let's get details now from cnn national security reporter, natasha bertrand, live for us at the pentagonto explain exactly what this means. natasha this pause also includes the navy in the u.s. marine corps. >> reporter: the air force, the navy, and the marine corps. that is right, boris. they are all conducting this operational stand down on these ospreys that week after an osprey crashed off the coast of japan killing all eight service members on board. it really comes amid a number of crashes that have been suffered by these ospreys over the last 20 months or so, which have resulted in 20 deaths over four different crashes. clearly this is something the u.s. military found that they really need to address here. out of an abundance of caution they are grounding the entire flee across the military. in a statement, the commander of air force special operation command said, quote, preliminary investigation indicates a potential material failure causing the mishap last week off the coast of japan. the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time. the standup will provide time in

cnn national security reporter natasha bertrand is here with the details. s illuminating reporting, especially in the wake of president biden saying that israel is engaging in indiscriminate bombing. what more are your sources telling you about this, natasha? >> reporter: pam, what we learned is that the u.s. intelligence community assesses that, of the roughly 29,000 air to grant munitions that israel has dropped on gaza over the last two plus months, about 40 to 45% of those new nations have been unguided, also known as dumb bombs. that stands in contrast to precision guided munitions, of course, which are sometimes laser guided or gps guided. they are typically more accurate and precise than unguided munitions. experts told us that really poses an elevated risk to civilians and they can be less precise. when you are talking about such a densely populated area like gaza is, the difference between target reaching -- a munition reaching its target within a few feet can mean a matter of life and death in such a densely populated area. so the question is now w

natasha bertrand, thank you for all that reporting. kate. >>> today, one of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's advisers is heading to the white house to talk about the next phase in the war with hamas. the prime minister saying the fight is far from over and it will, quote, end in total victory, no less than that. priscilla alvarez is at the white house for us. priscilla, what are you learning about the meetings today? >> reporter: well, kate, this comes at a critical time as the white house talks to israel about being more precise in not targeting innocent civilian casualties. now, of course, ron dermer is a close confidante to netanyahu, a member of the war cabinet. he's also previously israel's ambassador to the united states. now, u.s. officials have previously said that israel has assured them they're going to move from a high intensity war to low intensity, have more of a precise strategy in targeting hamas leadership, again, to contain the innocent -- the deaths of innocent civilians. also, the u.s. is saying that they

let's turn now to cnn's natasha bertrand with the latest. the u.s.ary targeted three facilities that were used by these militants. >> yet, that's right, just. this is not the first time that the u.s. has actually struck facilities linked to kataib hezbollah in iraq over the last month. this is a serious escalation though, because while there have been over 100 attacks by these iran-backed militias in iraq and syria, over the last two plus months or so, the injuries they've caused u.s. service members have typically been very minor. they have largely returned to duty in a couple of days. but this attack, carried out yesterday by this group, apparently caused at least one service member to suffer a critical injury. that is very serious. clearly, it made the u.s. believe that they had to respond in a very serious way. they launched these airstrikes against these facilities. the ultimate goal being to try to degrade the infrastructure that they use, right, to launch the drones, launch the rockets that they were using to carry out these attacks. according

natasha bertrand has been following this from the pentagon. >> reporter: the u.s. and its allies are scrambling to respond to a series of attacks by the iran backed houthi rebels who have launched over 100 attacks according to a u.s. military official using missiles and drones on commercial vessels in the southern red sea over the last four weeks alone causing a dramatic impact to international shipping and commerce because of the impact that these attacks have had on these vessels operating there. many companies have said that they are actually pausing their operations in the red sea because of the threat of coming under fire by the houthi mili militants. so the u.s. and allies trying to find a way to respond that does not involve striking the houthis directly, something that the u.s. has been trying to avoid the last several weeks. and as a response to the attacks to date, the u.s. now says that they are going to be setting up an international coalition of maritime forces that will essentially be in the region and in the red sea available to respond and help comm

natasha bertrand joins us now. it was, i think, two weeks ago where jake sullivan said workers were working together try to put together an interactional task force. what are we learning? >>. >> that's what lloyd austin is going to be discussing with his counterpart this week because of the attacks. houthis have been attacking ships on the red sea. bp, the latest company to pause all of is operations in the red see. just this morning we saw the "uss carney," which is navy rye spo responder -- respond. over the weekend the carney also responded to attacks by 14 drones targeting a vez el there, and so these atodaying really -- according to them. bp, the fourth major company to pause operations here. obviously it's go ing to have a major impact on international commerce and the company said in a statement, quote, it has decided to temporarily pause its trap sit but kite it under ongoing rue. we'll see if the secretary of defensemanages to get anymore. >> thanks for the reporting. >> this morning the defense forces sho

cnn's natasha bertrand has more on this. natasha, what are you learning more about these strikes? >> president biden ordered the strikes yesterday in response to the attacks of the shia militant group in iraq against irbil station, and this is increased action from this group and other groups which have led to injuries to u.s. troops, but most of them have been minor, and the u.s. felt that it had to respond to the attack yesterday. around 8:45 eastern time last night, the u.s. did conduct these three air strikes on the three facilities in iraq that destroyed some of the infrastructure that the group was using to carry out the attacks including two launched drones against the u.s. and coalition bases in the area. and this is not the first time that we should note that the u.s. has launched air strikes against the targets inside of iraq, and i has also led previously to condemnation from the iraqi officials saying it is a violation of the sovereignty, but the u.s. is emphasizing that they will do everything that they can to try to degrade the groups so they cannot continue to launc

. >> cnn's natasha bertrand joins us live from the pentagon. natasha, the u.n. is now promising a international, multinational, in response to these attacks. but it's going to look like? >> reporter: secretary austin is traveling in the region this weekend. he laid out what the initiative, operation prosperity guardian, is going to look like. it, essentially, is a multinational initiative made up of different countries that already fall under a existing task force charged with security in the red sea. it basically involves an increased rotation of naval ships in the region, increased security, additional aircraft trying to monitor vessels transiting through the red sea, and are being attacked regularly by the iran-backed houthi rebels with missiles and drones. there have been over 100 attacks on 12 different commercial vessels in the last four weeks alone. those vessels are tied to about 44 different countries. the impact here is extremely far reaching. the reason the u.s. wants to set up this task force to try to bolster security in the region is not only to tr

natasha bertrand, what are you learning? >> yes, john, a significant group of attacks on the "u.s.s. kearney" based in the red sea now, and in response to several missile attacks targeting the commercial vessels. three in total of four separate attacks throughout the day yesterday. and what we are told is that the "u.s.s. kearney" responded to distress missiles by the ship, and when they saw this, they saw that some of the missiles resulted in damage. one of them that hit a cargo ship was a ballistic missile. it could have caused casualties, but it did not. the houthi missiles also launched drones as and the general ordered to shoot them down, and clearly escalating and that is where the maritime security have jeopardized tand they said they are looking at all of the responses options here. and they have responded to the groups in the past, but it has not deterred groups to carry out strikes on u.s., allied coalition part thers in the region today. >> a lot of very dangerous activity in the red scene. >> joining us is the cn

cnn's natasha bertrand at the pentagon. natasha, what are you learning here?reporter: yeah, john, so we have learned that the israelis informed the united states that they have begun testing out on a limited basis flooding some of those vast networks of tunnels that exist underneath gaza with sea water to try to see if it will work to actually drive these hamas fighters out of those tunnels. however, the u.s. does not know at this point which tunnels exactly they're testing them at, the idf and the israelis told the united states that they are being careful not to flood hostages -- flood tunnels where they believe hostages might be. however, president biden actually spoke to this last night and he told -- he said that he was not confident or positive that hostages are not in the tunnels where the israelis are kind of trying out these tactics. here is what he said. >> there is assertions being made that they are quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels, but i don't know that for a fact. >> reporter: so, look, as arlette just laid out, the u.s. r

natasha bertrand is with more.e you learning that the air force found in this investigation, and who is going to be facing punishment now? >> interesting, the air force inspector general is carrying out a probe of how this happened, and found that several people within teixeira's unit failed to report some of the suspicious things that he was doing, including the intelligence behavior which involved him trying to access information that he did not have a need to know. remember, for people who are needing a refresher on this. he was essentially an i.t. person for the massachusetts international guard, but throughout the tenure, he was trying to access information that he did not need to know for his position, and as we now know, the prosecutors believe he went on the leak troves of highly sensitive, detailed classified military information on discord, the gaming platform where he allegedly shared all of this information with people who did not have a security clearance. so now we are learning that the air force is d

natasha bertrand, thank you so much.e. >>> joining us, cnn military analyst and retired general hertling. let's start with the big mission that secretary austin has in israel and back in the region. it was just this time last month that he offered blunt advice which is you can only win urban warfare by protecting civilians. you talked about this, general, the risk of replacing a tactical victory with strategic defeat. what do you think his main mission is this time? >> first of all, kate, what i'd like to show, the film you just showed of secretary austin in israel, i believe he was talking with beneny gantz the israeli prime minister and gantz was also a chief of the israeli forces. so what you have are two former soldiers who understand battle. who understand the balancing act between a massive kinetic operation which israel has been going through over the last several weeks to an understanding of what the perception is by people in the population, as well as the world stage. so, i think we're talking about that. how y

natasha bertrand is tracking all of this in washington and joins us now. a, this round of attacks over the red sea yesterday, what more are you learning about this? >> reporter: just a very chaotic day yesterday in the red sea in the houthis firing roughly 17 missiles and drones that the u.s. then intercepted. a u.s. navy destroyer as well as u.s. fighter jets intercepted these missiles and drones over the southern red sea and, you know, this comes as the houthis have really not been deterred at all by a u.s. maritime task force that was set up essentially just last week that was aimed at bolstering security in the red sea, bolstering the presence of u.s. and allied ships there to try to get the houthis to back off essentially and it has not worked clearly. but, you know, in the barrage yesterday there were 12 one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles, just a really, really dramatic escalation here and the u.s. is really bearing the brunt of it, shooting down a lot of these attacks coming from the houthis,

natasha bertrand is at the pentagon with the latest on this. what are you learning?reporter: john, this was a really significant series of attacks that occurred yesterday in the red sea and the houthis, which are an iran-backed militant group in yemen, they have claimed responsibility for those attacks. but just to put this in perspective, the "u.s.s. carney" which is a destroyer currently in the red sea responded to a number of attacks carried out by missiles by this houthi -- by these houthi rebels, including one ballistic missile that targeted a commercial vessel. in total three commercial vessels were attacked by these missiles and a few of them were actually struck directly and suffered damage. now, throughout all of this the houthi rebels were also launching drones and the "u.s.s. carney" shot down three of those drones according to u.s. central command and there were no injuries or damage to the u.s. destroyer during this series of attacks. look, none of this is coming in a vacuum. this all comes as these iran-backed proxy groups have ramped up their attacks o

official told our colleague, natasha bertrand, they are unsure whether it will work. it's something that president biden just commented on. he said they had heard that the hostages are not in these tunnels but that he is not sure. wolf, we should note that israel says there are still 135 hostages still in gaza, 116 of whom are still alive. >> alex marquardt in tel aviv, thank you very much. for more on this story and president zelenskyy's visit to washington, i'm joined by a key member of the senate foreign relations committee, democratic senator chris kunz of delaware. thank you so much for joining us. as you heard, president biden is accusing israel of indiscriminately bombing gaza, a pretty stunning allegation. do these comments, do you believe, signal a major shift in how president biden will approach israel's war against hamas? >> reporter: wolf, let's be clear. right after the horrific hamas attack about of october 7th, no one has been stronger in supporting israel and the right of self-defense than president biden. but president biden has also been clear that i

cnn's natasha bertrand has more. >> five years have passed since i was abducted from my hotel by the russian secret police. >> reporter: paul whelan marking a grim smile stone. >> the time is now to take decisive action and bring us back. >> reporter: arrested in 2018 during a trip to moscow, whelan was sentenced to serve 16 years in a russian prison camp on espionage charges he denies. the state department has labeled him as wrongfully detained. >> no crime ever occurred. >> reporter: in multiple exclusive phone calls where this russian penal colony where he labors, he demands they do more to broker his release. >> there is no diplomatic solution, what comes next? >> reporter: when he spoke to secretary of state antony blinken in october, whelan said the u.s. had put him in danger by levering him behind in several prisoner swaps. the russians had refused to include him in the deals, u.s. officials have said. >> i told them point-blank that leaving me here painted a target on my back. leaving me here a second tame basically signed add death warrant. >> reporter: the most recent ameri

officials speaking to our colleague natasha bertrand there, unsure how successful it's going to be. president biden he said he'd heard the assertions the tunnels being flooded did not have any hostages in them, but he did confirm that. he did express his concerns for all civilians in gaza. remember, anderson, it would not just be destroying the tunnel system. it would not just be destroying the weapons that are down there, of course it could benefit israel if they were able to flood those tunnels and kill hamas militants. but there are still quite a few hostages who are there, 135 according to the idf, 116 of whom i should specify are still alive. >> and what else are you learning about this divide between president biden and netanyahu? >> reporter: well, it really does appear to be growing. that daylight appears to be growing. the two men made comments today that showed they are increasingly at odds on some very important issues. we heard some of the most pointed comments by biden today about prime minister netanyahu and his government and the war in gaza. he said to donors -- this

cnn's natasha bertrand is live at the pentagon with nmore on this reporting. we're hearing, hey thr, this ist of what happens in a war. what more have you learned? >> reporter: we're learning that the intelligence community assesses that of the 29,000 air to ground munitions that israel is estimated to have dropped on gaza over the last two plus months, roughly 40 to 45% of those munitions have actually been unguided dumb bombs and that is really significant because it could be contributing, as you said, to the soaring civilian death toll in the gaza strip because those dumb bombs are extremely imprecise, and they are known to miss their targets, unlike precision guided missiles, which of course can also miss their targets, but at least they are guided in a way that allows them to be a little bit more accurate. experts that we spoke to said this is really concerning because the israeli military does have access to precision guided munitions. the u.s. has provided the israelis with thousands of bomb kits that allow them to transform these dumb bombs in their un