rose bowl in college, nothing as magical as this, the traditions, the pageantry, the passion and respect make it one of the greatest rivalries in the world, kickoff is tomorrow at 3:00 eastern. >> i love that. i have never gone, and i want to go. are you going? >> not this year. >> can we go next year, bring the kids? >> coy, you're coming too, thank you. >> thanks, buddy. cnn this morning continues right now. criminal charges, accuses hunter biden of evading federal taxes on millions of dollars. >> nine counts, they have filed alleging that he engaged in a four-year scheme. >> now we're into felonies. the stakes are much higher. donald trump's return to his high-stake new york civil fraud trial. >> this witness was unequivocal in giving donald trump exactly what he wanted to hear. >> a campaign stop when he does take the stand again. >> a political witch hunt meant to influence an election. stark images of dozens of

palestinian men. >> israel is claiming it has taken out a number of hamas leaders. >> still organized to fire rockets against cities in israel, and we've seen those barrages pick up again. an investigation into harvard, upenn, m.i.t. after their presidents failed to condemn anti-semitism. >> a board of advisers calling for a leadership change at upenn. >> it must be condemned, and condemned unequivocally. good friday morning, i'm phil mattingly with poppy harlow in new york. this morning, the 2024 campaign trial is on a collision course with the u.s. justice system. hunter biden now facing nine new federal criminal charges as investigators say he avoided paying $1.4 million in taxes, instead spending that money on things like drugs, escorts, pornography and luxury hotels. >> hunter biden is not president joe biden and there is no allegation in the 56-page indictment that the president

did anything wrong. he's not even mentioned, but that is not stopping house republicans from making hunter biden's business dealings a basis for their impeachment inquiry. >> now, one presidential candidate who is facing legal trouble to the tune of 91 criminal indictments, that's donald trump. his legal team now working to delay his federal election subversion case which is set to go on trial currently in march, the day before super tuesday. and, he is set to take the stand in his new york city civil fraud trial on monday. >> we also, this hour, have new exclusive reporting, kenneth chesebro, he pleaded guilty in georgia, now he is cooperating, helping investigators in at least four other states, more on that in a moment. first, though, let's go to our senior legal analyst elie honig with more, walk us through this indictment and what stands out to you. >> the stakes are so much higher now for hunter biden. now, you may recall that back in july hunter biden walked into a federal courtroom expecting to plead guilty to two tax

misdemeanors with a probation sentence attached. that deal fell apart at the last minute. now let's look at how things have changed. now hunter biden is looking at nine separate charges, tax evasion, tax fraud, and non-payment of taxes and really importantly, these two, there's one count of evasion, two counts of fraud, these are felonies now, much more serious. tax evasion carries a max sentence of five years, fraud carries a max sentence of three years, nobody gets the max but much more serious than before. now, if we look at the indictment, this alleges a scheme covering four years, 2016 through and including 2019. the allegation is that during that time hunter biden made around $7 million in income, primarily from foreign companies in ukraine, and china. doesn't allege that those were bribes, does not allege hunter biden was engaged in illegal influence peddling as a lobbyist but makes clear he did not do actual work meriting $7 million worth of income, and he failed

to -- $1.4 million in taxes owed. now, the indictment lays out in detail the way hunter biden would allegedly commit this fraud. for example, he took false business deductions. the indictment alleges as one example that in 2018 he claimed he had $388,000 worth of business travel, but, in fact, the allegation is he was doing no business, no real work. so, he writes that off, and that's a fraud. the indictment also details lavish personal spending by hunter biden. $4.8 million worth of money that the government says he could have easily paid back instead of used on personal expenses ranging from cars, clothes, to quote/unquote adult entertainment. one other interesting thing from the indictment, the sources of evidence that doj uses, they use hunter biden's memoir, things he says in his book against him. it's quoted extensively in the indictment, that's fair play. it's a statement by hunter biden, and they use certain texts from hunter biden, including one that references taxes. it's not exactly a smoking gun but they say, look, he knew he

had to pay taxes, he knew he owed these. >> hunter biden had another indictment. do these overlap? >> those are brought in federal court, and now hunter biden is looking at, literally, a two front -- it's tough enough to beat one federal case, never mind two, he can try to have those two cases combined into one, that's an interesting strategic call his lawyers are going to have to make. >> what about this push for an impeachment? i will say, california and delaware are the two jurisdictions where when this plea deal was about to happen, critics of it, republicans were pointing and saying what about those two jurisdictions, why is that brought here? >> no mention of joe biden, no reference to joe biden in the indictment, james comer of course, is seizing on this and he says that hunter biden's corporate entities funneled foreign cash that landed in joe biden's bank account, a slight of hand happening here, though,

because comer is focused on the payments, the $7 million hunter biden received. that's not the crime. there could have been a charge of bribery, there could have been a charge of foreign lobbying if that was the case. there is no such charge. the crime here is the tax part of that and i don't see any link in the indictment or even in comer's statement to joe biden. >> really important point? yeah, look, he's been promising quite a bit in this impeachment inquiry, the link is not there, we'll see if he finds something new. they've had a year to do it. see where they go. >> thank you, elie, very much. exclusive report, kenneth chesebro, the pro-trump lawyer who helped devise the 2020 fake elector's plot, now working with investigators, helping them in michigan and wisconsin, chesebro has already pleaded guilty to that plot in georgia. he also recently testified to a grand jury in nevada and has plans to sit for an interview in arizona. zach cohen broke this news, he joins us now. how significant that he's cooperating in multiple states?

>> good morning, guys, i don't think anyone would consider ken chesebro a household name but he was at the center of a key part of donald trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, this effort to put fake electors in key battleground states and he's already pleaded guilty to a related crime in the georgia state level investigation into trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and now prosecutors in at least four other states also want to talk to ken chesebro, they're conducting their own investigations into the fake electors that were put forward in their states and they want to know how those electors were organized, why they signed these fake certificates submitted to congress and ultimately rejected when mike pence declined to overturn the election on january 6th but it remains to be seen how much help ken chesebro -- we've seen criminal charges be brought down in two of them, nevada recently, just as recently as this week, indicted all six of their fake electors after talking to ken chesebro. we'll have to wait and see what

the ultimate result is. jack smith's federal indictment that does list ken chesebro as an unindicted co-conspirator, donald trump is the only one indicted. ken chesebro could be involved down the line in that one as well. >> a key player, a lot of moving parts, but a key player. zach cohen, churning out scoops this week, thank you. disturbing new images show israeli soldiers detaining dozens of men in gaza stripped down to their underwear. we'll take you live to israel what we're learning about this. in a few hours the fda could have a breakthrough treatment for sickle cell disease, one patient who's among the first in the world to try it out. >> wow, that's pretty cool. >> and scary. >> and, yeah, and freaky. >> do you feel like a medical pioneer? >> i don't know, i feel like a guinea pig.

breaking overnight, two rockets hit the u.s. embassy in baghdad causing minor damage wu no casualties, the explosions

were hurt in iraq's heavily fortified green zone, and sirens were activated, warning people to duck and cover. no group has claimed responsibility yet but iranian-backed militias are believed to be behind the strikes. since mid-october american and coalition forces across the region have been under regular attack due to washington's support. >> new and disgusting image, detaining dozens of men in gaza seen stripped down to their underwear. there they are. they were in blindfolds. kneel being their heads down. the human rights group says they were also severely abused, family members confirm at least some of those men are civilians. the exact dates and circumstances of the detention not clear yet. the idf has not responded to cnn's request for comment. meantime, the i dierks f has released a satellite of image of video showing hamas rockets near the humanitarian zone but cnn has not been able to

independently confirm the location. the security council will vote on a humanitarian cease-fire in gaza while israel intensifies its air strikes and ground offensive there. let's go to ben wedeman who joins us live from jerusalem. seeing those images is disturbing considering some family members are saying some of those men are civilians and not hamas terrorists, is israel responding at all, explaining it? >> reporter: well, actually, one of the chief spokesmen for the israeli military came out a statement saying we checked who's connected with hamas and who is not and we detain and question everybody. and this is not -- although the image is disturbing, it's not the first time this has happened. back in 2002 when i was covering israel's reinvasion of the west bank we saw in multiple occasions that essentially all men, teenagers, actually, from

around 15 to 60, in many towns and villages, were just rounded up, corralled into one place, and they were slowly, one by one, taken for questioning, some were released, some were not. but cnn has been in touch with people who say they recognize relatives there, one, for instance, said he's a shopkeeper. he has nothing to do with any of the militant factions. another apparently is a journalist, and he also, his editors protested this. but it does appear that what the israelis are doing in areas that they control, particularly in northern gaza, they're going into these u.n. schools where people have sheltered, and they're just taking all the men of military age and probably a bit younger and a bit older, and taking them away for questioning. we don't know when they will be released. poppy. >> ben, i want to ask you about a separate issue, but one i know you've been following closely

and personally. what do we know about the investigation into the death and injuries of journalists in southern lebanon. we understand one of your team saw one of them that morning, attended the funeral. any update on what the idf is looking into here? >> this is an incident on the 13th of october in southern lebanon. the journalist killed was a friend of mine, working for reuters. now, amnesty international human rights watch, afp have done an extensive investigation analyzing footage, analyzing the remains of the munitions that killed abdullah, and injured six others, including an american stills photographer dylan collins, also a friend of mine, fortunately he was only lightly wounded. they've really analyzed every aspect of this incident, and they've come to the conclusion that they were targeted by an israeli tank. now, we were also, that day, on

the border in a different location, essentially doing the same thing. we were out in the open wearing flak jackets marked press with a car marked tv, as they were in the open, they were in that location for about an hour and then they came under fire, first with one tank round and just about 45 seconds later with another. now, this investigation says that these investigations say that the israelis deliberately targeted the journalists because it was obvious that's who they were. now, just give me one more second. the idf says they're investigating, they haven't reached a conclusion, but it's important to keep in mind that this is not the first time the journalists have died as a result in this conflict, and the israeli human rights group has investigated all the idf

investigations and said they tend to be -- this is their words, organized cover-ups, aimed not to bring about truth and accountability, but on the contrary to prevent that. phil? >> ben wedeman, we appreciate you sharing that, as you point out dozens of journalists have been killed seance this conflict began. we appreciate the reporting. >> ben, so sorry for the loss of his friend. all right, this morning, we are learning that the unlv gunman mailed letters before his rampage. what are officials saying is inside those letters, that's next. incredible surveillance video shows a group of students in utah racing to save a mother and her young kids who were trapped under a car. the mother was standing in the school parking lot, when a driver was blinded by the sun and hit them. the school says the mother had surgery and is recovering in a wheelchair, the children will be okay. we'll be r right back.k.

the power goes out, and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book. who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours

of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off a storm ready wifi device. >> it was just horrifying because, you know, you're hearing screams of students, everyone's confused, no one knows what's happening or where it's coming from. it was terrifying.

>> new information in the deadly shooting at the university of nevada las vegas, three faculty members were killed, including 64-year-old, 67-year-old anthony polito swas the gunman. he was rejected for all the positions he applied for. a list of people he was seeking on campus although none of the victims were on the list. >> police arrived on the scene within minutes and confronted the shooter. you can see that in video from the las vegas police department. police say the gunman used a nine millimeter handgun bought legally last year and had 11 magazines, he sent 22 letters to various university personnel nationwide with no return address listed, and some of those envelopes had white powder inside. the substance was harmless, detectives are working with the postal service to try to find the rest of those letters and warn anyone in the education world to be careful if they receive any letter with no

return address. >> this morning the fda appears ready to green light the first treatment using general editing. if approved it would target sickle cell disease. few treatments are available at this point. so this has the potential to be a game changer, cnn's meg turrell joins us now. you spoke to a young patient, one of the first people to have his genes edited, sounds terrifying but could be a tremendous break through. >> he put it that way as well. it will be so exciting for everybody to get to hear from him. a huge moment in science and medicine. the general editing tool was discovered a decade ago, won the nobel prize in 2020, and sickle cell disease is neglected. >> two years ago it was hard to imagine 15-year-old johnny lubin doing this for very long. born with sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder affecting

the red blood cells johnny has been in and out of the hospital his entire life, dealing with bouts of extreme pain, and other serious complications. >> it was kind of hard for me to like do things like have fun and stuff because i'd always have to be worried about if i'd have a pain crisis or not. it would mostly be in my back, myk and it would always be like a pounding pain in my back. so it hurt a lot. >> how long would they last? >> sometimes days. >> until now the only hope for a cure for the estimated 100,000 people in the u.s. with the disease has been a bone marrow transplant but like more than 80% of patients with sickle cell johnny couldn't find a donor. >> we were desperate. at that point we were not going to care what's going to be next. we found out we're going to lose him. >> reporter: they decided to try something that's almost never been done before. >> i was worried that i might be -- might get like superpowers or something.

>> reporter: as part of a clinical trial johnny is now one of the first people in the world to have his genes edited using crisper to treat his disease. >> i'm like, wow, that's pretty cool. >> and scary. >> and yeah, and freaky. >> reporter: do you feel like a medical pioneer? >> i don't know. i feel like a guinea pig. >> reporter: in sickle cell, a genetic mutation causes red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body to be misshapen, like crescents or sickles, they can get stuck in the blood vessels causing severe pain and decreased oxygen to organs, crisper allows you to make a precise cut in dna, in this case, cells are removed from the body and edited to turn on production of a different form of the jury box general-carrying protein hemoglobin. >> in essence it's a fetal hemoglobin induction process. >> and that's good enough? >> feelgts hemoglobin we know

has a higher oxygen carrying capacity than adult hemoglobin or sickle hemoglobin, yes, it's more than good enough. >> so far it has been good enough. 29 # out of 30 patients, including johnny met the trial's goal, being free from having a pain crisis for at least a year after treatment. >> reporter: how long has it been? >> two years. >> reporter: now johnny and his family celebrate his treatment day as his second birthday. >> october 4th is when i got the infusion. so basically i got the whole new like dose of like cells and stuff. >> reporter: and while johnny didn't turn into a superhero, what he got might be even better. >> starting to teach him how to drive. another thing to worry about. we're stepping into the regular worrisome of raising a teenager. >> reporter: the chance, to be a regular kid. >> he's a clown. my baby's a clown. >> yes, i am. yeah. >> you guys heard there it's been two years since he's had a pain crisis.

they don't know how long it will last. you have to get the cells removed from their body, edited and returned. that comes with a lot of complications, chemotherapy. you have to stay in the hospital for about a month. there are risks, and it also could be very expensive, maybe $2 million per treatment. there are questions about how widely it will be used but it's expected to get approved today and it will be a huge medical -- >> good deal and you don't need -- that is a game changer. what a story, thank you, meg. new overnight, a woman has been arrested for trying to set martin luther king jr.'s birth home on fire. we're live outside that house. >> there are more calls this morning for the president of the university of pennsylvania to resign after her congressional testimony on anti-semitism, we're going to be joined by the president of wellesley -- wesleyan university on that.

looking live at a beautiful sunrise on this friday morning, in new york city, it's happening at the same time as everybody has their eyes on the university of pennsylvania, there's a new chorus of voices calling for the university of pennsylvania's president to step down. joining that chorus, the board of advisers at upenn's wharton business school. and john huntsman, part of the significant backlash to her congressional testimony this week, as well as from the presidents of harvard and m.i.t. on the subject of anti-semitism on campus. >> ms. magill at penn, does

calling for the genocide of jews violate penn's rules or code of conduct, yes or no? >> if the speech turns into conduct it can be harassment, yes. >> i am asking specifically calling for the genocide of jews, does that constitute harassment? >> if it is directed and severe or pervasive it is harassment. >> so the answer is yes? >> it is a context-dependent decision. >> the university released a clarification message from magill the day after the hearing. listen. >> in that moment i was focused on our university's long-standing policies aligned with the u.s. constitution which say that speech alone is not punishable. i was not focused on, but i should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for

genocide of jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. >> joining us now is the president of wesleyan university, michael roth. president roth, we appreciate you coming in. >> yes, the answer is yes. >> would that -- that actually -- your school has had a very different experience with some of these universities, want to get into why in a moment. to start with, as a university president if you're in that chair, what are you answering there? >> yes, of course it's a violation of our rules. >> why didn't they? >> i think that by this time, and the hearing, and i'd watched only some of it, didn't watch all four hours but by this time in the hearing the segue was from, if somebody yells intifada, the end of the occupation, and then it became if someone calls for the genocide of jews. that was a line of congresswoman stefanik who has a long history of promoting white nationalism,

no friend of anti-semimites but they were going down this slope, what could you say? if somebody says i want all y jewish people dead, or all black people, or armenians. it's obvious that creates an environment that's not safe enough to learn in. we have to respect free speech and almost all the time that's our default position. but sometimes it leads to in intimidation and violence. >> you're right to point out the line that there is in the first amendment, the first amendment is not without limit. and she was -- even in the clarification there, pointing to that, the first amendment, but it's inciting violence, that is the line where it is not accepted. >> that's right, and over the last several years, in many commentators have pointed out, people at colleges and universities have said something is violent when it's really just offensive. and it's important that we say you don't have the right not to be offended. so, on my campus there are people saying, roth, you support genocide because we support the right of israel to defend

itself. now, i'm offended by them saying i support genocide. i think they're wrong. but i can't -- i won't try to censor that. if they said i'm in favor of genocide, i have never heard anyone say that on any campus, then we would take disciplinary action against them. >> you make an important point. it's not happening in isolation, not happening just because of october 7th. what universities have done, and their posture on specific language and how people have spoken and acted in the years leading up to now, created this moment. is that a fair assessment? >> yeah, i think there's -- it's not just the universities. i mean, i -- my students have said to me, i don't feel safe on campus, muslim students say that because everyone thinks i'm a terrorist. jewish students feel safe. i'm sorry you feel that way but i think you're safer here on our campus. there is anti-semitism, not just on college campuses, we walk out here in new york city, there's

anti-semitism. of course, as a jew, i know that. on campus, my job is to make sure it's safe enough so people can learn, despite prejudices other people may have. at most colleges and universities the ones i know best, that spirit of openness and wanting to learn from people with different points of view is really there, there's also occasionally, and this is probably what you're referring to, there's tendency towards parochialism. i can't listen to you because you don't belong to my identity group. there's some of that. as teachers we fight against that. >> you wrote an interesting piece a couple weeks ago, the headline is my students wanted to talk israel-palestine, here's what we did instead. what did you do? >> so we -- this is a great books course, it's called the modern and the post-modern, that week we were reading civilization and discontents. this is not what they normally jump into with gusto. but freud is writing about scapegoating and the tendency of

violence to erupt even when things look like they've made great progress and of course in the middle of this conflict in the middle east these questions of scapegoating, of meeting an enemy you demonize, it was on everyone's mind. but instead of just saying my opinion about israel is "x," or my opinion about palestine is "y," we were going through a careful, not uncontroversial book, to understand these issues more broadly. my job as a teacher is not to try to convince people to share my view about israel. my job as a teacher is to help them understand the issues better, and they all seemed to want to do that. >> do you think the pendulum will swing back? not every institution, more than we realize are having the same type of dialogue and conversation that you would expect on a university campus. but for those where that wasn't the case, and this has become a real problem in the last several weeks that everybody's noticed, the pendulum is going to swing back the other way? >> i really hope so. we have to defend free speech,

but we have to have safe enough environments in which people can learn by talking to other people who don't agree with them. in america we've gotten very good at finding people who agree with us, and having conversations with them. we have to remember how to have conversations with people who don't agree with us. we might be wrong. we might learn something. and of course that's what colleges should be about. >> this has been a great conversation. >> yes. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. president michael roth, wesleyan university, appreciate your time. atlanta police say a woman is in custody this morning charged with trying to burn down the home where martin luther king jr. was born, several bystanders intervened and stopped the 26-year-old suspect after she allegedly doused gasoline on the property, isabel rosales is live from the scene in atlanta. what happened? >> reporter: yeah, hey poplpy, phil, good morning to you. it's a strange scenario. police don't have a motive. witnesses describe a shocking

scene, a woman up there in the birth home of civil rights leader martin luther king jr. up there pouring gasoline all over the place. witnesses describe actually being able to smell that powerful stench of the gasoline, and some of those witnesses took videos of what had occurred during and after that scene, and one of them you can see a good samaritan pinning that woman to the ground until police arrived. now, according to atlanta's police chief it was two tourists from utah who happened to be in the area that originally saw that woman pouring gas, and then interrupted her, and also two off-duty new york police department officers who just happened to be visiting the cent center yesterday were the ones that detained her until officers described. a firefighter described those good samaritans as saving a crown jewel of the city of atlanta. there's a real sense here that

they saved an important piece of history, but american history. listen to a witness, and then the fire chief. >> she would have just gone up and started a fire, it would have been way worse for her and everyone. >> it could have been a matter of seconds before the house was engulfed in flames. it was really about the timing and the witnesses being in the right place at the right time. >> no statement, no statement. >> reporter: and the king center did put out a statement thanking those good samaritans for saving the home. the 26-year-old woman has been charged with attempted arson and interference with a government property. but poppy, it gets sticky here, this is a federal property so this opens her up to federal charges. the apd is working with the fbi and the atf and the da's office as well to see what the next steps might be here. >> disturbing. isabel, thank you for the reporting. new cnn polling this morning reveals a large majority of americans, including republicans, think the

government should do something about planet warming pollution. our chief climate correspondent isis going to o break downwn th nunumbers.

welcome back, just in this morning brand new cnn polling that finds broad support for dealing with the climate crisis, a large majority of people including republicans even agree with president biden's goal to slash planet warming pollution

with 52% responding, the government has a, quote, great deal of responsibility to reduce climate change. with us now, our chief climate correspondent bill weir. it's good to see. >> interesting, isn't it? >> it's interesting, but america is on track, 2024, to be the biggest oil producer in the world. how how do you do both things at the same time? >> this is the high wire act for this administration, for sure, and people don't talk about this a lot. former president trump said i won't be a dictator, except on day one, drill, drill, drill. america is already drill, drill, drilling. saudi arabia has slashed their production. they've had their hand on the spigot. this is the worry part. look at the united states. a percentage of the world's crude oil population this is due to shale oil, you know the oil that comes out of fracking, getting all that gas out of there. russia and saudi are down. so the pressure from president biden's left, which is the climate motivated folks, you've

got to stop this. the message is not getting to republicans that america's already drilling, drilling, drilling, but when you look at what needs to be done, the numbers on people saying that the sentiment that the united states bears some responsibility if we could show those numbers, are pretty staggering, it's almost 60%. >> why? >> i think the heat of 2023. >> you really think it's the direct correlation. >> if you break it down by party, it's different. how worried you are right now. nearly 60% are very worried, 13% not at all given what's going on right now. but, if you look at it break down by party, 95% of democrats believe something needs to be done, 76% of independents, but half of republicans. so, you've got the maga side, the not so worried group, but half of republicans say that this is something to worry about. >> nearly, in the survey, three-fourths say the u.s. should aim to have cut greenhouse gases by 50%.

by 3030. 2030. that's a big, big goal. how many republicans are supportive of that, as well, the steps you have to take to get there in the polling? >> yeah, this is the shoot it word, 73% of americans say yes we should work on getting that down. those are joe biden's goals to help decarbonize the economy as well but it breaks down by party, not as many republicans share the sentiment right now, the message is for a long time it's all about sacrifice, that in order to cut our emissions, that you'll have to live in the dark, shivering in a yurt somewhere, whereas the new t sustainable clean energy solutions are the same, you wouldn't know the difference, texas is now producing more clean energy than california because of the economics of this. >> it's so -- such a stunning thing to hear. >> that's despite ideological and party resistance, republicans in texas try to slow it down. it makes so much sense economically. building a new power plant

anywhere in the world the sun and wind are the cheapest fornls -- forms of energy. >> how many people believe they personally bear responsibility on this issue? i would think it would be very low. >> really, yeah, the last poll i saw, would you be willing to spend $10 a month to fight climate change? most people say no on this. pretty staggering, 40% have a great deal personally. 37%, some responsibility. look at that, 77% they say bear some responsibility. science shows us it's about 90 big polluters, huge companies, petro states contributing most of the problem, we can do things, around the edges at the local level but to have that awareness, that's a big breakthrough in public sentiment. >> awareness and those numbers move politicians, sometimes. bill weir, we appreciate you, thank you. >> you bet. ahead, more on new charges hunter biden is facing, could they impact his father

politically? a texas woman received a court order allowing her to get an abortion because of health risks, the attorney general is threatening to prosecute the doctor who performs the operation. what can be done. stay with us.

it has been one week since the short-term truce between israel and hamas ended and the israeli military campaign resumed. >> that also means it's been a week since hamas released any hostages. israel now believes the number of hostages being held in gaza is 137. that number was updated overnight after an israeli man presumed to be among them was confirmed to have been killed during the october 7th hamas attacks. the white house says there is one american woman and seven american men unaccounted for

believed to be dual citizens. the halt of the daily release of hostages a gut punch for the families. some had begun to hope their loved ones could be getting out soon. as hanukkah has begun, they can only pray for their safe return. >> we are gathering tonight at a time of deep pain. but we are also gathering to celebrate the power of light to triumph over darkness. each of the 138 candles that these families have lit represents a precious life, a person who must come home. >> joining us now is ruby chen, the father of missing idf soldier atai chen. we are looking at beautiful photos of you together with your beloved son. thank you for speak with with us again. i can't imagine the anguish as

you wait. now that we are a week out from the last hostage being released, do you feel as though the israeli government, netanyahu is prioritizing everything it takes to get your son home? >> yeah, thanks for having me, poppy, again. you know, it's a gut punch, as you said, like we had hope at this exchange, that it will continue. what we need now i think, not just the u.s. families, but all the families, is leadership. and we, as the u.s. citizens, are specifically looking at president biden. the u.s. has been more of a facilitator in connecting between israel and the hamas via qatar. but at the end end, the united states is the leader of the free world. and it should act like that.

you were -- >> we expect the president to lead. if not, more american lives are going to be lost. >> you were among those who met with the vice president's national security advisor in israel. did you convey that message to phil gordon? what else did he say in that meeting? >> so, you know, the israeli government has two goals in front of it. one is the destruction of the hamas and the second is the release of the hostages. there is a distinction between important and urgent e. i have been walking around with this, phil -- can you see? >> yes. >> this is urgent. each day that passes by, each hostage slowly dies of it.

and this is a humanitarian crisis, the u.s. hostages, especially the red cross not able to visit what is the condition of the hostages to provide medical attention. and, yes, there is also a humanitarian crisis on the palestinian side where the palestinians are being held by the terrorist organization hamas. and hundreds of palestinians are dying each day. we urge the united states to lead and solve this humanitarian crisis where the u.s. would represent the hostages and qatar would represent the palestinian people and the humanitarian crisis. come up with a deal. make that deal acceptable to both israel and hamas.

the humanitarian crisis, i think everyone could get behind that. i what want to share my disappointment again about the u.n. that wishes to have a session talking about the humanitarian crisis on one side but nothing to say about the humanitarian crisis on the other side, different nationalities have been kidnapped, abducted, tortured and the red cross is not allowed to visit them. >> you talk about the president, president biden. it sounds like you think is a lack of leadership on this. your opinion when you were on cnn recently changed after the russian government, putin directly negotiated with hamas to release some of those of their citizens who are held hostage. what specifically do you think the president, president biden could do now that would be more effective? what do you want him to do to bring your son home? >> so i think the -- it is

possible to get our hostages from a specific nationality. other nationalities have been released as a segment. back to what i said before. leadership. it is understandable that the israelis want to negotiate on its citizens, but we need to remember the fact, poppy, that we have here eight u.s. citizens. i am a u.s. taxpayer as well as the other families. we need to understand that if leadership of president biden and the administration does not come to negotiate a deal, then there will be more american citizens that will die adding to the 30 something citizens already that have been killed on october 7th. >> our hearts are but very much. i am sure many in leadership are