Transcripts For CNNW Inside 20240703 : vimarsana.com

Today on inside politics, the Story Written In The Sky of a fourday old war. You look up and see bursts of the fight. Rockets exploding as it looks like the iron dome is largely doing its job knocking down h hamas artillery before it can do harm. And in gaza, thick smoke, the aftermath of a furious israeli response. Today the Israeli Death toll crossed 1,000 lives. The true toll is largely greater. We believe that will be the case. And in many ways, it is immeasurable. Every corner of the small country of just 10 million is mobilizing. Israelis government Green Lit Callups running the total number of reservists drawn into the fight at 360,000. Im dana bash in washington. And im erin burnett in tel aviv. This hour the idf has been responding to gaza answering more rockets, hundreds of bombs of its own. I can tell you we can hear those thudding and you can feel it through your entire body. Those thuds, even one just a few seconds ago. Lets get straight to ashkelon, where theres been an on slougt of rockets. Clarissa ward is there. What are you seeing . Reporter just moments ago, we were trying desperately to get your attention. The sirens went off. We heard a bunch of loud booms, rockets firing. They appeared to go right over us that time. You can see the Night Skylighting Up with the flash of those rockets. We heard some iron dome intersections. This has been a relentless tempo. I mean, for the last three hours now, it has been very, very rare that you get a gap of ten minutes without another siren going off. People then trying to run for cover. I would say at this stage, most residents of ashkelon are staying in cover. We can hear some jets in the distance that you probably wouldnt pick up on this microphone, but a real ratcheting up of the focus and intensity of bombardment here in ashkelon. Hamas had warned this was going to happen. They said this was payback, if you will, for the displacement of civilians inside geoaza. They warned that people should leave the city by 5 00 p. M. And at 5 00 p. M. On the dot, this onslaught began. Its been difficult for us to get a sense exactly of what the impact has been. We have certainly heard a lot of interceptions from the iron dome. But we have also spoken to one woman whose house has taken a direct hit. She was very distressed when we spoke with her, so we were not able to finish the conversation. Understandably, she has more pressing, immediate concerns like getting to a safe place. But yes, a very tense night here in ashkelon. Particularly, for ordinary resident who is have absolutely become used to coming under rocket attack, but have probably not experienced anything like the intensity of the last few hours. Just to follow up on that. Youre in a border town or at least near the border, so as you mentioned, it is not out of the ordinary for people of ashkelon to maybe feel under threat. This is obviously quite different, and as you mentioned, it is something that hamas warned was going to happen. What does it feel like given that sort of context of what youre not usually there, but you have been talking to a lot of residents there. I think it feels like a different ball game. When you talk to people, as you mentioned, they have experienced rocket fire before. Every floor of this hotel has shelter on it. Every person, more or less, has a shelter either in their home or near their home. This is part of the fabric of daily life here. However, the intensity of the last few days is something that they have not experienced before, and its important to remind our viewers, were not just talking about barrages of rockets coming through. We are talking about consistent fears that there could still be more hamas militants out there. We heard from the idf earlier. They said they largely believe they had cleared the area of hamas militants, that the breaches had been taken care of. And yet, we are hearing repeated reports also from our own colleagues who are along that border, there are the sirens going off again. Im going to step out of the way slightly, so we can try to get our camera and make sure we have a little bit of cover here. But again, this is just constant now. Every 10 to 15 minutes, it seems, you hear the sirens and you dont have a huge amount of lead time, honestly, to get to a shelter before you usually start to hear those rockets. I will say the siren just stopped. Were not actually hearing any rocket fire at this precise second, but i do hear what sounds like potential intercepts in the distance there. Obviously, very difficult, now i hear something. Its very difficult to get a good sense in these situations of exactly whats going on, and that is the reason this is such an effective tactic for hamas. Why they use this warfare because youre constantly trying to keep people in a state of high alert, in a state of not being able to focus on just one thing, but being drawn in many different directions. Whether its the fear of hamas militants infiltrating the border, whether its the youre seeing the iron dome at work intercepting those rockets and the Night Skylighting Up. You can also hear jets overhead in the air. Youre hearing those explosions as those rockets are intercepted. I will say that the tempo has been a little bit less today in terms of the bombardment from the israeli side to the gaza border. That had been incredibly intense before. Now it appears to have slowed down somewhat, but one can only presume, and this is how you get in the endless cycle of violence, this in the light of what we are experiencing and seeing here in ashkelon over the last few hours, there will be retribution and there will be retaliation. Absolutely. One thing that stands out in all this is what seems to be an Endless Supply of rockets from hamas. It isnt that they had one giant barrage, but its again and again and gep. Its wave after wave and day after day. Is there any sense of how deep that arsenal is right now or how they managed to do that . Reporter i think thats such a good point. Its a really good point. Its something we are struggling to get our heads around. Youre talking about thousands and thousands and thousands of rocks. Where are they being kept, how are they stock pield, how is it so difficult to know where they are. Obviously, there are many reasons for that. But everybody has been taken by surprise on the the hamas side by the extraordinary amount of weaponry in terms of those missiles and rockets by the sophistication of this entire operation, particularly in that opening day. Israeli forces saying they killed 1,500 hamas militants. Thats a huge amount. There were dozens and dozens of breaches along that border. There were hamas militants driving up and down ins just spraying anything and everything that moved. So it is clear that perhaps the capabilities of hamas have been underestimated drastically, and the real question becomes, how many more of those rockets dots they still have . How many more particularly of those long range rockets, some of which we have seen making impact in tel aviv do they have. And what does this portend for the future of this conflict. And the barrage of fire coming from hamas, from over in gaza, as you have been talking about with erin, it is relentless and it is surprising given that we have been able to seat images thanks to you ask your team of the iron dome doing its work. Intercepting the fire and the rockets coming towards these towns. Is there any fear that at some point that could get depleted . Eventually, it will, but in the shortterm . Reporter i think theres a fear that it can get over overwhelmed. If youre willing to fire that many rockets, the iron dome will not be a i believe to intercept every single one of them. While you look the at the direct impact of these rockets in terms of casualties on the ground, and they are quite minimal because of the iron dome, but you cant underestimate the impact that they have on the psyche of a people, of a country, trying to live your normal life, absolutely impossible at the moment. And also, i would imagine, for Israeli Forces and leaders, it make it is more challenging to try to navigate the various the threats that confront. Its not just the threat of rockets. Its the threat of militants who are infiltrating. Its also an information war. Its also perhaps most importantly, a very active hostage situation. And so how do you respond in that sense when the israelis respond with force in gaza, we see the result of that. Hamas come out and they tell people were going to start bombing ashkelon. They come out and say were going to start televising or broadcasting executions of hostages. And so its a very sort of a tight rope that authorities in the military have to walk when they are confronting so many different the threats at the same time. Also on the gaza border, Jeremy Diamond is there. What are you seeing there . Clarissa is in ashkelon, where youre seeing that barrage of rockets as hamas said it would do starting at 5 00 time and they have done. What is happening where you are, also along that border . Reporter we have been southeast of where clarissa is, where ash ke ashkelon lies. She was seeing the iron dome intercepting the rockets. We were seeing the south side of where she is. And we are near the town where were essentially going further south with our team. We came across a corner of the road where we suddenly were hearing gunfire. Whattive effectively troops told us is there was an ongoing gunfire with militants near the town, about a kilometer from where we are now in the fields between where we are standing now and that very town. And thats just an indication of the fact that three days after hamas launched that surprise Terrorist Attack in this area, we are still seeing militants are still operating in the area. They are still actively engaged in combat with Israeli Forces. The troops who we were with here, they were essentially establishing a perimeter to ensure that if that battle came closer to our direction, they would be the last line of defense, preventing them from getting any further. So youre seeing this situation continue ing. We saw rocket fire. Were seeing these intercepts and were seeing these mill about its continue to engage in battles with the idf. All of this as what were watching is a movement of troops, a Massive Movement of idf troops and reservists being called up for duty all along the roads, convoys of humvees and other Transportation Methods for these troops to get to their rally points and to prepare for what some are saying could potentially be a Ground Invasion of gaza. As of now, theres been no confirmation that that is taking place. The speech last night from the israeli Prime Minister had a lot of fire and brimstone, but certainly no official language about what exactly is going to unfold next. Jeremy, no idea of what happens next. A Ground Invasion would be a huge step, an unprecedented step and would come with great loss of life. All of that, youre going to have President Biden speaking again, addressing the United States nation about all of this. Its incredible complicated to say the least. I want to talk that and more with the Idf Spokesperson, major spielman, thank you for joining me. I want to start with what were seeing right now. Hamas promised to fire into ashkelon as the sun was setting. Thats exactly what happened. Are you confident that the iron dome can do its job and keep israelis as safe as they possibly can be, given the barrage they are seeing right now . We today, were holding two different positions. We see nobody doubts throughout the world that hamas is truly dedicated in trying to massacre the state of israel. Whether it is civilians in a Small Community today or ashkelon, whether its people coming in with paragliders by the air or with rockets or if its sending jihadists to go over the border to try to kill our people, israel understands, clearly, that they want to commit a massacre. We are ready in all of our situations. We are deploying our forces throughout the country. We have four divisions now operating in the south, and our priority has been and remains to be to protect the people in southern israel. Those people, as you mentioned, are unfortunately conditioned. While we see the ugly side of hamas today, hamas has been shooting Tens Of Thousands of rockets against innocent ci civilians for years. We know the drill. Were doing everything we can to keep our people safe. At the same time, as a nation, were trying to accept this tragedy. We have seen the scenes and the bravery and courage of our people. The idf has said that israel is now free from Hamas Terrorists who entered into the country and killed now up to about a thousand people, maybe more. Well see. That is sort of flying in the face of some of what cnn teams were told by some people who say that they are still engaged in some fire fights with Hamas Terrorists near the town. Can you clarify that . Are there still Hamas Terrorists on the ground inside israel . There are no Hamas Terrorists on the ground inside of israel, but what we see and we are controlling the border prim terse, is constant waves of Hamas Terrorists trying to continue and perpetrate the same massacre they did on saturday again today. Its the same drive to try to kill innocents. We see wave after wave of jihadi hamas trying to breakthrough the fence coming to israel. Were ready for them. Thousands of them have been killed because they continually swarm with a madness thats hard for us to understand. First, its try to destroy the state of israel, but were ready. They keep charging through. New mexico in a cam kaz sit likelike way. We have heard from many of the families of those who dont know where their loved ones are, hostages who were taken by hamas across the border in gaza. Frustration that they have not heard from the iz yaly government. We heard it on air. Im getting texts from people who say they are not hearing from the idf or anyone in the government. What can you say to that . I can say that the idf, every one of us, you have to understand the size of our country is the size of a small state. Each of us know somebody, each of us is tied in personally and knows people who somebody has been taken as a hostage or killed, all of us are feeling this personally. The idf has placed two generals and an operational staff both to deal with the families to try to address this as quickly as possible and also on ab operational operational level to deal with the hostages. But we have to understand how difficult this is. Families are standing in lines with dna of their children to have the dna checked and matched against their bodies. The massacre that was carried out against israel was in such a wide scale that its taking time. Were dealing with the families. Were continually trying to do better, but we have to remember that the tragedy that was inflicted upon israel is not going to be easy for us. Thats the scale of what hamas carried out here. It is very overwhelming. That is understandable, as is the pain and the uncertainty of so many families who dont know where their loved ones are. Last question is about something that our viewers might not know about, but its a practice called door knocking. Which is before you retaliate, you do something but you drop something to let the people who are there know that a real bomb is coming and that civilian cans get out of the bay way. Is that happening right now as you respond to this attack . Again, we have to understand. Hamas gave israel one advantage, and we have no choice but to survive and to defeat them. Because if we dont, we dont want to see more images of the bodies of Young Children who are going to festivals lie account on the sides of the road. What i would say is that our operational objective is to go after hamas. Theres no army in the world more concerned with human life than the idf, and we are much more concerned with human life. Door knocking is great when it can be done. We try to alert citizens when we can, but the priority here is to go after hamas, who are both terrorize ing the civilian population, but massacring the israeli population. Thats our objective. Again, understandable. They are threatening, if that doesnt happen, to kill hostages and to do it live stream and nobody wants that, any of this, to be exact. Thank you very much. Appreciate you coming on. Thank you. Coming up, well speak to an israeli man whose friend was killed when militants shot civilians and took hostages at saturdays music festival. History and that of his friends and his family, coming up. This is the night sky moments ago just above ashkelon, where there has been a barrage of rockets from hamas striking ever since about 5 00 local time here just over the past two and a half hours. Onslaught after onslaught, what you see those explosions in the night sky, the iron dome at work trying to intercept that overwhelming barrage of mi missiles. As i said, these are just moments ago from ashkelon, south of where i am in tel aviv. Im erin burnett here in israel along with dana bash. For families in this country and on both sides of the bofrder, its a nightmare, a horrific nightmare. And families of four presumed hostages, none of them have been heard of since saturday. So these families were speaking to, they have not heard from their loved ones missing. And today we heard from a few of those families. They have pictures of their loved ones beside them. The people that they are so desperately missing, praying, hoping will be returned alive. Heres what one family said speaking through tears today. My mom is a 66yearold lady. Along with seven grand kids. She was sitting on the porch of her home on saturday morning this attack happened. My mom devoted her life to helping other people of all races and Agenda Genders in her practice as a nurse. She installed this practice of passion in us. Just to think about it, he talks about 7 00 a. M. Sometimes its just hearing that time again to imagine civilians in their homes, 6 30, 7 00 in the morning, then just militants rushing in and attacking them. Its truly incomprehensible. When you put that time stamp on it, to imagine in your own life, it maybe gives us a taste of how terrifying it truly was. Thats so true. On the jewish sabth both and on a Story Written In The Sky<\/a> of a fourday old war. You look up and see bursts of the fight. Rockets exploding as it looks like the iron dome is largely doing its job knocking down h hamas artillery before it can do harm. And in gaza, thick smoke, the aftermath of a furious israeli response. Today the Israeli Death<\/a> toll crossed 1,000 lives. The true toll is largely greater. We believe that will be the case. And in many ways, it is immeasurable. Every corner of the small country of just 10 million is mobilizing. Israelis government Green Lit Callups<\/a> running the total number of reservists drawn into the fight at 360,000. Im dana bash in washington. And im erin burnett in tel aviv. This hour the idf has been responding to gaza answering more rockets, hundreds of bombs of its own. I can tell you we can hear those thudding and you can feel it through your entire body. Those thuds, even one just a few seconds ago. Lets get straight to ashkelon, where theres been an on slougt of rockets. Clarissa ward is there. What are you seeing . Reporter just moments ago, we were trying desperately to get your attention. The sirens went off. We heard a bunch of loud booms, rockets firing. They appeared to go right over us that time. You can see the Night Skylighting Up<\/a> with the flash of those rockets. We heard some iron dome intersections. This has been a relentless tempo. I mean, for the last three hours now, it has been very, very rare that you get a gap of ten minutes without another siren going off. People then trying to run for cover. I would say at this stage, most residents of ashkelon are staying in cover. We can hear some jets in the distance that you probably wouldnt pick up on this microphone, but a real ratcheting up of the focus and intensity of bombardment here in ashkelon. Hamas had warned this was going to happen. They said this was payback, if you will, for the displacement of civilians inside geoaza. They warned that people should leave the city by 5 00 p. M. And at 5 00 p. M. On the dot, this onslaught began. Its been difficult for us to get a sense exactly of what the impact has been. We have certainly heard a lot of interceptions from the iron dome. But we have also spoken to one woman whose house has taken a direct hit. She was very distressed when we spoke with her, so we were not able to finish the conversation. Understandably, she has more pressing, immediate concerns like getting to a safe place. But yes, a very tense night here in ashkelon. Particularly, for ordinary resident who is have absolutely become used to coming under rocket attack, but have probably not experienced anything like the intensity of the last few hours. Just to follow up on that. Youre in a border town or at least near the border, so as you mentioned, it is not out of the ordinary for people of ashkelon to maybe feel under threat. This is obviously quite different, and as you mentioned, it is something that hamas warned was going to happen. What does it feel like given that sort of context of what youre not usually there, but you have been talking to a lot of residents there. I think it feels like a different ball game. When you talk to people, as you mentioned, they have experienced rocket fire before. Every floor of this hotel has shelter on it. Every person, more or less, has a shelter either in their home or near their home. This is part of the fabric of daily life here. However, the intensity of the last few days is something that they have not experienced before, and its important to remind our viewers, were not just talking about barrages of rockets coming through. We are talking about consistent fears that there could still be more hamas militants out there. We heard from the idf earlier. They said they largely believe they had cleared the area of hamas militants, that the breaches had been taken care of. And yet, we are hearing repeated reports also from our own colleagues who are along that border, there are the sirens going off again. Im going to step out of the way slightly, so we can try to get our camera and make sure we have a little bit of cover here. But again, this is just constant now. Every 10 to 15 minutes, it seems, you hear the sirens and you dont have a huge amount of lead time, honestly, to get to a shelter before you usually start to hear those rockets. I will say the siren just stopped. Were not actually hearing any rocket fire at this precise second, but i do hear what sounds like potential intercepts in the distance there. Obviously, very difficult, now i hear something. Its very difficult to get a good sense in these situations of exactly whats going on, and that is the reason this is such an effective tactic for hamas. Why they use this warfare because youre constantly trying to keep people in a state of high alert, in a state of not being able to focus on just one thing, but being drawn in many different directions. Whether its the fear of hamas militants infiltrating the border, whether its the youre seeing the iron dome at work intercepting those rockets and the Night Skylighting Up<\/a>. You can also hear jets overhead in the air. Youre hearing those explosions as those rockets are intercepted. I will say that the tempo has been a little bit less today in terms of the bombardment from the israeli side to the gaza border. That had been incredibly intense before. Now it appears to have slowed down somewhat, but one can only presume, and this is how you get in the endless cycle of violence, this in the light of what we are experiencing and seeing here in ashkelon over the last few hours, there will be retribution and there will be retaliation. Absolutely. One thing that stands out in all this is what seems to be an Endless Supply<\/a> of rockets from hamas. It isnt that they had one giant barrage, but its again and again and gep. Its wave after wave and day after day. Is there any sense of how deep that arsenal is right now or how they managed to do that . Reporter i think thats such a good point. Its a really good point. Its something we are struggling to get our heads around. Youre talking about thousands and thousands and thousands of rocks. Where are they being kept, how are they stock pield, how is it so difficult to know where they are. Obviously, there are many reasons for that. But everybody has been taken by surprise on the the hamas side by the extraordinary amount of weaponry in terms of those missiles and rockets by the sophistication of this entire operation, particularly in that opening day. Israeli forces saying they killed 1,500 hamas militants. Thats a huge amount. There were dozens and dozens of breaches along that border. There were hamas militants driving up and down ins just spraying anything and everything that moved. So it is clear that perhaps the capabilities of hamas have been underestimated drastically, and the real question becomes, how many more of those rockets dots they still have . How many more particularly of those long range rockets, some of which we have seen making impact in tel aviv do they have. And what does this portend for the future of this conflict. And the barrage of fire coming from hamas, from over in gaza, as you have been talking about with erin, it is relentless and it is surprising given that we have been able to seat images thanks to you ask your team of the iron dome doing its work. Intercepting the fire and the rockets coming towards these towns. Is there any fear that at some point that could get depleted . Eventually, it will, but in the shortterm . Reporter i think theres a fear that it can get over overwhelmed. If youre willing to fire that many rockets, the iron dome will not be a i believe to intercept every single one of them. While you look the at the direct impact of these rockets in terms of casualties on the ground, and they are quite minimal because of the iron dome, but you cant underestimate the impact that they have on the psyche of a people, of a country, trying to live your normal life, absolutely impossible at the moment. And also, i would imagine, for Israeli Forces<\/a> and leaders, it make it is more challenging to try to navigate the various the threats that confront. Its not just the threat of rockets. Its the threat of militants who are infiltrating. Its also an information war. Its also perhaps most importantly, a very active hostage situation. And so how do you respond in that sense when the israelis respond with force in gaza, we see the result of that. Hamas come out and they tell people were going to start bombing ashkelon. They come out and say were going to start televising or broadcasting executions of hostages. And so its a very sort of a tight rope that authorities in the military have to walk when they are confronting so many different the threats at the same time. Also on the gaza border, Jeremy Diamond<\/a> is there. What are you seeing there . Clarissa is in ashkelon, where youre seeing that barrage of rockets as hamas said it would do starting at 5 00 time and they have done. What is happening where you are, also along that border . Reporter we have been southeast of where clarissa is, where ash ke ashkelon lies. She was seeing the iron dome intercepting the rockets. We were seeing the south side of where she is. And we are near the town where were essentially going further south with our team. We came across a corner of the road where we suddenly were hearing gunfire. Whattive effectively troops told us is there was an ongoing gunfire with militants near the town, about a kilometer from where we are now in the fields between where we are standing now and that very town. And thats just an indication of the fact that three days after hamas launched that surprise Terrorist Attack<\/a> in this area, we are still seeing militants are still operating in the area. They are still actively engaged in combat with Israeli Forces<\/a>. The troops who we were with here, they were essentially establishing a perimeter to ensure that if that battle came closer to our direction, they would be the last line of defense, preventing them from getting any further. So youre seeing this situation continue ing. We saw rocket fire. Were seeing these intercepts and were seeing these mill about its continue to engage in battles with the idf. All of this as what were watching is a movement of troops, a Massive Movement<\/a> of idf troops and reservists being called up for duty all along the roads, convoys of humvees and other Transportation Methods<\/a> for these troops to get to their rally points and to prepare for what some are saying could potentially be a Ground Invasion<\/a> of gaza. As of now, theres been no confirmation that that is taking place. The speech last night from the israeli Prime Minister<\/a> had a lot of fire and brimstone, but certainly no official language about what exactly is going to unfold next. Jeremy, no idea of what happens next. A Ground Invasion<\/a> would be a huge step, an unprecedented step and would come with great loss of life. All of that, youre going to have President Biden<\/a> speaking again, addressing the United States<\/a> nation about all of this. Its incredible complicated to say the least. I want to talk that and more with the Idf Spokesperson<\/a>, major spielman, thank you for joining me. I want to start with what were seeing right now. Hamas promised to fire into ashkelon as the sun was setting. Thats exactly what happened. Are you confident that the iron dome can do its job and keep israelis as safe as they possibly can be, given the barrage they are seeing right now . We today, were holding two different positions. We see nobody doubts throughout the world that hamas is truly dedicated in trying to massacre the state of israel. Whether it is civilians in a Small Community<\/a> today or ashkelon, whether its people coming in with paragliders by the air or with rockets or if its sending jihadists to go over the border to try to kill our people, israel understands, clearly, that they want to commit a massacre. We are ready in all of our situations. We are deploying our forces throughout the country. We have four divisions now operating in the south, and our priority has been and remains to be to protect the people in southern israel. Those people, as you mentioned, are unfortunately conditioned. While we see the ugly side of hamas today, hamas has been shooting Tens Of Thousands<\/a> of rockets against innocent ci civilians for years. We know the drill. Were doing everything we can to keep our people safe. At the same time, as a nation, were trying to accept this tragedy. We have seen the scenes and the bravery and courage of our people. The idf has said that israel is now free from Hamas Terrorists<\/a> who entered into the country and killed now up to about a thousand people, maybe more. Well see. That is sort of flying in the face of some of what cnn teams were told by some people who say that they are still engaged in some fire fights with Hamas Terrorists<\/a> near the town. Can you clarify that . Are there still Hamas Terrorists<\/a> on the ground inside israel . There are no Hamas Terrorists<\/a> on the ground inside of israel, but what we see and we are controlling the border prim terse, is constant waves of Hamas Terrorists<\/a> trying to continue and perpetrate the same massacre they did on saturday again today. Its the same drive to try to kill innocents. We see wave after wave of jihadi hamas trying to breakthrough the fence coming to israel. Were ready for them. Thousands of them have been killed because they continually swarm with a madness thats hard for us to understand. First, its try to destroy the state of israel, but were ready. They keep charging through. New mexico in a cam kaz sit likelike way. We have heard from many of the families of those who dont know where their loved ones are, hostages who were taken by hamas across the border in gaza. Frustration that they have not heard from the iz yaly government. We heard it on air. Im getting texts from people who say they are not hearing from the idf or anyone in the government. What can you say to that . I can say that the idf, every one of us, you have to understand the size of our country is the size of a small state. Each of us know somebody, each of us is tied in personally and knows people who somebody has been taken as a hostage or killed, all of us are feeling this personally. The idf has placed two generals and an operational staff both to deal with the families to try to address this as quickly as possible and also on ab operational operational level to deal with the hostages. But we have to understand how difficult this is. Families are standing in lines with dna of their children to have the dna checked and matched against their bodies. The massacre that was carried out against israel was in such a wide scale that its taking time. Were dealing with the families. Were continually trying to do better, but we have to remember that the tragedy that was inflicted upon israel is not going to be easy for us. Thats the scale of what hamas carried out here. It is very overwhelming. That is understandable, as is the pain and the uncertainty of so many families who dont know where their loved ones are. Last question is about something that our viewers might not know about, but its a practice called door knocking. Which is before you retaliate, you do something but you drop something to let the people who are there know that a real bomb is coming and that civilian cans get out of the bay way. Is that happening right now as you respond to this attack . Again, we have to understand. Hamas gave israel one advantage, and we have no choice but to survive and to defeat them. Because if we dont, we dont want to see more images of the bodies of Young Children<\/a> who are going to festivals lie account on the sides of the road. What i would say is that our operational objective is to go after hamas. Theres no army in the world more concerned with human life than the idf, and we are much more concerned with human life. Door knocking is great when it can be done. We try to alert citizens when we can, but the priority here is to go after hamas, who are both terrorize ing the civilian population, but massacring the israeli population. Thats our objective. Again, understandable. They are threatening, if that doesnt happen, to kill hostages and to do it live stream and nobody wants that, any of this, to be exact. Thank you very much. Appreciate you coming on. Thank you. Coming up, well speak to an israeli man whose friend was killed when militants shot civilians and took hostages at saturdays music festival. History and that of his friends and his family, coming up. This is the night sky moments ago just above ashkelon, where there has been a barrage of rockets from hamas striking ever since about 5 00 local time here just over the past two and a half hours. Onslaught after onslaught, what you see those explosions in the night sky, the iron dome at work trying to intercept that overwhelming barrage of mi missiles. As i said, these are just moments ago from ashkelon, south of where i am in tel aviv. Im erin burnett here in israel along with dana bash. For families in this country and on both sides of the bofrder, its a nightmare, a horrific nightmare. And families of four presumed hostages, none of them have been heard of since saturday. So these families were speaking to, they have not heard from their loved ones missing. And today we heard from a few of those families. They have pictures of their loved ones beside them. The people that they are so desperately missing, praying, hoping will be returned alive. Heres what one family said speaking through tears today. My mom is a 66yearold lady. Along with seven grand kids. She was sitting on the porch of her home on saturday morning this attack happened. My mom devoted her life to helping other people of all races and Agenda Genders<\/a> in her practice as a nurse. She installed this practice of passion in us. Just to think about it, he talks about 7 00 a. M. Sometimes its just hearing that time again to imagine civilians in their homes, 6 30, 7 00 in the morning, then just militants rushing in and attacking them. Its truly incomprehensible. When you put that time stamp on it, to imagine in your own life, it maybe gives us a taste of how terrifying it truly was. Thats so true. On the jewish sabth both and on a Jewish Holiday<\/a> on top of that. And thats an important way to put it about the time stamp. I want to now go to somebody who represents what is going on across israel. That is the fear that people have about loved one who is are now hostage to hamas, those who have had those closest to them die, and those themselves who have been called up to serve. Joining me now is someone whose childhood friend was among those people at the music sfestival over the weekend. He knows of at least five people who have been killed. At least 12 of his friends and coworkers are missing. Thank you so much for being here. For people who dont maybe understand what we just heard from the Idf Spokesperson<\/a> how small a country it is and how devastating when you think about thousands a thousand people who were killed, never mind those who are missing. How close this hits to home for every single israeli. Yeah, it feels like were surrounded by this news. I just watched the hostages families talking and speaking. Its very emotional now. I dont know the guy that just talked, but i feel like know him. I know other stories. And there are very similar. And i hear it. And were getting more and more names. Right now, my boyfriend is serving in the army. And the soldiers just lost seven of their friends. And they have to keep their heads up and fight for us and protect us. Were seeing im sorry to interrupt, but were seeing, as we speak, what youre talking about, the need to protect israelis because this wasnt a onetime deal. This is an an allout war. Were looking at live pictures in israel. Where rockets are soming down. So this is very, very much an active situation that your boyfriend and so many of your friends and family continue to try to fight. Yeah, and i just want to say its not a regular war. The person people and everybody watching us now should understand, we saw in the past operations in israel and gaza, and we fight. Were strong, but were shocked. Because the violence is so brutal. Today the foreign media got some pict pictures. They entered illegally this village and they killed in shelters and everywhere they could. And they kidnapped babies. I know about 4monthold baby and i dont want to talk about how they treat the bodies as they filmed because its too difficult for tv, but if people like 50 years ago, we had the october war, and people always comparing to that, like a lot of people were killed before the Surprise Attack<\/a> as well. But im sorry, but this is not 2023. It is not 73. These stories of people remind us this time and we wont let it happen again. I put my trust. 43 meaning the time of the holocaust. Yeah, its too hard. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for explaining to the world what it feels like to be there and we are thinking about you and your boyfriend and everybody else. Thank you. Thank you for having me, and thank you to the American People<\/a> that give us a huge hug now and we feel the support. Thank you. Thank you. Speak ing of the American People<\/a>, the american president will be speaking soon from the white house about israels war. And we have new details about what assurances President Biden<\/a> has and has not given Prime Minister<\/a> benjamin netanyahu. Thats next. Back to what we have been watching all hour. Rockets lighting up the night sky above ashkelon. Part of an unrelenting assault from Hamas Terrorists<\/a>. Im dana bash in washington. Erin burnett is in israel. We will get back to her as soon as we reestablish communication there. Now i want to try to go to clarissa ward, who is in ashkelon. Clarissa, tell us what youre seeing right now. Reporter just about five minutes ago, the sirens went off again. There was a little pause. Its hard tost mate the number, because they fire them in these dense volumes, but quite a few rockets certainly fired. They were closer this time. You could actually smell that veries distinctive smell of explosives. The iron dome doing its work and intercepting many of them, but this has been going on for almost three hours. Hamas has been updating all along saying that this is going to continue. We are striking the occupied city of ashkelon. This is what they are calli ing retribution. They said it was going to start at 5 00. It started at 5 00 on the dot, and its been pretty much continuous w a few lulls of 20 or 30 minutes in there, but the city of ashkelon, you can hear a pin drop at this stage. A lot of people, prooum bliss, have left, but those who remain are staying in coffer. The hotel where were staying is completely full now. And thats because a lot of or ordinary civilians living here have come to places like this, bigger, sterdier, structures with more shelters on every floor as a place to stay while they wait this. Theres a sense now that nobody knows how long this could be, how long this could last, how many rockets r mass has, how or when the issue with complete clearing of hamas militants, who were able to cross that border, will finally be resolved. Let alone the question of the fate of those 150 hostages who are being held in the gaza strip. You talked about where you are now and it being a hotel, which has shelters on every floor. It just speaks to the reality when building initially there where you are in ashkelon, how close it is to the gaza border. We heard from a spokesman for the idf just a short while ago just underscoring that this has happened before, this means rockets have come across the border. Nothing like what you are experiencing and you are witnessing right now. I mean, i have been covering this conflict since 2006. As you say, people here are i customed to rockets coming in. It happens. There are shelters. Every bus stop has a shelter next to it. Its part of the fabric of daily life. When we have seen in the last 72 hours is something completely different altogether. And just in the last few hours with regards to the city of ashkelon, we have not seen anything approaching that level of bombardment. And i do think its important to underscore, were not aware of any casualties at this time, despite the ferocity of that bombardment and the intensity of it, but it still has a crippling effect both on the psyche of people who live here, but also on the work of Israeli Security<\/a> forces who are Essential Ly Put<\/a> in a position where they are trying to put out multiple fires. At the same time at any given moment. And the advantage that hamas has is it can engage in warfare and it doesnt care about the rules. So youre seeing this continued bombardment here in ashkelon tonight. Doesnt care about the rules is quite an Understatement Given<\/a> what we have seen and what the atrocities committed, the massacre of innocent civilians, old and young, to the youngest that we can eefr imagine. Clarissa, i probably dont need to say this, but please stay safe. Well be getting become to you. Up next, an interview with a w with a member of congress who was on the ground in el, just hours ago. We are joined now by congresswoman Debbie Wassermanschultz<\/a> who was on the ground in israel earlier today. Thank you so much for being here. You are now not in israel, you are next door in jordan. Can you describe what you witnessed on the ground in israel today . What did you see . What did you hear . Who did you talk to . Dana, we were in tel aviv and jerusalem today meeting with the both the leadership of israel, i met the Prime Minister<\/a> netanyahu, Opposition Leader<\/a> lapid and we met with families who have been their Family Members<\/a> taken hostage or murdered in cold blood. We heard described the unprecedented savagery that hamas has perpetrated on israel. Dana, its really the equivalent of ten 9 11s, as if we had ten 9 11s in the United States<\/a>, the equivalent of 40,000 americans executed or 4,000 taken hostage. But even worse than that, it would be like that was perpetrated by our nextdoor neighbor, and thats thats the dangerous, vicious neighborhood that israel lives in and we came here with a bipartisan, bicameral delegation to meet with leadership which we did in saudi arabia we woke up to the savagery and executions that happened here and the resolve of the arab leaders to still continue with the Normalization Process<\/a> in saudi arabia was heartening, but theres a long road ahead here that we wanted to make sure we came to israel and didnt go home, so we could stand in solidarity with israel and not just talk about our support for israel, but demonstrate it, which was further demonstrated by President Biden<\/a> bringing in our carriers to ensure that this vicious savagery does not spread to other parts of the region, to perpetrate more evil against israel. Erin, i want to youre in tel aviv. I want to give you a chance to talk to the congresswoman. Reporter congresswoman, i guess im wondering, you know, you brought up obviously that you were in saudi arabia when you heard news of the savagery and saudi arabia and israel of course were on the cusp, i dont know whether cusp is weeks or months, but at the verge of what would be a historic and unprecedented agreement, a normalization of relations. Yes. Reporter such that israel recently reached with the uae. Widely people are saying, okay, thats on the back burner, its dead. Would you say that . Is that now just basically dead and over for the time being . I wouldnt. I wouldnt because we were there before and in saudi arabia for the day on saturday, got there and began our meetings on friday evening and, like i said, we had a buoyant and hopeful meeting with saudi leadership on friday evening, woke up to the savagery that was perpetrated by israel on israel by hamas, and then had an opportunity through the day to take temperature of saudi leaders and Civil Society<\/a> members and ask them whether they thought that this would turn them back, and then went to bahrain and had the same kinds of conversations. Universally they believed and remained committed to continuing and not allowing hamas to do what their intention was. Because, do you know what, do you know what the purpose of this was . Besides their stated goal of repeatedly eradicating israel and killing, you know, all jews . It was to execute the Peace Process<\/a> because the Peace Process<\/a>, normalization, is the death of hamas, the death of the Terrorist Organizations<\/a> who wish to continue their obsession with wiping israel off the map. Congresswoman, i just want to follow up on something you said at the beginning there. You did meet with israeli leaders. Yes. What did they tell you . What did they ask for . Our conversations were primarily about the horror of seeing women raped and their soldiers beheaded and children burned. I mean, this is like isis level evil, but that we also talked about and the reason that our wanted to make sure our congressional members wanted to make sure instead of going home and we pushed back against our own nations leadership our own nations instructions to ensure that we could come to israel as we had planned and stand with them. And thats the message that we got from israeli leadership, from the Prime Minister<\/a> to the Opposition Leader<\/a>, yair lapid, they are united, dana. As difficult as the last few months have been since the Coalition Government<\/a> took power here, universally israelis are united on the ground, their leadership is standing sidebyside, theyre pulling together an emergency Coalition Government<\/a> so that they can or cabinet so that they can Work Together<\/a> and fight this evil. It was so important to come as a member of congress but also as a zionist and a jew for me. Congresswoman, thank you so much for coming on with us and telling us about your experience today in israel. Appreciate it. Safe trip back. Thank you. Erin, again, youre going to be there all night until, you know, who knows when, but the idea of what we just heard, i fear were going to hear a lot more of the brutal, brutal details. Reporter the brutal details. I do think it was interesting, dana, and i know, you know, obviously the congresswoman and many others hope very much for the saudi deal to continue, but with normalization. Its interesting that she was actually there on that day and as the attacks were unfolding talking to saudi officials. A different perspective than weve heard about. No question. Erin, thank you so much for being here this hour. Thank you for watching inside politics. Were going to see you, erin, throughout the day and of course tonight on erin burnett out front at 7 00 p. M. Eastern. Cnn news central starts after a quick break","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia800505.us.archive.org\/3\/items\/CNNW_20231010_160000_Inside_Politics_With_Dana_Bash\/CNNW_20231010_160000_Inside_Politics_With_Dana_Bash.thumbs\/CNNW_20231010_160000_Inside_Politics_With_Dana_Bash_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240703T12:35:10+00:00"}