Let's dive right into the headlines. We're watching this afternoon,
we begin with the latest on the Israel Hamas war. We do want to warn our viewers.
Some of this footage is disturbing Hamas rockets earlier this morning targeted two
quit
sea or self sustaining communities in southern Israel.
The militant group said it has taken more than 100 people
captive from Israel and is threatening to kill hostages if,
if,
if Israeli launches airstrikes on Gaza.
Meanwhile,
Israeli forces said they are striking Hamas operational command
centers in Gaza and expanding their mobilization of reservists.
Israel's UN ambassador told CNN the nation is
working to quote obliterate Hamas terrorist capabilities.
End quote.
Israel additionally declared a complete siege on the Gaza Strip, cutting off food,
fuel and water to Palestinians.
Officials said at least more than 900 people in Israel
and more than 765 people in Gaza have died.
As of this morning,
President Biden said at least 11 American citizens are among the dead.
That is a number that is expected to rise.
Adding that it's likely that Hamas is holding American citizens
joining us now live from Tel Aviv to tell
us more about this evolving conflict is Rafael,
Romo.
Rafael, great to see you again. You are less than 50 miles away from Gaza.
What is the situation right now on the ground in Tel Aviv?
Well,
it has been another day of frequent rocket attacks and clashes
between Hamas militants and the Israel defense forces in the last,
in the last few hours.
We have heard the sirens go off three times
here in Tel Aviv and we have also heard very loud explosions.
One of them very near to our broadcast position.
Hamas fired hundreds of rockets towards the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon.
It seemed to be a defiant move as Israel's strength,
its military build up along the border with Gaza.
The militant group warned Israeli residents they had
just hours to evacuate before it launched the
40 men at barrage Israel continued to pound
the coastal enclave with airstrikes hitting more than
200 targets in Gaza overnight.
The bombardment has forced more than 187,000 Palestinians to flee their homes.
The U
that's a figure from U and
Hannah,
let me tell you also about the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
who has vowed to finish the war in his words yesterday,
Netanyahu said that the atrocities committed by Hamas during its attack
on Israel mirrored those carried out by the Jihadist group Islamic state
or
Isis
now back to you.
And there is speculation that Israel could launch a ground invasion of Gaza.
What would that look like? Rafael?
Yes, it is. Something that is expected to happen.
We don't know when, but everybody here agrees that it is a very good possibility.
And what I can tell you is that we've seen a lot of
troops mobilized into that area, especially
in the area that I mentioned before,
Ashlan getting close to the border with Gaza, getting ready for something.
What is it going to be? We don't really know,
but there appears to be a lot of movement there.
What does the siege mean for the 2 million residents and
1 million Children living in that 25 mile strip of Gaza?
Well, it has been very difficult for them as well.
The civilian population that is not involved in any way in the conflict.
So you have a similar situation
to what we saw in the last few days of those people all of a sudden have been left,
many of them without power, water, they were forced to flee their homes.
I was telling you before 187,000 of them were forced to leave their homes.
That's according to the UN.
And there is no real possibility of this
conflict finishing any time soon.
On the contrary,
many of the regional leaders here are afraid that it's
going to get even worse before there is any possibility,
any hope of peace in this part of the Middle East.
I do want to bring up before I let you go.
A un human rights commissioner called Israel's Siege
of Gaza prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Do you think that's going to influence Israel's policy at all?
At this point? It doesn't seem to be the case.
You saw what happened over the last three days, you saw the attacks by Hamas
that started on Saturday and many innocent
civilians on the Israeli side were killed.
There was a festival with people who had been there for
24 hours when the attack started.
And so you hear words from Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu saying that
the country is at war and they are going to
do everything in their power to eliminate Hamas again.
Very, very few hopes that
there is going to be an end very soon about this. Rafael fantastic reporting.
Please stay
safe along with your team. Thank you so much, Rafael Romo and his team
in Tel Aviv
and President Biden is expected to address the nation on
the crisis in Israel today at one pm eastern time.
Of course, stay with us here at Cheddar News.
We'll bring you those remarks live from the White House when they begin.
All right, let's turn to other news now back here in the States,
President Biden has spoken with the special
counsel investigating his handling of classified documents.
The White House Counsel's office confirmed last
night that the two day interview with Robert
H
began Sunday and ended yesterday,
the White House added quote,
the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation
and as it has been appropriate,
we have provided relevant updates publicly being as transparent as we
can consistent with protecting and preserving
the integrity of the investigation.
End quote.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed the special
counsel back in January following the discovery of
classified documents at President Biden's home in Delaware
and his think tank office in Washington.
No charges have been filed as of yet
former president Donald Trump's former CFO testified today in the
ongoing civil fraud trial against Trump and his companies.
Allen Weissberg was also a defendant in the case
said he was aware of some exaggerating exaggerations,
excuse me, involving one of Trump's properties,
but didn't notice at the time because
there were much larger items on there that I was more concerned about end quote.
In a pretrial ruling.
The judge found that Trump and
Weissberg deliberately exaggerated Trump's net worth
and the value of various properties to mislead banks and investors.
Earlier this year, Weissberg served 100 days in jail for tax evasion
and other legal news for the former president.
Special counsel,
Jack Smith's office has accused his legal team
of attempting to delay his classified documents case.
Trump's team has claimed they don't have access to all of the
evidence that will be used in the case and need additional time
in a court filing yesterday.
The DOJ asked the judge to reject Trump's request
to move the trial to November of next year.
Writing this quote,
their unfounded claims of government
non non compliance with discovery obligations do not support their request.
Their claims about their inability to review
classified information are distorted and exaggerated.
End quote,
detained Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan
Gershowitz has lost his latest appeal to be released from a Russian jail.
A Russian court ruled today to extend
Gervich detainment through at least November 30th.
This marks the third time the journalist's appeal has been denied by
a Russian court since being jailed in March of this year.
In September. The Russian court declined to hear Gersh
Kovich appeal citing unspecified procedural violations.
The journalist is being held on espionage charges
which he and his employer have vehemently denied
the US. Government declared
Gershowitz to have been wrongfully detained
yesterday.
A Louisiana judge cleared the way for the state to move forward with a charge of
negligent homicide against a state trooper accused in
the 2019 fatal arrest of black motorist,
Ronald Green
state master trooper,
Corey York attempted to have this charge the most serious one dismissed.
But judge Thomas Rogers,
you ruled a use of force expert had drawn conclusions about the incident,
not from a protected interview but from the graphic body.
Camera footage of Green's
Green was pulled over after a high speed chase video showed officers tasing,
beating and dragging him by his ankles.
State police originally claimed he died from car crash injuries.
York's defense attorney is expected to appeal this ruling.
Auto workers from Canada have now joined the
UAW in their strike against General Motors.
Some 4300 workers from the Canadian Union
unifor are striking alongside the 9200 United Auto
Worker members after they failed to agree
on a tentative contract with the automaker.
Unifor.
President said General Motors continues to fall short on our pension demands,
Income supports for retired workers and meaningful steps to
transition temporary workers into permanent full time jobs.
The Canadian strike affects an assembly plant for light and heavy
duty Chevrolet Silverado trucks,
the production of V six and V eight engines used in a number of vehicles
and a stamping facility that produces parts for a variety of cars and trucks.
GM says they remain at the bargaining table in hopes of reaching an agreement.