Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240703

Dont go anywhere. We have much more from the region because cnn this morning starts right now. Announcer this is cnn Breaking News. Good morning, everyone. Im poppy harlow along with Phil Mattingly in new york. Our erin burnett is live near the gaza border. Its 6 00 a. M. Here on the east coast. 1 00 p. M. In israel where we are following Breaking News on several fronts in this escalating war between israel and hamas. The Israeli Military says 300,000 troops with tanks and artillery are massing near the gaza border as air strikes continue to rain down this morning. A Ground Invasion looking more possible as well. And they are now close to the gaza strip, getting ready to execute the mission that they have been given that we have been given by the Israeli Government, and that to make sure that hamas at the end of this war wont have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill israeli civilians. That is our military aim. The Israel Defense force releasing this new video of it bombing a University Hours ago. Idf officials says hamas has turned it into a Training Center to make weapons. This is a video of the destruction in gaza this morning. The government there warning that all electricity will completely stop shortly. Right now we dont know the fate of all the hostages who were kidnapped from israel and taken to gaza. President biden has confirmed americans are among the captives and at least 20 u. S. Citizens are currently unaccounted for. The Death Toll Surprise Assault continues to rise. Now at least 1200 people are confirmed dead as the scale and savagery, the massacre comes to light. Cnn got a firsthand look at an Israeli Community center where hamas butchered innocent civilians including women, toddlers and babies. Overnight, the first round of weapons and ammunition from the United States arrived in israel. We have Team Coverage from around the region and here at home. Lets get right to erin burnett near the gaza border. Erin, at this point, what are you seeing . What are you hearing . Reporter so phil and poppy, we are just three miles from the gaza border. And what we have been hearing is a lot of incoming and outgoing fire. We have heard air strikes. We have theres been obviously air Siren Warnings sort of in areas you can actually literally see them. I dont know if you can hear the Artillery Fire going on right around us. It is a very active location right now. Were three miles off the gaza border. Poppy and phil, i want you to look behind me because on this ridge, albert, our Photo Journalist is zooming in right now. And these are some of the Israeli Forces that you just heard about massing. What we see here are armored tanks. We see armored personnel carriers. And we counted just along this one ridge about 15 bulldozers. Heavy bulldozers, obviously. Military bulldozers. Obviously thats significant in the context of where we are, three miles from the gaza border. An ominous sign of what a Ground Invasion would look like and what it would entail when you talk about 2 Million People so densely packed on the other side of the border. As we were here, an air strike that we heard, one where we literally ducked for cover as we heard it. As were standing here pausing within a few seconds, up to 20 people in gaza were killed in that air strike. So, thats whats literally going on at this moment. Very active. And of course, just a few miles from here where Nic Robertson has been obviously very active there, too, as well with a lot of sirens and rockets incoming. As we just talked about these 300,000 troops, artillery amassed a the border, Jake Sullivan at the white house said yesterday theyre not expecting israel to pursue a siege, that word being critical of gaza. I know its impossible to predict whats going to happen, but youre there. Reporter well, you know, when you look at what were seeing behind us, and this is an open field. So theyre not just sitting here, right . Theyre sitting here with a purpose, right . Theyre sitting here with the purpose of going in and invasion. Thats why theyre here. And obviously when you think about gaza already, what does the word siege mean . You have 263,000 people already displaced according to the u. N. , poppy. They say already theres been disruption because of infrastructure strikes by israel. So sewage is piling up on the street. Two of their three major mobile Communication Networks are already down. The situation there already very dire. Depending on what word you use. I should also say, phil and poppy, while were here, i dont want to imply that theyre already sitting here and isnt more being added. We see active military Israeli Military going by on the road right in front of me. And as they go by, on the top of their armored vehicles, there will be someone on the top with a Heavy Machine Gunmaning that heavy machine gun. So they are very actively moving into this area even as we speak. When you talk about that 300,000, that is literally soldier after soldier moving in. Erin, i think theres been a lot of sense of an inevitable ground incursion. We have no idea what the timeline is. We only know what israeli officials have said publicly at this point. Given what you have seen at this point on the ground, do we have any sense of time line . Reporter well, i can tell you what the feeling is and the perception is from people around here is that its imminent. That doesnt mean that it is. That is definitely the feeling and the perception. I had a conversation with former Deputy Defense minister here also former israeli ambassador to the u. N. , and his Point Of View was, it is inevitable because what is israel supposed to do when you have this much death in a Terror Strike on your country. They are really left, they feel, with no other option. Defense minister said all restraints are off for idf forces occupying who may go into gaza. What does that mean . We dont know. Theyre here. Theyre in open air. They are very visible to any militants in gaza who, as i said, are just a few miles away. Theres no attempt here to disguise what their plans are or where they are. I dont know if you can hear it, but you do hear a regular fire and artillery here in the distance behind me. Erin, live near the israel gaza border. Well check back with you throughout the morning. Thank you very much. More on the military side. The idf announcing hours ago that it struck what it called a hamasadvanced detection system for aircraft as well as Bank Branchs Hamas allegedly used to Fund Terrorism and other sites. All while israeli troops amass during the gaza border. We have seen over the course of the last several days the ramping up of these air strikes. Obviously the building up of israeli troops on the border. What does this mean for preparations for what could be an incursion that does not have any precedent base on that conflict . Yeah, phil. This will be quite something because the type of incursion that were looking at here is one that could conceivably affect everything right in here. And what i mean by that is this, lets take a look and put some troops out in this area right here. This is really what youre going to be seeing in these areas. And when you see some of these areas right here in gaza, youre going to be finding a very difficult area for them to get into. As erin was talking about, youve got a lot of different areas in which the israelis are going to be responding to each of these areas. And youve got really a response that is calculated to i think eliminate a lot of what hamas Fighting Capability is. When we see that, well know it. But it looks like the invasion is more inevitable than it was just 24 hours ago. What about what weve seen develop overnight and that is the idf announcing theyre striking inside of lebanese territory. Since saturday, there had been some strikes in the south of lebanon into israeli territory. But what does this Development Mean . So, some of the strikes right here, poppy, into lebanon, are actually quite important because what the israelis are trying to do is theyre trying to warn the hezbollah forces and any other forces that are right in lebanon, several other militias there, theyre trying to warn them to stay out of this. Hezbollah has basically made noises that they would be supporting hamas in gaza. And that they would provide some type of aid potentially to them in any of these areas. But that is the kind of thing that we see here. And what we could have happen is basically a multifront war. If that happens, that could create some major problems for israel because if they work here and here, they could, in fact, have to divide their forces. Thats something that they have to be very careful about. But right now, a large portion of their forces are in gaza, or near the gaza border, but they also have a large portion that is facing the hezbollah forces and lebanon in the north. We just showed video the u. S. Plane carrying ammunition landed in israel, in addition to u. S. Military personnel who have come into the region obviously. Warships were sent into the region as well. How critical are the supplies as u. S. Efforts to continue to supply israel given whats expected in the weeks ahead . These supplies, phil, are critical. The reason for that is that all of the things that are provided right here are really just in time provisions for the Israeli Military. They need our support because they dont have the stockpiles to carry this operation out in a way that would allow for them to respond to what has happened to them in these areas around gaza. So, what they need is as much ammo as they can get. They need intelligence support and special operation support and these are the kinds of things that are going to be part of this whole effort. So what we can expect more flights like the one we just saw coming into israel to provide that level of support and thats going to continue for as long as this lasts. Thank you very much. U. S. Government sending a message to hezbollah. You just heard the colonel talking about that, saying stay out of the war in israel. Thats a quote. We have new reporting on that ahead. And were learning more about the barbaric nature of the hamas attacks. New remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say their tactics make them, quote, worse than isis. We were struck saturday by an attack whose savagery i can say we have not seen since the holocaust. We had hundreds massacred. Families wiped out in their bed in their homes. Women brutally raped and murdered. Over 100 kidnapped including children. Theyre even worse than isis. Welcome back. Journalists are trying to keep the world informed about this war, some are paying with their lives. Press Freedom Organization say at least seven journalists have been killed since hamas launched its attack. Three were shot and killed in gaza. One died with her family when an israeli air strike hit their home. And new video this morning shows the Funeral Procession for two members of the press who died in a bombing on a civilian building in gaza. What you see there covered in white sheets also with Those Iconic Press Helmets placed on their bodies as a tribute to their work. The third journalist was also killed in that same bombing. New reports say israel is Counterstriking Inside Lebanese territory after antitank missiles were launched at a lebanese. It fired on israeli site in response to the killing of three of its members on monday. Now the u. S. And its allies are warning hezbollah not to take advantage of israels war with hamas and risk escalating the conflict. Here is defense secretary lloyd austin speaking just about an hour ago. No other party hostile to israel should try to exploit these dispeckable attacks. Cnns Natasha Bertrand joins us live from the pentagon. The unekwif kl drum kbeet phil, u. S. Officials are extremely concerned that hezbollah could take advantage of this chaos to move to enter the conflict. They have been sending messages to hezbollah through a number of channels including the speaker of parliament to warn them not to join the war. And that if they do, there will be consequences. Now, france has also been sending messages to hezbollah through at the request of israel and in coordination with the u. S. Warning them not to get involved because it could have devastating ramifications. Now, at this point, u. S. Officials tell us, as well as western diplomats that hezbollah does not appear particularly eager to join the conflict, according to one western diplomat, quote, the preexisting will of hezbollah is there not to escalate for now. But look, u. S. Officials are not taking any chances here. And for that reason, they are backing up their warnings with action. Thats exactly why we saw the u. S. Move that Aircraft Carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean as a deterrence measure to warn any potential nations as well as nonstate actors including hezbollah and other groups against taking action and joining this war in force. Here is what Jake Sullivan, the National Security adviser, said about this just yesterday. Let me be clear, we did not move the carrier for hamas. We moved the carrier to send a clear message of deterrence to other states or nonstate actors that might seek to widen this war. Reporter now, there are a number of down sides to hezbollah for joining this war, number of political and Economic Risks that u. S. Officials dont believe theyre willing to take right now. But look, u. S. Officials are concerned that some kind of escalation could even happen unintentionally. That things could perhaps spiral out of control at that northern border. And we have already seen, as you mentioned in the intro there, phil, a number of attacks back and forth between hezbollah and the israeli army. So far no signs that hezbollah is going to join the war in force with the full strength of its military might. It is a very sophisticated military power. But, at this point, u. S. Officials there just continuing to send these messages through back channels and hoping that nothing seriously escalates here. Yeah. And that back and forth we are seeing in effect there, its not just shots back and forth. Three Israeli Soldiers were killed on attack on the border with lebanon according to the idf released just moments ago. Well see how this continues to play out. The warnings very clear. Thank you. Secretary of state Antony Blinken is expected to travel to israel to reaffirm u. S. Support after hamas devastating attack. Blinkens trip comes on the heels of an impassioned speech yesterday afternoon from President Biden calling for israel to take any necessary action to protect its citizens. Listen. My team has been in near constant communication with our israeli partners. And partners all across the region and the world. From the moment this crisis began. Were surging additional Military Munition to replenish iron dome. Were going to make sure that israel does not run out of these critical assets. To defend its cities and its citizens. Joining us now from tel aviv, former israeli ambassador to the United States and also joining us this morning, cnn Global Affairs analyst kim dozier. Appreciate you being here very much. Kim, your analysis was very helpful as we heard the president speak yesterday, not calling for restraint from israel. Can you speak to what you see as a narrow window that israel has to fully respond here . Reporter well, theyre already circling gaza with 300,000 troops. But reports are coming out as they pounded the area with air strikes, softening it up, taking out possible opposition before moving in that civilian casualties are growing. Hospitals are reporting being overwhelmed with casualties, having supplies running out and also full of palestinian families that dont know where else to go, dont have bomb shelters, u. N. Schools where they sheltered, those are all full. They cant get other the borders. So theyre crowding into hospitals. Those are the kind of photos, videos that are flooding the arab world and will eventually cause especially once an incursion happens, the more civilian casualties reported, thats going to cause international outcry. Where as right now the focus is still, at least in the west, on the atrocities committed, the deaths of Israeli Citizens in the attack on saturday. Ambassador, to kims point, the white house, the administration is very aware of this fact and that reality. And yet, the speech from President Biden yesterday was among, if not the most impassioned speeches i have seen him give and watched him fairly closely over the last two and a half years. Youre also a historian along with your role as a former ambassador. Put that into context what happened yesterday. I got to put a finer point on it. It wasnt the most impassioned speech President Biden has ever given on any subject. It was certainly the most impassioned speech that any president has given in history about the relationship between the United States and israel. I was actually shocked. I have known biden for many years. And i know that hes deeply concerned about the state of israel. He loves the state of israel. He comes here, describes himself as a zionist, but thats far beyond it. He connected israels pain to his personal pain of loss of family members. He went far further than i thought was possible in the american political context and say were going to use american force. Thats really quite extraordinary. And to say he was going to work with largely Dysfunctional Congress to get aid for israel, it was point after point that i really have never heard anything like it. But to get to kims point, there were also some messages behind the text. One of it was, you have a green light to enter gaza in a Ground Invasion but we expect you to act according to international law, to the degree you can. Dont create the bad pictures on the tv that will make it difficult for me to help you. Thats what i understood from that line. Ambassador, i wonder what you make of the argument tom freedman made the new york times. This was before the president s speech, but it was three things that he hopes for from President Biden. And one of them was to ask israel the question, as it considers what to do next in gaza, quote, what do my worst enemies want me to do and how can i do just the opposite . Hes arguing that the way that hamas carried out this attack was also in an effort to get israel to overreact. Now, im not sure what an overreaction is to this brutality. But his argument is, do not get entangled into a situation that will look so much worse than the u. S. Invasion in 2004. I wonder what you make of that argument . Its an old argument. I made it myself. We could invade gaza and rid gaza of hamas, but were going to be sitting there holding the keys to gaza. Who will take the keys from us . I think this is a point in which we can enter and join intimate conversation with our American Allies of what to do with the morning after. Can we think of terms of say an interarab force, saudi forces that could take over from us or some other type of international forum. Can we think about some kind of involvement the Palestinian Authority, thats a very hard question because Palestinian Authority last time i was there was ousted by hamas. So, its a difficult question. I understand what tom freedman is saying. Right now israeli Public Opinion is close to 100 behind a Ground Invasion, not to go back to the status quo at virtually any price. Kim, last word to you. The efforts from the administration to try and warn off not just hezbollah but other actors in the region and try to take advantage of this moment. But to the ambassadors point, Behind The Scenes right now, diplomatically, what conversations are happening . What are they trying to do to create, at least lay the ground work as this invasion looms for some type of resolution or end game here . Well, we know that the white house has been working through qatar and other middle east diplomats to try to reason with hamas, to get some of the hostages, at least the women and children released. But it hasnt happened yet. And the moment an invasion starts, i think diplomatic efforts are going to be off until at least the opening days of the war. And from israels Point Of View, theyve got to take out this apparatus that has grown much larger than they expected. They have to find as many of the weapons caches, the Rocket Stores as they can and take those out because it is an existential threat to their entire country. Iran knows, however, that while it can get its allies on the ground to do harassing attacks, that were it to do something all out, were it to launch its own missiles at israel, then the u. S. Is standing by to react. Kim dozer, thank you as always. Ambassador michael oren, good to have you as well. Thanks. Tug of war attack on israel, daily ten minute podcast. Cnn reporters take us on the ground and unpack what this escalating conflict means for the rest of the world. A key part of the war is the Hostage Crisis unfolding inside gaza. Well speak to a woman whose 80yearold parents were kidnapped by hamas. Their story, thats ahead. We want to take you straight to erin burnett who is on the border of israel and gaza. Erin, what are you seeing right now . Reporter all right. Were going to let you all listen. We are right here. Im next to the camera. Albert is filming. You can see some streaks in the sky. We have seen the iron dome three miles from the gaza border. A lot of theres one right over there coming in. Youre going to hear it right up there. Got it. See if we can watch that one. And you can see those iron dome interceptions reporter im letting you all listen. Not sure exactly how many we have counted there, a few dozen. Dozens of rockets coming in here. I dont know if you could get a sense, but sitting under this, phil and poppy, theres a real sense literally of a dome. Because when the strikes come in, you literally look straight above and you can see those interceptions right above us. So we heard the sirens a few moments before. And then they literally came in and i think were all agreeing here, we think we heard about dozens. Obviously very active, as i said, were about three miles from the israel gaza border. By the way, its a sunny day here. What youre looking at straight behind me here, albert is panning up. You can see the sun block. Thats a giant smoke cloud from a strike in the direction of gaza. We cant tell you who is responsible for that smoke or that strike, exactly where it is. But thats what youre looking at right there. And you can still hear some of this residual rockets still coming in here. And then when we look up here, as i said, a dome. When you see the streaks, they literally streak above you on an arc, in a dome shape like a planes trail but a dome literally straight above your head. And now you can hear air force jets. One thing i will say, phil and poppy, as we send it back to you, i dont know if you noticed, amidst all of this there is still some traffic going by. Most of them are military going in and out of that zone, but, that there is still that happening amidst this onslaught that you and we all just witnessed together that is still continuing here, phil and poppy. Erin, its extraordinary to see and just i know you reporting and were asking you questions f you and the crew need to take cover, please do. One of the question questions when this surprise, why wasnt the dome more effective, clearly it is highly effective right now. Reporter it is incredible, poppy. When nic and clarissa have been experiencing this as well, when they call it an iron dome, im sort of looking around at our team right now, i think we understand what that feels like. Youre sitting under it and theyre coming in. And there is obviously the adrenaline and the reality of where you are, but to actually wacht, as i said, in that dome intercepting is a pretty incredible thing to witness firsthand. You hear the sirens now. Those are coming over from the direction of ga z. Theres an israel park right behind where we have seen those troops. Anyone who is with us at the top of the hour you all right, albert . Sorry, poppy and phil. Were really were along a Steep Embankment by the side of the road. Albert is now showing us the Israeli Military massing we showed you at the top of the hour from a different angle. But what we have seen here, battled tanks, armored vehicles, all of those bulldozers, all of that happening here. Even between the top of the hour and now here, we have seen buses of Israeli Defense forces pulling in there and Israeli Defense forces getting out. In mass off of buses and joining this group here on this ridge as i said, about three miles from the gaza border. Phil and poppy . Erin, can i ask you i think Everybody Talks about the iron dome. I think has some concept of it. But watching it live and in person, theres a tempo to it. Theres a sirens. Missile launch or strikes incoming. You can count down. You and albert caught it live, an amazing job. Can you explain the cadence of how this plays out, when its affected. Reporter yes. So, its obviously we have all talked about how different it is from a place like ukraine when you hear the sirens and those missiles could be coming from very far away and life very much continues as normal. I have been in a cafe in kyiv and life continues as the Air Raid Sirens are going. People dont run for cover. It is very different here. Obviously the proximity from which the rockets are being fired is very close. Right now were three miles away from the border of gaza. We cant tell you exactly where the rockets are coming. Hear an air force jet. Part of that cadence youre talk about, phil. You hear the sirens. Theres a few seconds. You can count. I hear sirens in the distance now. Then you start to hear the explosions and then the sky lights up if theres a lot of in coming. As you all saw, that was a barrage of dozens we saw a few moments ago. And there you go. Thats the cadence youre talking about. I think it was right over there. And then they leave, phil and poppy, because albert is pointing at one right now. You see that sort of bubble, a little mini cloud, thats what you see peppering the sky along what literally above us is shaped like a dome. So there are some of those to the left and some of those to the right as well as the giant smoke that i showed you behind me in the direction of gaza, theres also some towards the direction of gaza, but a little bit more to my 1 00 p. M. From where im sitting here on the edge of this ditch. Erin, im interested in when you are not on camera with us, obviously we saw you yesterday afternoon for your program last night this morning. But you were in tel aviv and traveled here. What are citizens telling you . What are people coming up on the street and talking to you, what are they saying . Reporter im not hearing them. It sounds like erin cant hear us. Reporter are you hearing them . Well try to get back to her as soon as possible. But that was remarkable. And well get back to erin very soon. I think whats most our Photo Journalist immensely Talented Albert and erin on the ground. To see it in person. We talk about it. If concept of it, abstract, policy of funding the iron dome see how effective can be. To watch it work in practice. Erins analogy to what we have seen in ukraine, how close in proximity you saw on the ground. Its a very different experience. We want to bring in colonel cedric leighton. Colonel, erin did a great job of lag out both what was happening in realtime and the broader context of things. Talk about the system itself. What we were watching live and what it actually does. Yeah. So this is a great point, phil. One of the key things about the iron dome is that its designed to knock out missiles and rockets that are coming into israel. So, it was designed by the israelis. Had a bit colonel lleyton, well interrupt you real quick because we do have erin back, but stay with us. Because were still going back and forth. Reporter whoa, its right above us. Do we have you back now . Reporter you do. You do. You might have just missed we had a whole lot of them come in. If you give us another second, well see if there are more. Very loud and close. To the cadence of dome, have a different sound when theyre above you. Its a lot louder than when you see them on the horizon from your position. Erin, can you give a sense of how often this is happening right now, at least based on your position since youve been there. We have been talking to you since the top of the hour. Reporter i would say since the top of the hour here were about 38 minutes into your show, i mean, dozens upon dozens of rockets have come into this right above us and On The Horizon Near Gaza from where we are. Its been every few minutes. We had a barrage that you all saw live on the show, dozens of them. Two or three minute break then more. Right before you just talked to me, phil. And well see what happens here. But the sirens continue to go off. As we discussed, that usually means from what we have seen, within seconds you start to see the action start. And erin, the shot that albert is showing us right now is zooming in on all the Military Equipment youre so close to, he got it so close we could see the israeli flag there. One of the questions i had before we lost you a second ago, the connection is what youre hearing when youre not on camera with us, what youre hearing from citizens who live near there, what they are saying to you about all of this and how protected they now feel by the dome . Reporter you know, poppy, there is a sense of protection but they take these Air Raid Sirens extremely seriously. People do immediately seek cover because as i said, it isnt an abstract possible fear that we experienced in a place like ukraine. But i will tell you one anecdote couple kilometers from where we are right now, we had gone out for just a couple moments. And a man came up to us at a gas station which was closed because of everything going on here with food wrapped in tinfoil, handmade pastry. And said, these are for you. We said, oh, no, no, please give them to someone who needs them. He said journalists need food, too. Theres a great spirit of generosity that we experienced ourselves among people who are still living right here so close to this line. Thats very i mean, im so glad that you shared that with us. It shows and brings to the fore the humanity and what is going on. Human to human in these moments. But erin, the fact that there are many people still living right there, many have not left the border area where you are. Is that right . Reporter no, that is right. Thats what we have seen. Obviously we havent been in too many settlements around here, but there are definitely people who are here. We were at the gas station. A woman came up and was frustrated it was closed, but you know, there is life here. But obviously this is not operating as usual in any way, shape or form and the roads are pretty much empty except for Military Vehicles and some very fastmoving vehicles. We have seen, for example, heavily armored cars go through. Some marked with Counselor Markings that have gotten through the check point that were standing here. Albert is showing you the check point right now. That heads down to where there is more active we understand still direct one on one squirmishing and fighting going on. Erin, you pointed this out earlier, i want to go back to it, the smoke clouds. I thought it was a cloud, a dark cloud, until you made clear its a sunny day. That dark cloud is actually smoke from gaza city. I know you have been talking about that you have been Hearing Fighter Jets also come over the top as the iron dome has been in action. Do we have any sense in terms of the scale of the strikes from the israeli side in gaza over the course of the last hour or so . Reporter i cant tell you exactly the scale. I can tell you where we were standing where we are now, by this ditch, we heard Israeli Military jets. We heard an explosion. And then within a few moments we did hear about a successful israeli strike within gaza that we understand might have been on a refugee camp and that strike killed up to 20 people. I will say, poppy, you mentioned the humanity of it. Amidst all this, you think we dove for cover. Grab our helmets. And we were thinking, okay. Everything okay here . And in that moment, you know, maybe 20 people died. And it is worth considering that what were talking about when you hear these booms and see all these lights is that it is human life thats being extinguished with every single one of these strikes. Its very important for all of us to remember that of what is at stake here . Of course, and what is happening off camera when we hear these sounds and we see you and your team. We have some video here of moments like that that were going to show as we continue to talk to you, erin. But absolutely what is happening. Lets just take a moment and listen here. Come to us. You come to us. Okay. Erin, you covered war and conflict all over the world. Can you speak about this compared to youve been in ukraine many times since the beginning of that war. Reporter i will say and i know that all of us here have talked about this. The difference in scale, that israel is a very small country. Were three miles from the gaza border. Were also just under an hour about an hours drive from tel aviv. Right . Youre talking about incredibly small distances here. Its small distances for rockets to travel. Its small distances for human beings to travel. Its people so close together when you talk about the fear of infiltration and terrorist activity, right . Its all because of its proximity, that youre talking about tunnels from gaza that come here, that theyre still worried they dont know where all the tunnels may be where theyre worried that more hamas militants are coming in, that maybe theyre not dealing with ones who came in in the initial surge and still here, that maybe more are coming in. Its the incredibly tight proximity within which all of this is happening that strikes me the most. That plays out also in the cadence of the strikes. From alarm to sound to strike. Right . Its a boom, boom, boom. Where as in ukraine you may get an alert that theres been an action of a russian bomber and that puts an entire region under alert and you hear those sirens and theyre eerie and theyre, of course, frightening for people there. But, theres much less of a certainty about where something may happen. Its such great perspective. Erin, stay with us. Well be coming back to you throughout the course of the show. Keep you and your team safe. If you and albert need to take cover at any point, please do so. Come back to us when youre ready. I want to turn now back to cedric leighton. Colonel lleyton, erins point there i think is so important in terms of just how tightly we talk how tightly condensed gaza is, but israel itself in where they are both in the midst of a fight right now with hamas and gaza, which is expected to expand, but also as they keep an eye on the north, there have been back and forth shots exchanged with hezbollah. Obviously keeping an eye on the west bank, syria as well. Talk about the regioni itself ad just how small for which israel is operating in. Yeah, phil. This is incredibly different perspective. As erin was mentioning, ukraine kind of like texas in terms of size. This were talking like basically delaware and bit of maryland right here. So in essence what youve got here is a country that from where erin is here to go up here is about an hours drive. Another three hours or so you get up to the northern border, perhaps even less depending on how fast you can go. And this gives you an idea that when youre in a country like this, you are within range of so many different threats. And you look, for example, when you have the big region up here you can see, for example, iran has the capacity to move missiles over this way. So that would be one thing that could happen. You could have iran go in and try to attack in sitthi, potentially, with hamas. That is a technical possibility. Not saying theyre going to do that, but thats the kind of thing, the distances are so small that it could easily happen. And thats the kind of thing that youre dealing with when youve got such compact area. All of your people within this space and really a very narrow link here between say the west bank and the coast. And that means that israel is at risk of potentially being cut off in several different ways, at least that was the case early in israels history. Now not so much because the armies arent focussed on that. The arab armies. But thats the kind of thing that technically could happen. And it really has concentrated the israeli mind on how to protect itself and make that country really a bastien of incredible defenses. Thats why the History Of Israel has become so important in the way this has actually functioned. Speaking of incredible defenses, lets get back to the prior question that phil asked you, which i think so many americans, so many people watching this and watching erins live reporting with her Photo Journalist of the live interceptions by the iron dome of these rockets, can you in basic terms explain how it works and why it is so effective when it is working at full capacity. Yeah. When its working at full capacity, poppy, this thing is amazing. Basically what you have is the capability to send about depending on how its all set up about 90 missiles after one specific missile. So what youre seeing here in some of these pictures, this is the result of actually coming in to what they do is they find an in coming rocket or missile. As they find that missile, they go after it. They will intercept that missile in the air. The idea is to in essence use an explosive to knock it out of the sky and bring it down. Thats why there can be damage when it comes down. Even though its been intercepted. So its not a riskless endeavor. But the iron dome is designed to knock out as many missiles as possible. But it really depends on the trajectory of things that are coming in. If, for example, something is fired in a very quick fashion and it comes in at a very low altitude, its harder to intercept. Theres a lot of geometry involved. The basic idea you knock an in coming rocket out of the sky, its like a bullet shooting a bullet out of the sky. Thats basically what you have here. Very precise, very important Weapon System but a system that is necessary for israel to really defend itself and in some ways for israel to exist as a separate state. Yeah. As we just seen in action. Colonel cedric leighton, stand by. Thank you very much. Well come back to you throughout the course of the show. I want to turn to elderly parents both missing at this hour, among the hostages kidnapped from their kibbutz in Southern Israel Right by the gaza border. They were last heard from saturday morning when they were taking shelter in their safe room. Their daughter joins us now. Thank you very much for your time. I want to start with if you heard any information whatsoever about the whereabouts of your parents, about what may have happened over the course of the last several days. I have not heard where my parents are. I have heard about other members that we do know have been kidnapped. We have witnesses that are saying telling us the story of what happened on that day. And if i may ask, what is the story of what happened . My parents themselves were in their house, in their home on the border of the gaza strip the kibbutz im from. They are seen just walking next to the fence. Is about less than a mile to the gaza strip. They were in the safe room, which is their bedroom because of missiles that were started a bit before. And under the missiles, hamas broke defense and came very quickly with a lot of people. We were one of the first places to come into. And when they came, they massacred members. They have taken many hostages. We now know of at least close to 80 people that are missing. We dont know the number of dead yet. We know in neighboring kibbutzs we have 108. We have even higher number and we have all seen this morning the pictures. We have been slaughtered. We have been destroyed. Thats not what im here to talk to you about. Im here to talk to you about 80 kids and adults and elderly people that are amongst the 150 or so we know of that have been taken hostage into gaza. Theyre at this moment in gaza. I have heard the rumor and rumors is mostly what we have heard in the last few days that there is about Videos Surfacing of hostages pleading for their life. This is a very crucial moment. We have no time to think about the dead. We have no time to think about the belongings and homes and environment we have lost. We have to immediately call on anyone we can to ask for the Immediate Release of babies and children and disabled people and elderly people. Have you received any word, notification or assistance from the Israeli Government based on those calls in this very critical moment . We are in touch with people, most of what we get at the moment is rumors. We havent had the Prime Minister coming to visit us. The survivors no member of the government has come to visit. I know they have a war to run. But they have brought it on us. And they need to take responsibility. More than that, they need to confirm they will protect its people. That they will not just go after and fight after and not protect. We are in gaza now. My parents are in gaza. My friends children are in gaza. This is a desperate moment. We are calling on the International Community to do everything they can to deescalate, to bring about an exchange of and return home of this innocent, innocent, peaceloving people. Before i let you go, i read that your father actually volunteered for an organization that would drive sick palestinians to receive medical care. Can you talk about your mom and dad . My mom was a photographer. She was she taught photography. She had many generation of children that grew up being with her being the teacher. Shes a loving member of the community. My father has been a Peace Activist for all his life. He has many palestinian friends. He has many air rack friends. He worked for peace all his life in every capacity. And he has since retirement for the last ten years or so spent at least one day a week but often two, taking the car, taking it to the crossing and acknowledging and sharing in the sheer humanity of us, all of us, all of us human being. He will take sick human beings in East Jerusalem and other parts of israel and take them back. Sharone, we hurt for you and your family having to deal with this. We hope and pray for the well being of your parents and those in their community. Thank you so much for sharing your time and your story. Thank you. Thank you. Just for a moment, im going to tell you, these are live images out of israel following strikes from gaza. You see the fire burning there. Phil, what she just said, you heard the pain in her voice pleading with forces as whatever comes next from Israeli Forces to remember who is being held there as well. Underscoring just sheer complexity of this moment. Exactly. Talking about humanity. It is extraordinarily not just complicated, it is from a human perspective, its horrifying choices ahead. We will be joined by a representative from the idf straight ahead. Stay with cnn. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. Is it possible my network could take my business to the next level . It is with comcast business. Powering all your devices with gigspeed wifi. And you get fast downloads and uploads. Pick it up pick it up oh we got this because its powered by The Next Generation 10g network. More speed for your business . Its not just possible. Its happening. Get started for 59. 99 a month for 12 months. Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. Youre looking at smoke, plumes rising, live images out of gaza right now where its the middle of the afternoon as we follow the latest developments out of the region. In the meantime, in washington, the significant day in just a few hours House Republicans hold their first Secret Ballot for speaker nominee ahead of a final floor vote. Steve scalise, jim jordan made their final pitches at a forum where they took questions from other members of the caucus. Kevin mccarthy urging his supporters not to renominate him for the job he lost last week, but he is not endorsing any candidate either. Lauren fox on the hill with all of this. What is happening, the war that is raging between israel and hamas and the on going war on ukraine, just heightens the importance of a speaker and the house getting back to work. Reporter yeah. Poppy. We talked about it so much. Its so important to underscore. Without a House Speaker there is nothing that congress can do for israel, they cannot support a resolution even vowing support for that nation. Thats looming over this day today on capitol hill. We dont know if by the end of the day there is going to be a speaker there. Theyre expected to go into a room at 10 00 a. M. This morning. Perhaps have a vote on a rules change that would raise the threshold for how many votes you need to be the next speaker of the house. And then it will go into a Secret Ballot voting situation where they could do multiple rounds of balloting, voting today in that room. Do they emerge with consensus . Do they emerge with a speaker that can win on the floor . That remains to be seen. Again, it is so important to put this in context of what is happening in the rest of the world. The United States senate is on recess this week. They are not in washington. But until the House Of Representatives can find a speaker, they can do nothing for israel. They can do nothing to deal with the Government Funding ddl