anderson cooper is in tel aviv and sources say talks are in place to try to secure the release of a large number of hostages in gaza. so far, just four hostages. two americans and two israelis have been freed. >> one of the israelis, an 85-year-old grandmother said she quote, went through hell. she said she was beaten and later received food, medical treatment, and was provided sanitary living conditions. she also blamed israeli forces and intelligence for failing to heed the warning signs. >> the lake of awareness by idf is a lot. they warned us three weeks beforehand that the fields that sent fire balloons and the idf

did not treat it seriously. >> the humanitarian crisis worsens for the 2 million people who cannot leave gaza. today, they said efforts will be made to provide access to fuel but not quote allow it to reach hamas. what do we know about the large hostages? >> yeah, they seem to be reaching a moment where one side or the other if you will has to blink because one of the points of contention about the release of the hostages seems to be the humanitarian aid and specifically, the fuel. we're hearing from the u.n.'s main group in gaza saying quite literally they're going to have to shut down operations wednesday because they are

running out of fuel. the situation is getting desperate. the ministry of help inside gaza is saying they've been in the 24 hours, some 700 civilians killed. so as a pressure point of negotiations, it seems to be coming down to the wire. which way it's going to go, we don't know. but the u.n. today, secretary of state blinken, being very clear in what he had to say to all the gathered ambassadors there. this big, diplomatic international forum. absolutely, that the hostages must be released. >>. >> none of us can imagine the nightmare they're living. something no family should have to endure. their loved ones must be released immediately. unconditionally and every member of this council, indeed, every

member should insist on it. >> the u.n. secretary general has been pushing, access for humanitarian goods into gaza. also spoke at the u.n. today. he spoke about the use of civilians by militaries and the responsibilities they have to them. and in this, he criticized both hamas and israel. >> the protection of civilians in paramount in any armed conflict. protecting civilians can never mean using them as human shields. prot protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than 1 million people to evacuate to the south where there is no shelter, food, water, no medicine and no fuel and continue to bomb the south itself. >> so as a point of gaucnegotias

around the hostages, the positions are hard on both sides it seems and very clear from the general today as you mentioned about the fuel for civilians, for medical treatment, that indicates a softening there on the israeli side. but is that going to deliver the hostages? we really don't know. >> nic robertson, thanks so much. right now, the humanitarian situation, the humanitarian crisis in gaza is dire. food, water, and fuel running out for people there as the israeli air strikes continue. hospitals, emergency services are also being stretched to the breaking point. a doctor at one of gaza's largest hospitals warns it will become a quote mass grave if fuel runs out. jeremy dimon is live in ashkelon. earlier, we learned the israeli military is making efforts to provide access to fuel. what are the details on that? >> well, as you know, the humanitarian situation in gaza

has become extremely, extremely dire and one of the main issues is that hospitals are very concerned about not being able to have power for their facilities to power generators. to get power on in these hospitals. today, what we are seeing is a pretty significant reversal from the israeli government in terms of allowing fuel to go into gaza. at least in theory. we just heard from the idf's general military chief of staff who says that they will begin to allow some fuel into gaza saying that we will make sure there will be fuel in places where they need fuel to treat civilians but he is also making clear that quote, we will not allow the fuel for hamas so they can continue fighting against the citizens of israel. and we know that beyond the humanitarian situation in gaza, getting fuel into the gaza has been one of the major demands that hamas has been making in these hostage negotiations in order to allow for the release of some of these hostages.

so we will see if some of this new change in posture from the israeli government, the israeli military, will allow for some of these hostages to be released. these are extremely complex gauc negotiations and one of the other things hamas has been demanding is a cease fire which the israeli government has ruled out up until this point. now, the question is how much longer will israel be willing to delay its ground invasion in order to allow for more time for these hostage negotiations. i spoke with two people familiar with these negotiations who told me that israel appears to be willing to hold off for a few more days but they will move forward if there is no progress. they are not willing to put it off inevitably. anderson? >> all right, thanks for that. i want to talk about the hostage release. joining us now is ilet. her cousins were the first u.s. hostages to be release.

they were freed on friday after being kidnapped by hamas from their kibbutz during the october 7th attack. there are still ten of their family members being held by hamas today. it's extraordinary that there are ten members of your family still being held. how are judith and natalie doing? >> hi, anderson. i would first like to say it's now nine, it has been confirmed that my cousin has been murdered. >> oh, my gosh. >> most of the family were finding it very hard to go on. judith and natalie, they are doing okay. they're taking their time to heal and to process what they've been through. what the entire family and the entire nation have been through. and we're giving them that space and time at the moment. >> we heard today from -- who

has been released. we played some of what she said at the press conference. i'm wondering what you think when you see her being released. >> seeing more hostages being released gives us a ray of hope. we're hoping to see more of our family members, all of them, our family members as well as the other over 200 hostages that are being held in gaza now, released soon. it gives hope. i will not get into the details of what she shared because it was reassuring to hear they were treated, they got their medicine and they were fed well. and i'm just hoping that this can mean the same for our relatives that are still being held captive. >> correct me if i'm wrong. one of your family members who's being held is only 3 years old. >> that is true. we have a 3-year-old and an

8-year-old brother and sister. and we have nom, who is 12. so three children in your famil. we haven't been given a sign of life or any indication as to how they're doing. we don't know if they're together with their parents or without. this is truly heartbreaking. it's very hard to sleep at night. >> the idea that little children are being held and it's now you know, it's been more than two weeks. almost two and a half weeks. i mean, it's, it's -- it is just unthinkable. i know the red cross has asked for proof of life. has asked hamas for access to all the hostages. that has been denied to them. >> we are begging, begging, for a sign of life for any, any

indication of their where abouts and their well-being. i really, i don't have the words for it. lying in bed at night before i go to sleep, that is the hardest part of the day because then it's harder to shake away the thoughts of that they might be going through. >> the u.s. secretary of state said over the weekend they don't know why they were released first. have you gotten any better sense of why they were were able to be freed? >> not at all. we feel very, very lucky to have them home. we also feel guilty because we don't know why them. why them first. we only hope this was a sign indicating that the rest will be freed soon. we have no idea.

we really don't. >> thank you for talking to us. >> thank you, anderson. >> i'm sorry. >> i'm saying, thank you, anderson. we really don't know. >> yeah. i wish you and family the best and i hope you get news soon and hope you get them all back soon. thank you. >> back in the u.s., house republicans, will they have their new speaker designate? long time minnesota congressman, tom emmer, but will he be able the put together those 217 votes that he needs on the house floor? >> to be determined. plus, another trump lawyer pleading guilty in the georgia election case. trump attorney jenna ellis now cooperating with prosecutors. what could this mean for the former president's legal case when we come back.

the battle for house speaker is moving back into overdrive. overdrive, neutral. it's hard to tell. it sort of switches at times like we're grinding gears. can though the republicans' latest pick get to the finish

line? congressman tom emmer of minnesota won the party's nomination this afternoon but the gop whip now has to nail down the 217 votes needed to win on the house floor. emmer, of course, is the republicans' third nominee. >> this as the house marks three weeks with no leader following the ouster of former speaker, kevin mccarthy. manu, some members are outright opposed to emmer saying that he's not conservative enough. >> there are major concerns that his bid will collapse. he is behind closed doors trying to alleviate concerns. they had a vote behind closed doors where republicans had to say where they would come down. 26 republicans indicated they are not in favor of them. he can only afford to lose four on the house floor in order to become speaker of the house. so one by one, he's trying to listen to those concerns, trying

to all alleviate those concerns there's no sign he will. he voted to keep the government open on this bipartisan bill that passed the house recently for a short period of time. he voted with kevin mccarthy to raise the national debt limit. he voted to codify same-sex marriage back in the last congress. some of the members more on the socially conservative side have railed against that. he also voted against the efforts to overturn the 2020 elections. something that trump himself and some of his allies have targeted. always concerns that emmer may not be able to win enough support from members on the right and a warning sign, one republican just came out, i spoke to congressman jim banks said in his view, emmer is too moderate for the speakership and there's not enough support in the room behind me for him to be elected speaker. listen. >> i'm a conservative. i came to washington to fight for conservative values.

i can't go along with putting one of the most moderate republicans in the conference behind the speaker's chair. that betrays the values i came here to fight for. i hope there's a change along the way. he doesn't have the support in the room. dozens of members won't vote for him at this point. it's been a heated discussion for members at the microphone. we'll see where we go from here. >> so banks and emmer have a history together. he ran against him for whip. this was a contested race but never the less, banks made clear he's opposed to him as did some of the other members aligned with donald trump. trump himself just posted on social media criticizing emmer, calling him a quote, rhino, republican in name only. those a part of the trump wing

of the conference, what happens next? if emmer cannot get the votes, then they have to figure out yet another plan. can get candidate get there or will they have to try to prop up the interim speaker, patrick mchenry, on a temporary basis? an idea republicans shelved temporarily. we are now three weeks to the day in which mccarthy was ousted in unprecedented fashion. but can any nominee come and replace him? at the moment, the answer is no. as republicans remain stuck and the house remains paralyzed amid the gop infighting. >> a trump endorsement may not push someone over the finish line but perhaps trump aligning them can stop them from reaching it. manu raju live for us on the hill. thank you very much for that. and speaking of former

president, there was a tearful guilty plea in a georgia courtroom this mortgning as jen ellis admits she broke the law in trying to help trump overturning the 2020 election. ellis is now cooperating with fulton county prosecutors in that election subversion case. >> this is actually the third trump lawyer or former lawyer, and the fourth co-defendant to enter a guilty plea. let's bring in nick valencia. he was the only reporter in that courtroom. what was it like in court? >> it was fascinating. because it was unscheduled, we were the only network, really the only news outlet that was there so it was like being a fly on the wall and witnessing this really emotional statement made in court by ellis. we had heard --

>> was to make sure the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were in fact true. in the fren etic pace of attempting to raise challenges to the election in several states including georgia, i failed to do my due diligence. i believe in and value election integrity. if knew then what i knew now, i would have declined to represent

donald trump in these post election challenges. i look back on this whole experience with deep remorse. >> in her guilty plea, she implicated rudy giuliani, saying she helped him lie when they met with georgia lawmakers three times after the 2020 loss for trump and it was during those meetings with georgia lawmakers that giuliani spread conspiracy theories and accusations of widespread voter fraud when there was none to begin with. her plea is very similar to other pleas we've seen. she's going to have to pay a $5,000 restitution. she's going to do 100 hours of community service but most important in this deal is that she's going to have to testify at future trials and proceedings for all co-defendants in this case and that includes donald trump. >> so on that note, what happens next in the case? >> right now, we're looking for more dominos to fall. look, this is expected.

we have been following this case very closely and we knew and anticipated for others to take plea deals. we've been working the phones all day to see if other defense attorneys are in similar discussions. so far, we understand there's only a handful of these co-defendants where plea deals are off the table entirely from the district attorney's office, but we should anticipate more deals to be cut in the coming days or weeks. >> we'll be looking to see if more dominos fall here. nick, thank you. and we are learning now some new details on efforts to free a large number of hostages held by hamas in gaza. we'll have more on that, next.

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in a cnn exclusive, jordan is calling out what she says is a blaring double standard by western leaders. speaking to christiane amanpour, she criticized leaders in the western world. listen. >> can i ask you first as an arab, as a palestinian, a human being, a mother, how you're feeling ever since october 7th? >> look, i cannot begin to describe to you the depth of the grief, the pain, and the shock that we are feeling here in jordan. all of us are united in this grief. regardless of our origin. we are just, just can't believe the images we're seeing every se

single day. we're going to bed seeing those images and waking up to them. as a mom, we've seen palestinian mothers who have had to write the names of their children on their hands because the chances of them being shelled to death, of their bodies turning into corpses are so high. i just want to remind the world that palestinian mothers love their children just as much as any other mother in the world and for them to have to go through this is just unbelievable. equally, i think that people all around the middle east including in jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world's reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding. in the last couple of weeks, we have seen a glaring double standard in the world. when october 7th happened, the world immediately and unequi unequivocally stood by israel and condemned the attack that happened. but what we're seeing the last couple of weeks, we're seeing silence in the world.

you know, countries have stopped just expressing concern or acknowledging the casualties but with the preface of declaration for support for israel. you know, are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family at gunpoint but it's okay to shell them to death? i mean, there is a glaring double standard here. and it is just shocking to the arab world. this is the first time in modern history that there is such human suffering and the world is not even calling for a cease fire so the silence is deafening. >> jordan is home to 40% of the total registered palestinian refugees in the middle east according to the u.n. joining me now from tel aviv is the former israeli ambassador to the u.s. ambassador, you just heard her

comments about a double standard. do you believe there's a double standard? >> hi. good to be with you, anderson. let me just say something about what she said. i remember how her late father-in-law back in 1997, when seven israeli school children were killed by a crazed soldier. opened fire across the jordan river. the king crossed the river and sat with each family and expressed his con ddolences. i understand 70% of her population is palestinian and if i remember a member of the israeli government, i'd be more cautious about what i say, but it was astounding about the fact she had nothing to say about the people massacred, butchered, tortured, mutilated, raped repeatedly by hamas in gaza. i think this is deeply, deeply

disappointing. i think it says a lot. it says a lot about a certain viewpoint in the arab world. i understand it's difficult to see these images coming out of gaza. i really do. i can empathize. we're in a terrible war. israel has to strike back. cease fire means hamas wins. they get away not with murder, but with mass murder and no one's going to agree to that. the choice is between going into gaza, gaza city, while there are a million there being used adds a human shield by hamas or moving them out. and any palestinian, any palestinian that is in that city and killed by israeli bombing because we have to prepare if ground for our ground troops to go in is being used as a humid shield by hamas and we're trying our best to move that population away. it is difficult. it can be very, very heartbreaking to see these families being left out in the night, in the cold, but the

alternative believe me, is far, far worse. >> i should point out i have not heard the complete interview so i do not know if she did not make comments about what occurred in israel. so i'll have people check that right now. just wanted to point that out. i'd like to talk to you about what's going on with the hostage situation. we saw the release of two more hostages. this is obviously, this is great for families. what do you make of this in terms of how this impacts israel's decision about what to do in gaza? >> well, i think it's first of all we're delighted these hostages have been release. we pray for the safety of the rest of the hostages. we demand that hamas release all of the hostages immediately unconditionally. we're talking about upwards of 30 children, aging people. the husbands of these senior citizens who were released today or yesterday, they're still in

captivity. and we have to take that into consideration. we've listened to some of the comments of these hostages whosk who have been released. i understand that nathalie and judith, i understand one of their family members were killed. it is that type of horrific, very delicate situation but we cannot let the state of israel and we cannot let the world be held hostage by hamas. which is what is liable to happen. and we're going to do our utmost to release these hostages, to use our special forces to locate them and rescue them. but we cannot let them use the hostages to hold us hostage, which is precisely what's happened. you know, so it's very difficult to convey this. many people watching this program, but israel as a society is still stuck on october 5th. we haven't really moved beyond it. my son went to a funeral at a

sheva, morning call for a classmate of his. a woman with her husband and three kids all shot in their home in the kibbutz. i spoke to the mother. the doctor of my daughter-in-law whose daughter was repeatedly raped and put on the back of a flat bed truck and dragged through the streets of gaza where she was hit and beaten. can you imagine being that mother? can you imagine talking to that mother? i don't know. i don't know how -- i don't think i could. this is where we are and we have to restore our fundamental security. this place will not be inhabitable if we don't do that. by the way, the message will get out not just about israel's vulnerability, but the west's entirely. what starts here ends up in other places, i assure you.

>> yeah. former israeli ambassador to the u.s., thank you. boris, back to you. >> thanks, anderson. still to come on cnn, the off duty alaska airlines pilot accused of trying to shut down a plane's engines mid flight is set to appear in court. sources tell cnn terrorism is not suspected. the latest on what we know about why this was carried out when we come back.

terrorism is being ruled out as a motive while we get new details about the off duty alaska airlines pilot facing 83 counts of attempted murder after a terrifying in-flight incident over the weekend. >> joseph david emerson was

taken into custody on sunday. he was accused of trying to cut power to the plane's engines at cr cruising altitude. pete is with us now. what more are you learning about the pilot and what happened? >> so many new details. now there are federal charges against him. there were about 160 charges he was facing in state court including 83 counts of attempted murder. now he's facing these federal charges including interfering with a flight crew. that is the newest charge and in these charges are court documents that essentially lay out a pilot who is depressed and in incredible duress. in this complaint, this pilot, 44 years old, spent 22 years with alaska airlines. he says he was going to go for these engine cut offh handles

that would have cut off the feel to the plane. he was sitting in the jump seat. he says as he was goeing up for this, i am not okay. there was a struggle and the documents lay out these pilots only had seconds to act before the plane was rendered into a glider. then he comes out of the cockpit according to the court documents. tells a flight attendant, you need to put handcuffs on me, i'm not okay. then they take him to the back. at one point, he tries to grasp for an emergency exit handle. the plane then diverts to portland where police are waiting for him. he tells them he's not slept for 40 h, been depressed for six months. and admits to what he did. i know what i did and i'm not going to fight any charges you guys bring against me.

incredible new details here and essentially lays out somebody who was not trying to go something ideological. we know in the faa earlier as they sent an alert to airlines after this immediately happened, this was not initially connected to world events. this is a one off but brings into question what this pilot could have done if he was actually flying the plane. >> sure does. so scary as we learn more about this. pete, thank you for the very latest here. cleaning up her comments. white house press secretary facing backlash over her answer to a question on monday about the rise of antisemitism. she just responded. we'll have more on that, next. p!

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yesterday at the white house briefing, our mj lee asked a simple question about antisemitism and the answer from the white house press secretary prompted backlash all the way to israel. here is the question and her response. >> what is this level >> what is the concern right now about the potential rise in anti-semitism in light of everything going on in israel. >> a couple things. look, we have not seen any credible threats. i know there's been always questions about credible threats and so just want to make sure that is out there. look, muslim and those perceived to be muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate fueled attacks and certainly president biden understands that many of our muslim arab and

palestinian american loved ones and neighbors are worried about hate being directed at their communities. >> here at home we heard criticism of that moment from both sides of the aisle. a democrat called her answer weak and said must do better. moments ago jean-pierre said this. >> when jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when israel is singled out because of anti-jewish hatred, that is anti-semitism. and that is unacceptable. there is no place for anti-semitism full stop period. this is important to the president. it's important to me, personally, and to everyone in the administration. >> let's talk now with congresswoman debby wassermann shultz of florida. thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today. the white house press secretary clearly felt compelled to address this, to clean this up right at the top of the briefing

before she was even asked questions about it. what did you think of jean-pierre's statement yesterday and what did you think about what you heard today? >> well, i think it's best put in softball terms that i know you and i can understand and that is that what karine said at the podium yesterday was clearly a whiff, but we have to make sure that in this entire context and crisis that we major in the majors. it is very clear that president biden could not possibly be standing more strongly with israel. our homeland security department issued a warning just this week about the precipitous rise and risk for anti-semitic attacks. we have seen in the last number of years massive increases in anti-semitic incidents including in my own hometown. in short, anti-semitism is real. it's alive. and the biden administration,

president biden himself, recognized this by releasing the first ever national strategy to combat anti-semitism. no other president has ever done that. it's comprehensive. it's all of government. it is very clear where president biden and his administration stand in the fight against anti-semitism and what it is and its impact and that's what's important here. >> you were on the ground in israel in the direct aftermath of the attacks on october 7th and now there are talks about perhaps a release of a large number of hostages. how hopeful are you that that could actually happen? >> oh, i mean hopeful. and it is imperative that we make sure that a white hot spotlight is shown on the plight of these hostages. it is absolutely critical that we get them released and brought home to their families. when i was in israel i had an opportunity to meet with a

person i was able to meet with again today. torn up is an under statement. this is a woman who we both wish we never had an opportunity to meet under these circumstances. her father is still captive. she got proof of life thank god when the release of the woman yesterday, the elderly woman yesterday, they were being held captive with people from that kibbutz. there are signs that, of hope, but we have to make sure we both make sure that hamas can be eradicated and we support israel in that endeavor and at the same time that we press comprehensively for the release of these hostages. both things can be done simultaneously. >> we are watching this humanitarian crisis in gaza unfold. israel initially said it didn't want to let fuel in because hamas would seize it then clarified they will make sure fuel is in place where needed to

treat civilians. hospitals, we're hearing this, are on the verge of disaster losing power for ventilators, incubators for vulnerable newborns. what can the u.s. do that it is not doing? >> let's be very clear the hamas terrorists are embedding themselves and always embed themselves in and among the civilians in gaza. further, what they've done is prevented evacuation to safety of their fellow palestinian citizens so they are keeping them in harm's way and not allowing them to heed israel's warnings about their efforts to eradicate the terrorists. we do have to make sure that obviously israel in its effort abides by the laws of war and rules around war making sure we protect palestinian and israeli civilian lives.

it is important, imperative. but let's be clear. this was a massive terrorist attack that took more lives, the most lives on any single day since the holocaust. hamas doesn't abide by the rules of law or the laws of war. they murder and maim and rape innocent israelis and the reason for their existence is to kill jews and eradicate the state of israel. we are not playing a fair fight here. >> i'm not disputing that >> i know you're not. >> we are hearing from people in gaza including americans who are stuck and the situation is terrible. you're hearing that. you know that >> i am. >> so what can the u.s. do? because they will, some of these folks, survive if they get the help they need but some of them will not if they do not get the help they need soon. >> humanitarian assistance needs to be allowed in.

it also needs to be -- we also need to be ensured that that humanitarian assistance doesn't get diverted to hamas. gaza needs to be freed from hamas. that is the freedom that is essential right now and eradicating the hamas terrorists ensuring what the united states can do is work with not only our allies but alongside israel as an ally and with countries like qatar and others to negotiate for the release of those hostages, ensure that happens immediately, make sure we can get as much aid safely and to the right people to protect palestinians and, look, at the end of the day, though, this is a war started by hamas terrorists who are continuing to be hell bent on eradicating israel and killing jews. that cannot be allowed to happen for one more minute. >> congresswoman debby wassermann shultz, thank you so

much for being with us. >> thank you. >> anderson, i want to go to you in tel aviv. >> reporter: thanks very much. to follow up on investor michael orden's questions about an interview we played a sound bite from in which queen rania was talking about where she believes it is a double standard in the coverage and the perception of what's happened here in israel and to palestinians. he raised questions about whether she, about what she said about october 7th, which wasn't part of the sound bite. we went through the interview. this is christiane amanpour asking her specifically about her perception about what happened on october 7th. listen. >> i just want to get from you what you felt on october 7th. >> well, of course i was shocked and, you know, jordan has made its position very clear. we condemn the killing of any civilian whether palestinian or israeli. that is jordan's ethical and

moral position and it's also the position of islam. islam condemns the killing of civilians. as my husband mentioned recently the pact of omar issued on the gates of jerusalem 15 centuries ago, 1,000 years before the geneva conventions, orders muslims not to hurt or kill a woman, child, or elderly person. and not to destroy a tree or hurt a priest. and so this is what we believe are the rules of engagement at time of war but they need to apply to everybody. so, yes. there was the shock and there is the condemnation but why isn't there equal condemnation to what is happening now?