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Gaza Ceasefire Talks to Resume in Doha in Coming Hours; Ukraine Pushing Ahead With Incursion into Russia; Trump Contrasts his Economic Policies With Harris' Plans; Daughter of Former Thai Leader Could Become Next PM; Rapidly Intensifying Typhoon Ampil Continues to Strengthen. Aired 12-1am ET

Aired August 16, 2024 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[00:00:10]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Atlanta. Appreciate your company.

Coming up on CNN Newsroom, still no deal but what's being called a promising start to ceasefire. Hostage talks with more than 40,000 people now killed in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's startling to see the steady flow of military vehicles just passing through the Russian border point here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We take you to Ukraine's border with Russia as Ukraine pushes deeper into Russian territory capturing a town and dozens of soldiers along the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I mean, she certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Donald Trump insists that he's entitled to launch personal attacks against his rival Kamala Harris because he claims she does it too.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: And we begin in the Middle East where a rising death toll in Gaza and the threat of Iranian retaliation on Israel are adding renewed urgency for talks for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal to succeed. The negotiations are set to resume in the coming hours in Doha, Qatar, picking up where they left off Thursday when no deal was reached.

The renewed push for an agreement comes amid fears of an expected Iranian attack on Israel in retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last month.

The talks also happening as Gaza reached a horrific number of dead. More than 40,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the enclave since Israel launched its war on Hamas following the group's October 7 terror attack.

Thousands marched in Tel Aviv on Thursday demanding the release of hostages still held in Gaza, some expressing fears this could be the last chance to bring home their loved ones alive.

Now, after ceasefire talks ended for the day, Hamas reiterated that there will be no deal without a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the latest from Haifa in Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: After hours of negotiations, those talks in Doha, Qatar, to try and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal, they have ended for the night. But on Friday, those negotiations are set to resume once again. And so while we aren't getting many indications of the exact kind of progress being made inside that room, the thorny issues being sorted through, perhaps the most positive indication is the fact that those negotiations are indeed going to continue.

And while we know that Hamas hasn't been in the room as these negotiations have been ongoing between Israel, the Qataris, the Egyptians, and the United States, we are being told that the Egyptian and Qatari mediators have been updating Hamas, are engaging with Hamas, and so that is also a positive indication.

And I think it's important to note that we have seen this at various times. When the negotiations get at their most sensitive points, that is often when people clam up. I spoke with an Israeli source earlier this evening who wouldn't provide any details of what's in the room, and that just tells you how delicate things are and potentially how close these negotiations actually are.

We know, of course, that there are major differences between Israel and Hamas, but we also know that they are perhaps closer than they have been in a very long time to actually getting to a deal. The question, of course, now is one of political will. Does the Israeli Prime Minister want to get to a deal? Does Hamas's leader, Yahya Sinwar, want to get to a deal as well?

Now, one other key indication here is that the Qatari Prime Minister, who has been intimately involved in these negotiations, was in the room on Thursday. After those negotiations ended, he got on the phone with one key person, and that was the Iranian Foreign Minister, updating him on the progress of those negotiations and talking about what the Qataris described as the, quote, "tensions in the Middle East." And that just makes clear that there is a linkage between these

ceasefire negotiations and those overall tensions in the Middle East, as we are now more than two weeks removed from the assassination of Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital, two weeks removed from Iran's vows of retaliation, and yet those have still not come.

And so I think it's very clear that if there is progress in these ceasefire negotiations, clearly the implications will be far more wide-ranging beyond just Gaza, further reaching throughout this region.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Haifa, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right, I'll take you live now to Tel Aviv and Alon Pinkas, former Israeli Consul General in New York. Good to see you again, sir.

[00:05:04]

The quote that came out Thursday about the talks was pretty much the same as previous meetings, which was that there are "still gaps," quote-unquote, between Hamas and Israel. What does that tell you about the chances for this latest round?

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL, NEW YORK: Well, you know, you can't be too optimistic after the last six months of ongoing, off- going negotiations. And when people say there are differences, and yet at the same time, Michael, they say that this is the last opportunity or the last chance or the absolute final opportunity, then you tend to think that this may not work or be extended and stretched to the point that in a week it'll all break down.

Now, I don't want to sound too pessimistic. I don't know what's going on in the room, but the gaps are real.

HOLMES: Yeah, that's hard to know what to be optimistic about, but we're not in the room, as you said. We've talked about this before, but do you still think Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't want an agreement, at least in part, for his own political survival? And if that's true, why hasn't the public protest or reported dissension among his own military leaders and so on been able to block that path that Netanyahu has taken, push him to make a deal?

PINKAS: Well, these are two critical questions that you ask, Michael. And I don't know that anyone has a definitive answer. The first one, whether Netanyahu wants the deal or not. I'm still convinced he does not, not want the deal. He does not want the deal because he needs prolonging the war. He needs a warlike atmosphere. The last thing he needs now is the war to effectively end and him not being able to declare a total victory or the cliche that he keeps on using.

Now, there is another possibility here, and that is that Mr. Netanyahu will be forced through domestic tensions and pressures, which I'll allude to in a moment, and external pressures from the U.S. primarily, and reach a deal hoping, both him and Sinwar, that two, three weeks down the road, one side is going to be accused of violating it and the whole thing goes up in smoke.

As for the domestic pressures that you asked about, this is a serious conundrum, Michael, because many, myself included, did not think that he would last this long and survive the calamity of October 7th. Yet the public pressure and the military pressure have been somewhat subdued. That doesn't mean they will not, you know, explode or implode, rather, in the next few weeks in the absence of a deal.

I do see that in the absence of a deal that the Israeli negotiators and the Americans in the room think that Mr. Netanyahu is to be blamed or is responsible primarily for the absence of a deal. That may lead to that pressure or dissent that you referred to surfacing in a much more powerful and vocal way.

HOLMES: I wanted to ask you something else because you're there, obviously, in Israel. The newspaper you write for, Haaretz, published a report, a very powerful emotive report, detailing the lives of 40 of the 40,000 now who have been killed in Gaza. It included poets, educators, artists and sporting figures, humanizing some of those numbers. Do those stories or the humanitarian crisis more broadly make news there in Israel or have an impact or resonate at all with Israelis?

PINKAS: Barely. I'm sorry to say, it's a tragic thing to say, but barely. There were mitigating circumstances, if you want to understand this, at the outset because the shock, the devastation and the agony of what had happened on October 7th were so deep and so broad and so overwhelming that the Israeli public became impervious or just completely shut down to what's going on in Gaza.

But that explains the first two or three months after October. Since then, the devastation has grown, as you mentioned in that Haaretz report. Stories do permeate into the mainstream press. It's not like anyone is suppressing it. It's just that the media in general prefers not to, is reluctant to report, and the public is living in denial about this.

Now, what you see on CNN and other networks throughout the world are things and scenes and stories that are rarely seen in Israel. So my short answer to you is no, it does not resonate as much as it should.

HOLMES: Yeah, sad. It was a powerful piece in Haaretz. I've got to leave you there, Alon. Thank you so much. Alon Pinkas there in Tel Aviv.

[00:10:04]

PINKAS: Thank you, Michael.

HOLMES: And the Palestinian Authority's health ministry says one person was killed when dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a village in the West Bank, setting homes, cars, and other property on fire just the latest in a series of such attacks, this one particularly severe. One official said more than 70 armed settlers also fired live bullets and tear gas at Palestinian residents. The IDF says Israeli security forces did disperse the group and is launching an investigation. The attack drawing strong condemnation from top Israeli officials. But as I said, it has not been unusual of late.

Ukraine says it is pressing ahead with its cross-border incursion into Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirming that the town of Sudzha is now in Ukrainian hands more than a week after his troops first appeared there.

Ukraine also says its forces have now advanced 35 kilometers into Russia since launching the incursion last week. They've reportedly captured more than 80 settlements and more than 1,100 square kilometers of Russian territory.

And on top of that, this video showing what could be the biggest taking of Russian prisoners in a single operation. A Ukrainian security source says more than 100 soldiers were captured while defending a well-fortified position.

The Ukrainian operation is the biggest penetration into Russian territory since World War II and a major embarrassment for the Kremlin. As CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from the Russian border, Ukrainian troops are facing virtually no resistance crossing over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is where Russia begins. It's startling to see the steady flow of military vehicles, that probably an ambulance, and armor just passing through the Russian border point here. That is the border post that clearly got heavily hit when Ukraine moved in hard over a week ago. Russia's border's here completely undefended.

It's also remarkable the freedom with which the Ukrainian military are moving round here. They simply aren't afraid of the drones that have hampered their every move for the past months.

That says the border service of the FSB, the Russian security services of Russia. There's a bullet hole above the rules and bullet holes in the rules themselves.

Now, this is what's so startling about this offensive. The volume of Western-supplied armor that we're seeing passing back and forth. Their passage through here up into Russia, unimpeded, entirely. That Rochelle from Canada.

WALSH (through translation): Did you expect it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): No, we didn't expect this [operation]. There's a task, we're doing it, no more no less. The final result? No one speaks about that now.

WALSH: Just saying about how frequently they've been going back and forth over the last week or so. And you get a real sense of the euphoria. But ultimately, too, the enduring question is, what is all this for? What is the end game? Yes, it's a huge embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, but they're sending some of their best equipment deep into Russia. And I'm sure in the back of the minds of these troops is the question of what ultimately are we going to achieve? And we still don't know the answer to that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh there reporting from Ukraine's border with Russia. Time for a quick break on the program. When we come back, messages of, quote, "love and incredible progress." Joe Biden campaigns with Kamala Harris for the first time since exiting the race for the White House.

And against the backdrop of golf and groceries, Donald Trump holds a news conference filled with false claims against Harris at his golf club. We'll have the details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:16:20]

HOLMES: Kamala Harris is taking her U.S. presidential campaign to the battleground state of North Carolina Friday, where she will roll out her economic program. It's expected to include plans to drive down prescription drug prices and lower housing costs.

President Joe Biden joined his vice president on the campaign trail Thursday for the first time since bowing out of the race. Harris called him extraordinary and said, quote, "There's a lot of love for our President."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Few leaders in our nation have done more on so many issues, including to expand access to affordable health care like President Joe Biden.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Folks, I have an incredible partner. The progress we've made, she's going to make one hell of a president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been slamming the Vice President's economic record and the Vice President personally. During remarks at his golf club in New Jersey, the Republican presidential nominee blamed her incorrectly, obviously, for the rising cost of everything, from groceries to housing to electricity, and once again, he made it personal. CNN's Alayna Treene explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Nice to see you.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump on Thursday addressed the press at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and the whole point of this speech was to really drive home his message on the economy.

Now, when I talked to Donald Trump's senior advisers, they said that was really the goal for this entire week, that they wanted him to really drive a contrast between his economic policy and that of his record when he was in office and compare that to what Harris is going to propose on Friday in North Carolina.

Now, he had a series of props around him, a bunch of different groceries, and really the point for him was to try and argue that Kamala Harris is responsible for the crunch that many Americans are feeling on their wallets.

They also want to tie her to the Biden administration's economic policy. Part of that is because they know that Donald Trump pulled higher than Joe Biden when it came to that issue, and they believe that is a winning issue for him in November.

Now, it was really interesting because Donald Trump really stuck to the script. He brought out a binder with him for these remarks. He put it on the podium, and then he read it line by line. However, once he started taking questions from the press, that restraint went out the window, and you really saw Donald Trump revert back to his well-worn playbook.

I asked him specifically, you know, you have a lot of allies who are pressuring you, both privately and publicly, to stop with the personal attacks on Kamala Harris and focus on a more disciplined message, particularly when it comes to the issues like the economy, but also immigration and crime. And he told me that he actually believes that he is entitled to those attacks. Take a listen.

TRUMP: I think I'm entitled to personal attacks. I don't have a lot of respect for her. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence. And I think she'll be a terrible president. And I think it's very important that we win. And whether the personal attacks are good, bad, I mean, she certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird.

TREENE: Now, the reason Donald Trump's answer there was so important is because this is something that so many people who want him to win this fall are telling him not to do. He said that Harris makes him very angry, that he is entitled to these personal attacks. But you have heard from a series of his top allies, including Nikki Haley, who recently endorsed him and went on stage at the Republican National Convention and said that she stood behind him.

The former House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, even one of his advisers, Kellyanne Conway, all of them went out publicly this week and said, you need to stop with the attacks on Harris and begin talking more about the issues.

[00:20:09]

But it was clear today that Donald Trump seems like he does not want to do that and will not be changing his strategy. Alayna Treene, CNN, Bridgewater, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: CNN Senior Political Analyst, Ron Brownstein is with us from Los Angeles. He's also a Senior Editor at The Atlantic. Always good to see you, Ron.

So more rambling, let's be frank, more lies, as well as saying he's justified in personal attacks on Kamala Harris, despite aides saying, don't do that. Is this just who he is? Does it hurt him electorally?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, it is who he is, right? I mean, by now we know who Donald Trump is. He is a candidate who thrives on division, who animates his coalition primarily through grievance, and who believes that tearing down your opponent in every possible way is always the best strategy.

Obviously, he risks an enormous backlash. You know, with Hillary Clinton in 2016, there was years of built-up mixed emotions at best in the electorate that somewhat shielded him from misogynistic attacks on her, like, you know, looming behind her at the debate, for example.

Harris doesn't seem to inspire quite the same emotions among voters, and there is a great risk that Trump will simply be provoking a lot of female voters into believing that he is disrespecting a woman, and a woman of color at that.

You know, the other half of the press conference, that's what Democrats have to worry about. Most Americans think that they are not better off as a result of the policies of the Biden administration. Right now, they're not associating Harris with it that much, but Trump certainly has a lane there to try to link her to that discontent over the basic cost of affordability.

HOLMES: Let's talk a bit about the economy, because it is the line they want to go on. They want to continue to slam the Biden-Harris economy, as they put it. But the fact is, most economists say the economy is healthy. Inflation is down. GDP and consumer spending are up. The stock market, over 40,000.

Literally, "Fox News" had that in a box on the bottom of their screen as Trump was going on about disaster in the economy. But perception is everything. In terms of messaging, what does Harris have to do to change that perception among many voters that those things I just mentioned are not true or somehow don't apply to them?

BROWNSTEIN: I guess I resist the notion that it's just perception, because what we see in polling consistently is that most Americans are judging the health of the economy, not by the job market or the stock market, but by their ability to manage their cost of living. And the reality is that, you know, Trump is right. Most of the things that he was talking about today, groceries are up 20% cumulatively since Biden took office.

Now, you know, that's a problem that's happened across the world, inflation post-pandemic. But I think most analysts would agree that the last round of big stimulus spending contributed to it.

What Harris has to do is shift the debate forward, as I think she will try to do tomorrow in her remarks in North Carolina, when she's going to talk about efforts to control prices in a variety of fronts, and particularly of food and rent, leaning into her history as the Attorney General of California, suing corporations that gouge consumers.

But there's also another asset she has leaning forward, which is that most economists say the plans that Donald Trump is unveiling for a possible second term are far more inflationary than anything that Biden and Harris are talking about. The combination of across-the- board tariffs of 10% on all products, which he's now saying may be 20%, plus 60% tariffs on China, coupled with mass deportation that would disrupt the labor force.

There have been estimates by Moody's Economics Analytics, for example, that Trump's agenda would add a full point of inflation to the baseline projection of what the CPI would be.

So if he can get the debate looking forward, that's better terrain for her than, I think, looking back over what had happened over the last four years, that I think Americans are genuinely discontented about.

HOLMES: Now, I remember it was, I think, 14 or 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists said the same thing you just did about what Trump policies would do to the economy. We did see, I wanted to ask you about this, we did see the first Harris appearance with Joe Biden since she replaced him as Democratic presidential candidate. What did you make of it? Is Biden a plus or a negative for the Harris campaign? How visible do you think he'll be?

BROWNSTEIN: I think he's a negative overall. I mean, the reality is that, you know, where -- he's had 55% to 60% disapproval for a very long time, and he was not on a trajectory to win.

So I think Harris, you know, Harris, I think, is benefiting from the simple reality that as we saw all year, somewhere around 70% to 75% of Americans said they didn't want the choice of Biden and Trump. They were asking the parties, what else do you have on the shelf back there? And Democrats were the ones who responded first.

[00:25:14]

I just think it was Nikki Haley, right, who said in February, the first party that ditches their 80-year-old nominee is going to get a leg up. And I think that's very real.

Now, for Harris to kind of benefit from that, I think whatever she can do to separate herself from kind of where we are helps her. And having Biden plus Obama plus Bill Clinton speak at the convention, you know, might not actually be the best strategy. I guess they have to do it.

But her strength right now is that voters looking forward see her as a more energetic and unifying figure than either Trump or Biden. And the more she can kind of lean into the idea that she is a break from the very exhausting, polarizing politics we've had, the stronger position she'll be in.

HOLMES: Always a great conversation with you, Ron. Ron Brownstein, thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me, Michael.

HOLMES: Well, the youngest daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is on the verge of becoming the new prime minister. Paetongtarn Shinawatra got the backing of Thailand's ruling coalition after the current Prime Minister was dismissed by Bangkok's constitutional court. And what you're seeing there is a live look at parliament in Bangkok as they take up her nomination.

CNN's Marc Stewart joins me now with the very latest. Good to see you, Marc. There's maybe a new leadership set to take over in Thailand, but a lot of familiar players involved.

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No question, Michael. Paetongtarn Shinawatra Shinawatra comes from a political dynasty in Thailand. Her family is seen as powerful, at times divisive, yet has had a prominent role on the scene in Thailand for the last two decades.

So as we watch this political transition taking place, it's happening, as you mentioned, very quickly after the former Prime Minister was ousted. We have some new pictures from Bangkok where, according to our CNN team on the ground, the voting is now taking place. And she will need more than half of members of parliament to support her.

But when we look at the math, her party's coalition has a commanding presence. That coalition has said they will support her. So at this moment in time, it almost appears to be just a formality. Some interesting background, though, about Paetongtarn Shinawatra. She is 37 years old. As you mentioned, her father is a former Prime Minister. He was ousted back in 2006 during a military coup.

In addition, her aunt also served as Prime Minister, the first female prime minister. So she is now in line to be the second female prime minister, as well as the youngest prime minister.

And her appearance on the political scene is not something that necessarily happened overnight. She has been gaining in prominence over the years. A lot of people have said in the past that it was a long time coming because she had been seen by her father's side at a number of political events over the years, almost paving the way for this kind of elevated presence.

She does face, though, a number of challenges in Thailand, including the economy. The economy in Thailand has been sluggish. And the previous prime minister really has made that or made that one of his priorities, one of his initiatives, a lot of effort on job creation and ways to spur spending. So it will be interesting to see if that is going to be one of her priorities.

If this approval does go through, she will be able to pick a cabinet of her own. So it will be interesting to see which areas of emphasis she will choose to focus on.

Michael, I should point out, it is just approaching 11:30 in Bangkok. This is the procedure that is now taking place. If parliament makes this approval, the king essentially will have to sign off on it. The term is a royal endorsement. It will certainly be watching throughout the afternoon, Michael.

HOLMES: All right, keep an eye on it for us. Thanks, Marc. Marc Stewart there in Beijing for us.

Now, Typhoon Ampil is the equivalent of a Category Four hurricane and could continue to strengthen as it approaches Japan's eastern coast near Tokyo. We'll have the details in a live report with our Hanako Montgomery when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:02]

HOLMES: Updating you now on our top story, the latest talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza are set to resume in the hours ahead after the first day ended without an agreement.

A diplomatic source says that Israel's chief of Mossad, the CIA director, Qatar's Prime Minister, and the Egyptian intelligence head will all be in attendance for the second day of the high-level talks in Doha. The source says Qatari and Egyptian mediators are engaging Hamas separately. Hamas maintains there will be no deal without a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Amid the talks, another truly horrific number from Gaza, the Health Ministry says more than 40,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have now been killed since Israel launched its war against Hamas 10 months ago. The devastating toll, the human toll of war, highlighting the suffering and volatility inside the enclave.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh gives us a look at what so many in Gaza face every day. But first, a warning some of the images in her report are graphic and they are difficult to watch, but it is important to bring them to you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everything we're about to show you was filmed over the course of four hours in a single day, a snapshot of 10 months of war for Gaza's children. Nothing can erase what these little eyes have seen, but they've come here to try to forget, even if just for a little while.

Most of these children were on their way to queue up for water, one of the newfound hardships of this miserable life when they stop for a makeshift puppet show. Cans, cardboard and string, it's a distraction, but kids have to relate to their make-believe friends with stories just like theirs. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (interpreted): When the war happened, everything

was bombed and destroyed. We were displaced to the south. Dad was worried about us, and we are searching for safety.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): 12-year-old Tala longs for the days when she had a hold in Gaza City.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (interpreted): Life is unlivable. I only live for my siblings and parents. Here, I stop thinking about all that's on my mind. I watch the show and play with kids.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This might seem like a surreal scene, but at times of war, life does go on, as does the horror. In the same area of Gaza, injured children arrive into one of the last, hardly standing, hospitals. It's a constant stream of casualties from an Israeli strike nearby.

Among them, a severely injured toddler. He clings on to the stranger who brought him here. There's no room left. They leave him on the floor. His cries, his pain, drowned out by the chaos.

[00:35:16]

Outside, another ambulance pulls up with another boy here for the morgue. It wasn't the bombs that killed him. He starved to death, his father says, as they prepare him for burial, his emaciated body lays bare for the world to see what Israel Siege has done to Gaza's most vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (interpreted): Put us somewhere safe and then fight as much as you want. I wish God would take us all and let us follow this child. I'm holding it together now, but when I leave here, I'll probably collapse. Maybe I'm pretending to be strong. But inside, I can't take it anymore.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): The broken father, like, so many parents who helplessly watch their children die in their arms, their suffering has become a statistic by which the world that watches on measures the awfulness of this war.

His name was Mohammed Abu Khalub. He was only nine, born with cerebral palsy. He died by a garbage dump where his displaced family was forced to camp. Back inside the emergency room, that toddler is still on the floor, barely conscious, surrounded by medics, but no family by his side. No one knows his name. Thousands of children, like him, have arrived to hospitals injured and alone throughout this war.

We found that toddler days later at another hospital. His name is Abdel Kamal Al-Aqqad (ph) in intensive care. He hasn't uttered a word since the attack. The shock is still clear behind his glassy eyes, the dirt still under his fingernails. It's his aunt who's here with him. His mother was seriously injured.

Kamal still doesn't know his 14-month-old sister is gone. Days after our cameraman filmed him in the ICU, we received the news that Kamal did not survive. He was three. One day, showing how fragile existence is in this place where life,

death and stolen moments of joy meet.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Japan's eastern coast is bracing for Typhoon Ampil. It's been intensifying rapidly and is now the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins me now live from Tokyo. What are you seeing, Hanako? And how is Japan prepared for Ampil's arrival?

[00:40:11]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Michael, it's good to see you. We're in central Tokyo right now which is one of the regions expected to be hit by this very strong and massive typhoon. Actually, the strongest typhoon we've seen all season so far.

And as you can tell from the view behind me and also slightly above me, it's drizzling just a little bit. It's not raining too hard and the winds have died down significantly. But just a couple of hours ago before we started speaking, Michael, the rain was really, really pummeling us and the winds were also picking up and they were getting stronger and stronger.

Not strong enough to topple over any cars or trucks, as the Japanese government has warned it could, but it has made it a little bit difficult for pedestrians along the street here to walk.

Now, the Japanese Meteorological Agency has warned that this typhoon could get a lot worse in the coming hours, especially as it approaches the eastern region of the country.

Also, of course, depending on how this typhoon moves, if it moves further inland, then that could mean more rain and more winds and potentially more devastation in the form of landslides or flooding in some parts of the country.

Now, in terms of how the Japanese government has been preparing for this typhoon, Michael, we know that a couple hundred flights have been cancelled. Bullet train lines have also been suspended. Also, a couple of highways have also been closed.

Tokyo Disneyland has even closed a little bit earlier today. It's going to be closed from 3 p.m. onwards just to avoid any destruction or devastation to its customers.

Now, also, some evacuation shelters have been created and people are sheltering there. A couple of evacuation advisories have also been issued specifically for the elderly and those who are not able-bodied, giving them just a little bit more time to evacuate should the situation get any worse. Michael.

HOLMES: All right, Hanako, thanks so much. Hanako Montgomery on the streets of Tokyo there as we await the arrival of some bad weather.

Authorities have charged five people in connection with the death of the actor Matthew Perry. The defendants include two doctors, Perry's live-in assistant and a drug kingpin authorities referred to as the "ketamine queen."

Perry died in October 2023 at the age of 54. His autopsy report said he died as a result of the acute effects of ketamine and subsequent drowning.

I'm Michael Holmes. "World Sport" coming your way after the break. Then my friend and colleague, John Vause will take over at the top of the hour with much more CNN Newsroom.

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(WORLD SPORT)