hello, everyone. i'm kate bolduan with john berman in new york, and sara sidner is in jerusalem, and this morning israel is ramping up air strikes. they are coupled with raids thaz enter the quote, unquote next phase of the war the take out hamas. t this is some the video this morning of some the aftermath of the strikes in gaza. now, the humanitarian crisis is dire, and system of the aid is

coming in through egypt. our crews have spotted a third convoy headed to gaza carrying food, water and medical supplies. >> overnight, the idf have upped the amount of people kidnapped in october 7th, and as many as 222 could be held hostage inside of gaza, and this would be the 17th day in captivity, presumably somewhere within the gaza strip. this morning u.s. officials tell cnn there are still 10 americans unaccounted for. it is not clear if all are hostages or not. the u.s. does not know the condition of any american hostages at this point. we will get right to the ground. our friend sara sidner is in jerusalem this morning. sara, give us the latest. >> hey, john and kate. the idf has said it launched a series of strategic raids along the contact line with gaza

overnight. it is coming as israel is going to ramp up the bombardments ahead of the possible ground incursion which could be coming quite soon. i want to let you know what has been happening here, and things have been relatively quiet in jerusalem itself, and in the west bank some definite unrest over the weekend where there have been protests, and we are hearing of the many, many raids going on, and dozens of arrests by the israeli defense forces arresting the palestinians, and there have also been since october 7th about 90 palestinians who have been killed by the israeli military or the settlers in the west bank, so things are not quiet across this part of israel and the palestinian territories. i do want to mention what is going on in gaza, as you have touched upon. it is really a humanitarian catastrophe. we know there are 34 trucks that did finally get into gaza over

the weekend, and that is just simply about 3 to 4% that comes in when there is no war coming n but the blockade is still in place. one of the things that really strikes you is of course the number of people who have been killed. the palestinian health ministry saying 5,000-plus people now have been killed in gaza, but also those who were caring for those who have been injured which is in past 10,000 people, and the doctors and the nurses in the hospitals, and some of which have been operating without any power. i want to let you hear from a palestinian red crescent director general who talked to us about just what those doctors and nurses are going through as they have to live in this humanitarian crisis and do their work without much help. >> a few days ago, we didn't have food for our medical teams

in the north, so we had to bring in our colleagues who risked their lives moving from younis in the south to feed our medical teams who, by the way, have been working for the last two weeks working around the hour. there are no shifts or extra teams in order to have some of them to take a rest. and of course, the number of injuries are huge. >> so that is marwan jilani who is the director general of the palestinian red crescent society, and he was helping to get the relief aid through the egyptian border, and he said it is a humanitarian catastrophe and he says there has to be a humanitarian corridor that has to be allowed as israeli is

continuing bombardment on gaza. i want to get to the cnn diplomatic editor nic robertson who is on the border there in gaza near sderot in israel, and you have been watching an incredible amount of bombardments that have been happening over the last 24 hours. and you have been seeing a huge mass of israeli military who have come to the border. can you give us some sense of what things look like today and what you have been seeing and hearing? >> yeah. big number of military strikes and very sustained late yesterday and this morning and quieter through the day, and there has been an occasional incoming rocket into this location here, and an occasional israeli missile strike coming in, and there was a plume of smoke behind me there, and across the border there, and

multiple pressures on the israeli prime minister and the military as they figure out what to do next, and pressure from the international partners who say to pause for the humanitarian aid, and that is a concern for prime minister n netanyahu who is feeling that is supporting hamas on the ground, and they feel a pressure from within israel who want to see hamas setback, because they are very concerned about those horrendous attacks just over two weeks ago, but when you are talking to the troops along the front line, well, we have been told to be ready, and told to standdown, but it is when you are looking at the troops along close to the troops of gaza that an incursion is coming, and precisely when, we don't know. >> reporter: bristling with battle-ready troops, farmers fields north of gaza churn with the controlled fury of a nation

readying for an incursion to strike hamas, yet, they are waiting with no explanation why. it feels like the early rush for battle readiness has passed, and the troops are deployed, standing by, and the question is how long can they be kept out here? according to the former idf general israel yiv, as long as needed there are military gains. >> we are improving our intelligence and our capacity of targets. >> reporter: but the political calculation here is more complicated. >> i think that both in washington and in jerusalem they understand that the legitmation, legitization window is closing quickly. >> reporter: civilian losses in gaza are growing. more than one-third of them children according to the

palestinian health officials. lengthy negotiations have led to two american hostages released. a tiny amount of humanitarian aid has crossed into gaza that israel is fearing ends up in hamas' hands. benjamin netanyahu's calculus of when to stend in ground troops has never been more fraught from the white house for more hostage releases. >> netanyahu has a real problem, because he cannot say no to biden, but he cannot say yes to the humanitarian aid that drifts into northern gaza. >> reporter: but he is also under pressure at home, too. military and others hawkish for a decisive blow against hamas. >> we are finishing preparing, you know, the gun force, because we have changed plans, and we

are going for the heavy maneuvering. >> reporter: netanyahu's plans are dependent on the american weapons. >> the pressure from washington is real. it is real and strong and the prime minister says many times to his ministers, listen, we are getting from the united states more than you know. >> reporter: where less than a week ago, the fields were teeming with tanks, and the troops making last-minute repairs, today, there are tracks in the sand. there is a soldier's jacket here and bread and a bag on the table, and the question is where have all of the tanks gone? forward for an incursion or back to base for a pause. close to the front line in gaza these days, more questions than

answers. an incursion is still highly probable, but when. and those soldiers on the front lines then waiting to find out, and it seems today, they will be asking the same question, and perhaps no answer by nightfall again. sara? >> yes, and you have and we have been hearing that it is not a matter of if but when. we will be seeing it, and we don't have to wait too long according to some of the sources in the idf. nic robertson, thank you so much for all of your reporting there on the border in gaza. >> and nic talking about the anticipation and anxiety of what is this approaching ground action into gaza, and the anxiety is felt particularly in a more salient way with people who have family on to front lines. linda and bruce mildruff's

daughter joined the front lines, and we have not showing her picture for safety, but obviously any parent of a child serving in a military anywhere is proud, and has some trepidation in the day-to-day circumstances, but this is not even day-to-day, and what have the last two weeks been like for you? >> miserable. they have been sleepless. they have been full of sadness and grief and shock and anger and worry. we worry all the time. not just for our daughter, but for all of the soldiers, and it's a -- our daughter drafted through guardians of our which connects lots of soldiers, and so we think of them, and we worry a lot, and we cry a lot.

>> what have you heard -- >> and we sleep very little. she has been very good about reaching out and connecting even if it is a quick text or if we call, she tries to pick up. she can talk for a few minutes, great, and if not, she says i cannot talk, but wanted to pick up. she knows that without that, we would have lost our minds by now. >> how is she doing, and how has she done over the last two weeks? >> she has blown us away, and she has a strength that we didn't know, and i am not sure that she knew that she had, and she is going to have a lot to process after, but there is time to process, but in realtime, things are moving and going so fast that she has enormous

amount of grief from friends who have died, and trying to process being terrified. these are kids. these are kids that are on the front lines. they are kids that are put through a lot, and a lot to deal with. >> we recognize that right now in israel no one is safe. and that is tough for us to process. >> no one is okay. >> she knows people that were killed? >> she does. >> several in her unit were killed. >> you have a son -- >> and she went to at least one funeral. >> and she going to funerals as she is preparing for what is ground activity into gaza. and i was going to say that your son is a college student in israel who came home, and i think i imagine for the holidays

and he is still in the united states, and what are your feelings and his feelings of going back to isisrael? >> he wants to go back. he is a college student there, and he feels a lot of emotion, and he is guilty lying here in a comfortable bed when he knows a lot of soldiers that are in their situation. he wants to contribute. it is what he feels is his country, and if nothing else, the humanitarian efforts, and we, we and he realize that he needs to wait a little bit longer before we make that decision so that as we see where things evolve. >> we are fully supportive of him going back, because that is what he wants. >> he will be back. he will be back soon, and we will all be back. >> bruce, i have to let you both go now, but you are a tv guy, but let me ask you, have you guys been glued to the tv?

do you want more information or do you try to keep it tuned out as much as possible? >> for the first week and a half, i was off social media completely. i did not watch the news, and since then albeit slowly getting back in. linda is a little different, and she is all consuming, and she wants to know everything. i guess, you know, opposites attract. >> well, we are wishing you. >> it is so hard to see the news. what is happening. >> it has to be hard. it has to be so hard to watching everyday knowing that your daughter is right there in the middle of it. our best to you and our best to your daughter and safety to everyone on the ground there. and bruce and linda mildwurf, thank you. kate. >> house republicans are a mess by their own admission over the

paralysis in the house. of the nine republicans now trying to win the gavel, we will speak to their colleagues today. how can anyone win enough of their fellow republicans over at this point to get that seat in that position? we have more coming up. plus, as israel is preparing for the next phase, the biden administration is asking israel to delay a ground incursion, and what that means for israel and for the hopes of getting more hostages out. later, the push to get more aid into gaza for the civilians there, and the u.n. relief agency saying that fuel is as urgently needed as food and water for the people there.

later today, the house republicans will meet behind closed doors to begin again the process of nominating someone to become speaker of the house after jim jordan's failed attempts. nine candidates have now thrown their hat into the ring, and unclear if any of them will gather the 217 votes they would need to win on the house floor. cnn's chief congressional correspondent manu raju is on capitol hill, and where the heck are we, manu? >> well, yeah, look, it is unclear if any of the nine candidates are actually get elected speaker. t or will they meet with the same

fate as steve scalise and jim jordan as this badly divided congress after the unprecedented ouster of kevin mccarthy as speaker of the house at the hands of his own colleagues almost three weeks ago tomorrow. can it be resolved this week or going into next week. sot many issues are waiting for action and nothing can be done until the republicans handle this crisis they have been battling for internally for weeks. these nine candidates will a take their case to the colleagues, and give a pitch and answer some questions, and then tomorrow, the vote of the leadership election which is going to be a nominating contest to require half of the republican conference, and whoever gets a majority of the vote will be a nominee for the speaker, but the majority of the 221 conference is not 217 votes on the house floor which is what this person can ultimate nominee

will need, and they cannot lose more than four republicans and the floor, and so how this ends is anyone's guess. there is a guess that tom emmer may be the favorite, but it is a secret election, and so it is clear, but getting 217 votes is a tall order for the nine. >> and nine is a lot going into tomorrow to begin with. m manu raw -- raju, keep us posted. >> so, this is going to put us squarely at square one, david chalian. and so i am trying to figure out what they can learn from the last three weeks? >> well, one thing they can learn is that they need to get the ducks in a row before they get to the floor. this is not january as jim jordan just learned where there

is permission slip from the conference to gut it out and go 15 rounds. we saw with jim jordan after three rounds here, the conference regrouped and actually voted for him to step down as speaker designate, and they no longer wanted him to be the nominee after the three failed rounds, and that is one lesson to be learned here, and that is getting the vote counting right so that you know that you have a path to 217 on the floor. >> and if anyone has a path to 217 on the floor which is not clear in any way right now, and so my question, david, is at what point will there be a solution that does involve some democratic votes. there was a chance for that last week, and the republicans balked at doing that. do you think that they are moving closer to the inevitability now, and i will keep talking if you need a drink of water, but if you can answer, go ahead. >> john, i appreciate it. but i have no sense that they

are closer now. >> all right. >> take another sip of water. and here is the things because i want to continue talking now, because when you are talking, and we have heard over and over again, because from a variety of the republicans that there could hit a point where they could be open to working with the democrats, and then you have asked it many time, what is that point? >> because it was not last week, and for a second, it looked like they would empower the speaker protem patrick mchenry, and they said no to that for a while, and how long can they continue to say no to that, david? >> well, i think that they would prefer to not have to go down that route, and so i don't know the answer to how long, but it seems to me that we could be in this for a bit here even with a looming deadline of the government funding and with the pressure to get the aid out of the door to israel or ukraine, and although getting the aid out of the door if they were functional is a rocky road ahead. i would note, guys, i spoke to the head of the democratic

campaign committee last week, and asked specifically, what would the democrats need, and what kind of concessions would they need in order to really come to the table on some kind of a path forward here, and one of the things that she said was that we would need bipartisan legislation where the republicans wouldn't just bring up bills that just had the support of a majority of their majority, and i just thought, well, that is not how the house really works, and i don't mean to be cynical here, but it seems that this is going to be very tough bridge to come together here for any kind of bipartisan path forward. >> and you have noted it. john, you did last hour in the conversation with ron brownstein, and two of the nine people who want to be speaker now, and only two of the nine voted to certify the 2020 election. >> yeah, and to me, that could be a death knell for them potentially. we have seen donald trump and the allies coming out against tom emmer, one of the two who

voted to certify joe biden's legitimate election in 2020, and it is amazing that we are talking about it. and seven of the men running for the position voted to contest and not certify the election results even after the insurrection on january 6th, and that is going to show you where in the numbers where the conference is likely. and the two that did vote to certify, guys, let's see, and emmer may be the frontrunner here with mccarthy's nomination, and see what the litmus test is, and we will see here. >> we could know that within the next 24 hours. and david chalian, political director, and occasional cnn anchor here. >> thank you. and now, with the military targets in gaza, they say they are preparing for the next phase of the war, and what the u.s. secretary of defense is now

warning of how real the crisis is going to escalate for the broader conflict in the region. to duckduckgo on all your devie

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and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. moments ago, president biden was boarding marine one in rehoboth beach, delaware, and he is on the way back to the white house this morning. he spoke to israeli prime

minister benjamin netanyahu about the conflict, and there are new concerns about israel's hopes to take out hamas could spread into a larger regional conflict. this is what secretary austin said yesterday. >> in fact, what we are seeing is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region. and because of that, we are going to do what is necessary to make sure that our troops are in the right good position, and they are protected, and that we have the ability to respond. >> all right. joining us now is p.j. crowley, the former secretary of state under president obama, and author of "red line politics, in a time of fractured states and

diplomacy." when you hear the secretary of defense say that in his carefully chosen words, what do you hear? >> the escalation threat is real, and thinking of what secretary tony blinken said, the change of the status quo means an elimination of hamas of both a military threat of israel and the governing body of gaza, and who is going to try to prevent that from happening and not just hamas and the impending military action of israel and also iran, which is one of, you know, their, teheran's proxies in the region. so that dynamic, as you try to eliminate hamas, that will

obviously cross iran's perceived interests in the region. >> yeah. there is also some new reporting that the biden administrations is pressing or asking israel behind the scenes to delay the ground incursion in order to try and get more hostages out, and blinken by all reports is working nonstop on this with qatar and egypt to try to move it along, and can you describe for me how difficult you see the negotiations to be from the state department perspective? >> well, i think that from the american perspective, this is a very significant and complex conflict, and you are trying to do a lot of different things at the same time. obviously, you know, israel is going to do what it does in terms of the military action. you want to get the hostages out if possible. and you are trying to figure out, you know, how do you use military action, you know, to

set the stage for whatever you want to achieve the day after the conflict ends. you know, and in some cases, these are objectives in conflict. you know, and that is one of the reasons why, you know, trying to figure out what you can do on the hostage front before you go into the ground incursion into gaza, and you come into, you know, into the conflict with hamas more directly. >> and you said something that i think that bears repeating and discussion which is that as this continues, there is a reality that public opinion is critical and matters and information and misinformation travels at the speed of light right now, and further complicating, you could say a lot, and how does israel get this right or how challenging is it while trying to dismantle hamas who has controlled government in gaza now, and all of the information

flowing out of gaza for 17 years. >> kate, israel has described this as their 9/11, and thinking back to the american response to 9/11, in retrospect, we probably overmilitarized the response, and in terms of trying to transform the middle east and southeast asia, and south asia in terms of afghanistan and iraq, we struggled with the political dimension. i think that this is where the united states is asking israel some tough questions as to how you link up a military strategy and a political strategy, because at the end of the day, if you are trying to change how gaza is governed, and gaza's relationship with israel, that is largely a political challenge far more than a military challenge. that is where the public opinion matters profoundly. right now, the challenge for

israel is that the palestinian people who have a stake in what happens down the road, they see themselves being at war with israel in addition to hamas seeing itself at war with israel. so, part of this is how do you use military action, and how do you supply humanitarian assistance, and how do you build or grow public opinion to support whatever you want to achieve once the military conflict is over. that is israel's challenge, and the united states is certainly in a position to help. >> day two and day three after you go in, those are huge questions. good to see you, p.j. thank you very much. john? >> as we continue to watch the build-up of the israeli troops here along the gaza border, there is new information coming in about donald trump and the handling of the national security information.

we are learning that he revealed information while at mar-a-lago information with world leaders.

so sidney powell last week accepted a plea deal with prosecutors in georgia and that has quickly set off what is now a predictable response from donald trump, the former president trying to claim that sidney powell was never really his attorney at all. in a statement that he put out on social media, donald trump says that sidney powell who may now testify against him in the election subversion case said this. was not my attorney and never was, but everything that logic and reality offer up signals that he wanted her to be and she was. on november 14th, 2020, trump publicly boasted that he had

added powell to the legal team with rudy giuliani and jenna ellis and few others and then she spoke at a press conference pedalling conspiracy theories of how the election was stolen and other theories with the venezuelan government, and then rudy giuliani then released a statement that she was practicing law on her own. then she went on to file frivolous lawsuits across the country all of which failed. still in december of 2020, powell was invited to the infamous white house meeting where trump considered naming her as a special counsel to look for voter fraud, and add this to the growing file of donald trump distancing himself with the people he was closest with once the heat is too hot. >> and now joining us is legal analyst elie honig, and a small question of what kate was

talking about there, and how important was it whether sidney powell was officially a lawyer for donald trump or not? >> it doesn't matter at all, and it actually might help him if she is not his attorney, and it does not matter if they were formally lawyer and client, but what does matter is she was in the room, and eyes and ears and heard what she heard, and if anything, if she is not the attorney, the prosecutors don't have to worry about the attorney/client privilege, and the prosecutor says, thanks. >> and now, thanks for clearing it up, and we don't have to get through the attorney/client privilege. and so, bigger picture, how threatening is she to donald trump? >> any way you slice it, it is bad news that sidney powell has split and kenneth chesebro has split, and it is what the prosecution wants and how the prosecution builds cases, but

the big question is they fully in as cooperators and we know that she going to say, well, we accessed this information in coffey county. >> would you make a agreement with them if they weren't? >> well, a lenient deal with a witness who is not helpful, yes, i have done it many time, but the second part is important, because if they are not fully in, absolutely not. as a prosecutor, and now, talking about the georgia prosecutors, and we will have to wait and see what the doj does, but you have to give ul everything that you know. and remember, that fani willis charged sidney powell with rico, and not the plea to rico, but plead to all of the lower level, and is she all of the way in. >> and you have to listen to podcast, because he talks about how tough he is, because you really have to come clean in

elie honig's world. and now, i want to talk about this billionaire in mar-a-lago, and a new reporting in "the new york times," and first of all, it is extensive of how hard pratt worked to get access to donald trump in mar-a-lago, and you talk about pay for access, and it seems that this guy reportedly was doing that, but he also talked allegedly about conversations that trump had with him about talks that trump had with world leaders when he was president. how does that fit into, i imagine, it would be the classified documents case against trump, and does this make pratt an interesting witness? >> outside of the legal world, it is interesting and worrisome from the national security point of view, but how will jack smith use this, and he has some of the statements from the pratt individual, but it shows knowledge and intent and motive and shows why is donald trump interested in taking the classified document, and what is purpose? he loves this stuff, and deploys

it after president, and has it personally, and building personal relationships, and business relationships, and all of it illegal and proper, and explains why of it all, and why would he have taken the illegal documents and part of the pattern, and cardboard is val valuable, and there are rings that steal massive quantities and sell it. >> is that before amazon.com or before? >> as amazon rose and this is how he became a billionaire. >> thank you, elie. >> military aid has begown enter gaza, and the military workers say they need much, much more, and we will take you to the ground.

despite eight trucks trickling into gaza, the people there are in desperate need of water, food, fuel and medical supplies. the head of the doctors without borders in jerusalem says they need gas to run the water treatment plants. without it, people are drinking untreated water and getting sick. to give you context a new cnn calculation found that gaza is short more than 7,200 trucks of aid that would have normally been delivered since the october 7th attack. in other words, gaza has received half of one percent of the critical supplies that it typically gets in the israeli blockade. rene marsh is joining us with this ongoing dire situation

there. >> yes, sara, the situation is being described as desperate by many of the humanitarian groups on the ground there, and crowds of people with empty jugs surrounding the little water that is available. some areas have run out of clean water, and the world health organization telling cnn, that some people are resorting to drink sea water, and untreated water that brings about health risks, and even with the aid that came about this weekend from egypt, the full need is not being met, and water is rationed out from half a gallon to two gallons per person per day for all of their needs, drinking, cooking, and hygiene, which is dramatically less than four gallons per person per day which the world health organization says is needed. and this is what the head of the

world crisis center said. >> translator: if they bring in fuel, we can operate the facilities and deliver water to all areas so that all of the water wells are operated and at the same time operate the sewage injection stations so that it does not pose a health problem. >> so again, you can hear his plea for not only the water being turned on, and the electricity, but also fuel. on the israeli side, they have said that the reason they are not sending fuel into gaza, is because they have a fear that aid will be hijacked by hamas. sara. >> rene marsh, thank you for the report, and it is a humanitarian crisis there in gaza that is only getting worse. appreciate you. now, ahead, there have been

hundreds of air strikes in gaza, and the report who is on the bombardment that he has seen unlike any he has seen. we will have more on that story in just a bit. to duckduckgo on all your devie

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