♪ 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 palestinian

health ministry, 436 people were killed in the strikes overnight including nearly 200 children. anderson. >> this all comes as we're learning the u.s. is pushing israel to delay its ground invasion of gaza in hopes of getting hostages out and letting humanitarian aid into the south. although a israeli official has denied this. carrying supplies into gaza, relief groups are warning much more is needed as the crisis deepens for many palestinians running out of food and water. cnn's chief international correspondent alex marquardt is live in washington. cnn's jeremy diamond is in ashkelon, israel, lolgalong the border. jeremy, what are you hearing, seeing, about possible incursion on the ground in gaza? >> reporter: well, anderson, it really is about the combination between what we're seeing on the ground what we're hearing from officials and also, frankly,

hearing this evening, as we listen to the gaza strip behind us, we have been hearing the steady thud of israeli artillery and air strikes all throughout the evening. but last night was certainly one of the most significant strikes that the israeli military carried out on the gaza strip, hitting more than 320 targets, targeting hamas tunnels, operational command centers, as well as missile and mortar launch points. but this evening, the israeli defense minister gallant is making have very clear this operation, even though it has not begun yet, is despite the anticipation that it's certainlily an imminent operation making clear that it will begin. and he's describing it as a multilateral operation that he says will be carried out from the air, ground and sea, as he was visiting the ashdod navy base, told soldiers there to keep preparing that the operation, quote will come soon. as we gathered around, anderson,

it's very clear that the troops that are here, the tanks, armored personnel carriers in which we saw hundreds frankly in an area that was a square mile, these troops are all ready to move in. we saw them milling about, but they have everything they need to move forward. the question now is when exactly that command will come through. >> and, alex, the white house says that iran is, in their words, actively facilitating attacks against military bases in iraq as well as syria. what are you hearing? >> reporter: obviously, there's widespread concern that iran could direct its proxies to significantly escalate their attacks against not just israel but american assets that would include hezbollah, for example, to the north of israel in lebanon. but we also have seen a fairly serious uptick in the number of these types of attacks. just today, anderson, there was a drone attack goodness a u.s. base in syria. there were two drones sent to that base that were taken down

on friday. we saw a missile attack directed at a u.s. diplomatic facility in baghdad. a u.s. destroyer in the red sea had to take down missiles and drones that were fired by iran-backed houthi rebels off the coast of yemen last week. so there is major concern, and evidence, that these attacks are growing. and there's the potential, according to the white house's john kirby of serious escalation. here's a little bit more of what he had to say just moments ago. >> now, we know these groups are supported by the irgs regime. we know iran continues to support hamas and hezbollah. and we know that iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict for their own good and that of iran. we know the level of iran is to maintain some level of deny

ability. >> reporter: there is no link between that attack between hamas and israel on october 7th. but there's no question, hamas could not have carried out that attack without the years and years and millions of dollars of iran's backing, anderson. >> what has the pentagon said about possibly sending more assets to this region? >> reporter: yeah not just issuing warnings, they're actually moving military action. we've seen the interior strike groups move into the mediterranean andi eisenhower. and perhaps most dramatically anderson, because of all of the potential for attacks against u.s. troops around the region, snekt of defense lloyd austin says air defense systems including patriot missile batteries are also going to be moving into the middle east. so they're certainly preparing for the worst, anderson.

>> alex marquardt, jeremy diamond, thank you. joining me now to talk more about what we say me in gaza is retired army colonel peter monsour, he served as executive director to david petraeus. colonel, thank you so much for being with us. we have seen -- there have been people talking about an imminent ground operation for more than two weeks now. sources say the biden administration is seeking a hold off of that. for israel's military, what is the calculus. what are they waiting for, if it's not a political decision? >> well, going back to the gulf war of 1991, when the united states had several weeks of air preparation in the battlefield, to whittle down the republican guard before it went in with group troops. and once it did, there was a

100-hour war. what the israelis are doing now are shaping the battlefield. they're trying to reduce hamas' military capability, strike their facilities and strike their tunnels and shake the battlefield so when the ground force goes in they won't take as many casualties and the ground crew is prepared for their invasion. i don't think this is going to last very long. because israel is under international pressure to reduce the number of noncombatants. it will last a number of days not in the israelis are convinced that their guard has prepared the way for the ground troops. >> when you say this isn't going to last very long, you mean this pause going in? or the actual operation on the ground? obviously, it's hard to tell, do you think it's short or weeks or months for a ground operation? >> i was referring to the air

strikes. there's going to be not many more days of these air strikes before we see a ground invasion. now the ground invasion itself is going to be lengthy. if they try to destroy hamas, that's a tall order. they're going to have to go through all of gaza, destroy the tunnels. get rid of their military capabilities building by building, and that's going to take weeks if not months. >> let's talk about that. given experience the u.s. has had in ffallujah and monsul, ho difficult is this going to be and what are the terms of den gaugement? there are a lot of people who have gone south as israel urged, but there's an awful lot of people who have stayed in gaza city. what happens to them? >> this is going to be more difficult than either fallujah or mosul. in those instances, the united

states had pretty much control of the skies and they had could bomb to their heart's content because the civilians had need fallujah, and in mosul, isis was confined to the innercity. so we could bomb the cities and destroy them. here, the israelis have not all fled. and they're obliged to abide by laws of warfare. but they have to be commensurate with the military gains in line with battle. this is battle-to-battle opinion, as u.s. goes in with the ground forces and palestinian civilians start taking the brunt of the military operations. >> that's interesting. that's sort of the cal calculation, if that's the awful right word to use which is

shooting, killing a certain civilian, if they are in the line of fire of somebody else who has a military value to them? i mean, who makes -- these are calculations being made by soldiers in the field in the heat of battle, correct? >> no, they have to be made really at the very top. to begin with. i'm reminded of the allied air strikes against french cities to reduce the rail network prior to the battle for normandy killed over 30,000 french civilians and they asked de gaulle, can we do this, he said if that's what it takes to liberate france, the french people will pay the price. this is sort of the calculation that's being made now at the highest levels of the israeli government. how many people do we have to kill in our quest to destroy hamas. you know, it's a bloody calculation, but that's war.

>> it is remarkable to think, i mean, you're a historian on military history which is why it's so great to talk to you, but those sorts of calculations could be made, or those sorts of decisions could be made by de gaulle in the '40s, there wasn't social media, there wasn't people with cameras on the ground documentsing what that actually looked like. it would be very interesting to see how history might be different if there had been. >> and -- exactly. and so every decision is going to be scrutinized more today which is why you need to make sure that your cause is just. and that your goal isle a achievable. which in this case, i'm not sure it is. it's going to be difficult to weed out the hamas militants. it's going to be a very messy operation. and israel has to be sure about the long-term settlement here

and not just exact revenge to the attack they suffered a couple weeks ago. >> i talked to your old boss david petraeus a few days ago, that is one of the things he was stressing, and that the is, what is the plan for victory? it's one thing, you understand the military assault, whether awe agree with it or not, but what do you do if you actually succeed in eliminating hamas, whatever that means, and not have a situation that you saw in iraq where you had a de debathfication campaign and all of the members of the bath party who took part in the insurgency? >> well, exactly. i'm reminded a george w. bush cabinet meeting after the invasion of afghanistan. after the meeting was concluded he said, who's going to govern afghanistan when we win? he got a lot of blank stares across from him across the

table. this is the kind of question that the israeli government needs to be dealing with, how does gaza govern going forward even if you succeed. because that question cannot wait for the day of victory. >> sir, good to talk to you, thank you. >> thank you. back in the u.s., continuing on capitol hill, the house remains frozen with no speaker, paralyzing the president's emergency request for aid to israel and ukraine. we're live with a report next.

♪ just hours from now, house republic candles will try to pick a new speaker yet again. these nine gop lawmakers are in the running after 20 days with no speaker of the house. and bailed bids from gop congressmen steve scalise and jim jordan. we're covering all angles. keefe correspondent manu raju up on capitol hill with what to expect today, cnn senior date dal reporter harry enten here with details on the political fallout. first to manu, tell us what you're hearing from lawmakers. >> reporter: well, we are expecting a contested race for the speakership. there are nine candidates running for this, trying to get a majority of the conference vote to nominate speaker.

the challenge is which one can get nominated to get to 217 votes they need on the house floor to be elected spl something that has not happened in the almost three weeks since kevin mccarthy's ouster. i'm here with congressman hern, thank you for the time to speak with me. you've been on the phone all weekend long, trying to get the votes from colleagues. what exactly is the pitcture making and how do you distinguish yourself? >> the question is going to be how each of us presents our experiences to make that happenpy i chair the republican safety meeting, made up of the house and the republican caucus. that what is all of the caucus of the republican party. we work on a weekly basis with 80% of the republican congress. which makes it a natural that we're already working on policy. >> but this is a badly divided

republican caucus. we've been hearing this a long time. and there's so many anger, including the eight members who voted to oust kevin mccarthy. should anything happen to those eight members? >> look, i'm going to go forwards. the american people know we have a real problem in the world in israel. what's going on over there is an atrocity, it's sad. it's scary what could happen to the rest of the world if we don't get ahead of this. we need to get back in power. condemn hamas terrorists, what they're doing, shore up the rest of the world so they know we're serious about protecting the sovereignty and allies and our own nation. and that's what we're going to do. if you look at what's broken now is to trust and impeach others. e listen and we listen and we listen and put policy together to reunite the party. >> you mentioned israel. one of the big things is to decide on how to move on israel

aid and ukrainian aid. do you agree with what mitch mcconnell to tide israel aid and ukraine aid together? >> we certainly know in the house, ukraine aid is controversial at times, really where the money is spent and what the mission is with the money. we do not need to bog down israel aid in that debate right now. there's still $9 million in aid to ukraine sitting out there. we need to get the israel funding passed right now. as soon as we get the speaker in the house, hopefully tomorrow night, we can have the debate on ukraine, we can invite the state department and president and others to come and talk about the mission. i think that will solve and cool a lot of the negative aspects of the ukraine funding. >> you also voted against a short-term spending fwoul keep the government open a few weeks ago. would you be open to passing a short-term spending bill to keep the government open? >> if we do our work, for the cr

to cut punding and fund the southern border. i thought we can pay too much with chuck schumer and the senate. we did that kind of carte blanche. i think what we got to do is take back days. we got to schedule enough days to get our work done. but the dod bill on the floor. get it passed. the other three that we passed, get those done, get them passed, signed into law. work our tails off. >> but not a short-term bill, that's where you'll end up immediately, right? >> we'll have 25% of the funding left to do it. if we take speaker mccarthy's plan actually and put that in place, we will be where we need, november 17th to have 25% of the funding. >> and from what will i understand, former president trump has spoken to some of the candidates who are running? have you spoken to him since you announced? >> i have. >> what was that conversation? >> he want to know what was going on in the race. obviously, nine people in the race, he knew different degrees

and levels, i've worked with the president since he's been in congress for years in oklahoma. oklahoma has been a state that has voted for him twice. we're the only state that did that, by the way, he's very familiar with oklahoma and members of the delegation there. >> did you ask for his support? >> i did not. >> you don't think he'll endorse anybody? >> i don't, because all of us are friends for him. jim was a longtime fighter for him early on. if you notice that support of jim, he also said i like steve scalise and kevin hern. he's going to let this play out. it's going to happen pretty quickly tomorrow. we'll see where it goes. >> you voted against sertd fiing the 2020 election. do you regret that vote? >> no, what i did i said arizona and pennsylvania should not have changed their voting laws without their state legislators being involved. if you look since then, pennsylvania's gone and changed a lot of those problems. >> did you talk to the former president when you guys talked yesterday? >> i did not. he knows he's in a great spot

this upcoming election and he wants to talk about that. >> one last thing if you get the nomination, will you try to get the 217 votes you need before forcing a vote on the floor? >> i think the consensus is, i've talked to some people running and actually the voting numbers. we'd like to see a roll call vote in the basement. and the american people don't want to see another thing happen like last week with jim jordan. >> thank you for taking the time congressman. congressman hern, one of the nine running for republican nomination. the majority of the conference will vote behind closed doors on tuesday. floor vote, we'll see if that happens whether mr. hern or anybody else can get the 217 votes they need. >> manu raju on the hill, thank you so much, thank you to the congressman as well. let's turn to harry enten because he's going to break this down for us. we really are at an extraordinary moment. tell us how extraordinary it is. >> right. we're in midsession right now, we've had 20 days since we've

had a speaker. the old record midsession was two, back in 1820. so we are now ten times the old record. this is pathetic, of the fact that we cannot get a speaker. it's historically pathetic. and it's historically pathetic times ten. >> we basically heard something. the congressman saying he doesn't want to go to the floor. so, i think there's even this sort of a mission what we see playing out on the floor is a little bit pathetic here. this is part of a larger trend of just congress not getting work done. >> that's exactly right, how many laws have been passed by this congress and signed into law. we're talking less than 20. less than 20. if we go back over the last 50 years and you luke add governments that had a divided congress, one legislative part of congress. the average is really 100. we're looking at about one-fifth the productivity of what the average congress would be even in a divided government. so it's not really surprising that we haven't gotten a speaker

because this is a historically unproductive congress. >> how are americans looking at this? >> that was a great question asked by quinnipiac. >> i'm so sorry, we're going to destroy where there's an update on the murder of this synagogue leader. let's listen in. >> -- at her residence. we believe there are no other groups or anyone else eat risk n regards to this particular incident. we believe this incident was not motivated by anti-semitism. and that this suspect acted alone. again, that is what we know at this time. there are several factors that has led us to this conclusion. we are not in a position to discuss all of them at this point. obviously, there are parts of the investigation that we cannot get into, again, it is germane to the closing of this case, there are certain factors that

are only shared by the suspect and our investigators. so there are certain key points that we, again, will not be able to discuss. at this time, i'll bring up deputy chief sloan to get into the areas that we can discuss with you. deputy chief sloan. >> thank you, chief. good afternoon, everybody, sadly, miss samantha woll was found deceased in front of the 1300 block of jolette street on saturday at 6:30 a.m. she was suffering from apparent stab wounds to her body. we are currently working with our partners as the chief mentioned from the fbi and michigan state police to establish exactly what occurred in the hours and days prior to miss woll's death. at this point in the investigation, we are examining every piece of evidence we have uncovered to determine what exactly led to this incident. as well as following up on the extensive amounts of information that we have gained during our

investigation. we have and are in the process of conducting countless interviews to learn everything about miss woll's life, including any possible motive or opportunity to harm her. what we do know again, from what the chief mentioned is that miss woll did attend an event on friday evening which we know was a wedding. she did return home around dev12:30 a.m. saturday morning. and we did discover no signs-forced entry to her residence. at some point between returning home to this event and the early morning hours when she was discovered, miss woll was fatally assaulted. by all accounts, thmiss woll lct

by all accounts, thmiss wo by all accounts, thmiss woll lct by all accounts, thmiswoll was very liked by her community and family. i want to thank our agencies for the endless hours they've dedicated to this investigation. we are committed to our continued work with our partners to identify the persons responsible in this incident. again, the investigation is ongoing and we continue to ask are for the community's assistance in solving this crime either through 1-800-speak-up or rewards tv. thank you. >> good afternoon, my name is cheyvoryea gibson. i'm a special agent in charge for the fbi which covers the entire state of michigan. i thank you all of you for being here today, thank you, chief, for this opportunity. i want to express my sincerest condolences to miss woll's

family, friends and the community during this tragic loss. as stated by chief white, we are providing technical, forensic investigative support during this investigation. i will say if you have any questions with regard to the investigation or any facts thereof, we're going to defer to chief white at this time. again, thank you, guys, for being here. thank you, chief white. >> again, i just want to assure the community that everything possible is being done to bring this case to a close. i ask for patience. there's a lot of evidence and information that has to be analyzed, again, we're very thankful to our partnerships with both the fbi and the michigan state police. access to crime lab, activities and things such as that helped to move the case along quite quickly. we want to make sure that we

don't rush, and that we do everything to make sure that evidence is analyzed, search warrants are got up. and we bring this matter to close with the appropriate person being held accountable for these horrendous actions. with that, i'll take any questions. >> hi, chief, i'm marshal representing wjaa radio here locally, cbs new york nationally. even though you said there isn't any anti-semitic motive here, how -- i would say, how concerned are you that, having this happen on saturday, and now you guys coming on monday, that maybe somebody that hasn't seen this would say, hey, we need to have some sort of retaliation, given what's happening with israel and hamas? >> yeah. i mean, we're always concerned retaliation in any homicide. and certainly, the international

situation that we find ourselves in now bring us additional concern. but our goal is to be transparent with the community. and transparent as to where we are to alleviate concerns that those may have that others are at risk. based on what we know today, right now, with the information that we've received and uncovered over the past two hours, and certainly, at the onset of this investigation, we are confident with our position, where we are right now today. >> and second question is, given that isn't the motive, you can speak to anything that could have been involved in why she was killed or murdered, a motive, can you speak to anything in that regard? >> yeah, you know, as i indicated, and we certainly want to alleviate concerns, we certainly want to let others know, all know, that we're actively investigating this. and we have noscovered anyone else to be at risk.

but in that, we have to be very, very cautious, as to what information we share. there are very intricate details about this case, that if revealed could really damage what we're trying to accomplish. there are some facts that are known only to our suspect. and so i can't get into causation right now, or what he or she may feel was. but more to come on that at a later date. right now, what we want to do is get every bit of information we can, clarified, analyzed, so we can put more information out to the community to help us identify and bring the suspect to justice. >> thank you, chief. >> chief white, my name is alex bathier from abc news. thank you for taking my

questions. you mentioned a suspect many times, do you have any suspect or suspects here? >> so, in the process of an investigation, the detectives, you know, they work on a number of different theories, we are working through what we have identified as persons of interest. and we're very confident in the track that we're on. but we're early. we're very, very early in this investigation. once they're done with that level, each area of the work requires specific investment of time, concentration and development on its own. and so to answer your question, the short answer is, we have a number of people that give us interest. we are just short of calling one of the people a suspect. but we are working to that end. and we will be there. but it just takes time. and again, i'm asking for patience, as we work through every aspect of what we're doing. there's a lot of information to be analyzed and investigators

have worked literally nonstop, since we received this case. i'm confident in the hard working men and women, they are really, really good at what they do. i just got to give them time to do it. and we're going to get there. yes, we are confident that we're going to develop a suspect. we're not there right now as of this press conference. >> i understand. my second question for you, sir, can you give any clarity or any theory as to how miss woll ended up outside of her house that trail of blood that led to the sidewalk? >> yeah. and we've worked on that, and the detectives have worked on that. and we're working right now -- you know, i will say some of what i will say is very graphic. and again, my heart goes out to the family who may be hearing this and not be easy for them to hear. but we are working with the michigan state police and the fbi and blood spatter experts

that will determine certain things about the event. what we believe to have happened after she was attacked inside the home, she stumbled outside and collapsed in the yard. so that's where the blood trail appears to lead us. and we're pretty confident with that assessment. but we're going to confirm that through corrforensics and expern that field. thank you. >> thank you, justin pritchard, nbc news, appreciate you doing this. mentioned that she left the wedding around 12:30 in the morning. she was attacked inside the home. we're heard from sources she did not have any defensive wounds. did she leave this wedding alone? >> yeah, i can't get into that, sources, i'm not able to confirm or deny that at this time. again, a lot of, you know, sources don't take into account how it could damage a case.

so, i can't confirm or deny that's a very key part of our investigation that we're looking into. >> okay. and just point of clarification for my second question here, you said person of interest. no one is in custody at this point? >> no one is in custody. >> so, if no one is in custody and you don't believe anyone else is at risk here. you don't believe this is tied to anti-semitism, but obviously, people have jumped to those conclusions. and you've got someone still out there who you say is responsible for this. what do you say to people who are still worried about their safety and the climate with what's going on in the world right now, particularly in jewish, muslim and arab communities, what would you want people to know about their safety, if they are jumping to conclusions? >> yeah. and so, we certainly don't want folks to jump to conclusion. but we certainly understand how one could arrive at those conclusions absent any information to the contrary. that's why we're here today, providing information today on this particular case. we don't feel, as of this press

conference, that there's anything that supports anyone else being at risk as it relates to a hate crime. we certainly know that this was a dangerous person. this is why we're working tirelessly to identify a suspect. and get the right suspect off the street. once we get that development down, we'd immediately push that out to our media partners and our community partners to help us identify and bring this person to justice. beyond that, we're going to continue to work hazarrd and pu out transparent information so the community is aware. >> good afternoon, chief. malachite baird. >> yes, sir. >> it seems as though the cause of death has pretty much established, at this point, if an autopsy has been completed and if you're able to tell us how many times she was stabbed to death. >> this is going to sound like a

rerun, i apologize, i know you have a job to do and i hope you appreciate we do, too. that number is important for us to keep close. it could be the one piece of evidence that breaks the case open, if we're talking to the right suspect, that we know that, no one else but the police knows. so right now, we're not going to release that information. and the autopsy, yes, an autopsy was completed. i don't think we have the results yet -- okay. we do have the post now. but i can't release that information. >> okay. and i know the time line is still getting put together, but i'm wondering how long she was potentially on the sidewalk or outside her home? >> you know, prefacing my comments again, i can only imagine the heartbreak that the family is hearing every time i open my mouth in this case. we're confident that she was there quite a while. we're working on our video assets in the area, a number of other things that we're going

through right now with neighbors and all of the visitor doorbell systems and things like that, to identify when she was seen last, physically outside of the residence. and how long she may have been there. and we're -- it's a lot to go through. we're doing search warrants on ring doorbells and things like that right now in the area. but we're confident that she was there quite a while. >> that kind of leads to my last question, i'm curious that -- i saw there were ring doorbell cameras that i'm sure you can help use to identify suspects. i wonder if there were green light areas that the neighborhood seemed to be pretty self-contained does that hem to you identify potential suspects if you're looking into persons of interest? >> so, as you know, one of the provisions of the green light is that there's no facing of residential communities. that was a concern earlier on, i think. i think we made them part of the conversation around that. but as it relates to route of

travel, they certainly could be used. we just have to get there, once we figure all of that out. we'll certainly be looking at green lights and other video systems to see routes of travel. you know, one of the things of particular interest to us, when she left the wedding, does a vehicle appear with her in more than one stop, right? so, we'll be tracking her entire route digitally, that she took from the wedding to see if anyone is following her. and if you see the same vehicle in two different places near her that would be a concern and issue for us. >> where was the wedding? >> we don't do that. >> thank you. >> omar himjimenez. >> i'm sorry, who are you? >> omar jimenez, cnn, thanks for taking the time. i know you said this wouldn't be

any form of anti-semitism. i think my question is if you don't have a suspect identified and you haven't shared what led up to the killing, what makes you so confident that this isn't, essentially have you ruled it out, despite not having found it just yet? >> you know, when you look at the case, there's certain tracks that these types of cases take. when you talk about hate crimes, you know, there are certain tracks, that they take. we have looked at this particular track. we're confident with this incident right now, that this is not -- a two-day investigation that's ongoing, you know, we were were very cautious in making that declaration too early. we did a lot of work. that gave us the confidence that we have now, that it's not, as we stand right here right now. we are working -- we haven't --

we're not ruling out anything. okay. let me be clear. we're looking at every aspect of this case. and we're going to take -- we're going to go where the information and the evidence takes us. and right now, the evidence does not take us there. we do have another working theory that we're looking at, where the evidence has taken us to. and we're going to exhaust that. and then if we get there and it takes us somewhere else, we're going to exhaust that. we may be back here having different conversation. as of this press conference, we are confident with what we've seen and what we are saying. >> and my other question was, i knoll know you're looking at a variety of a number of people of interest at this point, nobody has got ton that suspect level. is it your impression, at least among the people of interest right now that this is someone that may have been known for her? or are we talking about someone who may have come in from out of town or whatever it may jb. >> we have not exhausted anyone

as a suspect. anyone. we are confident we're on the right track. but i'm not prepared to tell you the relationship between her and the suspect. as of yet. i think it would be irresponsible at this point. we've got to give the investigators more time to detail out their investigation and pull evidence. and we'll be back here to update the case, but right now, i just -- i think it would be irresponsible for me to say that. >> hi there, reuben afanti with the new york post. hello. >> hello. >> just to continue off what were you just saying, you said you're not ready to speak about the relationship. i assume you also mean or look thereof? in other words, is it also possible, you're not saying whether they knew each other or not? >> exactly. not confirming or denying what the investigation has revealed to this point. >> okay.

i'm going to do you spoke about, you have a theory you're going with right now. i mean, is there -- in regards that to theory in terms of motive -- this is kind of a moot point because you can't really speak on it -- but, i mean, can you elaborate at all about the nature of the motive, if you know what i mean? like is it a motive pertaining to a desire, one person had over another, and, you know -- i don't know is there anything you can say about this working theory? >> and i know where you're going. and when i say theory, i don't want to characterize it as a cavalier assessment of information. i meaner it's beyond a theory. but what the investigators do, they look at the evidence, they look at all of the evidence, and a number of different things that we're not going to discuss today. >> okay. >> and they begin to go down

certain paths as to what is likely to have occurred. what possibly occurred, throughout a course of events. and it starts with literally investigating every aspect of who she's been in contact with. the course of travel. who will she interacted with. who was the last person she talked to and all the way back and developed suspects. and in the course of doing that you look at certain things such as was this a home invasion? okay. and then you either make the determination that it either was, was not or maybe. what we have certainty with is that it wasn't, right? so now you start to shape the course of your theory. then you look at was this a hate crime? and, again, you use that same, you know, three-step method. is it possible? is it yes, is it no, and if so, what areas are you lookinging f?

and these are experts that do this. and are we confident we don't have any expectations at this point. and if that's the case, we go down many things from relationships, friendships, you name it, we don't rule out anybody without verification that they're not a suspect. that includes neighbors, everyone. so that's where they're at right now. as you do that you build out a theory as to possibly what happened. but it's a very deliberate process. it's not, you know, something that's done in a vacuum. there's a trained expert, investigators working with the fbi, michigan state police and our other federal partners to ensure that we look at everything. so, that's where we're at. i know where you're trying to get me to go, as i indicated i cannot. >> i see on the stripes that you're an army cop for a long time.

have you ever, in the terms of what you've seen over the many years of doing this, how brutal was this, in the scope of things that you've experienced and you've seen? i mean, have you ever seen anything like this before? >> yeah, unfortunately, i've seen similar things. you know, anytime that you have a loss of life in our community, it's a tragic thing for us. and certainly, when you hear about her contribution to the community, to society, and a great loss, all of the people that she's helped. and literally edge that i've heard from, and it's been a lot of people, they start the conversation all the same, how wonderful of a person she was. that's a great loss to our community and to our city. >> hey, chief, victor williams of local 4. do you have a lot of people living on jolette place who may feel unsafe with the killer out still, what would you say to them first off?

>> well, i've said it. i don't feel that there's -- if they saw anything, no matter how small they may think it is. if they saw someone that's not known to the neighborhood, may have been there earlier in the week, if they saw anyone lurking around the area, certainly, let us know. any small moniker of information could be the break we're looking for in this case. check the video cameras on your home. share all of the information that you have with us. anything, small or large, please make sure you share it with us. >> can you elaborate on the location of that wedding at all? >> i'm sure it will be out. i'm not going to be the one that gives it. someone just got married. i want to separate the two. the only connection it has, she was there. we'll be talking to folks about that in the very near future. >> thanks. >> jim edwards with abc news. i just wanted to see if you could speak to if she had her

cell phone on her and forms of i.d.? >> she had her cell phone with her, i don't know if she had -- yeah, both. >> and the person of interest that you have been working with and talking with, have they been cooperating with the investigation? >> well, as i said, we haven't disqualified anybody yet. there are a number of people that we're interested in. we have not zeroed in on one person of interest. we have a number of people that we're talking to, as i understand it, everybody that we've talked to have been somewhat cooperative. i haven't heard they've been uncooperative, i'll stay that. >> rebecca rosenberg with fox news digital. so, i'm just wondering, you said you're working through multiple suspects, if you don't have a key suspect in mind yet, how are you able to exclude, for instance, a hate crime motive or anti-semitism? >> so, if i misspoke, what i

said, persons of interest, if i called them suspect, i might have misspoke. as i indicated earlier, there's a process for how we disqualify suspects. how we disqualify persons of interest thaft detective that d engaged in. as we talked about the steps we go through in identifying any crime, we're confident how we arrived at this particular crime. we believe that the motivation is very different than a hate crime. it's horrific. and it's tragic. and that's the focus of the investigation. but, itf something leads us dow that path again, if something comes up, we'll certainly be engaging our federal partners and looking at that. we're not saying that, as we stand here today that if we were to arrive at a space where that becomes something that we need to look at again that we wouldn't, we're just saying, as

we stand here today, right now, that doesn't appear to be motivation. >> and just another question, an unrelated question. there was a couple near the crime scene whose car tires were slashed over the weekend. they had left town on friday between sunday and -- it was an older couple, both their passenger -- driver's side tires were slashed. they said they alerted your -- all right, i want to get now to kaitlan collins and alex marquardt. they have very especial reporting we need to get to. alex, sources telling us two more hostages have been released by hamas? what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right, my colleagues kaitlan collins telling us, julia and natalie

raanan were released. hamas had indicated over the weekend that they were willing to release two prisoners and follow the same format that they had on friday which was essentially handing hostages over to the red cross. which is -- which operates independently in gaza. and then they would then be handed over to the israelis. so, we understand, from one source, that these two israelis are now with the red cross. they have not yet been handed over to the israelis, and, of course, this comes as part of this ongoing that is led primarily by qatar, as well as egypt, to engage with hamas to get these prisoners out of hamas detention. the idf earlier today put a much more finer point, a specific number on the number of hostages in their custody, 222 of all kinds of nationalities.

we did hear from the white house earlier today saying there's still some ten americans unaccounted for in the quake of these hamas attacks, around a handful according to the white house's john kirby are believed to be hamas hostages. >> and, kaitlan, sounds like there are details, we don't know if they're dual nationals, necessarily. and obviously, we're awaiting details about their identities? >> right. we do have two names, we're still running this down. this is extremely sensitive information, we want to be very careful with this and double which of heck all of this before the information is released. and that is a good question whether or not they are dual citizens. obviously, we had the two released last week, nadly raanan and her mother judith, they are expected to be back in the u.s.my moment now. her father said they'll be back in the united states as soon as tomorrow. we're still waiting to glean

information from. we should note this is a fluid situation. what i was hearing from one source these two hostages who are being released are not yet actually in the custody of the israeli government. what we saw happen last week, these two hostages were brought to the border to gaza and brought by idf soldiers to a base in israel. that's where they met up with their family members. that's the question here how the hostages being released are being transported. we don't know yet what condition they're in healthwise. how they're doing medically. last week, hamas is claiming they released judy raanan on humanitarian efforts. that is based on what hamas has done over the past two weeks but there is a question who these two hostages are and why these two hostages. but i can tell you we were just in tel aviv, we were surrounded by automatic lot of these families abducted by hamas, this is huge and welcome news for them, regardless of how it came about. we do know part of this is

because of mediating done by the car tarries and egyptians, something that we know has been a process, brianna, as it plays not quiet talks and the white house is urging israel to delay the incursion before they get hostages out beforehand. a lot of moving parts in play here but obviously very good news for the families of these two hostages. >> alex, it's so interesting, as kaitlan mentioned a sort of quiet negotiation between the qataris and in this case, egyptians negotiating with hamas, quiet for sure, we're not finding out about it in hostages are being released. but i can't really imagine how sort of feverish the pace of this is behind the scenes with all the parties involved? >> it certainly is intense, we heard secretary blinken over the weekend saying they are working on this essentially every minute of the day. of course, the united states does not talk directly to hamas

which they consider a hist organization. so they essentially deputized the qataris and egyptians who do have solid ties, lines of communication, into hamas to carry out these negotiations. i think what's interesting here, brianna this, is yet another two hostages coming in the quake of two other hostages. this does not necessarily play to israel's advantage here. israel, of course, wants all of the hostages out. every country does. but at the same time, as hamas indicates that they are willing to release hostages, the pressure on israel has grown to delay their ground incursion of gaza. hamas has now shown that they are willing to release hostages. they're willing to engage. so, we now have reported that the united states has pressed israel to slow their incursion into gaza, to give it more time. because we have seen this progress on both the hostage release front as well as the aid going into gaza. this is the second day in a row

today that we seen aid flowing into gaza. now, the u.s. has been very, very careful to not give the sense that they are telling us real what to do. they're dictating terms. israel certainly bristling at the notion that anybody might tell them how to carry out their war against hamas. certainly, the israelis and u.s. are talking about all kinds of things, all the time. particularly these hostages. and so, what we have understood there has been some pressure from the u.s. and others to allow for more time to get more hostages out, brianna. >> alex and kaitlan, if you could stand by with me. you've been on it on your reporting here two more hostages have been released by hamas. this is according to multiple sources who have told cnn this. we do not know their identities. we are told that by one israeli official that they are not yet in israel. it's a very sensitive situation. we're going to get in a quick break and get you more on this

breaking news here in just a moment.