[Applause] CNN's Chief International anchor and host of the almore hour please welcome to the program Christian almore hello hope to see you hello hi I wanted to have you on to talk to you the world is ending well it's seems that way yes that's why the eclipse was so beautiful today because it looked like it was ending and yet it brought so many people together in this incredibly divided country honestly it was very emotional it was very emotional so just the answer to this is we just got to do
this every day now the eclipse yeah yeah I think can't we just pretend Fus people put something over it and just block it on there what what is happening what is the frustration you're working over at uh uh what is name is C CNN CNN The Big Red Letters I I've heard really most trusted name in news it what that that's a new branding uh let let me ask you this we see it on air and everybody's working so hard what do the journalists behind the scenes talk about as their frustrations what would they
like to see covered how would they like to see it covered or are they executing it in the manner which they think they're satisfying well here's the thing you know you've been talking a lot about Israel obviously about Ukraine our major problem covering Israel Gaza right now this phase of it which has been going on for six months is that we can't get there this is an unprecedented situation journalists are not on the ground in Gaza and it is well they're journalists on the ground they're being
killed they're you're right you're right I'm talking about independent Western journalists are not able to get there or anybody else except for those people who are absolutely risking their lives every single day media workers journalists almost 100 have been killed according to the cpj in Gaza West Bank and Lebanon in six months it is an unprecedented situation and it it goes beyond the horror of what's happened to those people in their families it's about telling the story of Gaza telling the
story of the Palestinians you know actual local journalists would tell you about a people right a people not just you know dehumanizing numbers or the like but a people and when we go to do our job and I've been doing this pretty much since the first Gulf War we go there to be the eyes and ears of everybody who can't go from who's not a local but we're not able to get is this an American problem because no it's an Israeli problem they won't I don't I don't mean that I mean that uh we in this cou
ntry might not be getting the information but on social media on various things or with with Al jaera the world is certainly seeing a very different picture than what western journalism is showing that that is very true and and you know if this terrible law goes through to throw out any organization from Gaza including Al jazer it would be a terrible thing yet another chilling effect on trying to tell the truth in this raging War so this is a real real problem and it is true many people do get y
ou know daily news from social media from actually as I say the very brave camera people who are there with their phones and with their cameras and who are feeding things it is remarkable you were cover these types of events from 1983 we all remember that was the occupation in southern Lebanon it was right the Israelis invaded Beirut they were off to the PLO and there was a Lebanese Civil War there was and the rise of of Hezbollah in that uh occupation there was the Islamic revolution in Iran we
're watching these stories play out redundantly yeah you know there's two things obviously one is that you know history is not always a great teacher but the other is that you know leadership matters and we are in a crisis of leadership around the world I genuinely believe and even as bad as it was in the 19 1979 in the' 80s and all that there was a period let's say in this part of the world in the Middle East in the '90s where there was an actual peace process now we can poo poo it we can laugh
at it we can say that it failed but it failed because the people responsible for enacting it didn't do it and actually sabotaged it so there have been SE instances where peace can be forged where both sides can come together and it depends on the leaders you know but this will take more than both sides this isn't even both sides this will this will have to be a regional piece this is a grinding war with no real I mean the idea is well we're going to do this until we eliminate Hamas well so you'
re going to just kill everybody like what what does that even mean two there two things right Israel was attacked on October 7th the worst single day Massac in its history of course and it has the right to defend itself but right the issue is you stay within the guidelines of international law so now you heard you know America is getting very frustrated and concerned we're very concerned concerned if if Christian if true you know you know we are concerned you know it reminded me of something tha
t happened at the state department during the Rwanda genocide when a journalist asked State Department uh spokesperson in 1994 30 years ago this week how the woman said there have been acts of genocide committed in Rwanda And the reporter said well how many acts of genocide does it take for you to call it a genocide and she said I'm not able to respond to that position you're taking so you know I'm not a genocid olist we have we have an issue with calling what's happening certainly back then we
have no issue round condemning or being very clear with our moral issues and and the other side of it this isn't about the ability to defend yourself it's not even about the moral issue it's about efficacy it it's about you know after 911 the vindictiveness in me the the blood like it certainly rose up but very clearly our response was flawed in its efficacy we made a mistake and and you know that President Biden said that to prime minister Netanyahu when he went there so did Lloyd Austin so did
many Americans when he was in a position to say that to America after 9/11 didn't say that that's not the position that he took then then the position was yeah let's go into Iraq let's go in Afghanistan you know it's easy in that in that retrospect which is why it feels as though the world order has failed in this moment and I'm surprised at and maybe this isn't really the casee and I'm Miser representing this but the passive nature of the Arab states well look that is a big issue because they
have now all rushed to make peace and certain Accords with Israel the UAE Morocco Saudi Arabia was apparently on the verge of doing it still is working on it and I actually have spoken to a lot of Arab leaders I've said to them look for all these years since 1948 when the Palestinians left the nakba when they were forced out when they were chased out when they voluntarily left all that what happened and that's what that's what V Gaza is right the V the the refugees from 1948 where when are you g
oing to stand up also and take ownership of this problem because the Arab states have had Palestinian refugees for you know pretty much 75 odd years and never given them I mean has probably a larg citizenship Jordan has not no none of them have right because look they're all terrified of Hamas and hasb the Dirty Little Secret over there is the islamists that they helped Foster through madrasas and all those other actions they're scared shitless of they just are yeah and they would like to see Ha
mas get a bloody nose there's no doubt about it but people the leaders think one thing they want accountability people think another thing and the people are essentially very upset the people in that part of the world and the young people this all over the world are very very upset so why tell me why this is naive or wrong that the Arab states form a DMZ to immediately deescalate this problem how do they not step in and form some type of guarantee the security of Israel in that moment guarantee
the security of the Palestinians and stop this Carnage so there have been certain plans floated at the moment the Israeli government wants none of it it doesn't want the UN it doesn't want the Arab countries the only thing that the Prime Minister about see its isolation in the world that is what its allies are trying to tell it that you had the moral High ground and you are very close if not having lost it and this is a problem for Israel because the truth is as all these people on my show tell
me all the you know the the experts and the analysts and the leaders that if this is actually isn't solved politically then unfortunately it will keep happening this Vicious Cycle in the future of this as you look at when you talked about leadership then who is the leader that emerges it's it's clearly not Netanyahu well I think the Israeli situation is really interesting because you have two contrasting facts the overwhelming majority of the country supports the war sure they also want their fi
rst priority be their families to come back they need a ceasefire and a and a and a you know a deal to bring their families back but the overwhelming majority of the Israelis do not support Benjamin Netanyahu so what the Americans are saying now and you saw Senator Schumer and others that there has to be another election at some point God forbid we would be you know in in another country but nonetheless there has to be um election at by the way that's against the rules-based world order this thi
ng yeah uh and then and then potentially hopefully open up another real possibility of a negotiated Solution that's backed by the Arab states as you mentioned by the United States by Europe by all the vested why is this not the top priority of why is this not the only session that's going on at the UN why is everybody not stopping what whatever the hell they're doing and and hammering this out because as you know at the security Council there's a lot of people with vetos and things like that it
hasn't got to that point yet and the big big issue right now is famine stalking Gaza and the death toll that's mounting and mounting and mounting and you know even um uh Jose Andres the chef who you know so well after the killing of seven of his uh you know workers he said I spoke to President Biden and I said how can you also send weapons and also call for respecting life and the end of this famine so there's so much that's that's just and how can we only respond to this tragedy when it's seven
Western Aid workers that are killed when you know when they when I heard the the figure of children over 10,000 unprecedented I've never heard anything like that pictures I of course they're haunting and I'm listen for Jews this is heartbreaking because you know I don't necessarily have that much of a connection there but there's this idea that like they're sticking it out for all of us because we're not safe anywhere in the world which by the way if that's the issue that's kind of a larger pro
blem to begin with I think for Israelis for Jews for Palestinians crucial is that they has to be real leaders who come once and for all and create a peace and the most important thing also is to be able to converse and discuss there is nuance and diversity within communities that is not allowed absolutely but why is that not allowed on American much I'm going to take for today's show do you have any idea what's going to happen but you always you're always in the thick of it like uh you know but
I have all these diverse opinions on my program that's what I try to do I try to bring Israelis uh Arabs Jews Muslims all the interested parties in this particular conflict onto my program to talk people who've lost family members whether it's an Israeli or a Palestinian you know people who've waged peace who've tried to wage peace whether it's an Israeli mother or a Palestinian mother I have them on my program young people who still believe in the peace process even though it's evaporating befo
re their eyes they come onto the program so there is hope they have to be empowered these people and why is the discussion so much more robust in that part of the world you know it's always you can't talk about it in America but you know where they talk about it Israel they argue about it in Israel yes they do but to be fair to be fair they do there's very robust arguments going on but even they on their television are not seeing the full horror of the civilian casualties in Gaza it's just not t
hey're just not so it's very traumatized as they as you know relatives of the hostages tell me it's still a very traumatized society and yet I promise you this incredible woman Chiron liit she said to me we Israelis sometimes the Arabs look at us as if we're all the same we're not and we cannot look at Palestinians as if they're all Hamas they are not and for a woman whose parents have been being held hostage to be able to say that and how we must make friends with our enemies otherwise we will
keep dying but we cannot keep putting the onus on these individuals that governments and Nations have to step up and step in because it is all slipping away very rapidly and and Ukraine is the next one you have to do because that's a big one we cannot take our eye off no I thought that was fixed I think that's I think if you check I think that's done speaker Johnson Maybe I can't even tell you how many times I've called that let me let me tell you something so speaker Johnson they they were doin
g there you know the Afghan adjustment act where they're trying to bring in we were trying to help them get uh interpreters uh who helped American troops in Afghanistan and it was going into this uh Omnibus Bill that was going to keep the government open and I can't tell you how many times I called that office and left messages on them going hey man John of The Daily Show really just want to make sure that Afghan ad judment act still we get some visas and all that and and and you know what he sa
id when he called back he didn't call back the Hour Air Saturdays uh on CNN and almond porn company airs week nights on PBS Christian alport thank you so much thank [Music] you
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