you're watching "cnn news central." i'm boris sanchez in washington. and we are tracking major developments on day 6 of fighting in the middle east. israel has launched large-scale strikes on hamas targets in gaza and reports that israeli missiles are hitting inside syria, taking out runways at two major airports. during this latest barrage u.s. secretary of state antony blinken stood side by side with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, vowing that israel will never have to stand alone. moments ago secretary blinken discussed the gruesome evidence he's been shown by the israeli government, showing purported hamas atrocities. listen to this. >> it's beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less

actually see and god forbid experience. a baby, an infant, riddled with bullets. soldiers beheaded. young people burned alive in their cars or in their hideaway rooms. i could go on. but it's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. you can't help but imagine yourself, your family, your loved ones, your friends in that situation, in that predicament. and maybe the best word for it for me is overwhelming. >> we've just learned that after

his visit to israel blinken will go to saudi arabia, egypt, the uae and qatar to continue working diplomatic channels as the fight rages on and the effort to get hostages home continues. let's take you now to ashdod, israel with cnn's jeremy diamond. and jeremy, you've been in and out of cover throughout the entire day. what does it look like where you are now? >> reporter: yeah, boris. this evening we had not one but two different barrages of rockets headed toward the city of ashdod. the second one was very, very close to our hotel. the booms that you hear when those iron dome missiles intercept the rockets were particularly loud, indicating their proximity to our location. we went into the shelter on our floor, and in there we saw a family that has been -- that has fled the city of ashkelon, which is the nearest city to me between me and the gaza strip. ashkelon has been one of the

hardest-hit cities from those hamas rocket barrages. this family fled to this hotel here in ashdod, you know, hoping to find a sense of security and also because they don't have one of those bomb shelters inside of their home. and the father told me that he came because his children simply could not sleep because of how afraid they were in hearing those booms over the last several days. at the same time from this very position where we are we can hear the constant rumbling of airstrikes and artillery hitting the gaza strip. it actually shakes the windows here sometimes when you have a particularly heavy explosion inside of gaza. and the toll, the death toll in gaza has been consistently rising. more than 1,400 people have now been killed inside of gaza. hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. and there is no question that as we look toward the next phase of this israeli military campaign their response to those

devastating hamas terrorist attacks over the weekend, the civilian death toll in gaza is sure to rise. that is just the nature of this conflict. every time there are attacks there. and beyond of course the explosions we know that israel is also not allowing food, water or electricity or fuel into the gaza strip, causing precarious humanitarian situation which the top u.n. human rights official has called out as a violation of international law. so whatever happens next, boris, very clear that this remains an extremely precarious situation both inside the gaza strip but also here in israel, or in these communities near to gaza. >> and jeremy, as you were listening to the secretary of state antony blinken there, what stood out to you from his comments standing side by side with prime minister netanyahu? >> reporter: well, i think the secretary of state, just like the israeli prime minister, were really trying to capture the

emotion, the outrage, the devastation as it relates to the brutality of those hamas terrorist attacks over the weekend, details of which we are still continuing to learn in recent days. the killing of women and children inside of their homes. but what they are also doing is they are taking that outrage, they are taking that emotion, bottling it up and really sending it out to the public, to the world, perhaps to try and provide a rationale for what is sure to come next, which is a much wider-scale israeli military response to those terrorist attacks with the overwhelming speculation leading to the possibility that there could be a ground invasion of gaza. and if indeed that is the case, if that is the direction in which we move, the israeli prime minister has to prepare the public here that there will be idf casualties with a ground invasion and also preparing the world for the fact that there will be casualties inside of gaza.

and we know the death toll will mount. what is very clear is that regardless of what comes next it will be civilians who are too often caught in the crossfire. boris? >> yeah, the potential for that ground operation to cause enormous losses very high. jeremy diamond from ashdod, israel. thank you so much. so israel's energy minister is now warning that gaza will not get any power, water or fuel until the israeli hostages being held by hamas are returned home. joining me now is michael m millshtein, a former head of the palestinian department in israeli military intelligence. michael, thank you so much for being with us. do you think that strategy -- >> thank you, boris. >> of course. do you think that strategy is likely going to be effective in getting back those hostages? >> well, i think, boris, that this kind of strategy -- israel has never promoted such a strategy. is actually the new but the only way to achieve anything important in gaza.

you know, till today during the last two years israel tried to promote a unique policy toward gaza which actually was -- we realized on the 6th, on the 7th of october at 6:30 in the morning that it was totally failure. and i'm meaning a policy that is based on improvement of the economic -- of the civil situation in gaza in order actually to create the prize, something that hamas could lose if he will promote any escalation. and right now i think that you know, in the horrible situation we found ourself actually this is the only way really to push hamas. and just this evening we heard salah araoui, number 2 in hamas leadership, declare that actually hamas members, hamas

terrorists from the military wing were not involved in killing, slaughtering civilians in israel but it was civilians from gaza. so he's trying actually, you know, to change the damage in the image of hamas. but i really hope that those steps, i mean, you know, banning water and electricity and other things will cause protest among the citizens of gaza and maybe now finally they will understand that their worst enemy is hamas and the source for all their suffer is hamas. and i think this is the only option israel has today. >> so michael, this morning secretary of state antony blinken echoed remarks from president biden, his pledge of u.s. unconditional support for israel. he said, "we will always be there by your side." he also talked about the need

for moral clarity, the importance of separating the palestinian people from hamas. you were just making the argument that leadership in hamas is trying to muddy the waters and blur those lines. there are some 2 million palestinians packed into a tiny sliver of land that is gaza. many of them are just women and children that had nothing to do with the atrocities that we saw over the weekend. how does the idf go about trying to ensure that innocent people aren't hurt? >> you know, first of all, boris, we must emphasize that the idf attacks on gaza right now, it's not a blind attack. we are trying to be very accurate. and of course israel has no interest to harm any citizens. but in the current situation, though in the past we believed if there would be any escalation the public will promote protest against hamas, so hamas will not -- won't have any interest

to promote escalation. and this assumption was totally wrong. right now, you know, civilians, citizens from gaza were involved in looting the villages, the kibbutzim and the moshavim nearby the border. they were also participated in all those really crazy events in gaza when they showed the corpse of israeli soldiers and citizens. you know israel is trying to improve their situation. and i think that, you know, after saturday there are less and less israelis who can really understand what is the basic logic of the palestinian people. not of hamas. and less and less israelis believe that if you will improve the situation of the palestinians in gaza so there will be less interest in promoting the escalation. this kind of formula, this kind of insight belongs to the past. and right now i think that, you

know, as we mentioned before, boris, i think that we are in existential conflict, in an existential fight and therefore we will attempt any effort not to harm citizens but we must understand that this kind of conflict is different from the conflicts of the past and this time we cannot end this conflict while hamas is in the same situation as it was a week before. >> so michael, given your former position as the head of palestinian affairs in israeli intelligence and given some of what you've described as a misled belief among israelis that providing gaza and hamas with economic incentives would promote peace, what do you make of the fact that there was such a colossal intelligence failure in israel that could have indicated that an attack like this was imminent?

>> well, it's a very good point. and you know, in israel most of the public discourse and the political discourse is focused on this issue, boris. you know, we are speaking about two things. first of all is the intelligence failure to recognize actually all the signals. during the last day we understood that those signals were elaborated only a few hours before the offensive began and it was quite too late to do something. but the other failure actually is connected or in regard to the question of the intentions of hamas. you know, the basic assumption regarding hamas was that this organization is very much deterred, it has no interest in promoting escalation. and of course this assumption was really wrong because i think that we -- you know, i would call it we thought in a western style, you know, western style

patrons and we actually enforced our way of thinking on the other side, on an islamic radical organization whose basic aim is actually to eradicate israel from the map. it has no intention to take care of the palestinians in the territories, of the life of the people in gaza. his basic aim is to promote jihad. mukawama. resistance. so in the morning of saturday we realized the new, or the basic dna of hamas. >> michael milshtein, we very much appreciate you sharing your perspectives with us. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, boris. >> of course. we want to take you straight to the white house now, the press room there where nsc spokesperson john kirby is giving remarks. let's listen in. >> i'll start with the saddest of news. we can now update the number of americans that we know have been killed --

the number stands today at 14. we're obviously doing everything we can to support and inform the families. now sadly five more families have now gotten the worst possible news that any family can conceive of getting. and we're going to stay in touch with them as appropriate. same goes for those family members of those who are unaccounted for. and by unaccounted for we mean that, we don't know where they are. they don't know where they are. so we're going to obviously stay in touch with them as well. and certainly we're continuing to work with israeli officials to make sure we're getting as much context and information as possible that we will share with them. also, as you i think realize, we are all acutely aware of limited availability right now in commercial flights out of israel and the demand signal by u.s. citizens who may want to depart. the president has asked his team to ensure we are assisting u.s.

citizens who do want to leave israel and providing them with a safe means of doing that. so beginning tomorrow the united states government will arrange charter flights to provide transportation from israel to sites in europe. they're still working through some of the details of that to assist u.s. citizens and their immediate family members who have for whatever reason not been able to provide commercial transit out of the country. and i would add that we're also exploring other options to expand the capacity of doing this including exploring whether it's possible to help americans leave by land and by sea. so again, we're working hard on this. we know there's a demand signal out there. and we're going to try the best we can to meet it. i would encourage any american citizen in the need of assistance to please complete the intake form that you can find on travel.state.gov. it's very simple. go right to that site. there is an intake form. fill it out.

it helps us get a sense of what the scope of the need is. and i would -- i'm sure you guys are going to ask me that. i don't have hard figures handy with me now. we do know there are certain american citizens that want to go. it's all available through the state department's website. and i'd encourage them to go look at that. >> okay. thanks for taking my question. gaza's main power plant has run out of fuel. the humanitarian situation there is becoming quite dire. i'm wondering if there have been any communications about allowing shipments of food, fuel, electricity to help lessen civilian casualties and suffering there. >> yes, there have been ongoing conversations with our israeli counterparts about the need for continued flow of humanitarian assistance. >> i had a couple of questions on the american hostages. is it still the case that the

administration doesn't know anything about the condition about the american hostages and is the number still believed to be less than a handful? >> yes and yes. >> i know you've been pretty open about the fact that it's hard to ascertain at this moment. the limited information that you do have, is that coming mainly from the israelis and the qataris or is there another source of information that you -- >> the families too. as i mentioned yesterday, some of these families actually saw their loved ones being abducted and taken away. so they have been a significant source of information as well. >> one other quick thing. the assumption that the hostages may not necessarily be in one place, was there specific intelligence to point the administration to not make that assumption, or is that based on something else? >> i won't speak about specific intelligence matters. but it is a common tactic in the

hamas playbook to break up hostages and move them sometimes in small groups. we have nothing that would indicate to us that they would follow a different set of pr protocols. but i can't stand here today and prove to you that that is exactly what's happening. we have to, in order to think about our policy options, you have to make some assumptions. and we can't rule that out as a possibility. >> thank you, john. what is the status of the $6 billion that iran was set to have access to? >> it's still sitting in the qatari bank. all of it. every dime of it. >> is there an agreement now to in essence withhold it from iran should they come asking for it? >> none of that money has been spent. and i have no updates to provide today. >> was the decision to reach a quiet understanding with qatar

about whether or not it would be accessed by iran made because of the attack or political pressure recently? >> i'm not going to talk about diplomatic conversations one way or another, ed. what i can tell you is every single dime of that money is still sitting in the qatari bank. not one of it, not one dime of it has been spent. i'd also remind -- because this -- in certain audiences inconvenient facts are easy to fo forget. the regime was never going to see a dime of that money. and this account, although it's moved from south korea to qatar, was set up by the previous administration for this exact purpose. in fact, i think it was back in 2018 the former secretary of state mike pompeo actually talked in quite some detail about how this money and these accounts could only be used for humanitarian purposes and that there was going to be oversight. we've done nothing different. it is the same process. all we've done is move that funds from south korea where for some technical reasons it wasn't accessible to qatar, where it is more accessible. all that said, none of it has been accessed by the iranian --

by iranian -- by iran at all and even if they had accessed it, it wouldn't go to the regime. it would go to approved vendors that we approved to go buy food, medicine and medical equipment, agricultural products and ship it into iran directly to the benefit of the iranian people. >> let me ask you one other. has the united states independently verified the photos released by the israeli prime minister's twitter account today showing the images of dead children? >> i don't think we're going to be in the business of having to validate or approve those images. they're coming from the prime minister of israel. and we have absolutely no reason to doubt their authenticity. >> to follow up on these questions about the $6 billion, i understand iran hasn't accessed any of this yet. it's intended for humanitarian purposes. but there have been reports of this quiet agreement. so yes or no, if iran wanted to access this today, could they?

>> i'm not going to speculate one way or another here about future transactions. what i can tell you is none of it has been accessed and we are watching every dime. as you would expect we would. we're watching it very, very closely. and i'm not -- >> can they still tap into it -- >> i'm not in a position to speak about these press reports. i'm telling you, nothing's been accessed. and we have oversight. we have oversight over what can be accessed and for what purposes. >> and on another topic the president said yesterday that he told netanyahu that it's important even with all of the emotion and anger and frustration that they operate by the rules of war. why does the president feel the need to underscore this point? >> the president feels strongly about law of armed conflict and the proper respect for innocent life anywhere in the world. no matter where it is. and that certainly includes, maybe even especially includes our own military operations. >> but is the president worried that israel may have already violated the rules of war or

that they might going forward? >> it's just part of the conversations we've been having with our israeli counterparts about the prosecution of these military operations. the palestinian people are likewise innocent civilians. they didn't ask hamas to come in and do this. i think it's always on the president's mind, the protection of civilian life. >> one last quick thing. i'm wondering what you made of the former president last night calling the israeli defense minister a jerk, saying that hezbollah was really very smart? >> i'm not going to comment about comments on the campaign trail. that's well beyond the pale for me. >> can you give us an update on the intelligence about iran's role in this, anything changing in terms of what you're seeing, what the u.s. assesses to be iran's role? >> i don't have any updates for you. we're still looking into this but again no direct evidence that iran was a participant in these attacks in any way. but again, we're still monitoring it. we're still looking at it. and if i could i go back, mary, while i'm not going to comment i

would just add that we take seriously our bilateral relationship with israel. we don't get to decide obviously who their cabinet officials are. that wouldn't be our business. but we have strong relationships with them and it's important now that those relationships continue to improve and grow, particularly in this time of crisis. and so we're focused on getting things done and supporting israel. that's where our heads are. >> thanks, karine. admiral, speaking of iran, what did president biden mean yesterday in his remarks when he said he, quote, made it clear to iranians -- >> it refers precisely to his comments the day before about not wanting to see any third party, be it a terrorist group or a nation state, that might have hostile feelings toward israel but thinking that this might be a good time to take advantage of that and to widen and expand the conflict. very much in keeping with what he said the day before. >> well, was that message

communicated to iran or -- >> the president of the united states said it publicly. i think that's pretty good communication. >> thank you, admiral. i'm just wondering if you could explain to us about how the president came to say yesterday that he'd seen pictures of militants beheading children. obviously, it's important to make sure the disinformation doesn't get out. how did he end up saying that? >> he was referring to images i think many of you have seen, certainly your colleagues have reported on. and obviously israeli officials i've spoken to as recently as today. we know that secretary blinken was also shown some additional images by prime minister netanyahu. so, i mean, the thing i think -- just allow me a second here. we all need to be prepared for the fact that there's going to be additional gruesome images coming out and there's going to be some pretty tough reports for all of us to swallow.

this is not over. and all that is -- and certainly the president's comment yesterday, to underscore the utter depravity and the barbaric nature with which these terrorists murdered and butchered innocent israeli civilians. and that further underscores why -- and this is what the president's specific point was yesterday, that we've got to stay with israel. we've got to continue to make sure they have the support that they need. >> has the president actually seen the photos? yesterday there were -- >> a couple of follow-up questions, actually, to what mary had been asking. regarding the issue about abiding by the laws of war, israel does continue to halt supplies of food, other aid materials to gaza. so i'm wondering if the u.s. feels that is an appropriate action by the israelis and if you relayed any concern about that to the israeli government. >> we are having conversations with israeli officials about the continued need for humanitarian assistance for the palestinian people, who are victims here as

well. >> does the u.s. see that as any sort of violation of the -- >> i'm not going to stand up here and put a bumper sticker on it. we are having active conversations as we would anywhere around the world with our israeli counterparts. >> and regarding the former president's comments last night, setting aside the politics of it, do you have any concern that he may have revealed classified information as it relates to the death of soleimani in 2020? >> i'm not in a position to comment on that right now. >> john, the charter flights, are those free of cost to american citizens? >> i'd refer you to the state department. typically they are. but i don't have -- they're still working through the details of how they're going to coordinate these. >> and then on the $6 billion, we know that 100 senators were told on tuesday night that the plan was basically to leave any requests for withdrawals pending indefinitely and now we know that house democrats were told by the deputy treasury secretary behind closed doors this morning

pretty much the same with one added layer, that there's an agreement with qatar not to let those funds be disbursed. i just -- why is it that you won't come out and say that the u.s. does not intend to let this money go to iran? >> jackie, we've always had, since the beginning, we've always had the ability to provide oversight over the disbursement of these funds. we've always had the option if we wanted it to look at transactions and to make a call about whether we found it valid or not. that has not changed. and even now as you and i are speaking, none of that money has been accessed by anybody. it's still all there. >> is it because we think that freezing it essentially again would complicate any negotiations with iran or our ability to get americans home in the future? >> i'm not going to go into any more detail. >> okay. and on the overland and by sea

and by land efforts, i guess why is it that we find ourselves in so many situations trying to get americans out and that it's largely happening, you know, not through a government effort but we're telling, you know, civilians to find their way across a border in a war zone? it happened in ukraine. why is it that we found ourselves in that position so many times, it seems? >> in what position exactly? >> where we're directing american citizens to basically find their way, their own way to u.s. help on the other side. whereas you've got other countries that are sending their military in or doing evacuations in a more formal way. >> well, first of all, americans and dual passport holders live all over the world and sometimes they choose to live in places where bad things happen.

we're not in a position of lecturing to americans where they can go live, work or travel and recreate. number two, they don't have to tell us that they're there. so sometimes it's really hard to get a sense of what the population is. in places like israel there's -- there are a lot of americans. most of them not -- well, maybe not most of them are dual nationals but a lot of americans are there. other nations have smaller populations and they have to make their own decisions about how they're going to handle those smaller populations. we also have to be respect of the needs and the desires of americans who live there. we know that some want to leave. we also know that a lot of them want to stay. it's home. they don't want to go. and we have to respect that as well. so we tailor the approach based on what's going on. and what's going on geographically inside a country because some parts of countries that are in distress are safer than others and people are less likely to want to go. you have to take all that into consideration.

and the other thing i'd say to your question is as this situation evolves you should expect that so too will our approach evolve. and if there's a need to do more or to do it differently, by goodness, we'll do that. but right now in the early hours there was still ample commercial flights going out of ben gurion and certainly there were some viable land routes. we kept -- part of the reason why we're doing this is because we have such good communication with americans and we're having these conversations and we realized that as the situation has evolved more and more americans were expressing a desire to leave and because not all carriers are working out of ben gurion this makes sense as the next move. if we have to adjust it we absolutely will. >> on the day of jihad are we doing anything to fortify the u.s. against any potential activity against americans domestically or abroad given the calls for a day of jihad and your statement yesterday that

now is not the time to go back and look at any intelligence gaps? is it the time being that tomorrow is supposed to be this day of jihad? >> what i meant yesterday was we're focused on making sure that our intelligence sharing with the israelis is as sharp and as good as possible for the operations that they are in. i saw some reporting that made it sound like i blew it off. that is not the case. we understand there will be a need to go back and look at what was missed by whom and when. of course we're going to do that. but we've got to stay focused on the task at hand right now. and as for your second question, absolutely, we are constantly in touch with local law enforcement, state and federal officials across the country to make sure we are as vigilant as we can be to be able to identify and disrupt any threats to the american people. we're absolutely going to stay focused on that. >> john, is the concern about publicly addressing the $6 million as now being frozen a concern that it would suggest

culpability on the part of iran on these specific events, and is that too volatile a statement for the u.s. government to make publicly since clearly it's being communicated privately to lawmakers and others? >> again, i don't have anything more to add on this, kelly. all i can tell you is we haven't seen any specific evidence that iran was involved specifically with these attacks. but as we've said broadly, yes, they're certainly complicit. we're not walking away from the fact that iran has supported hamas and other terrorist networks. so this is not about being unwilling to speak to culpability. we've already spoken to the culpability and complicity of iran with respect to support to terrorist groups. i'm just not able to go into more detail than that. i would tell you that -- again -- >> we've been listening to nsc spokesperson john kirby from the podium in the press room at the white house discussing the

ongoing situation in israel. the nsc spokesperson answering reporters' questions. we're going to keep monitoring that. just some highlights. he confirmed at least 27 americans have been killed in the hamas attacks over the weekend. 14, 14 remain unaccounted for. though the nsc spokesperson says he believes that fewer than a handful are currently being held hostage by hamas. he expressed that the united states is now mobilizing an effort to learn more information, information sharing with israel to get a sense of where they may be, exactly how many there may be and to move forward in recovering those hostages. he also talked about trying to offer resources to americans currently in israel experiencing difficulty in trying to get out. and notably he was asked repeatedly about reporting that is circulating that there was an agreement with qatar to hold on to $6 billion worth of iranian

money that the united states recently unfroze as part of a negotiated deal to release americans that had been detained in iran. he refused to get into that reporting. he did say not a single dollar of that money has been spent. obviously, there are still many questions over just how involved iran may have been in the attacks over the weekend. we want to get? perspective on not only what we just heard from john kirby but also some battlefield perspective as well, from cnn military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric leighton. colonel leighton, thanks so much for being with us. what of what john kirby said stood out to you? >> one of the things in addition to all the things you mentioned, boris, was the allusion to the laws of armed conflict and words by both the secretary of state and the president of the united states that israel must follow the rules of armed conflict. the white house was i think trying to make sure that that message got out without making it too public. but the fact of the matter is there's some concern that israel

will not follow the same rules like we're used to, for example, if the american military goes in there and the concern i think on the white house's part is that it look good in the sense that if israel goes in to a ground invasion, if they actually go into gaza like that that they do it under the strictest control with a minimum of civilian casualties. >> yeah, that is a major concern going into an area like gaza, a very tight strip of land with over 2 million people in it. let's talk about the timeline of a potential ground operation because we're seeing not only a massive number of troops being amassed at the border with gaza but tanks, howitzers as well. >> yes, absolutely. let's go with the howitzers. right here along the gaza border you have israeli howitzers. they have a range of somewhere around 25 miles. and the basic area that they're covering is about this area right in here in this part of gaza, the very northern part of

the area. and when you look at that there are going to be some things that they're going to have to deal with as they go into this. you know, if you go into an urban warfare environment you've got to deal with rockets from the other side. you've got to deal with drones from their side. your drones may also be impacted by that if you're an israeli. tunnels are going to be a major factor. anti-armor attacks could very easily happen. and tanks are going to be actually a major effort in any type of scenario here. tanks like the merkava tanks that the israelis use are going to be present in any type of urban warfare environment and they're going to be present on almost any battlefield you have out there, whether it's in the north or in the south. >> i'm glad you said that because i believe this video is actually from israel's border with lebanon. >> that's correct. >> and there are concerns, if we can go to a map quickly, about israel fighting a war on multiple fronts because you not only have the ongoing situation in gaza, you also have hezbollah

in lebanon, the golan heights in that area near syria. there are obviously groups that are anti-siisrael there. the west bank. the idf could be stretched thin. no? >> absolutely. and this has happened historically before. this happened in 1948 when israel was started. happened in 1956. happened in 1967. and to an extent in 1973 as well. so in each of these cases the exact nations varied a bit, but basically from syria and from egypt you had forces coming into those areas. so israel has had historical experience with that but now what they're dealing with is threats from gaza, potentially threats from the west bank and potentially threats from lebanon and possibly threats from external elements in syria. so those are the things that would concern them most. and that is the kind of environment that israel finds itself in at this point. >> yeah. and to get back to the point you were making a moment ago about the white house sort of

expressing concern over the innocent people in gaza, again, women and children that had nothing to do with the attacks over the weekend. what steps can the idf take to try to save and preserve innocent life? >> so the key thing is how you do your targeting process. it has to be very intelligence-centric. and by intelligence i mean intelligence that not only takes into account the military aspect but also where the civilian population is located, where the hospitals are, where the mosques are. are the mosques being used for only legitimate purposes, same with the hospitals, or are they also being used to house hamas elements? and that has happened before where all of a sudden a hospital will become a legitimate target because it is being use theed by the opposite side, by the adversary. and that is something that has to be sorted out and it's very complex but it has to be done in a legal manner and has to be done very thoroughly and even with all the oversight in the world mistakes are still possible. >> as we've seen historically with hamas, they don't mind

muddying the waters of what is a military target and a civilian one. colonel cedric leighton, we very much appreciate the perspective. thank you, sir. >> you bet, boris. >> still much more to come. our special live coverage of israel at war continues after a quick break.

happening right now house republican members are huddling behind closed doors trying to find a way to end internal division and elect a new speaker of the house. majority leader steve scalise won the conference's nomination but sources tell cnn he still has a ways to go from having enough votes to get the speaker's gavel. let's take you to capitol hill now with cnn chief congressional correspondent manu raju. manu, bring us up to speed. where do things stand right now? >> reporter: yeah, behind closed doors right now steve scalise, the house majority leader and nominee to be speaker of the house, is trying to salvage his bid to run this chamber amid this paralysis that has been going on for more than a week after that unprecedented vote last week to oust kevin mccarthy from the speakership facing that right-wing revolt and votes with

democrats to push mccarthy out. now steve scalise is trying to get the votes but he is simply not there. he can only afford to lose five -- four votes total among republicans. there are more than four republicans who are opposed. there are probably a dozen, maybe up to two dozen. some raising serious concerns including some who i caught up with on their way in, say they're not going to support steve scalise on the floor. they say they're going to support jim jordan, who scalise beat for the republican nomination to become speaker but still plan to vote for jordan showing that at the moment scalise does not have the votes. listen. >> i love steve scalise. he's a good friend. but you know, i'm also really good friends with jim jordan. it's a tough choice for me. but right now i think jim jordan is closer to the magic number. >> i'm never going to just say i'm a never so and so. we're adults, let's go figure out how to lead. but i am not in a positive place right now with respect to steve scalise. >> reporter: now, in this

meeting members are going up to the mike, raising their concerns. scalise is trying to answer each of these concerns. we're told that he has pushed back or at least indicated that he could do the job amid concerns over his own health. scalise is battling blood cancer right now but a treatable form of blood cancer. he says he's in good condition to do that. he's also told members he's not cutting any side deals, not making any concessions with members in order to win the speakership. so he is indicating he is not dropping out at this moment even though the road foto the speakership at the moment appears very, very grim. can he get there? scalise still believes he can. unclear, though, when the vote will happen on the floor or if these types of meetings behind closed doors will continue on until scalise believes he has the votes to try to push it to the floor, try to get his members to vote against it. that remains an open question here as the house remains completely paralyzed as the speakership crisis plays out. boris. >> yeah, some difficult math there for scalise. and manu, there is drama

elsewhere on capitol hill too. federal prosecutors announcing an additional charge against new jersey senator bob menendez and his wife, alleging they conspired to act as foreign agents for egypt. how does this impact him on capitol hill? >> reporter: well, he's already been forced to step aside as chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, but he is still a member of that committee. he still is going to classified briefings. he is still attending closed-door meetings. and he is still a candidate at the moment for re-election in 2024. he has not said whether or not he'll run for re-election explicitly yet, but there have been calls growing among democrats for him to step aside, to resign, and undoubtedly this new charge, very serious one, of the former senate foreign relations committee chairman trying to aid the government of egypt, use his official power in some way, allegations that he has so far denied, that will undoubtedly raise pressure, raise concerns among democrats that he should no longer be part

of this senate democratic caucus and he should no longer be part of the senate at large. the question will be will any action be taken against him, votes to expel him or kick him off committees at the moment? the majority leader of the senate chuck schumer has not indicated that he plans to take any of those steps, but raising still fresh concerns among democrats amid these pretty startling allegations against the democratic senator from new jersey. boris. >> manu raju on capitol hill. please keep us updated with the latest you hear on the race for speaker. let's discuss with a republican who will weigh in on that race. colorado congressman and freedom caucus member ken buck joins us now. he's a member of the foreign affairs and judiciary committees. congressman, thanks so much for sharing part of what i assume is going to be a busy afternoon for you. members are right now behind closed doors with congressman scalise answering their questions. how come you're not there? >> because i'm here. i have talked to steve. i spent a half hour with him last night. and had a great conversation with him. and i told him i would not hold up his nomination. if he gets close, i will support his nomination.

>> you did voice some concerns about him, though. and you did tell my colleague kaitlan collins that you had more -- you were seeking more answers from him. on what specifically? >> well, for one, i want to know whether he's going to put a ukraine funding bill on the floor. right now we have the idea i guess that we would support, have a supplemental bill for ukraine and israel. and i want to make sure that those bills come to the floor so members get to vote on it. >> you would support combining aid for israel and aid for ukraine? >> i would support them separately or combined. >> excellent. so you noted yesterday that there are some seven republican colleagues of yours that are firmly against scalise, some others, perhaps seven or so that are undecided. have you had a chance to speak with them? have you heard any of their concerns that you may try to persuade them against? >> i have heard concerns from a number of them, and that list has actually grown now. i think steve has probably 14 or 15 hard nos against them. i don't think he takes this to

the floor. i think at some point today or tomorrow he makes a decision on whether he's going to withdraw. >> do you have any clarity on what he may be offering them as incentive? >> i think just answers. just like i had concerns about a ukraine and israel supplemental bill i think they have concerns about other issues and they want answers. >> for example, marjorie taylor greene is concerned about his health. nancy mace is concerned about his past links to white supremacist groups. you had voiced concern about him not publicly stating that joe biden won the 2020 election fair and square. can he persuade some of those hard nos do you think? >> well, first of all, i think what marjorie is saying is really unfortunate. the man has treatable cancer. he will get through that. and i think she has other plans for other candidates. the second concern, a number of african american leaders have stood up and supported steve and said he doesn't have a racist bone in his body. and so that to me is unfortunate. i think the concerns are more about policy rather than the person himself. >> i want to get back to the

conversation we should have about israel and aid obviously, this chaos unfolding in the house has frozen the body. do you have any concerns that it might delay aid to israel, this ongoing fight over speaker? >> we have not had a request from the administration. in my. there isn't one in the pipeline. i don't think we are in danger of harming our relationship with israel or israel's ability to fend off this crisis. >> on the potential for harming the relationship with israel, former president trump, the current front run her in 2024 for the republicans, he blasted benjamin netanyahu, and he criticized israeli intelligence. he claimed before hamas attacked, thousands of people knew about it and they let this slip by. how much influence do you think those remarks have on the republican base? >> i don't think those remarks are helpful. they didn't have any influence

on me. i don't think there's any facts to back up what the president said right there. >> but you don't think that might influence people within the base or fellow republican lawmakers, many of whom have shifted their positions on things like ukraine, based on what the former president said. >> no, i don't. i think people understand the significance of israel. people understand the cultural ties that israel has to the united states, ask we're not backing away from either the republican party or america is not back wag from our commitments to israel. >> it seems all but certain we're going to see a ground operation into gaza. what do you think the end goal should be there? >> i think benjamin netanyahu and others have stated very clearly what the end goal is, to make sure this never happens again. that hamas does not have the military capability to do this. that the tunnels have been sealed. that israel is in a more secure position. >> are you concerned about the loss of civilian life that may come from an extended military

presence for israel in gaza? >> any loss of civilian life is should be squarely put on the shoulders of hamas and not on the shoulders of israel. they have every right to go in and defend themselves. there will be loss of life. it's tragic, but it is an unfortunate situation. >> are you concerned if israel succeeds and they eliminate hamas what might take its place? >> it won't take its place very quickly. i believe that israel will have gaza in control for a number of years. obviously, there will be a void. there will be a vacuum. it will get filled. but i'm not concerned. i think israel had has a very clear understanding of how fragile its neighbors and the relationship with its neighbors are. >> congressman ken buck, we appreciate the conversation. thank you for joining us. still ahead, we're following the latest on the ground in israel. a dire situation unfolding now in gaza. "cnn news central" returns in a

few minutes.

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[ cheers ] yeah! woho! running up and down that field looks tough. it's a pitch. get way more into what you're into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. executives at x say the company has removed hundreds of hamas-affiliated accounts along with thousands of posts since start of the war. this after the eu wrote a letter to x and facebook urging the companies to take down misleading posts and videos is and comply with european law. cnn has a look at the threat of

misinformation and down right lies that have gone viral in recent days. >> reporter: this might look like a video of a real soldier firing a real rocket the at an aircraft. it was posted on x with the caption "more power to you, hamas." but it's not real. it's actually a clip from a video game. despite that, it's been viewed more than half a million times on x. the viral clip is just one of many pieces of misinformation that spread rapid ly on the platform in the hours after hamas launched a surprise attack against israel. after elon musk took over twitter last year, he laid off thousands of employees, including many responsible for come the baaing misinformation on the platform. now to help find false content, they rely on community notes a

crowd-sourced fact check system like this one added to the pot of a post. mosque's changes to verification is also causing confusion. before a blue badge was proof a person or organization was who they said they were, but now anyone can buy a verified account with a blue check mark and they are boosted by the algorithms and the people who run them have a chance to make money from their posts. this video is shared by a blue badge account and has been viewed nearly 2 million times. the video shows militants capturing senior israeli officials, but this is false. it is actually a video of authorities arresting separatist leaders. >> our thanks for that report. i'm boris sanchez coming t