agents gave commands to robertson he point ed a gun at them and was then shot and killed.utors say in one social media post, robertson said, quote, i hear biden is coming to utah. digging out my old gilly suit, which is a camouflage suit for snipers and cleaning the dust off the m-24 sniper rifle. but if robertson was just spouting off and he hadn't acted on any threats, why go in with force? >> his comments about the president arriving in his area, preparing to take out his sniper rifle and engage in some sort of violence directed at the president of the united states. that is clearly beyond the pale. those are actionable threats and that's what brought the fbi to his door. >> reporter: documents say robertson had also made threats towards prosecutors who have brought cases against former president donald trump, like attorney general merrick garland, new york state attorney general, letitia james, and manhattan district attorney alvin bragg. in one post, prosecutors say robertson wrote that he wanted to, quote, stand over bragg and put a nice hole in his forehead with my

nic robertson, stay safe. we will get back to you as well. >>> i want to bring in john kirby from the white house. he is the national security council coordinator for strategic communications. thanks very much for joining us. you heard that report. what is your understanding of the israeli military operations that are unfolding right now? >> they have said it for themselves. they are expanding ground operations. i will let them characterize that. we don't want to speak for military operations we are not in command of. they have continued throughout -- since the attack of october 7th and continued to try to put pressure on hamas leadership and to try to target hamas leadership where they are. i don't want to speak for them. but i think it's safe to say that the ground maneuvers are a piece of the larger effort. >> did israel notify or consult with the united states ahead of this expanded ground operation that's unfolding right in gaza? >> we have been talking to them since october 7th. i don't want to detail th

our own nick robertson coming up.exclusive from the scene. [ male announcer ] let's level the playing field. take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up $600 when you open an account. >> more carnage in syria where activists say 13 people have been killed today alone. in one damascus suburb an opposition group said at least 20 people were wounded by the syrian army. our senior international correspondent nick robertson joined the arab league monitors and got an exclusive, sometimes heart-stopping look at this town on the front line. >> reporter: on the road, it feels like we're entering a war. we see only army check posts. then this, civilians, the first we meet. what these people down here have just told us is that they'

nic robertson, cnn, tripoli, libya. >>> president obama is facing criticism for the u.s. mission in libya. the new york times columnist nick christoff joins us with his thoughts. plus, stand by for dramatic stories of libyan rebels outgunned by pro-gadhafi forces and a man's sacrifice to help them fight back. our own brian todd shares his personal account of time in the japan disaster zone. and the heroic work of search and rescue crews. the radically new 42 mile per gallon ct hybrid from lexus. welcome to the darker side of green. see your lexus dealer. p.a.: it's a four-bedroom traditional home on an acre-and-a-half landscaped yard. the master suite has two walk-in closets and a completely updated master bath. there's a totally renovated chef's kitchen, with updated stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and a butler's pantry. it's got a screened-in back porch, plenty of storage and a large backyard. it's the perfect home. in excellent condition, and ready to move in. anytime, anywhere. our agents help guide you to the smartest decisions. coldwell banker, we ne

thanks very much, nic robertson.gton. >> an amazing situation if you look what's happening behind nic robertson. moammar gadhafi behind that curtain over there. we don't know when he's going to speak, if he's going to speak but we anticipate that will be soon. back to nic shortly but i want to go to the white house right now where our senior white house correspondent ed henry is standing by. the president of the united states is working hard on this issue right now and had some major phone calls with world leaders the today. ed, what's the latest. >> reporter: that's right. the president is in boston trying to talk about the economy, education, but this is a reminder. this story is not going away, the big, big national security challenges, and that's why earlier today the president in a phone consideration with the british prime minister, david cameron, a white house readout after the call, officials basically said that they reiterated frankly what we've heard for days now which is that both leaders believe it's time

nic robertson on the scene for us in tripoli.ent of the united states who's on a trip to latin america. i can't tell you how courageous our journalists especially nic robertson, arwa damon in different parts of libya right now. i got to tell you as viewers know, this young man and young woman, i say young deliberately, they have guts. >> well, they do. i've worked here for a little over ten years and seen nic robertson frreport from all places. i've never seen him as excited when he was talking about the clowns at the f word network manufacturing some bogus story about him and his crew being used as human shields. enough is enough i guess and they managed to get under his skin pretty good. shame on them. president obama's in chile today, the second stop on a three-nation five-day trip to south and central america. it's the first time in the region since he took office. but it comes at a time when this country is suddenly involved in another hostile military action. these air strikes in libya. the possible meltdown of nuclear reac

nic robertson on the scene furs. just a little while ago, prime minister netanyahu vowed israel would be victorious against what he called the horrendous enemy, hamas. >> translator: we have the gun and i emphasize we have only begun to strike at hamas. the images of the devastation from the strongholds in gaza are just the beginning. we have eliminated many hundreds of terrorists and will not stop there. >> joining us now, a spokesperson for the israel defense forces, lieutenant colonel jonathan. colonel, thank you very much for joining us. what's the situation on the ground tonight as this war between israel and hamas clearly is intensifying. >> yeah. evening. the situation is that for the first time in more than 48 hours, israel has regained control over all of its territory in the south. we have now established that there are no more terrorists in active fighting against civilians or troops. we are fortifying the border and guarding it. and over the last few hours, we have been striking by the air and some artill

first, i want to go to cnn's nic robertson. he had a direct view of the bombardment of gaza as it was under way from his position in israel not far from gaza. nic, tell our viewers more about what you saw and what's happening there now. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, we just had a very heavy detonation coming from the direction of where all those flares were dropping a short time ago. we've seen tank fire as well going across the horizon behind me in the same direction and have been hearing heavy machine gunfire. it sounds like exchanges of heavy machine gunfire going on in that same area. i just heard another detonation there. we're hearing the sounds of outgoing artillery. i'm hearing the sounds of fighter jets in the sky, which means there could be other flashes and illuminations as their strikes take place right around now, but earlier on, half an hour of illumination with these flares on the ground. the ground was shrouded in this thick battle smoke. it gave the impression that the idf was maneuvering troops around a densely pop

we'll check in with nic robertson in tripoli. stand by for that.describe gadhafi's security forces gunning down helpless protesters, talk is heating up over imposing a no-fly zone over libya to keep gadhafi from attacking his own people. senator john mccain is one of the most vocal supporters of a no-fly zone. >> logic dictates that if the secretary of state and the president of the united states say gadhafi must go, one of the measures that would hasten his departure would be a no-fly zone which would inhibit his ability to prevail militarily. >> secretary of state hillary clinton has a different aprove. listen to this. >> of course, we are concerned with the ongoing violence and the actions that are initiated and perpetrated by gadhafi and his regime against his own people. we are considering a number of ways that we can be of assistance with respect to that, but we are now focused on the humanitarian situation. >> the secretary also said washington is consulting with nato, its arab partners and the united nations about the most productive and co

i think so. >> pat robertson made the right point.he electoral college has voted, what, 306-232 in electoral votes. you need 270. the winner is biden. the loser is trump. jeff you were in the room during the biden's address and q&a with reporters. he made it clear he doesn't believe there is going to be a honeymoon or anything like that when he takes office. he's not mincing words at all though when it comes to the challenges that await him. the challenges are aenormous. >> they are enormous and this is part of what we're going to see from president elect biden, his leadership ability here. it will be tested without question. but he's not sugar coating it. he is not diminishing it. in fact he's doing what he don't hear many leaders do, particularly now, warning that the worst is yet to come. at least in the short-term. are warning that, you know, dark days of winter are going to be lock and painful and difficult. there will be more deaths, there will be more cases of coronavirus. so he's trying to as he said steel america. steel peopl

now the face of the gadhafi regime's brutality telling her story of rape and torture to cnn's nic robertson. we want to welcome around the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. >>> they're vastly outmanned and outgunned and increasingly on the retreat. libyan rebel forces are proving unable to maintain the gains they've made thanks to the nato attacks on moammar gadhafi's forces. this week the u.s. general who was in charge of the no-fly zone before nato took over told congress the likelihood of rebels ousting him bill military force is low. listen to some of the sights and sounds along with cnn's ben wedema [ speaking foreign language ] >> time to go. those rams are coming closer. >> all right. we are retreating yet again. that includes pierre. that includes chazzie and our new friend who jumped into the car in a moment of panic. so yes, we are movering back yet again. this is becoming something of a pattern, you may have noticed by our reporting is that we are moving generally in a backwards direction because this ragtag group of rebels simply

nic robertson, cnn, damascus, syria. >>> excellent reporting by our nic robertson. the phone from damascus. knick, this story shocked me, i know it shocked a lot of people around the world, the killing of a french journalist, who's on the same government-sponsored visit as you are right now. you were there apparently with them. tell us what happened. >> reporter: we were in homes, and spent the day with government minded officials. we weren't able to go to any of the option-held areas. it was with a different group of journalists. they have been invited into the country. officially they were there. we both -- our group and his group were invited to go to a pro-government rally. we told the government minders with us that we didn't want to go, we've seen too many rallies, they said that's fine, and we were living. we were standing around filming in that area, and as we were leaving, we saw the group of journalists he was with going toward the rally. within ten minutes in that area we began to get calls that they had been hit in mortar rounds s apparently one mortar r

cnn's nic robertson is in israel right now, embedded with the israel defense forces. what did you see, nic? >> reporter: wolf, we went about five miles into gaza, the restrictions on our trip, no photographs of regular soldiers' faces. officers were fine to film, no filming of sensitive equipment in the vehicles. i have to say in 30 years of experience in covering combat zones and wars, the level and extensive nature of the damage that we passed on the drive in, passing blown-up buildings -- we were driving along the mediterranean coastline to get closer to gaza city, down past the jgibb ball yeah refugee cam, in many areas all the buildings have been damaged, either collapsed or heavily damaged by fire or rocket or partially blown apart. we got to a command post where we changed out of the soft-skin vehicle and into an armored personnel carrier to go very deep into the javale yeah refugee camp here to the al rantisi hospital. when we got there the idf top spokesperson, daniel regari was there. he wanted to show the things the idf was showing them, the connection betw

rundy charles robertson. charge of numerous workers on this now deserted mississippi beach. the problem was all of these people coming to town were strangers and the residents here had no idea who they were or where they were coming from. and apparently they had good reason to be concerned. robertson was a convicted sex offender. and he was breaking the law by not telling local law enforcement where he's living. >> i don't understand how they could have had a man like that as our supervisor. >> do you think what happened to you could have been prevented? >> yeah, i do. yes, i do. and that's where it makes me a lot of times so angry. >> reporter: well, this woman came to this town because she was looking for work. she wanted to help clean up the beaches and she needed a job. she has four young children and it was important for her to get hired right away. and that's exactly what happened. >> reporter: rundy robertson was her supervisor. and she told us time and time again i trusted him because he was my boss.

finally tonight the televangelist pat robertson has died.ure in the conservative evangelical movement and played a key role in transforming the religious right into the key voting bloc into the republican party. robertson founded the broadcasting network and popularized the 700 club in 1988. robertson ran an unsuccessful bid for president. he was 93 years old. to our viewers, thanks very much fohing. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett "out front" starts right now. ♪ ♪ >>> out front next, trump racing for an indictment in multiple investigationses as we learn new

first let's go right to nic robertson. he's in sderot, israel with a direct view of the skies over gaza. nic, you're very close to gaza right now. tell our viewers what we've been seeing because this seems to be a powerful new chapter in the israeli assault against hamas. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, we're looking down right now into the northeastern corner of the gaza strip, looking down toward beit hanoun which for half an hour was just swathed in and covered in the illumination of flares and smoke on the ground. we were hearing detonations, rockets fired and hearing artillery being fired into beit hanoun. it appeared to be the sort of illumination and the sort of smoke screen you would expect troops on the ground to be using if they were maneuvering to be going into this urban environment. beit hanoun has been hit very heavily over the past few weeks by israeli airstrikes and artillery. the idf has been warning the civilian population to leave the area. many civilians have been caught up, killed and injured in the fire in g

nic robertson, thanks so much for that report.n national security analyst peter bergen. he's the author of "the rise and fall of osama bin laden." peter, what did you make of what nic robertson was saying just a few moments ago? and what does this tell you about what the taliban has in store for us? >> this is really one of the most important positions in the government. it would be appointing bernie madoff as head of the -- this guy is a designated foreign terrorist. he has kidnapped multiple americans. the haqqanis are holding mark frerichs. they got 5,000 taliban prisoners because of u.s. pressure on the afghan government. we didn't get even this one american hostage. tony blinken is a very smart guy. but all this stuff about all the leverage we have on the taliban i think is total nonsense. the taliban when they were in power only three countries recognize them. they're also sitting on a huge pot of gold, which is the largest opium poppy trade in the world. yes they'd like international recognition. they'd like some of their r

our nic robertson is there with an exclusive and rare look.nt-runner mitt romney under fierce attack in south carolina. how true are those blistering allegations being made against him? we'll have a fact check. and the first lady of the united states, michele obama says she's not the stereotype of quote some angry black woman. her reaction to a controversial new book about the white house. . ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. out for drinks, eats. i have very well fitting dentures. i like to eat a lot of fruits. love them all. the seal i get with the super poligrip free keeps the seeds from getting up underneath. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. a lot of things going on in my life and the last thing i want to be thinking about is my dentures. [ charlie ] try

nic robertson, libya. >>> let's get to more of the brutal battle under way.ning us is general james spidermarks. thanks for joining us. >> sure. thank you. >> what happened to nato? all of a sudden we're hearing the rebels saying that the nato is mia, missing in action. >> both sides are feeling the same way. the assessment of the rebels has been all along they can't do anything unless the air power is there. rebels are saying, if we don't have air power all the time, we can't accomplish what we need to accomplish. they need to get back to benghazi and get their act together. it's very difficult for nato in the full array to maintain that type of momentum. the u.s. leaves and everyone follows or the u.s. pushes very aggressively from behind. both of those are okay but must take u.s. pressure to keep nato rolling like that. >> it's now nato in charge and obviously the united states is a player but others who are players as well. >> well, the u.s. -- let's be frank. the u.s. is not only a player. it goes all the way up to a four-star general. >> he has to liste

our senior international correspondent, nic robertson, is in karachi right now. he's going to tell us what he's uncovered. >>> jack's back with "the cafferty file." jack? >> the question this hour is -- what lessons should the u.s. take away from what's going on in greece? jim writes in new jersey, greece has put us all on notice. the welfare state is unsustainable. time to take our medicine, the longer we wait, the more it will hurt. jimmie writes, i think you're finally starting to under what the tea party movement is really about. problem is, the current administration wants to head the country toward becoming cradle to grave, means more votes. john writes, greece was the world's first democracy. now they are the perfect example of what can happen when everyone with a hand-out gets a hand-out. w. writes, i think we'll definitely have cuts that will inflame the baby boomer generation. i already expect at 27 to be working until i'm 70, social security or not. i'll have better middle age because of improvements in health care and medical research, so i should be

cnn's senior international correspondent nic robertson is joining us. nic, what's the response from the libyan regime? >> reporter: well, the government spokesman here called the conditions of the cease-fire silly. he said that it would be impossible to implement. they weren't serious. essentially the government here appears to be rejecting out of hand this cease-fire that's been called for by the opposition. the spokesman here said that the government remains ready to talk with the -- with anybody in the international community, in particular the western powers, those behind nato, europe, the united states, france, britain, ready to talk to any of those he said who are serious about peace, but he completely dismissed any possibility it appeared that the government would try and follow up on what we're hearing from the opposition. this conditions-based cease-fire. the government here appears continued with its intent to push itself eastward. just spoke with a source close to government and he said that what the government views here is that they are not

we'll go to london, nic robertson is working his sources as well.nic on the other side. everyone in america depends on the postal service. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions. when it comes to home insurance, surprises can be a little scary. and a little costly. that's why the best agents present their clients with a lot of options. because when it comes to what's covered and what's not, nobody likes surprises. [ click ] [ chuckles ] we totally thought -- [ all scream ] obscure space junk falling from the sky? we cover that. moving on. aah, aah, aah, aah. [ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum,

and nic robertson is joining us once again from tripoli.your vantage point, in the libyan capitol right now, does it look at least in tripoli that gadhafi is fully in charge? >> it looks like he's got a firm grip on the place. the city is where there's a question mark. zuwarah just to the west and misrata he's of the city. and what happens in those cities with the armed rebels right now is key to what happens in tripoli in the coming days and weeks. they're trying to negotiate, they say, with those rebels. if that doesn't work out the standoff can't carry on. it's what's going on just outside of tripoli that will affect the situation here. of course the rebels can't overthrow the regime. >> the rebels are in charge of the eastern part of libya and a lot of other towns. how much information do the people in tripoli have about "a", what's going on elsewhere in libya, and "b" what the international community is saying and doing? >> you know, they get a lot of information. a lot of people here watch the arabic language satellite channels. they

nic robertson in tripoli, thank you. libyan civilians are paying the price for the war for freedom. many would welcome liberty. others just want a chance to go back home. >>> and could libya's leader face possible war crimes trial? one prosecutor has an eye o moammar gadhafi. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." i'm robert shapiro. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. sotart your business, protectr youfamily, launch ur dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. that's how it is with alzheimer's disease. she needs help from me. and her medication. the exelon patch -- it releases medication continuously for twenty-four hours. atch dailye exelon p for the treatment of mild to moderate alzheimer's symptoms. [ female announcer ] it cannot change the course of the sease. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting, and d

nic robertson in jerusalem, thank you both very much. joining me now is senator mark warner of virginia. and the chairman of the senate intelligence committee. mr. chairman, thank you so much for being with us on this very, very important day. i want to talk first about how president biden described what happened today. he projected a vision for this permanent ceasefire. of course, he's hoping it will be permanent netanyahu, meanwhile, is saying that the duration of this truce between israel and hezbollah depends on what happens in lebanon that essentially leaves open the door to more israeli military action. how confident are you that this ceasefire can hold? >> well i'm actually very hopeful that it will go well beyond the 60 days. and i commend the biden administration for being at this. this has been i've talked to some of our intelligence community leaders even since the ceasefire has been announced. this has been a long road to hoe. i might, you know candidly, a little bit disagree with some of the earlier commentators. um i think

thank you. >> nic robertson, thank you so much. really appreciate your time and your description of what you saw. thank you for that. >>> we are getting new video from saturday's music festival massacre. a warning it is disturbing, but we are here to tell you what happened. we are not here to hide from you what happened. dash cam video shows terrorists shooting and killing people at point-blank range, and the terror -- at least 260 people killed experienced. cnn's nada bashir reports. >> reporter: this was the music festival in the early hours of saturday morning. in the distance rockets seemingly intercepted in the dawn sky. the festival then brought to an abrupt terrifying end as hamas gunmen launched a deadly rampage killing hundreds and taking dozens hostage. 21-year-old adi was taken in the ambush. her mother hopes she can still be alive, held captive in gaza but fears time is quickly running out. >> i'm a mother who is looking for her daughter. she is missing. i believe she's hurt, she's bleeding somewhere. and like me, there

nic robertson picks up the story in london where it appears the suspect attended college. so how did this happen and who is this suspect and did al qaeda play a role? who is the passenger who took decisive action and just some of the answers we're going to get for you over the next few hours here at cnn. first, though, the suspect had his hearing before a judge a short time ago. it wasn't in a courtroom. it was in a hospital in ann arbor, michigan. that's where our deb feyerick is live -- apparently she's going to join us in a moment. first we want to go to jeanne meserve in washington who has been looking over the court papers and talking to her sources about the charges against umar farouk abdulmutallab. jeanne? >> yes, we do know, of course, that a judge did speak with him today in ann arbor. deb feyerick has all the detail on what happened during that proceeding. but in the court documents he's charged with in a federal criminal complaint with trying to destroy this northwest airlines airplane and for placing a destructive device on board that aircraft. in an affidavit

nic robertson in tel aviv. thanks very much for all that reporting. let's get straight to andrew miller. he was until recently the deputy assistant secretary of state for israeli palestinian affairs andrew, thanks so much for being with us. there have been major concerns about the west bank exploding. we now have this very large israeli operation that the biggest in a long time, you have haldeman meshaal, a top hamas official calling for resumption of suicide bombings why did israel carry out this operation? now, how concerned are you that these very aggressive tactics will lead to a major escalation it's very possible that the timing of the operation is related to an increase in iranian support for various extremist groups within the west bank. >> we mentioned hamas, palestinian islamic jihad, established terrorist organizations. what we're seeing in the west bank as a proliferation of extremist groups that are far less organized than those major pillars of the so-called palestinian resistance we've reached a point in the west bank where there's so m

nic robertson is in tripoli.us. >> i just toon a phone call from one of gadhafi's son, saif al gadhafi. this is the message from the leadership. this is what moammar gadhafi's son just told me his father said. he said they're going to change the tactics around benghazi, that the army is not going to go into benghazi. it's going to take up positions around the stronghold. the reason is they expect a humanitarian exodus. they expect people will be afraid of what's going to happen, and he said the army will be there to help them get out. >> i'm going to ask nic to hold, but i'm coming back to you, nic, but the vote is going on in the u.n. right now. we have richard roth there while this vote takes place. >> reporter: we're about to see exactly how much countries are abstaining on the vote. we see russia abstaining. two permanent members elected not to use their veto. we'll get a run down of others. they need nine to get a yes vote on the resolution. the chinese ambassador will read out the totals. for the u.n. secur

nic robertson is not allowed to travel freely. to what the syrian government. wants him to see. he's joining us live. has anyone claimed responsibility for the killing? >> reporter: absolutely not. everyone is running in opposite directions. the government they said wants to intimidate journalists here. so it's a he said/she said situation. the arab league is involved in investigating this. they sent some of their monitors to homes to take a look at the site, to look at the place where the mortar rounds struck, and where jalil was killed, the french journalist was killed. there's supposed to be an interim report already this morning. we've heard nothing so far, and according to the arab league chief here, general dhabi, who i spoke to, who heads the monitoring mission, he said the monitors were involved in the investigation, so at least there seems to be some internal confusion about what's going on. this could be unsolved for a long time, wolf. >> you're in damascus. are you seeing demonstrations in the capital? what are you seei

but first, let's go to cnn's nic robertson. he has this report people woken by the sound of hezbollah's escalation its first ballistic missile capable of carrying hundreds of pounds of explosives, intercepted just north of tel aviv hezbollah said it was targeting mossad, israel's intelligence jones headquarters its deepest strikes into israel. yet one of the key areas we've been trying to prevent escalation is between israel and has blown up along that border with lebanon. >> so obviously we woke up this morning to these reports deeply concerning the idf quickly destroying the hezbollah launcher, the missile itself, which cause no casualties taken out by israel's fast high-altitude, david's sling interceptor shorter-range hezbollah missiles, falling closer to the lebanese border two men injured in this house one seriously across the border in lebanon israel continuing its pressure on hezbollah overnight airstrikes hitting no suspected hezbollah ammo dump bombing continuing wednesday dozens of people killed among them civilians

. >>> cnn's nic robertson is near the israel border. are there any indications that you can discern of any action, of any imminence? >> i think there might come a point where it's hard to discern what is action along the line of contact, the front line, the fence, and when does it become an incursion. we've been become used to all the missile strikes and artillery strikes, since your show came on the air we've counted about a half dozen. some of the flashes behind me are big and the explosions, we hear it very quickly which means probably just a mile or couple miles away. there are others where you see the flash and it takes a lot longer, 20 seconds to hear the explosion and perhaps those are maybe gaza city, about 7.5, 8 miles away, perhaps a little beyond there. just a couple minutes ago we heard what sounded like an apache gun ship firing heavy machine gunfire along the fence line behind us, in the distance behind us. we haven't heard it like that before. we haven't heard that before. it sort of gets hard to discern. there's a blurri

nic robertson joins us right now from tel aviv. he has the latest information.s saying, nic, about the attack. >> reporter: isis is saying they used two suicide bombers, two brothers in fact, to attack and kill those civilians in iran. indeed, they are claiming to have killed over 300 people at that attack. part of the rationale they laid out as well was that iran is using its sunni neighbors as proxies for its own fight for its own end. this is a critique isis is leveling at iran here. also, they're targeti ing soleimani, it appears, the mem memorial, as they saw him as part of the coalition to bring down isis. iran had said one of the bombs at least was in a suitcase, that it was remote did i detonated. isis is saying suicide bombers, but the pattern and style of attack, killing a large number of innocent civilians is very typical of isis. here they're doing it quite simply, because they are sunni, and all these people they killed they believe are shia muslims. >>> very sad. a spike in these attack by various iran-backed troops, the u.s. started a key commande

our own nic robertson has the story.he trial of a man who wanted to be president of the united states. new details on how john edwards allegedly tried to hide his pregnant misstress. for holdoligrip because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] >>> secretary of state hillary clinton leaves for china tonight where she will meet with top diplomatic authorities in beijing. >>> also a story that potentially could spell some serious trouble for the communist party in china. it's a story erin burnett has been out front on. tell us what's going

cnn's nic robertson is following all the new developments from his position overlooking gaza. nic, what is the latest? >> reporter: there does some to be some optimism around the hostages. the reality is in every sort of hostage family that i've talked to here reminds me when i speak about the possibility of getting their loved ones home, they say you have to recognize and understand that hamas is not a state actor. it is not a rational organization. it's exploitive, uses propaganda. the families don't feel they can trust anything that hamas says and recognize the reality, therefore, of what their government is dealing with, that any potential deal that feels close can easily slip away at any moment. while those negotiations are going on, of course, the fight in gaza is still under way. the idf this evening saying they are now right in the heart of gaza city. hopes on the rise again for a potential hostage release as many of the kidnapped families gather to press the prime minister to get a deal done. >> it's very difficult and embarrassing that i need to stand in front of the

. >> i want to get to nic robertson who is in tel aviv. this sharpening criticism, is it having any affect? >> reporter: i think it is. we heard from prime minister men gent -- benjamin netanyahu's office today. he said the military should go ahead and go into rafah and take down the last four battalions of hamas that he says are there. he said do that, there's civilians and the civilians need to be moved out of the way. he is calling on the army to give the cabinet -- his cabinet a plan of how the army is going to make sure the civilians are not in harm's way. it gives the impression of the prime minister feeling the political heat and pushing off the resolution or tamping down the heat to the military. the military has had a plan for trying to protect civilians. it used in khan yunis. it calls for certain neighborhoods to be told by text, leaflets to take a certain route, leave at a certain time and go to a certain safe area. what we have witnessed is that those routes are sometimes not safe. people get killed along the way. they are not

i want to go back to nic robertson in alexandria for us. nic, it sounds like what's happening in cairo is very similar to what's happening in alexandria where you are. the police have basically disappeared. there's a military presence, but people are still -- have been in fact mobilized by the speech that president mubarak gave, and, if anything, it's even making matters more intense. but go ahead and give me your assessment. >> reporter: i have yet to go outside on the streets and check. a part of our team are out there looking right now. i hope to hear back from them, but what fred has been talking about in cairo is absolutely reflected here. when he talked about the demonstrators opening up to let the civilian traffic go through, yet smashing the police vehicles and burning the police vehicles, that's the newer image of what we've seen here in alexandria as well, a crowd that knows the limits of what it wants to do, a challenge to the security institutions of the country. the -- again, to come back to the arm who are on the street corner

nic robertson is joining us live, not far from gaza.ell us what you have been seeing and hearing at your location. >> reporter: i'm just looking over my shoulder at the moment. we were watching tracer fire along the horizon. nothing to see at the moment. explosions have been continuing. this evening, we have been hearing significantly heavy explosions in this strip of northern gaza behind us. you see a flare up in the sky there. that's what we were seeing, tracer fire a few minute ago. heavy detonations. it makes it look as if there's a renewed offensive on a number of objectives across a wide area. it has been a very sad day for several families in israel who have received some devastating news that loved ones who were hostages, their bodies have been recovered. i sat down with one of those families. they have learned the terrible sad news just in the past 24 hours. this is the first israeli hostage discovered by the idf since the full incursion began almost three weeks ago. the dearly loved 65-year-old grandmother, a mother of five, w

let's go to cnn's nick robertson, who is joining us not far from gaza. nic, what more are we learning about this strike? >> reporter: well, the hospital is saying -- officials there are saying that 15 people were killed and 50 injured in this strike. and the international committee for the red cross say they are aware that the hospital was organizing a convoy of ambulances for a medical evacuation from the hospital in the north of gaza there to the south of gaza where the idf has said there is a safe, humanitarian zone. the road cross weren't involved with the convoy but aware that it was being established and it was leaving the hospital. what the idf say is look, we had intel agents that said there were hamas operatives and hamas weapons being smuggled out on those ambulances. they say that's why they targeted that particular convoy. so it was, again, intelligence leading to a specific targeted strike. but once again, as we have seen civilian casualties as a result. the total now in gaza, according to the hamas-led ministry of officials, there's more th

cnn's nic robertson has the latest. >> during a testy meeting with hostage families monday, israeli primeter benjamin netanyahu appears to have strained his one regional relationship with qatar that matters most to those very families. >> translator: you don't hear me thanking qatar because qatar is essentially no different from the u.n. and the red cross, and in some ways even more problematic. they have leverage because they're financing them. >> these comments caught off mike triggered a rapid barb putdown from qatari officials who helped ney goschgotiate 100 hostages saying we are appall by the remarks attributed to the prime minister, if validated are irresponsible and destrictive to the efforts to save innocent lives, but are not surprising. just days earlier qatar had been talking up relations with israel and the potential for hamas to release more hostages. >> we are engaging in serious discussions with both sides. we have presented ideas to both sides. we are getting replies from both sides. >> qatar's thrust raising now seems personal with netanyahu. qatar concluding their criti

nic robertson has the report. >> reporter: from ukraine's center, dnipro took all points. odesa in the south , kharkiv in the northeast, and lviv in the northwest. russia launched its biggest air attack since the ground invasion 22 months ago. 44 of 158 russian missiles invading ukraine's western supported air defenses. killing and wounding civilians. this man narrowly surviving, pulled from the rubble in kharkiv. schools, shopping malls, private homes and high-rises, even a maternity hospital hit. in the capital, this resident awoken by missiles at 7:30 a.m. >> translator: it was a horrible sound, so frightening. the missile was a flying and everything was buzzing, blurring, she says. i do not know what to do. president zelenskyy is accusing russia of throwing nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal against ukraine. >> reporter: ukraine's air force describing complex attacks of interlocking waves of drones, bombers, fighter jets, crews, hypersonic's, and other muscles intended to distract and stretch air defenses. there was outrage and anger from european leaders, but

cnn's nic robertson has more from tripoli. >> reporter: from the moment he walks in, chaos erupts. like an aging rock star mobbed by his fans, this crowd of people thronging around him, it is possible to see just how moammar gadhafi could believe that all his people love him. as soon as he came into the room here, everyone swarmed around him. they're chanting to support him. in fact, all he can see at the moment is a sea of hands and people shouting, shouting his name. in no hurry, soaking up the adulation. ten minutes before he takes up his seat. more than 2 1/2 hours before he have stops talking. long even by his own standards. not a man throwing in the towel. the reverse, telling rebels they still have time to put their weapons down. >> translator: i hope from my people in benghazi, men and women, to go out and take the guns from the youth and give them amnesty. >> reporter: incredibly, even as he was offering rebels peace, he was bombing them hundreds of miles away in the east. as he rambled his way through history and threats, some in the audience fell asleep. others shouting

let's go straight to our senior international correspondent nic robertson in tripoli., nic, about all of these reports that you've been on the cutting edge reporting a lot of them, of potential splits inside the gadhafi family, specifically among his sons? >> wolf, i don't think we're seeing those splits at the moment. the family, from what we can tell from the sources we're talking to, are still pretty unified. i think what is interesting, one of the interesting dynamics here is it's very clear that this diplomatic initiative -- indeed i've been told this deputy foreign minister who is traveling to europe, to turkey, to greece at the moment -- the story or the sort of initiative that he's peddling is the initiative that saif al gadhafi should take over from his father. that we didn't know before. that's now very clear for us. but one of the things that i learned here, it seems to be in trying to sort of sell this narrative internally, one of the key things for gadhafi to do is to convince the tribes in the country, those that are loyal to him, that still give him supp

nic robertson, cnn london. >> and thanks to see it nic robertson for that report just ahead.eekend of freedom for another close ally of donald trump as the u.s. supreme court denies steve bannon's last-minute bid to avoid prison every weekday morning. here are the five things you need to know to start your day gift. the news you need about this for an hernia thanks, baseball headlines in five minutes or less cnn's five things with kate bolduan, streaming weekdays on cnn.com and makemake consumer cellular. we pride ourselves on giving you fast, reliable, nationwide coverage and up to half the cost. the leading carriers, but don't worry we've got more than that going for us. >> new customers who buy any phone get two months of service free when you sign up by july 31st, call or go online to switch today. >> and the furniture business things move fast. ziprecruiter helps us hire qualified candidates who kiba we needed a project manager yesterday, we posted a job at ziprecruiter and had our guy on-site and five days, he was qualified and everyone zip recruiter finds the best camp