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♪ hello, i'm brianna keilar in washington. jake tapper is in tel aviv, and israel is widening its offensive against hamas. launching a series of overnight strikes at the gaza strip. taking aim at hezbollah in lebanon. in gaza alone, the idf hit 320 terror targets overnight including tunnels and dozens of hamas command centers. a spokesperson said hundreds were killed. a warning now that the video you're about to see is graphic. you see there, one of the smallest victims, a toddler,
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pulled from the rubble in rafah, in southern gaza. we do not know the condition of that little boy. also sources telling cnn the biden administration has presseds ream to delay its imminent ground invasion of gaza to allow for the release of more hostages and to get more aid into gaza. jake. >> just a trickle of these critical supplies have come through. 30 some trucks so far. cnn has calculated that gaza is 7200 truckloads short of supplies. receiving half of the 1% of the aid it normally received before the hamas attack on october 7th. let's turn now to cnn's jeremy diamond in ashkelon, israel, jeremy, give us the plans for the ground incursion in gaza? >> reporter: well, jake, it's clear this is a massive 40,
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preparing to go into gaza. isn't just one area, about a square mile, we saw not just hundreds but dozens of tanks and d-9 bulldozers used to tear up obstacles before a ground force moves in today. we saw them yesterday, certainly, today, there's been some movement of the forces. beyond that, they're waiting for that command to finally come in order to move forward. what we're also seeing, the idf is certainly preparing the ground for those forces in gaza to move in. they said yesterday, there were going to be intensifying air strikes in the gaza strip. today, we saw evidence of that, confirming they hit 320 targets overnight, including hamas tunnels and operational centers as well as mortar missions of militants inside the gaza strip. death toll, of course, of those strikes has also come in. at least 436 people were killed
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overnight from those strikes. including 182 children, according to the palestinian minute is industry of health, all of this, jake, is coming as we're learning the united states has asked israel to delay its invasion of the gaza strip in order to allow for more time for the qatar-led mediation efforts to try and get some of those hostages through. it appears, israel, perhaps, is willing to delay that a few days but certainly not inevitably. when you listen to israeli officials it is clear they intend to move into the gaza strip with a significant ground force, the question, jake, is when. >> all right, jeremy diamond, thanks so much. the israeli military says it now believes 222 people were kidnapped during the october 7th hamas terrorist attack. the families of two hostages spoke out this morning. this comes as jeremy just pointed out the u.s. is pushing to delay the ground invasion into gaza, to allow more time
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for hostage talks. >> we cannot put it aside, we cannot rest. this is -- getting natalie back was not the end. it's the beginning. there's so many others, we don't know why them, so for that's it. >> and let's bring isn't cnn international reporter natasha bertrand is live. what do you hear about the efforts to free the 322 hostages? >> well, jake, this is clearly a priority for the white house. president biden brought it up in every conversation he's had with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. as well as world leaders. last week, he held a number of call where is these hostages were discussed, as well as getting humanitarian aid into gaza. it appears from our colleague alex marquardt, that the u.s.
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has asked to delay the ground incursion to see how the hostage talks play out. qatar has been leading those talks with hamas. and followinging the release of two american hostages last week, there might be some forward momentum in getting the additional hostages released. clearly a priority because there are several americans believed to be inside gaza being held hostage by hamas. now pressed on this directly, the national security spokesperson john kirby would not confirm that the u.s. is putting active pressure on israel to engage in one military strategy one way or the other. and the israelis have felt under pressure by the biden administration to delay the incursion, but kirby did say that the u.s. is in constant contact with the israelis about that, quote, planned intentions and strategy. here's what he said. >> we've been talking to our israeli counterparts, about their plans, their intentions, their strategy. we've been asking them how
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they're answering the tough questions that any military has to do before you go on and conduct a major operation. and that's what we're doing now. but obviously, look, the israeli defense forces they make these decisions for themselves. they have to defend their own people on their sovereign soil. and of course, they're going to have to make this decision. >> now, another aspect of this, jake, of course, the humanitarian aid that is flowing very slowly into gaza. and the u.s. wants to see that continue. they've been very public about the fact that the u.s. is applying pressure to allow med and food to flow into the civilians there. >> natasha, eltell us about the two drones, targeting forces in a base that were shot down. tell us about that. >> yeah, jake, we just got this information when could at a base in syria, they were shot down on monday. this is really part of a broader escalation that the u.s. has
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seen from those groups, believed to be proxy groups. and according to the pentagon, no u.s. troops were injured in these drone attacks either this week or last week. we saw a number, as many as four, separate attacks on bases stationed in iraq and syria but the u.s. is concerned about this that is why we saw secretary of defense austin order additional air defense to the region to try to protect the troops from the aerial bombardments that appear to be increasing in frequency against u.s. troops in the region. the larger backlash support for israel. >> natasha bertrand at the pentagon for us. thanks so much. let's bring in cnn military analyst and retired general mark hertling. general, saying that the u.s. is trying to delay the imminent
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invasion. and the israeli minister is denying that. do you think a ground incursion into gaza by the israeli military is the right move, is the correct strategy? >> well, jake, you have to take a look, i think, at all of the strategies of the various actors in this particular circumstance. you have israel which has publicly state third strategy is to destroy hamas and return hostages. you have hamas which has a stated strategy of destroying the state of israel and killing as many jews as possible. then you have the u.s. strategy which is to deter major actors in area from escalating into a wider conflict and support its allies israel. and at the same time, get hostages. but we're also seeing the potential for an unbelievably large humanitarian disaster in the gaza strip. so, all of those are competing
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demands. and it's difficult to achieve all of them. but the conversation about the u.s. persuading israel to not launch a ground invasion i think is moot, because of the amount of casualties that israel suffer ted hands of hamas on october the 7th. they're not going to consider for a cease-fire. they may attempt to continue to get hostages. but they are going to go in and destroy -- they stated this publicly -- the tunnels, the arms, the caches, the intel capabilities of this terrorist organization. it's just, i believe, a matter of time. and it's going to be a large incursion. >> of course, if the leaders really cared about the palestinian people they could release the hostages and turn themselves into the hague, i guess, right? >> right. i don't think you're going to see -- there may be a few in the reaches of the hostages'
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released. and i don't think you'll see a large number, that would run count ter to what hamas has don in the past as using them as human shields. that's part of their doctrine. it's going to be difficult even with a country like qatar trying to get them to do that, or. uae or whoever, it's going to be extremely difficult to get them to do that. >> and what would an israeli ground incursion mean for the hostages? >> well, when you're talking about the situation, having studied past incursions into gaza, you're talking about, first of all, having to gather intelligence in an area that you haven't watched closely for years which is what the israels are trying to do now. planning for a large operation in an urban environment that has high buildings and tunnels and streets that are now rubble. and millions on the battlefield.
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these hostages are just part of that, and they're on hamas' home turf. so it will be very challenging even for the best of special operators to find where all ii 22 of these hostages are, and release them while at the same time trying to conduct an operation which destroys hamas which is israel's stated objective. >> and we saw a lot of the activity over the weekend. israel clashing with lebanon. strikes in syria. the u.s., israel and the west bank. how concerned are you about this escalating and spiralling into a larger regional war? >> well, i'm very concerned about a large regional war which the biden administration is, too. but also a state war within the defensive positions of israel.
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you've already seen indicators that that's going to happen. you just mentioned the drone on any deterrent forces in both iraq and syria that the u.s. has had there. there's already been attempted strikes from yemen which were intercepted by the deterrent force of the u.s. navy. so, what you see is the m potential for other nations or terrorist groups to become involved. and this plays into something i've been saying for a long time, a doctrine of hamas is the victims' doctrine. they will kind of use any public action by israel, to blame israel for death and destruction. but, of course, israel is contributing to that. and that's what the station, the u.s. administration is concerned about. but with each death, with each air strike, there are more and more palestinian and arab states throughout the area that are saying israel doesn't have to do that, when in fact, they are attempting, just like the ukrainians, by the way, to
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defend their territory, to defend their people. and it results in horrific civilian casualties. but this has been the nature of any war between hamas and israel, over the last two decades. >> general mark hertling, thank you so much. brianna, back to you. jake. we're following a terrifying story in the u.s. an off-duty pilot accused of trying to take over an alaska air jet in midair. now, he's charged with more than 80 felonies including attemattempted murder. let's bring in pete muntean here. this happened on sunday. >> we now know the name, 44-year-old joseph emerson of california, we are also hearing from alaska airlines, we was an off-duty alaska airlines pilot. it was going from plainfield to
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san francisco, that was the plan but ultimately, they had to divert, because this off-duty pilot who is sitting in the jump seat, that is the third seat behind the pilot on the left, the first officer on the right, typically used by pilots to commute from one place to another, was trying to tamper with the flight controls. and we have heard from the faa and the airline here, that this pilot essentially tried to cut off the power to this embreyer 175 engine, you can see the pilot there on right, co-pilot on the left. i want you to listen to the air traffic control audio of the pilot who is still able to fly the airplane. they were able to subdue this off-duty pilot. listen to the calm here as they radio the seattle control center about this problem, saying they're going to come back to land and going to the police. listen. >> we've got the -- tried to
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shut the engines down out of the cockpit. and he doesn't sound like he's causing any issue in the back right now. i think he's subdued. other than that, you know, on the ground. >> what is not clear right now is the method that this pilot -- this off-duty pilot, emerson tried to use to cut off the power to the engines. there's a few different ways to do that. what is clear, though, he's facing a huge host of criminal charges. we're talking 83 counts of attempted murder. 83 counts of reckless endangerment. and uncount of endangering an aircraft. we know the faa is part of the this investigation, they just sent out a message to airlines across the u.s., this is not in any way connected with word events, although very clearly a serious and scary incident on board this flight. thankfully, everything turned out okay. >> thank goodness, there were
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these two other pilots there. >> yeah. >> since you don't know what he was attempting to do to try to turn off the engines, do you know if he'd been successful, whether the pilots would have been able to recover the situation? >> it sort of depends. so, it just depends on the method. but we know from alaska airlines, they say that the power was never fully cut off to the two engines. if that does happen, e-175 or any airplane simply turns into a glider. you can only tread air speed essentially at that altitude. there's no way to climb back up. you can only go forward and down. there's no up and back. no turning either. you have to commit for a point and go for it, so this would have been a really serious thing if they were not able to turn the engines back on. thankfully, the crew was able to catch this, ubsubdue this guy a the pilots continue to fly. >> thank you, pete. nine new candidates. after 20 day, still no speaker
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it is now day 20 without a speaker of the house. right now, nine republican candidates vying for this top jobbed following failed bids from congressman steve scalise and jim jordan. this evening, they will hear speeches from each of those nine candidates during a closed-door quorum. and tomorrow, they will take a secret vote with the goal of selecting the party's nominee. the big question here, who can get to 217 votes, that, of course, as we all have learned, time and again, is what they need to win the gavel.
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joining me now, we have two former republican congressmen, charlie dent of pennsylvania, and charlie, you first, you have tom emmer, the apparent front-runner right now. he actually voted to certify the 2020 election which might give republicans and moderates a pause. does that solidify him with the republican caucus? >> well, that may disqualify him with some hardline members of the caucus. that said, i think the bigger problem for whoever the next republican speaker is, they will have to turn around and immediately strike a bipartisan deal to keep the government funded. and so, in order to -- >> gentlemen, i am so sorry to interrupt you. we have john kirby at the white house press briefing, and we need to listen in now.
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>> instead of going forward, it's important that the aid be sustainable and that's what we're focused on, of course, throughout the weekend, the president development, yesterday, as you know, he convened calls with prime minister netanyahu. -- leaders that they released last night reiterated, but we can hopefully take away from that a real clear consistency and unanimity with israel's right to defend themselves against terrorism, while, of course, a hearing to international law including protection of civilians. now, we've actually seen over the course of the last few days, over the last few weeks an uptick of rocket and drone attacks by iranian-backed proxy groups against military bases housing military personnel in iraq and syria. and we're deeply concerned about
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the potential of any significant escalation of these attacks in the days ahead. at the direction of president biden, the secretary of defense has ordered the military to take steps. both in terms of being able to defend our forces and respond decisively as needed. the second of defense has directed two carrier strikers to the region. and we're now sending more air defenses to u.s. air bases in the region. now, we know these groups are supported. we know iran continues to support hamas and hezbollah. and we know that iran is closelily monitoring these events in some cases act tifl facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit it for their own good. we're not going to allow them to do it. k we demonstrated last week that we have and will use the
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military capable available to us to protect and defense those interests. and those capabilities are getting bigger and bit every day. and as president biden has said a message to any hostile actor seeking to be in this conflict, very simple, don't do it. i'll take some questions. >> john, is it your view that the israelis should begin the gaza offensive whenever they feel ready? >> it's our view that the israeli defense forces need to decide for themselves how they're going to conduct operations. we're not in the business of dictating terms to them. and we're certainly not in the business here at the white house of previewing any future operations one way are 0 the other. that would be inappropriate. >> secondly, you said that iran has actively facilitating these attacks. what are you seeing? what exactly are they doing? >> the support from the iranian-backed proxies is no secret. it's pretty open. and they've tried to make -- they've made no secret of it, funding, resourcing in terms of
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providing the rockets and the munitions that they fire. training for some of these guys. i mean, there's a second between these -- these groups and the i team, they're recognizing it. >> we have reported that the biden administration is urging israel to delay a ground invasion. you can tell us whether other countries are making the same request? is there a coordinated effort on that? >> m.j., i won't speak to other nations and what communication this might be having with israel. i can tell you, we have since the beginning of the conflict in the early hours, maintained a communication with our israeli counterparts to ascertain their intentions, their strategies, their aim, to see what their answers are so far to the kinds of tough questions that any military ought to be asking before you launch any kind of a major operation. have you thought through the branches? can you thought through the sequel?
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have you thought through the unintended consequences? we've activelily been in conversation with that. >> we've seen a number of leaders travel to israel, of course, the president himself step is it your understanding there would not be a ground invasion as long as there's a head of state in the country? >> that that is a question for israel officials to speak to, m.j. again, i just don't want to be in a position where i'm speaking for the israeli defense forces. >> another quick comment. why is it that people currently are not able to leave gaza right now? do you have certain explanations as to why that humanitarian corridor for people to exit gaza, why that is an obstacle to hamas? is it the egyptians? >> i think there's a lot of factors going into why there's no exit out. we're glad that stuff is going in as kareem briefed you on. but we want to see stuff going out. particularly to the americans.
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and there's a number of factors, security, certainly egyptian officials have spoken to this. i mean, they've got legitimate security concerns. and, again, we just need to work through that. >> admiral, you can tell us the latest on the status of hostages and the work to try to release additional hostages you see a category of those being held who might be, sort of the next available, to be released if that were to take place? can you give us a sense what that looks like? >> i wish i could, kelly, i really do. and these are all great questions but unfortunately, where we are in the process makes it impossible for us to publicly detail the efforts that are going on. we are grateful for all the help we got, and we got help getting those two americans out, the mother and daughter, we're glad that they're okay and going to be reunited with their families and come back home. but there's a bunch of others that aren't. you know, a small group. we still think, and then there
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are dozens and dozens from other countries, obviously israel as well. there's just a lot of effort going on, a lot of conversations and partners in the region. i think it's best we don't detail that. >> can you elaborate on the specificity of the number of americans? >> i want to be careful, as you said, it fluctuates, we're glad to know that the number is down by two, obviously. but we still have about ten unaccounted for americans. it's not exactly clear to us where those ten people are. so, i would still categorize it as about a handful. and i know that's not the specificity you want. but that's really as detailed as i think i should get today. >> there's a dual national from maryland, a young man who went to serve the idf who was killed in action. you can speak to that situation? if the president has reached the family or had any intention to do that, any particulars?
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>> well, we certainly offer our deepest condolences to the family. that's news no mom or dad ever want to get. i don't have any communications to speak to it one way or the other, again, our thoughts and prayers go to the family, sure. >> john, on a post-hamas gaza, if that were to happen, is there anything you could share on what conversation the u.s. is having as that post-hamas gaza would look like? >> really, that's going to be a conversation that israeli officials, you know, need to start having amongst themselves. and i think, again, without speaking to them, i don't think i'm going too far to say that the focus right now is on going after hamas, where they are in gaza. getting humanitarian assistance in. getting people out. that's where our focus is. and i know the focus of the israeli counterparts is certainly on prosecuting the operations against hamas.
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i think the issue of governance in gaza certainly is not unimp unimportant. but i wouldn't speak for the israelis in terms of how deeply they're diving down. >> any conversation? >> we have talked to the israelis about their aims and strategies, that includes the long-term issues that are out ahead of them. but i think you can understand appropriately right now, the focus is on the operational picture. >> with the normalization process, you can say if saudi arabia has provided a list of requests for what they'd like to see with the talks to start again between saudi arabia and israel? >> i'm not tracking a specific threat now -- you're talking post-october 7th. i'm not aware of a list or homework assignment they've submitted. we still believe those talks are important. and still want normalization. we understand, in israel and of
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course in riyadh, there's a different focus, we get that. but we do think there's still a per suit of normalization, and we have every intention of keeping that going. >> what kind of humanitarian aid would the u.s. like to see reaching the palestinians before israel launches a ground invasion? >> can i bifurcate that question? i don't -- i'm not going to sit here and assume there's going to be some sort of a ground invasion. i'm certainly not going to speak about hypothetical. and you heard kareen. there's been three convoys, a little less than 60 trucks, that's a good start. but it is just a start. we ant to see it going, over coming days you're going to see convoys of trucks getting in. fuel is also an issue. we know, you need fuel to run the power generators and
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hospitals. you need fuel to run the pumps in the desalination facilities so people can drink fresh, healthy water. so fuel is another thing that we're working on. >> whether or not there is a ground invasion, do you view humanitarian aid getting there first as important? >> whether or not there's a ground invasion, we believe that humanitarian assistance flowing to the people of gaza is critically important. and it needs to go as soon as possible and as much as possible. >> where does the president stand on this? because there was some confusion over the weekend about whether or not he had said that, yes, he does want israel to wait in humanitarian assistance can get to the palestinians before any invasion? >> we have been -- we have been crystal clear with our parties in the region including israel, that we want to see humanitarian assistance flow. there's been no change on our posture at all. as i said to steve's question, we're not dictating military
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terms to the israeli defense forces. they have a right and responsibility to go after these terrorists. and they certainly are going to do it in the way that they choose, that they believe is appropriate to the threat. we're definitely going to support them in terms of providing the capabilities for them to prosecute hamas terrorists. security assistance has continued to flow over the course of the weekend, and it will. but we're not dictating terms here. >> thank you. -- calling for humanitarian assistance, will we see that calling for -- >> what we want right now is to make sure israel has the tools it needs to defend itself, and that humanitarian assistance keeps flowing. now, it's started, it's a good thing. we want to keep it going and sustainable. that's what we're focused on. >> you hinted to a statement
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yesterday that the president asked israel there -- under international law, are they listening to your advice? >> we're not going to parse out each and every event that happens on the battlefield, especially because we're not there. i can just tell you there hasn't been a conversation with israeli counterparts and we've had a lot of others, not just what they want to do, but how they want to do it. >> john, two fridays ago i reported that the u.s. was urging israel to delay ground invasion, the day after officials here issued statements, other outlets, denying that was the request in the days. other outlets have those reports. but today you're not confirming any of those reports. my question is are you at all concerned that the u.s. got to the public that what we're
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what the u.s. has advised israel to do will hamper support in congress for this aid? >> we've been very clear and consistent about our support for israel and their ability to defend themselves. i think we've been very clear and consistent with the fact they're going to keep providing assistance so they can do that. we've been consistent about the humanitarian need to flow. and clear and consistent about our desire to get people out of gaza, as well as get our hostages home. i think we've been clear and consistent throughout. and that includes members of congress. yes, we're going to need congressional support to support israel. we've got appropriations available to us for a while longer. how long is that while going to
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depend on the expend siture rat. >> asking the questions about the strategy there, are you liking the answers they're giving you? >> i'm not going to talk about the details of the conversations we're having. again, these have been clear and consistent conversations. again, making sure they have what they need. and that they are thinking through -- that we are asking them what their answers are to the kinds of questions that any military ought to be asking itself as it conducts operations. >> on the aid question, how are you going to convince people that this is not going to get into hamas' hands. >> yes. >> when, for instance, you know, we saw something like covid relief money in the u.s. and we're now talking about securing and an understanding with hamas. >> sure. >> and about how this humanitarian aid should be used and how can we convince people that is going to be a worth
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while, necessary and secure endeavor? >> we certainly share concerns about any diversion of humanitarian assistance for hamas, purposely. for example, fuel is a good example. we know they need fuel to electrify and power their tunnels, for instance, keep the lights on. we understand that. we're not blind to potential concerns here over diversion. which is why master satterfield on the ground, the whole purpose is to make sure that humanitarian assistance can get to the palestinian people. we've seen no indication as of today that any of the trucks that she talked about, have been diverted to hamas or absconded to hamas. every indication is we've gotten it has in fact gone to the people that are needful. i would remind we have folks on the ground, humanitarian
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organizations, of course, the u.n. is on the ground, and they very much are taking a personal stake, a professional, personal stake in making sure that that aid is getting where it's needed. and we're going to watch -- obviously, we're going to watch this closely. we don't want to see hamas benefit any more than anybody else. >> falling on that, how does the u.s. go about knowing if it's getting to a post,a aid to a post, and hams is not taking it off the top? and secondly, you can confirm that the president has sent lieutenant general james quinn and other folks to advise the israelis? >> so, on your first question -- your first question, as i said, we're working with trusted partners on the ground, including the u.n. and that's the way we -- we do it in so many countries around the world, where we don't have a
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foot print, or any regions of the world where we don't have a footprint. we're not on the ground to personally inspect these things, but we do have trusted partners on the ground including the u.n. and some of these aid organizations who will report what they're seeing and where they're taking this material and who's getting it. so, we'll stay in close touch with them. and we all share the same desire that hamas not be able to divert any of this stuff for their own purposes. we all share that. it's not just the united states, you say how is the united states going to monitor. the whole international community has a take here, making sure that the people of gaza get the food, water, medicine and other vital needs met. on your second question, what i can tell you is that there are a few relevant military officers with experience, the kind of experience that we believe is
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appropriate to the sorts of operations that israel is conducting. and may conduct in the future. and to go over there to share perspectives from their own experiences and ask the hard questions. >> thank you, admiral, israel has repeat saying the top priority is destroying hamas. so what is america's top priority and are the two countries on the same page here? >> america's priority, i think president biden made that clear while we were over there, to make sure israel has the tools and capacity and capabilities to go against hamas terrorists. and make sure humanitarian assistance rolls in. and to make sure we can get humanitarian assistance to get americans out. >> you can just underline how this would complicate getting the remaining hostages out and how it impacts the american
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strategy. >> again, i don't think it's wise for me to get up here and do a bunch of speculating and hypotheticals about what haven't happened yet. all i can tell you, we have to make sure they have what they need to do it and that humanitarian assistance keeps flowing. >> you put out three top priorities. and israel has said the top priority is destroying hamas. >> we agree that the top priority has got to be going after hamas. there's no daylight here. we also think it's important for humanitarian assistance to flow and for our hostages to get home with their families, and we're working all three of those things. >> bay iway in the back. >> you've been tracking reporting that the hamas are working to explaining 50 hostages, is there anything you can say about that? >> no.
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>> and a question about iran, officials have expressed frustration with iran and the iranian foreign minister warned, quote, anything can be possible at the moment and the region will get out of control. have you seen any indication that iran is preparing to expand this conflict more than we've seen? >> i touched on that a little bit in my opening state. we know they supported these groups, and we know they're monitoring these cases and urging on some of these groups. that's why i made it clear, the president does not want to see this conflict rising. we have added to the region to deter any such action. and we will act appropriately to protect and defend our national security interest in the region. we saw that just last week, with the guided missiles, shot down missiles and drones, potentially on their way to israel. we take that responsibility seriously. anybody else in the region ought
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to be paying attention to that. >> do you have an update on whether iran was directly involved in -- an official says they have evidence but not presented any yet? >> i would say we're in the same place as we were. we know there's complicity by iran. as i said, they've supported hamas for years. >> john kirby there at the white house. opening his remarks at the briefing there, with a message to what he described as hostile actors seeking to escalate or widen this conflict. he said, don't do it. and amid reports that the u.s. is asking israel to delay its ground incursion, its ground invasion into gaza, he said that the idf, the israeli forces, are capable of making this decision themselves. obviously, sensitive as is israel, and the u.s. sensitive to the appearance that the u.s. is pushing israel around. especially after we heard president biden if he was asked
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whether they should delay the ground invasion in more hostages could get out. he said yes on friday. and then also blaming iran for the increase in attacks that we have seen on u.s. targets. u.s. personnel included in iraq and syria. saying that they're trying to have some air of deniability, but the u.s. isn't going to allow them to do that. he said humanitarian aid into gaza needs fob flowing in soon, as soon as possible but also the caveat saying the egyptians have legitimate security concerns. and he also said that there are still ten unaccounted americans in this israel-gaza conflict. at this point in time, american officials do not know where they are. then americans unaccounted for. we'll continue to monitor this, if there is any more news, we'll bring that to you. stay with cnn. we'll be right back.
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new reports today about donald trump's handling of potentially sensitive national security information while he was president. according to "the new york times" and "60 minutes" australia, trump allegedly shared information about his calls with the leaders of ukraine and iraq, with australian billionaire anthony pratt a mayor at mar-a-lago.
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and a key witness in the trump classified documents case and gave an interview to jack smith. cnn's affiliate news in australia maintained secret records of pratt talking with trump. here's what he said about iraq's president. >> having been on the news, speaking to iraq today, the president of iraq called me up. i said to him, okay, what are you going to do about it? >> bradley moss is with us now. he's a national security attorney. all right. bradley, what is your reaction to hearing this, how much of this is hyperbole, and how much could trump be at legal jeopardy because of it? >> sure, brianna. most of it, he's not actually in legal jeopardy in terms what he did as president. he had unfettered legal discretion to share classified information with anyone he wanted while he was president.
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but what cnn is reporting out of this outlet and others what told after it, discussing information he learned about our u.s. nuclear submarines. that could put him in some trouble. i don't expect a superseding indictment, or anything along the lines. it's in too much wiggle room for him to get out of but i do expect it to be part of the conversation how jack smith will determine how he continues to be reckless after leaving office. and that will speak to the larger picture. >> he also talked about sharing information with the infamous call with zelenskyy where trump was heard pressuring zelenskyy to launch unfounded corruption probes into joe biden. let's listen in there. >> trump said, you know, that was nothing that i usually do, he said that ukraine phone call, he said that's nothing compared
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to what we usually talk about. >> what is your reaction to that, particularly, this idea of, you know, by then, trump obviously knew there was a problem. that that was not a perfect phone call, and clearly there was no learning curve on that. >> yeah, that's just vindication for the original whistle-blower came forward to report the concerns about this to the intelligence committees and the congress and the oig. it's vicinitndication of those sought to hold former president trump accountable for that impeachment process including senator romney who voted to convict in the senate. it shows what knew what he was doing and how much for his own political and person gains as as well as other u.s. provisions. >> as i said, pratt is a key witness in the classified documents case. you realized the stuff putting
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trump into jeopardy has to do with after his presidency. when you look at this case right now, just at the documents, the federal case, how much hot water is trump in at this point? >> if the mar-a-lago case down in florida gets to trial, it is almost certain donald trump will get convicted. i don't care where that jury's from, i don't care if it's fort pierce, florida, i don't care how conservative, he'll be most likely convicted. the key for him is the post-trial delays that he's trying to push on the judge out there. not to get the trial before the election because if he wins the election, he can get the case thrown out. if this makes it to trial before the election, my money is on jack smith. >> bradley moss, appreciate your insights, thank you. >> absolutely. the white house says that iran is actively facilitating attacks against military bases
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♪ hello, i'm brianna keilar in washington with anderson cooper in tel aviv. and this just in, israel's defense minister says it's preparing for a, quote, multilateral operation on hamas from the sea, ground and air. this comes as israel ramped up its attacks overnight launching a bar avenue of strikes. we're looking at some of the aftermath here. the israeli military saying it hit hundreds of terror targets. according to the palesti
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