>> an all new episode of the whole story with anderson cooper airs sunday night at nine pm eastern standard and pacific only on cnn. thank you for watching, laura coates live starts right now. laura >> it would be the whole story with abby phillip on sunday you meet. mean. that's you are talking about. >> i will hype you up myself. everyone, it is everything everywhere all at once for president biden. and this time, is personal. tonight, on laura coates live. now, we have heard it over and over. right? that phrase that all politics is local. well, maybe it should be all politics is personal. it certainly seem to be for president biden. it will be 2024. i know, i'm with you. i can't believe it either. but in 18 days it will in fact

be 2024. and the president will be running for reelection in the face of some significant head winds that are turning into quite the hurricane. everything, everywhere all at once. you have wars in ukraine. israel. bombs, still raining down. hostages still desperate for rescue. some of biden's own staff members holing a vigil outside the white house masked to conceal their identities calling for a cease fire in gaza. the president giving a personal message to israel. >> i want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives. not stop going after hamas, but be more careful. >> well then there is ukraine. biden is trying to push his own party where they don't seem to want to go. he is open to changing border policy in exchange for the votes to pass the aid that ukraine desperately needs.

but democrats have been balking. and the president's approval rating is underwater in poll after poll after poll. now he faces the biggest challenge of all, republican led impeachment inquiry with no evidence. president biden calling it a baseless political stunt and fund raising off of it. perhaps this seems familiar to you? impeachment? fund raising off of it? talking about it being baseless? kind of a page out of the trump play book. but maybe for different reasons. he is the expert. he was impeached not once, but twice. well this inquiry is personal

for joe biden. after beaux biden died of brain cancer in 2015, hunter is his only surviving son. >> my father was not financially involved in my business. not as a practicing lawyer. not as a board member of b aerie sm barisma. >> the big question is can joe biden turn this around? this head wind? the idea that everything, everywhere all at once? well, people, they counted him out before haven't they? >> but look. this isn't the first time in my life i have been knocked down. >> no. it's not. but the big question is what will voters think on november 5th? will they lift him up once again to the white house? there is a lot to talk about

with former 2020 democratic presidential candidate, andrew yang. the author of the last election. so good to see you here tonight. i'm glad you are joining me u. how are you doing? >> i'm doing great, laura. the polls you showed there, they are actually a little bit worse for the president. i think cnn's last poll had him at 37%. and that is what the five thirty eight average is now. this is the most important topic for our politics in the next cycle. >> well, the polls that have the averages seem to be the latest one. but i'm not going to deny. we are talking underwater or under the water. the numbers facing the biden administration right now. and now you have this impeachment inquiry. not the full impeachment, we know. maybe parseing the words for many voters is not sufficient. but republicans have been itching to launch this impeachment inquiry though there is no evidence, no

definitive high crime or misdemeanor or any definitive ties if any to hunter's financial dealings, or what he may have done wrong. i wonder, though, from your perspective, how will americans see this? given, what, in just a few years ago, everyone was talking about democrats. if you are a republican saying they were undermining the sanctity of the use of impeachments. >> i think this is an overreach on the part of republicans. it will remind a lot of independents why they don't like republicans because it feels like they are playing politics and just going for tat. like you said, the evidence is very thin. the impeachment inquiry to me is not one of the head winds. >> we look at the head winds, hunter biden, i hate to use alliteration here. but the head wind of hunter might be significant.

he has been a source of turmoil for his father. he believes hunter on the steps of the capitol talking in the past about how he is perceived as a political pawn been used despite the criminal indictments absolutely there. he said they are trying to kill him just to get to his father. it takes a toll on the average person. but what about the toll on the presidency? >> you couldn't be a father without this taking a toll. do think that a lot of americans see this has a political ploy. a weaponnization of family in a way that hunter biden unfortunately has become something of a symbol on the right when every you talk about corruption for the republican party. they say hunter biden. and, that is a function of the polarization of today's political climate. >> well let me ask you, you

mentioned you think the impeachment may not be his biggest head wind. what do you think it is? >> if you look at all the polling laura, you see the economy is numbeone on voter's minds. and the president's approval rating when it comes to the economy is in the 30, 40% range. people look back on the trump years. if you are an independent, the polling i have seen says that trump has maybe a 25-point lead on the economy above president biden. among independents. so, this to me is an okay economy, but the perception is lousy. and it is tough for the president to make an affirmative case when that is the way that americans feel every time they go to the grocery store or look at their bank account. >> i heard someone use the phrase feel-anomics. how do you message around telling someone no, you don't feel the way you actually do feel.

but how do you turn it around? >> well, this is why in my opinion the democrats would be well served by having a competitive field. because the biden campaign tested this out. they said we will spend $25 million boosting our number ins the swing states which was either an aggressive or a desperate move 12 months ahead of the voting. it is not something you ordinarily see. and that $25 million did not move the president's numbers up in those swing states and they centered in large part on biden- nomics and the economy. it is hard to convince the americans that their lives are good when they don't feel good. >> when you mentioned a more competitive field, you talked candidates other than donald trump or joe biden specifically. is that right? >> oh my gosh, laura, 70% of americans are not excited about a biden trump rematch and president biden himself said there are 50 democrats that could defeat donald trump. he is right. generic democrat beats donald trump by eight point ins the same polls that have joe losing

to him in virtually all of the swing states. 39%, 37%. these are way underwater relative to the 48% that obama had at this stage in his reelect or the 50% that you ideally want. anyone else with an approval rating at this range went onto lose so president biden, if he views trump as an existential threat to democracy, he should be looking for a better, stronger candidate to defeat trump in the general next november. >> i will extend the analogy about being understood water. has the ship sailed? these are right now i mean, you have trump as the run away. it seems so far. biden as the only strong candidate. he doesn't seem to have anyone in the realm of possibility to unseat him as the person who

secure the nomination yet again. are the polling numbers so instructive where we are within a year of the election? >> reporter: not a single vote has been cast in the democratic primary. there is ample opportunity for gavin newsom, dean in minnesota is climbing fast. not a single vote has been cast. this is the time for the democratic party to find the best candidate to face off and defeat donald trump in november. and the numbers are clearly showing that joe biden is not that candidate. >> most people assume at this point in time you are talking about a third party run. you just named a string of democrats. is there a risk in

cutting the incumbent's opportunities? the american people need to know this is the person they want to have the nomination. >> reporter: laura, voters are begging for a better alternative in november. the democratic party in my opinion owes the american people a real process and computation to determine a nominee. if you coordinate joe biden, the numbers are showing right now, if the election were held tomorrow, he would lose to trump. and betting on a turn around for an 81-year-old incumbent with let's call it a 38% approval rating is not founded in any reality. again, they spent $25 million to goose his numbers and saw sleuthly no result. you can add more money into that mix. but people have already made their minds up about the biden economy. the democratic party by the way. if you had someone like dean phillips as the democratic nominee, all of a sudden there would be a generational

contrast, because you would have a 54-year-old and trump would be the 78-year-old and the old one as opposed to having an incumbent where 70% of americans are concerned about his age. you are talking about a very, very demanding high stress role and joe biden is easily the oldest president on record. >> why am i not surprised that you who wore that math pin is so concerned with the numbers? i shouldn't be surprised at all about that very notion. but let me ask you about the republican side of things. because certainly the age is a factor on both. you mentioned the excitement really not being there. when it comes to biden or trump compared to previous administrations or previous campaigns. do you see any republican in the field beating trump out for that gop nomination? because that might be an entirely different ball game for who was on the democratic side. >> what i said about the democratic party goes for the republican party just as

strongly. where generic republican would be a much stronger candidate than donald trump. if nikki haley would be the nominee, show would be a formidable opponent against anyone on the democratic side. but the numbers are very, very strongly indicating that donald trump is still the prohibitive favorite. and people would not be surprise today hear that makes me extraordinarily frustrated because i think someone like nikki haley would be a vastly superior choice. but donald trump has a 30-point lead even in haley's home state of south carolina at present. and unless the numbers shift dramatically over the next number of days i expect trump to emerge as the nominee. >> does this mean you are not going to endorse joe biden? >> look. i'm an anyone but trump guy. but the democratic party owes the country the best possible nominee to defeat trump in november. it is clearly not joe biden and

i wish dearly. i will make this a personal plea. president biden, you have done extraordinary things for the country. but now it is time for you to be a statesman as opposed to a political figure. and say for the good of the country, let's have the next generation step up. and you were right, there are another 49 democrats who could defeat donald trump. let's get them in the spot. >> do you know who is willing to do that right nothing? president biden is the one running for reelection. you have dean phillips. is that the list? >> well, there are a number of people that we all know, laura, like gavin newsom. >> we talk about them, andrew. that's my point. we talk about them. but they have not committed to run. they have not said that they would. they have thrown their support instead behind biden talking about the necessity to beat trump.

>> it is why joe biden needs to lead and say hey guys, please do throw your hat in the ring. and then, the very next day, you would see a number of people do so. to your point, laura, congressman dean phillips is the only person with a backbone to say look guys, we are on the path to disaster. let's actually compete. and i give him all the credit in the world. there are many, many democratic insiders saying the exact same thing behind closed doors but they are leery about going out in the open and saying it in public. so credit to dean phillips for making the case. they should have the competition for the strongest possible nominee. >> thanks for stopping by. always great to hear your insight. >> great being with you as always. up next, speaking of behind closed doors, inside the giuliani courtroom. ly talk to the journalist who got the scoop and can take us right inside. next.

well, a defiant unapologetic rudy giuliani in a court of public opinion. the defamatory statements about georgia workers. but, is that how the long time prosecutor, now, a defendant. with the defendant words next to him on the table. is that how he has behaved in front of a jury? is he has defiant and unapologetic? let's go inside the courtroom with someone who has been there all this week. andrew rice. so glad to see you here. i have been just dying to know more about what was happening inside that courtroom. because people can talk big and bad on the courthouse steps. but when they were in front of the jury, with the judge

presiding, sometimes they sing a very difwa us through what wa on in that courtroom. >> i mean, i think you hit it right on the head. there is a real kind of bifurcation between the rudy giuliani we saw outside the courtroom, every day at the end of the trial. over the course of the last few days. come out, give very brash statements. he accused people of being the lawyers in the case of being affiliated somehow with hunter biden. said he didn't regret any of the things he said about the election workers inside the courtroom. very different story. he was restricted from saying much of anything of substance. and, when it came right down to it today, he had a chance to take the stand. and he passed it up. >> what was his body language like? was this somebody who seemed very confident in front of the

jury? spine strait? or somebody who had a different appearance? >> i mean, he is 79 years old now. i don't want to be unfair to him about his appearance. but it is fair to say he looks a little older. a little more stooped. and he seemed at times i have to say kind of disconnected, distracted. you have seen him flipping through the new york coast on his ipad. >> during the actual testimony? >> yeah. during the testimony. during you know, extensive portions of the trial. looking at email. he was not deeply, we should say, i don't think he was very deeply engaged in the arguments that were happening in the trial. >> he called the testimony on

tuesday, pretty boring day. that was far from the truth. because that was a day of testimony. one of those georgia election workers is also these really searing moments in trial. they played voice mail messages in the courtroom. i want to give the audience a warning. they are pretty disturbing. here is just an example of a portion of what the jurors heard. >> [bleep] [bleep] [bleep]. you [bleep] [bleep]. >> we are going to burn your store down. >> that is just a portion of it. i wonder what the jury was reacting and how they were reacting. >> i mean it was, those were some of the tamer ones to be honest. i mean, those two women, those two election workers, working class black women from georgia got up there on the stand and i have to say, you know, really

gave very compelling testimony, what it was like to be a regular person in the eye of the political storm, identified falsely by the trump campaign as people who were responsible for not just like, they claimed these two individuals were responsible for stealing the entire state of georgia. so they had the whole weight of a lot of hatred come down on them. as a result of that. >> how are they reacting to it? that's what i want to understand. >> i think, you know, the jurors, as jurors are supposed to, they didn't betray a lot of emotion. at one point in the testimony yesterday when ruby freeman, the mother in the pair was testifying she became very emotional. she couldn't use her name anymore. people knew who she was because

of this attach today her name. felt like she didn't have an identity anymore. i saw one woman who was similar looking to ruby freeman in the sense she was an older african american woman. next to her, a white middle- aged woman seemed to be quite emotional. so i think, you know, only an eight person jury. two of the eight people are crying when the defendants talk, when the plaintiff is talking. that's not good for the defendant. >> andrew rice, to say the least, you are correct. thank you so much. >> sure. jonathanjojonathan mazerer'

trial fofor the assasault of hi girlfrfriend next.t.

so what is it going to be? guilty or not guilty?

jonathan majors is the marvel star accused of assault of his former girlfriend grace jabari. she alleges a cut behind here, a fracture in her right middle finger and injuries to her right forearm are all the fought of majors. now he insists that she was the instigator. the jury was shown this clip of majors and jabari in the back of the suv where she alleges the assault occurred after she saw a romantic text on his phone from someone else. this is a video of him appearing to run away from jabari on the night of the alleged assault. and there is video evidence from the night of the incident of jabari inside the club using the finger she claims is broken. the day after the alleged incident, body cam footage from when majors called the police to his home because he found her distraught in a closet. but that's not all.

because the prosecution is trying to paint a picture of majors as an abuser. using evidence from before the alleged incident, like this one. >> how dare you come home and disturb the peace of our house when we have a plan. i would like to get to the point where your friends know what job i'm on. do you understand that? because that team, that unit, right? grace. that is martin luter king's wife. michelle obama. barack obama's wife. >> i know. i shouldn't have gone out. >> the prosecution also showing texts from the aftermath of another alleged violent

altercation for majors' to kill himself. i a want to bring in legal affairs attorney reva martin. he will be playing the role of prosecutor. also joey jackson playing the role of the defense. and you know what? i'm going to be the judge in this. because the two of you definitely got this. let's just say that the court is now in session at this moment. this is obviously the court of public opinion. there's a lot going on. but i have to ask you if you're the prosecution in this case, how confident are you feeling as the jury is deliberating right now? >> i'm feeling pretty good because the evidence is compelling. this young lady was hit by a mack truck. master manipulator and abuser and someone who was incredibly controlling and that is what we saw in the audio.

in the video tape. and that's what we know now, jonathan majors to be. he had a patternover abuse and trained her how to hide the abuse for the authorities from medical professionals and he used the race card. but in this case, he used the race card to tell her don't ever call the authorities on me. don't ever report me because as a black man, you don't know how substantial the consequences will be for me. the evidence presented i think, create no doubt in the minds of the jurors he is guilty as charged. >> quite the accusations leveled. identified by the prosecution in this case in the courtroom as well. but you see it differently. >> no one deserve to be abused ever. no one deserves to be falsely accused of abuse ever. that is what we have here. and i think at the end of the

day, my former office, the manhattan district attorney's office that i respect so much is very worried for a number of reasons. we have to look at the evidence. who did at the end of the day try to get away from someone who was scorned? this was about a person who was extremely jealous. this is about a person who noted a text message that indicated that he may have been involved with someone else. and as a result of that, went bananas. the reality is that is driver of that car indicated and called her the psycho woman. he was, right, that ison thanks eric majors trying to extract himself from the situation. should we not believe our eyeing eyes as it relates to the video you played of him running away? should we not take note of the fact he went to the prosecutors and tried to file a cross- complaint? why did they take her side and not his? why was it that she went out partying immediately there after? why was it that she was chasing

him? why was it she continued to pursue him as he tried to get away from her, trying in the best he possibly can, not at all to be involved further? this is a matter of a person who obviously wanted to exact revenge upon him and that is what she is doing in the courtroom. no one should ever be abused but no one should by falsely accused of it. if you say your finger is broken and you are drinking with that finger, why exaggerate? he is not guilty. >> how do you respond to the fact that he is seen running away in the video? >> reporter: no doubt he is seen running away. >> but what we also see in the video is him slamming her body trying to force her back into that car. this notion that somehow a woman that has been abused we know over a two year period, that she would have to follow kind of this abuse by the numbers.

she can't seek closure. she can't follow him. none of that undermines the fact he abused her in the back of the car and the so-called witness who calls her psycho woman, he didn't witness anything. in fact he said he felt like the woman in this case or the girl as he called her was doing something. he was not an eyewitness. he gave no credible testimony that can establish that anything happened in that vehicle other than what she testified to. and let's face it. these are charges brought by the district attorney's office. we didn't hear from jonathan majors. that was his right to defend himself. this is the man who should write her a message saying i'm going to kill myself.

i'm a monster. and he berates her and says you are not good enough. why aren't you like coretta scott king? or mikael obama? >> let me get joey in here to address that. you are characterizing the abuse broadly. overly, we are talking verbal, physical. collectively, the prosecution is focusing on it. what do you say to the claims joey? >> i think we have to keep our eye on the prize. when prosecutors are noting a history or a pattern and what happened yesterday, the day before, the week before. that's because they don't have the evidence with respect to the now. the fact of the matter is that after he ran away, she called him a total of 35 times. she went out partying that evening. she was a woman scorned. noting that she wanted to exact revenge. he if you want to talk about courage, had tremendous courage. why? because when she came in drunk after a night of partying

unconscious, taking pills, right? what did he do? he called 911. what did the police do? the police immediately said he was the one who should be responsible. he in fact indicating that he was a product of abuse. why take her side, not his? why not adequately investigate? why say he is the guilty party here? the fact of the matter is at the end of the day, it is not yesterday or the day before. it's the now. the now establishes that he is not guilty. >> i will stop it there. because the now is for me to remind the audience here that you were both playing the roles of prosecutor and of course, role of defense counsel. though both of you address all of the issues that really have come up. and how.

thank you for helping us to flush out all of these issues. >> a pleasur, we don't take it lightly. that was a moment for you to understand what was happening inside of that courtroom. and the considerations that jurors in this country right now in that jurisdiction are facing. any time there are questions. there is a mother in mississippi and claiming authorities threw away her son like he was some piece of trash. he is now the third mississippi man found buried in a pauper's field whose family says that they weren't even notified. and now, they are demanding accountability.

now i want you to try to imagine that someone you love very much has gone missing. after months of hoping, of asking for any word, any information at all, you get the

worst news imaginable. but it doesn't come from the police. it doesn't come from the city authorities. the family of jonathan david hanken only learn this month from reporters that, and from reporters i want to emphasize, from reporters in mississippi that he had died in may of 2022 and had been buried in a pauper's field. authorities had found his body in a hotel room. but the family says thaw were never notified. this is as you know, we have been covering this stories, this is the third such case discovered in heinz county, mississippi. we told you about mario moore who was found dead and buried out his family's knowledge. and jackson wade hit by a police cruiser and buried out his family being notified. now, all three families are demanding answers or demanding accountability and jonathan

hanken's mother gretchen joins me now along with attorney benjamin crump. thank you so much for being here. i cannot imagine what you have been going through. your son was missing for almost a year-and-a-half and you did what every loving mother would do. you put out missing posters, you called for help. you put it on facebook. you did everything you could to try to find him and then learned about what happened from reporters. what was it like learning that information from them? >> actually it was a year and seven months from the time i found out. i couldn't believe this reporter knew more than the county where i reported and jpd. it was a total shock. i was in disbelief. >> what were you told?

>> i was told, he showed me a permission slip where he was dead to bury him in the pauper's grave and i thought, i told him i just didn't believe it. i said i have to see pictures. i just didn't believe him. so the next morning, my sister and i went up to the jackson police department and after a couple of hours, they scrambled up a picture. and showed me and it was him. and i asked why they didn't notify us because my address was on there. >> really? >> they said it was with the coroner's job to notify me. and i had spoked with the coroner the day before and they said they didn't have pictures but it was of jpd's place to notify me. and all this time, i was checking in with rankin county every couple of weeks and they never heard nothing. and the detective that was over

his case got arrested. it was one of them six in the goon squad. someone finally called me back and said there was a new detective taking the place. >> ben when you are hearing all of this. hearing gretchen big ping- ponged to different entities, you have been looking at these issues for some time including the fact that the corner found methamphetamine and fentanyl in his blood. but listed the cause of death as natural causes. any insight into why they would do that? >> there is none, laura coates. in fact, it is eeriely similar to mario moore's family and dexter wade's family where they are pointing the fingers at each other. nobody wants to take

accountability. well, ms. gretchen, i promise you we are going to try to identify all 672 of those individuals buried behind that jail. ms. laura, thank you for covering these matters. a lot of times these families had nowhere to turn. but you would feel sure giving them a voice, hopefully any other family out there whose love one is missing in jackson, mississippi should contact us immediately so we can try to not have any other family go through what ms. gretchen is going through. >> i'm taking aback just by the number that mr. crump said. 600 plus people in that pauper's field. and your beloved son. that is how you found out. you mentioned your son battled addiction. frankly, this is something that

happens all across this country. and we as a nation need to grapple with the consequences of it and how to make sure that people are getting the treatment that they need. i wonder in terms of treatment, how do you feel your son was treated by authorities in this manner? this is cnn breaking news. >> okay, happening now t u.s. national security adviser jake sullivan is speaking in tel aviv after meeting with israeli leaders. let's listen in. >> president biden with his visit on october 18 and his message is the same as nine. that the united states stands with israel. as president biden has said many times, israel has a right and a duty to defend itself against hamas. a terrorist group that committed the worst massacre of the jewish people since the holocaust that used rape and

sexual violence to terrorize israeli women. that continues to hold hostages, women, elderly, sick, wounded and hide in tunnels they have hidden under civilian infrastructure. i'm here today on president biden's behalf to emphasize our continued commitment to support israel. yesterday and today, i met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his work cabinet. president herzog and a range of senior officials. we discuss the ongoing war and military operations and we discussed our shared objective of ensuring that there would no threat to israel. ensuring humanitarian assistance in gaza. and working day in and day out, hour by hour, to secure the release of all the remaining hostages so they can return home to their loved ones. we consulted with egypt and other regional partners to

facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. we did not do a great job of putting the podium sign on. including the red sea, and expressed president biden's commitment to restoring calm along the blue line through a combination of deterrents and diplomacy. later today, in fact, after i leave here, i will visit ramala to meet with president abas and discuss ongoing efforts to promote stability in the west bank including through efforts to confront terrorism. to support the palestinian authority security forces through the u.s. security coordinator for israel and the palestinian authority. through ongoing efforts to revamp. i have and will continue to state president biden's commitment for preserving peace. a two state solution where

israel's security is guaranteed. the israeli people deserve to live in peace and security with their neighbors in a region that is integrated, dynamic and stable. that is what we are working toward. that is what i discussed with my counterparts here in israel. and that is president biden's fundamental vision for the future of this region. with that, i would be happy to take your questions and we will start with alex from cnn. >> thank you very much, jake. the administration made it clear you will transition from this high intensity phase to a lower one. what are the israelis telling you in terms of the conditions required if r that to happen. and how does that sync up with your time line? we reporting that almost half of the 30,000 bombs that have been dropped on gaza have been

so-called dumb bombs, inprecise. if there was a real intent to protect civilians, wouldn't they be using much more precise smaller munitions? >> first, i really appreciate the question on the phases of the conflict because i think there has been some misunderstanding in the reporting not from you, but from others. when israel launched this campaign, to root out the terrorist threat hamas poses, it made clear from the beginning this war would proceed in phases. we are now in the middle of the high intensity phase with ongoing ground operations, mill fair operations. in both the northern and southern half of gaza, but there will be a transition to another phase of this war. one that is focused in more precise ways on targeting the leadership and intelligence driven operations that continues to deal with the ongoing threat that hamas poses. the conditions and the timing for that was obviously a

subject of conversation that i had with prime minister netanyahu with the war cabinet and the leadership of the idf and the defense minister and it is really important those conversations take place first in the spirit of partnership. we are not here to tell anybody you must do x or y. this is what we believe is the best way to achieve your tactical and strategic goals. it has to take place in private. we can't telegraph for the enemy what the plan is. i will not speak to time lines. we had a very constructive conversation yesterday. about the transition of the high intensity phase forward. and expect that will occur in the future. it will be a continuing intensive discussion between the united states and israel and i will make sure that

conversation will take place behind closed doors. when it comes to the issue of the bombs, the time of bombs that israel is using, what i would say is that different types of munitions require different types of military operations. meaning the method by which bombs are delivered that don't have the tail kits on them is different in terms of how the planes fly and how the targets are selected. and they all go through the same process, by which israel selects targets to distinguish between targets that hit hamas and those that might take the lives of innocent civilians. at the end of the day, what we have said is that israel has the intent to make sure that it is drawing those distinctions clearly and in a sustainable way. and we want to see the results

match. we will continue to do that includeing the type of munitions they use and when they use a certain type of musicians, how those are delivered to ensure that from the united states' perspective, they are fulfilling their obligations and responsibilities as a state to international humanitarian law. >> hello sir, the defense minister said it will take months to defeat hamas. and to my understanding he refers to the high intensity operation. netanyahu says similar things. the question is what will happen if in a few weeks or two months, israel will say to the united states we have not finished the job in this high intensity way. and we need a few more months? maybe six months? what will be the response of the american administration? will it reduce the military aid to israel? and is the prime minister's statement that the day after

defeating hamas military control should remain in israel's hands? if it is acceptable to the american administration and just another question, please. you met with the head yesterday. the american official said there are new ideas regarding to the release of the hostages. are you more optimistic about the possibility that we will see soon a new plan to release more hostages? thank you. >> i will do my best to answer those questions. first as i said in a tv interview, what i heard the minister said was the fight against hamas is going to take months. and we agree with that. it will happen in phases. there is no contradiction between saying the fight will take months and also saying that different phases will take

place at different times over those months. we had a goodies cushion about how that transition will occur. and on what time line. and, we will continue that conversation. again, i'm not going to get into the specifics of that for the reason that laying out israel's war plan for the public is only going to help hamas. i don't intend to do that. i did not hear the minister or prime minister netanyahu say things that would lead me to feel i need to answer the hypothetical question of then down the road, we will work together in partnership in coordination. and we continue to supply our ideas on what make it is most sense for israel. i would add for our perspective, distinguishing between innocent palestinian people on the one hand and hamas on the other hand is not

just a moral question. though it is a moral question. because innocent people's lives should be sacred and protected. it is also a strategic question for israel. and my israeli counterparts didn't just acknowledge thatment they very much indicated that their goal is to try to distinguish between innocent palestinians and hamas as we go forward. and we will continue to reiterate publicly and privately our commitment to the notion that every innocent life should be sacred and protected. on the question of what happens in gaza once the military operations are complete? the israeli government has indicated it does not have a long term plan to occupy gaza and ultimately, the control of gaza t administration of gaza, the security of gaza has to transition to the palestinians. now the question of how that transition occurs over what

timetable, that is also something we have having intensive discussions about. but the u.s. position is clear. we do not believe it makes sense for israel or is right for israel to occupy gaza. reoccupy gaza over the long term. and we like to see ultimately that transition take place and we can continue to work through the circumstances and the context for that transition. and then, your final question was on the hostages? look. here is what i will say. i can't characterize myself as optimistic or pessimistic. we are talking people being held in captivity, but their family members waiting hour by hour, day by day, to learn the fight of their loved ones to know when they will come home, when they will be able to embrace them again, hold them