cnn's priscilla alvarez is at the white house.irst, let's start with cnn capitol hill reporter annie grayer. obviously, there is a move here that he did -- kevin mccarthy did to get a temporary solution to a potential shutdown, but, obviously, some political implications, too. what is mccarthy saying? >> reporter: he is digging in and daring his detractors to try to oust him because he feels like he has the majority of the conference behind him. going into seattle, it seemed like the government was going to shut down because kevin mccarthy up until that point was only willing to work within his own conference to try to keep the government open and there wasn't the votes to do that a so saturday morning house republicans met and mccarthy and his leadership team started to prepare them for what a shutdown would look like. a number of mccarthy allies stood up and talked about how a shutdown would be detrimental to to the country and detrimental to republicans politically. and mccarthy felt like he enough groundswell support from that

priscilla alvarez is joining us from the white house. what is the coordination like to try to bring these americans home? >> reporter: this is an effort by the state department to work with airlines and international partners to provide assistance to american citizens who may want to get back to the united states. as you mentioned, just yesterday the white house confirmed the first charter flight had departed and arrived in athens. this ongoing effort includes these flights going to destinations in europe and using u.s.-based carriers to ferry these people back home. john kirby told reporters just yesterday there are more flights anticipated in the coming days, but they are also looking at other ways either by land or by sea. we have heard from the state department there are more than 20,000 citizens who have reached out to the state department since last saturday. not all of those peoplelook looking for transportation out of israel, but it goes to show there is a demand here and a need for the state department to step in as there are li

cnn's priscilla alvarez joins us live from delaware. that's in large part why we saw the president thursday night taking his case to the american people. >> reporter: that's right. that was a direct appeal to americans to shore up support for these ongoing conflicts in israel and in ukraine. and that address came just before the official request to congress from the white house for more than $105 billion. now here's what that includes. that's $61 billion for ukraine, $14 billion for israel, over $9 billion for humanitarian aid and then there's also funding for the u.s./mexico border and the endo pacific region. the white house has confidence that there's bipartisan support in congress for funding package like the one they presented here, but the reality is that think still face an uphill battle, particularly in the house of representatives, which still remains without a speaker. just this week house republicans scrambling again after voting to push out republican representative jim jordan. now in the coming days, new speaker hopefuls wi

priscilla alvarez has details. >> reporter: president biden made calls to world leaders on sunday, ashe potential invasion of gaza looms. the president spoke with leader of canada and europe, as well as prime minister benjamin netanyahu. according to a white house readout, the two leaders discussed developments in israel and gaza, and president biden confirming the flow of assistance to gaza. the two discussed ongoing efforts to release hostages. this is the eighth call between the leaders. all of the calls come in the heels of president biden's trip to israel. getting the assistance to gaza and getting the release of hostages held by hamas. in rehoboth, the president was asked if they are asking israel to delay the incursion. president biden said he is spoking to israel. it is israel's decision how they move forward. but it is important, and they stress, that innocent civilians are protected and assistance can get to gaza. president biden staying close with his national security team over the course of the weekend, as all of this unfields. priscilla alvarez, cnn, traveling with the p

national security. >> thank you very much, priscilla alvarez. i'm joined by ryan crocker, the fo fo former ambassador . how important is this aid p package for israel? >> it's very important that this be the first of a long stream of relief convoys moving into gaza. i think we have helped the israelis understand how very important it is that they not be seen as the villain in this piece by bringing new suffering to the palestinian people in gaza. so, again, there is no balance here between hamas and israel. the attack on october 7 was horrific. the focus needs to be kept on that strategically. obviously trying to take care of innocent palestinians in gaza very important for israel as well as the palestinians themselves. >> how do you think a delay in getting that u.s. funding would impact the war against hamas? >> my guess -- and it's just that, wolf -- they are okay for the time being in terms of armaments, but indefinitely it's going to be a huge problem. it already is a problem with ukraine if we don't get that package moving at some point, t

priscilla alvarez is here with the latest, and this is something that the white house wanted the power to do, and hasn't, and why now? >> that why it is a breakthrough, john. for years the u.s. could not carry regular deportation flights to venezuela, and that has changed, and the senior officials are not offering too much detail why, but now it is crystal clear that there is a large share of those who are crossing border, and up to this point, the options were only to process them, and release or detain them or in some cases send them back to mexico. those are not many tools when you are looking at the numbers that we are uk looking at which thousands of venezuelans causing problems on the streets, and this is critical for the president and his border policies. this a big moment for the administration, and the question is what change happens now. how many flights will there be and will it make a dent to drive down the numbers? that what one dhs official told me of how many flights they can get to deport these people back to venezuela. >> and priscilla, new opinions of the white house

cnn's priscilla alvarez joining us now with how president biden is responding to the humanitarian effortspriscilla. >> reporter: well, in a statement just yesterday, the president attributed this to days of diplomatic engagement at the highest level. of course, these aid trucks passing through happened on the heels of president biden's trip to israel as well as secretary of state antony blinken's high-stakes shuttle diplomacy over the last several days. in a statement the president went on to note this is a critical and urgent need saying, quote, i made it clear from the j outset of this crisis in my public statements and private conversations that humanitarian assistance was a critical and urgent need that had to get moving. and i expressed my deep personal appreciation for the leadership of president el sisi of egypt, prime minister benjamin netanyahu of israel and the united nations to allow the resumption of this assistance. of course, we should mention that president biden did speak with egypt's president this week where the two agreed for this crossing to be opened. of course, this

cnn's priscilla alvarez has the tools. >> reporter: president biden spoke with benjamin netanyahu. discussion, the two talked about u.s. military support as well as protecting innocent civilians as the conflict unfolds. and a second call, the president also spoke with palestinian authority president abbas to talk about humanitarian supplies reaching gaza which is facing water shortages and food shortages. the president also spoke in a human rights campaign dinner. he talked about the terror attacks in israel as well as the humanitarian crisis in gaza. take a listen. >> president biden: a week ago, we saw hate manifested in the worst massacre of jewish people since the holocaust. more than 1,300 innocent's lives lost in israel. including at least 27 americans. children and grandparents alike kidnapped, held hostage by hamas. the humanitarian crisis in gaza, innocent palestinian families and the vast majority have nothing to do with hamas. [ applause ] they are being used as human shields. >> reporter: the focus continues to be that this conflict not why didn't in the region. but the

priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. >> lynda: when in weeks ago, powerful earthquake hit the region of afghanistan and now it has happened again. we will have details on the new creek that has hit the area and how people are coping with the devastation after the first one. ♪ >> lynda: we are following some big news out of get afghanistan where an earthquake has struck. the quake was hundred northwest of the city and came one week after another quake the exact same magnitude hit the same a area. no word yet on casualties. we will bring you that information when we get it. the government officials there say more than 2,000 people across the province were killed when the earthquake struck on october 7th. the situation is quite grim. and a corm has the details. >> reporter: underneath crystal blue skies in western afghanistan, the sound of vanished hope fills the air. under mounds of earth lie countless parties. there are no survivors here. only evidence of mother nature's wrath and fury unleashing further misery on a traumatized country. last saturday, around 11:00 a.m., a 6.3 magnitud

and as cnn's priscilla alvarez reports the white house faces an uphill battle to get the aid packagegh congress anytime soon. >> the white house is asking congress for $105 billion in additional funding to include aid for ukraine and israel. in a break down of the numbers provided by the white house, that includes $61 billion for ukraine, $14 billion for israel, and over $9 billion for humanitarian aid in addition to funding for the u.s.-mexico border and the indo-pacific region. a white house official tells me over the course of the weekend a white house ledgislative affair team is in support to shore up this package. the white house anticipates there will be bipartisan support for a package like this, but they also face an uphill battle as there's still no speaker of the house of representatives. house republicans ended the week still scrambling to find a speaker after pushing republican representative jim jordan out of the race. and new speaker hopefuls have already begun to emerge, but there's no conclusion in sight putting this funding package still in limbo. now, president bide

priscilla alvarez, cnn, washington. >>> mexico's president has denounce d u.s. plans to build new border barriers as a publicity stunt ahead of next year's election. the mexican president on friday called the new barriers propaganda to win over voters. he criticized the politics saying all u.s. presidents either republican or democrats have done it during their term to look good in the eyes 06 americans that don't have all the information. >>> it is full speed ahead for tech giant amazon. we'll tell you what they are sending into space and how it could help people on the ground. that story is straight ahead. stay with us. >>> we have ignition. and liftoff of the united launch alliance rocket. carrying the mission for amazon's project kiper. >> amazon's plans to build constellations to blanket the globe in internet connectivity on friday. the first two prototype satellites were launched from florida. now amazon plans to begin building hundreds more satellites, building a network of 3,200 to circle the globe and beam internet connectivity to the ground. here's wha

cnn's priscilla alvarez at the white house. what did the president say? >> reporter: he talked about ending hate in all forms. he took a moment to reflect on the attacks in israel and also the humanitarian crisis in gaza. take a listen. >> a week ago we saw hate manifest in another way, in the worst massacre of jewish people since the holocaust. more than 1,300 innocent lives lost in israel including at least 27 americans. children and grandparents alike kidnapped, held hostage by hamas. >> reporter: he later went onto talk about the, quote, innocent palestinians who have nothing to do with hamas as he reflected also on the humanitarian crisis in gaza. and those themes from those remarks, anderson, also came up in calls the president had today both with prime minister netanyahu as well as the president of the palestinian authority abas. in both of those calls he also talked about protecting civilians. the call with netanyahu was the fifth since last saturday. and he there also talked about the military support that the u.s. was providing and getting human

priscilla alvarez is joining us from the white house. why is this happening now? we are seeing what is happening at the border and pleas from many cities saying they cannot handle the influx of people. >> that right, sara. the reality of the administrations faced in this case is that they had appropriated funds from congress dating back to 2019, and the source tells me this morning that the administration has to either choose to use them or to lose them. so, they chose to use these funds for border barriers which is what they were congressionally appropriated to use, and they are going to focus the border barriers on the rio grande borders, and it is highly trafficked by migrants. from october to august there was nearly 300,000 encounters and in the notice to the register, the homeland security secretary cited the high illegal entry, so it would be what you would imagine, access roads, lights and gates and lot more than just a physical barrier going up here. this is something that the customs and border protection had talked to the community about through public i

cnn's priscilla alvarez is joining us from the white house. the biden team says it is to address an acute and immediate need, and we have been hearing from the people on the border in el paso for example, be this is an issue four a really long time, and what is difference now, and why is he making this move now? >> sara, this is boil down to the administration running up against a deadline. a source that i spoke with this morning said that the 2019 congressionally approapriated funds for a border barrier had to be used by 2023, and the administration had to use the money or not use it, and they would use it for the border barriers in south texas. this is an area of the u.s./mexico border that is highly trafficked by migrants and we have talked about it repeatedly, and the numbers have talked about over 300,000 encounters in this one section of the border. so in the secretary of homeland security mayorkas had to waive the drinking water act, the ep dangered species act, and this is similar to what the trump administration did when they were try

national security correspondent alex marquardt is joining u and our cnn white house reporter priscilla alvarezs monitoring these developments as well. priscilla, you're in rehoboth beach. that's where the president is right now. we just learned that president biden spoke with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu just a little while ago. tell us what you're hearing about that call. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. they've been speaking multiple times since that attack on october 7. we have not yet received a readout of what was said in the call. we know that in these conversations president biden has talked about the ongoing support that the u.s. is providing to israel as well as discussing the hostages that are still being held by hamas, and also generally the u.s. position, when it comes to this conflict, being that innocent civilians should be protected and the importance of getting humanitarian aid to gaza, some of which we saw some progress on over the course of the weekend. now, the president just yesterday here in rehoboth was asked about whether the administration is trying to dela

i want to go to priscilla alvarez at the white house for us. priscilla, i know there was a phone call between netanyahu and president biden. what are you hearing? >> that's right, anderson. the two spoke this morning and part of what they discuss side what you heard there from natasha is that there is additional assistance on the way and that will continue over the coming days and they also talked about the hostages, the taking of hostages and the president in this readout went on to emphasize that there is no justification whatsoever for terrorism and all countries must stand united in the face of such brutal atrocities. the president also reaffirming to netanyahu that there is intense engagement by the united states over the last 24 hours to support israel. of course, the question, anderson is what this assistance will look like moving forward. you heard some of the actions already being taken by the defense department, but one of the realities that officials face here in d.c. is the dysfunction in congress and what can be done without a sitti

and priscilla alvarez is live for us.we know anything in terms of what comes next as the manhunt continues? >> in those conversations, the president offered full support to maib ne and any federal need that they may have. but an operation does kick in here at the white house when a mass shooting alert happens. and that includes the situation room, national security council working with justice department and law enforcement agencies along with the office of inter-governmental affairs to track down information and trying to understand what is happening on the ground. oftentimes it is the homeland security adviser who is advising the president, briefing the president as they learn more. and then advisers keep them updated throughout the day. so that is what we are anticipating today that the president will continue to be brief order what is happening as local law enforcement also tries to wrap their arms around what occurred here. but there is a lot of discussions occurring minute by minute as law enforcement tries to unz t

straight to priscilla alvarez live at the white house for us. what prompted this move, which seems to be diametrically opposed to where candidate biden was? >> reporter: this really boils down to money that congress has appropriated for border barriers and that is what the homeland security secretary says in this notice. they have to use these 2019 funds for that purpose, and they're going to focus it on an area that is highly trafficked, and that is an area of the rio grande valley sector where as you mention there have been nearly 300,000 encounters dating back to last october through august. now, they are also going to waive 26 laws to do this. that is something that the trump administration also did. it's a way that the administration will be able to build these in an expedited manner, and the u.s. customs and border protection had previously announced last month they were going to do something along these lines, and that they would seek public input. that it would be up to 20 miles of new border barrier system and that it would include in a

priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. >> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is pushing ahead with his middle east diplomatic tour. he's heading to cairo for meetings with egypt's president. blinken was in the uae and saudi arabia on saturday. since the conflict began, he's met with leaders in five arab countries and israel. lincoln urged the arab nations to keep the violence from spreading and to help free those being held hostage by the terrorist group. here he is. >> as israel pursues its legitimate right to defending itself people and to trying to assure that this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians. >> and we're work together to do exactly that. >> still to come, the u.n. warns 50,000 pregnant women in gaza are struggling to get the health care they need, as hospitals and clinics come under attack. also ahead, i speak with a gaza woman who's been forced to flee her home to the south of gaza and she is nine months pregnant. stay with us. >>> syria says israeli air strikes hit

priscilla alvarez at the white house. thank you very much. we want to get to the president and some of his remarks. we do expect him to touch on the situation on the war between israel and hamas. when the president made remarks about the attack on israel earlier this week, it received a lot of praise from israel from the leaders. >> all lgbtq americans to know the biden-harris administration has your back. i don't know who is hollering down there but i can't hear you. look -- i can't hear her. what is she saying? well, thank you. i'll say thank you. i can't hear you. i've been labeled the most -- oh, i get it. i'm not sure that's a good thing. i'm only joking. look, i've been labeled the most pro equality president in history. i'm not sure if that's true but i'll tell you what. i'm grateful to the administration with more out and proud staff members at every level. every previous administration combined. all combined. together with all of you. advancing equal human rights in the lgbtq community all across the country. and i mean it. around th

priscilla. >> thank you, priscilla alvarez for breaking that doubt. >>> and now, the black smoke, andsrael is conducting a large scale strike on hamas, and the idf is also preparing for the next stage. what that means, stay with us, and we have reporters on the ground throughout the region. cnn's coverage continues in a moment ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more.

cnn's priscilla alvarez has details. >> reporter: prime minister netanyahu invited president biden toisit israel soon. sources tell cnn both countries are discussing the possibility. it's unclear how advanced these conversations are and if this will happen, when it would happen. but in a statement to cnn, the white house said there are no new travel plans to announce. the two leaders did talk over the weekend to talk about ongoing military support by the u.s. and the conflict at large. and if this visit were to happen by president biden, it would come on the heels of high stakes diplomacy by secretary of state antony blinken who's been meeting with regional partners and his counterparts in diplomacy to avoid this conflict from spreading or widening any further. in an interview with "60 minutes," president biden said that while israel needs to respond, it would be, quote, a big mistake for there to be an occupation of gaza. take a listen. >> what happened in gaza, in my view, is hamas and the extreme elements of hamas don't represent all the palestinian people. and i think that it woul

priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. >> joining us now is cnn's scott mclean, we've been trying toe of the military movements within gaza, it's so difficult to figure out, isn't it? but there have been attacks below the line in which the israelis were evacuating people? >> yes, let's take a quick look at the map. basically, israel has said basically the top third of the gaza strip should be evacuated, about 1.1 million people they've told to move south. and the difficulty, though, is that the air strikes that we saw over the weekend, idf said there were 250 of them yesterday alone on military targets they say. they say that most of them were in the northern part of the gaza strip, but some of them were also south. remember, these are places that people evacuated to. and we've got video in from a place from a central part of gaza, there there were at least two air strikes over the weekend. there was horrifying video the aftermath, people scrambling what to do, and obviously, children as well. even this morning, we don't have video of this, there is another air strike in khan yunis w

priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. >> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is pushing ahead with his middle east diplomatic tour. in the next hour, he'll be heading to cairo for meetings with egypt's president. lincoln was in the uae and saudi arabia on saturday. since the conflict began, he's met with leaders in five arab countries in israel. he urged the arab nations to use their leverage with hamas to keep the violence from spreading and help free those being held st hostage by the terrorist group. here he is. >> as israel pursues its legitimate right to defending its people and to trying to assure this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians and we're working together to do exactly that. >> security is tightened in europe as the fear of anti-semitism grows. we'll have that story and much more after the break. stay with us. >>> i want to get back to our breaking news the hour. israel says it conducted more than 100 new air strikes overnight and reportedly killed a commander respo

cnn's priscilla alvarez joining us with how president biden is responding.here is much more need than just 21 trucks. what is the president saying? >> reporter: that is exactly right. but the president is attributing this to days of diplomatic talks at the highest levels. and of course this comes an the heels of president biden's trip to israel and that high stakes shuttle diplomacy of secretary of state antony blinken in the last several days. now in a statement on saturday, after those initial aid trucks passed through the rafah crossing, the president said the following, he said i made it clear from the outset of this crisis in both my public statements and private conversations that humanitarian assistance was critical and urgent need that had to get moving. and i expressed my deep personal appreciation for the leadership of president el sisi and the united nations to allow the redemption of the assistance. and went on to say that the united states will continue to assist and be in touch with partners to make sure that operations continue so that this ai

. >> cnn's priscilla alvarez joins us now. ing it but he doesn't want to, priscilla. >> that's right, john. that's really the resounding message from the administration over the course of yesterday and going into today, that these were funds that were appropriated in 2019, that they were going to -- they were face ago deadline and they had to use these funds that were only for the purpose of border barriers. so they had to do it. and the president that you are hearing there saying that he doesn't agree. we also got a pretty forceful statement from homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas yesterday who similarly said he doesn't agree with this, either. he doesn't think that the border wall is the answer, but the reality, john, is that you have a president who campaigned on not building an extra mile of wall when because of these funds they say they're going to have to do exactly that and up to 20 miles of it. >> and it comes during this same 24-hour period where there appears to be a shift in posture towards venezuelan mig

cnn white house correspondent priscilla alvarez joins us at the white house. what's the latest? what do we make of this phone call that took place today? >> reporter: just minutes ago, we got the readout of this call that the two leaders had, this being the fifth call they have had since the attacks on israel. and in it, it says, "president biden discussed with prime minister netanyahu u.s. coordination with the united nations, egypt, jordan, israel, and others in the region to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food, and medical care." president biden affirmed his support for all efforts to protect civilians and later went on to say that the president reiterated the need for all countries to condemn hamas as a terrorist organization that does not represent the aspirations of the palestinian people." again, this being the fifth call the two have had since those attacks last saturday. and in it, you can hear, again, what we have been hearing from the president and u.s. officials, which is not necessarily a message of restraint so much as making sure that innocent civ

. >> we get more details from cnn's priscilla alvarez in washington. >> reporter: president biden came under fierce chris schism this week over his administration's decision to build border barriers fin south texas. the president maintained they had to do this because of funds appropriated by congress in 2019 for the purpose of physical border barriers, and sources i've spoken with said that the administration was essentially running up against a deadline, and that they had to use these funds by the end of fiscal year 2023. now, in a notice to the federal register this week the homeland security secretary said he may have to waive more than 20 laws to get this construction done in an expedited manner, and that this is also an area of, quote, high illegal entries. this is going to be up to 20 miles of border barriers, it also includes gates, cameras, access roads and lights but the homeland security secretary maintaining as well this week that this is -- that the border wall is not the response, the administration's posture on this has not changed but, again, it was necessary because th

cnn's priscilla alvarez is here to explain.resident biden was asked about this again a short time ago, what did he say? >> he maintained what his officials have been saying which is that they had to do this. it's not so much that he wanted to do this. let's listen to what he had to say. >> mr. president, can you be specific about what you did to try to reappropriate those border funds, especially when democrats controlled both chambers? >> i was told that i had no choice, that i -- you know, congress passes legislation to build something, whether it's an aircraft carrier, wall or provide for a tax cut. i can't say i don't like t i'm not going to do it. if it hasn't been vetoed. if it's the law. >> reporter: you said yesterday that you tried to reappropriate the funds. >> we tried to ask the congress to consider changing the law. >> so what he's referring to there is the congressionally appropriated funds from 2019 which was for physical border barriers. sources i have spoken with said that the administration was running up agai

priscilla alvarez, cnn, traveling with the president. >>> china's special envoy to the middle east is in the region this week, expected to promote peace talks between israelis and palestinians. cnn's kristie lu stout joins me from hong kong with more than that. so why is he there in the middle east? what is china's agenda? >> china's envoy for middle east affairs is in the region to push for peace talks saying china is willing to do whatever is con duce alternative promote dialogue to reach a ceasefire and to restore peace. over the weekend we heard that the risk of a large scale conflict in gaza is significantly rising. now some background here. china wants to present itself as a neutral mediator, but the nation has deep economic interests in the middle east, especially when it comes to energy, access to oil and gas. now on saturday, he was in egypt. he was at the conference where he made the cairo summit for peace. in addition he is fitting the uae in saudi arabia, jordan, other countries in the region. and according to jai, china has provided and will continue to provide humanitari

let's bring in alex marquardt and priscilla alvarez.hat is the tone and message that these high-ranking biden officials are trying to deliver? it doesn't seem like they're on the same page necessarily. there is a lot of agreement, but there is also a lot of tension and some disagreements. they're certainly trying to convey the message that the various topics they're discussing are of the utmost importance and that's the fact they sent some of the senior most members of the cabinet, and these are issues that need to be addressed immediately. they're sending the message also that this is a unique relationship, mexico on our southern border, our immediate neighbor, our biggest trading partner. but you have these extraordinary issues, very important issues in the surge in migration, in the fentanyl crisis, in gun trafficking that have to be addressed immediately. there is a sense on the american side that mexico could do more when it comes to what the biden administration does say is a historic migrant crisis. they do think -- we also heard

white house reporter priscilla alvarez is with me. let's begin with you first.sident was very careful. he's relieved that all of these programs continue to work, social security, medicare, medicaid. there will be natural disaster relief that will flow as a result of this stopgap measure, but at the same time, he says the work does have to get going for the next 45 days and this country can't afford to come to this juncture again. >> that's exactly right, fred. there were two main themes of these brief remarks. first of all, as you mentioned that we cannot govern by crisis. that's what he said and he called back to a deal that he had struck with house speaker kevin mccarthy recallier this y in terms of the budget and averting a situation like the one we found ourselves in in the last few days and saying that republicans need to stand by their word, but the other big theme of this speech was also on ukraine. ukraine funding was not included in this agreement. president biden acknowledged that and said that eventually he decided that he couldn't let millions of ame

cnn's priscilla alvarez joins me from the white house. priscilla, i'm sure that talk of this deal is welcomed, even though there are big strikes elsewhere, this is pretty important when it comes to the president's re-election, to bidenomics and all of it. >> that's right. officials are breathing a sigh of relief for now over this tentative agreement. the concern with the strike it would be prolonged and has economic consequences at a time where the president is campaigning on bidenomics but as the white house is trying to convince americans what president is doing on the economy and his policies are working when there is some question and doubt over whether it is. this tentative agreement could end what has been the longest auto strike since the '90s. we heard from the president directly yesterday who called this, quote, historic and hard fought. take a listen. >> they have reached a historic agreement and a hard-fought agreement that was really battled for a while, but it was all done in good faith. these agreements ensure the iconic big

. >> thank you, priscilla alvarez with that report. >> joining us to talk about this is long time negotiatorn the statehouse who has worked in both the republican and democratic administrations, and aaron, can you put this in context how high this risk is at the spilling of over to become a regional conflict that draws the united states in? >> right. so when the national security adviser of the united states jake sullivan publicly is talking about de-escalation, he is not using -- well, they are getting additional indications from hezbollah and iran that there is in fact a pattern of escalation, and we will talk about this in three things. a major conflict of israel and hezbollah which is going to follow the war that they fought in 2016. this is when the most imminent power was shutdown for 36 days. this time, they don't have a 150,000 to 200,000. escalate with the deployment of u.s. involvement, and then of course iran which represents a direct conflict between israel and iran which almost certainly involves iran, and the markets, and the rise in oil prices, and a major escalation of the ar

. >> it is incredible important work, priscilla alvarez thank you very much.the president of the palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas, how important is it for president biden to navigate this? >> so many potentially dangerous outcomes, so many really difficult scenarios, there are no easy scenarios, no risk free scenarios, not even any low risk scenarios. we have president biden and israel have to keep an eye on what iran is up to. they have to obviously keep an eye on hezbollah, iran's proxy in lebanon. they are concerned what might happen on the west bank. we have already seen some unrest there, and obviously there is the most immediate concern which is what is happening in gaza, what is happening with the hostages, the humanitarian situation there and then there is another aspect that we have not heard very much talked in this, what is exactly israel's plan assuming that it succeeds in dismantling hamas? who is going to take over the gaza strip? does israel want to take it over again? that seems unlikely. so that is a really, really important piece of this

. >> priscilla alvarez from rehoboth beach, delaware. >>> the u.s.as warned everyone to leave. >> in the past week there have been several protests in egypt and jordan against egypt's constant missile attacks on gaza. the announcement recommended israelis avoid visiting all eastern arab regions including the united arab emirates and morocco. this is cairo. thousands of protesters in the streets. nadia bashir has more. what is it about the tensions that seems to be escalating? >> reporter: look, amara and victor, there is certainly a lot of anger on the front directed toward us real. when you speak to people on the ground here, when you speak to people across the middle east, there's a real sense of outrage of what is happening not only in dwz but the west bank. of course, i cannot overthink the significance of it fwh the middle east, especially the arab nations. this is so deeply personal. we've seen things cropping up across the middle east. these protests have been taking place from the outset. we've seen them getting bigger a and stronger and what

priscilla alvarez joins us from delaware, where the president is spending the weekend. what is the plan to get this funding through congress? >> reporter: i'm told over the course of this weekend the white house legislative affairs team is going to be making calls to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the need for this supplemental request and also trying to get those lawmakers in line with the administration's priorities. that's what they see as their role here, is shoring up support while the house decides on their speaker. this is a $105 billionsupplemen. broken down, that includes $61 billion for ukraine, $14 billion for israel, just over $9 billion for humanitarian aid as well as funding for the u.s./mexico border and the indo-pacific region. the white house has indicated they feel confident there is enough bipartisan support for a fund package like this. the reality is there is just no speaker of the house yet. without that, all of this remains in limbo. just this week, house republicans wrapped the week pushing jim jordan out of the race. new speaker hope

cnn's priscilla alvarez is live in delaware, with the president. she has details on this. is the president saying, priscilla? >> reporter: well, all of this, jim, comes on the heels of the president's trip to israel, and also, following a conversation that president biden had with eg egypt's president, where the two agreed for this crossing to be open. now, in a statement this afternoon, the president reflected on those conversations, saying, quote, i made it clear from the outset of this crisis, in both my public statements and private conversations, that humanitarian assistance was a critical and urgent need that had to get moving. and i expressed my deep personal appreciation for the leadership of the egyptian president, the prime minister of israel, and the united nations to allow for this resumption. now, of course, jim, this remains a challenge. it's 20 aid trucks. that is a good start, but simply not enough. so, this is something that the administration is continuing to work on, but also critically, the president noted in his statement the work that's being done beh

priscilla alvarez is live. she has the details.t can you tell us about these calls the president is making, what is the purpose? >> reporter: well, the purpose is for the president to make the point that there is ongoing support by the united states as this conflict is ongoing. but notable that as this invasion looms, the president is making a round of calls over the course of the day to canadian and european leaders, but also to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. according to a repeaad out, the discussed gaza. president biden affirmed the flow of critical assistance to gaza and they discussed efforts to release hostages. by our count, this is the eighth call between the two leaders since october 7th. while here in rehoboth, the president was asked about whether the u.s. is encouraging israel to delay an invasion. to that, the problem said that he is talking to the israels and so that was clear today and, of course, the president is also staying very close with his national security team. we're told that the white house -- we're to

priscil priscilla alvarez, thank you very much.ore on the breaking news when we come back. >>> lieutenant colonel jonathan of the israel defense forces joins me now. i'm here in tel aviv on this sunday night and here it is officially monday morning. and colonel, i appreciate your time. and i want to ask you about developments where we are, we understand that you had about 250 strikes on gaza today. i want to ask you about those but about one of them. commander of the hamas southern district, you say, was killed. how many hamas commanders have you killed in the military operation so far? >> thank you for having me. we are hunting hamas commanders. everybody from the butcher of han unan, the political leader and everybody down from him are dead men walking and we will -- they will receive their day of justice for the attack that they launched against israel. we've been able to kill quite a few. >> when -- >> we've been able to kill quite a few hamas commanders. some of them senior, some of them tactical commanders and that is a prior

our white house reporter pr priscilla alvarez has more. >> this will include fighters to the eastern mediterranean. it's important to underscore this is a deterrence and a show of force. what president biden made clear to prime minister netanyahu is that there is more assistance to follow. this is something officials have been working on feeverishly behind the scenes in looking at what military aid might be provided and what requests are coming in from israel. this is more complicated because of the function on capitol hill. there is no sitting house speaker and that will potentially cause issues if there is need for congressional authorization for additional aid and that makes this a, quote, unique moment and part of it is officials have to look at what's achievable behind the scenes and to start they're looking at this assistance from the defense department. this is something that came up in that call with president biden and the prime minister this morning along with talking about the taking of hostages and the assurance from the president that they are working behind the scenes a

priscilla alvarez is live for us at the white house. the president just released a statement. what did he say? >> reporter: simply put he said this is not normal and we can't accept it, talking about the tragedy in maine and the mass shootings that are a reality on almost a daily basis. he said i urge republican lawmakers in congress to fulfill their duty to protect the american people. he goes on to say work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines to enact universal background checks to require safe storage of guns and that that is the least that we owe the american people. but the political reality here is that legislation is stalled in congress. there are divisions and they have been at an impasse when trying to pass additional legislation and stricter gun laws. the president did have signature gun legislation passed in his administration and they have started an office called the white house office of gun violence which focuses on implementing parts of that legislation including background checks and other executive actions that the admin

cnn's priscilla alvarez joins us live. the white house is well aware of the challenges as they ask for this $105 billion. sf sfwlr. >> reporter: they are. it's part of what factored into president biden making a direct appeal to americans and build up support as these conflicts are ongoing. and as americans have become more hesitant or at more in doubt to aid to these conflicts. now this funding package that the white house has sent over to congress is $105 billion. it breaks down to the following. $61 billion for ukraine, $14 billion for israel, $9 billion for humanitarian aid and then $2 for the u.s.-mexico border. the white house hbelieves that there is enough bipartisan support in congress to get something like this through, but the big challenge and all of this is that the house remains without a speaker. house republicans end ed the wek scrambling yet again to find a speaker after pushing republican representative jim jordan out of the race. now there are new speaker hopefuls who will emerge in the coming days. the q

cnn's priscilla alvarez reports the white house is facing an uphill battle to get the aid package throughgress any time soon. >> reporter: the white house asking for $105 billion to include funding for ukraine and israel. breaking down numbers, $61 billion for ukraine, $14 billion for israel, over $9 billion for humanitarian aid. in addition to funding for the u.s./mexico border and the indo-pacific region. a white house official tells me over the course of the weekend, the white house legislative affairs team is in talks with members of congress, both sides of the aisle, to shore up support for this funding package. the white house says they anticipate there will be bipartisan support but they also face an uphill battle as there is still no speaker of the house of representatives. now, house republicans ended the week still scrambling to find a speaker after pushing republican representative jim jordan out of the race. over the last 24 hours, new hopefuls have already begun to emerge, but there is no conclusion in sight, putting this funding package still in limbo. president biden is als

. >> priscilla alvarez, thank you so much. so many people here are waiting for answers about their loved ones. coming up i will speak to an israeli woman who has not seen or heard from her sister since they launched the terror attack at the music nova festival on saturday, what she's hearing and efforts to rescue her ahead. >>> there are many families in israel who are in agony, some pleading for the safe return of loved ones taken hostage by hamas and others desperate for information of loved ones missing unaccounted for. i want you to meet this woman. the last time she heard from her sister was at the music festival last saturday. how have you gotten through this week? >> it was very hard. at the beginning we started looking for her. because i'm a doctor i was talking to every hospital in israel and to all my friends. when i saw that's not enough i went to the hospital. i went to ciarrocca, the main hospital, where the wounded came in. i just went from patient to patient and asked if they saw her. and if they know where she

luckily priscilla alvarez is here to try to help explain. priscilla? >> the resounding message from the administration has been that they had to do this, and when i talked to sources what they say is essentially these were funds appropriated by congress in 2019 for specifically border barriers. they were running up against a deadline, by the end of fiscal year 2023 to use them and they had to. and they chose to do so in the rio grande valley sector. but of course this is one of those scenarios where the president's campaign message is really running into the realities of governing, which in this case meant having to use these funds to build barriers even if he thinks they don't work, and doing so along the texas/mexico border. so the homeland security secretary just making very clear there in that stern statement that the policy hasn't changed so much as they were cornered and had to do it. >> priscilla, you also have new reporting about a big shift in policy for the biden administration when it comes to venezuelan migrants. >> this is a major breakthr

priscilla alvarez is live at the white house. this move by the biden administration runs counter to what they said they wanted do during the campaign. why are they doing it here? >> reporter: they have 2019 funds that were appropriated for this exact purpose, building additional border barriers, and they are going to focus the funds on an area that has received a lot of traffic of migrants. now, according to the numbers and federal data, this area, the rio grande valley sector south texas, has seen 300,000 encounters since last october and august. clearly, an area of concern for administration officials as they look to set up this border barrier. now, last month customs and border patrol sought input from the community. this would be up to 20 meals of border barrier and what include a number of fixtures, for example, lights, cameras, and gates as well as access roads. to do it and to do it in an expedited manner they are waiving certain laws, including the clean air act, safe drinking water act, the endangered species act. they a

how to support it every in way without sparking a wider war priscilla alvarez is live for us at the white house. it's such a fine line to walk. what's happening the behind the scenes? >> reporter: this boils down to outrage without escalation. to give you an ideas look, the president gathered his advisers earlier this week before his speech on israel, and in that meeting, he told his advisers he wanted to include more detail about the apaling nature of the attack. he forcefully talked about the shear evil. that deep emotional reaction by the president is what has translated into a forceful response by the u.s. ask that includes ordering u.s. warships to the region, sharing intelligence, as well as really little attempt at encouraging any restraint by israel. but this is a very delicate balance. that's really the message that has come through in closed-door meetings. that's what we have learned from officials. president has made clear they have to be careful with any missteps. that is really the fine line that they are towing here. and we see parts of that. in meetings with prime minister

cnn's priscilla alvarez is joining us from the white house. tell us about the coordination that is needed to bring these americans home. >> reporter: wolf, this is an effort that is being led by the state department, and behind the scenes that includes officials working with airlines and international partners to provide another avenue for u.s. citizens in israel to leave, because of limited flights to the region as of now. as you mentioned, yesterday the first charter flight left from israel and arrived in athens, and more of those flights are expected in the coming days. they'll look similar, which is to say that these carriers will take those u.s. citizens looking to leave to destinations in europe where u.s.-based carriers will then ferry them back home. now, national security spokesperson john kirby said as there is demand, they expect to continue and ramp up these flights. they are also looking at expanding capacity, meaning looking at other ways that they can bring people home, be it by land or by sea. now, we have learn had more than 2

priscilla alvarez is at the white house with reaction from the president. first, let's go to annie grayer. good morning. what's the next move? >> reporter: well, good morning, the next move for kevin mccarthy is to dig in and dare his hard-liners to try to oust him. going into saturday, it seemed like we were headed towards a government shutdown and that's because kevin mccarthy was only work within his republican conference to try to keep the government open and there weren't the votes to do so. saturday morning when house republicans met that was the posture, was preparing republicans for what a government shutdown would hook like. but then a number of mccarthy's allies stood up and said we don't want a government shutdown. this would not only be horrible for the country but really bad politically. withner support, mccarthy had the por to do with unthing he could to keep the government open, work with democrats. and that's exactly what he did. he put a short-term bill on the floor to keep the government open for 45 more days. democrats support in the hous