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One World with Zain Asher
Soon: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Holds News Conference; Sheriff's Department Reports Casual Ties In Georgia High School Shooting; At Least Seven Killed In Russian Attacks On Lviv; Sources: Biden Administration To Accuse Russia Of Meddling In Election; Harris To Unveil New Details Of Economic Plan In New Hampshire; Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu Speaks To Foreign Media; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired September 04, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:42]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: And I'm Zain Asher. This is ONE WORLD.
We are following breaking news now out of Georgia where students have just been cleared to leave their school after an apparent shooting incident.
State police told CNN earlier they were responding to an active scene. A high school was put on lockdown, and a local hospital did report victims.
We will have more on this story in just a few moments as soon as we get more information about what happened on the ground.
GOLODRYGA: And we'll be following what's happening in Georgia.
Also following what's happening in Israel. Any minute now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a news conference specifically
targeted to foreign media as he faces a wave of anger and criticism over his handling of the Israel-Hamas War.
A new report by an Israeli newspaper could further fuel tensions. The paper reporting that it obtained a document showing Prime Minister Netanyahu
effectively derailing a draft hostage in ceasefire deal back in July by introducing a raft of new 11th-hour demands.
ASHER: Yes. This backs up CNN reporting on those demands, which included Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor.
CNN's Nic Robertson joins us live now from Tel Aviv.
So, Nic, we know that Biden said earlier in the week that he didn't think that Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a deal to release hostages.
And then now you have this press conference where Netanyahu is expected to speak. He's set to speak in English, addressing foreign media.
What do we expect him to actually say in the coming moments, Nic?
GOLODRYGA: I don't believe we have Nic. We're going to try to reconnect with Nic as soon as we can and get back to Israel.
OK. We have Nic back now.
Nic, I don't know if you were able to hear Zain's question, but it's specifically what, if any, different are we expecting to hear from Prime
Minister Netanyahu today in English than we heard from him in Hebrew at that press conference just two days ago where he was defiant about not
budging on the Philadelphi Corridor.
This coming as new reports suggesting from Israeli reporting that he had actually changed draft back in July an 11th hour move of the original
agreement that both he and President Biden had initially signed off on in May.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. I was listening to one of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet members speaking about three or
four hours ago and he gave no indication that the Prime Minister was about to change his messaging at all.
I think we may expect or won't be surprised at the end of it to hear a version in English of what the prime minister outlined in Hebrew on Monday.
And that was the importance to him of the Philadelphi Corridor and why it's been so important and how long it's been so important to him.
And he's been pointing it out over decades and decades and there's not something that's going to compromise over. And to this document that's been
reported about now by one of the sort of most widely read newspapers here in Israel that has very detailed accounting here of the proposition that
Israel put forward in late July that appears to have scuppered the talks or at least made them run into the sand, if you will.
And this, the detail that is being reported about includes that the prime minister insisted that his negotiators go back at the end of July after
there was already pretty much an agreement over what President Biden had outlined, what the U.N. Security Council had voted on, that the prime
minister then wanted these six additional elements that included the Philadelphi Corridor, their details that we've been reporting over the past
month or so.
But there seems to be an authoritative document that step-by-step precisely outlines what the prime minister has done and the responsibility is his and
his alone it appears, which therefore seems to correlate with what we've heard from the hostages saying that it is the prime minister who is the
principal holdout, who is the architect of the holdout over the Philadelphi Corridor, and therefore, he is responsible.
This is what the families of the hostages have been saying that the prime minister is responsible for the deaths of the six hostages over the
weekend. So it's a very detailed accounting of that. And it goes not just into the Philadelphi Corridor, but into the Rafah crossing, into the
Netzarim area on the center of Israel where -- in the center of Gaza rather where Israel had wanted to have to be able to control the displaced people
moving back from the south to the north.
[12:05:24]
It goes into details potentially about some of the prisoners, Palestinian prisoners at Israel would release an exchange for the hostages that some of
the senior prisoners may have to go into exile. It gave details in numbers about all of that.
This is precisely what Hamas has been criticizing Israel for. Hamas has said that Israel introduced last-minute changes including the Philadelphi
Corridor that they simply cannot agree to.
So now we have a detailed understanding of the author of the changes, the person who has pushed the changes and the results that we've seen and it
lands squarely on the prime minister.
ASHER: Nic, there are those who say, look, Netanyahu right now is, of course, between a rock and a hard place because he is facing so much
domestic pressure in terms of trying to secure a ceasefire deal and get these hostages released.
But at the same time, there are those especially who are on the right in Israeli politics who will say that, look, if you agree to a ceasefire deal
too soon, then how do you disincentivize Hamas from ever trying something like this ever again? Give us your perspective on that.
ROBERTSON: And that's the prime minister's message. His message Monday in Hebrew was if we make -- actually said in English as well, if we make
concessions such that the protesters are demanding that Hamas kill six hostages and then we give concessions, what messages is that sending to
Hamas?
And that's the points that are being made by the right-wing cabinet members, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, it's a name but two.
But the prime minister still has strengthened his cabinet, is only the defense minister who voted against the decision in cabinet last week about
keeping troops in the Philadelphi Corridor. So the vast majority of the prime minister's cabinet are still behind him, which gives him sort of this
political strength, but where he seems to be losing the negotiating strength and potentially the military impact in Gaza as well.
Or certainly there will be big consequences if he ignores, it appears what Hamas is threatening, threatening in detail that if the IDF tries to rescue
more hostages, then those hostages will come home in coffins, they're threatening to execute them if the IDF gets close to rescuing them.
The prime minister has already said it's a military solution here to pressure Hamas. Hamas is holding out and they are now threatening that the
likelihood of more hostage rescues, which is always to the prime minister's benefit because that fits his narrative.
They're essentially saying that won't be happening again and there'll be costs for it.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And senior Israeli security officials telling me that that military pressure, in their view, worked to get that first deal where
hostages were released back in November. It worked up until this point where the majority of the security establishment says that Hamas has been
weakened enough and the situation is so dire for the hostages that now is the time to agree to a deal and many questioning why all of the sudden the
Philadelphi Corridor is being raised when it hadn't been for the past eight, nine, ten months.
Nic Robertson will bring that press conference from the prime minister as soon as it happens.
But we do want to get back to our breaking news here in the United States in Georgia, just north of Atlanta. Students have just been clear to leave
their school after an apparent shooting incident.
ASHER: State police told CNN earlier they were responding to an active scene. A high school was put on lockdown and the local hospital has
reported gunshot victims. The sheriff's department confirms there are casualties, but we don't have any further details at this point in time.
GOLODRYGA: Let's bring in CNN law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore, who is a retired FBI supervisory special agent from Los Angeles.
Sadly, just the start of the school year, once again, a uniquely American crisis where we have another it appears school shooting.
From everything we know, thus far, the fact that students have been sent home, does this suggest to you that the actual shooter may be apprehended
or at least the threat for many shooter has -- is gone?
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Yes. I -- the threat is -- the threat is gone at this point. However, that may have occurred.
You don't release the students that are there because, number one, they may have information that would help you if you don't have the shooter in
custody, like, who am I looking for?
And, two, you don't have to worry about the person blending back in anonymously into large groups of students who don't know that that's the
shooter.
[12:10:03]
So allowing them to leave says that the police have a real strong idea of not only who the shooter was, but that they acted alone or that they have
everybody in custody and possibly even a motive.
So, yes, it tells me that there's a lot that they know about the shooter and that the shooter is no longer a threat.
ASHER: I'm just looking at my e-mail because we are getting some more information, Steve, that, you know, that one suspect is in custody, right
now, so you were right about that.
And also that casualties have been reported. Casualties have been reported at this high school. We don't really know how many casualties. We don't
know if they're talking about injuries or people deceased. But again, casualties have been reported. And also, we are learning that authorities
were dispatched at around 10:23 A.M.
Walk us through how authorities, step-by-step, go about piecing together what actually took place this morning at this high school.
MOORE: Look, as you arrive, you're just -- you're just kind of blind. You come up to a school and you don't know anything.
So what you're trying to determine, number one, is where the shooting occurred. Where the shooting occurred tells you a lot. If it happened in
the parking lot, if it happened in the classroom, if it happened in an administration office. Those three things send you in different directions
as to motive.
You're also looking, of course, where the shooter is, what type of weapon was used. And you're trying to separate it down between, you know, it could
be some kind of personal issue with somebody that happened in the parking lot. It could be a mass killing intent in the classrooms. So those are the
first things you're looking for.
And then you want to get the students, excuse me, to a safe place while you continue the investigation.
GOLODRYGA: We'll continue to follow this story. As you saw the helicopter there with at least one -- medical helicopter had been seen airlifting a
patient from the scene. We'll continue to follow this story. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your time.
ASHER: All right. As Russia ramps up its aerial attacks on Ukraine, the government in Kyiv is facing major changes.
President Zelenskyy is moving to reshuffle his cabinet ahead of what he calls an extremely important autumn for Ukraine.
Earlier today, the country's parliament approved the resignations of several members of government.
GOLODRYGA: But that did not take up foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba's offer to step down. This is Kyiv's biggest government shake-up since Russia's
full-scale invasion began. And all of it coming as Russia intensifies its air assaults on Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(ALARM SIRENS AND GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: At least seven people are now confirmed dead after Moscow launched an attack on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
GOLODRYGA: Let's go live now to Kyiv and CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
Fred, sadly, it has been a long time since we've seen Russian strikes like this so far west of the country. It's coming as we've just noted a major
shake-up in the government there by President Zelenskyy.
What is the mood on the ground? And was there surprise behind the shake-up?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I think that a lot of people saw this shake-up coming here in Ukraine.
It's also something that the government's been telegraphing as well.
But I do think that right now, a lot of people here in Ukraine, certainly the government in Ukraine, believe that it is indeed a key time for the
Ukrainian government and, of course, for this nation as well.
And I think that's one of the reasons why we're seeing this government shake-up now. You have the president of the country Volodymyr Zelenskyy
saying that they need new momentum going into the fall and the fall is absolutely going to be important for them.
Because, of course, one of the things that is set to happen in the next couple of weeks, Bianna, is that President Zelenskyy is set to travel to
the United States to go to the U.N. General Assembly, but then on the sidelines also meet with President Biden where the Ukrainians then want to
present a plan which they call their plan for victory which is going to be a pretty ambitious one.
They say part of that is their incursion into Kursk where they, of course, want to take more territory to try and exchange that territory for
territory that the Russians have taken.
But Zelenskyy is most probably also going to ask the U.S. president for another substantial weapons package and for other things as well.
And one of the things that the Ukrainian president has said now is that he wants to have the strongest possible team in place in order to accomplish
all of that. He said that there could be adjustments as he put it especially in the international and foreign policy realm. So certainly that
very important for them.
[12:15:05]
Well, at the same time, you also have, of course, a decisive situation on the battlefield, as well, where the Russians continue to push in the
eastern parts of the country, even though it seems as though the Ukrainians are now stabilizing some of those fronts.
And then you have the Ukrainians still gaining ground inside of Russia while also at the same time. And this is really one thing that's increased
a great deal over the past couple of weeks. We have that big aerial campaign by the Russians, where I can tell you, on the ground here, there
are air raid sirens going off here in Kyiv and other cities, pretty much every night and several times at night.
And, of course, you have those big strikes in Lviv as well. Before that, the strikes in Poltava where now the death toll stands at 53, with almost
300 people confirmed to have been injured.
Those are all things that make the government here and the people here realize it is decisive times. And they certainly want to get to a place
where they hope they can force Russia into some sort of negotiations, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Critical days and weeks ahead, especially on the heels of just continued aerial assaults and that huge attack yesterday in Poltava,
as you said, the death toll continuing to rise there.
Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much.
We're going to turn now to a CNN exclusive, the Biden administration now planning to accuse Russia of a sustained effort to influence this year's
elections.
ASHER: Yes, it does. Sources tell us the White House believes Moscow is using Kremlin-run media and other online platforms to target U.S. voters
with disinformation. An announcement aimed at addressing the issues expected to come out later today.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. As you'll recall, a special counsel investigation found that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a, quote,
sweeping in systemic fashion.
ASHER: Yes. CNN's Sean Lyngaas joins us right now from Washington.
So, Sean, it has technically been eight years, right? So we've had time to adjust and essentially prepare that this might be a recurring thing with
Russia trying to interfere in U.S. elections.
Just walk us through what's changed in the past eight years and what's been done to protect the integrity of U.S. elections and what more do we know on
this front.
SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Zain. I mean, I think the biggest thing that's changed, one of the biggest things is the willingness
of the U.S. government to get out in front or try to get out in front of some of these influence operations where, you know, the Kremlin allegedly
is planting these fake news stories about, you know, candidates for office or the voting process.
In 2016, the U.S. officials were really caught off guard. They were slow to react. There was quite a bit of criticism from various corners of the
country about the tepidness with which they reacted.
Now they're trying to come out on camera and say, we've seen this before and we're warning you, both Russia and the American people, to look out for
this stuff ahead of time. So that's the big thing that's changed.
There's also been changes, important changes, to the way that we elections are run. There's been more paper backup ballots in terms of auditable
records that Americans can be sure that their vote is being correctly counted and that sort of thing.
So there's been a lot of progress. At the same time, the domestic disinformation environment has grown. And we know that the foreign actors,
whether the Russian or Iranian or Chinese, according to U.S. intelligence are trying to exploit that.
So they're fanning the flames, amplifying some of these false claims about stolen elections and that sort of thing, Zain.
ASHER: Sean Lyngaas live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: And still to come for us, a brand-new CNN poll pinpoints where the fight for the White House is being waged right now. The true toss-up
states, when we come back.
ASHER: Also ahead, who is Maya Harris? We'll introduce you to the vice president's influential younger sister, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:37]
GOLODRYGA: The son of former Republican Senator and presidential nominee, John McCain, says that he can no longer support the party of his late
father.
ASHER: Yes. Jimmy McCain tells CNN he recently changed his voter registration to Democrat, and that he plans to vote for Kamala Harris.
McCain says Donald Trump's controversial use of Arlington National Cemetery for campaign purposes was the last straw, and it caused him to potentially
give up on the Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY MCCAIN, SON OF LATE U.S. SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN: I care about my family. I care about equal rights of everyone in this country. I care about all
this. And, you know, as much as I stayed as an independent, I decided that, you know, it was time to move on and do what I believe in.
You know, the point of -- the fact of the matter that he said it constantly is country first. You have to think about your country first.
However, that is, care about your country, care about how making it better. Not being divided, but being together as one to continue to be the greatest
country in the world.
I feel that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz embody a group of people that will help make this country better, that will take us forward. And that's really
what matters at the -- at the end of the day is, you know, voting with your heart, voting how you feel going forward, and that's how I feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Really significant moments there coming from the son of Senator McCain.
Well, with less than a week until the first presidential debate, a brand- new set of CNN battleground polls finds the presidential race remains a toss-up.
ASHER: Yes. CNN and SSRS surveyed voters in six of the key swing states in late August. The poll found Kamala Harris with a small but significant lead
in Wisconsin and Michigan. Donald Trump has a similar lead in Arizona. The race is functionally a tie in Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
It all means that the most likely path to victory, for each candidate, is through Pennsylvania and Georgia.
GOLODRYGA: And U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver a speech in New Hampshire later today that will unveil the next phase of her
economic policy.
ASHER: But for the rest of the week, Harris is expected to take a step back from the campaign trail and focus on her debate prep with Donald Trump on
Tuesday.
And we're now learning the approach each candidate is taking to prepare for that high stakes moment is very different.
In the meantime, Donald Trump has enlisted the help of one of the vice president's ex-rivals, Tulsi Gabbard, to help him get ready.
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us now live from Washington.
Interesting, Kevin, that we're going to hear the next phase of Kamala Harris' economic plan because she did get some pushback, even from some
moderates and even democratic economists who were questioning some of her positions, specifically when it comes to going after price gouging in the
CNN polling, specifically on the issue of the economy.
It does look like she's still trailing Donald Trump, not by the margins that we saw between Biden and Trump.
What more are we expecting to hear from her on her economic policy?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. I think what you -- what you see her doing today is trying to regain some of the initiative on
the economy. So what she'll be doing is very much focused on small business and entrepreneurship and kind of the centerpiece of the plan that she's
going to propose today is a tenfold increase in this small business tax deduction.
Under her plan, small businesses, would be allowed to deduct up to $50,000 in startup expenses. And her overall goal is to try and achieve 25 million
small business applications while she's in office, which would be a big increase from what we've seen during the Biden administration.
[12:25:13]
And so I think taken with what she proposed a few weeks ago, which as you say was criticized by some for being overly populist by amounting to price
controls.
I think what you're seeing her too today is to try and act as something of a counterpoint to that. And taken together, you can see a plan emerging
that is very focused on small businesses, but also focused on the individuals who are starting the small businesses.
And so that's what you'll see her do today. She's going to be outside Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She'll be at a brewery that says that it was
able to establish itself due to some policies that were enacted during the Biden administration.
And so you see Harris both proposing new policies that she would accomplish if she was president, but also relying on some of these policies that Biden
was able to accomplish when he was president.
Now, why she's in New Hampshire, I think is something of an open question. It's not one of the battleground states that we talk about. It has voted
for the Democratic presidential nominee for the last 20 years.
When Joe Biden was the democratic nominee, there was some softening in the polls in New Hampshire. I think it has firmed up somewhat now that Harris
is the nominee, but certainly she's not going to leave any electoral vote for granted. And that's why she's up there today.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be following it closely. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. Obviously in debate prep as well for the vice president and the former
president.
ASHER: Kevin, thank you.
GOLODRYGA: All right. We want to update you on the breaking news that we brought you a few moments ago, that of a school shooting in the U.S. state
of Georgia.
The Barrow County Sheriff's Office says casualties. Casualties have been reported at the Appalachian high school. We don't necessarily know how many
people have been injured or worse, but we do know that casualties have been reported.
Worth noting this high school is about an hour or so drive from Atlanta. We know that one person has been apprehended is in custody right now and that
FBI investigators are on the scene.
Let's bring in CNN's Josh Campbell in Los Angeles.
So, Josh, what's the latest that you're hearing?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that there's been this flood of law enforcement that has gone to this high school. That is
now textbook in this day and age, particularly here in the United States where we continue to see shooting after shooting, including those on the
campuses of educational institutions.
As you mentioned, we know that authorities believe that the gunman, the shooter, is now in custody. They haven't released any specifics about this
person whether he or she was a student, was a member of the faculty, or had no association at all with this campus. So we're still waiting for details
on that.
That is a key piece of information, obviously, because in so many of these shootings, we've heard time and again that someone who knew the suspect saw
some type of warning sign in advance. So that will be a big question for law enforcement here.
Was this a, you know, disgruntled employee? Was this a student who had some type of issue or someone who, again, had no association? A lot of questions
that we still have there.
We do know from local hospitals that they are receiving gunshot wound victims. We still don't know the actual number.
As you mentioned, law enforcement only says that they have casualties, which that by definition could mean either people killed or injured. We're
still waiting for those numbers as well.
But, you know, when you look at the number of shootings that we've seen here in the United Sates just this year, you know, today marks the 247th
day of the year.
But according to the gun violence archive, which keeps track of mass shootings in this country, we're already at more mass shootings than days,
384 mass shootings in the United States so far in 2024, guys.
GOLODRYGA: Unbelievable. I'm going to, as you note, with the suspect, in custody, I would imagine that the authorities will be questioning the
suspect as well and we'll be getting more information on that front.
Josh Campbell in Los Angeles reporting for us, thank you.
CAMPBELL: Yes.
ASHER: Thank you, Josh.
All right. Still to come, Benjamin Netanyahu due to speak at any moment now after an Israeli newspaper lays out how he allegedly stalled Gaza ceasefire
negotiations. We'll have that story for you up the head.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:54]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak any moment now. This amid new reporting that the Israeli prime minister effectively
blocked a draft hostage and ceasefire deal back in July by making new demands.
ASHER: And as Israeli newspaper reports, it obtained a document showing those demands from Netanyahu which included Israeli control of the
Philadelphi Corridor.
GOLODRYGA: That still remains a key sticking point in these negotiations, a diplomatic source telling CNN that there will be no deal, as long as Israel
and Hamas do not settle this dispute.
ASHER: Meantime, we are learning that the U.S. Justice Department filed criminal charges back in February against top Hamas leaders accusing them
of terrorism, conspiracy to murder and more.
A number of issues to talk about with our next guest Israeli journalist, Neria Kraus. She is a foreign policy and Middle East correspondent for
Israel's channel 13 News and joins us live now from New York. Neria, thank you so much for being with us.
We just talked about the fact that a newspaper reported that Netanyahu had been deliberately holding up some of these negotiations throughout the
year.
Many are questioning the Philadelphi Corridor saying, you know, why is it suddenly important now when it wasn't important 10 months ago?
NERIA KRAUS, ISRAELI JOURNALIST: Yes. Thank you so much for having me, Zain and Bianna.
So the most important word in your question is suddenly because it is suddenly. Netanyahu did not talk about the Philadelphi Corridor up until
about a month or two ago.
And Netanyahu is framing it in Israel for the Israeli public as if it is a security issue, only a security issue. He's saying that, at the moment, the
Philadelphi Corridor is the most important security issue for Israel.
But to be honest, security officials are saying that this is not the most important issue in Israel at the moment. And it's more important to release
the hostages immediately. And then they're saying it's also a possibility to get back to the corridor a few hours -- in a few hours.
So for the Israelis, it is pretty clear that this is a political issue where Netanyahu has his far-right foreign ministers, Minister Ben-Gvir and
Minister Smotrich. He has his far right ministers that are urging him not to take a hostage deal.
[12:35:15]
And for him, to take a hostage deal, would mean that it might result in resignation of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. And for him, it means that he will
not stay in power anymore.
So it is pretty clear for a lot of Israelis that this is more of a political issue rather than a security issue. And when you said suddenly
this is it, it is suddenly. Israel did not enter Rafah nor the Philadelphi Corridor for a long while before it started to be a big issue.
And now, we did see that Netanyahu did not think -- Prime Minister Netanyahu did not think that Hamas would like to go for his offer for a
deal that Biden presented.
And then after he presented that deal, Biden, we saw this huge presentation in a press conference. After he presented that and Hamas started to agree,
Netanyahu started to put changes in his own proposal.
And it shows us that Netanyahu is too afraid to take a hostages deal because of his coalition members. And that's a big issue in Israel. And
this is why we see Israelis take it to the streets.
GOLODRYGA: And this is why many of you that his own coalition and political future for him is more of a priority than even the release of these
hostages.
Neria, I just want to quote from the reporting that we've been alluding to in the Israeli publication "Yedioth Ahronoth." And here's what they've
said. They said the clarification document delivered by to the mediators, by the head of Hamas on behalf of the prime minister, included dramatic
changes in additions in relation to the May 27th outline, the prime minister's turning back move as the full document reveals completely
changed the picture of the negotiations and became a bloody document as a senior security official put it, which according to him stained with the
blood of the six abductees who were murdered in the Rafah tunnel.
Quite a damning statement there from a senior security official. We heard the prime minister speak in a press conference primarily in Hebrew on
Monday. Now, he's going to be addressing the foreign press, which he's more familiar and apparently more comfortable with and generally because I don't
think he's given a significant sit-down interview to the Israeli media as of yet, at least not that is --
KRAUS: It's true.
GOLODRYGA: -- very loyal to him in Israel.
What are we expecting to hear that's any different today than what we heard from him in Hebrew on Monday?
KRAUS: You are completely right, Bianna, because we only saw Netanyahu giving interviews to propaganda media in Israel and not to real journalists
in Israel in the past, you know what, since October 7th.
And I think that's a lot and he feels much more comfortable with foreign journalists because I think that they -- he believes that they don't get it
as much as the Israelis do.
And I think that we're going to hear Netanyahu trying to convince the rest of the world why he cannot take that hostage deal right now and why the
Philadelphi Corridor is so important.
But I don't think that the Biden administration, you know, would be convinced after hearing Netanyahu talking about it, because they do
understand that it was not an issue up until a month or two ago. And they do understand that Netanyahu has an issue with his own internal political
problems.
I think that Netanyahu would try to answer all the questions regarding why this is such an important security issue. And, of course, he will talk
about the horrible execution of the six hostages, which of course, this is an issue, the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the American-Israeli citizen
hostage, and the rest of the five hostages was such a pivotal moment in Israel.
Israelis are painful and they're hurt by it and their heart is broken. I mean, if you talk to Israelis these days, and I know, Bianna, that you have
a lot of sources in Israel, you can hear that they are just so broken from it.
And this is why you hear the security official saying that quote that you just read because security officials think that we could have had a deal to
release the hostages two or three months ago. And now it has become too late, but they can still go for it. And they do expect Netanyahu to do the
right thing, but they do take into consideration that he has his own political issues.
By the way, they're still considering the heads of the security institutions in Israel, the Mossad, the Shin Bet, the IDF, they're still
considering talking to the public and telling them the truth.
[12:40:05]
It would be good for Israel to go out of Philadelphi Corridor if hostages will be released out of it. But they're not, they haven't done it yet.
ASHER: I mean, you bring up Hersh, I mean, gosh, his parents really tried. You know, they did absolutely everything and it was -- I think it's been
heartbreaking for a lot of people, not just Israelis, to end up seeing what ended up happening to him.
I do want to talk about the protests that we've seen in Israel since Sunday. And obviously protests, mass protests, and then thousands of people
walking off their job on Monday.
When you think about it, the next elections in Israel are not scheduled until October 2026. That's at least another two years.
Just explain to us what sort of recourse with all the sort of pressure that ordinary Israelis who care about the release of hostages are trying to put
pressure.
Actually, I do have to interrupt you because Prime Minister Netanyahu is actually speaking now addressing --
KRAUS: Sure.
ASHER: -- on media. Let's listen in.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel is experiencing days of horror, sorrow, and rage. A week ago, we experienced such horror.
Yesterday, I visited in Ashkelon, the family of one of the hostages murdered in cold blood. A day earlier, I spoke to several of the families
of these murdered hostages.
It tears your heart out. I said to them that I'm sorry. I apologize that we didn't get them out. We worked so hard to get them. We were close, but we
didn't. And they changed the torment.
Our families worried about their loved ones, the families grieving for their fallen beloved. That sentiment, I know, because I belong to that
family, but it's a horror.
We also lost brave policemen and brave soldiers who are fighting in the Gaza front. And I embraced their families as well. All our people do.
On October 7th, we experienced the worst savagery in the century. On October 7th, we experienced the worst savagery meted on the Jewish people
since the Holocaust. These savages massacred our people, 1,200 civilians. They beheaded our men. They raped our women and then murdered them. They
burned babies alive. They took 255 of our people, hostages to their underground dungeons. That's a horror that the world saw and responded to
initially.
It's important that we remember it, but we were given a reminder, a terrible reminder. Last week, when these savages murdered six of our
hostages in cold blood. They riddled them with bullets. Then they shot each of them in the head. Some of them several times. And these are the savages.
These are the terrorists that Iran implanted next to our border, as elsewhere. And we're committed to defeating them, to extirpating this evil
from our midst.
I want to talk to you today about some of the things that we must do to achieve that goal, including the questions of the Philadelphi Corridor.
But before I do that, I want to give your readers and viewers some context, because often you see maps of Israel, you think it's a goliath. Well, I'd
like to give you first an overview of where Israel is.
[12:45:01]
This is the Middle East. And this is the entire Arab world. And this is Israel. It's one of the world's tiniest countries. I give it the, you know,
the thumb test. This is a big one. So you need a bigger thumb. But it's a tiny country.
It's one of the tiniest countries on the planet. It's, I think, one-tenth of one percent of the territory of the Arab world. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe
it's two-tenths of one percent. It goes from the river. The river is right here. That's the Jordan River. To the sea, the Mediterranean Sea.
So when Hamas is talking about liberating Palestine from the river to the sea, basically what they're saying is destroy Israel.
And the entire width of this is probably around the width of the Washington Beltways. Altogether, it's widest point, about 50 miles right here. Tiny.
And here's Gaza there. This is the red thing that you see here. That's Gaza. Now I want to zoom in. When I zoom in, remember how tiny this is.
Remember the distances here.
Now take a look. Here it is enlarged. This is Israel. This is the Mediterranean Sea. The Jordan River is right here. This is Egypt and the
Sinai Desert. Now look at Gaza. Where is Gaza? Gaza is implanted in this tiny country, 30 miles from Tel Aviv, 40 miles from our capital Jerusalem,
30 miles from Be'er-Sheva. These are three of Israel's largest cities. Gaza is within spitting distance to them.
Israel, up to the disengagement agreement of 2005, Israel controlled this border under an agreement with Egypt after the Camp David Peace Accords. We
controlled this part, which is called the Philadelphi Corridor. I'll talk about that in a minute.
Right down to a lot in the Red Sea. This was our border. And while there was, I would say a minimal amount of terrorism, there wasn't, it really
didn't face -- we didn't really face a big problem.
Let's zoom in on that a bit more. Here's Gaza Strip enlarged. Again, this is the situation in Gaza before the disengagement of 2005. And the Gaza
Strip is firmly under Israeli control. We control the maritime border. You can't smuggle in weapons. They tried, but we stopped it. You control the
land border. And you control this border between the Sinai Desert, Egypt, and Gaza. The Gaza Strip is controlled. This is the Philadelphi Corridor.
This is the Rafah Crossing controlled by the IDF.
Now look at the distances from Gaza. It's four miles to another city in Israel called Ashkelon where I visited that bereaved family yesterday. It's
a population of 170,000 people. They're four miles away.
But some of our communities, like Kibbutz Be'eri, which was one of the hardest hit, is one mile away from Gaza. Kfar Aza is less than one mile
away. It's literally walking distance. OK?
And so as long as we control this, these communities, sometimes they were harassed by this rocket or that rocket, but it was marginal. We control the
security situation.
But something happened in 2005. Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza. It just went out. It took out everything. It took out the army. It stripped
uprooted communities, took out 10,000 people. The army left the Philadelphi Corridor.
Here's what happened. This is Gaza after the disengagement. And Hamas now has a weapon smuggling operation, nurtured by Iran, financed by Iran,
supplied by Iran, delivered by Iran.
And here's what happened. That Philadelphi Corridor became completely porous. The other borders controlled by us. But once this was perforated,
even though the policy of Egypt was to prevent it that, you know, it didn't necessarily work. It didn't -- it didn't succeed.
And this border, once we left our side of the Philadelphi Corridor, the rockets went in, missiles went in, drones went in, ammo went in, weapons
manufacturing equipment came in, tunnel drilling equipment came in.
Once we got out, once we left the Philadelphi Corridor, Iran could carry out its plan to turn Gaza into a base, a terrorist enclave that would
endanger not only the communities around it, but would endanger Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er-Sheva, the entire country of Israel. It became a huge
terrorist base because we left that corridor.
[12:50:11]
So we vowed, or I would say all this, you have to understand that the centrality -- the centrality of the Philadelphi Corridor to the arming of
Gaza, to the arming of Hamas, and this all led to the October 7th massacre, which Hamas is vowed, proudly vowed to do again and again and again.
We vowed that they won't be able to do it. So we set, as far as Gaza is concerned, three war goals. The first war goal was to destroy Hamas'
military and governing capabilities. The second was to free our hostages. And the third was to ensure that Gaza, never again, poses a threat to
Israel.
And all three of those goals, all three of them, go through Israel's control of the Philadelphi Corridor.
And it's obvious why. You want to destroy Hamas' military and governing capabilities, you can't let Hamas re-arm. It's obvious. So you have to
control the corridor.
You can't let them have -- by the way, it's not only to prevent them from terrorizing us, attacking us, it's also to prevent Hamas or any other
terrorist organization from terrorizing the people of Gaza.
Gaza cannot have a future if Gaza remains porous, and you can enable rearmament of terrorists through the Philadelphi Corridor.
The second thing is to release the hostages. First of all, you can't prevent, if you leave this corridor, you can't prevent Hamas from not only
not smuggling weapons in. You can't prevent them from not smuggling terrorists, its hostages out. It's walking distance. It's nothing. They can
easily smuggle hostages out here to the Sinai Desert in Egypt. They disappear. It's crossing distance. The distance is nothing. It's meters,
meters away.
They cross the barrier, above ground. They don't even have to go underground. They disappear in the Sinai and then they end up in Iran or in
Yemen. They're gone forever.
And you need something to squeeze them, to prevent them, to put pressure on them, to release the remaining hostages. So if you want to release the
hostages, you've got to control the Philadelphi Corridor.
And the third goal of ensuring that we prevent Gaza from being, again, a threat to Israel, it's clear Gaza must be demilitarized. And it can only be
demilitarized if the Philadelphi Corridor remains under firm control and is not a supply line for armaments and for terror equipment.
I think that's clear to most Israelis, to all Israelis. But a question is arisen. That may be the case. But why don't you leave Gaza for 42 days? You
could come back.
Well, aside from what I said, that they could smuggle the terrorists out, why don't you come back? I want to show you what they've got under Gaza.
They didn't show you that. So I want to show you that.
This is what they have under the Philadelphi Corridor. Just so you understand the supply lines we're talking about. This is one of the tunnels
there. Look at the engineering. Look at the investment here. Look at what they've got.
We've got dozens of such tunnels, dozens of such tunnels, underneath the Philadelphi Corridor. To give you an impression of the size of these
things. This is a soldier. This is a tunnel. You could drive a truck through this. Yes, indeed. You could. Here's a truck. Oh, it's a Humvee.
This is a huge, huge problem. Now you're just going to walk away. It's obvious we have to control it, right? I think once you see this, you
understand that.
But then the next question is, OK, you leave and you come back. That's what they tell us. OK.
We'll have complete international legitimacy to come back. Sorry. We've gone down that route. We're down that route when we left Lebanon. And
people said, you can leave Lebanon and you can come back.
The first time they fire a rocket, you can come back. The world will support you. They didn't. And we've been out of Lebanon for 24 years. They
said the same thing when we left Gaza in the disengagement. They said, you can leave. And the first rocket -- I remember Sharon -- Prime Minister
Sharon said this to me. First rocket above ground or below ground, we'll be able to go back in.
[12:55:06]
It's been 20 years. We haven't gone back in. Because you all know and understand that the international community, including friendly countries
under enormous domestic pressure because of the propaganda that's leveled against Israel and against them, there'll be enormous international
pressure not to come back.
What is their message? End the war. End the war. And so when we want to come back and resume, we'll pay an exorbitant price in many fields,
including in the lives of our men.
To come back? It's not just a military question. It's a military political strategic question. And we make that decision. We're not going to leave.
Forty-two days, we're there. I don't want to leave in order to come back in when I know that we didn't come back in. And it's not going to take another
24 years to come back in. And God knows what price will have, how many more massacres, how many more kidnappings, how many more hostages, how many more
rapes, it's not going to happen.
So people said, yes, but if you stay, this will kill the deal. And I say, such a deal will kill us. And there won't be a deal that way. This is a
false narrative. I'm willing to make a deal. I made one already, one that brought back 150 hostages, 117 alive. And I'm committed to return the
remaining 101. I'll do everything I can to get them in.
But leaving Philadelphi does not advance the release of the hostages, because the deal cannot be advanced. They'll keep -- they'll give you a
minor part, if they give anything. Keep the rest. Go and argue.
You know when they started giving us hostages? When we went into Philadelphi, when we went into Rafah, when we controlled the Rafah
crossing, that's when they felt the pressure. As long as they didn't feel the pressure, they wouldn't do it.
The first batch, the first deal that we got was the result of our invasion, the military pressure we put in, they gave us the hostages. After that,
they thought, well, you know, we'll have the international pressure turn on Israel so we won't have to do -- we won't have to make any concessions.
But after Rafah, their tune changed, they began to change. If we leave Rafah, if we leave the Philadelphi Corridor, there won't be any pressure,
we won't get the hostages.
I said I'm willing to make a deal. The real obstacle to making a deal is not Israel, and it's not me, it's Hamas, it's Sinwar.
On April 27th, I put forward a proposal by Israel which Secretary Blinken called extremely generous.
On May 31st, having met Blinken again, I said, we agreed to the U.S. back proposal, and Hamas refused.
On August 16th, the U.S. brought forth what they called the final bridging proposal.
Again, we accepted, Hamas refused.
On August 19th, Secretary Blinken said Israel accepted the U.S. proposal, now Hamas has to do the same.
On August 28th, that's a week ago. The Deputy CIA Director said, Israel showed seriousness and the negotiations. Now Hamas make the deal -- must
make the deal. This was last week.
So I asked you, what has changed? What has changed in this week? What's changed is that they murdered six of our hostages in cold blood.
Now the world will seriously demand that Israel make concessions after this massacre? What messages is sent to Hamas? I'll tell you what the message
is. Murder more hostages, you'll get more concessions. That's not only illogical, it's not only immoral, it's downright insane. So it's not going
to happen.
We have red lines. Before the murder, they haven't changed. We'll hold to them. But we also have had flexibility.
And I'll tell you one thing, Hamas will pay for this. That, you can be assured. We'll make sure that we extract them. That price from them.
[13:00:00]
END
