>> harris: awaiting a white house press briefing and "america reports" will take it live when it happens. the picture i took yesterday at newark international of el al when i was landing, taking men and women part of the idf who live in the united states, i've met a couple of them, under the age of 21 and they are ready to fight for israel. so when you see and land at airports and see that plane, you know they are bringing their people back. israeli americans going home. "america reports" now.

>> this is not just israel's problem. now it's in israel but this is a whole world problem. >> we expect there's a likelihood of escalation, escalation by iranian proxies directed against our forces. >> we step up and deal with this axis of evil, china, russia, iran. because it's an immediate threat to the united states. >> sandra: a warning from mitch mcconnell about a new axis of evil as we get word of a brand-new drone strike or attacks against a u.s. base housing american troops in syria. so far no injuries have been reported, meanwhile we are awaiting two briefings at this hour.

one from the white house, where john kirby will be joining karine jean-pierre, the press secretary, and another happening a few minutes later from the state department and a big hello and welcome to you as we begin a new week in new york. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer in for john roberts, making his way back to the u.s. of a., and from israel. good afternoon to you where you are. things stand at this hour, israel says its forces struck more than 320 military targets in the gaza strip over the past day alone, destroying hamas tunnel, command centers and observation posts, sandra. >> sandra: the threat of a wider regional conflict is forcing the pentagon to step up posture, putting more u.s. forces on high alert. we have fox team coverage across the globe over the next couple hours and the breaking news from the middle east, trey yingst

first, news is breaking in southern israel. what do you know. >> yeah, sandra, good afternoon. overnight the israelis launched 320 airstrikes against the gaza strip. in the disns at that, they are continuing the strikes. they tell fox news they are trying to hit as many hamas and islamic jihad cells above before the ground offensive that could start in the coming hours or days. and two drones near a community that sits along the gaza border. we bring you this report. we were there a few days ago. >> blood-stained floors, and bullet holes. residents were executed at point blank range. some homes frozen in time. small pieces of life among the death. in others, still finding burned bodies.

25% of the population is missing or dead. the other 75% is left to make sense of the senseless. to be a voice for the voiceless. >> if you could just speak to him, what would you say? >> hold on, we are coming. we are doing our best. >> he grew up here, his brother was killed in the october 7th massacre. his father taken hostage. >> we did not take the time to be sad yet, did not take time to mourn yet. we feel, our small family feels we have a mission. >> that mission is to bring 79-year-old man home, spent his life helping palestinian children in gaza and making art to protest violence against palestinians. the israeli army controls what is left of the town here, soldiers wait for their next mission. on the other side of a fence topped with barbed wire, black smoke is seen in the distant horizon. the israeli air force is

striking gaza. you can hear the strikes along the gaza strip. what you are looking at there is gaza, sits less than a mile from the border, militants were able to simply walk into this quiet community last saturday, slaughtering so many innocent people in their homes. you can see in these videos released by the israeli military how intense the airstrikes are, the death toll inside gaza more than 4700 people, with estimates over a million displaced along the strip. we do know the strikes will continue tonight. there is also some buzz about the possibility of more hostages being released. we'll bring you that information when we can confirm it independently. sandra. >> sandra: we know you will. we'll check back in with you shortly. >> bill: back to the drone attack on a base housing u.s. troops in syria, national correspondent rich edson has more from the pentagon. >> rich: this happened

overnight, two one-way attack drones were intercepted. all part of what officials say is an uptick in activity from iran-backed militias in the region targeting u.s. positions, started last wednesday and this was an attempted attack where the u.s. intercepted more missiles headed towards a base in iraq. the pentagon then says on thursday the u.s.s. carney intercepted four land attack cruise missiles heading north, potentially towards israel. iran-backed huthis launched them from yemen. pentagon says it has not seen a specific order from leadership in iran directing the attacks, though officials note iran supports the militias and the u.s. will ultimately hold iran responsible. the united states is bolstering and redeploying forces in the

region. u.s.s. eisenhower carrier strike group is going to the persian gulf. initially it was sailing to the eastern mediterranean after iran-backed militias fired rockets at u.s. forces, the pentagon redirected eisenhower, and sending more missile defense assets to the region and a couple thousand marines and sailors ready to respond in the region and a couple thousand more u.s. troops told be prepared to leave in 24 hours if you get the order. >> bill: nice to see you. sandra. >> sandra: new warning from the state department urging americans in lebanon to leave immediately as israel targets hezbollah terror cells deep inside lebanon. heavily armed fighters have tens of thousands of rockets on hand, long range missiles and other weapons, all aimed at israel. the two sides continue to exchange fire along the border. greg palkot is keeping track of the latest fighting.

what is the situation on the ground there right now, greg? >> greg: escalating clashes between israel and next door iran-backed hezbollah militants all along this border. israeli defense force claims it has struck eight hezbollah terror cells just in the past night. 20 terror units are said to have been hit in the last two weeks. latest updated casualty toll, 20 hezbollah fighters killed, seven israeli soldiers killed, and civilians. residents in 43 towns in israel, as many as 100 to 200,000 civilians have fled, but some are still here and that is a risk. take a look what we saw and heard today. where a hezbollah missile hit here in northern israel, came across the border from lebanon. hit this private house, did some

damage. police security first responders all rushed into position. it's believed to have been an anti-tank missile, small in size, but fired from a mile away it can do region damage. one little girl inside hurt from flying glass. another close call in the region. >> another rocket in this house. >> greg: hit a private house, not a military target. >> no, no, a private house and you see children. >> greg: children inside. sandra, this as hezbollah ties up tens of thousands of israeli troops in northern israel concerned with that militant threat coming across the border. this as that big incursion into gaza after hamas looms down in the south. a lot of actions, a lot of different corners of this region. back to you, sandra. >> sandra: all right, greg,

thank you. >> bill: so we are waiting for an update from the state department as hamas terrorists are believed to be holding at least ten more americans hostage. this after the department worked with qatari negotiators to successfully free two americans late last week. we are expecting to hear more in the efforts to bring the other captives home, a mystery at the moment. gillian turner is on that story now. hello, state department now. >> gillian: hi, bill. well, any moment now we are going to hear from matt miller, but the secretary of state is offering his gratitude and his thanks to the government of qatar as you mentioned profusely for their help in negotiating the release of the two american hostages previously held by hamas inside gaza. listen. >> i again want to thank the government of qatar for playing a very important role getting them out. i want to thank the government of qatar for their very important assistance. all i can say with regard to qatar, in this instance, we very

much appreciate their assistance. >> gillian: after the release of judith and natalie raanan, biden administration is hoping qatari negotiate tors are the key freeing some ten americans believed to be still in hamas captivity. qatar's government has a dicey history, taliban, russia, iran, experts say they are far from being clear-cut allies of the united states. listen. >> it's a little bit of a double-edged sword when you've got senior hamas leader who has been living in doha in qatar, but it gives them some leverage over hamas. and that's the result of that was the freedom for two americans being held hostage. >> now in addition to lebanon, the state department is ordering the evacuation of all

nonessential personnel at the embassy in baghdad, iraq. and level 4 travel warning for the entire country, tells americans to stay away, to cancel plans to go there any time soon. this of course, bill, as the state department has increasing concerns that the war in israel is going to expand and involve other countries imminently. back to you, bill. >> bill: thank you, gillian. now across the room for a look at the geography, sandra. >> sandra: oversaw the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan in 2021, general, thank you for joining us and our goal really with this particular screen is to show how israel is really surrounded by these iranian proxies and affiliates in the middle east, and have you sort of give us an idea how we are growing military presence in the region to combat this. and the potential for a growing war in the middle east. but right now i want to

highlight for our viewers, obviously this is israel, this is gaza, the concern there is hamas to the north, lebanon, hezbollah, you look at hezbollah in all the regions as far as iraq and the iraqi shia militias, yemen, bahrain, and hezbollah in iran. just really gives you an idea, general, of how this region is completely surrounded and if i bring in a picture, a snapshot of what we are doing militarily to surround the region, it gives our viewers a really good idea of how we are positioning. u.s. gerald ford in the east mediterranean. we just moved over the weekend announced, u.s.s. eisenhower into the persian gulf, and marine here in the red sea, u.s.s. mount whitney moved in

from italy. how we are positioning the military might. >> thanks for having me today and as we take a look at development in the region begin by remembering this is the 40th anniversary of the attack on marines in beirut in october 23, 1983, directly backed by iran that resulted in 241 u.s. casualties. it's a somber note and keep that in mind as we look at iran's capabilities. forces that are coming into the theater are designed to deter iran from acting aggressively in the current crisis that we are in right now. and the two carriers are important, the fact a carrier is now going down through the suez canal, that increases pressure on iran. we know iran responds to reposturing of u.s. forces.

they look very carefully at what u.s. military forces are in the region and our capabilities and our capabilities now are designed to deter them from attacking. they are also designed to deter lebanese hezbollah on embarking a disastrous campaign if they come into the war against israel in the north. you are also right to point out that israel faces vectors on many threats, from gaza in the west, from lebanese hezbollah in the north, and then of course in the east all the way from iran because iran does have missiles that can reach cities in israel. so that's a matter of very great concern to the israelis and what we would do right now, we would like to keep this struggle where it is, level of gaza and israel, and avoid going to a wider theater fight. iran will try to come in, we want to convince them this is not the time, these are not the circumstances you want to do that. >> sandra: general, really good information. and flip to the next screen and talk about the patriot defense

system, highly technical, sought after by so many allies all over the world. can you tell us a little about this and how this is being put in place, considering this tactical truck that's got a launching station, missile canisters, generator set, data link, mast assembly, the terminal module, the advance capabilities of this particular military might. what is the point and strategically placing this in the region? >> sure, so actually when we think about missile and air defense in the region, think about two things. first of all, think about patriot, it's a ground-based capability, use it against airplanes, against ballistic missiles, do a variety of things for you. but the beauty of the patriot, all of these systems, they talk to each other, all of these launch sites talk to each other so we can develop a rapid operational picture of what's going on and share that

information amongst ourselves and friends and partners in the region. this is a very important thing patriot gives us an ability to do. also the terminal, high altitude defense battery brought into the theater as part of this deployment, hit missiles at a higher altitude, that's flowing into the theater. and remember the navy warships in the region, cruisers and destroyers, have the capability to potentially intercept iranian ballistic missiles. all this is integrated together, nobody does it better than us, and we have the ability to share it with our partners in the region. it's a significant capability. >> sandra: and a huge show of support for our u.s. soldiers as well. and finally with this question, wall street journal poll, would you favor or oppose use of u.s. troops if israel were attacked by its neighbors about which we just spoke.

just 38% said they favor. a majority, 57% said they oppose, general and end with this question also in that same polling that was done, if the attacker were iran, do you favor or oppose u.s. troops if iran directly joins the fight against israel. number who favor that does go up to 45%. but still half oppose. really interesting polling just out over the weekend. general, appreciate you joining us with your analysis and expertise. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me today. >> bill: keeping an eye on the white house and the state department as we mentioned a moment ago, we are expecting comments from officials on a wide range of issues as we begin a new week here. we have been given a two-minute warning so hang with it for the moment and before we do to that live. you know, some of the reports from over the weekend, it's

pretty obvious israel has ramped up airstrikes, trying to soften targets especially in northern gaza. a few aid convoys go into gaza over the weekend, population of 2.3 million, and israel has been tough on whether or not the aid trucks can go in, whether they carry fuel or no fuel. but we do expect as of now, we expect a ground offensive in gaza. when it begins, it's hard to know. this will be the second war between israel and hamas in gaza in the past nine years. >> sandra: remarkable to hear the family of those two hostages released last week, the mother and daughter from the chicago area, evanston, illinois, speaking about the release, they felt guilty for the moment of joy they had upon their release. thank god they were alive, thank god they were being freed but still feel such enormous, enormous concern for those held hostage. karine jean-pierre is taking to the podium at the white house.

see if they lay the plan to free more hostages. >> as a conflict between israel and hamas continues, president biden has made it a top priority to ensure that the palestinian people receive urgently needed humanitarian aid. this is something he's been actively engaged on over the past week, including calls with president sisi of egypt and meetings and calls with prime minister netanyahu. we are glad to see the first convoys of humanitarian assistance over the weekend cross the border into gaza and reach palestinians in need. and grateful for partners involved in these efforts. it is important to keep rafah cross i think operation and aid flowing without diversion from hamas. humanitarian assistance remains a critical and urgent need for palestinians in gaza. we know, we know and we understand this, that much more is needed and this will remain a priority, a priority for us in

the days and weeks ahead. i also wanted to say a few words about the supplemental request that we detailed to all of you on friday. under president biden's leadership we have rallied a global response to putin's invasion of ukraine and provided aid to israel following hamas's barbaric terrorist attack. we now need congress to provide additional resources that will advance our national security and support allies, our allies and partners, in their fight against tyrants and terrorists. the supplemental the president put forward invests in american defense industrial base to ensure our military readiness strengthen the american economy and create american jobs. support israel as it protects itself against hamas. helps ukraine defend against putin's brutal invasion. provides humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians devastated

by putin's invasion and hamas's horrific attacks. strengthen security and stability in the indo-pacific, provides alternatives to corrosive financing by the prc, strengthens border security and fights the flow of fentanyl. the world is watching and the american people expect their leaders to come together and deliver on these priorities. we will continue to work with members of both parties to address these needs in a bipartisan agreement in the weeks ahead. and with that, admiral john kirby from the national security council is here to answer any questions that you have on israel and any other foreign-related items. admiral. >> good afternoon, everybody. just to briefly recap events over the past few days, good to catch up here after the weekend. on friday, i think you all know we successfully secured the release of two americans taken hostage by hamas during those

horrific terrorist assault on the 7th of october and the president had a chance to speak with them and their families, as he told other families they met in tel aviv, family members ever others who have been taken hostage. we have no higher priority than the safety of americans held around the world and we are going to continue around the clock to see if we can get them home and their families where they belong. it is an hour by hour effort here at the white house and the state department to find out where these folks are and to try to make the effort to get them out and get them back. as karine just spoke about, the first convoys over the weekend of humanitarian assistance across the border and able to reach palestinians in need and said we will continue those efforts going forward. it's important the aid be sustainable. and throughout the weekend the president received briefings from his national security team on all the latest developments and yesterday convened calls with prime minister netanyahu,

his holiness, pop francis, and the leaders of france, germany, italy, united kingdom. you saw the joint statement released last night, i won't reiterate it but take away from that a clear consistency for israel's right to defend itself against terrorism while adhering to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians. we have also seen over the course of the last few days, the last week, days of the weekend, an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by iranian-backed proxy groups against military bases housing u.s. personnel in iraq and syria, and deeply concerned for the escalation in the days ahead. steps to prepare to ensure we are postured appropriately, both in terms of being able to defend

our forces and respond as needed. secretary of defense has directed two carrier strike groups to the region and we are sending more air defenses to u.s. air bases in the region. we know these groups are supported by the irgc and the regime. and we know that iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases, actively facilitating attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit for their own good or iran. iran's goal to maintain some deny ability here but we are not going to allow them to do that, or interest in the region to go unchallenged. demonstrated last week that we have and will use the military capable to protect and defend the interests and the capabilities are getting bigger and better every day. as president biden has said, our message to any hostile actor,

don't do it. >> john, is it your view israelis should begin the israel offensive whenever ready? >> they need to decide for themselves how they are going to do it, we are not in the business of previewing future operations one way or the other. that would be inappropriate. >> secondly, you said iran is actively facilitating the attacks. what are you seeing, what are they doing? >> their support for the iran-backed proxies is no secret. it's pretty open and they have tried to -- they have made no secret of it, funding, resourcing in terms of providing the rockets and the munitions they fire, training for some of these guys, i mean, there is a connection between these groups and the irgc, very direct

connection. >> we have reported that the administration has been urging israel to delay a ground invasion. can you tell us whether other countries are making the same request? is there a coordinated effort? >> i won't speak for other nations and what communications they might have with israel. i can tell you we have since the beginning of the conflict in the early hours maintained a level of communication with our israeli counterparts to ascertain their intentions, their strategies, their aims, to see what their answers are to the kinds of tough questions that any military ought to be asking before you launch any kind of a major operation. have you thought through the branches, have you thought through the sequel, the unintended consequences and so we are in active conversation about that. >> we have seen leaders travel to israel or commit to travelling to israel as the president himself. is it your understanding there would not be a ground invasion as long as there is a head of

state in the country? >> that is a question for israeli officials to speak to, m.j. again, i just don't want to be in the position where i am speaking for the israeli defense forces. >> another quick topic. why is it that people currently are not able to leave gaza right now? do you have sort of an explanation as to why that humanitarian corridor for people to exit gaza, why that is not open. is the obstacle hamas, is it the egyptians? >> i think there's a lot of factors why there's no exit out. we are glad stuff is going in, as karine briefed you all, but we still want to see safe passage out, and particularly for the several hundred american citizens want to leave, but there is a number of factors and security, egyptian officials have spoken to this. they have legitimate security concerns and again, we just need to work through that. >> admiral, can you tell us the

latest on the status of hostages and the work to try to release additional hostages. do you see a category of those being held who might be sort of the next available to be released if that were to take place. can you give us a sense what that looks like? >> i wish i could, kelly, and these are great questions. but where we are in the process makes it impossible to publicly detail the efforts going on. we are grateful for all the help we got and we got help getting those two americans out, the mother and daughter, and we are glad that they are ok and they are going to be reunited with the families and come back home. but there's a bunch of others that aren't. now, a small group, we still think are americans and then there are dozens and dozens from other countries and obviously israel as well, and there's just a lot of effort going on, a lot of conversations and discussions with partners in the region and best if we don't detail that. >> do we have more specificity

on the number of americans? >> the numbers fluctuate since the last time i talked to you. we are glad to know the number is down by two, obviously, but we still have about ten unaccounted for americans, and it's not exactly clear to us where those ten people are. so i would still categorize it as about a handful, but, and i know it's not the specificity you want but that's really as detailed as i should get today. >> one last issue. a dual national from maryland, a young man who went to serve the idf who was killed in action. can you speak to that, if the president has reached the family, an intention to do that, any particulars there? >> certainly offer deepest condolences to the family, that's news no mom and dad ever want to get. i don't have any communication to speak to one way or the other. but again, our thoughts and

prayers go to the family, sure. >> john, on a post hamas gaza if that were to happen, anything you can share on conversations the u.s. is having and who would run things? >> really that's a conversation that israeli officials need to start hag -- having amongst themselves and not going too far to say the focus is on going after hamas, where they are in gaza, getting humanitarian assistance in and getting people out. that's where our focus is, and i know the focus of our israeli counterparts is certainly on prosecuting the operations against hamas. i think -- the issue of governance in gaza certainly is not unimportant, but i wouldn't speak for the israelis in terms of how deeply they are diving down into what that needs to look like. >> u.s. is helping with that

conversation? >> we have had -- we have talked to the israel list again about their aims and strategy and that includes some of the long-term issues that are out ahead of them. but i think you can understand appropriately it's on the operational picture. >> on the normalization process, can you say if saudi arabia has a list of requests what it would like to see the talks to start between saudi arabia and israel? >> i'm not tracking or aware of a specific threat. post october 7th, i'm not aware of a list or homework assignment they have submitted. we still believe those talks are important. we still want to pursue normalization. we understand that both in israel and of course in riyadh there is a different focus, we get that, but we believe there is great value in pursuing normalization and every intention keeping that going. >> thank you, admiral. what kind of humanitarian aid would the u.s. like to see

reaching the palestinians before israel launches a ground invasion? >> let's -- can i bifurcate that question. i'm not going to assume there is a ground invasion and not going to speak to hypothetical timing if there is going to be. let's talk about humanitarian assistance at large and you heard karine, we are getting food, water, medicine to gaza, not enough. there's been i think what, three convoys, some, a little less than 60 trucks. that's a good start but is just a start and we want to see it keep going and i think over the coming days you will see convoys of trucks getting in. but it's also -- fuel is also an issue. we know you need fuel to run power generators in hospitals. you need fuel to run the pumps in the desalination facilities so people can drink fresh, healthy water. so fuel is another thing we are working on. >> whether or not there is a ground invasion, do you view

humanitarian aid getting there first as important? >> whether or not there is a ground invasion, we believe humanitarian assistance flowing to the people of gaza is critically important and needs to go as soon as possible and as much as possible. >> where does the president stand on this? there was some confusion over the weekend about whether or not he had said that yes, he does want israel to wait until humanitarian assistance can get to the palestinians before any invasion. >> we have been -- we have been crystal clear with our partners in the region, including israel, we want to see humanitarian assistance flow. but as i said to steve's question, we are not dictating military terms to the israeli defense forces. they have a right and responsibility to go after the terrorists and will do it in a way they believe is appropriate to the threat. we are definitely going to support them in terms of providing the capabilities for them to continue to prosecute

hamas terrorists, security assistance has continued to flow over the course of the weekend, and it will. but we are not dictating terms to them. >> so u.n. secretary general, european union foreign policy chief and several international leaders are calling for humanitarian ceasefire. will we see the united states calling for a humanitarian -- >> what we want right now is make sure israel has the tools to defend itself and go after hamas and humanitarian assistance keeps flowing. now it started and it's a good thing. we want to keep it going and keep it sustainable. that's what we are focused on. >> you mentioned the joint statement yesterday where president biden and several western allies asked israel to protect civilians. but the death toll in gaza is rising sharply. does it look to you that israel is abiding by international law? are they listening to your request? >> we are not going to parcel

out each and every event on the battlefield, especially since we are not there. i can just tell you there has not been a conversation that we have had with israeli counterparts and we have had them at all levels where we are not talking about not just what they want to do but how they want to do it. >> john, two fridays ago i reported that the u.s. was urging israel to delay a ground invasion, a day after officials here issued statements to other outlets denying that was the case in the days plus since other outlets have started to report the same information i had but today you are not confirming those reports. my question is, are you at all concerned that if the u.s. is not clear with the public about what we are asking or suggesting to israel that they do here, that that's going to complicate getting this aid package through congress. you guys are asking for more than $105 billion, which a portion of this goes toward israel. are you concerned that not being clear with folks about what the

u.s. is advising israel to do will hamper support in congress for this aid? >> we have been very clear and consistent about our support for israel and their ability to defend themselves, jacqui, very clear and consistent about the fact we are going to keep providing security assistance so they can do that. we have been clear and consistent about the humanitarian aid to flow, and get people out of gaza and get our hostages home. very clear and consistent throughout and that includes with members of congress and yes, we are going to need congressional support to continue to support israel. we have enough appropriations available to us for a while longer. how long is that while is going to again on the expenditure rate and the kinds of operations they are conducting. so we need congress to act on the supplemental request. >> you said you were asking tough questions of the israelis about their strategy here. are you liking the answers they are giving you? >> i'm not going to talk about the details of the conversations we are having.

these have been clear and consistent conversations, again, making sure that they have what they need, and that they -- and that they are thinking through -- that we are asking them what their answers are to the questions any military ought to ask itself as it conducts operations. an on the aid portion, how are you going to convince people this is not going to get into hamas's hands when, for instance, you know, we saw fraud with covid relief money in the u.s., and we are now talking about securing an understanding with hamas terror group about how this humanitarian aid should be used. how can you convince people that is going to be a worthwhile necessary and secure endeavor? >> we certainly share concerns about any diversion of humanitarian assistance for hamas purposes, i mean, for instance, fuel is a good example. we know that they need fuel to be able to electrify and power

up their tunnels, for instance, keep the lights on. we understand that. we are not blind to potential concerns here over diversion, which is why ambassador satterfield is on the ground, his whole purpose to make sure the humanitarian assistance can get to the palestinian people. we have seen no indications as of today that any of the trucks that karine talked about, any of the material on the trucks have been diverted to hamas or absconded by hamas. every indication that we have is that it has in fact gone to the palestinian people in desperate need for it. i would remind folks we have trusted partners on the ground, humanitarian organizations and the u.n. relief agency is on the ground and they very much are taking a personal stake, a professional personal stake making sure the aid is getting where it's needed and obviously we will watch it closely. we don't want to see hamas

benefit any more than anybody else does. >> just following on that, how does the u.s. go about knowing that it is getting to, the aid is getting to who it's supposed to get to and hamas is not taking off the top. and second, could you confirm the president has sent lieutenant general james flynn and some other folks to advise the israelis? >> the first question, i'll write these down, i'll probably forget. the first question, as i said, we are working with trusted partners on the ground, including the u.n. and that's the way we do it in so many countries around the world where we don't have a footprint, we don't have, or any regions of the world, we don't have a footprint. we are not on the ground to personally inspect these things but do have trusted partners on the ground including the u.n. and said organizations who will

report what they are seeing and where they are taking this material and who is getting it. so we'll stay in close touch with them and we all share the same desire that hamas not be able to divert any of this stuff for their own purposes. we all share that, and not just the united states. you said how is the united states going to monitor. the whole international community has a stake in making sure the people of gaza get food, water, medicine and other vital needs met. the second question, i can tell you that there are a few relevant military officers with experience, the kinds of experience that we believe is appropriate to the sorts of operations that israel is conducting and may conduct in the future, to go over there to share some perspectives from their own experience and to ask the hard questions, the same hard questions we have been asking of our israeli

counterparts since the beginning. >> how many? >> a few. a few. >> thank you, admiral. israel has repeatedly said its top priority is destroying hamas. what is america's top priority and are the two countries on the same page here? >> america's top priority, i think president biden made that clear is make sure israel has the tools and the capacity and the capabilities to go after hamas terrorists and to make sure humanitarian assistance flows in and to make sure we can get innocent civilians who want to leave gaza out, including american citizens. >> if israel does begin the ground invasion, could you outline how it would complicate the hostages back. >> i don't think it's wise for me to speculate about operations that have not happened yet. we'll let the israelis speak for themselves and what operations they are going to conduct. all i can tell you, we will make sure they have what they need to do it and the humanitarian

assistance keeps flowing. >> you outlined three top priorities, and israel says the top priority is destroying hamas. >> we agree the top priority has to be going after hamas. there's no daylight here. we also think it's important for humanitarian assistance to flow and hostages with their families. all three of those things. >> have you been tracking new reporting coming out that hamas and the red cross are working together to exchange another 50 israeli and dual citizenship hostages. anything you can say about that? >> no, i cannot. >> and another question on iran. some officials have expressed concern over escalation, particularly with iran and iran's foreign minister warned "anything would be possible at any moment and the region will get out of control" so have you seen any indication that iran is preparing to further expand this

conflict more so than what we have already seen? >> i touched a little bit on that in my opening statement. we know they are supporting the groups, supported hamas and hezbollah, we know they are monitoring the events very closely and urging on some groups and i made it clear the president does not want to see the conflict widen. we have added additional military capability into the region to deter any such action, and we will act appropriately to protect and defend our national security interests in the region. we saw that just last week when a guided missile destroyer shot down missiles and drones on their way into israel. we take those responsibilities seriously, and anybody else in the region ought to be paying attention to that. >> do you have an update on whether iran was directly involved in the october 7th attack on israel? some israeli officials say they have evidence but have not presented any yet. >> i would say we are in the same place. we know there is complicity by

iran, they have been supporting hamas for years, a couple decades and hamas would not exist without iran but i cannot say we have seen intelligence that shows they are participating in, directing what happened on october 7th but nobody is doubting, nobody is walking away from the fact that iran does bad things with bad people in that part of the world. >> china. how does the white house see china's role in the israel-hamas conflict and what's your reaction to china sending six warships to the middle east? >> i'll let china speak for their foreign policy in the region and whatever their take is. i've seen them call for both sides to ratchet down the violence. we have been clear about where we are and we are on israel's side here. israel needs the support to go after hamas terrorists, that's not going to change, i'll let them speak to their naval maneuvers and where they are putting their ships.

i know of no particular conversations we have had bilaterally with either country thus far. >> americans in gaza, some are told to go to the border, on saturday they were told to go to the border but they could not leave. are you still advising americans to go to the border, and what's the hold-up there? >> you have to talk to the state department. i can't speak for the communication that they are having with american citizens there. what i can tell you is that we work in this very, very hard to get them out of gaza through rafah and the ambassador literally is working this as you and i are speaking right now, and so obviously if we want to get them out, we want to have them available as close by as possible so that can be affected in a very efficient way. but as for what specific messages the state department is sending today and monday, you have to talk to them.

>> speaking about what president biden said on friday at the fundraiser, he talked about the hamas attack carried out to disrupt the normalization efforts between israel and saudi arabia. can you talk more about what he meant by that? is that the administration's position? >> we certainly can't discount the fact that could have been a goal here. i mean -- look, hamas wants to wipe israel off the map, they simply just want to kill as many israelis as they can. that was the purpose of october 7th to just take life and it is perfectly possible that there were other geopolitical goals here as the president alluded to bec normalization between israel and saudi arabia, not in the interest of terror groups like hamas, not in the interest of their backer in tehran.

>> you think that's the top reason why they did it? >> i can't specify specifically what the top reason, i'm not in the minds of the terrorists, but the president was certainly laying out a very real potential factor behind what they did. >> admiral, the president has spoken a lot about the work he's done building a coalition behind ukraine and supporting ukraine. any concerns that u.s. support for israel and as civilian casualties rise in gaza. any concern that could undermine support for the u.s. in ukraine with countries in the global south, brazil, asia, and africa, who you know, might be, you know, in terms of their, you know, their views on gaza. >> supporting both right now, both countries is important to president biden. that's why we submitted as

supplemental under request last week. it's important that both get the support they need. not just from the united states, but from the international community and we are dedicated to that outcome. we are going to stay dedicated to that effort. >> i wanted to ask if the concern, the administration in regards with the funding for congress, given the fact some of the leadership of the republican congress was saying they would like to approve only a package for israel and separate package for ukraine. >> i will let members of congress speak for themselves. we submitted together because we believe all of it is important. every dollar that we ask for for the supplemental funding is of an urgent nature, and we urge congress to move on all of it as quickly as possible. >> with regards to american hostages, you noted conversations and discussions with partners in the region and on friday after those two americans were thankfully freed,

the president thanked the israelis and qataris. are they negotiating with hamas on our behalf and would the united states negotiate with hamas -- >> i'm not going to go into detail for the discussions, if i were to do that i might put at risk opportunities to get more people out, i'm not going to do that. >> uptick on the right some republicans calling for students or foreign nationals demonstrating in some of these pro palestine demonstrations or pro hamas demonstration to say have student visas pulled or face deportation. what is the response to that rhetoric? >> i would tell you you don't have to agree with every sentiment expressed in a free country like this to stand by the first amendment and the idea of peaceful protest.

i'll leave it at that. >> can you talk about the degree to which the, your efforts to get the supplemental funding and work on the crisis are complicated by the fact that we still don't have a speaker after all these days? >> it would certainly be helpful to have a speaker of the house. procedurally, that's how you get new legislation to the floor. i'll let the house republicans speak to their process and what they are doing. we know there is significant bipartisan support for continuing to support ukraine, and continuing to support israel. both chambers, by the way. we know there's a lot of bipartisan support there. the president is urging congress to act as soon as possible. >> mr. john, we have seen the prime minister netanyahu and his last trip to northern israel threatening whole lebanon if

hezbollah entered the war from the north front. you know very well the lebanese people have -- decision if it wants to enter or not. why pay the whole price if militia group like hezbollah don't -- unless you are looking for the lebanese army doing so, why pay the price for hezbollah's action? >> i didn't understand. >> lebanese, not pro hezbollah, why we pay the price. >> why do the lebanese people need to pay. >> yes. you think happy to see that happening in our home? >> we know that hezbollah does not speak for the lebanese people, the vast majority of the people of lebanon. we know that, any more than hamas doesn't speak for the aspirations of the vast majority of the palestinians living in gaza. we have said from the very beginning, we don't want to see any actor try to take advantage of the situation to widen or

deepen the conflict, and that certainly includes hezbollah and that's why the president has added additional military forces to the region and more forces will be coming in days and weeks ahead to try to deter any actor from widening or deepening this conflict. i understand the question, i don't think at this stage it's helpful to speculate about something that hasn't happened, and hopefully will not happen. what i can tell you is we know we have significant national security interests in the region and we are going to work to protect and defend those interests with additional military capability and any actor who is beginning to think about entering in and widening or deepening this conflict ought to take a look at how seriously we are taking our responsibilities. >> so military -- can we understand, what is the job description for these two ships. only to supply military aid for israel or also could be possible to enter the war if anything break in that region. just a bit of information regarding that matter.

>> first of all, it's not two ships, it's two carrier strike groups. a lot of ships in the strike group. i can speak from experience on that. gerald r. ford strike group in the mediterranean, and announce the eisenhower strike group, still crossing the atlantic right now, will operate for a time in the med and then she's going to go on through and into the central command area responsibility of the middle east, the gulf region. they are there for two purposes and i'm going to say again and you are probably sick of me saying this. it's true. one to deter any other actor from widening or deepening the conflict, and that we are able to protect our national security interests in the region at large. >> john, in regards to the emergency supplemental, you have spoken before about the emergency need for funding for

ukraine. i was wondering if you can talk about what you see about the urgency for funding israel. why is that portion of the aid that you are requesting is so necessary right now. >> because if we don't get relief, john, we could potentially have a lapse in our ability to provide those kinds of munitions to israel. we have existing appropriations funds available to continue to support israel for a time, for a short time. again, i can't be perfectly specific because a lot depends on the pace of their operations and what they are going through. we also need to make sure we have appropriations to replenish dod stocks. we have national security interests around the world that we have to meet and we have provided a lot out of our inventory, we need to replenish that. but it's vitally important and then just to put a fine point on this, the figure we asked for, you know, more than 14 billion,

was directly after consultations with our israeli counterparts. we didn't pull the number out of thin air. it absolutely was a result of the conversations that we had with the israelis about the kinds of needs that they have for as long as they think they might need them. >> and separately on the hostages, a spokesperson for hamas has suggested that hamas would release all of the hostages that are in gaza right now in exchange for a ceasefire. do you view that as a credible offer? >> take anything that hamas says with a huge grain of salt. we don't take anything they say at face value. an idea i'll throw out there, they could release them all now, let them go now. they didn't do anything wrong, they are innocent civilians caught in the conflict. let them go. i realize that's not going to happen so we will work with the partners in the region to get them released. >> john, can you confirm reports

that the chinese foreign minister is planning to visit washington this week and i was wondering if you can tell us the objective of this meeting with chinese foreign minister. >> there's been some discussions about some potential meetings with him, maybe as soon as this week. but i think the state department will have more to say about that later today. >> also on the philippine incident with china, the vessel collision incident that hit the philippines and china. >> what message are we sending to china? >> what do you say to china about this conflict. >> well, you are calling it a conflict. i'm not aware of a collision, so i'll have to go back to the team and get more information. but just broadly speaking, we

have been very clear about the intimidating, coercive and in some cases wreckless behavior by the pla and maritime forces as well as their so-called coast guard in terms of bullying the navies and coast guards and fishing vessels of neighboring states. we have been very clear it's unacceptable and needs to stop. i can't tell you about the specific event. it's the first i've heard of it. >> john, you were talking in addition to the carrier strike groups there be more forces in the days and weeks ahead. can you outline what you were talking about, what that might look like? >> no. >> all right. i want to know how that would be consistent with the president's promise in 2019 he's getting out of the forever wars, this looks like the exact opposite. >> the whole reason we are sending that stuff is to prevent widening or deepening of this war. it's all about deterrence. and not just the naval forces,

but some air defense systems and squadrons to the region as well. it's all about preventing war, preventing it. >> timeline what that might look like? >> no. >> no doubt the u.s. is known for human rights around the world. don't you think the u.s. has delayed from what is happening in palestine since day one? >> no, i couldn't disagree with you more, sir. the early hours of the conflict, made clear not just to the israeli counterparts but the american people and the people around the world we take the respect for innocent life seriously and we have been talking about the law of war since the beginning. go back to the first statement the president made after the attacks of october 7th and see it right there, it's been a part and parcel of every conversation we have had and we have been working hard, we have been spearheading the efforts to get that humanitarian assistance in.

the first truck convoys came after president biden spoke to prime minister netanyahu in tel aviv and then president sisi on the homecoming home on air force one to get that stuff moving. no, sir, we have been working the issue of human and civil rights and protection for isn't life since the very beginning, that's not going to stop. >> and happened in some countries that -- some of the rallies were in huge numbers. don't you think president biden needs to talk towards peace instead of saying he could handle two wars at a time. is that a good impression fight two wars at a time instead of peaceful? >> from the beginning of the administration working for an integrative, cooperative, peaceful, stable, and prosperous middle eas