jake?iamond in jerusalem, thank you so much for that report. >>> coming up, the latest developments on the breaking news. this hospital in gaza that was struck killing hundreds. in just moments, we're going talk to a top adviser to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we're going to discuss exactly what happened. stay with us.

think back to the that, jake. they put boston on lockdown because the suspect was at large, they had shot a police officer, they were on the loose. and boston is the city of jay walkers, they don't follow any rules and yet the city complied. the streets were barren, and then what happened, the suspects were throwing bombs at the police, one escaped and the other was apprehended. they found him the next day when a neighbor noticed a bloodstain on a piece of canvas they had on their boat and they surrounded the boat and, of course, the suspect who has been convicted in the case, was hiding inside. you never know which way things are going to go because they're driven by the perpetrators, not the investigators. >> john miller, thanks so much. good to see you again. coming up live from tel aviv, the targeted raid israel's military made in gaza. what that might mean for a future ground incursion. we'll be right back. c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touch

>> it is, jake. and the question is whether this is the night that they use their night vision devices, their thermal sites, the advantages they have over an enemy that may have some of that but will not be anywhere near as sophisticated. and they use the preparatory fires that you hear going in that are indeed quite intensive and that are the prelude to seizing a foothold, say, in the built-up areas just inside the border. as you noted, they have gone in previously, sort of felt the edges of hamas, seeing how they would react, doing it in armored vehicles. i suspect that's what they're going to do here. they're going keep their soldiers as protected as they absolutely can until the very last minute when the first instrument has to get out of that under body armor and kevlar, start to enter buildings, and actually clear those in order to begin the process of destroying hamas. so it appears that that moment is at hand when they are going to seize the foot hold. i'm sure they'll react appropriately as

jake?let's bring up the map again to show people where you are in zukim, israel, in relation to gaza, if we can bring that up. you are just north of gaza. there you are. do we have zukim beach? anyway, there you are, you're right just north of the gaza strip. how much has life changed there in 24 hours. >> reporter: everyone here has been told to stay at home, stay close to shelter, be ready to use the shelter. the word from the israeli government is you have no reason to be out of your home at this time. so people are very aware that they need to stay home and be close to shelter. the roads have been empty. the stores we were driving past early on, taking in the southern coastal highway to come down from tel aviv, the stalls were pretty much all shuttered. people's lives have changed in this area in a way that they probably won't reclaim that previous normality, not for a long time. that's what the prime minister says he'll do, which is push out the hamas militants, which seems they'd be p

jake. >> okay. that's not making me convinced that they have their act together, manu raju, thanks so much. appreciate it. >>> let's get another live look at gaza, a brief moment of calm, but explosions continue to go off and the world needs to hear the stories coming from those stuck there from those hearing the explosions over their homes. stories from families waiting for any word that their loved ones are alive and coming home. you also need to hear from those suffering loss, the brother of my next guest was a peace activist. he was against what netanyahu was doing. the terrorists found him hiding in a closet, and then they killed him. his story is next. >>> parts of gaza on fire earlier today. you can see the flames pouring out of this boat as the idf continues to pound the territory with rockets as retaliation for the terrorist attack on saturday. lieutenant colonel jonathan con ree kez is the international spokesperson for the israel defense forces hooef. the idf said earlier today there were

>> it's a great question, jake. i've tried to -- from what i can pick up and read, i've heard at least two explanations. one, egypt is not allowing the transit of people in either direction. the primary thing that i've picked up is that hamas is not allowing them to leave. and why would that be? of course, as you reported, hamas uses civilians, innocent civilians as human shields. and of course americans, keeping americans in gaza keeps them vulnerable to israeli collateral damage and of course it's leverage for hamas to use both in the conflict itself, and on the international stage politically. the information warfare game that they clearly are trying to exploit to israel's disadvantage. >> mark esper, former secretary of defense, thank you so much for your time, as always. good to see you, sir. >> thank you, jake. >>> so many families here are suffering two tragedies. not only do they have loved ones missing, others in their families were killed. a woman dealing with that will join me next. you have met her on th

i'm jake tapper in tel aviv. republicans have finally chosen a new leader in speaker mike johnson of louisiana is already laying out his pray orits. one of the most pressing issues on his plate aid to israel. our next guest is on the senate intelligence committee, senator james lankford from oklahoma. thank you very much for joining us. so the u.s. has been encouraging israel to delay a full ground invasion in order to make an effort to get all 230 hostages, i think it is, out. israel has announced the second phase of the war and is launching more attacks in the gaza strip from air and also from land. does the intelligence suggest that delay would hurt israel's goals to destroy hamas? >> yeah. obviously, i can't get into the actual intelligence documents itself, but it is a very complicated issue where hamas has 500 miles worth of tunnels underneath all of that area in gaza, so it is a very complicated environment to be able to hide hostages. right now israel is trying to bombard the areas where there are hamas f

go ahead. >> yeah, that's right, jake.ne of the key problems that you have is, you know, what was being targeted. was this in fact an israeli air strike. and of course, that looks like that was really the case. and when you have a situation where there are a lot of civilians, it really complicates the targeting mechanism. and the whole targeting process. so, i would really like to know, you know from a military standpoint, what the israelis were targeting. did they think that there was a hamas entity in the hospital, and even with that, you know, what kind of justification would there be to do this kind of a strike. it's something is that, you know, really different from how we do the targeting process in the u.s. air force, at least it appears to be. and that is something that, i think, you know, really has to be investigated. and i think it also, you know, puts a -- kind of a brake on what the israelis are doing right now in terms of their offensive operations. they will find it difficult to continue these operations if

tell us about that. >> that is right, jake. this was a warning from the fbi director chris wray as well as alejandro mayorkas and both of them were talking about the threats that they've seen since the hamas attacks on israel. in the last 24 days, the fbi director said that they've seen threats rise to a level not seen since the rise of isis several years ago. and a lot of those threats, jake, are being directed not only at jewish communities but also muslim and arab american communities. but chris wray, spoke in particular about the level of anti-semitic threats, which he said are reaching historic levels. listen. >> when you look at a group that makes up 2.4% roughly of the american population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes. and so they need our help. >> and jake, he said that the threats are coming from domestic extremists, obviously groups of all kinds of flavors. and really one of the things that the fbi and the homeland securit

realistically, jake, where are people supposed to go? are they not trapped inside gaza at this point? >> the critical thing from our perspective is that there be safe places for civilians to go that will not be subject to military bombardment, where they can be safe physically and where they can have access to the essentials, to food, water, medicine, shelter. the many, many palestinians who have had nothing to do with the brutal terrorist organization hamas, the vast majority of the population of gaza, they deserve dignity. they deserve safety and security and the united states is working with the united nations, with israel, with egypt, with jordan, and with other organizations to try to ensure that. >> just to be very clear, has anyone, u.s. citizen or otherwise, been able to leave gaza? >> so far, we have not been able to get american citizens through the border crossing and i'm not aware of anyone else being able to get out at this time, though i cannot fully confirm that because it's a dynamic situation. like i said, we're trying t

i'm jake tapper. as the israeli government warns of a new phase in its fight against hamas, brand-new polling just into cnn shows how americans are feeling about this war. the u.s. public broadly feels israel's military response to the hamas terrorist attack is fully justified, but the difference by age is quite stark. 81% of americans over the age of 65 feel the response by the israeli government is fully justified. but just 27% of americans 18 to 34 years old feel that way. the humanitarian crisis is also top of mind for many americans. 71% of americans feel a lot of sympathy for the people of israel. 41% feel a lot of sympathy for the palestinian people. former u.n. ambassador and 2024 republican presidential candidate nikki haley joins us now. ambassador hailey, thanks so much for joining us. if you were president right now, would you consider using the u.s. special operations to rescue american hostages being held in gaza? you just heard jake sullivan say, one of the complications with that is we

>> yeah, so let me try to clarify this, jake.what donald trump is talking about here is the testimony of michael cohen. michael cohen over the years during his congressional testimony and at this trial has explained the instructions that donald trump gave him in different ways. at times michael cohen has said, no, donald trump never specific told me to inflate the value of assets and other times he said it was generally understood. donald trump knew to make his will known without specifically saying it. there is a bit of a discrepancy there. that is fair game for cross-examination. that is fair game for trump's lawyers to argue to judge ultimately here. michael cohen is not credible. his testimony has been inconsistent. here is where donald trump is off the rails, though. this does flotnot mean the case over. witnesses sometimes have inconsistenties and it is to the trier of the fact. and is it doesn't mean game over and i won and let's go home. it means this witness has had some damage done on cross-examination and we expected a

i'm jake tapper. and we start in the middle east where america's top diplomat delivered an in-person message to the israeli people who are grieving and wounded. he said the united states will never back down from its support of israel. secretary of state antony blinken is on his way to meet with other u.s. allies in the region. saudi arabia, egypt, uae, qatar, and jordan after standing side by side with benjamin netanyahu today. the secretary also met with families of americans killed and taken hostage by hamas, a group the u.s. has labeled terrorists. the white house says at least 27 americans have been killed and at least 14 others remain missing. in its efforts to eliminate hamas which brutally attacked israel last saturday, israel defense forces are currently pounding gaza with air strikes today. since hamas embeds itself within the palestinian population, this is tragically resulting in hundreds of innocent palestinian casualties. more than 1,400 have been killed so far. civilian and hamas accord

i'm jake tapper and i'm standing on a rooftop looking out over tel aviv. it is just over -- just after 11:00 p.m. here. it is been 17 days since the horrific terrorist attacks by hamas caught this country and frankly most of the world by surprise. setting off a cascade of responses and consequences. that now includes a humanitarian crisis in gaza. tonight we're hearing for the first time from one of the hostages kidnapped an just released by hamas about what she endured. hamas held 85-year-old yocheved lipshitz capured and she spoke in hebrew at a hospital here in tel aviv today she describes how hamas beat her as they forced her into gaza. >> translator: it was a painful act. they brought us into a hatch of a tunnel. on the way, i was lying on the side on the motorbike. legs to one side. body to the other. they were hitting me so it didn't break my ribs but it was making it difficult for me to breathe. >> smaller groups and kept under close watch, her husband and the husband of the other hostage, hamas released yesterday, nurit cooper, are still believed

yeah. >> thanks, jake. so on the home front, over 150 people that were on the terrorist watch list have been seized along the southern border this fiscal year. we've reported that been over 1.5 million known got-aways since the biden administration took office. is this something that the american people should be worried about right now? >> we continue to remain vigilant and terrorist threats to the homeland from anywhere. it's something that we're working on, consulting with the congress on, seeking to secure the necessary resources to work through. any time we see any threat stream involving a terrorist threat to the homeland, we mobilize every asset and resource and that includes information and analysis that we have shared with the congress about plots emanating from the middle east, plots emanating from other places. we'll continue to do that. we also will continue to take steps to pursue a humane orderly border policy and we will work with the congress in the weeks ahead to continue to get the resourc

i'm jake tapper. and leading this hour, president biden will address the nation from the oval office this evening for only the second time in his presidency. he's going to try to convince americans why it is critical to provide tens of billions of dollars to support two allies in their two wars, israel and ukraine. perhaps a glimmer of hope for the civilians stuck in gaza right now. egyptian security officials tell cnn they are preparing to try to open the rafah border crossing friday morning, allowing trucks with much-needed water, food and fuel as well as medicine to enter. but a u.n. source is telling cnn that they are afraid that convoy might not be allowed to go in on friday. and israeli forces are also seemingly poised to enter gaza, with the israeli defense minister in a statement today saying that his troops will soon see gaza, quote, from the inside. this as airstrikes in gaza continue with desperate scenes of the wounded rushed to a hospital in the khan younis neighborhood of gaza. but that

>> with jake, this is incredible. we talk about the crime scene, the horrific crime scene of this terror attack, i went to an israeli military base. and by the way, this base is ready to go. thousand of mats where soldiers are sleeping just under cover, the giant garages where you might store large military equipment now being repurposed for military, for people to sleep. and also that's where they're gathering, these caches of weapons that they're finding. i mean, jake, it's incredible. hundreds of grenades. hundreds of grenades which they've wrapped up with tape to keep the pins down. rpgs, all of these from the al qassam brigades, mortars, hundreds of ieds, anti-tank mines. even some mine, jake, that have basically a magnet on the end of them. it looks like a giant crowbar with a magnet on the end. they traditionally will stick them to tanks to cause them to explode. it's a different type of anti-mine. they're all over the kibbutzim and finding them stuck to cars. everything they're gathering came to the streets we

>>, no jake, i'm speaking for myself.eing a freshman, being in congress over the last ten months, i believe that i have been one of the biggest team players within the body, within the republican conference, doing everything that i could for speaker mccarthy. and i want to make something very clear. he did achieve great conservative wins throughout his leadership in the house of representatives. and that is something that i am never going to back down from. 96% of our conference stood behind that man while 4% in the gang of eight, who in my opinion are cowards upended government and did something incredibly disturbing. but that is my position. and i believe that we need a new face of republican leigh leadership that is going to take our conference into the same direction under the america first agenda and to continue to achieve the incremental wins we already were achieving under speaker mccarthy. >> let me ask you. kevin mccarthy credited trump with his getting elected speaker in january. why didn't trump do anything to

>> reporter: yeah, it has, jake. some of that artillery, interestingly, was landing close to the border. it wasn't far away. so i think the thing we're listening for tonight is early indication of a ground incursion, heavy movement of traffic, machine gunfire, the heavy bombing or artillery strike in the immediate leadup to it. right now, it's quiet. >> and is the sense of impending action as strong as it was earlier this week? does an israeli incursion still seem likely? do you sense that the u.s. constant sending of major cabinet officials over the president is the only thing that's holding back the incursion, or is there something else going on? >> reporter: yeah, look, i think one of the big moves from countries in the region, arab nations, has been to call for a humanitarian pause, which would really stop military incursion, and everyone that is opposed to the war would want that to be extended. that hasn't happened. the u.n. security council and the united states ambassador there vetoed it. so i think the perce

i'm jake tapper. president biden arrived in israel hours after a devastating explosion in the courtyard of a baptist hospital in gaza, a deadly tragedy that the u.s. is now asserting, the u.s. believes israel is not responsible for. rather, president biden said earlier today, it was damage that the palestinians may have caused. the images emerging are devastating and the descriptions of the deadly aftermath are rather graphic. here's what a volunteer who went to help clear the remains said. >> translator: i came at 8:00 a.m. as a volunteer thinking i would help with minor thing, but i was shocked to see unimaginable things like children's corpses, elderly coralses, bodies scattered, intestines and many human bodies. >> the hamas-controlled palestinian health ministry immediat immediately blamed the israeli military and that accusation flew around the world, but after investigating the matter israel says that they have evidence that the cause of the blast was actually a failed rocket launch from islami

>> thanks for letting me join you tonight, jake. i last spoke with her on thursday evening. >> and what had she been -- go ahead. >> sure. sorry about that. so she has been telling me that she is under constant bombardment. like many others, she's sheltering in a private home with many other individuals. they are in fear of their life. we know all it takes is one of those precision guided missiles to miss from one direction or another and it's the end. she's an older person. and she along with many other american citizens is hoping and praying for a way out. >> and she has been director of the hospital since the late 1980s. tell me why she thought it was so important to serve the people there. >> so, she has been the director of the ali arab hospital in the gaza strip since the 1980s. frankly, jake, she is really the mother teresa of the gaza strip. she has dedicated her life to healing and serving the sick, the poor, really the poorest of the poor. she has given up opportunities to have a family and be married to serve others. for

what is unclear, jake.t's a secret list that is handed over, i think it has ten names on it, in order, as you just noted that would take on the role of speaker pro tem. >> and member of house of representatives? >> and members of house of representatives. >> marjorie taylor greene -- >> i don't know if greene is on kevin mccarthy list or not. if you know you're on the list or if you know you're on the list or is it secret to you as well and it just becomes revealed, if indeed the speaker's chair is vacated here. and then the clerk opens up that list and get's. >> i have a question -- >> you can but i don't know i'll be able to answer it. >> but is this a case where the house is taking action to remove the speaker? >> that's my question. >> or is it only when if the speaker is, you know, killed in a terrorist attack or something? >> i think it's whether the speaker cannot fulfill the role. not just when vacated. it's my reading of it, but i am not a parliamentarian. but what i will say is, there has been deb

jake. >> thank you stay safe.ualties are rising, in iran, the cancer of the usurper zionist regime will be, resistance forces throughout the region. he did that with a video of palestinian terrorists, hamas attacking if memory serves, attendees of a peace concert, attending just revolting, the words of iran's supreme leaders. thousands gathered on the streets of tehran to celebrate the innocent civilians murdered as iranian state media showed, death to israel. obviously that doesn't represent the iranian people at large who are as many ways prisoners in their own country but it is also true that long held hatred of israel has only grown as israel has inched towards normalization of saudi arabia, the two sect are at odds quite often. as the washington post's max boot noticed earlier, indeed we don't know for sure why hamas decided to strike anonymity, this could be a alarmer attempt by iran and its proxies to secure between ryad and saudi arabia. max thanks so much for joining us. u.s. officials say, it is still to

>> jake, the u.s. has intelligence that iranian-backed militias in the middle east, that would be shiite groups in iraq and syria, are preparing for the possibility of escalating and ramping up attacks they have carried out, according to multiple u.s. officials. this would be as iran looks to take advantage of the situation and the conflict in gaza between israel and hamas, also taking advantage of the anti-israel and anti-u.s. sentiment growing across the region. iran backs these groups, funds these groups and arms these groups. the question now, how direct is the support? officials say it's not necessarily that iran is saying go, carry out these attacks. but according to officials, it appears that iran is encouraging them and doing nothing to stop them, a far more direct link than they believed iran had with the initial october 7th attack carried out by hamas. in that case they say iran was surprised by the attack. here there is no surprise. there's a much clearer link the u.s. is seeing, and it come

>> yeah, i've seen some press reporting on that, jake.ut i don't have any detail about what exactly happened. >> in terms of the continued effort to get humanitarian aid from egypt into gaza, yesterday president biden and egyptian officials said that the rafah crossing would be opening this morning. it did not open this morning. when will it open and what made president biden confident despite the fact that it -- that confidence apparently was misplaced. >> i would beg to disagree on the police placed confidence. he had a good conversation with presidency si si and to get into gaza and he's confident and said so again today, that in the coming hours, if not a couple of days, we should be able to see that humanitarian assistance get in. one of the obstacles was quite frankly the road. road that leads into the gate was damaged and there was no confidence that the trucks will be able to traverse that road so the egyptians are working on repairs to that road. that is one issue holding it up. but again we're confident that it is going to happe

>> well, jake, i know that the u.s. government that our state department and the white house have been working very actively with israeli officials and egyptian officials to look at ways to get u.s. citizens out of there. again, i don't have any specific information to provide from my perch here at the tonight other than to say we of course are always concerned about the safety and security of american citizens no matter where they are in the world. and so that will continue to be an important focus going forward. >> but who is keeping them from getting out? is hamas keeping them? because my understanding from talking to one of these americans today, is that people at the gate don't even know that they're supposed to be letting them out? >> yeah, i really, i can't answer the question, jake, because i don't know the answer other than i know from a u.s. government standpoint, our state department has been engaged on that front. >> brigadier general patrick rider, thank you so much. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. >>>

i'm jake tapper. we start in the middle east with new stories of the horror, the terror that hamas inflicted on israel. some of what i am about to describe to you will assuredly be disturbing. a spokesman for the israeli prime minister said today that hamas decapitated babies and toddlers. this was part of a brutal massacre that hamas carried out over the weekend. i should note that as of now, cnn has not been able to independently verify the claims. the israeli defense forces said hamas "brutally butchered, in an isis way of action, women, children, toddlers, and the elderly." this comes as some israelis are also expressing a sense of frustration that their government is not doing enough. here you can see individuals at hospitals yelling at israel's environment minister, telling her that she is responsible, she should go home. eventually, the crowd forced her to leave the building. as israel and the military continue to pound gaza with rockets, gaza, which is ruled by hamas, a humanitarian crisis is

to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. we start with breaking news. two american hostages have been released by hamas. and any moment we expect to hear from the secretary of state antony blinken after a spokesperson for the israeli prime minister's office confirmed that judith rannan and her 17-year-old daughter natalie are now back from the gaza strip. let's listen into secretary of state blinken. >> -- held by hamas were released. these two americans are now safely in the hands of israeli authorities in israel. we expect a team from the u.s. embassy to see them very shortly. over the coming hours, they'll receive any support and assistance that they need and of course we're very anxious to reunite them with their loved ones. we welcome their release. we share in the relief that their families, friends and loved ones are feeling. but there are still ten additional americans who remain unaccounted for in this conflict. some of them are being held hostage by hamas along with an estimated 200 other hostages held in gaza. the

so, let's talk about it, jake. over the last 11 months, the average has been 200,000 apprehensions at the border by customs and border patrol. you know how many beds we have for people who we want to detain? 38,000. total. and we have 200,000 a month people being apprehended. we can't fix this problem right now that way. so, we need to do a combination of things. i'd double the number of beds we have available to detain people. i would triple the number of immigration judges we have to move these asylum hearings along much more quickly. and i'd add 10,000 customs and border patrol officers. and on day one sign an executive order to send the national guard down there to help supplement them, especially on the issue of drugs getting across our border, since we had 110,000 people die last year of overdose. then, jake, we have to get to a merit-based immigration system, where we incentivize filling the jobs in this country with people who want to come here and work. and we pick them on merit. places we need help, we br

>> jake, it's silent. it's silent.n fact, it's the quietest night since we have been here, aside from one very, very large explosion of an incoming rocket. the quietest night. yon was saying in tel aviv, a more secular city on a friday night, you hear music, dancing. it's a party town in many ways. it's completely silent tonight. nothing. not even a stray car going by with loud music like the past couple of nights. it's samomber. there's rage and fear and anticipation of what's -- what everyone believes is coming next with the ground invasion of gaza. >> speaking of which, you spoke with soldiers along the gaza border. how are they feeling as this conflict clearly is escalating? sfl jake, they are ready. they are ready go in. two soldiers drove by us today. very tight-lipped one said, where are you from? cnn. he said i want the world to know this will never happen to the jewish people again. it's time to go. in a tight-lipped incredibly intense way. which reflects the mood we did see across the border. they are ready.

jake. >> no words. thanks so much. >>> i met a man here who had escaped the cruelty of the nazis as a boy only to face hamas eight decades later. and i'm going to bring you his story next. >>> the subject of our next story has lived and suffered the horrors of history repeating itself at the age of 8 his family fled the rampant anti-semitism in poland just before the nazi invasion and then on october 7th, 83 years later, his life was in danger again by the anti-semites of hamas this time. also looking to kill jews. i bring you now his story and a warning that some of the content is disturbing. >> during the october 7th terrorist attack on his kibbutz, 92-year-old dove kept close to his phone. >> my phone, would stop me when all of these people were crying for help, where they were. and they didn't get to my suburb. >> reporter: his neighbors where at least nine people were killed or kidnapped, used a group messaging system to call in desperate warnings to each other. >> i started hearing people saying,

>>> welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper.e start today on capitol hill where the race for house speaker is on. majority leader steve scalise of louisiana and republican jim jordan of ohio have officially joined the race. now that kevin mccarthy has officially been fired. and history making headline for the californians. a new speaker could be a fresh start tor house republicans or it could be just another hostage sitting in the same office, terrified of doing anything to offend a tiny faction of his party. so how did we get here? for the very first time in american history. speaker-less. well it might have all began when kevin mccarthy thought he could appease the maga right. with almost the notion that he would allow them to set just some of the building on fire. but that is not how fireworks. while the votes were still being counted, two days after the election of 2020, kevin mccarthy decided he would cast his lot with the election liars. >> president trump won this election so everyone who is listening, do not be quiet. do

>> thank you, jake. in your meeting today, we saw an image earlier, at some point the president has in the images of the dead israelis. what has been his reaction when shown those images? mr. sullivan: we have seen him, now twice you've heard his voice, and this has been a deeply emotional time for all of us. i'm sure it is for many people in this room who know people, or know people who know people who were killed or who are missing, and all of us have developed close relationships with our is really counterparts. president biden has a decade-long relationship with prime minister netanyahu, and he could hear the pain in prime minister netanyahu's voice. i can hear the pain in my counterparts' voice when i talk to them. this is not about policy, strategy. as personal for us. so president biden has seen and felt the deep, emotional resonance of this, but he has also held the convention that his job as president is to make sure you have the clarity of mind and purpose to take the action necessary so that w

. >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. the war in the middle east at this hour appears to be expanding as it steps up the gaza offensive. israel has now formed an emergency wartime government in response to the hamas terror attacks that have killed at least 1200 people. 22 or more americans. the israeli government is accusing the iranian regime of giving the green light to hamas which is funded to carry out the attacks over the weekend. a statement that differs from sources familiar with u.s. intelligence. if you thought this seriousness of this all, the deadliest day for the jewish people since the holocaust, a war that will cost countless innocent israeli and palestinian lives, risks of a regional conflict. if you thought this would motivate house republicans to get their act together to elect a speaker, so the u.s. legislative branch could function, well, you would be wrong. behind closed doors today, the majority of house republicans chose congressman steve scalise of louisiana to be their nominee to be the next speake

i'm jake tapper. in a few hours president biden will address the nation in only his second-ever oval office address. the goal, convince the american people that it will be important to spend $100 billion of their tax dollars, majority of which would help israel and ukraine. bottom line, sources tell cnn, that president biden will not only try to make an argument about the immorality what russia's vladimir putin and the terrorist group hamas have done but that the costs of u.s. inaction of not supporting israel and ukraine would be harmful to u.s. national security. president biden arrived back in the u.s. early this morning after roughly seven hours on the ground in tel aviv. president biden says he pressed israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu there on israel's plans for the next phase of the war and worked to secure propositions from the israelis for humanitarian aid for the innocents in gaza. president biden will also speak about trying to bolster the ukraine military further. ukraine, recently

jake joins us now. it has been a busy day for you, jake. congratulations.echless afterwards, but how has the reception been at heathrow? it has been great, just being back home. it has been a long few weeks, but i'm really happy with the whole world championships as a whole. if you things didn't go to plan, but to come away from this world championships with a gold medal, it is a bit mind long, to be honest. what were the expectations going into antwerp? we what were the expectations going into antwerp?— what were the expectations going into antwerp? we really wanted to ush a into antwerp? we really wanted to push a team _ into antwerp? we really wanted to push a team placement. _ push a team placement. unfortunately, it didn't really go to plan, but individually i was pushing for floor to plan, but individually i was pushing forfloor and to plan, but individually i was pushing for floor and vault and i just managed to get into the vault final. i did put a bit of pressure on myself to do well because me having that six tariff faults gives you such an age wh

>> reporter: well, jake, today the u.n. is saying that essentially, quote, time is running out for the people of gaza. the situation there getting more and more desperate by the minute. it has been nine days now that there has been fno food, no medicine, no electricity, despite assurances from the idf that the water had been switched on and in the southern part of the enclave, we're hearing from the palestinian water authority that there is still no water. i had been in touch for the past few days with a family in the northern part of gaza. that is the area that was supposed to be evacuated. they were too fearful to leave their homes. they said they had nowhere to go. today i have been unable to get in touch with this family at all. my messages to them are not going through. and all of this happening despite the flurry and intensification of diplomaticive for -- diplomatic efforts across the rafah crossing. you menged they pointed the fink at hamas and they are pointing the finger at the israelis saying they are willing and

and they're making those warnings, jake, and they've run out of beds. and you know, some we were talking to in gaza was saying even with the generator, even places that actually have generators, generators also need fuel. so if you're saying, as israel has, no food, no fuel, no electricity until the hostages are released, then that means you're days away from anything that's even powered by a generator such as hospitals, essential health facilities, actually even having the ability to power themselves. i mean, it's an incredibly dire situation. i was talking to an american pediatrician who's actually in gaza. and jake, she went in before the strikes, stuck there now like many others. we haven't talked to her now in a few hours. so it's possible something's changed. but she had been stuck and absolutely unable to get out. talking about the dire situation. and she's someone who goes in in ordinary circumstances in gaza to help children as a pediatrician. because of the chronic and horrible diseases that they face there, the lack of vaccines, chronic diabe

thanks, jake, for having me. i'm a scalise guy. steve scalise has earned the opportunity to lead this conference should he be elected. conservative modified speaks for himself. he's got an operation in place. look, he's an amazing person. he's a survivor, and i told him last night in a private phone call that as long as his doctors are good with it, as long as his wife jennifer and his family good with, i'm all in. and look, we need to rally behind, coalesce around a speaker's candidate. we have two already in the race. we need to coalesce as early as tuesday night, and get this vote taken as soon as possible so we can continue to move the work of the american people in the congress. >> i know it's early, but do you have any idea what the vote count looks like? >> none at all. i do not have a feel for how this is going to go. i said early on, and i believe this that scalise is one of those guys that could get mccarthy type support across the conference. he appeals to a broad sense across the conference, not the least of which he wa

>> reporter: yeah, jake. i mean, this was long expected right after democrats came out of their caucus meeting, it was very clear that the trust for kevin mccarthy was not there. but democratic leaders making it official in this letter to their colleagues saying, quote, it is now the responsibility of the gop members to end the house republican civil war. given their unwillingness to break from maga extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, house democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending republican motion to vacate the chair. that means they are not helping kevin mccarthy. and time after time, member after member we spoke with earlier today made clear that that was the consensus in the democratic caucus meeting from pramila jayapal who came out and spoke with us to others who are members of the problem solvers caucus, which is a more moderate caucus of the democratic caucus. it was very clear that they have a problem with kevin mccarthy. and it isn't a problem that just happened today. it i

but jake, the judge wasn't buying it. he said he found trump not credible, and that these statements were intentional and hit trump with a $10,000 fine. by jay, going forward, it's going to be a challenge for the judge in this case, and a judge in one of the other federal cases, to try to enforce these gag orders. at least the judge here in d.c. said i need to put on a trial and protect court staffers, but we know former president trump is determined to try to paint all of these proceedings as partisan pursuits. >> paula, cnn has some new exclusive reporting on the georgia election subversion case. we're hearing more plea deals might be in the works? >> potentially up to a half a dozen. the case charged 19 defendants. four have secured deals with prosecutors and our colleagues have learned that prosecutors are in talks with around six other defendants, and that they're open to strike deals with pretty much everyone except for former president trump, where there appears to be little desire to compromise. trump and his atto

>> this is a huge factor, jake. number of these more moderate members, a number of these members who are close to kevin mccarthy simply do not want to see the matt gaetzes of the world use this again for another speaker, are calling on the changes to the house rules to make it a majority of the house republican conference who could actually call for such a vote ousting the speaker. but jake, also we're hearing from some of those hard right members that say they are willing to get rid of the so-called motion to vacate if jim jordan is their preference, if he becomes elected speaker. but it may be different if steve scalise gets it. he could potentially be in the same situation unless there's agreement among the conference to change the rules here. but a big issue for a lot of these members as they weigh their vote. >> cnn's manu raju, thanks so much. joining us now to discuss, republican california congressman david valadao. he was one of the ten republicans who voted to impeach then president trump over the january

i'm jake tapper. this hour israel's leaders are preparing for the next stage of their war against hamas. they say it's a likely ground invasion of gaza. while israel's military hasn't officially announced, three officials have told "the new york times" will be to wipe out hamas' top political and military hierarchy and capture gaza city. an incredibly risky ground invasion will likely feature bloody street-by-street combat made more impossible by the miles' long network of deep tunnels. once and if the israeli military moves in, the united nations warns further conflict would spiral into a, quote, abyss in the middle east as the conflict spills over borders, a fear echoed by iran's foreign minister who says regional war could be unavoidable. to gaza's north, israel's military is exchanging fire with the lebanese group hezbollah which the u.s. considers a terrorist group. there israel ordered the' ak asian of 28 villages, and hezbollah, like hamas, is backed by the iranian government and it may, quote,

. >> welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. and we tart with our world lead and a vow from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu that his countries response to the horrific terrorist attacks carried out by hamas over the weekend is just beginning. [ sound of gunfire ] >> this is just a glimpse of what that response from the israeli military has looked like over the last few hours. explosion after explosion. lighting up the night sky in gaza with very real consequences on the ground in gaza. as isreal launched what it is called wide scale strikes on hamas targets. the israeli army released video showing some of the strikes it carried out earlier today. you could see the buildings absolutely flattened. hamas retaliated by firing more than 100 rockets at the coast. this is the scene in ashkellon after they intercepted most if not all of the rockets. cars on fire, debris and littering in the streets. at least 900 people have been killed so far in israel by hamas terrorists according to the israeli army. of the 900, the vast maj

>> thanks, jake. i think the question that we ask every day multiple times a day in the north in cairo and we, the short answer is we don't know why it's taking this long. we've been in touch with the state department since day one of this war. on october 7th, that saturday. asking for help and to exit gaza before it gets too bad or too late. and after repeated attempts from state department, the crossing, all have failed so that attempt on saturday, there is no clear timeline. >> it's so upsetting. there's another woman with three kids that we've been on my show the lead that we've been following her journey and been trying to help her get out. i asked jake sullivan about the problem two sundays ago and he said that egypt and the israelis had agreed to let americans out and at one point, hamas stood in the way. do you have any idea what the hold up is and you might not be able to speak freely so let me ask this. what's your message to president biden right now? what do you want president biden to do