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CNN International: Lebanon: Israeli Strike "Cuts Off" Key Border Crossing To Syria; Source: Israel Targeted Possible Nasrallah Successor; Israel Escalates Airstrikes In Beirut's Southern Suburbs. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired October 04, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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ISA SOARES, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and a very warm welcome to our viewers right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London.

And just ahead right here on CNN Newsroom, new strikes across southern Beirut today. This as Iran's Supreme Leader warns Tehran will attack Israel again, quote, "If needs be". We are live for you in Israel and Lebanon with the very latest. Plus, the devastation and destruction from Hurricane Helene continues to affect millions of Americans across the south. I'll be speaking to one North Carolina resident who says there are still dead bodies in the trees. And a new U.S. jobs report is out, shattering expectations and showing a dip in the unemployment rate.

But first, amid the threat of an Israeli retaliatory attack that could come really at any time, Iran's Supreme Leader is vowing in public that Hamas and Hezbollah will never be defeated. Ayatollah Khamenei led Friday prayers in Tehran today for the first time in years, and he defended Iran's missile attack on Israel this week "as legal", his words, and quote, "legitimate", and vowed Iran and its regional allies will not back down. Iran's Foreign Minister, meantime, is in Beirut, meeting with government officials, even as Israel escalates blistering airstrikes. Well, Israel carrying out new attacks on the southern suburbs today after massive blights there -- blasts there overnight. Have a look at this.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

SOARES: Israel says Hezbollah's communication leader has been killed in a strike. It also says its troops have killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters since launching its ground campaign in southern Lebanon.

Meantime, new evacuation orders, you are seeing there, are in effect for civilians today. Some one million people are now displaced, and many shelters, as we've been hearing on CNN, are full. Some families have been fleeing into Syria on foot, but Lebanon says a key border crossing is now inaccessible after an Israeli strike destroyed the road leading to the crossing. The IDF says it targeted an underground tunnel crossing used to smuggle weapons into Lebanon. Let's get more on all these trends for you, Jomana Karadsheh is in

Beirut, Jeremy Diamond for us there in Tel Aviv.

Jomana, let me go to you first, because it seems that these strikes that we've just outlined, that we have been seeing, despite us hearing that this would be limited, localized and targeted, are becoming more frequent, right, more frequent, more intent. Just bring us up to date with the very latest there, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, in the last 48 hours or so, we have seen real intensification in these strikes, whether here in Beirut on the southern suburbs, and of course, you had one strike as well in the heart of Beirut. And then you also have the airstrikes continuing, heavy, heavy bombardment in southern Lebanon as well as the eastern Beqaa region as well.

As you mentioned, the reports that we got of the Israeli military saying that they struck what they're describing as Hezbollah infrastructure, Hezbollah tunnels on that road leading to the main border crossing with Syria, the Al-Masnaa border crossing, which has really been used by civilians who are trying to flee. More than 160,000 people since late September have crossed that border into Syria. The majority of them are Syrian refugees who are here, but also many, many Lebanese. And the situation right now at that border crossing, as we understand it from Lebanese authorities, is that, that road, they can't use vehicles to access the border crossing. So, a lot of people are trying to make it across on foot, carrying whatever they can.

And you look at the number of people, Isa, who have been displaced and are continuing to get displaced by this war, these airstrikes in the south, more than 100 evacuation orders for villages in the southern area just in the last three days, and we've heard from Lebanese officials, they're really concerned that more than a million so far displaced in a matter of days, that that number is going to continue to grow, and it's something that they cannot cope with here because they don't have enough shelters. They can't set up shelters fast enough to deal with the largest displacement, internal displacement of population in this country in its history.

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And here in Beirut, in the southern suburbs, we have seen also these airstrikes intensifying last night, continuing today as well. As we're speaking right now, we can hear the Israeli drones really loud and clear. And usually, that's an indication of more airstrikes coming.

Now, the Israelis say they are targeting Hezbollah facilities, sites, weapons facilities in the southern suburbs. But, of course, this is continuing to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis on the ground. Listen, there is no doubt that they have very much decimated the Hezbollah command structure. They have killed many of its top leaders, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the past week. But, it is the civilian population in this country that is bearing the brunt of this war, Isa. SOARES: Yeah. This is something I've heard as well from UNICEF just in the last 24 hours, when I spoke to them from Beirut. Jomana, as you stay with us, let me go to Jeremy. So, Jeremy, what are you hearing from the IDF about this strike at the Syria-Lebanon border there? Because, like Jomana -- you heard Jomana there, that was a route for so many civilians to get out of Lebanon here.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know, of course, historically that Hezbollah has indeed smuggled weapons into Lebanon from Syria, and that is a route that they use. An Israeli military spokesman earlier today telling me that it is one of the most efficient routes for smuggling weapons into Lebanon, and the Israeli military in a statement saying that they targeted an underground tunnel crossing to, quote, "prevent weapons from being smuggled into Lebanese territories".

But, there is no question that it is having yet another major impact on the civilian population in Lebanon, some 160,000 of whom have already fled from Lebanon into Syria. Interestingly, the majority of those are Syrians who fled the civil war there into Lebanon, and are now going back in the other direction, as conflict goes from one country to another.

The Israeli military, other -- of their actions, have also clearly had an impact on civilians. They have directed the evacuation of dozens of Lebanese villages in southern Lebanon, as far as 18 miles away, some 30 kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border. And yet, for now, the Israeli military continuing to insist that this is a limited ground operation focused on the Lebanese villages closest to the border with Lebanon, where the military says that Hezbollah positions are established there that could be used to carry out infiltration operations into northern Israel. They've provided very little evidence of actual active Hezbollah plans to use those posts to go into northern Israel, but they have shown us videos of some of these posts that included go bags that these Hezbollah fighters had prepared in tunnels very close to that border.

But, the question is, as they direct the evacuation of communities much further north, as far as 30 kilometers away in southern Lebanon, is that limited ground operation, as it is being currently characterized, going to continue to expand? And the IDF spokesman, Nadav Shoshani, told me earlier that at the moment, the IDF is focused on those border communities in Lebanon, but the at the moment there, I think, is the critical terminology --

SOARES: Yeah.

DIAMOND: -- because we know, of course, that not only has this ground operation already begun to expand, but that it will likely continue to do so.

SOARES: Yeah, and that is the fear indeed. Let me very briefly, Jeremy, because Jomana was talking about some of the strikes that were happening overnight in Beirut. From what I understand, from what the IDF is saying, these strikes was trying to target Hashem Safieddine, apologies if I mispronounce his name, who apparently is a potential successor to Nasrallah. Do we know whether he was killed? What is the IDF saying on that front?

DIAMOND: Well, the Israeli military actually hasn't officially confirmed that Safieddine was indeed the target of this strike. They haven't given any information about this strike itself. What we do know is that there was a very large blast in Beirut last night, around midnight local time. Following that, an Israeli official told me that this was an Israeli military strike, and that it was indeed targeted at Safieddine, someone who is viewed as a potential, perhaps even likely successor to Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli military, as I understand it, is still conducting what they call a battle damage assessment to determine whether or not he was actually killed in this strike. But, he was indeed the target, and if indeed he was killed, it would be another significant blow to Hezbollah.

SOARES: Thank you very much.

Let me just go back to Jomana, and Jomana, we have seen in the last few days, and I have spoken to NGOs in the ground, who I've talked to, really of a dire humanitarian situation, not just in the ground, as we see so many people sleeping on the streets, women and children, but also hospitals also, with strikes very close to a hospital in southern Lebanon. Right? Is that correct?

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Just what are you hearing from officials there?

KARADSHEH: Well, Isa, you and I have spoken a lot over the past 10 days or so about how overstretched and how overwhelmed Lebanon's healthcare system is dealing with the large number of casualties, especially in the southern part of the country, in the south where they have had thousands and thousands of casualties, trauma patients, to deal with.

And we've heard from the World Health Organization, saying that healthcare is under attack. They say that 37 health facilities have been taken out of service because of these strikes, because patients and doctors could no longer operate and stay in these hospitals. 28 healthcare workers, they say, have been killed just on Thursday, Isa. And we've heard from the Health Minister here, telling us last week that they have had a number of ambulances, first responders who have also been struck while trying to respond to airstrikes.

And in the last few hours, our team spoke with the director of a hospital, one of the southernmost towns, Marjayoun in the south, and they told us that their hospital has had to go out of commission because of a strike on the premises of the hospital. The doctor telling us they tried to hold on as long as they could, but it was no longer possible. And for their safety, they've had to evacuate.

SOARES: Jomana Karadsheh and Jeremy Diamond, thank you to you both.

I want to bring in Lebanon's Minister of Economy and Trade, who says Israel's offensive has no goal and is destroying his country. Amin Salam is live for us in Beirut. Minister, I appreciate you being with us this hour. I understand from our team in Beirut that it's -- as you heard our Jomana Karadsheh say that another unsettling and terrifying day for so many. Can you -- Can I just start by asking you whether you can shed some light on what is happening at the Masnaa border, the main crossing used, of course, by civilians through Syria? What can you tell us?

AMIN SALAM, LEBANESE MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND TRADE: Well, I mean, good evening. In our time, it's good evening to you and to the show. I can start by saying that the country, Lebanon, is under total siege, and Beirut is under fire. I've been summarizing the situation with those two statements, because we really feel that the entire country is being under siege. Now, the hit on the border between Syria and Lebanon, there could be many military explanations to that. However, it only adds another layer of desperation for people that are moving or running away, seeking shelter from Lebanon to Syria, in addition to Syrians themselves that have been in Lebanon for over 12 years now that have been trying to move back to Syria. Now, that does not help.

It just makes the country more of an isolated island. It just makes the -- our only entry point into a land border to Syria was that area, was that location, and now it's not there. It's not accessible. And it will make things more difficult, whether it's moving things around. I'm not talking about moving weapons, God forbid --

SOARES: Yeah.

SALAM: -- but we're talking about moving goods, moving people, which -- something that we need from a humanitarian perspective for the country.

SOARES: Yeah, and with so many people, many people were so displaced, and we looked at video just now, Minister. It looks incredibly hard, well, impossible for any vehicles, it seems. Everyone seems to be moving by foot.

You probably heard our correspondent in Tel Aviv, Minister, saying that Israel's military, what they are saying is that, that it struck an underground tunnel crossing on that border to prevent weapons from being smuggled into Lebanese territories. What's your response to that, Minister?

SALAM: I mean, from a military perspective, again, I would say, if that was the objective, I mean, that could explain what happened. But, I mean, we have seen that this -- this is over five meters deep, as some of the intelligence have communicated to us as a government, and it's throughout the entire road on both ways. Now, we're still inspecting to see if really there was a tunnel there. So far, the rubble filled the place. I mean, you cannot really tell. But, I mean, we will be able to explore that in the next, I would say, 48 hours after really inspecting the place really carefully. But, again, I would say, yes. It is a major border point.

But, let me point out one thing more important than that. Smuggling weapons into Lebanon or smuggling anything inside or outside Lebanon mostly is not done through this channel. Mostly, it's done through illegal channels, illegal roads in Lebanon that are not like this one.

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This one is the official recognized entry point. But, most of the smuggling is happening from all across the borders we have with Syria, not specifically that point. That's why I'm not really getting that explanation very clearly.

SOARES: Yeah.

SALAM: I'm not understanding why that would be the case.

SOARES: Well, as soon as you assess that, Minister, do come back to us. We would love to hear from you again.

But, let me ask --

SALAM: Certainly.

SOARES: -- about what our correspondent Jomana Karadsheh was just saying in Beirut. She was talking also about the hospice situations for hospitals, right? They've been already so under strain there in Lebanon. And we -- what we have heard is that a hospital in south Lebanon is now out of service after an Israeli strike hit it very close to an entrance. What can you tell us about this? What does this mean for patients? Where they're being moved to?

SALAM: Well, yeah. I've heard Jomana explain really the chaotic situation. I mean -- and she mentioned that this crisis is unprecedented in Lebanon. I would say this crisis of 1,200,000, the accurate number today, the official number of displaced people, is unprecedented in the world, in a small country that happens in less than five days. I mean, we benchmarked it with many countries that had similar wars in the past. There is not one country that had in less than five days, 1,200,000 displaced people.

So, it's true. Hospitals are filled. Schools are filled. Most governmental places like buildings, real estate that can accommodate and provide shelter for people are filled. It is a serious, serious humanitarian condition, particularly for kids. About 40 percent of those people that are displaced are kids under the age of 15. So, we have a serious problem. WHO has sent several messages the past 24 hours about a spread, a serious spread of diseases and many different things, because you can imagine a school or a hospital that has 500 people with only two bathrooms or three bathrooms.

SOARES: Yeah.

SALAM: So, the situation is very dire.

SOARES: It's dire, and this is something I've heard from UNICEF in the last 24 hours, saying that many of the children are so scared that they want to get out of the shelters, just fear panic.

Let me ask you very quickly, Minister, just on the political front, because we have seen that Iran's Foreign Minister has arrived in Lebanon. And I wonder what Lebanon's message is to Iran, of course, as we see the region tittering on the brink here? SALAM: Well, our message has been very clear. Lebanon cannot tolerate,

but have an immediate ceasefire. We don't want to see Lebanon another Gaza. We don't want to see Lebanon another -- a second Gaza, because everybody, including -- Hezbollah is member of the political mosaic here in Lebanon. They are members of the parliament. They are members of the cabinet, and they have sent very clear messages through the meetings between the Speaker of the House and Lebanon, who works very closely with them and the Prime Minister. They all said, we want a ceasefire, and we're working very closely with the United States, with a number of the Arab countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, to push for an immediate ceasefire.

Because I can tell you, Isa, with all honesty, we cannot tolerate another day of this. And I mean it when I say another day. I mean, it's very stressful on the economy, on the social situation, on every front. So, his visit today, he left with the same messages we've been hearing from the Iranian side all the time. While on the other hand, from the United Nations, the President of Iran was very clear in his message when he said, we don't want a war. He is looking for peace. He is looking for a better life for his people, and that's a message we should embrace and focus on. So, that was really our take on his visit today. I don't think

anything will change --

SOARES: Yeah.

SALAM: -- in our message. And I think we're trying to get our best end of the bargain now out of the big deal being put for the region, because we don't --

SOARES: Yeah.

SALAM: -- want to be the weak link, getting the worst part of the bargain, and I'm saying it as is.

SOARES: Amin Salam, always great to have you on the show, Minister, Lebanon's Minister of Economy and Trade. Thank you very much, Minister. Appreciate it.

SALAM: Thank you.

SOARES: Very welcome. And still to come here on the show, with the threat of violence spiraling out of control right across the region, can the United States play a critical role in de-escalating the dangerous back and forth between Israel and Iran?

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Plus, life-threatening emergencies continue to unfold in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. We will speak to a woman whose family members are stuck in some of North Carolina's hardest hit areas. Both those stories, after this very short break.

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SOARES: Well, it will be nightfall soon, right across the Middle East, bringing with it an end to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, of course, and a lot of uncertainty over what comes next from both Israel as well as Iran. That's after fresh round of Israeli airstrikes today in Beirut. An Israeli official tells CNN, Israel targeted the potential success of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed, if you remember, in a massive airstrike one week ago.

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SOARES: The IDF says another strike on Thursday killed Hezbollah's head of communications.

Meantime, new evacuation orders are in effect in Lebanon's capital, as Israel's military vows to keep hitting Hezbollah's targets. Iran's Supreme Leader is vowing to attack Israel again, "if need be", his words. Ayatollah Khamenei paid tribute to Nasrallah at Friday press in Tehran.

Well, Israel's closest ally, the United States, seems to be taking a somewhat differential wait-and-see approach for the moment. The U.S. State Department believes the Israeli war cabinet is still trying to decide what steps to take next. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Look, they're a sovereign country. They do make their own decisions. We talk with them at a number of different levels about what we believe is in their interest, what we believe is in the interest of the region. We'll continue to do that. But ultimately, it's up for them, as it is for any sovereign country, to make their own decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Meantime, President Joe Biden says he hasn't spoken recently with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The President was asked whether a major escalation in the region can be avoided, and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, how confident are you that a full- out -- an all-out war can be avoided in the Middle East?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: How confident are you that it's not going to rain? I don't believe there's going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it, but there's a lot to do yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: I am joined now by CNN Senior White House Reporter, Kevin Liptak, and CNN Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood at the U.S. State Department.

And Kevin, I suppose the question is, after we've just heard, how can kind of major escalation be avoided here if President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu haven't spoken, I think he said yesterday, since August, which is what is being done, what is being sent behind the scenes to try not only to deescalate this, but bring about some sort of 21-day ceasefire?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and American officials do say that they remain in constant contact with their Israeli counterparts, but that quote from President Biden is not the quote of someone who feels like he has full control of this situation.

[11:25:00]

And it is true that he hasn't spoken with the Prime Minister since August. But, perhaps more importantly, the Prime Minister has shown no evidence that he is listening to anything that President Biden is saying, even when they were speaking, and the fact that they haven't had a conversation now just, I think, gives you a sense that President Biden doesn't think that a direct talk with his counterpart would really have all that much effect on how Israel proceeds at this very fraught moment in the region. Now, we have heard from President Biden that he doesn't support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. He did say yesterday that they were in discussions about a potential strike on Iranian oil facilities.

But, even just that little quote alone from the President caused oil markets to spike, and it does give you a sense of how fraught all of this is. At the end of the day, the backdrop to all of this, and certainly for President Biden, is the American election. And obviously, there is nothing that Democrats want less than a spike in oil prices before November's election. They don't want a regional war, and they're aware that Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is one of the most keenest observers of American politics on the international stage, recognizes that they are caught in something of a bind. Democrats know that they politically just cannot be very forceful in criticizing Israel at a very fraught political moment.

And so, I think this is all wrapped up together, and it all leads to the sense that America and President Biden are effectively watching this from the sidelines.

SOARES: And Kylie, then on that point. I mean, we are waiting to see how Israel responds to that barrage of missiles that kind of rained down on Israel -- on Israel by Iran. And we heard President Biden say this week, we don't tell Israel. We advise it. So, what are you hearing from the State Department as to what kind of the options here for the Israeli war cabinet and what they may be considering?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, U.S. officials are not getting into the explicit details of what is potentially on the table for the Israelis here. They're trying to keep those conversations private. But, what they're saying is that they are in, as Kevin was saying, regular, constant dialog with the Israelis here. And what is notable about this week in particular is the tone coming out from U.S. officials is very clearly one that is giving the Israelis a green light to respond. Of course, there are some limitations on what the U.S. would like to see that response look like, with President Biden saying that he does not want to see Israel go after Iran's nuclear facilities.

But, we heard earlier this week, just hours after Iran's very aggressive missile attack on Israel that the National Security Advisor said that there would be severe consequences for Iran. So, those discussions are ongoing. But, simultaneously, while you have the U.S. giving a green light to some sort of response, we'll have to see what that looks like, and if it is proportional, as the U.S. has said they hope it will be. We also had U.S. officials making very clear that they see a need for Israel to continue carrying out its operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. officials saying that they believe that Hezbollah's capabilities should be degraded.

And this is different from what the Biden administration has been saying in the past, where they have been putting the first most emphasis on diplomacy and a diplomatic resolution and ceasefires and the like. This week, we aren't hearing that as their number one goal right now. They're giving the Israelis the right to continue on, on both fronts here, and that is noteworthy. It's also, of course, a matter of concern, because they are cognizant. They don't want this to turn into a state-on-state conflict between Israel and Iran. So, they have to calculate very carefully going forward. So, we'll watch and see what the next few days bring here.

But, it's very clear that the U.S. and Israel are in close contact, just how much influence the U.S. has at this point, though, is still a question.

SOARES: And speaking of close contact, let me go back to Kevin Liptak, because Kevin, this was your reporting. This was on Wednesday. Biden says he'll likely speak to Netanyahu relatively soon, relatively soon. Do we have a sense of when that will be? Because that speaks to really the frosty relations between both men here.

LIPTAK: Yeah. And the way he phrased it made it sound like he didn't actually have a conversation on the books. And you're right, the relationship has been very frosty. These are obviously two men who have known each other for decades. But, over the course of the past year, you have seen their relationship really degrade. President Biden has had a number of very, very tense phone calls with the Prime Minister, including their last phone call in August, frustrated with both how Israel was conducting the war in Gaza, but also what he saw as just this repeated effort by the Prime Minister to undermine him at every turn, whether it was talking about that hostage and ceasefire deal that President Biden thought he was on the verge of.

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He announced it back in May. He actually said it was an Israeli plan, and then you heard Netanyahu come out and essentially undermine it. Almost the exact same thing happened last week when President Biden thought he had Israeli agreement on a ceasefire across the Israel- Lebanon border. They announced it. They made it sound like the Israelis were on board, and Netanyahu came out the next morning and brushed it off and gave a very forceful speech from the United Nations rostrum. And so, I think American officials are very frustrated at that

pattern, but they know that they can't openly break with the Prime Minister for political reasons in the United States. President Biden personally doesn't think that that would be a good idea, and it's very hard to imagine him doing that at this stage. And so, it all leads up to a very fraught situation, I think, for the U.S., who doesn't feel like it has much leverage with the Israeli government.

SOARES: Yeah. At least it doesn't seem like they have been listening to any advice. Appreciate. Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood, thank you to you both.

And still to come right here on the show, dramatic images of Asheville, North Carolina, showing, as you can see there, Hurricane Helene's widespread damage. Details ahead on the hundreds of lives unaccounted for.

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SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching CNN Newsroom, and I'm Isa Soares coming to you from London.

Hundreds of families in North Carolina are searching for answers about their loved ones in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. And here you can see, let's show you, the before, as you can see there, and the after images in hard hit Asheville. In the county where the city is located, the sheriff says more than 200 people are still unaccounted for, and the county death toll from the storm have now risen to 72.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the small town of Chimney Rock says Helene floodwaters destroyed every home and building there. It is a moment Governor Roy Cooper described as really unprecedented. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY COOPER, GOVERNOR, NORTH CAROLINA: To wake up one morning and everything that you own be gone is a tragic situation. This is an unprecedented situation that is going to require an unprecedented response. We are working to turn on every avenue of resources that we can to help people --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, after slamming the southeast more than a week ago, Hurricane Helene has claimed the lives of at least 213 people across six states. This makes it the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Well, joining us from Hudson, North Carolina is resident Sheena Haas.

[11:35:00]

Sheena, I appreciate you being with us. I know what it is, an incredibly difficult time for so many. What can you tell us about what you and indeed your family have gone through, your loved ones? SHEENA HAAS, RESIDENT, HUDSON, NORTH CAROLINA (VIA TELEPHONE): I live

in Hudson, which is at the base of the mountain in a foothill. The rest of my family, my dad, stepmother, grandmother and uncles, sisters, nieces, all of them are still in that area. It's almost a feeling of guilt that I'm here and they're there. You would have to see the area to understand what's really taking place. It's a really remote cut off in a lot of locations. And so, there is one road in and there is one road out. And so, losing the roadways where they're washed away, I believe there is still thousands of people who have not been able -- they've not been reached yet. No one has been able to get to them to check on their well-being --

SOARES: Yeah.

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): -- and provide them with the necessary supplies if they need to survive.

SOARES: And I understand, Sheena, you can correct me if I'm wrong here, I understand from my team that you have more than a dozen family members who are stuck in some of the worst hit places, including your 90-year-old grandmother. I mean, just what kind of help is she getting? Like you said, the roads are impassable. We're looking at a photo now of your grandmother.

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): Yes, and she is on 24/7 oxygen to survive. And so, with no power and no -- there is no talk of power. They're saying maybe a month out. And so, there is no stations open for gasoline. And --

SOARES: So, what have you done, Sheena, with what?

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): Well, we had family members that softened, I don't know if you know what that term means, the softened gas from the vehicles parked in the driveway and put it in a generator to provide her oxygen.

SOARES: And how long will that -- how long would that go for?

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): And that would only go for two or three days. And so, we had to put things into place that my husband to get in there where they're walking in or driving as close as you can get, walking the distance the rest of the way to get things to your loved ones.

SOARES: You must be so worried about her and about so many others, of course, as we look at these pictures of roads that are completely impassable, and like you probably heard me say that, Sheena, I mean, hundreds of people unaccounted for, and I believe that includes your cousin. What are you hearing? What was the last time you all spoke to him? What are authorities telling you?

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): There is really no way to reach out and contact anyone in that area. There is things that you can do, such as, there is a list of missing people that you can add people to, and the people on their ground are working, as you know, quickly as they can. Right now, there is 13,000 people missing in the western North Carolina area.

SOARES: Yeah. It is incredibly hard to wrap your head around that. And I know --

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): Remember, those few hundred --

SOARES: Go ahead, Sheena.

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): The roadway that you're looking at now that's displaying, that's a main highway --

SOARES: Wow.

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): -- into a community. And so, you can see --

SOARES: It's beyond belief --

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): -- there were a lot of horns (ph) on that road.

SOARES: And I know, Sheena, there is --

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): Yes.

SOARES: -- a deep sense of community right in North Carolina. I know from my team, and we've had lots of stories also of resilience. But, as we look at this, the scope of destruction has become clearer. It is incredible -- incredibly hard to describe. You told my producer that you had seen like a death stench. Can you speak to that?

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): I have not, because I have not been on the ground myself. So, I cannot speak of that. But, yes, there is many reports from family members coming from that area, and not only that, from rescuers, people who have gone in and trying to help that there is not just -- I mean, there is a lot of animals. There is humans. So, there is definitely a stench that is there.

[11:40:00]

And sadly, I think we're going to see that death toll, the number, rise dramatically. And the thing is, they need people on the ground. They need rescue in these places that are cut off and so remote.

SOARES: Yeah, incredibly remote some of these ponds. Incredibly remote. Sheena, we appreciate -- go ahead. Go ahead. Finish your sentence, your thought.

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): The civilians have come together. They already, like you said, they're strong. They have pretty much cleared the roadways themselves, kept the trees out of the way, remove debris to make roads passable with their own equipment, and then -- so, with the manpower physically themselves and walking door-to-door of their own neighborhoods, checking on their people and neighbor -- neighboring communities.

SOARES: Yeah. Having each other's back is so important and support at this time. Sheena, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us and sending positive and strength to -- positive vibes and strength to your 90-year-old grandmother. Wish her well. Do keep in touch with us. Sheena Haas there. Thank you, Sheena.

HAAS (VIA TELEPHONE): Thank you.

SOARES: And for more information about how you can help Hurricane Helene victims, go to cnn.com/impact.

We're going to take a short break. I'll see you on the other side.

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SOARES: Well, it's been another night of fear and anxiety for people in Lebanon, as Israel presses ahead with its war in Hezbollah from the air and on the ground. Israel has been carrying out new attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs today, after massive blasts there overnight. Have a look.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

SOARES: And Israel says Hezbollah's communication leader has been killed in a strike. It also says its troops have killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters since launching ground operations in southern Lebanon. Israel also expanding, you see there in your map, evacuation orders for civilians today, urging people in the south to head north to save their lives, some one million people, one million are now displaced.

And while much of the world is focused on Israel's conflict with Hezbollah, the war to the south in Gaza rages on. The Ministry of Health there reported 99 people killed and nearly 170 wounded an Israeli airstrike over a 24-hour period ending on Thursday.

Our Paula Hancocks has more now. But, a warning to you, the images you are about to see are graphic.

[11:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three-month-old Hala (ph) is rushed into hospital, her shrapnel marked body shakes, as doctors check to see if her injuries are also internal. Her grandmother says, suddenly, the rocket hit and everyone was gone. I took the little ones and ran. I don't know what happened to their mother.

Several schools turned into displaced shelters were hit by Israeli airstrikes this week, these patients, mostly children from an UNRWA school in Nuseirat, central Gaza. Places of learning turned into hoped-for sanctuaries, becoming a burial ground for some. Israel's military says Hamas was using these schools as command and control centers, using civilians as human shields, a tactic Hamas denies. But, these body bags are too small to be fighters.

Some of the injured say they tried to return to homes in the north of Gaza, as they saw Iranian rockets overhead on Tuesday. The IDF says dozens of suspects moved towards troops, posing an immediate threat. So, they opened fire. More than 50 people were killed in Khan Younis overnight Tuesday, in what was described as an Israeli incursion, residents searched for bodies under the rubble any way they could. Heavy machinery has become a luxury item in Gaza. The IDF told CNN it was targeting Hamas operatives in the area, and blamed the group for embedding itself among the residents of Gaza.

A grandmother cradles the body of her 11-month-old granddaughter killed while sheltering in one of the schools. If not for the trickle of dried blood by her mouth, you would think she was just sleeping. She was born during war and martyred during war, her grandmother says. They killed her as if she were launching missiles at them. Many Israeli troops may have been redeployed from Gaza to the border with Lebanon, announcing the center of gravity has shifted. But, that means little to civilians in Gaza for whom every day is a struggle to survive.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And we'll be right back.

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SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. Investors in the U.S. are cheering huge job gains in an expected sign of economic strength as well as vigor. According to the Labor -- to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers added 254,000 jobs last month. That was, well, let's say, beyond, way beyond that 140,000 that was expected. The unemployment rate dropped from 4.2 percent to 4.1 percent.

Let's break down all these numbers. Helping us to do that is CNN's First Move Julia Chatterley. Julia, great to see you. So, much stronger than jobs report than expected. Just give us a sense what that perhaps tells us about the U.S. economy, given that we're only five weeks or so from U.S. election.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: The technical term, I think, for this report is hot, Isa, and it doesn't get better, I think, for the White House and for the Harris campaign to be able to look at this jobs number, talk about this jobs number, and point to what appears to be a slight acceleration, as you've pointed out, in the jobs created. It was much better than expected, 254,000 for the month of September, net. But, we also got revisions to the prior two months, which added a further 72,000 jobs over the past couple of months as well.

[11:50:00]

If I look at the sectors that were providing some of the strength here, the food services and bar industry up significantly on what we got in August, 69,000 jobs added, government jobs added. So, the back- to school factor probably helping here, healthcare as well, tied to perhaps government employees as well. There will be a lot of Americans looking at this and saying, look,

actually, it's really hard for me to try and find a job at this moment, and they're not wrong. If you look at some of the data that we got this week where -- in terms of hiring for employers at the lowest level we've been in about 11 years, the quit rate, people being willing to quit their jobs and look for something else, that's a nine- year low. So, there are spots within the data that we've had this week on the jobs market that do suggest softening.

But, Isa, I can't take away from this report. It's an incredibly strong report, one month out from a presidential election, and we've got one more to go, which might be a bit more blurry before the presidential election, and we can talk about that if we've got time. But, this is great.

SOARES: We don't, because we don't have time. We don't have time. But, I can talk about this on my show at 02:00 p.m. Eastern, seven o'clock.

CHATTERLEY: But, we can read.

SOARES: But, I can connect. That was a little tease there. But, can I pick your brain about oil prices? Because --

CHATTERLEY: Yeah.

SOARES: -- President Biden has made clear that they wouldn't want to see any of Iran's nuclear sites targeted here. But, he -- as you know, he did leave the door open to striking Iran's oil reserves. What impact, if any, is that having on oil prices?

CHATTERLEY: Well, we've seen an eight percent to nine percent rise for oil prices over the past week from relatively low levels. I mean, look at where we are today. We're a long way off some of the recent peaks where we were sort of talking about potentially $100 a barrel. The challenge for the United States, of course, is that what they've done in order to keep prices relatively low is that they've sold out a lot of the inventory that we've had. So, the inventory for the United States, the Strategic Petroleum Reserves are at a four-decade low. So, I mean, quietly behind the scenes, I'm sure that they're saying, look, don't hit any of those oil assets, because we know and Iran is very important to oil supplies out there, and the supplies that the United States has in backup, as I say, are relatively low compared to where they've been.

But, there is some degree of nervousness in the market. We're a long way off recent highs.

SOARES: Julia, I appreciate. I'll speak to you in about two hours or so. Thank you very much.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you.

SOARES: Well, staying in United States, port workers along the East as well as Gulf Coast are working -- are going back to work, I should say. The union representing 50,000 striking workers has reached a tentative deal with shipping execs. A source tells CNN, the deal amounts to a $4 an hour pay rise every year for the next six years. One union official said members were keen to get back to work. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT COWAN, PRESIDENT, ILA LOCAL 333: It means that they can provide, put food on the table, pay their bills. They don't have to worry anymore, possibly losing their cars or their homes or anything like that. We're just coming back off of a major catastrophe, maritime tragedy, with the bridge collapse. We were out of work for two months. Now, we're out of work for a few more days. We're very excited to be back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, the strike, if you remember, which began on Tuesday, had stretched from Texas in the Gulf to Maine along the East Coast. Union members now have until January the 15th to ratify the deal.

Well, in Thailand, around 100 elephants have been evacuated from a popular nature park to escape flash floods. The founder of the park tells CNN, it is the biggest evacuation they've ever done.

Our Anna Coren has all the details for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One by one against rising floodwaters, these giants of the land push for higher ground. Come this way, keep going quick, yells the mahout. But, it's a slow and arduous process, especially for the elephants trapped in their enclosures, waiting to be rescued. For days now, heavy rains have been falling across northern Thailand, causing flash flooding and landslides.

But, for the Mae Rim Valley just outside Chiang Mai, home to the Elephant Nature Park, it is now completely underwater, threatening the lives of the animals it provides century for. 100 elephants who live here, along with a menagerie of thousands of other animals, have all been rescued from injury and abuse, but this natural disaster only adding to the tree. As these three elephants quickly moves through the flood waters, another follows a distance behind it. Her name is Ploy Tong (ph), and she is blind, an injury from her former days in the logging industry. Unable to see, she is caught in the fence, the other elephants calling out the sound of distress. But, Ploy Tong, who has endured too much in her life, manages to break free and rejoins her herd.

[11:55:00]

Thailand's Department of National Parks and Wildlife has sent teams to help with the rescue operation. But, so far, they're unable to reach the valley that has been cut off. It's calling on volunteers to help with the evacuation of the 100 stranded elephants and thousands of other sick and disabled animals, and fear they are working against time and Mother Nature with more rain on the imminent horizon. Anna Coren, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And thank you very much for spending your day with me. I'm Isa Soares in London. I will be back in about two hours for my show. But, do stick right here. One World is up next. These are live images from Beirut in Lebanon at 07:00 p.m., where we have seen new strikes across southern Beirut. This, of course, as Iran's Supreme Leader warning today that Tehran will attack Israel again "if needs be". They will be live in Israel and Lebanon with the very latest. Do stay right here with CNN.

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