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>> coming up on cnn, the four-time indicted twice impeached one term president donald trump takes the stand as a defendant in the new york

civil trial accusing him, his son's, and other trump organization executives of business fraud. and it's now been one month since the horrific hospitality on israel as war rages on. even official says the death toll in gaza from israeli airstrikes defies humanity. >> live from cnn center this is cnn newsroom with john vause. >> wherever you are around the world, thank you for joining us this hour. we begin with a historic day in a new york courtroom. for the first time in more than a century, a former u.s. president has taken the stand as a defendant and donald trump stayed true to form. during four hours of testimony insulting the court, insulting the judge, and insulting the prosecution. while repeating his favorite and in collect claim from the campaign trail calling is criminal charges part of a criminal witch hunt and election interference. on the stand monday also boasted about his wealth. the trial in new york is a civil case, which means that

trump does not face jail time, unlike his for criminal indictments. but this new york case strikes at the very heart of trump's business empire and could end on a ban in conducting business in new york state ever again. in a pre-trial ruling, trump was found liable for trail -- in order to receive more favorable loans. the judge, who has been visibly annoyed with a trump's combative performance, ultimately decide the outcome of the case. trump's legal team has threatened to file a motion for a mistrial. cnn's chief legal defense correspondent paula reid has a closer look at what happened in court and what might come next. >> i think it went very. well >> former president donald trump leaving court after testifying in an attempt to defend his real estate business. >> it's a scam, and this is the case that should have never been. brought >> during nearly four hours on the stand, trump continuously clashed with trump arthur engoron. i am sure the judge will rule against me because he always

rules against me. the judge responding, you can attack me. you can do whatever you want, but answer the question. in another testy exchange, the judge had to instruct defense attorney chris guys to control your client, adding this is not a political rally. we are here to hear him answer questions and, most of the time, he is not. the judge said, and then threatened to remove trump from the stand. on the financial statements at the heart of the case, trump said i would look at them, i would see them, and i would maybe, on occasion, have some suggestions. and, on his role in preparing the statements, i accepted it. other people did it, but i didn't say make it higher or make it lower, he said. when asked if he maintained accurate records from august 2014 going forward, trump said, i hope so. i didn't keep them myself. trump was also questioned about

the valuation of his assets, including his trump tower apartment, which financial statements show a more than 200 million dollar value drop in one year. i thought the apartment was high, he said, adding, we changed it. saying, different property assets were both high and low. trump has long claim is florida, mar-a-lago property was undervalued, saying today it is worth one to 1.5 billion dollars. >> the numbers great her than on the financial statement. >> the judge cited a florida tax appraisal valuing the property at just $18 million in his decision, finding trump, his adult sons, and company committed persistent and repeated fraud. in court trump said, i thought mar-a-lago was very underestimated, but i didn't do anything about it. trump's conduct has become a flash point in this case.

>> you have a racist attorney general, who made terrible statements. >> before he took the stand, trump took aim at the attorney general letitia james, later calling her a political hack in court. the only thing that matters are the facts and the numbers, and numbers, my friends, don't lie. >> the next is expected to be called by the attorneys general office in this case is the former presidents daughter, ivanka trump. she is expected to testify on wednesday and then defense attorneys are expected to begin their case at the beginning of next week. paula reid, cnn, new york. >> joining me now from los angeles is jessica levinson, a professor of law at loyola law school and host of the podcast passing judgment. good to see. >> good to be here. >> the four times indicted twice impeached for one term president spoke to reporters outside the court for monday,

repeating much of what he said while on the witness stand. here is some of it. >> dissing that we are being sued and spending all this time and money, yet you have people being killed all over the world that this country could stop. with inflation and all the other problems that this country has, i think it is a disgrace. and when you look at the numbers, the full numbers that came out today from the new york times, people are sick and tired of what's happening. >> just in itself it's an odd thing to be saying in the middle of a court battle, but it does seem that there are two separate arguments being made in that courtroom. trump directly addressing u.s. voters making his case for reelection, while prosecutors argue why he should be banned from doing business ever again in new york state. >> i think you are exactly right to phrase it that way and it does feel like there are ships passing in the night, where this is not a typical witness on the witness stand. i mean, some people thought maybe we won't get trump with a politician because he will be under oath, he'll be there in a

courtroom, these are very serious allegations against him that could potentially threaten his empire, which, of course, we know it's a big part of his persona and a big part of his sales pitch to the american public. but he really treated this like a campaign rally. he was very combative, he was nonresponsive, he was rambling. i don't think that his audience, in this case, was the judge, even though this is a bench trial. his audience was a political, his audience was his donors and his voters and i think you are exactly right that two things were happening in that courtroom today. >> as he arrived the former president repeated some very familiar and also some blatantly wrong statements, blaming his legal troubles, once again, on his political opponents. here's a little more from the former president. >> these are political offerings that i'm going to be dealing with right now. in the meantime, the people in the country understand it, they and see me, and they don't like it.

it is political warfare, or as we call, it political lawfare. >> it seems if you look at what is happening in the other federal indictments with these ongoing court cases, is defenses there, the legal campaign, everything happened all at once today if you like. >> it was the coming together of a lot of things, as you say, a big part of his pitch was i am very successful. i am a hugely successful businessman and, interestingly, that did bleed over into his testimony today where he didn't, as much as i thought he would have, frankly, point the finger and say, no, not it, it was the attorneys, the accountants, it wasn't me. he said, in fact the new york attorney general, you are wrong, i didn't overvalue i undervalued because i am worth so much money. the trump brand brings all these properties up. so it was interesting, legally and politically, you see the kind of convergence of this argument of, i am worse so much

money. and it is the same argument that he has made to the voters, which is i am successful at a business and therefore i'll be successful at running the country. >> what is interesting about all of this is that the case is not about guilt or innocence. a pretrial ruling found that trump and the trump organization is liable for fraud, in the words of those assets and -- the hearing will determine the penalty for that fraud and, as a headline in the guardian noted, speeches and grandstanding, trump scored a few if any legal point in the court. but does it matter? legally is trump toast no matter what he says or will he make it worse for himself? >> so, i think he thinks he's toast either way. of, course there was seven counts in this complaint and the judge granted summary judgment, as you noted, on one of them, finding that there was in fact fraud. but trump committed fraud, the trump organization. there are six other counts where the judge is looking at potential liability and when you are extremely combative and

nonresponsive with as a judge, who again is acting as a jury, that is not a great legal tactic. the fact that he was so aggressive and critical of the judge indicates to me that he largely thinks that this is lost, at least on liability, likely on remedies. and so he is making his case to the voters. see, i told you, it was a witch hunt. i told you it was election interference and the fact, again, that he pulled no punches indicates to me that he thinks this is largely lost. now, of course, the defense has not put on their case yet. they estimate that their case will last until mid december. so we will see what illegally they will argue in terms of whether or not values are subjective and whether or not these were some bookkeeping errors, so to speak. >> jessica, it's great to have you with us. thank you. just get levinson los angeles, thank you, we appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> now, israel's war with hamas which began one month ago. prime minister benjamin netanyahu says once a hamas has

been destroyed and the fighting ends, israel will be responsible for gaza's security for an indefinite period of time. netanyahu made those comments during an interview with abc news, his first public remarks about the future of gaza once the war is over. and, until then, he stressed there will be no cease-fire with hamas into the militant group releases all their hostages. now, according to the palestine ministry of health, in the west bank more than 10,000 people in gaza have been killed during the monthlong israeli offensive. a senior u.n. official says that number defies humanity. for more, live now to elliott gotkine live in london. elliott, netanyahu didn't go into a lot of detail here, but what more is known about the security play for gaza after the war and an ongoing israeli security presence in gaza has never been popular among israelis in the past, i will give you this? now >> john, beyond this death toll, which as you say, the u.n. chief described as defying humanity, one of the key concerns or criticisms of this war between hamas and israel is

that there hasn't been a lot of thought going into what happens the day after. whether it is in a few days, weeks, or months, when this war ends, and it will end eventually, what is the plan for the gaza strip especially if israel succeeds in's objective of destroying hamas militarily so that we can never inflict the pogrom of sorts on october 7th, and politically so that it can no longer remain in power in the gaza strip? now, there's been talk about potentially the united nations coming in, perhaps the arab states. i suppose the most elegant and convenient solution for the israelis, the u.s. and many other countries internationally would be for the palestinian authority to come in and take a charge once again in the gaza strip. of course, it lost power in the gaza strip when hamas violently seized it in 2007. of course, the palestinian authority is, to begin with, lacking legitimacy. the president is now in his 90th year of a four-year term and there is no way the palestinian authority will want

to come in and be seen as a puppet of the array israelis, unless, by some miracle, there is a grand plan or bargain that leads towards a two-state solution. so, that seems to be a nonstarter. prime minister benjamin netanyahu, when he was asked in this interview with abc news last night, gave his thoughts as to, perhaps, part of what comes the day after this war ends. >> i think israel, an indefinite period, we'll have the overall security responsibility because we've seen what happens when we don't have it. >> now after withdrawing, at least from the ground in the gaza strip in 2005, i don't think israel has any desire to reoccupy on the ground in the gaza strip or to control it, but certainly from a security perspective, netanyahu says that is what israel will do for an indefinite period. of, course that could be a short period, good could be a long period. but the other saying, i think, that is worth noting is that in the wake of previous wars where major questions have been raised about the conduct or the

decision-making of the government of the day, the prime minister and the government have been ejected. this happened in 1973 with gold may, it happened after the lebanon war in 1982, it happened in the wake of the second lebanon war in 2006. as political analysts, the chief political analyst of channel 12 in israel told me, it would set a precedent for netanyahu not to be ejected from power afterwards. with that in mind, it won't actually be netanyahu's decision as to what happens to the gaza strip once this war is over. john? >> elliott, thank. you elliott gotkine there in london with the very latest, we appreciate it. we're gonna take a short break, when we come back here on cnn, in northern israel most have been evacuated in force from their homes. cnn will take you to some of the thousands of those evacuees and why and how much longer they'll be away.

>> tens of thousands of israelis have been forced to leave their homes in the north of the country. clashes between israeli forces and hezbollah militants and lebanon continued escalate. many of those villages and communities are not completely abandoned with only israeli troops remaining to battle those militants across the border. cnn's jim sciutto has details. >> visit northern israel today and you find ghost towns, evacuations in the wake of the october 7th attacks have left communities such as metula, --

empty except for soldiers deployed against hezbollah. kibbutz, situated right on the lebanon border, is among those communities now abandoned. >> we are staying here on the site. >> residents island weisman and her partner now make their home in a hotel, some 40 miles south in tiberius. >> everything that is here in the middle, from the children's things, were all donated. >> residents here are among 60,000 israelis who have fled south. one consequence of the october 7th attacks is a temporary migration from northern israel south into southeast israel north, with top of the israeli military creating a buffer zone inside gaza, and perhaps later in southern lebanon. the reality today is that those buffers zones exist, but inside israel. for evacuees from kibbutz -- the pain and fear of october

7th remains raw. a polina still has trouble explaining what happened to her three children. do you think the kids understand what happened? the eldest children, she tells me, understand that we're fighting for our home. >> do you talk to them about it? they see and they are aware. this is the reality of israel post october 7th. a country more aware than ever, perhaps, of the threat on its southern and northern borders. but that awareness leaves open the question of when they will go home. ellen and joseph tell us it's just a matter of time. >> we are told we can go back will go back. >> if the government says it's fine, you will. go >> will go. >> sharon and her husband, with a two-year-old and six months old little girls, are far less certain. will you feel safe moving back? north >> we think we are not going to stay there after what happened in gaza. we don't trust.

>> today they are thinking of moving further south for a good, or of leaving israel entirely. >> i won't lie and tell you that we didn't think about moving to another country. >> where would you move if you thought about? >> maybe to canada. >> there's another possibility that some israelis here suggest that, after the idf finishes its military operations in gaza, continued skirmishes along the border will force the military's attention north and bring an invasion of southern lebanon. >> they say that they will finish in the south and then maybe start in the north, correct? >> but that prospect has a troubled history. israel's 18 year occupation of southern lebanon from 19 80 to 2000 with costly and hezbollah returned, and its incursion into southern lebanon again in 2006 was costly as well and hezbollah returned again. still, what is clear for many here is that after what they witnessed on october 7th, the

north will never be the same. >> somehow we lived in the kibbutz and didn't think about everything that has happened on the other side of the fence. and now, after all of this, finally it opened our eyes. >> open eyes to growing threats from the north and the south. jim sciutto, cnn, northern israel. >> still to come here on cnn, israeli airstrikes on gaza are both unprecedented in death toll and destruction. what the idf insists is effective hitting hamas. but how effective and what is next?

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>> about 2.3 million palestinians live in gaza and almost all of them are unable to leave gaza. according to the u.n., about 70% of the entire population has now fled their homes. forcibly displaced by a war between israel and hamas, and it could soon get a whole lot worse. more now from scott mclain and his report contains video which some viewers will find disturbing. [sound of artillery] >> without power, gaza city is

pitch black at night. now lit up only by israeli airstrikes and the terrifying sound that comes with some. [sound of artillery] from the ground and from the air, israel says it hit 450 hamas targets in the past day. at the beach refugee camped named for its coastal location, they are sifting through the rubble after a bombing overnight. i don't know what to say, this woman says. there is nothing to say. there is no more -- not on children, elderly, or women. complete destruction. the injured bull rushed to the nearby al-shifa hospital where the sky flashes red from strikes nearby. i don't remember what happened, it was like a shock says mohammed, who lives in the beach camp. i don't remember how i fell down. suddenly i felt things fall on my head. the idf says it's doing what it can to minimize civilian casualties, but the human toll

in gaza, following october 7th terror attack on israel that killed more than 1400 people, has now surpassed 10,000 according to the hamas-controlled ministry of health and gaza. hospital morgues now spill out onto the streets, like this one in central gaza. overnight at that same hospital, victims arrive at the back of trucks, some clinging to life. -- this girl is one of the lucky ones. inside, covered in dirt and shaking. she tells the doctor her name is jenna and that she is in pain. we, as medical teams, are no longer in a position to be able to fulfill our obligations towards our people, says this doctor. all the beds are occupied. we may have to announce suspension of services in the hospital at any moment. the hamas-controlled ministry of health and gaza says that

these pictures show the aftermath of an israeli strike on a children's hospital in gaza city. several holes blown through the walls and one through the ceiling. the idf told cnn it has not struck any hospitals yet. aid is slowly reaching gaza, but not fast enough for jordan, which resulted airdropping medical aid from the sky as gazans lined up for bright this weekend in the shadow of another bakery that has been destroyed. they have no idea when the next truckload of essentials will arrive. scott mclain, cnn, london. >> to britain, australia now, -- former commander of the australian defense college. good -- >> good to see you again. >> it's hard to know the exact precise number of israeli airstrikes since october 7th, but as of this past wednesday the idf says they have struck over 11,000 targets belonging to terrorist organizations in the gaza strip, which, we should note, as a total land

area of 141 square miles. according to the head of the israeli military, since the beginning of ground operations, more than 2500 ground targets have been hit. in terms of other military offenses, has there been anything like this in terms of intensity and scale within a relatively small area like gaza? >> no, it is an extraordinary number of airstrikes in a small area. some of them would have been preplanned, even before october, but many of them would have emerged once they started hitting a hamas. they would've been watching the reactions and then striking hamas fighters and houses and trying to find other targets in that time. but it is a lot of strikes in a very small area. unfortunately there has been a lot of civilian casualties because of them. >> here is part of the israeli defense forces report for monday. over the last, day idf forces struck over 150 hamas targets including tunnels, military compounds, observation posts,

anti tank launch missile posts, and more. what does it say that, after a months of some of the most intense military offensive israel's ever carried out on gaza, there is that amount of hamas infrastructure that still being found in still being taken out? >> you know, i think it says that this is pretty hard working in these kinds of urban environment where the enemy is mixing in deliberately. hiding themselves under mosques and these kinds of things. it is difficult to find them, and the israelis are slowly unpacking this network of hamas infrastructure, the command and control where their leaders are, where their fighters are, and it's going to take them some time. >> i guess also it says hamas is well prepared for this conflict? >> they have been preparing for years, so literally for decades hamas have been using funds provided to them by external supporters to dig these tunnels, to build up ammunition stocks, it recruit their fighters. so both sides have been

preparing for this for sometime now. this is not going to be a quick resolution. >> you mentioned the civilian death toll, which is staggering if you believe the numbers. there is also widespread destruction according to the u.n.. as of sunday at least 45% of gaza's housing units reportedly destroyed or damaged, almost half. 258 education facilities reportedly damaged. 39 health facilities damaged. 16 hospitals and health care centers out of service, that is about half of the medical system in gaza. the israelis will say, as you mentioned, the damage is because of this deeply embedded in this infrastructure of gaza, which is true. but, with offensive now intensifying, what does it say about the strategy and the overall objective, not just in the short to medium term for israel, but also long term. what does it say about the plans they have for gaza the day after tomorrow? >> i think that is a very good question. you can't just destroy hamas by killing its fighters and leaders and destroying its doors in the short term. in the medium to long term you

need to make hamas irrelevant to the people of gaza and you don't do that by destroying all of these civil infrastructure. israel, somehow, has to come up with a strategy that, for, them wins the war, but it also wins the piece in the long term. and that is the piece of the puzzle that we're not seeing at the moment. >> essentially there's a real risk they could win the war but lose the peace? >> there is a very big risk. and you don't achieve long term, stable, and just political outcomes just through military operations. other things will be required. >> as always, thank you sir, thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll take a short break. when we come back, g7 foreign ministers at converging in tokyo for two days of talks. we will preview what is likely on the agenda. a live report in a moment.

>> welcome back. in the coming hours, representatives from g7 member counties will meet in tokyo with that israel a moth or expected to dominate the agenda. u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken arrived in tokyo after visiting israel and meeting with key arab leaders last week. he's expected meet with a japanese prime minister in the coming hours.

let's go live now to beijing and cnn's bureau chief there, steven jiang. i guess no surprise they'll be a lot of attention to israel's war with hamas, but what about that other war, the one that we used to talk a lot about? the one in ukraine? >> yeah, john, as i say, ukraine will be mentioned but the focus will undoubtedly be on gaza. and i think all eyes on tokyo to see whether or not these ministers from the world wealthy democracies can agree on a firm and united approach, because this, whether or not they can achieve that does have implications on this grouping political relevance going forward. we are already seeing divisions emerging within members, different concerns, different political loyalties, and different economic priorities. the french, for example, voted for a u.n. security council resolution calling for a cease fire late last month, even though the u.s. vetoed it and other g7 members abstained. of course, the hostess, japan, has been resisting pressure from its closest ally, the u.s., when it comes to a full on

display of pro israeli decisions. instead, tokyo has been taking a, quote unquote, a balanced approach since the beginning of the war because of its own diverse interests in the middle east, not to mention its heavy reliance on oil imports from that region. so, it's going to be very challenging for the ministers to agree on wording when it comes to israel's right to defend itself and the gaza civilian casualties, not to mention any concrete proposals to get humanitarian aid into this region. but i think they are keenly aware, what they end up saying or not saying it's close to being watched, not just by partners and allies, but especially by critics and detractors including russia, but increasingly china. both russia and china of course blaming the u.s. and its western allies as the root cause of this conflict and portraying themselves as champions of the developing world and as peacemakers. so they have been using the increasingly bloody war in gaza to further justify their desire and willingness to reshape the

u.s.-led world order. so i think the g7 ministers are aware of it, and that is why they are very much aware of the high stakes in terms of what they end up saying. john? >> steven, thank you. steven jiang for us live in beijing with the very latest on the g7 gathering. we appreciated steven, thank you. i am john vause, for international viewers please stay with us after a short break world sport is up next. for those watching in north america, the news continues right here on cnn and cnn max. stay with, us you're watching cnn.

>> welcome back to our if you are us in north america, i'm john, vials you are watching cnn newsroom. the teacher in colorado has acquitted one of the police officers charged in the 2019 death of -- pleaded not guilty and the first two officers prosecuted, he took the stand in his own defense. he was the first to arrive on scene to a call of a suspicious person wearing a ski mask, rests filled the unarmed black 23 out to the ground. you placed him in a chokehold that restricted blood flow to their brain. pam extend injected -- powerful sedatives and suffered a heart attack on the way to the hospital and died three days later. his mother spoke out after the verdict. >> i wanted to hit somebody. i wanted to kick something. i wanted to take out my vengeance on the ones who murdered my son because there is no accountability within the justice system. today proves that once again. >> one of the two other

officers indicted was recently found guilty of lesser charges. the other officer was acquitted. two paramedics are also set to face charges shortly. police in tennessee say an investigation is underway after three photographs surfaced online of -- school shooter. potus of the writings were released by conservative -- on monday. it appears to show angry ramblings and checklist linked to a march shooting at the covenant school where six people died, including three children. the 28-year-old shooter was a former student at the school. gun rights activist a news organizations have been finding in court for months over the release of the shooter's writings to shed light on a motive. former president donald trump took the stand monday on a quarter billion dollar civil case against him. in testimony, trump lashed out several times that the judge, and this isn't the first time he has done so. brian todd has background on the judge, and charged with determining trump's faith in this one case. >> judge arthur engoron might

be hard-pressed to name a defendant in any of his cases who has been as contentious with him as donald trump, even prior to trump's testimony on the stand monday. during the civil trial, judge engoron called trump to the stand in rebuke finding him $10,000 for public comments that the judge perceived as attacks on his clerk. >> that is a very partisan charged with a person who's very partisan sitting alongside, perhaps even much more partisan than he has. >> trump and his lawyers claim trump was speaking about trump's former attorney michael cohen, and not about the clerk. the judge had previously fined him $5,000 for a social media post attacking the clerk. on friday, the judge expanded a gag order against trump. back in 2022 he find trump $110,000 for being in contempt of court, writing that trump, quote, willfully disobeyed that order to provide documents by a certain time. >> how contentious is this between the judge and defendant compared to other cases?

>> it is much more contentious than other cases, because usually a client would be working with the lawyers to not irritate the judge. >> but if donald trump is an outlier as a defendant, so too is arthur engoron as a jurist. i think college student at columbia, he drove a taxi, quote, i love the freedom, the instant, cash getting to meet, people learning how to drive like a maniac without being caught, he wants that in court according to the new york post. after some time as a musician, he went to nyu law school. then he writes, his career path has been, quote, a part of you litigator a piano jump, each or a moderately successful bar manned keyboard player, it lock lurk to a judge, and now unelected new york state supreme court justice. one former supervisor says -- >> he has a broad background. he did not follow a very straight line. he followed what i would consider a jacket line in his career. >> trump and his two eldest sons are accused in this case of fraudulently inflating the

value of their properties to get more favorable loans insurance policies. the trump side denied any wrongdoing. donald trump has relentlessly gone after judge engoron for being partisan. >> he is a democrat operative, and he is a disgrace to people that call themselves judges. >> and kieran was elected as a democrat, and has held membership in -- >> trump's team is going to argue that all of these folks are in a liberal camp, that is why they are persecuting him. but at the heart, i don't think that is -- >> in the and, judge engoron will have had major influence in this case against trumpiest overseeing the case as the judge, and he will -- decide on the penalties if the outcome of the case does not go trump's way including possibly $250 million in penalties that the prosecutor has asked, for and could decide whether the trump family could continue doing business in new york. mine todd, cnn, washington. >> we work is working no more

as of -- makeup see. the office sharing company tried and failed to go public in 2019 on valued at 47 billion dollars, but six that -- much reduced bell valuation about nine billion dollars. after the pandemic an economic slowdown caused many -- down to about 98%. more than 500 protesters gathered at the statue of liberty monday calling for a cease-fire in gaza. -- which organized demonstrations in a statement said -- never again for anyone. and the iconic landmark is a long tradition as a significance among american whose families fled violence around the world. now an update on a story we are reported here on cnn, in israel thought is eight-year-old daughter was killed in hamas attacks on october 7th. he is now -- sat down and spoke with cnn's ed lavandera. >> from the morning of the

seventh, to now, is a nightmare rollercoaster tragedy. >> the anguished thomas hand is about to describe has left him trembling for weeks. it is a journey of death, and a hope of resurrection he says is impossible to imagine. >> on the day it was russian roulette with the -- >> on october 7th, hamas fighters stormed the kibbutz, killing roughly 130 people, and ravaging the community of 1100 residents. that morning, promises a year old daughter emily was sleeping at a friends house. thomas could not reach or as hamas fighters took over the kibbutz. days after the attack, the irish born father spoke with cnn's clarissa ward about the moment he was told his daughter had been killed. >> thomas waited two agonizing days before getting the news. >> i just said, we found emily,

and she is dead. i went, yes. i went yes. i smiled. because that is the best news of the possibilities that i knew she would be in a dark room filled with christ knows how many people, and terrified every minute, hour, day, and possibly years to come. so that was a blessing. an absolute blessing. >> thomas says leaders of the kibbutz community told him emily's body was seen in the aftermath, but almost a month after the massacre, thomas was given news that almost made him collapse. he says the israeli army told him it is highly probable emily is alive and a hamas hostage. >> how -- >> that was official, from the

army, with all the information that they have, the intelligence that they have, it is very likely that she has been taken to gaza. >> thomas says he has been told emily's body is not with the remains of victims, and that there was no blood found inside the home where she slept the night before. thomas also says sulfones belonging to the family family was staying with have been tracked inside gaza. >> when you spoke with clarissa ward if you weeks, ago you said death would be a blessing in this situation. >> that is how i felt that the time, yes. >> how do you describe where you are now? >> extremely worried about her obviously. what conditions she has been held in. he is more than likely in a tunnel somewhere under gaza. her imagination is horrible. and it is her birthday on the

17th of this month. she will be nine. she won't even know what day it is. she won't know what day it is. she won't know it is her birthday. there will be no birthday cake, no party, no friends. just petrified in a tunnel under gaza. that is her birthday. >> thomas is now flooded with the hope and despair of what his daughter might be ensuring. he praised she can somehow hear these words. >> if emily is watching, just let her know that we love her, all of us. we are all waiting for her to come back safely. >> the survivors at the kibbutz are temporarily living in a hotel, in the lobby there is a vigil to all the kidnapped hostages. now emily's family says the

young girls photo will be placed next to the others. >> you described as being a hostage us worse than death. >> i believe so. the unknown is awful. the waiting is awful. but that is what we have to do now. just pray and hope that she comes back in some broken states that we can fix her. we will fix or somehow. >> do you allow yourself now to think about holding 1 million again? >> in my head, i can see her running to, me and me running to her. just picking her up. never letting her go. >> ed lavandera, cnn. >> thank you for watching cnn newsroom. i'm john vause, please stay with, us and we'll be back with more news after a very short break.