we are watching the senate floor right now, on the left.

on the right, out of tel aviv we are expecting secretary of state tony blinken to be speaking here anytime. we are going to bring that when it begins. but as we watch on the senate side here, there is a vote underway on a border security and aid package to ukraine and israel. a compromise that took five months to come together, between republicans and emma kratz and the white house, and ultimately you are watching it die on the senate floor there on the left. let's talk a little bit about this, as this note is still underway. i want to talk now with the democratic senator from oregon, jeff merkley. he is also a member of the senate foreign relations committee. i understand that you voted yes on this porter package. i know that you would had some pretty major reservations, some big concerns yesterday. what changed your mind?

>> well, it isn't just the border package. it is getting onto the bill. a motion to proceed to the bill that contains the aid for ukraine and also international humanitarian aid. my argument here is that we needed to get on to the bill in order to start the amendment process and try to get to a final bill that we are more comfortable voting on. i do have major reservations about the provisions of the border package, but as it turns out, the republicans, after saying we have to have this package in order to do ukraine, now they are saying we have to not have this package. they want to leave this as an open sore, and open problem that president trump's direction through the november election. >> i understand what you're saying, this is a procedural bill, it has a high threshold of 60 votes. but if you are opposed to the bill, generally speaking, people do not vote. sometimes they do, traditionally maybe they do, but a lot of times recently they don't. why did you think it was important to then move on to the bill, which by the way, is

not going to happen. >> it is not going to happen. because the motion to proceed is a way to get the vehicle on the floor so you can start to have the debate. it is not passage of the bill, not even closing debate on passage of the bill. there components of this that are incredibly important. ukraine aid is massively important. this is a munich moment. this is like when chamberlain in 1938 goes to hitler and says in munich, go ahead, take a piece of czechoslovakia. we will look the other way and say peace in our time. republicans opposing the aid to ukraine are saying the same thing. they are saying ahead and take ukraine, we will turn the other way and pretend everything is all good and peaceful. that is absolutely wrong. i think any historian would go back and advised chamberlain that he made a mistake in 1938. future historians would say we are making a mistake today if we do not find ukraine. >> that bill, by the way, just failing.

49-50. so it is official cloture, as it is called, the key procedural vote did not proceed . did not hit that 60 vote threshold. that means this effort is now dead. five months of work in really hard efforts there, and they are just washed away. the next step, senator, of course, is just going to be an aid package for israel, ukraine, as well, obviously, as other priorities. what do you want to see there, and are you going to try to propose specific changes, as you have been very critical of israel and how it is prosecuting its work? >> yes, i am going to propose specific changes. one is for it to be american policy that no palestinians in gaza can be forcibly expelled from gaza, and that they all will have the ability to return to their homes. second of all, that none of the pistols and rifles that the

israelis may purchase from the united states under foreign military sales can be transferred to settlers. settlers have been engaged in very hostile assaults on palestinian villages in the west bank, and the u.s. must make very clear that is unacceptable, and we certainly don't want to be complicit on that with our arms. there will be other amendments that my colleagues are proposing that i strongly support. one of them is to say that we must find a path to two states for two people, in order to break the cycle of war and hate. >> this bill that just failed, as is, would you have voted to pass it? >> if it was on its own, i would not have voted to pass it in its current form. i may have supported getting it on the floor in order to start the amendment process. we absolutely have a broken asylum process on the border. right now what we have seen is people simply present

themselves, say the word asylum, and hope it will be many years, and most of the time it is many years before they get asylum hearing. an asylum hearing should happen within a few months, not 4-6 years. so there absolutely changes the need to take place. president biden proposed a $14 billion package that expanded to $20 billion, more security on the border, more customs and border protection for individuals, more asylum officers so we can have those asylum hearings. more family monitoring programs to make sure they show up for hearings. all of that is really the type of fixes that we need. we need bipartisan partnerships to implement those changes. >> senator, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. we really appreciate you being with us. >> you are very welcome, thank you.

>> let's go down to lauren fox, on capitol hill for us. this was the moment here, just a couple minutes ago. give us the latest year and what a path ahead is for the senate. >> well, right now there is a huge question. what is the future of aid to ukraine, aid to israel, aid to taiwan. one of the things that republicans debated in a very lengthy lunch that was described to us by members coming out of it as robust, vigorous, as frank discussion around what precisely should happen next. republicans are arguing they want to have clear commitments from democrats to get some amendments on a supplemental package for aid to ukraine, israel, and taiwan. they do not want schumer to quickly move forward with that package without giving specific promises that they are going to get some votes to potentially change that bill. right now that is the discussion underway among republicans. we should note and take a step back that republicans have been united in this conference about trying to find the best path forward, and yet have been unable to figure out precisely what that is. and specifically

when it comes to aid for ukraine, the majority of the conference supports it, but there are differences among members about how they want to move forward and precisely whether or not they are going to ultimately support it. i think there is just a lot of question right now about how republicans want to move forward. we should note that there is still a huge underlying? around how mike johnson, the speaker of the house, would proceed even if senators could move forward with aid to ukraine . >> certainly there is, and we will be watching that very carefully. lauren fox, thank you so much. we are following a lot of development out of the middle east this afternoon after a series of critical meetings in the middle east. secretary of state blinken may be leaving empty-handed. we're expecting to hear from him any moment, and as soon as we do will bring that to you. earlier today you see there he sat down with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu under pressure to get him to

sign onto a deal that would cause fighting in gaza and free the remaining hostages. after that meeting, netanyahu bristled at hamas's demands, calling them quote delusional, but he did not rule out further negotiations. we are joined by former hostage negotiator bastion. thank you so much for being here with us. i am curious, in light of netanyahu's reaction that we outlined there, what does that tell you about what it is going to take to get those remaining 100+ hostages home? >> it seems at this point almost impossible to get those hostages home, and we already know that at least a fifth of them are no longer alive, they have either been killed by israeli bombs or by executions by hamas people. netanyahu basically close the door on and negotiations, although there is a hamas team going to cairo tomorrow to meet with the head of intelligence there. netanyahu was not willing to

make any deal that will leave hamas in place. the proposal that was issued last night essentially leave hamas in control of gaza. that is a nonstarter for israel . but it is also the only way of getting the hostages home alive. we are kind of at a dead end here. >> so, how much of netanyahu's stance on this proposal is tied to his own political survival? it was interesting to learn today that secretary blinken was also meeting with the defense minister, and he bristled at that, as well, that he was going around him to talk to the defense minister to try to get some sort of deal. >> right, i think it is very clear that netanyahu has an interest in prolonging the war. as soon as there is a long-term cease-fire or an end to the war, the national commission of inquiry headed by a supreme court judge will be formed, and the calls for new elections in israel will be very, very loud. you will take to the streets again, as we did for 40 weeks prior to the war, in protest of

the netanyahu government. and because of his failures on october 7th and everything that led to october 7th, all the polls indicate that he has no chance of winning these elections. this will be the end of his political career. >> the new york times reported yesterday that israeli intelligence has concluded at least 30 of the 136, more than 1/5 of the remaining hostages have died. you published a column on this today, and did not call him you wrote that the war can wait, the hostages cannot. their families have been so outspoken on this, telling the government do whatever it takes to get them out. do you think that they should continue to have hope, and what do you mean by that statement, the work and wait, the hostages cannot? >> the families have to be hopeful, they have to put more pressure on the government and bring people out to the streets. the government of israel failed the people of israel on october 7, when it failed to protect them.

they were dragged from their homes, they were dragged from a music festival, they were dragged from army bases and taken hostage into israel while hamas murdered the 1200 other israelis. the government has a moral responsibility to bring them home. when i said the work and wait, the hostages cannot. the hostages are dying. they are being killed. israel can render the war after he gets the hostages home. there is nothing to prevent them from doing that. and i am sure that hamas will probably provide ample reason for israel to continue the war even after it is declared over. hamas cannot rule gaza, cannot threaten israel. it is bad for the palestinians, it is bad for the region, it is bad for jordan and egypt, and it is certainly bad for israel. we have a responsibility to ensure that hamas will not continue to rule. what we need in order for that to happen is for there to be a political after the war, a political solution where there

is a two state solution that is viable. that is going to require the biden administration to recognize the state of palestine, along with the other nations so that palestine becomes real for the palestinian people. no longer a 30 year open ended peace process where people talk about the two state solution, but only recognize one of those states. >> all right, thanks so much, we appreciate your expertise on that. >> thank you. >> of course, so much of these negotiations also have to do with humanitarian aid, which is so critical right now in gaza. let's get some insight now from one aid group about the challenges of operating there. joined by world central kitchen ceo aaron gore, and director of emergency response sam bloch, who has been in gaza. i was hoping, you may also see this is a stove. we are going to talk about that in just a moment.

but first, because you have been in gaza, first hand, if you could tell us a little bit about what you see and what people are experiencing. >> sure, thanks for having us on the day. i've been doing this work for 19 years and some of the worst situations around the world. the last six years with world central kitchen. the logistical challenges of getting aid to the people in gaza is unlike anything we've seen before. it is constant challenges, to be honest, just not enough. there are very few international aid efforts that are having successful impact on the ground in gaza. cease-fire, or while the war is undergoing, we have been one of the ones that have been successful. we have done 34 million meals served in gaza since the start of the war. and we have had almost 1000 18 wheeler big trucks of food arrive into gaza. but it is still not enough. >> let's talk a little bit about this stove. >> it is large, and you guys invented this, essentially, right? my understanding that right? >> our team and cairo design this specifically for the needs in gaza. it is a technology that has

been around for a while. as some people may or may not know, there is an extremely limited amount of propane in gaza. almost none. so our team had to very quickly design something. how do you quickly cook millions of meals for people with no electricity and no propane? we were fortunate enough to find a factory in cairo that produces these. some people might know them from woodstoves. >> what is that? >> it's a wooden pallet, and what this factory does is they bring in scrap wood from around the world, process it into these pellets, and sell it for woodstoves. we converted this and designed this stove to do industrial cooking. >> 02 so people can see what this is. so, you can get this in, basically. >> exactly. >> said this is clean cooking. what salmon the team have seen on the ground is that people are scavenging, burning any kind of what they can to keep themselves warm, to cook. you can imagine cooking with

chemicals in the wood, it's not okay. this is really important, we have more than 700 of these throughout gaza right now. and really key to the world central kitchen and what we do and how we show up is to try to do hot meals. as much as we can. like sam says, we have done 34 million meals in gaza, but there is so much dignity, and all the meals are culturally relevant. this is an amazing adaptation. our team is small and nimble, constantly having to adapt and innovate in real time, and the disasters we are facing around the world. and yeah, with propane, with fuel not being allowed in gaza, we have just had to figure out and do whatever it takes. >> what is the current status now? you said you have 700 of these across gaza, and team members i would assume spread out, as well? how long do you anticipate being there? >> it's going to be a while, the way things are. and just looking, to be honest, since the beginning of the war

the starvation gap, the need for food has only grown. most of our crises that we work in, there is an event that happens and it is de- escalating. and this, since the beginning, has just been getting worse and worse every day. a lot of my time i would go up north, but in the south it was originally 200,000 people. one of the most densely populated, a small piece of land. it is not like 1.5 million. i was there, as everybody was migrating down. the first thing to go is all the trees. if people are fortunate enough to have food to cook for their family, they needed a fuel source. so they cut down all the trees. when i left not too long ago, before resorting to digging up the roots of those trees that were cut down and ordered to make a cup of tea for their family or to make some bread. so the situation has just been getting progressively worse. >> can you tell us how the pause on the u.n. organization that provides so much of the aid, the reality of so many

nonprofits that are operating there is that they do this in partnership with unwra. we have talked to doctors without borders about this, as well. they said that this is really detrimental to the work that they are seeing done. have you seen the impacts of that pause and funding for unwra? how might that impact you? what are you expecting? >> i think there are actually very few partners on the ground. that have boots on the ground in gaza and are doing that direct work. we are collaborating with almost all of them. our real partners are the local community. they are the ones that are cooking and serving. but we collaborate with everybody. we have been feeding all the doctors without borders shelters. and i will just say, that all the agencies or organizations on the ground need to be doing more. this is not a time to be doing less, including ourselves. we are currently spending up to $1 million per day. we need to double or triple that to everybody needs to be

doing more. >> to your question about do we know how long we are going to be there? we don't. in a lot of ways we are just getting started. we feverishly want to serve more meals. just this weekend we did our very first ever airdrop of food in northern gaza. we hope to do more. so we are really looking at all the ways we can, by land, by air, now by water. we will see if the port opens, and we can get more food in that way. we are just starting, it is not ending soon. >> and what you need from people? >> right now from us? >> world central kitchen, we are a very inviting organization. usually there are lots of ways to volunteer. we need financial support, so anybody and everybody can donate to world central kitchen by going to wc k.org. for us donations directly translate to meals on the ground. >> it's very innovative, what you're doing. erin and sam, thank you so much

for being with us. we want to go right now to tel aviv where secretary of state blinken is giving his address. >> i am back first and foremost to consult directly with our partners on the joint efforts to bring all of the remaining hostages home. i have met with families of the hostages multiple times. during prior visits, as well as in washington. i expect to see them again tomorrow. this year agony, not knowing the fate of your loved one, it is almost unimaginable. i know that that pain is almost unbearable. so, we have been intensely focused from day one on getting all the hostages back with their families where they belong. and we will keep that focus until we get them back.

we had an opportunity today to discuss with the israeli government the response that hamas sent last night to the proposal that the united states, qatar, and egypt put together to bring the remaining hostages home and extend the humanitarian pause. what i can tell you about these discussions are that while there are some clear nonstarters in hamas's response , we think it creates space for an agreement to be reached. will work at that relentlessly until we get there. we had extensive discussions with the prime minister and national security leaders on the status of the military campaign to defeat hamas, and the progress towards achieving our fundamental objective, of ensuring that october 7th never happens again. at the same time, we are continuing to work closely with israel and lebanon on diplomatic efforts to de-

escalate tensions on israel's northern border so that families can return to their homes, both in northern israel and southern lebanon. and live in peace and security. we also discussed the imperative of maximizing civilian protection and humanitarian aid. to address the ongoing suffering of palestinian civilians in gaza. nearly 2 million people have been displaced from their homes . hundreds of thousands are experiencing acute hunger. most have lost someone that they love. and after that more people are killed. on all of my previous visits here, and pretty much every day in between, we have pressed israel in concrete ways to strengthen civilian protection, to get more assistance to those who need it. and over the past few months, israel has taken important

steps to do just that, starting the flow of aid, doubling it during the first pause for hostage releases. opening the north and south car doors in gaza so that people could move out of immediate harm's way, through these court orders with four hours of pause every day, three hours notice. starting the flow of assistance from jordan. establishing the confliction mechanisms. as a result, today more assistance than ever is moving in to gaza, and for more places than any times in october 7th. as the largest donor of the military and aid to palestinians, the united states has helped provide of that assistance, including funding 90,000 metric tons of flour, that is enough to provide red for 1.4 million people for the next five months. the u.n. team began its mission to the north, to assess

conditions for the civilians that are still there, as well as what needs to be done to allow displaced palestinians to return back home to the north. and yet, as i said to the prime minister and other israeli officials today, the daily toll that its military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high. in our discussions today, i highlighted some key steps that israel should take to ensure that more aid reaches more people. the assistance can float in northern gaza, where as i said, hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to survive under dire conditions. it should expedite the flow of humanitarian assistance from jordan. it should strengthen the confliction and improve coordination with the humanitarian providers. and israel must ensure that the delivery of life-saving assistance to gaza is not blocked for any reason by

anyone. we urge israel to do more, to help civilians, knowing full well that it faces an enemy that would never hold itself to those standards, an enemy that cynically embeds itself among men, women, and children, and fires rockets from hospitals, from schools, from residential buildings. an enemy whose leaders surround themselves with hostages. an enemy that has declared publicly its goal, to kill as many innocent civilians as i can, simply because they are jews , and to wipe israel off the map. that is why we feel that israel is fully justified in confronting hamas and other terrorist organizations. that is why the united states has done more than any country to support israel's right to ensure that october 7th never

happens again. the israelis were dehumanized in the most horrific way on october 7th. the hostages have been dehumanized every day since. but that cannot be a license to dehumanize others. the overwhelming majority of people in gaza had nothing to do with the attacks on october 7th. the families in gaza whose survival depend on deliveries of aid from israel are just like our families. they are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, want to earn a decent living, send their kids to school. have a normal life. that is who they are, that is what they want. and we cannot, we must not lose sight of that. we cannot, we must not lose sight of our common humanity. we remain determined, as well, to pursue a diplomatic path to adjust a lasting peace and security for all of the region.

and notably, for israel. that diplomatic path continues to come into ever sharper focus as i travel throughout the region and talk to all of our friends and partners. israel that is fully integrated into the region, with normal relations with key countries, including saudi arabia, with firm guarantees for its security , alongside a concrete, irreversible path to a palestinian state living side- by-side in peace and security with israel, with the necessary security assurances. over the course of this trip we discussed both the substance and sequence of steps that all would need to take to make this path real. that includes steps by the palestinian authorities to reform and revitalize itself. and, i reaffirmed the imperative of those steps in my

meeting today with the president. the chief among them, improving governance, increasing account abilities of the palestinian people, reforms of the palestinian authorities committed to making a recently announced reform package, and that we urge you to implement socially. now we can see so many of the actors in the region lining up to move down the path that i just described. but some are not. some are trying to sabotage that path. iran and its proxies continue to escalate and expand the cycle of violence that we all want to break. we will continue to defend our people, we will continue to defend our interests. not to fuel escalation, but to prevent it.

finally, in my discussions today with the prime minister and senior officials, i also raised a profound concern about actions and rhetoric, including from government officials, that inflame tensions, that undercut international support, and placed greater strains on israel's security. the people of israel have sacrificed enormously to forge this nation, and to defend it. they will decide the right path to take and whether they are ready to make difficult choices necessary to realize the vision of a long elusive prospect of true peace and true security. as a true friend of israel, as the country that has always been first to its side, whether that was may 14th, 1948 or october 7th, 2023, we will always offer our best advice on the choices before this country . especially the ones that matter the most. thank you, happy to take some

questions. >> the first question goes to the new york times. >> thank you, mr. secretary, for the question. i have a couple for you here. i know that you said there is still room for agreement in terms of the negotiations over the release of hostages, but the prime minister, after you spoke with him, pretty bluntly dismissed hamas's response. describing it even as ludicrous. i just want to clarify, is this response or these negotiations doa at this point? and what specifically did the prime minister object to in that response? also, the prime minister shortly after you met with him made clear that israeli troops will be moving deeper into rougher. will the united states simply stand by as this action is pursued? even with 1 million palestinians, more than 1 million palestinians being held seemingly with nowhere to go.

and if i may, congress is now moving ahead with a bill that would pair aid for ukraine with aid for israel. with the administration endorse any potential package that once again prohibits unwra funding? thank you. >> that's impressive. i am taking that that includes the questions of all of your colleagues, as well? is that right? >> i don't think so, couldn't do that to them. >> all right, starting with the first part. as i said, we have looked very carefully at what came back from hamas, and there are clearly nonstarters in what it has put forward. but we also see space in what came back to pursue negotiations , to see if we can get to an agreement. that is what we intend to do. i am not going to speak for israel or anyone else involved, but again, we believe this space is there and we believe

that we should pursue it. with regard, look, as i said before, israel has the responsibility, the obligation to do everything possible to ensure that civilians are protected, and that they get the assistance they need in the course of this conflict. any military campaign, military operation that israel undertakes needs to put civilians first and foremost in mind. and i suggested, again, some ways to do that. that is especially true in the case where there are somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4 million people, many of them displaced from other parts of gaza. so, we want to make sure, again, that anything that is done and any military operations, the situation for

civilians is, first and foremost , in mind, and of the necessary steps are taken to make sure they are protected and they have the assistance they need. >> you suggested some ways to do that. >> well, i just went through a number of ways that we urge israel to do now on, building on what it is already done in terms of both humanitarian assistance and civilian protection. and as i said, within the case itself, that is extremely important because it has such a dense population, including many people who have been displaced from other parts of gaza. and on unwra , look. we are deeply concerned by the allegations that were made about the participation or involvement of some of its employees in october 7th. and it is imperative that as

the u.n. has said it is doing, that there be a thorough investigation, that there be clear, ability, and that there be clear measures put in place to make sure that this can't happen again, that the personnel working for it are not in any way involved in terrorism or the events of october 7th. we know that the work that unwra performs, the functions that it performs have to be preserved, because so many lives are depending on it. and so going forward we are going to look into the actions that are taken, and as i said, it is imperative that the functions be preserved. >> then you would potentially support and aid package that would support funding for unwra? >> i will not get ahead of our views on hypothetical

legislation. >> but there was already a package that the administration endorse the brevity of that funding. >> i will leave that until the next time. >> for the next question, channel 13. >> mr. secretary, thank you for the opportunity. it seems to be that the entire biden doctrine vis-@-vis the palestinian state an organization with saudi arabia is collapsing. netanyahu says no, with capital into any form of palestinian state, saudi arabia says in normalization with israel would only be considered after an independent palestinian state is formed with jerusalem as its capital. so how does the u.s. intend to break this deadlock, and secondly, regarding the hostage deal, after we listen to prime minister netanyahu to say that hamas's demands are delusional, how do you find the space, as

you mentioned, for negotiation, and do you feel that netanyahu is exhausting every possible option to bring back these citizens kidnapped and held hostage by hamas? oregon, israeli politics is intervening. and lastly, why did you cancel your visit tomorrow? >> so, this is good. i think we have a trend going of at least three questions per person. last question first. there was no plan to visit. there was nothing to cancel. one of the things we want to make sure, as i said, is that assistance be able to move smoothly and sustainably. there was nothing to cancel. second, i guess i will go in reverse order. again, i can only repeat

myself. clearly there are things that hamas sent back that are absolute nonstarters. and i assume that is what the prime minister was referring to. but i don't want to speak for him. at the same time, we see in what was sent back space to continue to pursue an agreement, and these things are always negotiations. it is not flipping a light switch, not yes or no. there is invariably back and forth. and as i said, we see the space for that. and given the imperative, given the importance that we all attached to bringing the hostages home, we are intent on pursuing it. finally, as i said before,

before october 7th we were pursuing the possibility of normalization between israel and saudi arabia. and, in fact, i was scheduled to come to israel and to saudi arabia, i believe on october 10th two pursue that. and in particular to focus on what we already knew back then. was a necessary palestinian component to any normalization agreement. when i saw the crown prince in saudi arabia just a couple of days ago, he repeated to me his desire and determination to pursue normalization. but he also repeated that in order to do that, two things need to happen. one, there needs to become, in

gaza. and two, there needs to be a clear and credible pathway to a palestinian state. so as i said before, you can see the path forward for israel and for the entire region. with integration, with normalization, with security assurances, with the pathway to a palestinian state, that entirely changes the equation and the future for the better. for israelis, for palestinians. and, in so doing, isolates groups like hamas, isolates countries like iran but want a very different future. as i also said, going down that path, pursuing it requires hard decisions. none of this is easy. so it will be up to israelis to decide what they want to do,

when they want to do it, how they want to do it. no one is going to make those decisions for them. all we can do is to show what the possibilities are, what the options are. what the future could be. and compared to the alternative. and the alternative right now looks like an endless cycle. of violence and destruction. and despair. we know where the better path lies. but i don't minimize in any way the very difficult decisions that would need to be made by all concerns to travel down that path. >> the economist. >> thank you very much, secretary. you used some very specific words in describing this vision for a better path. what do you actually mean by

clear, credible, irreversible, time bound path to a palestinian state? and in qatar and again today you spoke about israel receiving security guarantees and assurances from its neighbors. what does that actually mean? what is on the table for israel if it goes down this path? and would that include additional u.s. assurances to israel? on top of the arrangements that currently exist? thank you. >> look, i'm not going to get ahead of things or get into specifics. i think those words speak for themselves. how they are defined, how they are made real is the subject of diplomacy. it is very much the subject of the conversations i have been having in the region, as well as here as we flesh that out and give real substance to it. but i don't want to get ahead of it. what i can only add in response to the rest of your question is it is clear to me from talking to many of the countries in the

region that they are prepared to do things with and for israel that they were never prepared to do in the past, including steps that would further address any security concerns it might have. and similarly, the united states is prepared to do that, too. but the details of that, the substance of that, these are all things that we continue to talk about in these conversations, in our diplomacy, and we will bring it into ever sharper focus. because at some point, yes, it will be very important to put forward exactly those details and see if for all parties concerned there is a credible pathway to walk down. and again, i believe that there is. but there remains a lot of work to be done. in the weeks and months ahead. >> the final question goes to al jazeera english.

>> thank you. i have two issues i want to ask about. the first is regarding the fact that you have spoken about the importance of creating a pathway for a palestinian state. there have been reports that you asked the state department a few options on potentially recognizing the palestinian state. i want to ask you if that is the case, and if so, is that a type of pressure point that you feel is needed to get israel to agree to a cease-fire, and when they could ultimately lead to a two state solution? that is the first issue. second issue i want to ask you about is the fact that israel has maintained that hamas needs to be eliminated, that i cannot have any role in the governing of gaza after the war has ended. where does the u.s. currently stand on this? is it in any way acceptable to the u.s. for hamas to be playing a role in governing house i in a day after scenario, and what would u.s. policy be towards hamas going forward? >> the short answer to the second part of the question is no. as to the first part of the question, look, as i just said, as we are defining the path

forward, including the pathway to a palestinian state, there are a number of policy options the people may propose as part of that process. but our focus today is on all of the diplomacy needed to bring it about, including, again, getting ideas, getting proposals from all concerned, and putting those together in a credible and clear plan. that is where we are, and as i said, we will continue to have these conversations, to engage in that diplomacy, to really sharpen the focus on all of the different elements that would be necessary, that would be involved, and that each of the parties believes is important. thank you. >> thank you. >> thanks, everyone, and apologies for keeping folks late. hope you get a chance to have

some dinner. >> all right, you are listening there to secretary of state tony blinken in tel aviv where he has been throughout the region meeting with palestinian leaders, as well as israeli leaders including prime minister regimen netanyahu. he said that he believes a hostage deal is still possible. he said there are some clear nonstarters coming from hamas, but still space for agreement, which the journalists there challenged him on, because earlier we had heard netanyahu describe the terms, which was a translation from hebrew, as crazy or delusional coming from hamas. so he was asked where in there is there space for agreement? but he insisted that there is some. he has been stressing to partners, as well, this diplomatic path to a two state solution. if we can go ahead and bring in alex parker to talk a little bit about what we heard there.

what stood out to you? >> well, i think our journalistic colleagues in that room, both israeli and american, making valiant efforts to get secretary blanket to give an indication of where the talks actually stand, and to what extent what prime minister netanyahu said earlier today was in fact a rejection of the counterproposal i hamas that was received yesterday. he did not indicate progress being made while he was in israel, but nor was he pessimistic. what is clear from what we just heard there is that this is a negotiation and there is still a ways to go, that a deal is not imminent. all secretary blinken said was that there were clear nonstarters in the hamas counterproposal, but there is still space for negotiation. i think it is fair to say that the nonstarters, and you could

hear as he left there another journalist asking what are those nonstarters. but if you look at what prime minister netanyahu said earlier, it appears to center around the question of palestinian visitors who would be released. the expectation is that at least in a first phase of a deal, a multi-phased deal that would see a pause in the fighting during each one, you would see women, children, and elderly israeli hostages being released. and at the same time, palestinian prisoners would be released. and in a copy of the demands that were made by hamas that cnn had obtained, that looks like a considerable number of palestinian prisoners that they want to see released, including, as prime minister netanyahu said earlier today, terrorists with blood on their hands. we understand hamas to be demanding that palestinians who have been arrested since october 7th, and i think that would include the perpetrators of october 7, that they would be released as well as hundreds of prisoners who are in israeli prisons convicted of serious crimes and have been sentenced to life sentences. i think, breanna and jessica, what is going to happen now is

blinken is going to come back to the states, and these conversations will continue. that israel will tell the u.s. and the other mediators what those sticking points are, what those nonstarters are, and they will go on from there. as we have been discussing throughout the course of the day, another major sticking point between the two sides is that hamas wants to see this war end. prime minister netanyahu and others in his government want the war or at least the efforts against hamas to keep going. they do not want this to wind down anytime soon, because they clearly feel they have a ways to go before they achieve that victory over hamas. >> all right, thanks so much. we are going to take a quick break and we will be right back.

mcdonald's is acknowledging

it's time to put affordability back on the menu. stock took a hit after the fast food giant is reporting a drop in business from key customers. a lot of people have taken to social media to complain about it. >> three dollars worth of food. this is a potato what you can get 4 to 5 pounds of these for three dollars, four dollars. something doesn't seem right here. >> you are supposed to be dollar menu budget friendly. when did you get uppity? i need you to take it back down. take it back down here. you're not even that good. >> joining us now is vanessa, with inflation going down at the supermarket, eating at home is becoming the more affordable choice for many here.

>> people go to mcdonald's because it's fast, it's reliable, it's affordable. for many americans, that is not the case. to buy groceries on your home, it is 1.3% compared to going out to dinner, 5.2%. they have said that they have had to raise prices by 10% because of food costs. that guy was talking about how it is a single hash brown, three dollars and a quarter pounder with cheese, $12.80 in brooklyn new york. in connecticut, a big macneill is $18. one of our colleagues said that she went to the mcdonald's and for a family of four she spent $100. this is not affordable for a lot of americans, especially

low income americans. mcdonald's is saying they need to take a look at the prices and bring prices down to try and attract people back into the fast food chain. >> i do berger friday with my kids. i know about this. i was telling jessica this, it's expensive, it's not what you would think when we were kids. >> it's not affordable fast food, people try and find cheaper options. taco bell, pizza hut, kfc which is owned by yum brands. they are seeing the same thing as mcdonald's. people in the lower income tax bracket saying that you are no longer the affordable option they will have to do some work to get those folks back in the doors. >> thank you so much.

just had we have lots more news. a possible home invasion making a hilarious discovery. wait until you see what set off the alarm.

xfinity rewards presents: '1st and 10gs.' xfinity is giving away ten grand to a new lucky winner for every first and ten during the big game. enter daily through february 9th for a chance to win 10gs. with the ultimate speed, power, and reliability the xfinity 10g network is made for streaming live sports. because it's only live once. join xfinity rewards on the xfinity app or go to xfinity1stand10gs.com for your chance to win. a couple of police officers rushing to the scene of a home break-in. they were responding to a home

alarm and when they walked into that house, they found a different kind of intruder, a squirrel. watch what happened. >> let's go, let's clear the room by room. check it there, it's a squirrel. i just sigh. we have a squirrel in the house. son of -- oh. yes, you can clear the area. >> we have a squirrel in the house. >> i had a squirrel living in my car, my high school car, it weaseled its way in their and i could not figure it out for a while. >> they like to get in