hello, and welcome to all of you here in the united states and all around the world. i'm mindy kinkade, good to have you with us. ahead on "cnn newsroom," terrifying moments on an alaska airlines flight when a window blows out midflight. you'll see the images from on board the plane and hear how one passenger described that moment. plus, the supreme court enters the 2024 presidential race as president joe biden and former president trump accuse each other of being a threat to democracy. and washington's top diplomat is in the middle east all in an effort to keep the israel-hamas war from spreading throughout the region. ♪ >> announcer: live from atlanta this is "cnn newsroom" with

lynda kinkade. we begin this hour with alaska airlines grounding its fleet of 65 boeing 737 max 9 aircraft after some absolutely harrowing moments on board a flight on friday. take a look at this. this was the scene after a window popped off the plane while it was mid-flight. the 737 max nine had taken off from portland, oregon late friday afternoon on its way to ontario, california. a passenger said the window came out shortly after. according to flightaware, the plane was only in the air for about 20 minutes before turning to portland airport in an emergency landing. here's how one passenger described the ordeal. >> so, i was seated, literally, i know my seat, like 18b, and it's so weird to me because i guess i was under the impression the whole time that it had happened in the exit row, but it was actually behind me.

so, it was towards the back of the plane, i was sitting in the middle, like a if you looked out the window to my left i could see the wing. so, yeah, that's what was going on. >> and when did you realize that something, you know, terrible was going on, something really bad went wrong? >> yeah. so, i was actually asleep, so when we were on the tarmac, we were actually on it for a while because they were deicing the plane. and then i fell asleep. so i woke up to the plane just bawling, and i knew it was not just normal turbulence because the masks came down and that's when the panic definitely started to set in. so that's what was going on with me. i was jolted awake. >> the airline says each aircraft will be returned to service after a completion of a full maintenance and safety inspections. it adds that it anticipates all

inspections will be completed within the next few days. problems have plagued previous models of that plane. cnn safety analyst david sucy spoke eaearlier with our michae holmes. >> because this is a maintenance door, i'd d be looking to see i that maintenancece door had bee removed for maintenance prior to this flight and if it had been reinstalled. in the pictures you can see the mounting brackets for that door and i don't see any evidence of those being torn off which would indicate to me that it's possible that the fastening structure wasn't done -- wasn't installed properly. so that's something that i'd be looking at first thing. >> yeah, and, in fact, looking at that now, we've got it up full on the screen there, it's a much bigger area. this isn't like a passenger window, this is a big area here. >> yeah, it is, and there are windows in that door, at least in some models, i'd have to look at this one specifically. but that -- so it would look like it's a window, but when it came off you can see -- and the structure isn't torn, either, on the top part of it, you can see

the shape of what would be, like an emergency exit. >> yeah. >> on the top of that. but -- and then there's the big knobs that stick in that have circles in them and there's four of those. that's the attach point for that maintenance door that can be taken in and out to facilitate the removal of seats and things like that is what that's originally designed for. so, we'll learn more about it. but that's first thing i'd be looking at to see what the heck happened with the fastening of that door, was it fastened properly in the first place, the airplane is only a couple months old. it's a brand new airplane. what went wrong? was it maintenance down the road or did it come off the factory that way? >> well, the portland fire department says there were no reports of serious injuries, the national transportation safety board is investigating. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is set to begin talks in turkey as he ramps up diplomatic efforts to prevent the war in gaza from spreading further. he arrived in istanbul friday as

part of a wider trip. he's scheduled to meet turkey's foreign minister first before talks with president erdogan later today. a state department official says blinken will try to use diplomatic back channels to send a message to iran that washington doesn't want the conflict to escalate. during his diplomatic push he's set to discuss the next phase of israel's military campaign, and plans for gaza after the fighting is over. our nic robertson has more. >> reporter: look, it's going to be a long week of diplomacy ahead for secretary blinken when he gets to israel top of the agenda will be making sure that enough humanitarian supplies are getting through into gaza, that the food, the water, the medicine is getting through, and fete geting delivered safely to all areas of gaza for the citizens there, the safety of the sicivilians inside gaza wil

be a top issue for him. when he left, he left the israeli government essentially a plan to come up with what happens the day after the war and we have got some of that from the defense minister, a three-page document, phase three, where the military is in gaza right now, sees the north of gaza as special forces operations clearing tunnels, that sort of thing, south of gaza it is still going after hamas leaders there and also trying to track down the missing hostages. it's the day after the fourth phase that's causing consternation here in israel and perhaps for secretary blinken as well when he arrives because it's sort of short on detail. it says that there will be a situation where hamas poses no threat, that there are no israeli civilians, that there is the ability for the israeli defense forces to come in and conduct operations, that there will be some sort of international coalition led by the united states with partners from europe, regional partners here as well, that will be the

front -- the focus for the humanitarian, the rebuilding. but, no concept in this day after of, you know, what sort of palestinian authority, or how it can be constructed or what palestinian leadership politically there could be for gaza. but even this three-page document has come under criticism from with inside the cabinet causing consternation and criticism as well from politicians within the cabinet that the chief of military staff has come up with a plan to investigate the failings of october the 7th, to try to get operational improvements right now on the battlefield. he's been criticized by right wing members of the cabinet, the criticism ranges from the day after plan, really just like the day before, it isn't strong enough, and that the criticisms are that the military shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be having an investigation right now like this, it's a tussle between the military and the politicians, these are divisions, the defense minister has come out in support of the

army chief of staff in that october 7th investigation at a military level, meanwhile, the key player in the war cabinet, benny gants, has said the prime minister needs to get his act together. he needs to lead, either focus on security and unity, or politics, if you get onto politics route, you're saying you don't have security and unity, even this plan for the day after, that secretary blinken is going to be coming in and hearing about, even that's causing division, so it is a weakened political situation that secretary blinken comes into, yes, a long, tough week of diplomacy for the u.s. secretary of state. nic robertson, cnn, tel aviv, israel. well, after nic robertson filed that report the idf said it would launch two parallel investigations into what it called failures, one internal probe would go through the

military chain of command, while the other would be conducted side by side by former senior officials, the military didn't say what the investigations will focus on. but it said whatever lessons it ends up learning it will apply them to future security challenges. well, for more analysis we're joined by david sanger, a cnn political and national security analyst, he's joining us live from berlin, good to have you with us. >> good to be with you. >> so david, as we have been discussing, there's been a huge uptick in attacks in the region, and attacks on u.s. personnel by iranian-backed proxies. how will the u.s. secretary of state seek to reduce tensions during this trip? >> well, as you heard in that report, lynda, from nic robertson, he's flying into a pretty complex situation, he's, i think, hitting six or seven different stops, and he's got a few missions. the first one, as you suggest, is to try to keep this from turning into a wider war, to

some degree that's beyond the control of any of those he is visiting because the groups that have been launching these attacks are almost entirely iranian-backed, and of course iran is the country with which the united states has no diplomatic relations, he's not visiting there. and so, all he's doing is talking to people who he hopes will be talking to the iranians. when he gets to israel, it's really complicated for the reasons that nic laid out. here we are tomorrow will be three months -- the three-month anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack that led to 1,200 deaths in israel, and what you're hearing now is the sound of this unity government beginning to tear itself apart over the question of how to investigate what happened in the past, and how to go deal with the future, you know, and on the 1st, it strikes me, lynda, it's

really hard to imagine the idf investigating itself, this really needs to be an outside investigation, a 9/11 kind of panel, and on the future elements it sounds like there are such divisions it's not clear there's a clear plan for them even to give to secretary blinken. >> yeah, it's interesting when you look at the divisions, the friction within the israeli government, not just in terms of the persecution of this war, but also the inability to prevent the hamas terror attacks. how could those internal divisions, yoodo you think, pla out on the front lines of this war? >> well, a couple of different ways, first, prime minister netanyahu really has no interest in these investigations gaining much steam because they are inevitably going to ask the two most uncomfortable questions. three. one is, since there were intelligence reports indicating

this was coming, what did the prime minister know, and why didn't we act on them? secondly, if he didn't see them, why did they miss so much? and thirdly, why was the response so slow? all of those are considered to be potentially career-ending for, or prime ministership ending for prime minister netanyahu. so he wants to delay that day. but second, the arguments over how it is that gaza should be governed, the more they continue, the more it looks like the israeli cabinet does not have a plan, the more it makes you wonder what is it that they were planning as an end game here? and i'm not sure they know. i think it's clear from the variety of different plans that had been floated in recent times, that they are nowhere near a consensus. >> yeah, exactly, and when you look at some of the discussion from senior israeli ministers,

two of which said palestinians should essentially be pushed out of gaza, that move heavily criticized around the world, especially here in the u.s. what more would the u.s. do to address those comments going forward, and even images that perception that senior people within the israeli government want to push out palestinians from gaza? >> well, you know, what we have to remember here is that the $14 billion in aid that president biden has asked congress, military aid, to approve for israel, has not gone through congress yet. and it is entirely possible that you could condition that aid for israel agreeing to the u.s. objective that people are not pushed out of gaza, out of their homeland. there are other conditions that could be put on that aid, when you think about it, the bill already has aid in it for ukraine, and the ukraine aid is

heavily conditioned. so far, the administration has said that it does not want to put conditions on aid to israel. strikes me that given the divisions inside the israeli government that's going -- could be a hard position to hold onto. >> and just finally, this hour, we will see the u.s. secretary of state meeting with officials in turkey. what can we expect from the first stages of these meetings, of the u.s. secretary of state's trip? >> the turkey meeting is important because turkey is the one nato member that, for good and ill, maintains a big relationship with russia, and so they're a key player interlocutor concerning ukraine, they're going to spend a good deal of time on that, the few and failed negotiations under

way between ukraine and russia, right after the war began, happened in turkey. but second, they're going to be a big player along the way in dealing with the various factions in the middle east here, and getting the turks to send a message of why they don't want a wider war to spread here. could be quite critical. hamas has always managed to keep a political wing moving in and out of turkey, and so it's a key interlocutor there, and of course then he'll go on to gutter, and they've been critical to the hostage negotiations. >> we'll leave it there for now, david singer, we'll be following this trip very closely. good to have you with us, thank you. >> great to be with you, lynda. the u.s. supreme court announced friday that it will make a decision in a case that could have a huge political impact on the nation. the justices will ultimately

decide whether states can ban former president donald trump from their primary ballots as he seeks reelection to the white house. cnn's paula reid has the details. >> reporter: this is the biggest election-related case for the supreme court since bush v. gore, here, the justices have accepted a petition from former president trump's lawyers to review whether the colorado supreme court made a mistake when they removed trump from the ballot. now, it's unclear exactly which questions or which issues the court will decide, but the big question in this case that has been litigated across multiple states with differing outcomes is whether section 3 of the 14th amendment of the constitution applies to presidents. now, this is a question that has divided even judges within one state, colorado. and this is a so-called insurrectionist ban, this section of the 14th amendment prohibits anyone who engages in an insurrection from holding future office, but this does not

explicitly say that it applies to the president, and that's one of the issues that the justices will likely have to weigh in on, the other big issue that's out there is how this is enforced, is it up to the states, the judiciary, is there a role for congress? right now, they're not making it clear, the justices, exactly which questions they intend to answer. trump lawyers are framing this case as a request to return choice, in terms of candidates, to the voters, but the challengerers insisist that tru conducuct in and arounund d jan 6t6th is e exactly what ththis post-civilil war part t of the constitutution is meant to prott againsnst. nonow, here's s how this i is a going g to go downwn. ththey have e a briefifing sche that, inin terms of f the susup court, is s pretty e expedited. we'll sesee those briefs soon. and then on february 8th there will be oral arguments. likely probably the biggest oral arguments of this term, though there could be other cases that they're asked to weigh in on related to the 2024 election. and then they have to make a decision, there will be enormous

pressure on chief justice john roberts to build consensus behind the scenes and come up with a path forward where at least the vote count, whatever it ends up being, on whatever decision they make, does not appear partisan. but certainly, an enormous case for the court, and an enormous test for the chief justice. paula reid, cnn, washington. >> former state and federal prosecutor, and cnn senior legal analyst elie honig weighed in on the u.s. supreme court's decision to hear the colorado case. take a listen. >> i do not expect the supreme court to address the issue of insurrection, whether donald trump did or did not engage in insurrection. that's not the kind of thing that the u.s. supreme court normally does, they're not a fact-finding body. i expect them to deal with the procedural and constitutional questions. two in particular. first of all, is it up to congress to pass laws telling us how the 14th amendment works, or is it up to the states to figure it out on their own? if the supreme court decides this is only up to congress,

that will end the colorado challenge, put trump back on the ballot in colorado, and effectively end all the challenges we've seen all across the country. and i think the second issue is, does the 14th amendment apply to the president as a, quote, officer of the united states, again, if they answer that, no, it does not apply to the president, that ends the colorado case, that ends all the other cases around the country. this will be historic, no matter which way they come out. >> elie honig there, well, u.s. president joe biden kicked off his campaign to be reelected this year, the speech in pennsylvania that includes a strong warning. cnn's mj lee reports he's calling his potential opponent donald trump a threat to democracy. >> today we're here to answer the most important of questions. is democracy still america's sacred cause? it's what the 2024 election is all about. >> reporter: in his inaugural campaign speech of the new year president joe biden warning of

the stark and urgent stakes of the upcoming presidential election. the president repeatedly excoriating donald trump. >> donald trump's campaign is about him, not america, not you. >> reporter: as the biden campaign gears up for another potential matchup against the former president come november. >> we all know who donald trump is. the question we have to answer is, who are we? that's what's at stake. who are we? and the year ahead, as you talk to your family and friends, cast your ballots, the power is in your hands, i refuse to believe that in 2024 we americans will choose to walk away from what's made us the greatest nation in the history of the world, freedom, liberty, democracy is still a sacred cause. >> reporter: the president's speech coming on the eve of the third anniversary of the january 6th storming of the capitol, a

deadly riot that trump encouraged at the time. >> if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. >> reporter: and has refused to denounce since. >> it can't be pro-insurrectionist, and pro-american. >> reporter: biden warning of the chaos that could ensue if trump were reelected to a second term. >> he went on to say, he'd be a dictator on day one. >> reporter: and if trump were defeated in november. >> once again, he's saying he won't honor the results of the election. if he loses. >> reporter: biden has previously invoked the bloody insurrection of 2021 in multiple speeches. >> one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked. >> reporter: pointing to the shocking events of that day as a reminder of the fragility of american democracy that must be actively protected. >> for a long time we've told ourselves that american democracy is guaranteed, but

it's not. >> reporter: the biden campaign preparing to ramp up the president's campaign travels in the new year, on monday, the president headed to south carolina, to deliver a speech at the mother emmanuel church in charleston where a white supremacist shot and killed nine black worshippers in 2015. next week's trip marking a return to a state that biden credits for propelling him to his party's nomination in 2020, and delivering him the presidency. >> thank you, south carolina! we just won, and we've won big, because of you. >> reporter: and to give you even more of a sense of how much the biden campaign is leaning into this theme of protecting democracy on january 6th, the campaign is going to be rolling out a new ad, that paints donald trump and republicans as having promoted political violence, we are also going to see vice president kamala harris traveling to south carolina where she will be delivering a speech that also touches on the

events of january 6th from three years ago. mj lee, cnn, white house. >> and donald trump was quick to lash out after mr. biden's comments. trump accuses mr. biden of fear mongering, saying that the current president is, quote, the true threat to democracy. >> yeah, we have a president worst a great danger to democracy, he really is, he is a danger to democracy, and at a level like few people have seen by delivering a massive victory in iowa you will send a thundering message straight to crooked joe biden. crooked joe is staging these pathetic fear monger campaign event in pennsylvania today. he was stuttering through the whole thing. i'm going to -- he's a threat to democracy. i'm a -- they've weaponized government, he's saying i'm a threat to democracy. he's a threat to democracy.

>> well, a winter storm could affect millions across the u.s. this weekend, in the coming hours rain is expected to push across the south and turn into potentially damaging ice and snow in the appalachian mountains. as the storm heads up the east coast saturday, some heavy snow is set to affect portions of the mid-atlantic, and northeast, boston could see between four to six inches of snow. while the major cities along the i-95 corridor could mainly get a lot of rain. more than 25 million people are currently under winter storm alerts, with the worst of the storm expected later today and tomorrow in the appalachians, the interior northeast, and new england, including just west of boston. well, russia says ukraine is targeting neighborhoods in its -- region with missiles, still to come, a live report just after the break. also ahead, a surprise resignation at the top of the national rifle association,

wayne lapierre steps down just before the gun rights group is set to go to trial on corruption charges.

welcome back, the ukrainian air force says it hit a russian military air base in western crimea today. sources in ukraine security services say ukrainian forces attacked the same base last september, causing serious damage. ukraine claims it destroyed a russian stronghold during an operation inside russia's belgorod region, kyiv says an unspecified number of russian forces were killed during the cross border attack. ukraine has reportedly been targeting the russian -- with missiles. ten ukrainian missiles fired at the area on thursday were destroyed by russian air defense systems. the regional governor says two people were wounded by falling shra shrapnel. >> i see several appeals on social media from families saying we are scared, help us go to a safe place. of course, we will help, we will do everything that depends on us.

>> joining us now is cnn's barbie nadeau. two people were injured. what more can you tell us about it? >> you know, this is really quite extraordinary because it does mark, you know, kind of a change in tact here with these cross-border attacks by ukraine into russia. now, they said on their telegram channel that ukrainian defense intelligence groups said they had information that there would be key leadership inspections going on by the russians at the time of this attack. they also mined the road, put land mines on the road, that the russians used going into that area, so it does mark sort of a very aggressive move in this counteroffensive, and, you know, the war ending its second year going into its third here in the next coming month is quite extraordinary, ukraine is sort of reenvisioning their attacks, their counterattack at this time, it would seem, lynda. >> and barbie, soldiers managed

to capture some ukrainians during fighting in donetsk and luhansk, and now the leader is offering to return 20 prisoners of war if international sanctions are lifted on him and his family. what can you tell us? >> yeah, you know, there's quite a catch to the leader, saying they could increase sanctions on him so long s.a.t. united states specifically lifts sanctions on his wives, and his daughter who is a leader in the -- part of the leadership, and his other children, in exchange for these 20 ukrainian soldiers being held as prisoners of war. now, it remains to be seen in the united states, which was specifically named as the target here for lifting those sanctions, it would be willing to do that and what kind of pressure ukraine would put on them to lift those sanctions, the sanctions have been an important tool in the financial support for russian efforts and

here and we haven't heard yet or seen anything out of the united states in terms of if they would be willing to consider lifting sanctions on the wives and children of the leader, lynda. >> barbie nadeau for us in rome, thank you. still ahead, a look at campaign rallies held friday, the insults the campaigns aimed at each other on the trail. stay with us.

in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart, efficient, savvy. making the most of every opportunity. that's why comcast business is introducing the small business bonus. for a limited time you can get up to $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. yup, $1000. so switch to business internet from the company with the largest fastest reliable network. give your business a head start in 2024 with this great offer. plus, ask how to get up to $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm lynda kinkade, this is cnn newsroom. the u.s. supreme court announced friday that it is set to hear a case that could have a profound impact on the presidential election later this year. the justices will hear the colorado ballot access case

which will ultimately decide whether states can ban former president donald trump from their primary ballots. one of trump's attorneys said she thinks trump will win because he appointed justice brett kavanaugh and two other justices. >> i think it should be a slam dunk in the supreme court, i have faith in them. you know, people like kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who the president went through hell to get into place, he'll step up, those people will step up, not because they're pro-trump, but because they're pro-law, because they're pro-fairness and the law in this is very clear. >> democratic representative dan goldman, who was lead majority counsel in the first impeachment inquiry against trump questioned whether trump appointed justices could be impartial. >> this is like a conciliary of the mob family sending a message to someone who you think you have some control over and it's a very clear message as to what

donald trump expects from brett kavanaugh because he nominated him to the supreme court. and it's part of the reason why all of this is so unprecedented. it's remarkable to have someone who's hoping to get on the ballot, and that determination is going to be made by supreme court justices, three of whom he appointed. >> well, at a campaign event on friday, u.s. president joe biden warned that trump could destroy democracy if he wins a second term. >> reporter: democracy is on the ballot. your freedom is on the ballot. it's the first national election since january 6th, insurrection placed a dagger at the throat of american democracy, since that moment. we all know who donald trump is. >> well, trump was quick to lash out after mr. biden's comments. cnn's christian holmes reports. >> reporter: former president donald trump taking on joe biden, attacking him, calling

him grossly incompetent, saying his event earlier in the day was pathetic, and weak, not really going after the substance of what biden argued that donald trump was a threat to democracy, but instead mocking him for his stutter. take a listen to what donald trump said. >> no president has ever, ever, and, you know, i often say you can take the ten worst presidents in the history of our country, you can add them up, put them together, and they haven't done the damage that joe biden's done to this country. what he's done to this country is unthinkable. biden's record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetent, corruption and failure, other than that, he's doing quite well, that's a hell of a list, right? that's why crooked joe is staging his pathetic fear mongering campaign event in pennsylvania today. did you see him? he was stuttering through the whole thing. he's going, i'm going to -- he's a threat to democracy. i'm a -- they've weaponized

government. he's saying i'm a threat to democracy. he's a threat to -- da -- da -- >> you hear it calling the biden campaign -- he talked about how migrants were being confronted by democrats who wanted them to sign up to vote in the next election which, of course, there is no evidence of that. the really interesting about thing about this speech is we are just several days out from the iowa caucuses and he went after nikki haley in a way we haven't ian before. this, of course, coming as we've seen a surge in haley's polling. listen here. >> nikki haley has been in the pocket of the open borders, establishment owners, her entire career and she's a globalist. you know, she likes to globe. i like america first. and nikki haley's campaign is being funded by biden donors, did you know that? biden donors, because they're trying to get her, like in particular, we're doing so well, they've sort of given up. you notice how they're sort of like out of here. >> reporter: he said any surge in polling was fake news but i will tell you his team is taking

her rise very seriously. they have put money behind it, putting advertisements into new hampshire, in record numbers, their first real swipes at nikki haley in the granite state as they've seen those numbers rise, so clearly, they're taking it seriously, hoping to slow that momentum. kristen holmes, cnn, sioux center, iowa. longtime national rifle association leader wayne lapierre announced his resignation on friday, this comes just days before a corruption lawsuit against the group and its top leaders is set to go to trial. new york attorney general letitia james alleges the group committed tax fraud. she says lapierre's resignation balances -- a statement from nra says lapierre cited health issues as a reason for his resignation. still to come, we look at the u.s. role in israel's war against hamas, and just how much

leverage washington has when it disagrees with its ally.

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well, let's get you up to speed with the latest from israel's war against hamas, u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in istanbul for talks how to prevent the conflict from spreading further. he's meeting with turkey's foreign minister, and is expected to meet with president erdogan after that, it's the first stop on a tour that will take washington's top diplomat throughout the region including israel and the west bank, a senior u.s. official says he'll also use back channels to tell iran that america doesn't want the conflict to escalate. joining me now is the executive vice president of the quincy institute for responsible state craft. he's also the author of losing an enemy, obama, iran and the triumph of diplomacy. good to have you with us. >> thank you for having me.

>> so, i was reading your latest article in the nation and you pose a very good question, essentially is israel dragging the u.s. into another war? is it? >> i fear that unfortunately a calculation on the israeli side has shifted further in the direction of seeking a confrontation with hezbollah in lebanon, and earlier on apparently, according to the u.s. government, that is what the israelis plan to do but the biden administration put a stop to that. it seems like we're back to square one, we're seeing increasing tensions, we saw the assassination in beirut, and we're inching closer towards a confrontation on that front that can spark other confrontations and drag the u.s. into that war. >> you're right that the biden administration has shipped 10,000 tons of weapons to israel, it sidestepped congressional oversight to expedite the arms transfer, not once, but twice, and of course

it's vetoed two u.n. resolutions calling for a cease-fire, yet you say the president lacks the leverage to force an end to the fighting. surely he has all the leverage he needs. >> well, he certainly does. i was arguing that there is a narrative in washington that says that the united states doesn't have leverage over israel, and i think that is absurd. the united states has a tremendous amount of leverage, in fact, an israeli major general admitted last month that if the u.s. were to cut its arms transfer and ammunition to israel, the israelis would have to stop the fighting. so, the u.s. has the ability to impose a cease-fire, if it wants to. i don't think at this point that is something that biden wants, i think he wants, and has signed up to the israeli military objective of completely taking out hamas. the u.s. secretary of state is back in the middle east, his fourth trip since october, what

is his objective on behalf of the u.s. government, and what can be achieved? >> i think he is just trying to manage the u.s.'s increasingly tense relations with other arab states in the region who are severely threatened by the continuation of the war in gaza, but also, of course, if there is an escalation. the jordanian, the egyptians are in a very, very bad situation, the populations are boiling over with anger over what is happening in gaza and the united states is trying to keep these countries in check, in calm, while continuing to give israel the leeway to continue its war in gaza and we saw that as well of course with the two vetoes. i personally don't believe this is sustainable. i think we're inching closer towards a very dangerous eruption in the region that will likely also drag the u.s. into it, and the biden administration has no exit plan for how to get out of that type of a dilemma.

>> you also note that the former u.s. president reagan used his leverage in terms of restrictions on arms transfers, to call on israel to stop its bombardment of lebanon. how is this time different? >> i don't think it is, at the end of the day, the united states has leverage, to what has become different is the political unwillingness of the biden administration to use the leverage for calculations that may not be entirely clear to us, but when it comes to whether the biden administration has the leverage, it certainly does have it, it may sperceive it to be politically costly to use it. that doesn't mean it has that leverage, it goes back to the issue if the primary objective of the united states is, as in my view it should be, to make sure this does not become a regional war that sucks the u.s. into it, then biden has to use his leverage, and put an end to the fighting in gaza because that is the most effective way of stopping the escalation. >> of course, the most frightening thing is the

question hark over israel's end goal, you have this sheer devastation in gaza, the enormous loss of life, yet israel's primary military objective is to eliminate hamas. is that goal elusive when it comes to a military objective? just explain. >> it appears that it is, and according to israel's former prime minister who wrote -- just about a week ago, his first sentence is chat chances of achieving that military objective is nil, and mindful of the fact that this war has been going on for 12, 13 weeks we do not see any progress by the israelis nerms of being able to take out hamas and that has also come at the tremendous, completely unacceptable humanitarian cost, more than 22,000 dead, it really does not appear that this is an achievable objective. the united states had a similar

experience in afghanistan, after 20 years of warfare in afghanistan, the taliban are back in power, this is a lesson that the united states should have conveyed to the israelis before israel goes into the direction that will also be tremendously damaging to israel itself. >> we appreciate your analysis and perspective, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you so much for having me. well, the pentagon press association is calling the u.s. defense department's failure to disclose that the defense secretary is in hospital an outrage. the pentagon notified the public friday evening saying defense secretary lloyd austin was admitted for complications from an elective medical procedure on january 1st, and is recovering well. it says austin was expected to resume his full duties on friday. in a letter to the defense department's public affairs chiefs, the press organization said, quote, the fact that he has been at walter reed national military medical center for four

days and the pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a friday evening is an outrage. well, days after an earthquake devastated parts of japan, the death toll continues to rise. we'll have more on that when we return.

welcome back, the death toll from monday's major earthquake in western japan has risen to at least 110 people, as the search continues for survivors. more than 200 still remain unaccounted for. the bad weather, impassable roads and frequent aftershocks are making the search more difficult. ♪ it's when a man loves a woman ♪ >> what a great song. singer michael bolton, best known for his power ballads, says he is now recovering at home after brain surgery and will be taking a break from touring. the 70-year-old musician posted the news on social media, he says the tumor, which required immediate attention, was discovered before the holidays. he'd been planning to tour the u.s., canada and switzerland, starting in february, right now

it's unclear when those shows will be rescheduled. we wish him all the very best, and that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom," i'm lynda kinkade, i'll be back after a very short break with much more news, stay with us. you're watching cnn.

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