>> first, you have to say that bill burns is mr. back channel. if anybody can do this, it's burns.xt round of negotiations is set. they have agreed on the stages of released. first there would be ten women and children who were supposed to be released in the last hostage exchange. then there would be 40 ailing elderly hostages, and the remaining women hostages. and then they would move in to addressing the man, and also the dead who are being held by hamas. so those details are understood. what is not concluded is this key question of whether this is a permanent cease-fire, in other words an end to the war, or whether it is an extended pause in fighting. an extended pause in fighting, jonathan, would allow what is desperately needed, which is humanitarian assistance. a situation on the ground in gaza, from everything i am told, is becoming dire. public health experts speak of, one person set unspeakable suffering for the palestinian civilians there. they need help now. so moving into this phase of hostage release and an extended cease-fire, i think isn't everybody's interest. we ar

>> reporter: bill burns heading to europe. he's going to meet his israeli counter part, the head of the spy agency. he's going to meet the prime minister of qatar, who you said has been the key mediator here, and the hope is to try to close the gap, fairly big gap between israel and hamas to broker a deal, get a cease fire, and get those hostages home. the key sticking point sticking in this month and a half since the last cease-fire collapse how long will a fresh cease-fire last. the last one only stayed in place for a week. hmas has said it will not release anymore hostages until the war ends. israel says the war will not end until hmas is destroyed. if there's going to be a deal, it has to be in between those two position ps. the fact that the cia director is flying over there is potentially a sign that we're getting closer. little counterintuitively. the fact that the fighting is so intense in southern gaza could be a sign that the israeli military feels there's a cease-fire looming and it wants to make as much progress on

what are you hearing about these talks with bill burns and others?> it seems the main goal of the talks is not to broker a deal. we are not there yet, but there is a preliminary stage and this is how to coordinate between the u.s. and israel and the qatari and egyptian mediators so that each side will do what it needs to do to try and reach some sort of a breakthrough. this means especially the qataris and egyptians, that the u.s. and israel want them not only to be a facilitator but an actual mediator that goes into the details and try now to put forward some sort of creative solutions that will enable to break the deadlock. >> barak, i want to ask you about your great reporting about the phone call between president biden and prime minister netanyahu. look, by all accounts for a very long time president biden was completely and totally let's let israel do what israel needs to do. his patience is clearly running thin, not just because of what he is seeing on the ground there but also we know the political reality that he is facing. we see protesters

israel to stem the loss of lives in gaza but does not come down hard on israel, as cia director bill burns crosses the atlantic, trying to pose a deal to free the hostages. >>> and critical funding for border. israel and ukraine. it's all hanging in the balance as mr. trump tries to get senate republicans to scuttle a border compromise that was weeks in the making. >>> good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. donald trump back in a manhattan courtroom for closing arguments in the e. jean carroll defamation trial. earlier today, the former president left court during the closing arguments by carroll's lawyers over how much he has to pay in damages to e. jean carroll. she's speaking $10 million. he's already been found by a judge to have abused carroll sexually in the 1990s and defamed her while he was president. mr. trump delivered a brief testimony thursday, just about threees long, again denying even knowing carroll. the former president said he lashed out because he, quote, just wanted to defend himself -- defend myself, my family, and, frankly, the presidency, all of cours

bill burns has acted as president biden's point person.e is in paris today in talks with his intelligence counterparts from egypt and israel. the contours of this deal include a phased release in exchange for a longer cessation of hostilities. american officials have been very care of to set expectations. for example, john kirby said there was no imminent developments in the offing here, but certainly president biden very eager to come up with a plan that would get the hostages out and pause the fighting for a prolonged period of time. >> kevin, thank you very much. >>> let's bring in jeremy diamond in tel aviv. jeremy, what are you hearing on your end in terms of progress in getting the hostages released? >> there's no question this is the most momentum we have seen behind the negotiations since that week-long truce that saw dozens of hostages released, fell apart in early december. when you look at the pace and the scale of the meetings that have been happening, culminating with the summit between france and today, and the intelligence c

bill burns, he is the cia director.ous that he would be the one leading these, as you, said with his massage counterpart. there was the prime minister, i believe, of qatar that was part of that as well. what do you make of that, that it was bill burns to have? this you would think, middle east envoy, secretary of state antony blinken, potentially, but bill burns. >> this is going up to the highest levels of our intelligence apparatus. he has really been a doer. before the last round of successful talks that led to more than 100 hostages being released in november, he was key and crucial. he knows how to negotiate these deals. he really has worked to get things done. there has been this momentum and optimism that with him in the room we can make progress. it remains to be seen when and how and if that will actually happen. initially, hamas was saying they would not come to the table at all, unless a full withdrawal of idf troops had been completed. now we are hearing my colleague kier simmons from a hamas official this m

that is such a bill burns move, oh, by the way, vladimir putin. just this is like the black friday of recruiting spies. this is like a holiday. i mean, he is just planting it in putin's mind, you're weak, we're coming after you. just a bnanza for recruiting spies. there are so many opportunities. and good to hear this from bill burns because over the past couple months, there have been obviously putin winning, putin getting the best of this, putin getting the best of that. important to remember just how weakened russia's military is and as burns says, 5% of the defense budget basically, talk about an investment, set putin's military machine back 10, 15, 20 years. >> i love the little george smiley move, about that by the way. i think american administration and people who support the war in ukraine have not made a good job of making the public case to the american people about why they should carry on sending arms and weapons and supplies to ukraine. and it is exactly the case that bill burns has just laid out, to less than 5% of the u.s. defense

it's bill burns.it is who he is he is a career diplomat, two-time ambassador, wants to jordan, speaks beautiful, fluent arabic. he really knows the region. also, when i worked with him, we as a commander in nato he was our ambassador in moscow. so he's familiar with dealing with difficult regimes. and in addition to all of that he was at one time the number two state department, the highest that any career foreign service officer has obtained. he is, in every sense, a diplomat. now you combine that with his time significantly in the intelligence world. he is truly the whole package. he is the perfect person to negotiate in this tricky tricky situation. >> so let me ask you quickly, qatar's prime minister is part of these meetings but his counterparts, his intelligence counterparts from egypt and israel are the ones in the meeting. do you think it is because they know him so well? or is this something about what they do, what they bring to the table that will make this interesting and unique? >> it's a

bill burns is meeting with people. of course, the qataries are the main go between between the egyptians, united states, israelis and hamas. they seem to have some leverage. egypt does. egypt intelligence officials have conversations directly with hamas officials. i think at the moment, the idea that the hostages can be released in israel at least is something that while it is hoped for, i don't get the sense that people are building up their hopes too much. i think it's really important to say here that it was bill burns and the mossad chief who worked together to get the 100 hostages released. there was a six-day pause back then. it was their conversation. the fact they are talking again, somewhere in europe we understand this weekend, is an indication the situation may be getting closer. it's the holdout, is israel ready to accept what hamas is demand on the permanent cease-fire? is hamas prepared to back down on that issue? i think it's clear to most people in this country at least that once hamas hand over all the

jeremy, bill burns goes to paris for the talks. what are you hearing from israeli officials about where they stand right now? >> reporter: israeli prime minister's office says there was significant progress that was made during this meeting between the intelligence chiefs and as well as the prime minister of qatar describing it as constructive meeting but also saying there are significant gaps. one of those heading in to this summit in paris at least was the fact that hamas is seeking a total end to this war trying to salvage its position in the gaza strip while israel is only willing to offer up to a two month pause in the fighting in order to secure the release of those hostages. but there is no question that this is the most momentum that we have seen since the last truce that saw the release of dozens of hostages collapse in early december. when you look at the key players in the meeting, these are the same people who were able to get to the last deal back in late november that led to that week long pause in the fighting. and s

the whees has sent cia director bill burns to europe to meet with key middle east officials this weekendhopes of putting together some sort of framework deal and there are still major sticking points between israel and hamas. cnn's kevin liptak is at the white house and what is the white house saying about any possible deal? >> american officials are hopeful that this latest push could eventually result in a deal to release all of the hostages that are remaining in gaza and when you look at this flurry diplomacy that is under way, you do get the sense that this is quite an important juncture in these talks to secure the release of these hostages, bill burn, the cia director has been president biden's point person in talking about the hostage release and he is in paris discussing this with his intelligence counterparts and qatar and egypt have been something of a broker between israel and hamas on this hostage issue. on friday president biden spoke with fatah al sisi as well as well as the emir of qatar and brett mcgirk, the top middle east expert in the region trying to get these talks t

cia director bill burns issuing a new warning about the tough battle ukraine faces this year in the warussia and the danger of the united states abandoning its support for ukraine. burns writing in a new column, quote, for the u.s. to walk away from the conflict at this crucial moment and cut off support to ukraine would be an own goal of historic proportions. this is a decisive week for ukraine funding as lawmakers battle over a border deal that would unlock $60 billion in critical assistance to ukraine. hours after speaker mike johnson told house republicans that the border deal has, quote, no way forward. he and other congressional leaders met with nato secretary yen yens stoltenberg. he is in washington trying to convince lawmakers and donald trump's allies to approve funding for ukraine. he will face a skeptical audience at heritage. the house should strongly oppose aid to ukraine. when the european union lags far behind the u.s. in its military assistance to ukraine should be required to fund greater levels of aid for ukraine. just a point of fact, the u.s. has given more military

i hope bill burns in the next day or two can succeed. that would mark, i think, an inflection point in the war after three months of, let's be honest, of nightmare. >> yeah. >> we sure hope so for the sake of the families and hostages. david, i want to ask you about a fascinating story that broke yesterday as iranian backed groups are attacking american interests and ships in the red sea, the wall street journal broke the news that the united states privately warned iran in advance of the terrorist attack this month that killed more than 80 people in central city on january 3rd , targeting a crmmemorating the annirsary of a general. citing american officials, the journal reports thinformation given to iran was specific enough to be helpful to the iranian government in either mitigating casualties or waing the attack all together, american intelligence. several officials said it's unclear why iran failed to stop or mitigate the attack. is this unusual, david, the united states is sharing intelligence with iran? especially in the midst of

intellectually developed position , which is sometimes broadcast by salevan, sometimes broadcast by bill burnsa, but in this case, yes, if we are talking about blinken’s speech that... supposedly we have already defeated russia, this is of course history to the domestic consumer, yes, that is explain to the american voter that in fact we did not lose in this ukrainian counter-offensive, we did not allow the russians to take kiev in 3 days, as the russians supposedly wanted, so this is like a victory for us, as for sulivan, he is of course already in greater trying to explain to the europeans themselves that let’s build a new world order, now our system is gradually becoming a thing of the past, we no longer de facto guarantee you the security that was before, if between the lines... read salevon’s statement, this is what we’re talking about speech then yes, let's rearm , increase your military spending, we just mentioned today that the europeans seem to be ready to increase military spending, in words , yes, yes, but in my opinion the latest statistics for the twenty-third year, there are eigh

let's break down the role bill burns could play here by meeting with israeli and egyptian intelligencegurk, he is kind of the lead negotiator here for the united states. director burns himself has a pretty extensive foreign policy resume. what does this signal about the level of negotiations here, and why would president biden be making this move now? >> well, i think it's pretty clear that some progress has been made, you know, they wouldn't dispatch burns to europe for meetings if there wasn't some hope that these hostage talks had some chances of making progress, and you have to remember that in the middle east, everything happens in these intelligence channels. bill burns will be there, david bar naya, the mossad director will be there, so i think there's some hope on this, and to me it's a reflection more on kind of the israeli political reality, the hostages are just a seismic issue inside israel. while there was always a contradiction between getting the hostages back and israeli military moves in gaza, i think the hostages now are taking front and center, and i think the israel

bill burns, with the egyptians and the qatar can is for what to present to hamas, with qatar. the mediator, negotiator, who goes to hamas, and says whether this work. here's what we know. this is what the prime minister said. i presented it him in the interview that we carried, good portion of it live from the atlanta council and here's what his answer was. >> i think yesterday was good progress made to get things back in shape and at least a foundation for the way forward. we cannot say this makes us, you know, in better shape very soon, but we are hoping, actually, to relay this proposal to hamas and get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process because we think that in today's world, that's the only game in town. we cannot predict what hamas's response will be, and we are sure we will be faced with challenges and obstacles, and it's not an easy process since we embarked from day one in the war, but we are committed to carry forward and to come up with some solutions. >> you saw the interview was conducted along with my colleague, david i

we understand the ca, director bill burns on his way to help with this. he facilitated that back in november as well as breton, the girl who is already in the region. okay, kimberly thank you very much for that. kimberly hawk, it lives there at the white house, well, talks are reportedly under way ahead of that actual meeting in your but key mediators has yet to narrow differences between how my send is read. let's find out more about this and speak to hold that. don't have made was in tel aviv lots of reports in these really media and elsewhere of a possible new sci fi between his route and a mass florida. what exactly are you hearing about what's being negotiated at this stage? well as you said, these really media is a wash with leaks about this possible be of that could be reached any time soon. depending on the reports we're talking about a ceasefire that could be for a month to 2 months period. during that time, there would be a staggered release of the captives held in gaza in exchange of palestinian digit needs and is really jails. and when we talk

recent days with his qatari and egyptian counterparts as well as his sending of the cia director bill burns to paris to be able to have these talks with the top negotiators. >> okay, matt before i let you go since you're there in jerusalem, has there been much discussion about what's happening? and the hopes for releasing these hostages where you are? >> yeah, well this is something that of course when we are speaking with family members of some of these hostages, they were chilled -- chaired by the news that bill burns is on his way. this is a major pressure point for benjamin netanyahu, because even as he has pushed into the gaza strip with such ferocity, more than 26,000 people have been killed since october 7th it -- according to the hamas-run palestinian ministry of health. there haven't been any hostages freed by their actual fighting. the only real hostage releases we've seen are through negotiations like the ones we're seeing now in paris. this is the last, best hope for a lot of the family members of those who are still being held under the gaza strip, thought to be in these tunnel

i do want to say, if this proves to be true, bill burns, who is the cia director, who's been the american leader in that negotiation i think deserves a lot of credit. >> and just to add a little bit in the first 60 days, each civilian hostage, women first, would be released in exchange for three palestinian prisoners. israel will allow two qatari field hospitals waiting in egypt to be set up inside gaza and much more humanitarian aid. senator warner, thank you very much for joining us today. and for your time. >>> joining us now courtney kube and "the new york times" chief white house correspondent and msnbc political analyst, peter baker, thanks for being with us. we got a little more information, 40 service members injured. we got the names of the three service members who died. two young specialists and one older sergeant, a 46-year-old, what more can you tell us about them? >> reporter: they all were from georgia. they deployed out of georgia, and they were part of an engineering unit. we don't know a whole lot. we got their names moments ago. we're trying to find out specific informa

and it david, we also have, in the middle east, we have bill burns, the presidents closer, going, in qatar, when it comes to most. just what's going on there? >> joe, i'm glad you used the term president biden's closer to describe the bill burns -- the man who titled his own memoir the back channel, because he's the minister of the back channel. he has been dispatched by president biden to negotiate with egypt and qatar, which are the two emissaries on behalf of hamas, and with israel, to try to see if there can be a new deal to free, in stages, the hundred 36 remaining hostages held by hamas in gaza. that's a lot of people. they got the details of how this would work pretty much presets. their initial release of ten women and children who were supposed to go out in the last deal, that fell apart at the beginning of december. then another 40 elderly, sick, ailing people who will be released for humanitarian reasons, along with women who are some of the women, soldiers. and then a final group that is large, maybe 80 plus people, that would include men and also the bodies of those who

but the cia has not confirmed the location or the start date and they will involve bill burns, the headeeting with his opposite numbers at mossad, israel's intelligence agency, and the egyptian spy agency as well, and top officials from qatar to try to revive attempts at finding a ceasefire — making progress towards a ceasefire in this conflict. tomorrow, sunday will be three months since israel launched its ground offensive in gaza, and the warring sides are still far apart on ceasefire proposals. we understand from reports that israel has mooted the idea of a one or two—month pause in fighting or truce, and the phased release of israeli hostages and palestinian prisoners. but hamas is said to be demanding a permanent ceasefire as part and the president of egypt says that israel must do all it can to prevent genocide —— in gaza, placing renewed focus and renewed scrutiny on the israeli forces�* actions down in gaza. and mark, what is the reaction there in israel to that decision, interim decision, by the international court ofjustice? well, i think, as expected, the israeli government

he has bill burns and brett mcgurk in the region as well.hey perhaps trying to find a beachhead, maybe a two-month pause from which they can extract cease-fire? jeremy: i think the hope not just from the americans, but from lord cameron, was been talking the perspective of the british, that if there is a two-month, 60-day pause, it will be hard to start shooting again. from the political side in israel, netanyahu, he has a what victory looks like, destroy -- he has stated what victory looks like, destroy hamas, get the hostages back. where does that leave them if they do a deal effectively with hamas and hamas is still there? none of the key men in hamas have been captured or killed, as far as we know. he will be under pressure from the right-wing parties that sustain his government not to make those kinds of compromises. and in theory they could pull the plug upon his government. in that case israel will go to elections and will be in political turmoil, even more so than it is at the moment. there is a whole other new road which is opening

according to you, you're saying that the lensky um, was told off by bill burns. a bottle is savanski is official, was riding around and cabin humans and he's benches and the like the actual message, as i understood. and he was not alone on the trip. so the actual message that is there are other people from the community with him, intelligence community, the actual mattress. and one of us lansky was the magenta of the bureaucrats. and the generals are getting very angry at you because you're taking too much of the scam. hope you're taking a bigger cut and he was given a list of 35 people that were involved in and corrupt activities. last, he def, fire 10 people on the list, some generals and officers, and some civilian bureaucrats. most of the agencies in the government. and normally do contracting work normally do directly with a normally you do a contract with somebody. so blind toilet paper, you know, contract a paper company. everybody's gone to brokers. everybody's now getting 3rd parties involved because that increases the transfer of money on the side. and

the work that was done over the weekend included -- including this director, bill burns.an tell you is that it is my strong assessment that certainly israel would very much like to see this process of hostages coming out resume. i don't want to be for the israelis but i can certainly say from the perspective of the united states that this is at the very top of our list and has been since day one. i believe israeli leadership and israeli society feels very strongly about it. say anything more than that but i can say they're important and productive work has been done and there is no hope going forward. >> i count on the united states and i am confident the united states willontinue to do so because it is in the interest of the united states to ensure that present but does not win in ukraine. this is something that we should do together. they have actually provided more support in total for ukraine than the united states. i commend united states but we must not forget this is a joint effort of all allies and if we put together what european allies are saying, this is a burd

meanwhile, cia chief bill burns is meeting with top israeli and qatar rio figures alls. squloing me is mark hertling and robin wright. mark, let me begin by asking you, israel has this international pressure to cease or scale back its operations and there are fears of a widening war. in the midst of all of this, is israel achieving its objectives? are they succeeding? >> indicators state that israel has disabled 20 to 30% of the hamas network so far. the early comments about destroying hamas, destroying an ideology or what we've talked about it or what the israeli military has done with the terrorist network in gaza. it's fascinating because by the standpoint of time and alliances, time is not on israel's time. they are built underneath the civilian population to draw israel in. this puts the israeli military at a disadvantage while they do try and see it. there's still much that remains in the south. >> robin, that's striking to me what mark hertling is saying. they've only destroyed 20, 30 perfection percent. as far as i can tell they've leveled northern gaza. inflicti

diplomacy, it does give you the sense that we are arriving at an important juncture in these talks and bill burne cia director has been prsz's point person and he is in paires in discussions with his intelligence counterparts from israel and egypt as well as the qatari prime minister. we did hear from the israeli prime minister's office in the last hour or so who described these talks as constructive, but there are still significant gaps which the sides will have to continue to discuss at meetings this week and we are getting a sense of some of the contour of the deal that is being discuss. it would occur in phases and the hostages and the first phase would be civilians and the second phase would be idf soldiers who remain in captivity and the third would be the bodies of those hostages who died while they were in captivity and this would be accompanieded by a prolonged pause in the fighting and at the same time there are significant hurdles that remain to all of this and most significant what would happen once the process ends. hamas has been adamant that it would only agree to a release of hos

that was raised by the head of israeli intelligence when he met with his american counterpart, bill burns. the qatari prime minister was also raised again last month. this is something that is almost certainly not going to happen. at the same time it really does highlight the fact that israel has made relatively little inroads when it comes to dismantling and destroying hamas. you have the most senior leadership of hamas that is still alive, still believed to be in those tunnels, you have around 70% of the fighting force by israel's own estimation still on the battlefield. this could also benefit israel if these leaders were to leave. it would weaken hamas in the gaza strip. it would take away leadership, and it would allow israel to target hamas leaders wherever they go. israel has said repeatedly that they intend to go around the world and kill hamas leaders because of october 7. >> how likely is it that hamas would accept the terms? >> from the american and international officials i've spoken with, they say it is extremely unlikely. the secretary says he was told by the prime minister

i think one thing people haven't talked about is bill burns is currently in israel trying to work— israel trying to work out the cease—fire. he is a long _ work out the cease—fire. he is a long history— work out the cease—fire. he is a long history also with iran. is it possible — long history also with iran. is it possible for him to surreptitiously io possible for him to surreptitiously go to— possible for him to surreptitiously go to iron — possible for him to surreptitiously go to iran and try to have conversations to tamp all this down? ithihi<_ conversations to tamp all this down? i think yes _ conversations to tamp all this down? i think yes i— conversations to tamp all this down? i think yes. i think we have to respond _ i think yes. i think we have to respond. at the same time, we have to write _ respond. at the same time, we have to write it— respond. at the same time, we have to write it down the printer there -- the _ to write it down the printer there —— the pressures there. to write it down the printer there -- the pressures there. philip, we know lran — -- the pressures

he has bill burns, the cia director, brett mcgurk, the envoy in the region as well. of extract a cease—fire? i from which they can then sort of extract a cease-fire?— extract a cease-fire? i think the ho -e not extract a cease-fire? i think the hope not just — extract a cease-fire? i think the hope not just from _ extract a cease-fire? i think the hope not just from the - extract a cease-fire? i think the i hope notjust from the americans, lord cameron, who has been talking a bit about this from the perspective of the british today, is that if there is a two—month, 60—day pause, thenit there is a two—month, 60—day pause, then it is good be really, really hard to start shooting again the sub however, from the political side in israel, netanyahu, he stated what victorie looks like, destroy hamas, get the hostages back. so, where does that leave him if they do a deal, effectively, with hamas and hamas is still there? none of the key men and hamas have been captured or killed, as far as we know. he will be under pressure from the right—wing parties that sustain his gover

bill burns is on his way to meetings with israeli counterpart and qatari officials as well. that is all about trying to get those remaining hostages released. >> nic robertson in tel aviv, thanks for >>> conditions in gaza grow dire each day, israeli military confirms it is expanded operations against hamas in the city of khan yunis more than half of the 2 million residents of gaza are crammed into the rafah area of the country hunger is causing chaotic scenes as those desperate for food rush to whatever aid arrives. one of the aid sites was just hit, according to hamas. a warning that the story contains graphic images. >> reporter: the wounded are sprawled on the floor of al shifa hospital in gaza city. victims of what a civil defense official says with israeli tank and machine gun fire on a crowd of people waiting to receive desperately needed humanitarian aid. people were going to get food and flour because i have nothing to eat, he says. suddenly takes appeared and started firing shells that people. injured in the hand and leg, they shall this four times, he says. on wed

this is after a flurry of diplomacy sunday when the white house dispatched bill burns to paris to meet with intelligence officials from israel, qatar and egypt with the hopes of negotiating a pause in fighting in gaza in exchange for the hostages still being held. let's bring in max foster, he is live for us in london. good morning, always good to see you. the white house has been pressing for this new deal but israel and hamas seem pretty far apart in terms of trying to find a compromise as of course the death toll continues to climb in gaza. who was at the meeting, what rts gaps and what are the hopes moving forward? >> it was an intelligence meeting so we're not getting much official information about it. but throughout prime minister's office in israel, western told it was a multiparty intelligence meeting between qatar, israel, the u.s., egypt in yoeuyoeurope. so any sort of deal that would occur if there were one between hamas and israel, so hopes are high. along the diplomatic wording we're getting seems quite positive. just the fact that the meeting is taking place which, you k

he is dispatching bill burns to france for talks with his counter parts from egypt and israel on these hostage negotiations. certainly the hope among american officials is that these will be fruitful in securing the release of all of the remaining hostages in gaza paired with a prolonged cessation of hostilities. and really the hope had been that this pause in the fighting could cause some space for american officials and israeli officials along with their counterparts in the region to come up with a plan to end this conflict permanently and certainly the death of the american soldiers in jordan will lend some urgency to these talks as the u.s. continues to try and come up with a solution to this conflict and eventually result in lasting peace. kevin liptak, cnn, the white house. >> donald trump didn't waste time making this into a campaign issue. the former president said that if he was in the oval office "we'd right now have peace throughout the world, instead we're on the brink of world war iii." >>> and senator lindsey graham tweeting hit iran now, hit them hard. representative dan

. >> reporter: well, john, what we've learned is that the cia director bill burns who has really been the biden administration's point person on hostage negotiations is going to be traveling to europe to meet with his israeli and egyptian counterparts as well as qatari prime minister. and these are really the main players when it comes to hostage negotiations. so this gives us an indication that the talks are progressing. this trip is coming on the heels of the top white house official brett mcgurk going over to also talk about hostage negotiations. we're told the meetings were productive, that they were sober and serious. but all of our sources are cautioning that we are not on the cusp of a deal, that nothing appears to be imminent. even hesitating to call the talks negotiations. but the parties are at the table. and that is really important. and what we understand, john, both the israelis and hamas separately have put forward proposals that now the main mediator, u.s., qatar and egypt, are essentially trying to find common ground. and so there are still major sticking points. but i

meanwhile, cia chief bill burns is meeting with top israeli and qatari officials to try to broker a deal between israel and hamas that could lead to hostage releases and a potential cease-fire. joining me now is retired u.s. army general mark hertling who is a national security and military analyst for cnn and robin wright is a contributing writer for the new yorker and a distinguished fellow at the wilson center. mark, let me begin by asking you, israel has this international pressure to either cease or scale back its operations substantially. there's also fears of a widening war. in the midst of all of this, is israel achieving its objectives? which netanyahu keeps saying is the total destruction of hamas. you know, that's the military objective, i'm not sure what the political objective is. i just wand to hear from you, from a military point of view, are they succeeding and can they succeed? >> indicators state that israel has disabled about 20% to 30% of the hamas network so far. the early comments about destroying hamas, destroying an ideology or what we've talked about it or what t

now at this same time the president is dispatching his top intelligence official, bill burns, to france for talks with his counterparts from egypt and israel on these hostage negotiations, certainly the hope among american officials that these will be fruitful in securing the release of all the remaining hostages in gaza paired with a prolonged cessation of hostilities and really the hope had been this pause in the fighting could cause some space for american officials and israeli officials along with their counterparts in the region to come up with a plan to end this permanently and certainly the death of the soldiers in jordan will lend urgency to these talks as the u.s. continues to try and come up with a solution to this conflict and eventually result in lasting peace. kevin liptak, cnn, the white house. >> want to bring in malcolm davis, senior analyst at the australian strategic policy institute. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> president biden said the u.s. will respond, but how does he do that without escalating this war even more? what possible military options are ava

yesterday the cia director bill burns, he met with his israeli counterpart in paris to try and push forward there. you can see on how many fronts the united states is trying to work this to get some forward motion. that meeting was described as constructive which is exactly how john kirby described those talks this morning on cnn, you. the word from paris is that significant gaps remain. joining us right now is a former ambassador, ryan crocker. he served as ambassador to, well everywhere that is critical right now. ambassador lebanon, kuwait, pakistan, afghanistan, and he's now a nonresident senior fellow. ambassador, let's jump right in. if we hear tony blinken speak, we'll listen in and hear what he can tell us, but the range of paths forward here with regard to the hostages includes a phased release of more than -- of the more than 100 remaining hostages in gaza exchanged for thousands of palestinians in israeli jails and a suspension of the war for potentially two months. i've heard you say before that there are no good options in the middle east. does this seem like the most likely go

very notable, bill burns is traveling to europe, we believe there is a meeting in the coming days with israeli and egyptian counterparts as well as the qatar prime minister . these are the main players when it comes to getting a hostage deal done. we are hearing the warning from the white house today that it does not appear the deal is imminent, but certainly these players have to get together to get on the same page and bridge some of the very significant gaps between the hamas and israeli positions. >> alex, keep us posted on the latest. >>> still to come on cnn news central, jury deliberations happening right now in the civil information trial against donald trump. following the very latest from the courtroom when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> for decades martha stewart has made her mark on american culture through her special brand of domestic doyenne. she is great, martha stewart is awesome. there is a new cnn original series, the many lives of the stuart, the traces her rise, her fall, her comeback, and hers that was meant as an american icon. there is a preview of a special look

>> reporter: well, we know that bill burnes, the cia director is meeting in the coming days with his counterparts of both israel and also egypt. there are hopes that there will be a replica of what happened last november, when there was a cessation in hostilities and a chance for hostages to be released and palestinian prisoners to be released by israel as well. now this is the hope that this is going ahead at this point, despite the fact that there has been some fairly bitter back and forth between qatar, which is one of the main mediators and the isreali prime minister, israel's prime minister pointing out that he doesn't believe that qatar has been doing enough. >> qatar hosts the leaders of hamas. it also funds hamas. it has leverage over hamas. qatar make sure the medication will reach the districts to our hostages and qatar said it can help bring them back. so therefore, to put pressure on them, they position themselves as mediators so please, go right ahead and prove it. let them be so good as to bring back our hostages. >> just last week, there was some alleged leaked audio o

bill burns is looking to build on that progress and bridge the gap between israeli and hamas positions. and wolf, that gap is substantial. we do understand what we think the outline of a deal could look like, this is according to sources. that those israeli hostages still in gaza, there are more than # 100 of them, that they would be released in phases initially women, children, and the elderly. that would be followed by idf soldiers and the bodies of the hostages. but, wolf, hamas wants to see this war end while israel wants to see a temporary cease-fire and then continue with their efforts to eradicate hamas, wolf? >> alex marquardt reporting on this story. >>> also tonight the united nation's top court is ordering israel to act immediately to try to prevent acts of genocide in gaza, but the international court of justice stopped short of calling for an end to the fighting. this is a preliminary ruling on south africa's actions of genocide by israel, a case the court refused to throw out. the final decision could take months or even years. the court also urged the immediate and uncon

. >> and bill burns is set to meet with the intelligence chiefs for israel and egypt and along with qatar's prime minister. they will discuss a deal to potentially trade the remaining hostages held by hamas which is over 130. priscilla alvarez is joining us with more. it is significant that burns is getting involved here. qatar has always been at the center of it. how likely is this on actually happen and what shine would it take? >> it is just another top u.s. official getting engaged in these talks. as there are intensive discussions about parameters of the deal that would include release of hostages an cessation of fighting in gaza. as you mentioned, the cia director will be going to europe where he will meet with israel and egypt intelligence chiefs and the qatari prime minister. all are key players in the talks. whether they can get to a deal is still unclear. we've known over the course of time since october 7 that these talks are still very sensitive and delicate and they can break at any moment. but we do know brett mcgurk is already engaging in the talks as well and the white house

. >> cia director, bill burns, will be meeting with the intelligence chiefs of israel and egypt in the coming days, trying to hammer out a new deal to try to release some of these hostages. there's reports of a cessation of hostilities in gaza, in order to allow this to happen. nothing publicly being announced at this point. linda? >>> ahead in abu dhabi good to have you with us. thank you. >>> cnn has new video out of southern israel. near the gaza border, showing armed israeli soldiers guarding more than two dozen palestinian detainees, wearing disposable white coveralls, despite the freezing temperatures. sitting and kneeling on the ground, the men are blindfolded and barefoot. their hands are tied behind their backs. this is where the authority say the men are being held for suspected terrorist activities. after being detained inside gaza. the idf says in a statement quote, suspects have been taken for further questioning within israel. individuals who were found not taking part in terrorist activities were released back into gaza, so it is possible. the idf claims that the men are

bill burns is expected to travel to europe to discuss a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by hamas and gaza. he will speak with the head of the israel spy agency, egypt intelligence director and qatar prime minister. the cia declined to comment. israeli prime minister office says 132 hostages remain including the be bodies of 28 w have been killed. >>> still ahead, ukraine pushing back against claims that it shot down a plane pull of its own p.o.w.s. you will hear new information from ukraine intelligence suggesting moscow's s accusatio don't quite add up. >>> ukraine is pouring cold water on moscow's claim that ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in a flaeplane that wentn in moscow. moscow claims ukraine shot it down reportedly killing 65 ukrainians and nine russian service members. but ukraine intelligence now suggests only five bodies from the crash site have been brought to a local morgue. that number according to ukraine matches the size of the crew on the plane which kyiv says was transporting missiles not p.o.ws. russia videos don't appear to show massive ca