>> guys, a rocket slammed into the building, the shrapnel tore right through, it cut right through a car and so if it can cut through a car, it can certainly injure and kill people. >> sandra: a rocket from gaza slipping through the israel defense system, sending shrapnel through what was a daycare four weeks ago. gaza city, all developing at this hour. sandra smith in new york. hi, john. >> john: hi, sandra. john roberts in washington. this is "america reports". at this hour, secretary of state antony blinken is in jordan after meeting with israel's war capitol in tel aviv. blinken urged the israelis to pause their attacks on gaza, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu shut down that idea,

saying not without the hostages being returned. >> sandra: and the hezbollah leader is threatening further escalation against israel and the united states, warning that our warships stationed off the coast of israel will do nothing to deter the iran-backed proxy. >> john: joint exercises in the mediterranean sea with more than 11,000 u.s. troops participating. >> sandra: complete coverage for you now, and idf spokesperson is moments away with the latest from the battlefield. >> john: alex hogan live in tel aviv. what's the reaction been there to blinken's comments about the pause today? >> john, sandra, there was a lot of concern for residents here worried about the potential for a ceasefire but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu shut down that possibility. we also heard from u.s. secretary of state antony blinken saying the u.s. goals for this conflict, really four of them. the first would be to prevent the conflict from spilling out into other countries, that's something that he says

washington has already put those words into action. >> with practical deeds, including the deployment of two aircraft carriers battle groups, to the region, including with action that we have taken, for example, against missiles coming from yemen in the direction of israel, shooting them down, including as well with strikes that we took in response to multiple attacks on our personnel in iraq and syria. >> during those meetings with the country's president, prime minister and war cabinet, we heard reiterations, supporting civilians in gaza, third, bringing in humanitarian aid and fourth, a two-state solution for a path for stability and peace. that is an incredibly complicated task as the attacks continue from other sides. new footage about the airstrike on an ambulance in gaza, according to the health

ministry, the idf says it was an attack on hamas militants inside the vehicle and tonight since the start of the incursion, 25 soldiers so far have died. blinken back here today says the white house is sharing as much information as it can with the israeli government about how to carry out the strikes while also trying to keep in mind the civilian toll. there is also more words that he said today about the role the u.s. is playing, not only working with the israeli government but also working with families here of the hostages, not only israeli hostages but the americans held captive as well to try to bring them home. john, sandra. >> john: the idea of a pause, how is it being taken there in israel? are they seeing it as more political than practical? because president biden really is coming under a lot of pressure from his arab american base in the u.s., particularly swing states like michigan, where his support among arab americans is cratering. >> well, the perception here is

seen largely as hypocritical, continued strikes not only with the reporting of trey yingst on the ground, the media team seeing what took place there but science go off throughout the day across the country with the rocket attacks not stopping. so israelis who say they are grieving from the october 7th attacks, almost a slap in the face to have a conversation ending this as it is without actually having anything come from everything that we have seen in the last couple weeks, especially losing 25 soldiers in this fight to lose those lives on top of everything that happened on october 7th to now call for a ceasefire even if it is just a pause is something that is not sitting well with them. of course, a very different reaction from a lot of people in the international communities saying there needs to be a pause to be able to move some of those civilians out, but a lot of israelis say there's been enough time with these leaflets that we have seen dropped over the

population there urging them to get out, but for the people who have not fled, we are hearing from humanitarian organizations in gaza that these people don't have any where to go. already about 700,000 people are staying in u.n. shelters at four times their capacity, so for the people in the north who have not fled there, is a lot of concern even if they do move south they won't be able to get out, with rafah closing, border still not opening up and letting people out. we are hearing more and more americans are getting out and will be able to get out in the coming days but it is a very dire condition for the civilians and a lot of anger here in israel with people having these conversations, john, about the ceasefire. john. >> sandra: and alex, sandra here. a lot is happening with conversations among themselves, communication with each other. but obviously also very dependent on the news that is coming to them within their own, you know, within their own, but also the international news, and how all of this is being communicated, what's happening

back here at home. what are you hearing on that front? >> in terms of the communication here in israel, people really are watching day-by-day to see the latest of what is taking place. everyone here that i have talked with, everyone that i have met from doctors, to civilians, to soldiers, they personally know people who were fighting, personally know people who were killed or know families who have lost loved ones. so this is incredibly personal. this is a full hands on effort across the country. if you are not grieving, if you are grieving, you are likely volunteering or trying to help out in some capacity. what we are hearing in terms of humanitarian aid organizations in gaza, the conditions from the video we have seen, reiterated today by u.s. secretary of state antony blinken, the images of children that have been killed, it is very difficult to see those images and not to project the relationships that you have with people in your own life.

but this is something that we would never want to see take place in any conflict ever and to see the rising death toll, regardless of the fact we do not have verifiable numbers, the health ministry in gaza, of course, is led by hamas, but we can see that footage, very, very alarming sights to see. sandra. >> sandra: alex hogan on the ground in tel aviv. thank you. john. >> john: turning our sights north, sandra, hezbollah's leader praised hamas's attack on israel in his first public address since the war began. he also warned america about its support for israel. that is stoking fears the iranian-backed terror group will widen the war on israel. steve is live in northern israel with the latest. steve, what else did hassan nasrallah say? >> john, people were really waiting for this speech. many with fear that nasrallah could come out and declare a

major war against israel, a full-on second front. that did not happen today, he's not ruling it out for the future, but he says this attack was a palestinian operation and that hezbollah is helping. hezbollah is helping hamas by tying up elite israeli forces here in northern israel. >> the operations forced the enemy to maintain forces on the northern border, particularly some elite forces that they wanted to move from the west bank to gaza. >> the fighting here in the north has been limited. it's really been back and forth across the border. about 60 hezbollah fighters killed in that fighting so far, and some places like here in northern israel are hit with rockets on almost a daily basis.

but did raise the possibility of further escalation from hezbollah, depending how events go in gaza, and of course here in the north, israeli forces remain on very high alert. john, back to you. >> john: steve just south of the israel-lebanon border. steve, thank you. the biden administration is reportedly warning israel that it may lose public support if the idf continues to pummel gaza. pro palestinian rallies taking place and the globe and new poll reveals that arab americans are losing faith in president biden. bret baier, special report anchor and political anchor. good to have you with us. the president himself seems to be fighting a two-front political war, on the one hand, he's got to support israel and the other hand he's trying to figure out how not to lose the support of arab americans in very important swing states like michigan. a new poll out showed in 2020,

the president had 59% support among arab americans. that is now at 17%. he's got a political problem here. >> bret: yeah, and listen, we have seen an evolution of how they are talking about this. the beginning of soon after october 7th, the days after that, the moral clarity coming from the podium and the white house and standing by israel at all costs, understanding they had to do what they had to do to go after terrorists much like we as the u.s. had to go after al-qaeda terrorists after 9/11. and then it has evolved as time has gone on and now this push or talk about a pause, which they are trying to distinguish a pause between a pause and a ceasefire. it is getting a little rhetorically tough to defend because there is not a pause or a ceasefire on the other side.

every day a hamas official comes out and says they're fight is going to continue against israel, and so israel is saying no thanks, we are going to keep going after leadership until we determine that that's over. >> sandra: bret, good to see you, sandra here. president biden and his top advisers, as we have watched blinken on the trip, are warning israel with growing force. we have seen evidence of that in recent days, increasingly difficult to pursue military goals in gaza as global outcry intensifies over the scale of humanitarian suffering. this was blinken this morning on supporting israel while also insisting israel does its best to limit civilian deaths. >> we stand behind israel's right and indeed obligation to defend itself and to do everything it can to make sure october 7th never happens again, the way that israel does so matters, and we have discussed

today as well as in many preceding days, the imperative of doing everything possible to protect civilians. >> sandra: there is obviously some clear messaging from the administration on that point. >> bret: yeah, i think you are right. i think it is clear that that focus is increasing, as the civilian casualties go up. we should point out. you don't have to believe what the red crescent says or hamas officials say, it is in the thousands of civilian casualties on the inside of gaza, and that is a concern and the world picture, however, israel says we can't have another october 7th. they keep going back to the descriptions of what happened october 7th to remind people this is what we are dealing with here. i do think the secretary of state has done from his first visit, his second visit, this is his third visit, a good job of talking to the israelis. as far as that message of a

pause, i don't think it's going to sit in. >> john: we take a look, back to the political ramifications of all this, if the president is losing support among arab americans, it could make a big difference in the contest that will be coming up a year from now, particularly in michigan. if we take a look at the results, in 2020, the president won by 154,000 votes. 2016, president trump took michigan by 10,000 votes. some 250,000 arab american voters in that state and if they all stayed home, bret, that could spell trouble in michigan for biden. >> bret: and you could just go around the country, actually. the muslim american population not only in michigan, obviously significant, but arizona, where biden wins by 10,000 plus votes, georgia, all of those muslim american populations exponentially are greater than the difference of the 2020 election. so yes, that's a political calculation, but i think they are looking at it as a long way

away, and that's always the caveat we have to put at that november 2024 seems a long way away. something this big that could be happening this long could have a lasting impact on that population. >> sandra: very interesting. >> john: thanks, bret. >> bret: see you guys. >> sandra: polling showing young americans don't know about the conflict in the middle east but it's not stopping them to show up at antisemitic rallies across country. what's to blame for that? >> social media these days is where a lot of people get their information from and that's a whole pandora's box, obviously the brave new world where there is this total -- e rich red soul of north alabama, here on our family farm. then we partner with family owned mills from maine to mississippi to manufacture our cotton into quality american made fabrics that become

our heirloom inspired bedding, towels, blankets and apparel. experience our 100% american made luxury linens for yourself. go to red line cotton dot com and receive 15% off your order with code fox news. >> tech: when you get a chip in your windshield... trust safelite. ♪ upbeat, catchy music ♪ >> tech vo: this couple counts on their suv... as they travel for their small business. so when they got a chip in their windshield... they brought it to safelite... for a same-day in-shop repair. we repaired the chip right away. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech vo: plus, to protect their glass, we installed new wipers too. that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

veteran homeowners. have you tried getting a home improvement loan at a bank lately? good luck. some of those rates can be 12 to 15% or higher. our rates are a fraction of what some of those banks charge. veterans across the country are using the newday 100 va loan to get cash to update and improve their homes. whether you need to replace your roof windows or hvac or want to upgrade to your dream kitchen, call newday. with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. -ahh, -here, i'll take that. woo hoo! ensure max protein 30 grams protein, one gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients for immune health. (♪)

>> our university, our are -- complicit in the violence. >> john: as these scenes play out on college campuses across america, a lot of americans are asking how did we get here? one reason, social media. most young people are getting their information from apps and new data shows pro palestinian content far outnumbers pro israel content ten to 1. content is not always accurate. william in our los angeles bureau has been looking into this. william. >> john, israel may be winning the battle but losing the tiktok wore and you do see it on campus with protesting supporting hamas and wonder where are the students getting their information. surveys show the vast majority on social media.

>> their number one trusted source of news is not television, it's not print, it's not radio, it is by far social media. >> fact checkers don't exit on redit, instagram, youtube. >> what is the senator's stance on the innocent children that are dead? >> i don't think the senator wants any civilians to die, like -- >> but standing with israel means civilians are gonna die. >> hamas would care for me. israel would kill me. you are being fed false information. and the rest of us are beginning to lose patience with your woeful ignorance. >> a lot of people say they are not going to vote for joe biden because he supports genocide. >> china removed israel frommis map. well done, china. >> and if you watch one video,

you typically get another like it and that influence is showing up in the classroom. graduate t.a.s at the university of kansas called israel a settler colonial project. and in iowa, many every palestinian live long and free from the river to the sea. in arlington, pro palestinian students took over a q & a session on the conflict. >> we know where they are getting their information but it's not being counteracted in the way that universities are meant to perform and that is the great problem. >> and john, the point is you have a generation of many progressive students from environmental causes, black lives matter, occupy wall street, who see the world as haves and have notes, oppressed and oppressor, and now play out in the conflict overseas. >> john: and the algorithm does

the rest. >> sandra: hamas has been waging a war of terror against israel for decades now. jen griffin has a look at the rise next. >> john: united states is calling for a pause in the fighting to get aid into gaza. where the idf is making gains. is now the time for a pause? daniel davis is up next, retired army lieutenant colonel. >> every minute that you pause is another minute that hamas has to dig in, resupply, reorganize. so, if you are not on offense, you are on defense. a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ [sneeze] dude you coming? because the only thing dripping should be your style. plop plop fizz fizz with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief. also try for fizzy fast cough relief.

right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. my little family is me, aria, and jade. just the three of us girls. i never thought twice about feeding her kibble. but about two years ago, i realized she was overweight. she was always out of breath. that's when i decided to introduce the farmer's dog to her diet. it's just so fresh that she literally gets bubbles in her mouth. now she's a lot more active, she's able to join us on our adventures. and we're all able to do things as a family. ♪ get started at betterforthem.com

>> john: hamas has used a campaign of violence to wage a campaign of terror against israel since its founding in the late 1980s. that peaked in brutal attack on israel. but the group does not operate alone. chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin live at the pentagon with more

on this. >> founded in gaza in 1987 during the first palestinian uprising, hamas is an acronym, islamic resistance movement in arabic. 1988 charter called for the destruction of israel. founded by a palestinian cleric whose family were refugees in gaza during the 1948 war following the creation of israel, he spent his early life studying islam in cairo, exposed to the muslim brotherhood like the spiritual founder, to stop oslo peace talks for a two-state solution, hamas began carrying out a series of suicide bombings in april 1993, beginning, in part to compete with palestinian islamic jihad already funded by iran to disrupt the peace

process. in 1997, prime minister benjamin netanyahu sent the mossad to assassinate a hamas leader in jordan. and as part of that, he had to send the antidote and release the sheikh held in an israeli prison. he is currently living in qatar and travels frequently to iran. in 2004, i interviewed him in gaza after the iraq war began. exclusive interview got a lot of attention at the time. >> are you calling for jihad against american troops? >> i gave fatwa to fight americans if they enter iraq and then it is legal and right to fight the americans if they are on iraqi land. >> israel assassinated him a few months later as he was leaving a

mosque in gaza. a year later, following a spate of deadly suicide bombings that targeted cafes, night clubs and busses in jerusalem and tel aviv. and i was also in gaza when israeli forces assassinated the founder of the military wing, in a 2002 airstrike, dropping a one ton bomb on him in a crowded neighborhood. in 2005, israeli prime minister sharon ordered the idf to evacuate all jewish settlers in gaza. 12 days after the pullout was complete, hamas fired rockets into israel. a year later the u.s. encouraged palestinians to hold elections, hamas won in a landslide in 2006. the group sometimes threw the leaders of the palestinian authority off rooftops in gaza. it has been in power ever since. main mission is the elimination of the state of israel. the state department designated

hamas a terrorist group on october 8, 1997, almost 26 years later to the day on october 7, 2023, hamas initiated what many have described as israel's 9/11. john. >> john: amazing flash back there, jennifer griffin at the pentagon. thank you. >> sandra: the white house continues to push for a pause in fighting to get humanitarian aid into gaza. idf forces have reported some gains saying they neutralized some tunnels and are taking out hamas's chain of command. joining us now is retired lieutenant colonel daniel davis, senior fellow and expert or defense priorities. as we bring our viewers along the geography of this war and of this moment, so many now are very familiar with the al-shifa hospital located here on the northern gaza strip under which we know hamas is running their operations. the red identifies and the north -- the northern border

here on the northeast corner, the continuing clearing operations on the part of israel. but this really highlights here the significant fighting and the past 24 hours. i'm going to clear this just to show the three circles to give you an idea where they have seen that concentrated. as i flip the screen and get you to weigh in on the threat to the northern border here, highlighted in the green, the rocket attacks along the northern border, several of them. this is the drone strike in the blue here, and this red represents all the anti-tank fire. the purple, the israeli evacuation zone, early on deeming such a threat, the northern border they cleared that. but, give us an idea where things stand in this moment and israel's ability to continue to combat this fire coming in. >> yeah, i think what you are seeing there, especially in that southern part where israel has basically three actions of

advance. first one there, is in the northwest -- northwest corner where they are trying to go down the coast, and i think they are probably going to continue all the way down until they cut the coast off from any possibility of receiving anything in the water. in the south, cutting across bisecting it in half, for the relieve supplies to the hamas fighters in the gaza strip. and then the northeast corner, getting all the areas, open areas primarily cleared out so it gives israel a base of operations. once we have the corridor surrounded, you are going to see large amounts of the ugly fighting that we know is yet to come, house to house, building to building, room by room sometimes fight and that's when it's going to be a really tough infantry fight and probably the israel is going to suffer their highest casualties at that point. the point right now is to get all that circled and cut off so

they isolate hamas. >> sandra: thank you for talking us through what we are seeing here. considering what you just said and the advances israel has been able to make, especially the tunnels you cannot see here, underground, the labyrinth. considering those advances, what does it mean to you when you hear for the white house saying they are open to this pause to bring humanitarian aid in in a moment where israel seems to be making some progress here. >> well, i'll tell you. militarily speaking, a pause will have no negative impact at all. israel has complete command on the ground and they can complete discord on their own timeline and there's virtually nothing hamas can do to stop that. idea that hamas would have extra advantage if they had that time is i think not borne out by the facts because they had months to prepare for this and now they have been pummelled in the air nonstop since october 7th.

on the other hand, civilians in the area just as innocent as the israeli civilians murdered earlier, i think we have to do something to take care of them. and this pause is not a ceasefire, it's literally, all right, we are going to wait eight hours and get enough large numbers of trucks in so they can, the people don't die because i'm telling you, if lots of palestinians start dying of hunger, thirst, of preventable diseases because they can't get food in, it's going to undercut israel support and bad for them. >> sandra: we have on the screen the number of u.s. troops and contractors that are currently in the middle east as of october 2023. that number stands at approximately 45,000, see them across turkey, syria, iraq, kuwait, bahrain, saudi arabia, qatar, and you see the build of military might in support surrounding israel in this moment. but as i say that, i flip over to the other screen to show you sort of israel surrounded by the

iranian proxies, in syria and iraq, hezbollah, lebanon, the houthis in yemen, they pose a continued threat to those u.s. forces stationed all throughout the middle east. weigh in on the moment and how we should be responding to the continued actions on the part of these iranian proxies right now. >> well, look, america's primary interest in this is keeping the war contained to the gaza strip, not even letting it get, expanded into hezbollah and lebanon, and abeing at thatted and drawing us into war god forbid with iran. primary thing, to keep the troops safe and not expand this. >> sandra: colonel, thank you very much for your expertise on that. appreciate you joining us. john. >> john: always good to see the colonel. reports indicate the biden administration is set to hold a rare talk with china about

nuclear arms control next week. this as tensions between the two nations' militaries in the western pacific remain high. president biden and xi jinping are expected to meet later this month. and david, it's been some time since the u.s. and china spoke about the nuclear issue. >> it really has, this is in kr ed -- incredibly rare. and they have not gone on the record to talk about the issue formally since barack obama was president. according to the wall street journal, on monday this will happen. both nations will meet to talk about nuclear arms. we know that the meeting will be about the control of nuclear arms and the goal to fend off a three-way arms race with china and russia. vladimir putin signed -- and a

move toward equality with western powers. critics worry russia is getting closer to a nuclear test. as mentioned, president biden and president xi will meet face-to-face in san francisco in a few weeks with other world leaders. the first time they have met face-to-face since last november. don't get too excited relations are normalized, china says it remains on high alert after the chinese navy followed a transit of warships from the united states and canada in the taiwan strait this week, this according to reuters. president biden and president xi have a relationship going back several years, of course, you know, that vice president joe biden knew then president xi fairly well. we'll see if it makes a difference when they meet up in a few weeks. john. >> john: see if they can get warm and fuzzy later together this month. thank you. >> sandra: the migrant crisis overwholing sanctuary cities that once welcomed asylum

seekers with open arms. now they are asking the biden administration for billions more in aid. >> john: plus, new fox news power rankings shows some movement from one 2024 t gop contender as a big name removes himself from the running. we'll talk to shannon bream about that and a whole lot more coming up next. some lenders charge hundreds upfront for your appraisal and other fees. not at newday. a veteran shouldn't have to come up with money to get money. [city ambience sounds] [car screech] [car door slam] [camera shutter sfx] introducing ned's plaque psoriasis. [camera shutter sfx] he thinks his flaky, red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. [ned?] it can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing

it for nearly a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. [crowd gasp] ♪ with clearer skin, movie night is a groovy night. [ting] ♪ live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. the first time you made a sale online with godaddy was also the first time you heard of a town named dinosaur, colorado. we just got an order from dinosaur, colorado. start an easy to build, powerful website for free with a partner that always puts you first. start for free at godaddy.com

overactive bladder? i've been there. i also used to plan my days around finding a bathroom, in fear of an embarrassing bladder accident. you're not alone, and you don't have to live like this.

i don't! i found real relief with axonics therapy, a proven non-drug solution, and i got my life back. go to findrealrelief.com to get started. ask a bladder specialist if axonics therapy is right for you and to discuss potential risks. results and experiences may vary. your life is waiting! ♪ hit it ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a thing go right ♪ ♪ it takes two to make it outta sight ♪ ♪ one, two, get loose now ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ stay two nights and get

5k bonus points. book direct at bestwestern.com. tired muscles and joints were keeping me from doing the things i loved most. not anymore. blue-emu gave me my freedom back. it supports healthy muscles and joints. shop our expanded family of products at major online retailers. >> sandra: chicago's mayor is pressuring the white house to approve more funding for migrant housing. he's not alone. multiple democratic mayors are scrambling to manage the never ending flow of migrants coming to their cities. outside the roosevelt hotel where they have been dealing with the problem for quite some

time. >> the sanctuary cities that once welcomed them with open arms, now they are asking the biden administration for $5 billion in additional federal aid, and potentially changing sanctuary status. chicago, denver, and representatives from new york met with senior biden administration officials to ask for the help. they have received 1.4 billion but say they need much more to ease the burden on their cities. >> $5 billion is not an unreasonable demand, particularly at a moment when there is such a tremendous need and so you know, today was just really reinforcing what all of us are experiencing around the country, whether it's in denver, chicago, or new york or los angeles, or el paso, or brownsville, that these challenges are significant and we are going to need a significant investment from the federal government. >> now, of course the difference of some of the cities is that some are sanctuary cities that welcome migrants, others happen to be along the federal southern

border. in addition to the taxpayer cash, democratic mayors are asking the administration and congress to speed up federal work permits for the migrants, those in opposition say it would further incentivize illegal crossings. all of this coming as sanctuary states and cities are exhausting their resources and potentially changing their minds about their status. denver last month asked border towns to hand out fliers telling migrants the city could not provide care and eric adams went from saying it's the city's responsibility to provide shelter, to now it will destroy the big apple. they are taking matters into their own hands, giving migrants 60-day vacate notices when they move into housing. the challenge is, even when they receive the notices, they don't necessarily have to get out because of the right to shelter law. 13,500 have gotten notices. but if they come back, they can

get 30-day extensions and even then, it's not even guaranteed they'll be kicked out. we asked the mayor's office and they tell us that less than 20% of asylum seekers who have exceeded their 30 or 60 day limits are still in their care. again, unable to move them because of the right to shelter. but the city here is doing everything they can, including offering one-way flights to a destination of a migrant's choosing as long as it's outside of new york. >> sandra: it is a lot happening. thank you. >> obviously the former president has support but there is a lot of people that have not made up their mind. people leaning to him now have not made a final decision so you are going to start to see as we get in the next couple months and into the new year, you are going to see people make some decisions about what's the pathway for the republican party going forward? >> john: that was florida governor and republican presidential candidate ron

desantis with us last hour. as new power rankings show donald trump keeping his spot as the front-runner, desantis second, and former ambassador nikki haley up to third position. shannon bream, great to see you this friday afternoon. we know it's friday if you are here. good thing for most people, all around, of course. let me put up the power rankings. donald trump, stand alone front-runner, way out in front. the challengers have shaken up a little bit. 2, desantis, 3, nikki haley. people having growing pains, vivek ramaswamy, chris christie, tim scott, and the rest. what do you make of nikki haley's rise? >> shannon: she got in very early on, the first serious contender, said i'm going to go to every meeting, every elks lodge, every town hall. and she's felt strong about her

abilities, i interviewed her before the first debate and felt people who did not hear her or know about her in early states, they would be impressed by her debate skills. she is always felt confident in that, and she's doing well in the early states. if she can pull off an upset, even second in iowa would be an upset for her, she's got strong numbers in new hampshire and her home state of south carolina. >> john: she's beaten on oh she's beating, but ahead in the latest polling of desantis. and her rise seems to have come at the expense of vivek ramaswamy. she rose one place in power rankings, he's down one place. his favorability ratings are declining very quickly. >> shannon: the two of them have gone at each other in these debates and she's called him out on the lack of foreign policy experience, there is some daylight between him and the rest of the field with respect to foreign policy, on ukraine,

would you give land to putin as a way to wrap this up, she's challenged him on that as somebody who has served in the foreign policy arena. but yes, his name recognition shot up. the unfavorables came with that. he's the person that over the last month or so the most questions about, family, friends, people stopping me on the street or the airport, they want to talk about him, they have a lot of questions but seems the more he spends time on the public stage, the more gun shy people are getting on board with him. >> john: i was talking about somebody on the trump campaign, and called the 47 administration auditions, the debate coming up. >> shannon: the former president would like to remind people of the lead he's got, which is substantial. you ask these individuals, interview them, they say i'm not auditioning for the vice president, i don't want to be in the cabinet, i can change the country for the better. >> john: you can be forgiven for thinking it was over a long time ago, you never know what did happen in the closing days

before the caucuses. tom harkin won iowa caucus by 70 points and bill clinton was president. speaking in positions they never thought they would be in, i mean, reminds me of the once in a lifetime song by talking heads, you may find yourself in a beautiful house and how can i get here. that describes mike johnson. >> shannon: we are dating ourselves, good music in the 80s. right, mike johnson, part of his surprise sneak attack to becoming speaker, people did not know who he was and that did not give his opponents a time to even pull the research, they are doing it now, but it enabled him to be speaker. >> john: and his first legislative victory, stand alone bill on israel, which will die in the senate. >> shannon: we talk about the israel funding and we run out of government funding in 14 days, what's the planning.

we are doing a c.r., what's attached to the c.r. and many more fights to come. >> john: more people get to know him, democrats like him less, seems a good person overall. >> shannon: and the party said we wanted to take a chance on him. respected good guy. >> sandra: israel pushing into gaza even as the white house is asking for this pause in fighting to get humanitarian aid in. the idf is responding to reports that it struck an ambulance. spokesman jonathan conricus is joining us now. first up, thank you very much, sir, for joining us. oh, ok. we are going to take a quick break and he's going to join us when we return. we'll be right back.

providing for your family is a top priority. but what happens when you need affordable health care? christian health care ministries could save you up to 40% today. as a member, you can choose your provider without network restrictions. sign up at your convenience with our anytime enrollment. join a christian community that supports each other's medical expenses, offering peace of mind as you prioritize what's most important. enroll now at your chm dot org

>> sandra: breaking a few moments ago. the idf says they confirmed they struck an ambulance. lieutenant colonel jonathan conricas joining us now. what can you tell us about the ambulance, who was in it? >> there were terrorists in it, inside a combat zone close to our troops. our troops saw terrorists getting into it and using it in order to get from one place to

another on the battlefield. it's not the first time and the 100th time that hamas operatives abuse everything protected in a war zone. they use hospitals, mosques, u.n. facilities, clinics, churches. everything including ambulances. according to international law, if there is a perceived threat and danger and if combatants are making use of an ambulance in order to fight, that specific ambulance in that specific incident loses its special protection and is a legitimate target. so there shouldn't be any outcry, there shouldn't be any shock reporting. the shock reporting should be about the fact that hamas abuses everything that is supposed to be holy, even on the battlefield. >> sandra: okay. you have beyond this particular ambulance, you have information that you are sharing with intelligence agencies that

demonstrates that hamas' plan was to use ambulances as a method of operation to transfer some of their terror operatives? is that correct? there could be more ambulances carrying hamas terrorists? >> almost. the difference being not planned but execution, this is a practice. an established practice. the viewers that have been around and saw the war in 2014, we showed video footage of hamas operatives, armed operatives getting into ambulances, going from one place to another, using them as their taxis on the battlefield. we know and have shared with different intel organization and we will expose to the world, those honest enough to listen, that hamas uses ambulances as their ways of getting around the battlefield without being exposed to threat. we will show pictures of it and maybe even video.

the bottom line here, this is a common denominator. hamas abuses everything. the civilians, everything that is supposed to be protected, schools, u.n. facilities, mosques, hospitals, the shifa hospital is a big military compound controlled by hamas. that's what should be condemned unequivocally from the u.n. offices in new york all the way down to the world health organization and the red crescent and red cross. they are violating the special at the us the and protection which is supposed to be provided to ambulances on the battlefield, which we respect. that protection is void in specific cases when we see and perceive a threat and when we see they're abusing it. >> sandra: real quick, i want to ask you about the regional conflict and the possibility this is going to escalate further in the region. is there -- do you know specifically how many hamas terrorists -- how many

operatives were killed in that particular strike? >> there were a few in the car. we're working on names, affiliation and what they were doing and what they were busy fighting. it's clear to us that they were certain terrorists, 100% sure that they were terrorists and combatants on the battlefield, which our troops saw getting in to that ambulance and speeding. they perceived a threat and they understood there was a threat and therefore that ambulance was targeted. >> sandra: colonel, a final question to you and the hezbollah chief warning that this conflict could escalate in to a full-blown regional war. saying there's concern that this may escalate even further and turn into a full war. all options are on the table. what do you say to that? >> well, i think that what he also said was that this is a palestinian issue, which perhaps can be translated to the fact that he doesn't want to go all in, which i think is a wise

thing for lebanon and anybody that cares about the future of lebanon should really stick to that and understand that lebanon and hezbollah have no business in getting into a war because of the isis look-alikes of gaza. they attacked us. we're responding to that. now hezbollah is thinking about dragging lebanon and the region in to war. that would be a big mistake. we have said we are prepared to defend ourselves. we're defending our serves in the south. hezbollah is a big and powerful enemy. that will be more difficult but we're prepared and capable of defending ourselves against them. at the end of the day, hezbollah and lebanon will pay a heavy price if they agress against us. >> sandra: thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> sandra: i believe we have

pictures of marine one in main. >> john: yes. the president touchdown in brunswick, maine. he will get out of there and in to the limousine and then headed off to lewiston to meet with families of the 18 victims of mass shooting last months. that's what's on the president's agenda this afternoon. interesting though back to what the colonel was saying about that attack near the shifa hospital. after what happened with the hospitals, israel has to have video of everything that it does in sensitive areas so that it can combat the hamas propaganda machine. >> sandra: it's a fair point. he says they're doing that. john a busy day and a busy week. great to be with you. thanks for joining us. i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'm john roberts. i expect a busy week next week as well. "the story" with martha starts rights now. >> martha: okay. thanks very much, you guys. good afternoon. i'