♪ good evening. you are live in the "cnn newsroom." i'm jim acosta in washington. my colleague wolf blitzer is live for us in tel aviv, israel. the international tension stoked by israel and gaza. we are seeing this remarkable video from the southern russian republic of dagestan.

a crowd some waving palestinian flags forced their way into an airport after a flight from tel aviv landed earlier today. russian state media says the crowd was protesting the israel-hamas war. in gaza city right now, an aid organization says nearby israeli air strikes have caused extensive damage to the second largest hospital there. the palestinian red crescent society says that's endangering the lives of patients. 12,000 displaced citizens are also sheltering there. >> gun fire and explosions echo around much of gaza as israel's ground offensive expands according to cnn analysis published by an israeli media outlet meanwhile they fire into gaza from israel. >> amid all of this, iran's president said today that israel's offensive on gaza has,

quote, crossed the red line. his words, crossed the red line. this is not the first warning from an iranian official for the potential for a much broader conflict. earlier today, an israeli benjamin netanyahu. jake sullivan, he says there is an elevated risk, his words, elevated risk of this conflict expanding across the region and quote, the risk is real. i want to bring in cnn's nic robertson and he is joining us from sderot in israel not far from gaza. nic, this time last night you were surrounded by the sound of explosions. it was so worrying. what are you seeing tonight? >> yeah, wolf, about two minutes ago the sirens went off with incoming missiles here. rockets fired from gaza in towards sderot. we didn't hear any intercepts and we didn't hear any impacts

and that was the second such siren in about three hours. so there are still rockets being fired out of gaza today on this location and other parts of israel as well and fighter jets, and we are still hearing detonations coming from inside of gaza this evening in the past few hours. it's not as heavy as last night. not the tank fire and not the artillery fire. we are still hearing some apache gunships and we've seen those through the day and the tempo is down. we also know that the idf has managed to get two miles into the northern end of gaza and for the location, we believe where they planted a flag, raised a flag over a building, it was right on the coast there in the northern end of the gaza strip. so it appears as if they've avoided areas of dense, civilian population and of course, this

is a very important message from president biden to prime minister netanyahu today to avoid civilian casualties and we are hearing calling from more and more u.n. agencies and one that looks after humanitarian relief and refugees inside gaza saying that a warehouse and food looted from it. aid for children saying they want an immediate ceasefire in gaza. the military operation dietly reduced in scale, it seems, but still under way and growing international pressure on israel to allow a humanitarian pause, to allow some sort of ceasefire, wolf and no indication at all that that is about to happen. >> and as we've been reporting, nic, and you understand this very well and you've been to dagestan, we're also seeing these multiple videos of very angry crowds over there storming an airport in dagestan and

there's russian republic after the arrival of a flight from tel aviv. tell us a little bit more about that and as i said i know you've been there. >> yeah. it's deeply worrying for anyone from israel or for that matter, for the jewish community around the world because this appears to be yet another place where anti-israeli, anti-jewish sentiment is being expressed. what surprises me specifically about this incident today is how in a russian republic that has a high security presence or the last time i was in the airport in dagestan which is where this happened was following the boston marathon bombing in 2013 and that was because the bomber's family had come from there, and there was -- we discovered an undercurrent of radical islamist behavior among a small element of the

population and a high russian security presence in that area. so in an area where there is a high and strong russian security prevalence how could the airport itself be stormed? it comes at a time today where israeli foreign ministry is call thing in the russian akd to ask him why russia has not unequivocally condemned hamas' brutal attack on the 7th of ontario and they're meeting with seen hamas officialses and this is in the airport in dagestan, arriving from this flight from tel aviv to be stormed by crowds. the timing raises questions and we don't have the answers and most of all just deeply worrying and disturbing for israelis, wolf. >> very disturbing.

it's interesting because in my conversation with israelis here in tel aviv over the past hour or two since we got word of this angry mob attacking the israeli plane that landed in dagestan. israelis are complains that it's not just anti-israel statements that were being hurled at the israelis who were on this plane, but it was anti-semitic statements, as well and they're concerned about leaving the country right now and going to various places where there's not only anti-israeli feeling and anti-semitic feeling as well and you've been hearing stuff along the lines where you are in israel. >> absolutely, wolf. people are concerned and not concerned about the security here and worried about the reaction around the world that has not come out so strongly and condemned the actions of hamas on the -- on the 7th of october and the implications of what that means not just anti-jewish

and antithe state of israel and it's deeply troubling and deeply worried for jewish communities across the world and you can look at capitals across europe where attacks on the jewish community has gone up and the communities are forced to take steps to protect their own security at levels that would be just unfathomable for the rest of the community. so absolutely, it is very, very deeply felt and something people do talk about, wolf. >> it certainly is very disdisturbing as as we tell you, jam, can you pick up our coverage. another military heading to the coast, and they're positioning a rapid response team on the fact

that the israel war can from other countries. orrin from the pentagon. what are you learning? >> jim, we've been watching the expedition military unit, a rapid response force that has a number of tasks including special operations known as anil. over the past several weeks it's been in the middle east and it was initially making its way toward israel and it was supposed to be off the southern coast in the red sea. according to two u.s. officials that plan has now changed. it is still in the red sea, but now on its way north. it will go through the suez canal and into the eastern med putting it very close to israel and jordan, this as there is already a carrier strike group, the "uss gerald ford" anded "uss dwight d. eisenhower" and it will make its way to the waters of the middle east where the rapid response force are coming

from. why is this significance other than it is an overwhelming show of force and a message meant to deter iran and iranian proxies from getting involved in this. john kirby, the strategic xhiencations coordinator for the national security council early last week said it would be irresponsible and imprudent if the u.s. didn't plan for contingencies. among those are possible evacuation from israel and lebanon if the situation deteriorates and that's a crucial "f," but not a massive escalation there, but there is till a very real concern about that. jake sullivan, the national security is real and the u.s. is trying to separate the parts in gaza from other parts of the middle east, but certainly it's, usually it's been it is manying its way on the eastern med would

give u.s. i crucial asset and capabilities and if it would consider a noncombatant evaluation. that order has not been given and late last week the state department in beirut said it was advisable for u.s. citizens to leave now. looking at the conflict in gaza escalates into a wider, regional conflict with a particular focus on israel's border with lebanon and that israel and hezbollah are in open war and in that case, the capability, one of the crucial capabilities if the u.s. decides it needs to order a neo, a noncombatant evacuation order, and along with the 26th expeditionary unit making its way to the eastern med. >> orrin, thank you very much. let's discuss further with

general hertling. what do you make of what orrin lieberman was talking about, the rapid response getting closer to this situation. obviously, it could happen. where they may need to intervene and evacuate americans. what do you think? >> exactly, jim, and what i tell you as commander of u.s. army europe in 2013, we worked with the marine expeditionary units in the area at the time. it was a different view, but this one, the 26th marine exped igszary unit, and it can work with special operations forces are trained to conduct neo operations and in pack, back in my day about ten years ago, we actually planned a neo operation in beirut out of lebanon. it didn't happen, but certainly it could today given the increase of tensions in the

area. what i'd suggest is that rapid response force, that marine meu is capable of doing all sorts of things contributing to the execution of a neo is one of the most important things they do, but what i'd say, jim, is when i was there, and this was a long time ago, there were 100,000 and more american citizens inside of lebanon and we were planning for the non-combatant evacuation of all of them at the time. luckily we didn't have to do it. this was a very tough mission and the meu will contribute to that. it has about 2200 marines onboard, the baton and the amphibious ship that would contribute to this. this is an important factor of having a contingency operation ready to perform operations in beirut and in lebanon. >> better to have it there and not need it than to need it and not have it there. i want to ask you about this, general hertling.

i have this crazy new video that's come in from dagestan, the russian republic of dagestan. russian officials say the crowd protest the israel-hamas forcing their way into the airport and all hell breaks loose. what do you think about what's going on here? this has got to be very worry some. you have to set the understanding and the context. dagestan is the soviet or russian republic and about 80% of the population there are islamic, you know, their background is in islam. so they are very concerned about jews coming into the area. the reaction is unbelievably anti-semitic, but you can understand this and i'd point to the fact that russia and iran have been coordinating many of their actions. so when you see a republic within the russian sphere, dagestan and it's connected to

georgia and azerbaijan in the area, with 80% of their population being muslims, and would not support any jewish immigrants to the area. so you're going to see these kind of actions in those areas and in other area, but it's extremely troubling as we see jews trying to get out of israel and trying to escape the consequences of what's happening from hamas, but you also have to understand that the members or the population of dagestan is very supportive of the iranian revolution and the fact that they are supporting what's going on by hamas and hezbollah inside of israel itself. all of this ties together with the understanding of what russia is connected or how russia is connected to what's going on in the area. >> well, apparently, in some of the language in the video is wildly anti-semitic. we'll keep our eyes on all of this and report anything new out

of this as it develops. general hertling, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> pleasure, jim. thank you. >> we'll be right back.

months to the iowa caucuses and donald trump remains at the top of gop field, but long-shot candidate chris christie insists it won't stay that way. >> donald trump is not going to be able to beat joe biden from a courtroom in washington, d.c. while he's fighting his indictment on the january 6th case. let me tell you that indictment got much tougher for him to beat when his own chief of staff has now accepted immunity and will testify against him about the lies he told. this is going to be a big problem for our party and we need to cut it off at the pass and get rid of donald trump and move on to honest, strong

leadership that will tell the truth. >> and cnn's jeff zeleny joins us now from sioux city, iowa, where the former president spoke just a short time ago. jeff, what can you tell us? >> jim, former president donald trump did not talk about chris christie, but he did talk about those indictments and of course, not in the same way that chris christie referenced them and this has become a central theme of the trump campaign trying to use those indictments as a rallying cry. to his base and his supporters in th in the orpheum theater, and they rallied to his cause. he made no mention of mike pence. of course, he got out of the race yesterday, was there no mention of the former president's former vice president, but what he did say, jim, perhaps coining a new phrase taking a play off the old drain the swamp. he said it's time to build the swamp. he wrapped in some election denialism in there, as well.

let's listen. >> you know they cheat, you know that, right? you know how you beat cheaters? you have to swamp them. you have to swamp them. not drain the swamp. in this case, you have to build a swamp, okay, we'll build one. and we have to swamp one and we will. we're seeing numbers that we've never seen before. >> of course, the question is building that swamp, but the iowa caucuses in 78 days opened the republican nominating contest. as you said, he does have a commanding lead here in iowa. the question is the general election argument. of course, chris christie and others are making the argument that trump can't win the general election and this is very much an open question and all polling nearly a year out before election day is, in fact, very close should trump become the nominee. jim, interestingly, one thing was clear, the former president called mike pence to endorse him making no mention of him today and just get the sense as the temperature starts to drop and the winner is taking hold here

and the field was consolidating 78 days before those iowa caucuses. >> the former president might need to work on his material. build the swamp, i don't even understand what that means. he's got time to work on those lines. jeff zeleny, appreciate it. as republicans head to 2024, divisions are alienating some of its longtime members. case in point, one of those is senator mitt romney, the 2012 republican presidential candidate turned pariah who has been lambasted for his anti-trump stance and now he's firing back. romney is a niew biography offe his new views on the gop and the staff writer mckay hopkins who spent time with him. welcome. i want to talk about the book and mitt romney and so on, but

what chris christie is saying about the field narrowing down, that's wishful thinking, obviously, for his part after mike pence dropped out this weekend. it's very much trump's race at this point. >> we haven't seen any evidence yet that even as people are dropping out that, you know, the rest of the primary voters are consolidating behind a single candidate and that's the real problem. you would have to see significant consolidation for trump to have a serious challenger. you would have to have them drop out and they're not going to do that at this point. let's talk about the book. mitt romney has been critical of his fellow republicans and florida governor ron desantis looks like he's got a toothache and ted cruz is frightening, scary and a demagogue and blasted rick perry who said republicans have to have someone who can complete a sentence. i do remember the acid wit that mitt romney had when i covered

him in 2012. i didn't know it was this acidic, but is he having second thoughts about even being a republican? >> when i started interviewing him he had been rocked by january 6th and he was taking stock of what the party had become. by the last interview earlier this year and we did this for two years he was openly talking to me about leaving the party and starting a third party. he frankly admits now that he doesn't see a home for himself in the gop and he's tried to steer it away from trumpism and he's found that it's almost impossible. >> he's also been notorious for his criticism of trump over the years and there was a time when it seemed like he was willing to embrace trump. i was a few tables away when romney dined with trump, president-elect trump at the jean george restaurant in 2016. it seems that romney was willing to make a bargain with trump to become secretary of state, i think what it was being floated at the time. i remember in the 2012 campaign

when trump endorsed mitt romney. is romney being a little hypocritical here, do you think? didn't he embrace some of the extreme elements of the time, the elements of the party? >> this is one of the themes of the conversation and it comes up again and again in the book. he thinks a lot about the compromises he's made throughout his political career. that dinner that you're talking about and i'll just tease that in the book i report what trump said about you -- >> oh, great. >> during that dinner. you can read about youio. >> gee, thanks. >> romney admits there have been times when he's been motivated primarily by ambition and political ambition and that's led him to cross certain ethical lines. as for that secretary of state job, he told me he thought that it was important that he thought it was important to have adults in the room and that was a common thing that you would hear right after the 'election, and i'm glad i didn't end up with

that job because i wouldn't have lasted that long. >> there were plenty rof adults in the room and they could not control him. is there a part in the book that has been overlookeded about mitt romney? what i remember about mitt romney in the 2020 campaign is he is a decent guy and colleagues feel that way, but what about romney now? is he bitter? is he walking away from this feeling defeated? what does he do now? >> it's interesting. i think since some of those quotes you read at the top have come out and people have focused on this idea that he's consumed with resentment and he's angry. i think it's more that he's heart broken by what his party has become and he's promoted so much of his adult life which he thought stood for democracy and markets and you know, individual responsibility and family values, and now he's seen so many of his fellow republicans rally around a man who he feels

just manifestly does not embody any of those qualities and you know, i think that the decency you mention does come through, really at this point in romney's life and i think the reason he cooperated with me is that he's not thinking about the next election cycle anymore. he's not thinking about his political future. he's thinking about his legacy and what he's leaving behind for his kids and grandkids and the message he wants to send is that it's important to follow your conscience, not think about whether you can stay in power. and that's what the book is really about. >> fascinating. mckay coppins, we'll read the book and everyone else is reading it. thank you very much. great reporting as always and we appreciate the time. coming up next, we'll take you back to israel as the u.s. marine rapid response force is moving toward the region amid fears that the conflict could spread. more on that when we come back. .

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tonight, the situation here in the middle east is heating up dramatically. joining us now, israel's current ambassador to the united states, michael hertzog. he is also a retired brigadier general in the israel defense forces. am, i know you have a lot going on. thanks so much for being here. first of all, what are you hearing about how this more intense phase of israel's ground operations in gaza, this more intense phase is going now? >> so as you know, we've been intensifying operations in gaza for the last 48 hours and we are under pressure for them, and in a way that cannot threaten us any longer. i believe that we are operating very carefully and moderate in a

modular way and applying more and more pressure on them and i think we expect to see the results in the coming days. >> earlier today a man you know well, president biden's national security adviser, jake sullivan warned there is an elevated risk of this conflict between israel and hamas expanding to include other countries in the region. so where is all of this moving? where do you think? >> we are aware of the risk and we are watching very closely what's happening on our northern border and other actors like iran and iranian forces and iran allowed it to attack israel and some u.s. targets. we have sent very strong deterrent messages to the u.s. and these messages are in, and we see along the israel-lebanese

border, daily exchanges on the local level and we hope it remains. if they decide to expand, they're playing with fire. >> earlier today iran's president said israel had, quote, crossed the red lines. hamas and hezbollah are both backed by iran. president biden has warned iran not to get involved. he says, don't. they asked what he should be doing and he said don't. don't even think about it. do you believe all of a sudden? >> i believe that it would be deterred and we're not talking about an 800-pound gorilla that will not be deterred and let me remind that we have been in a mini war with iran in syria for the last decade. they have tried to build a formidable military front facing

israel and we targeted them militarily. so i think they could be deterred and everybody should realize that. >> it was announced earlier that the pentagon has just deployed what's called marine rapid response force of up to 2,000 u.s. marines and they've been deployed off the coast of israel not far from where i am right now. according to u.s. officials all of this is developing very, very quickly, do you think that's enough to keep all of this contained to keep iran and its proxies, hezbollah and hamas and others from joining this war? >> as i understand it, the u.s. is dishing up its deployment in the mission and it sends a very strong message to iran. i think they are listening and i think this would be very helpful in deterring iran, hezbollah and

the other iranian forces. >> are the u.s. and israel on the same page right now when it comes to iran? >> i would say yes. we are in close consultations. we have a daily dialogue on all of the issues including iran and hezbollah. we compare notes and we compare intel. i think we see eye to eye on the issue of iran. >> in gaza right now, some of the relief agencies are saying that the humanitarian crisis there is worsening by the hour. today the main u.n. agency in gaza said thousands of people broke into some of its warehouses stealing food and critical supplies. what, if anything, can and will israel do to try to ease the suffering of these civilians inside gaza? >> we're in the process of

wrapping up humanitarian supplies into gaza. i think in the next day or two you'll see up to 100 trucks a day with humanitarian supplies into gaza and we are providing in very close coordination with u.n. agencies and the united states government. additional humanitarian solutions to the programs on the ground. we're in touch with all u.n. agencies. we make sure that whatever needs we know about and we are attached by the way that the directors of hospitals in gaza. we have a daily assessment of all u.s. agencies carried out. we know where the problems are and we work hard to address them. we believe it is our duty and also our interest. >> amidst all of this as if this

were want enough, we are getting disturbing new video coming in from the russian republic of dagestan, mr. ambassador. russian officials say a very angry crowd protesting israel hamas war forced their way into the airport after a flight from israel landed. have you heard about this and what is your reaction? >> yes, i did hear about this unfortunate incident. my reaction is that what we are seeing right now is not only the war between israel and hamas and gaza. it's deeper than that. it means that we are at war with extreme islamists across the globe who target jews and target israelis and target the west. everybody has to understand that and it's not just a narrow, geopolitical conflict. it's deeper than that. it's a clash of civilians. >> very disturbing, the angry

statements that were being hurled at the israeli plane and the israelis in dagestan, very disturbing statements, dean ped. michael herzog, the israeli ambassador to the united states. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much, wolf. israel says hamas is holding 239 hostages in gaza. up, nexext, a manan whosese sis among themem. we'l'll discuss s when we cocom.

and you're looking at live pictures right now gaza. it's relatively quiet. the united nations relief agency says thousands have broken into warehouses in gaza taking basic survival items this as many are desperate for food and water. cnn's melissa bell has more. >> a catastrophic failing

according to the precedent of the international red cross. that's how he was speaking about the situation for civilians inside the gaza strip even as desperate efforts for aid trying to getmore aid trucks in. so far the palestinian red crescent says there have been 94 trucks that have managed to get through. an extra ten went through on sunday and that is a tiny proportion of what they should be getting through. we've also been hearing and seeing from inside the gaza strip those images of people desperately trying to get their hands on u.n. supplies inside u.n. warehouses of wheat, flour, hygiene supplies giving you an indication of three weeks after the tightening of the siege and the bombard ams of the gaza strip and the ground operation just how desperate the situation is now for the civilians trapped inside. terrible images coming overnight, as well from the

refugee camp inside gaza where overnight bombing saw the destruction of a mosque where many gazans from the north of the strip had been seeking refuge over the course of the last three days. 13 dead and many injured and the dire situation with antonio guterres warning on saturday from doha that the clock is ticking and that history will judge us. melissa bell, cnn, cairo. coming up next, wolf talks to a man whose sister is among the hostages still held in gaza. we'll be right back.

they are ready for a full prisoner swap, and that would include the israeli and foreign hostages, including americans,

being held by hamas in exchange for the thousands of prisoners being held by israel. one of the israeli hostages spoke in a rally in washington, d.c. >> 229 human beings lives are worth any price. >> joining us, his sister was taken in the attack at the musical in northern gaza. how are you doing as israel is expanding its ground operations into gaza? >> well, we have been waiting for 23 days ago, and we are scared from the beginning as

wel well, in a way. just another thing, you know, being a war in this thing for a long time. >> would you support the so-called deal hamas is calling for where all of the israeli hostages and foreign hostages in gaza will be exchange for the release of thousands of palestinian prisoners in israel? >> yes. we ask, we demand from the israeli government to do whatever they can to release the hostages and kidnaps as soon as possible and do whatever they can to do that as quickly as possible. from this point of view, yes, i would ask them. >> do you think the other families would support this kind of a deal? >> yes, there's lot of families, a lot of them are worried and all of them demand our

government to do whatever they can as soon as possible, and we are all demanding it very clearly. yes. >> what are you hearing from the israeli government about the status of the negotiations that are going on supposedly behind the scenes? >> nothing, nothing much. only hints that this talks are impending, and basically the social support. that's it. we don't get much information about it. >> before i let you go, lion, i want you to tell us something we should know about your sister who is being held by hamas in gaza. >> she's a beautiful person, a person that loves life, loves peace and music and loves everyone, and loves to help people. loves animals. she was working in the rescue.

she's a beautiful and positive person. i would say, be strong and continue to be positive. when you come back, we want you to know we are doing everything we can to bring you back home as soon as possible, and i would ask the international community to please come and help us with the hostages, and please understand, this is happening in the war, and to not allow this to happen again, not in israeli or anywhere in the world. >> we are all hoping that she will be reunited with her family and you, and we wish asweet reunion and hope it happens soon. lion yanai, thank you for joining us, and good luck. >> to our viewers, thank you for

joining us. i am in tel aviv. we will be back tomorrow covering all the breaking news in israel. my coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. we will have much more news straight ahead, including news that a u.s. marine rapid response force is now moving toward the region, not far from where we are in tel aviv amid fears this conflict could spread duh dramatically. much more when we come back.

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you are live in the cnn "newsroom." i am jim acosta in washington. my colleague, jim scuitto, is

joining us live from northern israel. good evening to you. we visit the conflict on both sides of the conflict, and israeli's military says the hostages are up to 239 people, and in gaza the humanitarian crisis deepens. thousands of people have broke into warehouses and taken food and basic supplies. a short time ago a u.s. official confirmed the u.s. urged more. israeli troops appear to have advanced, and it's a video published lie a israeli media outlet. there's