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>> this just into cnn. this ambassador accused of spying for a foreign government. the charges in just minutes. we will bring you the very latest. israeli ground forces in southern gaza. the sign that the idf is going to expand to all of gaza. staff shortages are a major problem that might affect air travel safety. some controllers have been pushed to the brink. some were drunken somewhere asleep on the job. details ahead. these stories and many more coming in right here to cnn news central. ♪ we want to get to the story

we are following. and asked u.s. ambassador accused of having spied on cuba. evan perez, court documents are sealed, what do they review? >> according to prosecutors, victor munro was 75 years old was working for the cuban government according to the justice department. working for the cuban government since 1981. in november of 2022, the fbi received a tip that he was working for a foreign government and they introduced him to the undercover agent. someone call them and reach out to him on what's app, the encrypted messaging service. they set up three covert meetings in miami. the first one happening in public. and they began having these

conversations. these conversations were recorded. they have admissions from him during this period and according to them, he talked about his outreach to his co- patriots in cuba, i appreciate and i am very thankful for this alert. talking to an undercover agent. he says the cuban intelligence service asked me to lead a normal life. i have created the legend of a right-wing person. he goes to talk about how the number one concern or priority was the action on the part of washington that would endanger the life and leadership of the revolution itself. again, according to prosecutors, this is something that he has been doing since 81. serving as the ambassador to bolivia 1999 to 2022.

they are serving another post for the state department. argentina and the national security council all while in the service of the cuban government. the important parts of this, we were just talking about during the 1996 shootdown of the brothers rescue planes, it happened just outside of cuban waters in international waters. he was one of the top diplomats in the u.s. interest section in havana. the highest level at that point of u.s. diplomacy in the island of cuba. >> a civilian crash. there were no arms on the plane. it's the making of a spy novel it looks like. >> it is to appear any moment now in federal court. for the first time if it was

when he was arrested. >> will hear from the garland this morning. >> this marks a new phase where the whole of the strip is a battlefield. thousands fled to the south when it was designated as the safe zone earlier in the war. now the people are wondering where they are supposed to go next. >> this raises questions if the aide can keep coming in from the south. as the offensive expands, they are publicly and privately pressuring israel to increase protections of civilians and resume hostage negotiations. 137 hostages remain in gaza. after 110 were released after the temporary truce. ben wickman is live in jerusalem. what we learned about these

operations in southern gaza? >> breanna, they are preliminary. they have not gone into the southern areas of the gaza strip. video of the crew that is going northward over the main northwest highway in gaza. more like a street. where they encounter an israeli tank. they have made a massive push into gaza. we are in the southern part of the strip. we know that over the weekend, they did drop leaflets on towns to the east and north of the biggest city in the southern part of gaza, warning residents to leave those areas immediately. that may suggest that there is a push from israel into gaza.

while we have seen over the weekend was pretty intense bombardment. and also in the northern part of the gaza strip. the commander of the armored core said that they have almost achieved all of their objectives in the northern part of the gaza strip. there is some resistance from hamas fighters. it does appear that the focus is going to be on the south. we have not yet seen a major push. the problem is that there are hundreds of thousands of people that thought they might be safer in the south. that does not appear to be the case. one of the options that israeli and american officials were considering is that all those people who had gone to the south and those who were already in the south, can go to the north now, that does not

seem like a very viable option in the northern part of gaza which has been at the receiving end of some of the most intensive israeli airstrikes that gaza has ever seen. rihanna? >> those airstrikes are not letting up. so much of the housing is completely destroyed. you talked about what this means for those displaced to the south. what is this focus on the south? waiting for it to evolve and for aid getting in? >> we know that saturday and sunday, 100 trucks came in from egypt into gaza. 85 crossed today. before the cease-fire, israelis did conduct airstrikes around the crossing. there is no indication that that crossing and the gaza side will be immune from these

airstrikes. there is a very good possibility that if those airstrikes intensify, the egyptians will stop sending and allowing trucks into gaza. even to do that, they need israeli permission. we know that things are getting very bad. there was a bakery in the southern side of the gaza strip that got hit overnight in an israeli airstrike. people were desperate. they looted sugar, cooking oil, flour, and even would that was in the bakery so that they could heat their homes and cook their food. >> is desperate and it will get more so. thank you so much for the update. the white house is putting more pressure on israel to come up for plans for gaza after the

war is over. vice president kamala harris is talking with palestinian representatives. ground operations in gaza until all goals are met. live at the pentagon right now. they are trying to get peace negotiations on track. what are you hearing from officials? >> boris, with the issues we have seen them come to a halt. given the last week. there was a breakdown in the negotiations between israel and hamas. the white house is trying to get things back on track here. it remains to be seen how these will play out. we saw that they have been key intermediaries between israel and hamas. as well as with the united states being a key player in all of this.

what appears to have happened, hamas was refusing to release the women that it was holding. and the israelis wanted a list of all of the women and children hostages that hamas was prepared to release. they were not willing to provide that. at this point, there is an impasse. according to u.s. officials, it does not appear that there will be serious negotiations for the foreseeable future. or a restart for the foreseeable future. >> we have seen a number of incidents and examples of tensions boiling over in the middle east, u.s. forces were involved in the red sea as well. tell us about that? >> a significant escalation in the red sea where the destroyer that was in the vicinity there was responding to a number of missile attacks that the u.s.

said were released by oberon back in yemen that were aiming at commercial vessels. three commercial vessels in the red sea that were struck by these missiles. including one ballistic missile was launched as well. they caused minor damage, no serious injuries. one day they might. they are backed by iran. they release to drive drones that they needed to do. they will respond to this at a time and place of their choosing. they have responded to these attacks from the proxy forces in the region. that has not deterred them so far. the question for the pentagon continues to be what kind of additional response are you willing to take in order to make sure that the u.s. and its

partners and allies are protected in the region. because there were 14 different countries represented on these commercial vessels operating in the red sea. this could really escalate and spiral for us. >> more than 75 attacks on u.s. and coalition forces since 2007. thank you so much. rihanna? >> let's talk about this now with our military analyst. i wonder if you think if the u.s. military posture is enough right now to be a deterrent. >> thank you for having me, breanna. the deterrence is strategic. it's not something where you flip a switch. you go back to the days of speak softly and carry a big stick. that was the deterrence in the 20th century. the problem right now, the country has not communicated that. there is no redline.

everyone is waiting for something to happen. but they have done already is an act of war back during the cold war. if another nation fired at a u.s. warship, it would be well known that we would go after them. not to be reciprocal. it would be increased. israel is trying to figure out what deterrence is now inside of gaza. part of this administration cannot figure out what is the redline. it all goes back to iran. for whatever reason they don't want to be on the side that they will make them more angry. i'm not of the people that think the iranians do not want a conflict with us. they are having these attacks that are attacking americans. >> the latest attacks are hitting up commercial ships but they are not doing as much damage as they could. not anyone who was really

injured or anyone who is killed. does the equation change if that is different? >> unfortunately, it will, you should not have to. if you commit a crime and no one was killed, it doesn't make sense. deterrence would be again from a strategic perspective, we do not expect any firing on any ships in that region. there should be a free passage of commerce into the persian gulf. if that gets blocked work blocked up somehow. there is conflict in there, it will shutdown world commerce. this is where the united states has to take a better leadership role. making sure that these acts are not permitted to happen. i don't care what they fire. it's good enough for a response back that says you are not going to do that again. >> what is the line between showing you will not be bullied, the u.s. will not be

bullied. hitting the command centers. and getting drawn into a broader conflict that the u.s. does not want. >> i understand that the saudis do not want another history of conflict with them as well. there has to be a set of rules that we all agree that they will communicate and live by. that is why i said it was strategic. this visceral response right away. sitting down with them and letting them know that this is what our response is going to be, this is the redline. the way that this administration works, it is a u.s. casualty. from my perspective, i don't think that cuts it. we can get ahead of this problem before then by preventing that from happening and preventing them from attacking any u.s. forces there. in the red sea and in syria and in iraq. >> we appreciate you talking about this, this is really heating up. there is a lot to discuss.

thank you. >> thanks. the biden re-election campaign targeting president trump's vow to repeal obama care. how they are using it to their advantage. more turmoil for ron desantis. he abruptly lets go of several key staffers. what this could signal for his campaign with just six weeks to go until the iowa caucucus.

we will fight to give more better healthcare than what we had before. obama care is a disaster. we will do something about it. >> former president donald trump in iowa over the weekend.

with more than 40 million americans covered under the aca, the biden campaign is seizing those threats by getting ready to unveil a series of healthcare measures that biden will pass in his second term. live from the white house. walk us through the details in this healthcare plan brought forward by the white house. >> president biden and the campaign have seized on his threats to repeal and replace obamacare. he has expressed surprise that trump would revise this topic after they had failed to do so when he was president. and as obama care has increased in popularity. beyond attacks on trump and laying out what is at stake. advisers and knowledge they need to talk about what president biden would have to offer in a second term when it

comes to a healthcare agenda. the president is expected to ramp up his messaging on this front. some of the items that the second term agenda when it comes to healthcare could include, trying to extend and expand those price cuts that came for insulin and other drugs that are being provided under medicare. there is also likely to be a push to make permanent those enhanced federal premium subsidies that help on the obama care exchanges to be more affordable. those are set to expire right now in 2025. there will likely be a push to make those permanent as well. allies are trying to find out if there is any work around to give access to obamacare coverage in those states that did not approve medicaid expansion. there is a talk of reviving the public option. something that biden campaigned

on. something he could talk about if he is seeking a second term. with this debate over health care, they believe it could play to their advantage. they saw how healthcare was a potent political issue. they are hoping that might be another potent political issue. as trump has re-put these into the conversation. >> as you pointed out, >> live from the white house. thank you so much. >> here is ron desantis taking a tour and speaking with workers in new hampshire. after some major shakeups to is never back down super packed, three keys soon your staffers were let go. that included the interim ceo who i'd only been on the job for nine days. we are following this story.

steve, you do not have to be a political expert to know that people being let go after just nine days is not a good sign. you were there following his trip to iowa, what can you tell us. >> well, breanna, that's right. these kinds of shakeups are unprecedented during this stage of the race. they believe they are working towards the nomination. the desantis campaign believes that he is. they dismiss what transpired over the weekend as unimportant in the grand scheme of the campaign. they are not happening in a vacuum. these departures on saturday followed the exit of a previous ceo, nine days earlier as adam, one of the best friends of ron desantis. exiting the super packed board as chairman. he had his own camping shakeup

that included replacing his campaign manager. this continues to happen, time and time again. a lot of this stuff does not get to voters, per se. none of them had any awareness that this was going on. this is important because it reflects the candidate. how their campaign operates. it is one of these things that continues to overshadow desantis every time he tries to take a step forward. he was in iowa saying he had visited all 99 counties. this overshadow them a little bit. he dismissed it as if nothing happened. listen to what he had to say instead about his efforts in 2024. >> i don't care what they say about me. the arrows that they sling at me. it's not about me. it's about you. it's about the future of this

country. it's not about my issues, it's about your issues. >> he is trying to portray himself as someone who is principal and there is not a lot of drama around, someone will not have the chaos of the administration like we saw under former president donald trump. all these change-ups that he has had and some of the leaks that have come out of his operation, the fundraising that he has offered from over the past few months it undermines that message. one of the biggest concerns that his supporters have expressed. we are trying to make it look like we are a more professional version of trump, we continue to have this can kind of chaos and drama that we said we are above. >> this video of him out of new hampshire, trying to look like all is well. it looks like he is really trying. steve, thank you so much for

the lord, we do appreciate it. the supreme court hearing oral arguments on a bankruptcy settlement. at the heart of this case, should the family be immune from future lawsuits despite the public crisis caused by their drug? we will have the next on cnn news central.

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the biggest bankruptcy case in generations coming before the supreme lord today. the issue, if the billionaire family can be safe from other opioid -related losses. agreeing to a multimillion dollar settlement of the opioid epidemic. they want immunity from future litigation. a new york court approved the settlement. the justice department branch in charge is fighting it. because it keeps individual victims from pursuing their own lawsuits in the future. listening to the oral arguments this morning. explain the two sides right here. many that were victimized may lose out. >> the majority of people that would sue in this case have supported the structure of the settlement. this is not your ordinary

bankruptcy case. purdue pharma which is owned by the sackler family. they agreed to pay $6 billion of about 18 years in exchange for being protected from any future liability. how can they do that? how can they get protection from user lawsuits. this was held up by the new york court of appeals. a trustee is asking the supreme court to review this particular agreement. when it comes to the rights of victims to be able to sue in the future. they ask questions for about two hours on both sides. i want to play some clips about what the justices were asking. this is a very unusual benefit in a bankruptcy case. let's take a listen.

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out loud. they believe time is running thing.

chuck schumer wants to hold a vote and republicans are saying it's way too early for about and they are not ready with the deal. it's hard to see how quickly that you will come through but the guy i >> with thinks there is the path, they are just not there yet . >> it is not a poison pill for some democrats. >> the war is largely frozen, you've heard this term, that is a russian intention, you can't win the war and it's pretty clear early on you can't win the war as quickly as expected, it sees advantage, if it could freeze it where it is, it could finish off the other side, divides allies basically basically capitalizes on patients, some of those lines don't look very good. for ukraine and its allies it is not quite frozen at those front lines have not changed significantly and the feeling

is, they need significantly more fire power to change that scenario, if they don't get any firepower, that it goes the other r way. and they s start to lose territorory. >> w with jim, t thank you so m obviouslsly an imporortant thih keepep our eyeye o on now. >> war has not gone anywhere. but we will see if this bill does. speak k up what happens when t people who are supposed to be keeping you safe when n you u f are the oneses w who are makini dangngerous miststakes? we have a disturbing newew repe aheaead.

there is a troubling report by new york times detailing how the nation's air traffic controllers are being pushed to the brink. some of them sleeping on the job, even getting drunk and high at work and also issues like health problems, critical staffing shortages and various workplace infestations, pete, you have reported in the past about problems facing air traffic controllers, but it seems like the situation is getting worse, at least what has come to light publicly appears to be faa is trying to it says it is not reflective of the high standard of safety in the space and the line here is something we have been reporting for months. there traffic control system is stretched to the limit and they

say they are overworked and understaffed. this is highlighted again just last week in a massive release of data in a close call in austin in february