we just have had a massive barrage of rockets. >> i'm so sorry. >> it's okay. >> that pain is echoed b

♪ you're watching "cnn news central." i'm boris sanchez with brianna keilar. we want to go straight to anderson cooper, where sirens are going on. what's going on? >> sirens have not occurred here for really today, certainly over

the last several days. they're quite extensive sirens. you hear them all over tel aviv. it started maybe 30 seconds ago. it remains to be seen. if rockets do come, they generally come from that direction -- that sounded like an iron dome interception. that was a rather large explosion. that is something we have nod heard very much here in tel aviv. no, i think we're fine in this location. matthew, what do you think, was that an iron dome interception? >> i vice president hearty anything like that dinse sorb. >> and interesting that the sirens stop as soon as that hit. i'm assuming that was an interception by iron dome, but there's cloud cover here, we didn't actually see the rocket, but there's quite a large explosion, and it is sirens had

now stopped the there was an araid maybe a 45-second warnings, but tel aviv i haven't seen it that empty since 2006 when i was here. it's already late at night, but this city is largely -- businesses are shut down, people are off the street. it would be rammed by people at the start of the weekend. but for me, it just shows you that despite of pounding that gaza has been taken over the course of the past several days at the hands of this israeli air force, they've been hitting hard in various locations. as we've been discussing earlier today, they went in on the ground for limited incursion to

take on you the threats posed by the rocket firing militants. they're still getting rockets into the sky. they're showing some resilience in the sense -- and determination that despite what's going on in gaza, they're still firing rockets into tel aviv. >> that's the first time we've heard something that close in the last few days. let's talk about the raids in gaza itself, said to be small raids. >> yes, small, limited raids. any part, they're according to the military, they're intended to take out sites where the rockets are being launched from. you see they still have a lot of

work to do. but they're also looking for hostages inside the gaza strip. remember, what complicates in military operation, more than anyone other incursion we have seen in recent years, they're missing 100, 150 hostages inside the gaza strip being held at secret locations. the idf is managing manual forces raids, investigation in an attempt to try to free them. they're doing everything they can to make that happen before the big land invasion takes place. i spoke recently with the newly appointed manager of the -- and he's been meeting with the families of those abducted, assuring them that everything possible is now being done. part of that is the military action. >> hamas has made the claim that at least a dozen hostages have died in some of the bottom bcan

be bombardments that israel has been doing. it's unconfirmed? >> reporter: it's unverified, yes, but the militants have yesterday, yes, that's what happening and it's a warning with the pointing air strikes, laying whole neighbors to waste, turning into rubble. it's not just palestinians being killed, but potential those hostages as well. again, this extraordinarily complicates any military plan to go in. >> right. the israelis do not want to be bringing out, you know, 100 to 150 bodies after this military operation. they want the hostages out alive if they can, but it's hard. we should also talk about the call by israel for palestinians in gaza, as many as 1.1 million, to move to the south of gaza, to get out of the way of potential fighting. >> reporter: yeah, it's a big

ask. i think that's what antony blinken said. it's extremely difficult for over a million people to move everything, move themselves from their homes in gaza city, in the north of the gaza strip to the south of the gaza strip, where they have no, no homes, no shelleder. there are already desire shortages of medical supplies, food, water. and that type of movement of people will push that population over the brink. that's why there's so much emphasis diplomatically on trying to negotiate a humanitarian corridor, where these -- some of these are u.s. citizens and other countries as well. they can get themselves out of harm's why into the safety of a human marine sen clive, if that is negotiated, or into egypt

across the rafah border, but so far, the egyptians are not allowing that to happen. >> reporter: we should also point out hamas is not encouraging this. they're not making it easy. they're not providing transportation to get civilians out of harm's way. they want people to say where they were for political reasons and also military reasons. >> reporter: i think so. the principal being, in the past of the palestinian struggle for statehood, once palestinians leave a territory, they're not able to come back into it again. the whole region is filled with palestinian refugee camps, for those who left their homes in the '40s, '50s or '70s. they have never managed to get back again. but militarily, you're right, it's much more complicated for the israeli military to carry

out a military operation full of civilians. that makes it easier, and much harder for those militants to defend. >> you may be hearing a recording. that's a recording from the building that we're in, management announcing that, for people who did seek shelter in stairwells, that they're able to come out, even though the air raid sirens had gone quiet quite a while ago. they have just announced in the building that people can come out from the shelters. this is just a fact of life here. we could also talk a bit about what's going on on the border with lebanon. that, of course, if there is another front to this war that opens up, it would very likely be against hezbollah on that northern border that would complicate things extraordinarily. >> reporter: it could complicate

things. it would be potential very bloody as well. the possibility of a second front opening in the north of israel, with the iranian-backed hezbollah militia, which is in southern lebanon, fire its arsenals of rockets into northern israel could be cat trophic for the israeli population. there are already measures underway to clear out the population centers in northern israel, building underground hospitals, putting lots of military facilities up there to prepare for the pocket of a hezbollah strike, but also geopolitically, it's a real -- we're on the brink if blaze decides, as they did in 2006, when we were born in northern israel, witnessing what happened then. if hezbollah gets involved this time, it could be a massive military response, possibly bringing in the united states. remember, the u.s. have their biggest aircraft carrier off the

coast of israel in the eastern mediterranean. they said they put it there to deer terr other actors, meaning hezbollah and iran from getting involved. because iran gives the orders, it potential puts iran in the cross-hairs as well. that's something, i think, everybody wants to avoid a broader middle eastern war, is trying to, you know, avoid it at all cost. >> matthew chance, thanks very much. we appreciate it. more from the region now. we have learned that u.s. intelligence community warned the biden administration and israeli-plenty can clash could happen days before the hamas attack occurred. we want to go to katie. it would seem there's not a details, but not a specific warning, but in general. talk about what the intelligence community saw.

>> there were three leading up to the devastating attack on october 7th. the first one, a u.s. intelligence assessment from september 28th, based on multiple streams of intelligent warned of the possibility that hamas was poised to escalate. a second october 5th, intelligence assessment from the cia warned sort of more generally for the possibility of a sudden rush of violence in between hamas and israel. and another report on the pardon of by hamas, kind of the day before the attack. as you mentioned, what's really important, of all of these three reports, noun of them offered a very specific picture of the scope, the scale, the sort of

specific plotting that went into this attack that, of course, wound up being so massive and so devastating, right? it offered what the intelligence community thinking of as there's the potential for an outbreak of violence. none of these reports offered what they think of as tactical warning, individual details of the planning of this attack. we should point out we obviously don't know the source of this intelligence or how it was collected, but you made the point in the last hour, the u.s. gets a lot of intelligence from israel, particularly related to what's going on in gaza. would israel have had this information as well. >> certainly we understand one of the reports was in fact an israeli report, but in terms of the two u.s. assessments, a lot of the intelligence reporting that the united states has on

the activities in hamas and what goes on inside of gaza, which is a closed space, a lot of that raw reporting couple times from the israelis that doesn't mean the united states take assessments at face value, they kind of take that reporting, and then feed it through the united states' own sort of assessment and analysis process, and they draw their own conclusion about what the intelligence community thinking is happening. much of it is underlying information coming from israel it itself. kind of its own information doesn't make a who the love the sense while israel itself to the united states wasn't necessarily raising any alarm bells that they thought these kind of strategic warning of potential violence were maybe anything different than sort of what had been seen in this region and in this conflict, you know, over

the course of years. some sources we spoke to pointed out, look, warnings about potentially violence in between hamas and israel are a regular feature. they show up in hot spots, and just about every day. so, for i think many israeli intelligence officials as well as many u.s. officials who were reading these reports, they were viewing this as likely part and parcel of what we have seen for many years, not on the scale of what they say. katie bo lillis, thank you very much. we want to get a per spect frif from retired general spencer, co-author of the book "understanding urban warfare." we understand they're looking for hostages, also targeting specific -- in terms of actually

locating hostages in a situation like this. how much does the presence of hostages affect the planning for a ground operation? >> it's extremely complex, as you know. it's basically a city under a city where the hostages could be and where they're being move even from that, but based on intelligence, they moved forward to rescues hostages or collect more intelligence, but these are signs to me of the impending ground campaign as those small raids, tests hamas' defense are part of the larger operation as well. can you explain what you middle eastern? >> sure, operations before you launch what we call a decisive operation. you want to surprise the other side on whether you're going and

different things you're doing. same way we tried to convince fallujah, and small attacks like this to shape that part of the operation, on where the enemy thinking you're coming from. >> there's lot of military forces -- from a military standpoint, let alone a humanitarian standpoint, it's in israel's best interest to have fewer civilians in the areas that they want to operate in. >> that's right, but now we're talking about legal obligation. both sides have legal obligations to protect civilians. you covered the battle in masul. the longer they way, the more civilians get out. the longer they wait, hamas gets to trap people, just like isis

did in the battle of masul. where they prepare for their use and prepare their defenses. with the hostages, too, it's a paradox. if you wait longer, myoare most cost. if you go faster, more cost. i know the u.n. said it's impossible. i don't believe that, but if they establish sites in gaza for these people to go. the operation is going to happen, by all signs. >> it is. we have seen mass migrations. it's just peach evacuating. we've seen hundreds of thousands move in short order. again, massive complications. it is not something that anybody

would want to have happen, bur you're saying, is it possible for that amount of people to november in a short period of time? >> absolutely. to be honest, anderson, this isn't the first call, right? it's extremely different. not impossible. the idea of having -- you wouldn't call them green quarters at this point, but go down this road. the problem is the other side who has the duty to protect civilians is telling civilians to stay. they're broadcasting on the hamas broadcasting, broadcasting, stay where you're at. >> major john spencer, i appreciate your expertise. thank you. boris, brianna, back to you. back to capitol hill, republicans are debating who should be their next nominee, again, for speaker of the house,

jim jordan and austin scott are vying for the necessary votes, so congress can become unfrozen. let's get an update from melanie zanona. we understand a vote is happening right now behind closed doors? >> reporter: it feels like groundhog day, because once again they're huddled behind closed doors, trying to nominate a no many knee for the speaker. on scalise pulled out, and you saw kevin mccarthy walking by. he told us earlier that he believes jim jordan will ultimately have the votes. then you have a new candidate, who just entered the race a bit ago, austin scott, a georgia republican, but he is seen as

more of the anti-jordan alternative, trying to say jordan doesn't have this sewed up. a lot of steve scalise allies, who feels like this whole process just really burned them and their choice for leader, which was steve scalise. we'll see whether they line up behind him today. even if gym jordan does come out of his conference meeting, the big question is, does he have the votes on the house floor? that was something that bedeviled steve cleese and kevin mccarthy, and it looks like jim jordan will run into similar problems. it's unclear when they'll have a floor vote. they are dealing with some attendance issues, some lawmakers skipped town, but the goal is to rally around someone, so they can get back to business and actually govern. rite now the house is paralyzed. boris? >> all of the importance of

showing up, and you're seeing that play out. mel anyone zanona, thank you so much. president biden spoke to the families of the americans who are still missing. any mind now, the president is expected to address this crisis. we're going to take those remarks live. plus, the first state department charter fight to evacuate american sit sean h has -- citizens has left israel. that and much more.

the war rages on. >> that's right. any moment here, president biden is expected to address the situation. he's actually speaking at an event in philadelphia, talking about bidenomics, but he is going to talk about israel as well. we will be bringing you those comments, as soon as the president gets started. this is coming, as some of his top officials are holding

meetings across the middle east. you see secretary austin and secretary blinken making multi-wall stops through the region. oren, what are we learning? >> reporter: they're in the middle east right now, especially with one in israel, it's a message of strong support from the biden administration. listen to what austin said a short time ago. >> this is no time for neutralities or false equivalence, or for excuses for the inexcusable. there is never a justification for terrorism. that's especially true after this rampage by hamas. anyone who wants lasting peace and security for this region

must condemn and isolate hamas. blinken versus a series of other meeting, including with qatar, trying to find a way forward on hostage rescue efforts, as well as international aid associations, for safe zones and a way out for civilians. and a new reporting on a marine rapid reaction force, capable of conducting special operations, how they are making preparations in case these u.s. forces are ordered to go to israel. >> this is the 26th marine expeditionary unit that was sent there in july. multiple usual officials have told us that they're preparing as part of the am biphibious gr.

that order has not come from secretary austin or the navy, but they have tasks they must be able to complete, include humanitarian operations, as well as rescue efforts. this is the exact sort of unit you may need there. it also would be there, strong, a show of support, on top of the "uss gerald ford" that arrived a few days ago. >> of course, there's so many dual citizens, so many americans in israel, i know you're learning something about this first chartered flight that has departed israel. what can you tell us? >> the first flight, the nsc, national security council wouldn't say where it's headed, only that it's somewhere in europe. from tel aviv, there's a number

of options there. they said they'll keep the flights going, as long as there is a demand. you point out one of the key issues, how much of a demand is there? many of the american citizens are dual american-israeli citizens, and not tourist looking to get out. oren liebermann, please stand by. let's get to kayla touche at the white whoa. he's been very vocal about his support in israel. what are we anticipating he will say? >> reporter: we expect a very familiar message from president biden in philadelphia, talking about bidenomics. even though that are wars rages overseas, there are still political battles to fight here at home. americans are viewing the economy poorly, and his advisers believe his message on the economy can and will break

through. we do expect him to lead his remarks by talking about an emotional conversation he convened virtually with the family of americans who are believed to be held hostage in the region. that is something that the white house has told us to expect, but it just shows you the juxtaposition of president biden's week. on the one hand, you have these routine events look the speed on the economy, a rose garden event talking about junk fees, and these force of aniand poignant messages he's delivered to the american people and the country of israel, as the u.s. issues a forceful response. there are also various conversations about mow best to help israel. several top lawmakers at the white house today, to talk about potential funding packages for israel, ukraine, taiwan and the u.s.-mexico border, that the u.s. may have to unlock existing

aid if there's no speaker of the house that can approve such a package. kayla, let's listen to president biden there in philadelphia. sorry to interrupt. >> by the way, i'm a big pennsylvania guy, one, i married a philly girl. two, you're being scranton and wilmington. you guys have no sense of humor, man. look, ryan, thanks for the introduction. i really mean it. before i get started, i want to acknowledge two brave police officers, on a serious note, were shot last night. one was killed. i talked to the chief and the mayor about this. they put their lives on the line to protect this community. we owe them a debt of gratitude. we are praying for them and their families a good. i also cant to say a word about the situation in israel. the more we learned about the

attack, the more horrifying it becomes. more than 1,000 innocent lives lost, includes these 27 americans. these guys make al qaeda look pure. they're pure evil. i said from the beginning, make no mistake about it, the united states stands with israel. [ applause ] >> skosh of state blinken was in israel yesterday, secretary austin is there today, making thursday israel has i did needs to defend itself and respond to these attacks. it's also a priority for me to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in gaza. at my direction, our teams are working in the region, including communicating directly with the governments of israel, egypt, jordan and other nations, to surge humanitarian support.

we can't lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of palestinians had nothing to do with hamas, and hamas' appalling attacks. they're suffering as a result as well. this morning i spoke with the family americans of all those americans who are still unaccounted for, on a zoom call for about an hour, 10, 15 minutes. they're going through agony, not knowing the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children are. it's gut-wrenching. i assured my personality economiment to do everything possible and return every missing american to their families. we're working around the clock to secure the release -- in close cooperation with israel and our partners around the region. we will not stop until we bring them how home. now the reason for being here,

secretary granholm, no one is more enthusiastic about clean energy. and also, i have so many friends here, josh shapiro, mary kennedy, one of my closest friends in politics, bobby case yegg, brandon boyle has always been there and governor carney a. john carpenter. so you are listening to joe biden with an economic message in philadelphia, but also comments about israel and addressing the humanitarian crisis that's unfolding, they are talk to go egypt and jordan as they're trying to get resources together. >> to applause, the president reiterated his message that america stands with israel.

. the president saying they spoke with the families of americans who are missing. saying, we will not stop until we bring them home. we're going to keep monitoring the president's remarks and anything else he might say. we'll be right back with our special coverage in just moments.

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i'm not going to give you additional details. it's only the beginning. >> that was israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu moments ago, saying it is only the beginning. after a week of strikes on gaza, we're watching a number of fast-moving developments. israel defense forces say troops have raided gaza over the past 24 hours, looking for hostages. large-scale strikes continue in gaza, with israeli tanks on the border, ahead of what's likely to be some sort of ground incursion. the israeli military has ordered people to move to the south. the united nations calls that impossible, that's their word. jonathan from the idf joins me now. first of all, the raids that have taken place in gaza, what more can you say about that?

>> yes, hi, thank you for having me. we are trying to solve a 1,300-piece puzzle, to collect, understand and account for each and every israeli. so far we have been able to match most of the bodies of dead israelis with their identities, and to understand what is dead, who is missing, and who we presume is being held hostage. the operations that you refer to, those raids were aimed at collecting intelligence and understanding and shedding more light on where we are, i'm happy to say we did find some useful intelligence to dis-ambiguous the situation a bit. it's a massive operation all over israel to locate where our hostages are, and to find a way

to get them out. >> have you been confirmed that claim at all? >> no, hamas is a lying, despicable terrorist organization, an i think their credible is nonexistent. i would take anything that hamas said -- they also threatened to execute hostages if we don't stop bombing military targets in gaza. i'm not aware of any confirmation, and i'm definitely aware of the fact that hamas would likely try to place responsibility on anybody else but themselves. let's be clear. hamas is responsible for the safety of those hostages, and

ultimately they will pay the price for what they have done. >> the israeli government has warned residents in gaza to move south, wanting more than a million to move south in the next 24 hours. there's humanitarian organizations that say that's impossibility. hamas has told people not to move. to you, what does that say about hamas and why they want people there? >> first of all, i think the people who claim that it's impossible will be proven wrong. i think that history teaches us whenever a person is fighting for his life and is in a mortal dangers people are able to accomplish quite significant things. i think palestinians in gaza understand if they stay in gaza city in the north, they have endangering themselves much more

than necessary, and it is in their interest of self-preservation to move south of the gaza river. it comes as no into surprise to us that hamas with a long and documented track record of war crimes and of using their own civilians as human shields, using civilian infrastructure for their military activities, and firing from schools, mosque, hospitals, infirmries, near to judgists, it's no surprise telling their citizen don't heed the warnings, don't go south. it makes no sense. the only sense it makes is ma has wants to exasperate the humanitarian situation and at the jeopardy of the lives of its own civilians. >> the presence of the hostages, how much does it compromise or impact on the military

operations that israel is planning this is by mar the most unprecedented challenge we have faced. the sheer scope and complexity, and the amount of people, that they're held in a hostile area that's inaccessible as of now, for us, and likely prepared in advance, makes it very, very challe challenging i would say the aim is to dismantle the military capabilities of hamas. that's what we doing now and what we'll continue to do. >> jonathan conricas, thank you for your time. >> thank you. we're going to teak a short

break. our coverage continuing in a moment.

. this is a secret ballot election in which jim jordan, house judiciary committee chairman, is the favorite in this closed -- in this election to nominate the next speaker of the house. he is facing a congressman named

austin scott from georgia, someone who has been concerned about all of the events of the last week. the historic and unprecedented nature of the events ousting then speaker of the house kevin mccarthy on the floor, first time it ever happened in history. since then the badly divided party has tried to figure out way forward trying to decide whether or not to get behind any candidate for the pooeshg, but there's a problem no one has been able to secure the votes to become speaker of the house. this vote will be very important because even if jim jordan does win the nomination, that doesn't mean he has the votes to be elected speaker of the house. the key thing to watch here is the number of votes against him, the number of votes for austin scott. assuming jordan wins here, the majority of the 221 members, how closely to the 217 vote threshold, if he is far below that number there will be pressure on him to step aside and see if there's another candidate that can emerge. if he's closer perhaps he will try to push ahead and try to get

more votes on his side. he has indicated for some time that he wants to have 217 votes behind him before going to the house floor. but has he changed his approach? i've tried to ask that question several times today, and he has not said one way or the other other than the fact that we're going to try and push to get 217 votes. if jordan falters because he cannot get members to his side, then other candidates may jump into the race in the incredibly chaotic situation caused by republican infighting that led to the speaker's ouster and the paralysis in the house and, of course, guys, nothing can get done in this house until they elect a new speaker, adding such a sense of urgency to this moment as they try to select a new candidate to he potentially bring the house out of paralysis. >> it was interesting, earlier you asked former speaker kevin mccarthy if he was worried this chaotic process was going to cost republicans the majority.

do they have a sense of how this looks, not just to voters, but to people around the world, whether it's allies or foes of the u.s.? >> yeah. they almost universally believe they look terrible. almost every single member recognizes that. even though they recognize that they cannot find consensus because of how narrowly divided this conference is in a handful of members that scuttled their plans going forward. that's what's happened this whole time. so will it happen again is the key question. >> manu raju covering what is even by republicans' own admission quite a mess there on capitol hill. thank you for that report. up next, law enforcement agencies in the u.s. and more around the world are on high alert as many are taking to the streets, major cities here in the u.s. taking extra precautions. stay with us for that story. rs!

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for those who are pro-palestinian saying this is about frooeg palestine and what we hear from the chants here in the crowd saying free, free palestine. we've spoke to one palestinian who said look, we understand the concerns over hamas and we are not in favor of hamas, but they are facing a humanitarian crisis and this is why the thousands and thousands of them have come out here to voice their support

for the palestinian people. it's a diverse crowd i should note. some of these folks are just here because they are anti-war. they have done other protests like this across new york city. but overall the concern here so far from folks has been the humanitarian crisis that could develop and they're out here now voicing their support for the palestinian people. that's why we're seeing thousands and thousands. other rallies like this in new york city, with this by far the largest one since here the war began. >> shimon prokupecz reporting live from a rally in new york city, thanks so much. , obviously, a lot of news that we have been following today and hearing from the president as well who spoke to the families of americans who are still believed to be held hostage in gaza in promising american help. so many things developing when