closer and
closer.
And when it comes to that fuel shortage, which is a crucial part of all of this, we heard from the director of the El Shifa hospital saying today that
supply of some 300 liters of fuel which couldn't get to the hospital because doctors were simply too afraid to go outside and bring that fuel
in.
That 300 liters according to officials is only enough to really power the hospital for about 30 minutes. What they're seeking is 600 liters of fuel
for each hour and of course the vast majority of Gaza's hospitals are now out of service. If fuel isn't urgently allowed in to get to these hospitals
to power these hospitals we could continue to see even more hospitals -- the last remaining operational hospitals completely collapsing. Zain,
Bianna.
ASHER: Nada Bashir, live for us there. Thank you so much. And as we look at some of the horrific scenes emerging from Al-Shifa Hospital just through
Nada's piece there, it is worth remembering that very warning that the Americans have given to Israel time and time again, which essentially says
how you conduct this war really matters. The images of babies struggling to survive at Al-Shifa matters. Cries at the hospital is out of food and fuel
matter.
GOLODRYGA: But Israel says something else still matters.
[12:10:00]
Israel insists that the hospital sits on top of Hamas tunnels and underground operations. In fact, it has been called a Hamas command center.
There can be no question that the people of Gaza are paying a very heavy price in this conflict.
Israel insists Hamas is to blame for embedding its operations in and around the civilian population. But as the death toll mounts, one has to wonder,
is the price of taking out Hamas at this point simply too high?
Joining us now is IDF International spokesperson Jonathan Konriggis. Jonathan, thank you so much for taking the time. As we heard there, in
NADA's peace, conditions are dire in the hospitals in Gaza.
And I want to play sound from you, from a WHO spokesperson in an interview with our colleague earlier this morning because something she said caught
my attention. I'd like to play this exchange for you and have you respond after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he's pushing for more field hospitals to be built to help alleviate the strain
on the hospitals in northern Gaza specifically. Last week we saw an announcement from Italy that it was sending a Navy hospital ship to the
Gaza coast to help. Does the World Health Organization see these aspects as a solution or a way to help alleviate the suffering of civilians during
this war?
MARGARET HARRIS, DOCTOR, W.H.O. SPOKESPERSON: So, there are hospitals, as I said. They function. They provide health care, except they're not being
permitted to right now because they're not being permitted to have fuel. They're not being permitted to have food. Their staff are not safe because
they're being shot at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Now, I know Israel said that they have been providing fuel, but this point she makes that they are being shot at. Who was shooting at the
hospital staff?
JONATHAN CONRICUS, IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: Hi, good evening time in Israel. Thank you for having me. There's a lot to unpack here. And I
watched Nada's report. You know, what I found gleeingly missing from all of her report was one word.
She didn't mention Hamas even once. Moving images, carefully staged and choreographed by Hamas and by others of babies that I, as a person, as a
father, see and am moved by, but not a single word about why all of this is happening.
And I find that really amazing that we are all in this charade together, orchestrated by Hamas in a war that has now been going on for 38 days,
which wasn't started by Israel, was started by Hamas in a violent and unprecedented, unprovoked attack inside Israel. And there are still 239
Israeli hostages held in Gaza. That is why we are fighting.
And the unfortunate, sad situation on the ground and the pictures that you're screening, which probably are true, are the unfortunate result of
Hamas choices. And the civilians in Gaza are paying a price, a horrible price that they shouldn't be forced to pay due to Hamas actions. And what's
even worse is that Hamas aren't even ashamed of what they're doing. They're saying it loud and clear for --
GOLODRYGA: Jonathan, if I can just interrupt you.
CONRICUS: Yeah, sure.
GOLODRYGA: Because I understand the point you're making but I hope you note that our coverage and our coverage here at CNN has been putting a lot of
context on what led to this point. And there's no denying by our coverage, by our reporting, by intel released by the U.S. and the IDF that Hamas does
use civilians as human shields.
I'm just asking specifically as it relates to the conditions around the hospital right now. Hamas just said today -- IDF just said today that they
killed 21 terrorists outside of the Al-Quds hospital. And when we heard the WHO spokesperson say they're being shot at, my question is, are there Hamas
terrorists inside Al-Shifa hospital, as well? Who was shooting at the staff there?
CONRICUS: Right. So, let's disambiguate. First of all, we released movies. We didn't only say, we released aerial footage and imagery of armed
terrorists firing RPGs and firing small arms fire towards our troops from the very steps of the entrance to that hospital. And that's on video. I
don't know why it's not shown here.
I'm seeing loop footage of hospitals and things from four days ago from Shifa. I am not seeing the videos that we released, which is again, we're
showing, we're not just telling. And I think that is very important. It's not just our word. It is evidence that we are providing.
Now, what Hamas is doing systematically is abusing the protected status of hospitals and ambulances and medical clinics all over the Gaza Strip in
order to fight from or to seek refuge under or to conduct military operations under. Al-Shifa, as you correctly said, that is what we know and
claim, is a military hub of Hamas.
[12:15:00]
That is the only interest we have in the Shifa area. We of course have no business and no interest in a hospital had it not been for the fact that
Hamas are using the underground extensive complex that they have built in order to fight against us. That is why we are there. That is why --
ASHER: Jonathan, Jonathan. Zain here. So yes, the IDF has reiterated many times that this is not just a civilian target. It is in fact a military
target because according to the IDF, Hamas has an extensive and vast spider web of network tunnels underneath the hospital, and that is where it
operates a lot of its command and control centers from.
The U.S. seems to agree with that assessment. There are other foreign governments that also agree with that assessment. But as you know,
Jonathan, there are a lot of people on the ground, especially in Gaza, who are very skeptical. I understand that it's complicated when it comes to
revealing intelligence.
But once the war is over -- once the war is over, is the IDF prepared to provide concrete evidence -- concrete evidence about what it is claiming
here in terms of Hamas or the extent of Hamas' operations underneath Al- Shifa Hospital as it pertains to this war?
CONRICUS: You know Zain, I totally agree with you and I think that your demand is a very understandable one because there are our claims and then
there's other claims and you, of course, want proof and that is understandable.
We will provide that proof once we have access to the area, then we will gladly share to the world exactly what Hamas has done, how they have abused
that protected site, as well, how they cynically use, and all of this, you know, the pictures coming out of Shifa, the horrible, sad pictures of
babies that are in desperate conditions, that is, of course, exactly what the Hamas propaganda machine is trying for everybody to focus on.
They are trying to use the civilians and their suffering in order to create pressure on Israel to stop our military operations, because they, Hamas,
are under pressure, because we are beating them on the battlefield. We are killing Hamas in their tunnels that they're hiding underneath the
civilians. We are getting to them.
They're feeling the pressure. And as a result, they are using the blood of Palestinians. Innocent babies are being led to, allowed to die just in
order for them to get a propaganda victory against Israel. And I want to say one more thing.
Let's roll back the watch a few -- or the calendar a few days. We have been asking, pleading, and telling for more than two and a half weeks, the
northern part of Gaza to evacuate. And we didn't say it just for the fun of it. We said it because we're going to conduct major operations. And I ask
people now that are disturbed, rightfully disturbed by these moving images.
Why didn't you listen? Why didn't you take the ambulances and move the incubators before? Why didn't you plan accordingly? Why did you pack
hospitals and other areas with internally displaced persons? Why did Hamas stop civilians from evacuating? All of this could have been prevented if
aid organizations --
ASHER: But in terms of evacuating civilians from the Al-Shifa hospital specifically, can you just tell us concretely, where the civilians are
supposed to go? As you know, the hospital or the healthcare situation in Gaza is pretty much on the brink of collapse.
You've got Al-Quds Hospital, the second largest hospital in Gaza, that simply, according to the Red Crescent, is not functioning anymore. Where
exactly are civilians in Al-Shifa, both patients and both people who are sort of using it as a semi-refugee camp, where exactly are they supposed to
go right now for treatment?
CONRICUS: Right, so let's talk about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. In the south, sorry, in the south, the hospitals are -- they are
definitely under duress, but they are working.
And today, almost 150 trucks of humanitarian aid came into Gaza, and I think that tomorrow we'll cross the 150-mark, carrying, amongst other
things, medical supplies and shelter, bringing that into southern Gaza. There is water and there is food in southern Gaza. And they are building
tents and shelter areas for the people to be there.
What we have said all along is to move south and to go to relative safety. There is also a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, which is the safest
place to be. Sadly, I cannot say that any area is totally out of -- out of friction because Hamas operatives are everywhere and they are conducting
fighting against us from all locations and therefore we also attack them.
[12:20:00]
And we have said very clearly that we will continue to distinguish between combatant and non-combatant and we will strike combatants that is what we
are focusing on but --
GOLODRYGA: Jon --
CONRICUS: you know, we do daily pauses, right? We stop our operations in northern Gaza and we allow for five hours for the civilians to move in two
areas, both on Salah Hadin and on Al-Ghashid Road. Why? Because we want more venues for civilians to go out, and we communicate clearly with them,
specifically from Al-Shifa.
We told the manager of the hospital that the eastern exit from the hospital is open. Al-Wahda Street is open, and we even guided them where exactly
they should go in order to be in relative safety.
We are honest about our intentions of getting people out of the battlefield. And unlike Hamas, we actually care about civilians. We don't
want them in the combat zone.
We want to fight the murderous enemy that butchered our children and raped our women and massacred our people and took our people hostage. Those are
our enemy, not the civilian population. But in order for us to be able to do so, just last word, we have to be able to get the civilians out. And
that is what we've been trying to do for almost three weeks.
GOLODRYGA: Jonathan, on the point of evacuating civilians over the weekend, the IDF said Israel will arrange for the evacuation of babies from the Al-
Shifa Hospital. Can you give us more updates on that?
CONRICUS: Yes, so, that is a complex endeavor in peacetimes, even when, you know, in a developed country, when all systems are functioning and when
there's no complications related to war. I am aware that the highest levels of medical professionals in Israel, from our best hospitals, are involved
in trying to provide solutions that will allow for the safe and enduring transport of these small babies to other medical facilities in Gaza.
I have heard that there are complex issues, technical issues that have not been able -- we haven't been able to find a solution. We have offered all
kinds of things. We are in touch with international organizations. The Red Cross or the Red Crescent is one of them and with the authorities of the
hospital.
And just like we, you know, we risk the lives of our soldiers in order to provide the fuel that we had at hand -- 300 liters, which granted isn't
enough to run the hospital, but it's definitely more than nothing, and it's more than what Hamas is providing. We did that, and we are trying to do
more in order to see this horrible situation end in the best possible way, but we have to keep in mind what is at play here.
This is orchestrated by Hamas. They are running the show behind the scenes. They are the ones who are denying the flow of fuel to the hospitals. They
are the ones who are using the hospitals against international law for fighting. They are the ones who are orchestrating this exactly for the
purpose of the emotional outcry that is now being generated. They are simply using the poor civilians for their political aim.
GOLODRYGA: No doubt Hamas is committing war crimes as we speak. IDF International Spokesperson Jonathan Conricus, we appreciate the time. This
is the first time you've been on our program, so we appreciate you taking the time. And please do come back.
CONRICUS: Thank you, ladies. My pleasure.
ASHER: All right, still to come here, we'll talk a little bit more about the ongoing catastrophic situation in Gaza's major hospitals. We're going
to be talking to one doctor who is working in southern Gaza when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:26:18]
GOLODRYGA: The Gaza Health Ministry says the enclave's largest hospital is under siege and those within Al-Shifa are, quote, "inside a circle of
death". One surgeon there says the facility is under full blockade.
ASHER: And in fact, doctors are refusing to leave their patients, even amid the IDF's evacuation order. Several thousand people taking shelter are
simply too afraid to go anywhere amid the sound of the tense fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces around the complex. The head of Al-Shifa
says the situation inside the hospital is simply catastrophic right now. There's no water, food or milk or milk even for children and babies.
GOLODRYGA: None of the operating rooms are functioning either because there's no fuel. Premature babies are being wrapped in foil to try to keep
them alive after their incubators ran out of oxygen. The Al-Shifa hospital is far from alone. Al-Quds hospital, Gaza City's second largest facility,
is no longer operational also because of a lack of fuel.
ASHER: Let's speak to someone on the front lines of the crisis in Gaza's hospital. Dr. Yusuf El Akkad is the Director of the European Gaza Hospital.
He joins us live now in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. Doctor, thank you so much for being with us.
I'm not sure if you heard at least some of our interview with the IDF spokesperson really about what's happening right now at the Al-Shifa
hospital. That hospital pretty much under attack, for lack of a better phrase, because according to the IDF, Hamas has essentially embedded itself
within that hospital's complex.
I asked Jonathan Conricus, the IDF spokesperson about where patients in that hospital can go now, given the lack of food, of water, fuel, oxygen.
The IDF is telling people at Al-Shifa to get out, to evacuate. Where can they go? He mentioned to me that the situation in southern Gaza, while not
perfect, is certainly better. Just give us the sense of where things stand at your hospital. Are you accepting more patients from Al-Shifa right now?
YOUSEF EL AKKAD, DIRECTOR, EUROPEAN GAZA HOSPITAL: Well, thank you very much for the invitation. It's not only the Al-Shifa medical complex, but
all the medical services, all the system, the health system there here in Gaza Strip is deteriorating and accelerating so far.
Al-Shifa complex is the address, is the headline, but all the services, including the rest of the hospital in this area, they're now suffering, and
we will not be able to continue providing the basic and the simple medical and surgical services to the innocent people which still are coming to the
hospital by 10th and 10th every moment.
Now after this siege in Al-Shifa hospital, where is our colleague, where is our medical staff and many, many patients in that hospital without food,
without water, without drinking water, without cleaning water, they are suffering a lot and they might die anytime.
Now, there is no single bed available in whole Gaza Strip. Many patients and wounded who was forcibly expelled from that hospital and came to
European Gaza Hospital and that complex, they hardly were able to reach this place and we hardly trying to find them even mattress -- mattress to
just lie down on the floor.
[12:30:00]
Right now, our department, I mean to say the emergency department is full of patients where we can't find a bed for them to admit them. The situation
really is too bad and alarming. So, we had many calls to the international community. We are calling for help. Our hospital now, we do have late and
shortage of fuel. So, now just a few hours in front of us, just to shut down our hospital and all the patients, especially those lying in the ICU
and in the -- will be just dying in front of our eyes.
GOLODRYGA: Doctor, these obviously are unfortunate times, anytime in covering a war. Israel says that it had been pressuring. those to evacuate
for weeks now. And so, as you heard in our interview with Jonathan Conricus, there is some question as to why more hospitals weren't evacuated
up until now.
I do want to ask you, because you were pleading for help from the international community, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I know other
countries, including France, had talked about setting up field hospitals, Navy ship hospitals, as well. Would that help at this point?
EL AKKAD: Yes, now we do have many shortages, especially the biggest challenge in front of us is the fuel because we will not be able to run our
hospitals. Regarding to the drugs and consumables, we need the anesthetic drugs, which is, I mean, too limited in Gaza, and we are unable to provide
a simple service to our patients.
But my question to the community -- first of all, just yesterday and then for yesterday, we have, I have sent the message to the European Union that
please do protect ourselves and make whatever you can to protect our hospital, and nobody reply us. And my question to the American good people,
innocent people, that how many Palestinians should be -- tell the Biden administration to call for ceasefire.
Now, we badly looking for ceasefire to be able just to make and to provide simple medical services to our patients and our wounded, which we really
now can provide those services, which is, I mean, the right for everybody worldwide.
ASHER: Doctor, look, we have a lot of compassion for patients at your hospital and of course the doctors who have not left their patients' side
throughout all of this, who have continued to work, who have said, listen, we have a moral obligation and a duty, regardless of how risky and how
dangerous of it is, regardless of the bombardment, we're still going to serve our patients even in this climate. Doctor, we appreciate you being on
the show, we wish you the best of luck, even in these circumstances.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Doctor.
EL AKKAD: If you allow me one time, please. Excuse me.
GOLODRYGA: Quickly.
ASHER: Go ahead.
EL AKKAD: Yeah, this might be the last interview on your TV because we had been told that the communication will be cut off within the coming few
hours. So, do please call our call that you have to save our people. We have the right to live peacefully. We have to have our own state. When you
are going to help us to have the two-state solution.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Peacefully is the key term. Obviously, a lot of people want to see that, as well. Dr. Yousef El Akkad, thank you.
ASHER: Thank you, doctor. We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:37:40]
ASHER: All right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Let's quickly bring you up to date on the dramatic events unfolding in northern Gaza. Israeli forces have
surrounded the Al-Shifa hospital there and say Hamas has a major command and control operation underneath the facility.
ASHER: Scenes like this, take a look here, are playing out in hospitals in Gaza, operations by flashlight as food and fuel supplies are all but
exhausted. Some 7000 civilians are believed to be sheltering inside Al- Shifa.
The IDF is saying that it left fuel outside the Al-Shifa hospital last night as a humanitarian gesture, but it says that Hamas actually blocked
the hospital from receiving it. The hospital, which is run by the Hamas- controlled health ministry, says that workers are too afraid to go outside and get the fuel, which in any case would have powered generators for only
about an hour and a half.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, there, you --
ASHER: Or half an hour, rather.
GOLODRYGA: And you're seeing video, the IDF released, of them providing the fuel, that they say Hamas then rejected. I want to move now to the north.
Tensions are rising along the Israel-Lebanon border.
ASHER: The IDF says that fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah military sites in Lebanon in response to incoming fire today. And on Sunday,
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a cross-border attack in which missile strikes injured Israeli civilians.
The IDF now says that it's striking back with Israel's defense minister essentially warning that Hamas, or Hezbollah rather, is playing with fire
and that Beirut could find itself in a situation similar to Gaza if Hezbollah steps into this conflict.
GOLODRYGA: Let's bring in our Ben Wedeman who is in southern Lebanon. And Ben, we heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu again warning Hezbollah not to
play with fire because it will be returned. It does appear that tensions are rising there though. What more can you tell us?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's no question, Biana and Zain, that tensions are rising, certainly since Saturday. We've
seen a very increased tempo of strikes and counterstrikes.
Now, today, there were injuries and deaths on the Lebanese side. Two Lebanese civilians were killed and several injured when their home was
leveled in an Israeli strike. And later in the afternoon, a group of journalists, a fairly large group of journalists were -- came under missile
fire from Israeli positions.
[12:40:00]
Fortunately, there was just one minor injury. But certainly, what we're seeing is that there's an escalation not only in the fire, but in the
rhetoric, particularly from the Israeli side. And for its part, Hezbollah itself has made it clear that if there is war, they're prepared for it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): In May of this year, Hezbollah put on a show for the media, acting out perhaps a future operation, leaving no doubt who the foe
would be. That was then. This is now. Hezbollah posts almost daily videos of their attacks on Israeli positions along the border.
The day after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, a low-intensity war has been raging between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as other factions
operating in south Lebanon. With Israeli forces battling Hamas inside Gaza, Houthi rebels launching missiles from Yemen, and the Lebanese Israeli
border area seen daily in sometimes fatal exchanges, it's a multi-front war.
On Saturday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed that the region's 75-year struggle with Israel has reached a turning point. Regardless of
what the Zionists do, he said, after October 7th, Israel is a different Israel, existentially, strategically, historically, and in terms of
security. The day he made the speech saw the heaviest cross-border exchanges yet, the weapons both sides are using ever more deadly, reaching
ever deeper into one another's territory.
Speaking with troops near the border, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned, what we're doing in Gaza, we can also do in Beirut. It's a slow
burn for now, but it could, at any moment, explode into something much bigger.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (on-camera): And I've been covering much -- I've been covering much of this war since the beginning from Lebanon. And until recently, what we
were seeing, that both sides were keeping the fire within a fairly limited area along the border, avoiding, if possible, civilian casualties,
targeting just combatants on the other side.
This is what's called the rules of engagement, which is an unwritten understanding on both not to escalate beyond a certain point. But what
we've been seeing in the last few days is that the rules of engagement are starting to fray. Bianna, Zain.
GOLODRYGA: And so much concern about any miscalculation and what that could result in. Ben Wedeman in southern Lebanon for us. Thank you.
ASHER: And speaking of fears of a wider war, the U.S. defense secretary is demanding an end to attacks on American forces in both Iraq and Syria. U.S.
officials tell CNN that American forces were attacked at least four times by Iranian-backed groups in Syria over the weekend.
And in retaliation for those attacks, the U.S. said it struck targets in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and
affiliated groups, as well. So, this video here, described as a U.S. airstrike on an Iranian weapons facility in Syria, was released just last
week by the American military.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the number of strikes on U.S. soldiers there in position is dramatically increasing. Well, coming up, as the U.N. climate summit
gets underway later this month, we'll look at some of the issues, including drought in the Amazon River, which is impacting drinking water in the
region.
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[12:46:13]
GOLODRYGA: Well, we are a couple of weeks away from the U.N. Climate Summit, COP28, to be held in Dubai. And a central part of the event is
finding solutions for people impacted by extreme weather changes across the globe.
ASHER: All right, now that's actually the case in the Amazon basin as it undergoes a critical drought, one of the most severe that we've seen in
over 100 years. CNN's Eleni Giokos looks at the communities impacted and how one startup is trying to help.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Amazon River. It holds one-fifth of the world's fresh water. But now, the region is undergoing a severe dry
season and the basin has reached the lowest water levels in the past 120 years leaving entire communities without access to drinking water.
DANIEL ILG, CO-FOUNDER OF AGUA CAMELO: As the river are so dry, the water is more sandy, the water is dirty, the water is really hot, and the
bacteria and protozoans, they develop way faster in this ambient.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Daniel Ilg co-founded startup Agur Camelo in 2020.
ILG: We develop and implement different type of projects with the objectives of providing safe drinking water for different communities in
situation of vulnerability.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Made with two components, a backpack that can be taken to any dirty water source.
ILG: That can support up to 15 liters per time with contaminated water.
GIOKOS (voice-over): And a filter.
ILG: This filter here can eliminate all types of bacteria, protozoan and suspended particles.
GIOKOS (voice-over): This kit has been designed for individual households. With the current drought in the Amazon, Agua Camelo has been organizing
multiple trips to the region.
ILG: So, installed in these communities, attending around 900,000 indigenous people. And this is just the start.
GIOKOS (voice-over): The communities that Daniel supports are among an estimated 3.5 billion people living in areas of high vulnerability to
climate change. COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, who look at the first people to severely suffer from the impacts of climate change, also known as
frontline communities.
ANNA MARIA C, LEGAL ANALYST: They are impacted in different ways, both by the actions that lead to the climate crisis, such as the extraction of
fossil fuels or deforestation, and then to the impacts on the climate crisis themselves. Drought, floods, it's important that climate change
discussions consider the particular impact that those communities are facing in terms of their health and in terms of their safety.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Daniel expects discussions in the United Arab Emirates will start to have an impact back home.
ILG: People have been suffering from the lack of access of water for decades. It has to have a connection between all different areas of the
population with private sector, with public sector, with innovation companies such as us. So, we have to bring the awareness, so we can keep
staying here and living here in this world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:52:16]
GOLODRYGA: Well, Donald Trump remains the frontrunner in the Republican presidential race. And a source confirms to CNN that his team is planning a
fresh illegal immigration crackdown if they retake the White House.
The new policies being discussed include rounding up undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. and then placing them in mass detention
camps. Trump said at a rally last week that if he wins a second term, he would conduct, quote, "the largest domestic deportation operation in
American history".
ASHER: In New York this hour, Donald Trump Jr. is back on the witness stand testifying for the defense in the Trump civil fraud trial. It's a repeat
performance for the former president's elder son, who was grilled earlier this month by the prosecution in this case. Today's testimony included a
PowerPoint presentation entitled, "The Trump Story", which the judge allowed over the objection of prosecutors.
Brynn Gingras is at a courthouse in Lower Manhattan for us. So, essentially from what I read he talked a lot about how great and how wonderful the
Trump Organization is and also appeared to give everybody a history lesson. No surprises there. Brynn walk us through what happened.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean that's still happening. They're going through the roster of Trump properties while Don
Jr. on the stand essentially talking about those properties and sort of painting this picture of how great they are essentially trying to explain
to the courts that they're worth the value that they were on financial statements.
That seems to be the approach here, but it is a whole history of the Trump organization and all their properties. Don Jr. Calling his dad an artist
when it comes to real estate saying he sees things that other people don't see in real estate.
So, that does seem to be sort of what is happening right now before we get to the lunch break and it is the first witness, Don Jr. for the defense as
the defense tries to paint this picture that, you know, banks weren't defrauded, no one is a victim here in this civil trial and that the Trump
sons and Trump didn't inflate the value of their assets. They were in fact, valued greater than what was shown on some of the paper cause what they're
trying to paint here.
So, we'll see how this continues and how this defense continues to be laid out for the next month. We're not sure when we're going to see the defense.
We're not sure when we're going to see the defense continues to be laid out over the next month. We're expecting it to take place. We're also expecting
Eric Trump to come back on the stand and possibly even Donald Trump himself again for the defense.
Now, the difference here between these guys being on the stand when they were witnesses for the states and now for the defense is that they have
this leeway to talk a little bit more and paint the sort of narrative of what the defense sees in this argument. So, the judge is allowing a lot of
that to happen right now.
So, yeah, we are getting a history lesson of Trump Organization.
[12:55:00]
We're not sure when we're really going to get into the nitty gritty of this case, which are those financial statements. But certainly we're expecting
that to happen as this day and even into tomorrow as Don Jr. is on the stand.
ASHER: I mean, it's funny. When he spoke before the prosecution, he said, I can't recall so many times. And now he's part of the defense, he appears to
suddenly remember everything. Brynn Gingras, live for u there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Funny how things change like that. Well, an important story to end the show on. A France where our Jewish fellow citizens are afraid is
not France. French President Emmanuel Macron posted that message on social media as protests against anti-Semitism were held across the country over
the weekend. More than 180,000 people took part in the demonstrations, Paris seeing the largest such protest since the march against the
desecration of a Jewish cemetery more than 30 years ago.
ASHER: The march has come amid a spike in anti-Semitic incidents. Mr. Macron is saying that France saw more than a thousand anti-Semitic acts
committed in just one month alone. That is terrifying.
GOLODRYGA: You know, I read one member of the Jewish community in France said they breathe a sigh of relief when they saw the turnout and felt that
they were supported --
ASHER: For solidarity.
GOLODRYGA: -- as citizens of the country. Well, that does it for us this hour of "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. Amanpour is up next.
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