Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States around the world and streaming us on cnn then max, im rosemary church In Atlanta im Becky Anderson in Tel Aviv in israel. It is 10 00 a. M. Here Monday Morning, where the race you can is dealing with news of the first israeli airstrikes inside the city of beirut. Here in the u. S at least 95 people did after historic Rain And Flash floods from Hurricane Helene, how communities are coming together to help Donald Trump is attacking political rival Kamala Harris falsely questioning her Mental State. Yet again, what some of his republican allies is set begin in The Middle East where israel says it has launched new airstrikes in eastern and Southern Lebanon today, the Israeli Military says it targeted hezbollah strongholds. There. Meanwhile, in beirut, people are On Edge after the first israeli airstrikes overnight within the City Limits. You can see the damage in this video from an attack near the citys cola bridge, a major Intersection Cnn has reached out to the Israeli Military for comment. No, hes follows an intense barrage of strikes in lebanon that began about a week ago. Lebanons Health Ministry says that the attacks On Sunday alone killed more than 100 people and wounded more than 350 Others Israel confirmed that it also carried out airstrikes more than 2000 kilometers away in yemen. On sunday. Video shot after a strike On APower Station shows an inferno with Emergency Crews on the scene houthi Run Television says at least four people were killed. There, and 45 others wounded. Israels Defense Minister says the strikes in yemen show that for israel, quote, no place is too far well cnns Paula Hancocks is live in Abu Dhabi with more On All of this. And paula, what further detail do we have at this stage, not least on the strike on the Cola Intersection as it is known, that is significant and it is something that we have not seen since october when these hostilities began. It is the fact that it is within the City Limits that is significant. We have been seeing a number of israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of beirut. This is one of the hezbollah strongholds. Its where the hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated. So that is not as a prize at this point that the fact that it was within the inner City Limits is going to put much of beirut On Edge. Now we have footage from the early hours of this morning showing firefighters trying to put out a fire in one apartment in a multistory apartment block, you see chaos on the streets and debris and damaged cars. Now what we have also heard is from the pflp. This is the popular front for the liberation of palestine. One of the militant groups that, that is based in lebanon. They say that three of their members were killed in this area. So potentially that was the target of that particular air strike. But it will put the capitol On Edge once again, especially when you can sidner that there are so many people who have moved. And this is civilians that have moved from Southern Lebanon where the vast majority of these airstrikes were taking place to the capital itself, believing they would be safer in that area. Weve heard from the Ministry Of Health1 Million people are believed to be displaced. At this point, you have Hundreds Of Thousands of them going to the capitol itself. So certainly this is going to be a concern. It is a widening of israels tactics and israels attacks. Now we have also heard that three more senior hezbollah commanders were killed On Sunday. This has been israels strategy all along really fought for many months, but certainly over the past two weeks, they have been targeting those commanders who are in charge of different parts of the Hezbollah Group because they have taken out the leader of the group, Hassan Nasrallah. And within that as well, were also hearing from the Israeli Military that they believe they killed about 20 commanders within that one strike itself, appearing to have been some kind of a me eating of the senior commanders within hezbollah itself so from Israels Point of view that the question now is whether or not they will decide to carry out a Ground Invasion. Weve certainly heard reticence on the part of many in the region concerns that this will be pushing it too far to a widening conflict, which will include the whole region. Weve heard from the u. S. Side as well. Certainly the u. S. President, Joe Biden, has been trying to resist this for months. Hes called for a 21 day ceasefire, which appears to have been effectively rejected by both sides at this point. But he did say On Sunday that he will speak with Benjamin Netanyahu soon. The israeli Prime Minister, he says that they do have to do everything they can to avoid allout war but of course the concern at this point is how much influence does president Joe Biden have over the israeli Prime Minister at this point, the calls for ceasefire in gaza. And now in lebanon have been consistent. They have been persistent and yet they have not been heeded up until this point. Becky Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Thank you theres been some 48 hours now since the world got confirmation that Hassan Nasrallah, the head of hezbollah, had been assassinated by israel. It is hard to overstate what a Turning Point nasrallahs killing will have on hezbollah in lebanOn And the wider region. My next guest writes, and i quote, azrallah was the machinery, the face, and the soul of hezbollah. His demands means not just the loss of eight Skill Tactician but the degradation of an entire narrative of resistance that is animated the region for over three decades scream shaheen is The Middle East and Newsletters Editor for News Lines because zain, which is a jolly good read, i hear. I urge you to read that. He joins us now from montreal. Its good to have you and the piece that i alluded to talks about whether this is the beginning of a new era that im talking about, that not just for level but for the wider region before we discuss the conceit of your article i just wonder whether you will describe for us what you see going On At present on lebanon. And its effect on the people there you for having me i mean, whats going on is obviously heartbreaking, you know, in addition to the actual death of Hassan Nasrallah his death occurred as a consequence of 2000 Pound Bunker Buster bombs that were dropped On A, On A very crowded residential area in beirut. Theres over 1 Million people have been displaced since hostilities up the ante over the past week or so theres the number of people whove died as inching closer and closer to the total number of deaths the 2006 war in its entirety, which took over a month so its been really an outbreak of violence and its really terrifying to see it from a far its incredibly terrifying for the people over there that weve been talking to emotion that im hearing is shock its Hassan Nasrallah has been part of Lebanon And Part of the regional fabric for decades since he took over as Secretary General of hezbollah in 1992 he presided over the liberation of Southern Lebanon from Israeli Occupation in 2000 and then over the hezbollah as efforts in the 2006 war, which was a glorified as a divine victory for simply being able to hold israel to a standstill. His been an enormously important part of the regional dynamics when it comes to the socalled axis of resistance, the proiran block in the region that has resisted israel and american influence in the region so many people have had their formative years in Lebanon Kind of shaped by Hassan Nasrallah has influenced and larger than Life Persona and Charisma And Brutality frankly, in lebanon, so theres enormous shock and still disbelief. I think that hes gone israel not to get involved in an all out war. Israel reserving the right to go in on the ground with troops in Southern Lebanon. What they do next is still an open question. Meantime, lets talk about the influence so Hassan Nasrallah further and the Significance And Consequence of his demise. I want to just quote for our viewers a little more of of the piece that we started with here. Quote, he provided the audiological and operational template for militia and islamist groups that stretched far beyond hezbollah, even extremist groups like alqaeda and the islamic State Group of borrowed from his playbook imitating Hezbollahs Ability to merge Military Action should with political legitimacy and Mass Mobilization and even emulating his Style And Persona to your point, his influence has been huge, not just on lebanOn And importantly, politically on lebanOn As well, hezbollah, very much embedded in need political cool Framework And Society in lebanon. But for what is known as he axis of Resistance Iran backed groups around the wider region, what is the consequence to your mind . Of his demise at this point . And for a future middle east yeah, i think people are often tempted to kind of downplay the impact of violence on, on politics and on the future of the region, on future movements hezbollah, rightly. So because hezbollah was founded as a Grassroots Movement in lebanon to resist Israels Occupation israels invasion in 1982 was the spark that led to the creation of hezbollah. And right now, were dealing with the possibility of an israeli Ground Invasion and what could emerge out, of The Ashes of that. What kind of opposition movement, what kind of Liberation Movement might, might emerge as a consequence of a potential israeli invasion is an open question but Hassan Nasrallah was really a figure that was in comparable to many others. If you go back to 2020 when qassem soleimani, the commander of the iranian revolutionary guards, was assassinated by a Drone Strike ordered by Donald Trump people said that this will not have huge impact. There are many casualties that can replace them. The institutions that iran has built across the region in terms of the militias and the way projects its power is going to survive his demise and yet, weve seen their operations in Syria And Iraq and other parts of the region suffer as a consequence of soleimanis assassinatiOn And since then, weve seen smile and he has assassination of the hamas politically peter, who was killed in tehran and now hassan Nasrallah Hasnt really transcends all of these figures as we said in the essay, Hassan Nasrallah really created the machinery that is hezbollah. He is the sole of hezbollah and he is the soul of this organization that is really the Crown Jewel or the linchpin of Irans Power Projection across the region. They were involved heavily in syria. In fact, has the most rela is probably the singular. Most important figure for the survival of the assad regime in syria. They were involved in iraq, they were involved in yemen. They were involved in training. A lot of these Militia Groups in addition to modeling what it looks like to be successful Counterinsurgency Group in an operation thats setting aside their immense cultural importance for awhile up until 2006 Hassan Nasrallah was essentially the most popular arab leader in the region due to the fact that he was standing up to israel. And this popularity continued up until 2011 during the arab spring. And a couple of years later when he decided to join the war alongside bashar alassad. And thats when they started to be a major shift in how the rest of the region said, of course, in lebanon, he was controversial for a long time because of hezbollahs alleged involvement in a series of political assassinations of their Opposition Figures in lebanon but outside of lebanon, when he was widely revered and respected as a Figure Up until he decided to join the war alongside russia, unless said, he was seen as a sectarian actor. With huge backing, of course, from iran, which has threatened reprisals. We are yet to see exactly what that might look like, if anything at all kareem, its good to have you as super essay and as i say, i urge all our viewers and our folks around the world, to have a look at the work that you and your colleagues do. Thank you. Cream. Shaheen Point Today us president Joe Biden plans to visit communities devastated by Hurricane Helene later this week, let me hand you over to my colleague, rosemary In Atlanta. Alright, thanks so much. Much for that, becky, well get back to you very soOn As becky was saying at least 95 people are now confirmed dead after high winds, torrential rain, and Flash Flooding ripped through the southeastern us. The highest losses have been reported in north and south carolina, where these severe weather toppled here huge trees and flooded roadways. There is growing concern for residents in North Carolina where entire roads have been destroyed by Flooding Access to clean water and other necessities has become extremely limited in some areas. And many cities are still underwater is Assistant Chief with the asheville, North Carolina fire department, who joins me now from asheville. Thank you so much for talking with us at this particularly difficult time. So what is the situation on the ground right now in the aftermath of Helene Devastation thats the best way i can put it. We are were disconnected. Weve suffered our Community Suffering Weve suffered impacts that weve never seen the rate of rise of water, the amount of Debris Everything that were experiencing here is for instance, are rain gauges, couldnt even measure the amount