you are live in the cnn newsroom. i'm jim acosta. in gaza, the israel-hamas war enters its 30th day. we've been watching these images come in tonight of many explosions near the gaza-israel border. it is not clear yet what caused these blasts. they happened within the last 30 minutes or so. in just 30 minutes or so, in a separate area, a cnn team witnessed eight rockets being fired from gaza into israel. the idf tell israel, six. eight rockets were intercepted. israeli police say there are no reports of casualties just yet. in the meantime, israel's call for civilians in gaza to move south as it intensifies its air and ground assault on gaza city. they are calling for evacuations on roads heavily damaged and without a pause in the fighting, hamas is blocking foreign nationals from leaving gaza through the rafah crossing into egypt. havoc is allowing that israel allow ambulances to reach the crossing. an egyptian source says more than 700 foreign nationals were expected to cross include nearly 400 americans. people around the world are marching and singing in rallies against the war today, including this one here in washington. protesters waving palestinian flags and called for immediate end to the violence. let's begin this hour in israel. ed lavandera is there. it is shaping up to be a busy night. what can you tell us about these new rockets that have been fired from gaza? some of them intercepted. what are you seeing on your end? >> reporter: well, another intense night of fighting there in northern gaza, from our colleague nic robertson who is there just a few miles away from this northern area of gaza where this fight continues. tonight he's reporting the explosions, the fires that we're seeing. this appears from nic's vantage point, the area of so much intense focus over the last few days but also word of possible strikes there in the area of gaza city as well. we have not heard any direct information from israeli defense forces here this evening as to exactly what has been carried out there. so we can report to you what our teams on the ground in israel have been able to witness. as you mentioned, we have reports of eight rockets from gaza flying toward israel. as you mentioned, the israeli defense forces say of those eight rockets that were launched, six of them were taken down by the iron dome situation here in israel. the israeli tv broadcasting these images here tonight. another intense night of fighting and of bombing going on there in israel. we're continuing to monitor that. this come as israel's defense force says the death toll for israeli soldiers operating inside gaza has now reached 29. we saw this evening, just hours before this round of fighting that we're seeing and witnessing as we speak here tonight, that there are hundreds and hundreds of rallygoers in tel aviv. these are family members and supporters of the hostages that are still being held inside of gaza. this rally was held just outside of the government's military headquarters. people there are saying that they're pushing benjamin netanyahu's government, demanding more action be done to get the hostages released. the organizers of the protest said this was not an antigovernment protest. clearly, another night here in israel of intense focus as this war continues there in gaza. >> all right, ed lavandera, hopefully it is not too busy of a night there. keep us posted on all new developments thank you. joining with us the latest from the idf, major, thank you very much for being with us. we appreciate it. we've been seeing these images. a few moments ago, these explosions that just popped up in the area of southern israel around the gaza border. what can you tell us about what's going on? is there an operation ongoing as we speak? >> thank you for having me. first of all, yes, idf forces, we are in northern gaza. our forces are operating on three different flanks of gaza city. we are in active pursuit of terrorists, like you just mentioned. there were a serious salvo of rockets toward central israel, toward southern israel, toward sderot. these are only a few of the 9,000 rockets that have been filed at the israeli population by hamas. each of those is another testament that hamas is still looking for the destruction of the state of israel. we're aware of it. what the forces are doing inside gaza are pursuing them in the most difficult face to face combat, through tunnels, under buildings. in many cases, they are hiding inside medical facilities. we've got more than 100 tunnel that's we've uncovered. you go into a hospital. you lift up the floor. underneath, the video shows there are tunnels inside schools, medical clinics. therefore the fighting is very, very intense and that's what you're hearing. >> these rockets that have been intercepted, we're not hearing any reports of damage at this point. are you hearing any reports of damage on your end? what can you tell us? >> it is very, very early hours. i've been looking at the internal alerts. we haven't seen anything yet. we know that iron dome was activated. the israeli entire population is living under trauma. elderly people are running into shelters again and again and again. and it only takes one of those rockets to get through that can cause massive casualties and death. we know that israel is trying to go back to some type of normalcy. children in certain areas are going back to kindergarten. god forbid if one of those goes tluflt we don't want to see another massacre. which is why everyone, men, women, and children are fighting knowing there's no other choice but to completely dismantle hamas. every rocket shows how true that is. >> major, what more can you say about the explosion at a u.n. school in gaza that is said to shelter refugees? images show, we've seen this earlier today at cnn. bloodshed, casualties in the schools, the courtyard. the idf claims it did not target the school. have you determined what happened there? did you target something near the school and this area was hit by mistake? what can you tell us? >> you're correct. we do not target schools. we do not directly target hospitals. we've tried to be as careful as we can. the challenges, and this is an example. you have terrorists firing from inside those facilities or directly next to them. i don't have any confirmation on what happened there. i've seen the images myself. it could be that we fired at a terrorist nearby and that shrapnel, we'll probably know by the morning. what i can tell you is that we have asked and god forbid, this is not cynical in any way. we have asked everybody to move out of northern gaza for weeks now. we are trying to avoid these types of reports. the horrible images i'm seeing on that screen, i don't want to see them. i don't think any israeli is looking to see those images of innocent people being drawn into this conflict by hamas. we're really calling on the international community. where is the international community? we feel like we're alone here. american support, 241 hostages are sitting in gaza. you have constant rockets aimed at israel and the questions are directed at us for the humanitarian situation. it seems simply upside down. we're really calling on those people to stand up and stand for israel. they're so clear, justice, what is happening here. >> are you concerned as you continue to strike areas in gaza like the one that apparently took out this area where the refugees were being taken care of at the school, that you may see an erosion of support even in the united states. you said the united states has been standing with develop. we're seeing protests here in the united states including here in the nation's capital. might that support a road if americans and people around the world continue to see this kind of footage, children being pulled out of rubble, what looked like civilian areas being hit. >> so first of all, we are absolutely concerned. first of all, about those civilians themselves. about not only the images. human life itself. this was not something we wanted to do. we didn't ask for this war on october 7th. we didn't want this war. we're only in this situation because of the mass casualties and we know we are at war. these civilians on the gaza side, just like the rockets fired at israeli citizens, are the horrific outcome of what hamas has done and is doing. we know in spite of everything, the long-term security of israel and the people of gaza will only come with the elimination of hamas. nothing else will provide security. that's why we're asking those people to move out of the way. of course we're concerned. regarding the international support for israel, we know what we're doing is just, we are an incredibly moral army. i can't imagine another army that takes so much care to warn civilians to leave the area, giving enough time for terrorists to leave with them. tonight reason we're doing that is to get them out of the way. unfortunately, we know some don't want to leave. some are being held by hamas, which is a war crime. again, hamas planned this in advance. they want the lens to focus on israel. we have to understand that this is a deception. they planned this in advance. we need to look solely at hamas and understand only their destruction will cause peace for the residents of israel. >> thank you very much for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you. a difficult emotional experience for a woman who survived the deadly hamas attack on a music festival. she returnrned to the e scene. it's been four weeks since the horrific hamas attack on israel that led to more than 1,400 people dead in that country. now there is exclusive reporting from our own nic robertson who went to the site of the israeli nova music festival where hamas gunmen killed more than 260 people at that concert. the biggest civilian massacre in israeli history. nic joins us now. you were there with a survivor. apparently she made this very difficult journey back to the site for the first time since the attack and you were able to hear her story. what can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, a very emotional journey for her. she was helped by her cousin who was a medic who was there, one of the first responders down here. it was a journey for both of them. even while we were on that journey, there were incoming rocket warning sirens going off. so a really jarring journey. you go to these places and it feels like things might have moved. on it's been four weeks, right? still this evening, three rallies of rockets on this town alone. another big salvo of rockets to the middle of israel. for these people who are not living with it every day, this, when they their rocket sirens, it's emotional. that's what we found on the journey with them. a lisa is trying to be brave. for the first time the 24-year-old is back to where her friends were brutally slaughtered during hamas' murderous music festival rampage october 7th. >> people's bracelets are here. >> reporter: the bracelets from the festival? there's another one here. four weeks later, fear still scattered in the fields. >> people's bags, everybody just dropped everything and left. >> reporter: she is struggling. >> i don't want to walk further. >> i think gaza is straight down that way? >> reporter: getting this far has been made easier with the help of her cousin. one of the first emergency medics sent to the attacks. >> the first casualty was like, i think right by the drain point. >> reporter: he, too, for the first time since revisiting the terrors of that day. >> he was shot in the back of the head. plus a bunch of places in the back of his body. he also was shot -- oh, interesting. you can actually see the bullets. this is crazy. wow! there was a ton of shell casings all around. >> reporter: just as we're about to move on -- a siren? an incoming rocket warning. alyisa is visibly shaken. >> you're all right. you're safe. come. we'll get in the car, okay? i'm so sorry. it's reliving it. >> reporter: i'm really sorry. are you okay? >> for her it is extremely traumatizing. part of how this whole thing started with her was a rocket attack. with being at this party and the rocket attack started like that. and then hearing this, but not knowing what was to come. for her to go through this again is extremely, extremely scary. it's crazy because it's still very real. now that i'm seeing the bullets, they were never cleaned up. and still feeling that level of insecurity here. >> reporter: we met the doctor soon after the attacks, still treating patients. a month later, he's helping his family heal. >> it's hitting home. people close to you that you love, you see them struggle. that's really painful. >> i think it is important for me to come back. i think to help me move forward. it's not easy and it won't be easy. it needs to be done. >> this is where it started to get even more real -- >> reporter: the doctor needs some closure. we stop again. more trauma relived. >> so we treated a bunch of people. but there were a few soldiers that came out this way and over here, there was one soldier -- >> reporter: look! there's still medical equipment lying here from that day. >> yeah. this is definitely from that day. >> reporter: this is incredible. wherever we're going almost four weeks later, it's not changed. everything is still lying around. >> it's surreal. i'll be honest, coming here, i feel a real strong emotion. i'm seeing, reliving what i've seen. >> reporter: his colleagues saying he is a hero, saved dozens of lives that night. he says he was just doing his job and wishes all the innocent suffering on both sides of the border was over. >> i really cried about the kids in gaza that are suffering. it bothers me. it tremendously bothers me. it hurts to know there are kids that are suffering as a result. >> reporter: a few more miles, he gets us to the festival site. alisa recognizes it immediately. >> this is where we hid. >> reporter: we stop. she leads us into the bushes. so this is where you hid? >> yeah. right in there. >> reporter: you were hiding in here? >> yeah. >> reporter: oh my goodness. >> i saw everything. i saw them get lined up. friends of mine. i saw them lined up. one of my friends was begging for her life. she was 20 years old and begging for her life. she asked them to not kill her, to that kill her, to not kill her, and they didn't care. they were laughing. >> reporter: hiding for almost three hours in absolute fear for their lives. >> my friend, i had to come all the way over here to hold her mouth shut, literally to gag her pause i couldn't let her make noise. you make noise, you're dead. you are killed or taken kidnap. >> reporter: hour after hour, witnessing murder after murder after murder. >> i saw hamas take a bunch of people and went to their commander and asked to kill them or to take them. when he said to kill these people and take these people, and they shot them right in the forehead. right there. once they were dead, they didn't stop. they just kept shooting. you just saw the body jump and jump from the bullets after they were dead. >> reporter: she is here to help with her recovery. but returning has brought everything flooding back. >> sitting here right now, i hear, i hear everything. i hear the screaming. i hear the bikes. i hear the gunshots. hearing the gunfire. hearing people crying for their life, to save their life, to give them just a few more days just to go see their family again. >> reporter: eventually she gets the courage to get a closer look. >> look, look how many things there are here. >> reporter: most everything where it was dropped. >> where was your tent? >> down there. we could set up camp here. i remember this. this little white thing. >> reporter: the white one here? you remember that? >> we always made fun of it. >> reporter: at least you knew how to get back to your tent. >> that's why we did it, to remember it. >> reporter: it's the first time we see her smile. but it is fleeting. >> we're going to come out of this stronger and all the survivors will have a story to tell and they should tell it. no matter how painful it is, they should tell it. this is something that the world needs to know. >> reporter: yeah, i can tell you, alisa, that was a difficult journey for her. it goes without saying that journey is only just beginning for her recovery. but brave to go back and see it all again. and her cousin is treating many of the victims of the job going fighting, treating some of those who were injured on the 7th, and treating some of those coming out of the battle zones still. so from an israeli perspective, this is so fresh, so raw, still happening. of course, inside gaza, incredibly raw for all the civilians there who are getting caught up and so many dying there, jim. >> yeah. it's going to be an incredible struggle for all these folks. it was fascinating, nic, to hear from that first responder to say even he was conflicted about what is taking place right now. the deaths on both sides really affecting him. and i have to ask you since you're there in sderot, and my understanding is that your mic is a little scratchy so we'll have to power through this. what do you make of the explosions? do we know what's going on? >> we don't. we've seen multiple explosions over my shoulder. you might be able to see a fire burning. there were multiple on the same site. there were things, perhaps munitions, spraying up into the air out of those sites. the blasts may have hit an ammunition dump. we don't know. we know it was targeted multiple, multiple times and is still burning. further than that, nothing details yet. >> all right. really just incredible reporting there, as always, nic. thank you for your time. we appreciate it. many families of hostages held by hamas are working nonstop to try to get them released. one woman's family shares her efforts to get her back. more than 240 people were taken hostage in israel on october 7th, according to the idf. one of them handed her 3-year-old daughter to her husband, hoping that he could run faster as they tried to flee hamas gunmen. her husband and child were able to escape but she has been missing ever since and her cousin maya has been in washington this week working on her safe return. i am so sorry about what your family is going through right now. tell us how things went in washington this week. you've been working hard for the release of your cousin. how is that process going? >> yeah, you know, we've been very strengthened by what we heard in washington. we met with many members of the house and the senate from both aisles. we heard that there is strong support and understanding of the importance of the issue of the israeli hostages. so on the one hand, we are very strengthened and on the other hand, we are waiting to see if this support is translated into actual action. we expect any humanitarian deal to also include the hostages. we expect all the many people we spoke to to remember the issue of the hostages in any and all dealings concerning the area and we're waiting to see if that actually pans out. >> have you received any sign whatsoever about how she's doing? >> we have not. and that is one of the first demands, or one of the first things that has to be dealt with. we like many, many other families haven't received sign of life, haven't received proof of life. hamas has not allowed the red cross to see any of the hostages. and that creates a terrible, terrible situation that a lot of families are very suffering in. when we landed in washington on monday, we learned that an israeli german citizen, my cousin is also a german citizen. we learned that that person was murdered. and i was in berlin with her mother advocating for her release and i saw how much her mother was giving of herself in order to keep on telling the story of her daughter, and to realize that all this time, her daughter wasn't alive was devastating to us and the rest of the families. so the fact that we have not received a sign of life is terrible. and it's also, of course, in violation of the geneva convention. >> how is yarden's daughter coping with all this? i can't imagine what they went through as a family? >> yeah, her daughter is amazing. she is 3 1/2 years old and she was so connected to her mom. she is somehow, she has been kidnapped herself. she and her father were able to escape but she has been kidnapped herself. and she had to hide with her father for 12 hours with no food or water, and then make their way back to the kibbutz. and she has been doing amazing. the one thing she told her father when they were hiding was, it's too bad we didn't bring any water on the trip. and since then, she's also been coping amazingly. she is our strength. but we don't know what the long-term effects of having the most important person in her life go missing for a month are going to be. she knows that we are all doing everything we can to bring her mother back to her, but, you know, her mother is not with her for a month at this incredibly crucial age and i hope that she gets through it and we all get through it okay. >> what should people around the world know about yarden and the kind of people she is? >> she is an extremely kind person. she's very quiet. she would be horrified to know that her picture has been going around the world. she was always, is very softspoken. she's a physical therapist who majored in taking care of elderly people. she took care of people in east jerusalem. she never saw any difference between people of different nationalities and she's a person who loves nature, which is why she lived in the kibbutz. and yeah, she's someone so completely far removed from the situation that to think of her there is just unimaginable. i was talking to her sister and her brother. and they told me they imagined if she's there, she's probably helping everyone there. she takes care of whoever she can and she might be helping all the people around her get through this, and that's a positive way of thinking about how she could cope with what's happening. but still, imagining that she's there, yeah, it's terrible. >> i'm sure it is incredibly difficult for your entire family. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us this evening. we'll all be sending lots of positive thoughts your way and praying for her safe return. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. > thanks fofor your time. whi wewe'll be rigight back. rigr president trump is speaking. one of the chief critics scolded the audience after being booed for his opposition to the gop front-runner. >> well, now it feels like home. thank you all very much. your anger against the truth is reprehensible. the problem is, you want to shout down any voice that says anything different than what you want to hear. >> okay. let's discuss now with "vanity fair's" correspondent and cnn political commentator. anna, it's not good when you're yelling at the audience and calling them reprehensible. >> well, it's chris christie, right? so, from new jersey, i think he's used to yelling at the audience and being yelled at by the audience. chris christie is at single digits, 2%, 3% at best. so obviously, this is not about him winning the nomination. i think he's trying to cement his place in history maybe as being one of the republican that's did speak sense and did speak sanity and did speak truth and did confront donald trump and the cult. so a lot of things that might not be all that good that will be in his obituary. this is one of the good things in his obituary. the republican nominee in 2024 is not going to be one of them. >> but molly, it really sums things up in terms of where the republican party is. asa hutchinson had a chilly reception today as well. >> yeah. i don't think chris christie is a hero by any stretch of the imagination. i think if trump were to become president again, chris christie would desperately beg for a job in that cabinet. remember, trump gave chris christie covid. i don't actually give chris christie all that much credit. i think he's trying to get a television contributorship. i think he's trying to grow his brand. he knows he's kind of irrelevant. he hasn't held an elected position in a long time. until this run, he's been on the wrong side of history. >> i spoke with vivek ramaswamy and asking why he's going down in the polls. he's not the flash in the pan that he was in august, or whenever it was in the summer. what happened to ramaswamy? he's saying there is a segment of the voting bloc out there in the republican party that will support him. but he's just not where he was. he seems to be heading downward. >> you know, first of all, i was surprised that he was -- i will tell you, a lot of the young people in my family were taken by him for a good five minutes. the women, interestingly enough, not as much or not at all. were quite repelled by the way he behaves. he has to depth. he has no policy knowledge. he has no political experience. he's one of many and he's not really standing up for anything that he is doing or saying. >> yeah. and molly, i have to ask but this. there are all these protests happening across the world today. protesting was taking place in the war between israel and hamas. people calling for a cease-fire, supporting the palestinians. what do you make of the polling that shows that a majority of democrats want president biden to lean toward neither side? and do you think that he's running the risk of having some, perhaps in the arab american community, voting against him in important places like michigan because of his stance on israel? >> this is a really, really tough and incredibly heartbreaking and really soul-crushing conflict in the middle east. and i think that this is going to have to, there will have to be so much soul searching here. i think it is quite serious. i think democrats are going to have to, i want to point out. democrats are dealing with actual real problems here and republicans are creating problems for themselves. but for sure, i mean, there has to be a lot of soul searching here. especially, and i think that that is starting to happen, which is really important, but for sure. this is a real powder keg. i want to point out that they are dealing with what is right in front of them. like mike johnson who wants to make aid contingent on cutting the debt. >> you know, i think this is a very emotional issue for palestinians. it's a very emotional issue for many of us. particularly if you descend from that region. but i think joe biden has shown great moral clarity. and i think he's not getting the credit that he deserves for every time that he speaks about antisemitism, he also condemns islam phobia. they're trying to get some aid to gaza. some humanitarian aid. trying to get the rafah opening, the crossing opened so some of the refugees and some of the injured and some of the other folks can get out. they have, what? apportioned $100 million for humanitarian aid to gaza. so i think this is something that the administration understands, is taking seriously. i think for this administration, they've made it clear that islam phobia is just as bad as antisemitism. that an innocent israeli life is as valuable as an innocent palestinian life. so when emotions die down, people can look at what he is saying and doing. >> and molly, there is an election coming up on tuesday. one of them in virginia, across the state, the control of the state legislature can be up for grabs. if it changes over to the republicans, solidly in the camp of the republicans in virginia, it's been said governor glenn youngkin will pursue tighter restrictions on abortion. how big is what is taking place on tuesday, how much does that patter for 2024 in. >> well, tuesday will be used as a bellwether. we don't know if it will be. all the seats of the virginia state senate are up and that is a lot of seats. and this, if the republicans are able to capture both houses, that will mean that governor youngkin can do a 15-week abortion ban or he can do, he'll have so much power. he'll be like ron desantis in florida. and i think it is worth realizing that we are seeing republican governors use their state legislature as a way to audition for presidential runs. so what we saw in florida, stuff that he wouldn't have had he not wanted the spotlight. so we could see glenn youngkin do the same. >> since that happened to ron desantis, he had a republican legislature that rubber stamped every crazy idea, including getting rid of the district restrictions on abortion, restrictions on history, restrictions on so many different things that have ended up back firing on him as he run for president. so be careful what you wish for because you may get it. and it may not be your best front. >> that hasn't exactly helped. we'll be right back. this week the rafah border crossing between egypt and gaza opened up for the first time since the war began to allow wounded palestinians and foreign nationals to exit. 11-year-old farra, an american, said she felt relief when she learned her name was on the list of those who could leave. but she's also leaving behind people in her family, including her father. >> my dad told me to be safe. he is very worried about me. he told me that he loves me and to stay safe and always remember. i'm very sad because i love all my friends, especially in school. i was always happy with them and i miss being happy. so just worrying about my safety all the time. >> the white house says the u.s. embassy in cairo has helped more than 100 u.s. citizens and others to leave since wednesday. a look at it from the perspective of israeli soldiers. see how cnn went in with idf troops. that's next.