. >> we have cnn's priscilla alvarez with more fallout from that report. but first let's go to cnn correspondent scott mclean, who is has more on the dire situation in gaza. scott, there has been more airstrikes targeting rafah. what do you know what's the latest right now? >> hey, jessica. yeah. so this is according to hospitals and rafah, they say that they were two airstrikes carried out in the city, some 15 people at this point have been confirmed to have died, including women and children. and what is especially noteworthy is that those strikes took place in in areas that were not ordered to be evacuated by israel. israel did order several parts of northern gaza and also of rafah, two evacuate today. at all in anticipation of a stepped-up ground offensive in rafah and renewed bombing campaign campaign in the north. and i say renewed because there have there has been restarted bombing there just this afternoon, according to the idf and it comes after there were several airstrikes overnight in northern and central gaza. these came without warning though

priscilla alvarez traveling with the president in seattle, washington this afternoon. thanks so much for that reporting. joining us now is the former deputy assistant secretary assistant secretary of state during the obama administration, joel rubin, jolt really nice to have you on. thanks so much for being i'm here. >> thanks, jessica, my first i just want to get your take on this state department report and its implications on the us israeli relationship today yeah, this report is very hard-hitting report. it is one that describes the use of american-made weapons by israel and other countries as well. it derives, as you mentioned, from national security memorandum that the president signed back in february but, it's threads the needle appropriately, i believe because what it does is it calls out concerns, but it also says that it does not have evidence that israel is intentionally engaging. in efforts using those weapons to violate an humanitarian law in american loss. so it's, it's balancing a lot of equities here. and this this is, this is what we should expect fro

cnn's priscilla alvarez is here with us now and priscilla, the president, offered concrete examples of why these west point cadets are so valued here at home and in the world and those examples were directly tied to the ongoing conflicts that we are seeing around the world, for example, the war in ukraine and ongoing conflict that the president reflected on, including the strength of the nato alliance. and he also talks about the situation in the middle east, not only the ongoing us efforts to get aid into gaza the important role that the military plays, but also reflecting on the moment in the situation where he was surrounded by military leaders when there was that iranian missile attack against israel. so clearly underscoring how important these cadets are and will be in the future and saying so himself, take a listen women and men in uniform are hard at work stretching are alliances because no country has allies like ours invested into terms anyone who thinks they can threaten us. thanks again. defending our values by standing up to tyrants and safeguarding the piece. >> a protecti

used by israeli forces in gaza in ways inconsistent with international humanitarian law cnn's priscilla alvarez is traveling with president biden in seattle. priscilla, what more is the biden administration saying about this report well, frederick ii, this was a high-stakes report and a highly anticipated one that market another stark moment and us and israeli relations now, the report put together by the biden administration found that it's reasonable to assess that us weapons have been used by israeli forces in gaza in ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law, but stopped short of saying that israel was violating that law. >> now, it seems of course from that february national security memorandum that required the on this matter, but also whether israel was violating us law and withholding humanitarian aid to gaza also did not find that, but it's all a remarkable moment because it is the first time the us has assessed israel since those october 7 attacks. and it comes as the as you heard there from the president, he's issued his warning. it is you're a word to move forwa

priscilla alvarez and seattle.hanks so much young michigan voters are revealing major warning signs for the biden campaign. cnn's john king travel to the critical battleground state for his all over the map series to find out how i'll the war in gaza is eroding michigan college students support of the biden administration and how it may impact their vote this fall protest amid the commencement celebration time-honored tradition on campus but this one is complicated jake gray and alicia jealous are now university of michigan graduates and now former co-presidents of the college democrats proud their school as part of a global statement was in my application letter that this was a campus of like a history of protests, a rich history of social justice movements. yeah, you worried though about months of war and death months of student anger at a president who can't afford to lose michigan how much is it going to hurt the precedent? >> however much he decides? yes. >> that starts with calling for a ceasefire for listeni

let's go now to cnn's priscilla alvarez, who's traveling with president biden in an in seattle step. priscilla biden warned that he would stop some weapons shipments to israel if they follow through with that major offensive in rafah. what are you learning from them? as they traveled today that's right. >> fredricka, that's what he told cnn for the first time making the point that he would still continue defensive weapons to israel. but some other shipments i'm offensive weapons could be held back if real is to move forward with a major ground operation in rafah, that area that has over 1 million displaced palestinians. now. and what my his white house officials have been asked what that operation looks like and at what point it would cross the president's red line. they haven't been able to give that detail or give the parameters of what it would look like saying rather so that it would be obvious when it happens. but this, all of this coming against the backdrop of this report by the state department, it was a high-stakes report, a highly anticipated one that just marked another sta

commencement address to the army's newest officers, but his first time, as us president sentence priscilla alvarez joining us now with more on his message to the class of 2024, priscilla while fred president biden thanked the cadets and took that opportunity to congratulate them on their achievements. and also called them the next leaders in civilian and military life. but without naming donald trump are really making a direct election year appeal president biden also under scored the values that he has previously said are at risk if his republican rival were to take a second term, for example, protecting democracy and also the nature alliance. now on that front, the president talked about us leadership on the global stage, including, for example, again, that nato lyon saying, for example, that russian president vladimir putin are testing his assumption that nato would not be able to unify and support ukraine from his invasion. saying quote, putin was certain that nato would fraction of course there speaking directly to the invasion of ukraine and instead, the president said, it is the greatest de

priscilla alvarez, force at the white house. priscilla thank you.nd hollywood endorsements do go back quite awhile. watch with a wide open country in my in these jury for change tomorrow i'm with her if you freedom all right. so that obviously a parade of celebrities endorsing political candidates. i have always come from the school. that just doesn't really matter at all. perhaps taylor swift might move some people well, i don't know what do you think tara? >> yeah. i mean, that was the thinking in 2020 that taylor swift's endorsement of joe biden, i mean, you've activated some younger voters to actually go out and vote, but i do think that celebrities are aware that donald trump, they, they came out pretty forcefully against him in 2016 and he's still want 2020 he still want a very sizable amount of the popular vote, basically half the country still voted for them. >> and i do think ultimately they probably feel like this is also their careers and they're not sure if they're willing to put their names out on the line anymore to fight against this

cnn's priscilla alvarez has more tensions remain high between the united states and israel. >> with reported by the state department on friday, a high-stakes report that marks yet another stark moment between us and israel in the report that was put together by the biden administration, they found that quote, it's reasonable to assess that us weapons have been used by israeli forces in gaza, in ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law. but stopped short of saying that israel violated the law. of course this stemming from a february national security memorandum random that requires a determination on this matter and also whether israel withheld humanitarian aid into gaza in violation of us law. of course it's all of this serving as another data point that the biden administration is using in their ongoing discussions with israel. but it also comes against the backdrop of the interview that president biden had. would cnn, where he said for the first time that he is willing to withhold weapons from israel if they launched that major ground operation of rafah area with mo

cnn's priscilla alvarez is traveling with president biden this weekend in seattle. priscilla, what is this new reports say? and how is the biden administration? responding well, just got this was a high-stakes and highly anticipated report that just marks another stark moment between the us and israel over israel's war against hamas in gaza. >> now this report was put together by the biden administration, and it felt that it found that it is reasonable to assess asked, but us weapons have been used by israeli forces in gaza in ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law. but it did stop short of saying israel violated that law. and of course this sounds from that february national security memorandum that required a determination on this matter, and also whether for israel withheld humanitarian aid from gaza in violation of us law and while it is critical, it doesn't amount to any actions or mandate actions by the israeli government or mark any type of us policy change toward israel if that's biden administration officials have said that it marks i

priscilla alvarez. thank you so much joining us right now to talking about exactly this cnn political commentator care and finney, who is former spokesperson for hillary clinton's 2016 campaign, and matt gorman republican strategist and former senior adviser to tim scott presidential campaign. >> karen, you heard the reporting right there. i'm gonna read you a headline from a month ago, some headlines from month ago, president joe biden raised more than $90 million because reelection campaign and the democratic party in march, a whopping hall in a month that saw him pivot to a general election posture. the campaign announced it has a war chest of $192 million in cash on hand, describing it as the highest total mass by any democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle now a drop in fundraising for last month, karen sign of a problem no. >> i think when you have $192 million cash on hand, you're doing just fine and as priscilla was saying, when you're looking at those grassroots small donatio

priscilla alvarez. thanks so much for that reporting. still ahead tonight. breaking news, russian missile slam into a key city in the north of ukraine. we're going to take you there, plus three missionaries, including an american couple, are killed in a violent attack in haiti as gang violence ravages that country, you're in the cnn newsroom russian for. trying to spy on us. we were spying on them i was hadi friday this is a war but secret war, secrets and spies, a nuclear game premier sunday, june 2, that ten on cnn. >> did you know there's no tie in skechers what he told about rule has always been scheduled z and these get to slippery cnvs, get to slip in coverage. companies are bottles might still look the same, but they can be remade in a whole new way. >> thanks to you. >> we're getting bottles back and we've developed a way to make new ones from 100% recycled plastic new bottles made using no new plastic. >> you'll be seeing more of these bottles in more places. >> and when we get more of them back we can you've less new plastic bottles are made to be

cnn's priscilla alvarez is here with us now to talk more about this, it is underscoring. it is the first time this has happened since the october 7 attacks by hamas. but what are you hearing in terms of context around this? >> well, i'm hearing when it doesn't evolve, we don't have all of the details as to what went into this decision-making process. we know what effects this one shipment of us maine ammunitions to israel, but a source telling me this is not connected to a potential israeli ground invasion of rafah that's in the southern gaza strip where there are more than 1 million displaced palestinians. this is important because that has been something that the us has talked at length about. they have warned israel against an invasion of that area. we had simply because there are so many civilians, it would be difficult to contain civilian casualties, but this pause was not related to that pressure that the us is placing on israel separately. it is not involve other shipments. that is to say that other assistance, security assistance, ammunitions are moving forward. s

it's ongoing discussions with israel all right. >> priscilla alvarez traveling with the president in seattle. thanks so much all right. >> straight ahead. prosecutors and donald trump's hush money trial are expected spectra to call their star witness monday. what to expect when michael cohen takes the stand next let's try this again. >> what do you my first step is ship in easton second championship sall's not winning a championship. >> getty was trying to stay positive. or positive. he didn't win a ring oh, my god right now, pet dander skin cells, mold spores, pollen, and dirt are being sucked into your air ducts, get cleaner air and system efficiency. >> now, with stanley steamer, your air ducts are clean until they're stanley steamer clean? >> family's name did you know that most cars today have a cabin air filter that cleans the air you breathe this is what a dirty filter looks like in just months, fills with dust, pollen, exhaust fumes, and moldy buildup. what you need is a pure flow advanced cabin air filter pure flows premium advanced cabin air filters blocked dust, pollen, an

priscilla alvarez with the very latest there. thanks so much for that reporting and joining us now, former state department middle east negotiator and senior fellow at the carnegie dominant aaron david miller also with us is cnn at military analysts, retired lieutenant general mark hertling. great to have you both here. aaron, first, i want to start with you and get your reaction to the brain thinking news that priscilla was just telling us about the vitamin a striation pausing this ammunition ammunition shipment to israel. what do you make of that it's really hard to read. >> it's hard to imagine that slow walking because that's what it is if it's anything slow walking one shipment of ammunition represents a fundamental change or perhaps even a major signal that the biden administration believes it can actually do this and intended to do more unless the israelis comply with what the administration wants on any number of issues in march abc news reported that israeli officials, again raise the issue of the administration slow wal

cnn's priscilla alvarez has the details president biden on saturday delivered the commencement addresst west point where he called the cadets, the next generation of leaders in both civilian and military life. >> now we'll president biden did not name former president donald trump nor did he make a direct election year appeal. he did underscore values that he has said previously said that are at risk if his republican rival were to take a second term. for example, the preservation of democracy, as well as us leadership on the world stage. now, the president talked about the multiple global challenges that the united states faces around the world, including, for example, the ongoing conflict in ukraine saying that the us it's remain steadfast in its supportive ukraine and also talking about the strength of the nato alliance saying quote that it is the greatest defense alliance in the history of the world. and that is one of the messages that the president was trying to drive home in this address, that being the importance of those alliances for the united states for women and men in uni

you in the palm of his hand to kenya for our guess joining us now, white house correspondent priscilla alvarezpriscilla tell us more about last night's events well, as you saw there, the white house rolling out the red carpet for hundreds of guests. and the honor of the kenyan leaders are there was also a brief appearance by foreign president barack obama. now of course, the state dinners are the highest diplomatic tools of the white house can employ to honor a top us ally that's exactly what they were doing. yesterday. this is a meticulously planned event that took place in a transparent pavilion on the south lawn. and we learned from the first lady's office that it was a adorned with more than 1,000 candles. now, they guessed enjoyed a three-course meal that we know include a chilled heirloom, tomato soup, as well as lobster and beef, short ribs and as you saw their entertainment headlined by brad paisley and the howard gospel choir. now, of course, this will book ending a critical visit by the kenyan leader was the first state visit by an african and african leader since 2008. and we heard

campaign says that ad will air nationally and in every battleground state over the next month cnn's priscilla alvarez is at the white house. priscilla trying to reinforce among voters what the donald trump years looked like, trying to remind them of that you saw in that ad. >> the mention of the coronavirus pandemic by saying are trying to remind voters of what the president said about drinking and bleach as well as trying to capture that chaos and confusion under the republicans administration and also casting donald trump's presidential bid as revenge. so that captures where they're headed, but also in a memo, they laid out where they plan to ramp up their attacks especially before that june presidential debate. and that includes on abortion, on democracy, and also on the economy, arrogance. were they see weaknesses in what president biden's are republican, his republican rivals issues. now, of course, in this memo, jen o'malley, dillon said the following quote, the biden-harris campaign will zero in on trump's dangerous campaign promises and unhinged rhetoric. we will make sure that the voters who

cnn, white house correspondent priscilla alvarez is joining us right now with more on this. priscilla how is the biden campaign viewing these polls showing a very tight race? >> well, and they have shown a very tight race for a while now and biden campaign officials acknowledged that it is indeed going to be a tight race that's often how they respond to these polls and also make the observation and talking to them. that is, were in may and november is still a ways off and voters may tune in more as we get closer to election day. but breaking down these polls, you have that cnn poll of polls that you just mentioned that was conducted in mid to late april. it showed a 47% for trump and 46% for biden. there was no sampling error. there then another poll, the abc ipsos poll, conducted in late april among registered voters chose 46% four biden, 45% for trump with a margin of error of two. so again, this is continuing a trend that we have seen, which is that it is going to be a very tight race. come november, according to what the polls are showing us now and part of what campaign

commencement address to the army's newest officers, but his first time, as us president sentence priscilla alvarez message to the class of 2024, priscilla while fred president biden thanked the cadets and took that opportunity to congratulate them on their achiev.

cnn white house correspondent priscilla alvarez is joining us. now. she's over at the white house on the north lawn. priscilla what can we expect from today's visit? >> well, if this is also a significant visit because it is the first state visit of an african leader since 2008. and they just how the bilateral meeting where the two, you're seeing images there again underscore their decade's long relationship and they also acknowledged that they're going to talk about a broad range of issues that includes elevating can get from a regional partner to a global one. the importance of democracy, as well as private sector investments. but there is no doubt wolf, as you mentioned, that a lot of this also has to do with countering china's influence in africa. of course, the us and china have been jockeying for economic and geopolitical influence in that region in china, of course, providing those high interest loans to africa. so investment is important to that economic cooperation in these ongoing talks, they will also be announcing a spate of commitments, in

cnn's priscilla alvarez is traveling with the president and has more from seattle president biden is trying to maintain a cash advantage over republican rival donald trump. and yet another west coast swing. >> this time concluding in seattle, fundraising has been a bright spot for the biden campaign may have led the trump campaign over multiple months but there's also marked another split-screen moment as president biden participated in fundraisers in the bay area on friday as his republican rival continued his proceedings in court in new york now of course, the president noodling former president donald trump over the course of these fundraisers. >> but also touching on multiple themes of his campaign, including abortion, health care, protecting democracy, and the investments his administration has made on climate change. >> but the polls do show that this is going to be a close race between biden and trump and the president acknowledging that saying in front razors, quote, the election is going to be about blocking and tackling the president dismissed the polls, but it does show hi

from the high-stakes negotiations in cairo over a potential hostage and ceasefire deal seen as priscilla alvarez is here with us right now, and priscilla, what more are you learning about this ammunition that has been held? >> well, i talked to a source familiar with this decision and they could not disclose any details as to how this decision was made. but here's what we do know. it is not linked to a potential israeli ground invasion of rafah in southern gaza strip were more than 1 million palestinians have been displaced. and are sheltering. and that has been a top concern for the white house. so this not linked to that. second thing. >> it is not affecting other shipments. >> this is one shipment that was paused. we don't know exactly why that's unclear, but others shipments and military security assistance continues to israel to that end, the national security council spokesperson told me the following quote the united states has searched billions of dollars and security assistance to israel since the october 7 attacks pass the largest ever supplemental appropriation for emergency assistanc

cnn, white house correspondent priscilla alvarez, joining us right now, iscilla, how is the biden campaign viewing this closely divided race? and these polls will pose up until this point have consistently shown that it is a tight race and biden campaign officials are aware of that this is a race that they often say is going. they know is going to be closed and is going to require voters to turn out. so again, going through what we saw in this poll that was conducted in me he to late april, you have that 47% for trump, 46% for biden. there was no sampling error in this poll now a separable the ebc ipsos poll conducted in late april among registered voters, we see biden at 46% and then trump at 45%. again, there a margin of error of two now, a lot is going to going to come down to voter turnout. that is what you hear from democratic strategists and from biden campaign officials. and so they're seizing on issues to mobilize voters. also aware that there is waning enthusiasm among voters about either one, either of the candidates. and so abortion rights is one of those we have seen them ramp

cnn's priscilla alvarez is joining us now with more on today's speech. priscilla, what stood out to you? >> well, this was a notable moment. this was the third time he he has bogan to west point, the first time as president and it wasn't opportunity for him to thank the cadets, to congratulate them for their are humans, and to call them the next generation of leaders in both civilians in an military life. now, he did not name former president donald trump door, did he make a direct election year appeal? but he did underscore values that he has said are at risk if donald trump were to take a second term that includes, for example, democracy, protecting it as well as the nato alliance and talking about us leadership on the world stage especially when it comes to ukraine and the invasion of ukraine, noting, are recalling the russian president's saying that the nato lines wasn't going to unify with ukraine. in fact, it did the president going on to say, quote, it is the greatest defense alliance in the history of the world, also maintaining that he does not e

c-nets priscilla alvarez is joining us now from the white house so priscilla, what more do we know abouthe messaging going forward here? >> well, the campaign is certainly leading the charge on the messaging here, though they're still taking a bit of a subdued approach. they don't think that this is going to move the needle too much at this point unless it was an acquittal that may have been a different calculus for them. but at this point, the focus in their sharply worded statement yesterday was keeping the focus on the ballot box, saying in a statement, quote, there is still only one way to keep donald trump out of the oval office at the ballot box, convicted felon or not, trump will be the republican nominee for president. now they did also use the opportunity to try to shore up some funds, noting that trump conviction could lead to or firing up his supporters to donate more. and we've learned from the trump campaign that they raised 34 million. now in that fundraising email, the president making a similar point essentially that he wanted to keep this guy out of the white house once

cnn's priscilla alvarez at the white house. what more you learning now priscilla okay. the white house this morning is pushing back on this saying that this needs to be done through negotiations, not through quote, unilateral recognition. >> let me read you a statement from the national security council spokesperson that says the following quote, the president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and has been throughout his career, goes on to say he believes a palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition. of course, the president has been vocal about his support for a two-state solution and even weighed in on this during his commencement address at morehouse college over the weekend i'm working to make sure we finally get a two-state solution. the only solution to people live in peace 30, dignity because one of the hardest most complicated problems in the world, and there's nothing easy about it i know that angry and frustrated many of you, including my family but most of all, i know it

cnn's priscilla alvarez has this new reporting and she's joining us right now. tell us more about what you're learning. priscilla okay, look by all accounts, it's going to be a close race in november and for that reason celebrity endorsements may hold that outsized influence to reach voters that are otherwise hard to reach. >> but multiple strategies that me and my color like elizabeth wagmeister have taught you say that because of the highly polarized political landscape and also the high disapproval of the israel hamas for some celebrities, are more weary of jumping into the fray for example, mariah carey in december, visited the white house. she was just making a stop putting up a christmas decorations but her instagram post was flooded with criticism because of the israel-hamas war. so it is those moments that causes some trepidation among celebrities, but look historically, hollywood has rallied around democratic candidates and the biden campaign is acquiring some star power. we saw robert de niro in new york earlier this week in june, there's gonna be a on

laura barron-lopez of the pbs newshour, cnn's david chaldean, margaret tala of axios, and cnn's priscilla alvarez. okay. so we are seven what does that say? seven hours and ten minutes in two, jury deliberation. and whose county. but who's counting? >> we are. and as we continue to monitor that we do have a moment to talk inside politics, which we haven't been able to do much because of this, this fascinating trial that's been going on. >> otherwise, you notice not disconnected. >> it's totally connected, but i want to connect to even more right now understanding we have no idea what this jury is going to do, but what we do know from our reported being and that of our colleagues is as we just heard, sort of the prep going on on either side the context for that prep is that we're not sure how much of the electrode is actually going to be moved by any outcome here in the trial. and so that also will factor into how the campaigns respond to it is there a truly movable universe where there is a return on investment for digging into this. obviously, the trump team, i think if you look at the predicate

i worked on this reporting with our hawley priscilla alvarez and we spoke to a dozen people who are working with celebrities and working with the biden campaign. and they all say that there is absolutely hesitation out there, which is different than in years past. one celebrity publicist tells me quote, it's a different world than it was ten years ago. you can't make anyone happy. you can't win. >> another publicist tells me it'll be the usual suspects, but four years ago, who were you if you weren't speaking out? >> the war has become so polarizing that it's gotten to the point that those just know winning, particularly in this social media world. take mariah carey for example, back in december around the holiday she's the queen of christmas, right? and she went to the oval office to spread some holiday cheer it was an innocuous post. she said nothing about israel are gaza and yet her comments were flooded with people accusing her of genocide just for standing next it's to the president. so that is the point where we have gotten four celebrities and a lot of them just say, it's not worth t

priscilla alvarez from the south lawn of the white house for us, for so i hope you can hear me tossing to you over all that racket there in the background. but what are we expecting from today's visit? >> notably, this is the first episode state visit of an african leader since 2008, now looming over the pomp and circumstance around me is china's influence in africa. this factor in scheduling, this visit has been china's influence in the region as the us and china job aki for economic and geopolitical influence. now they are going to discuss a range of issues in their meetings today that includes elevating kenya from a regional to a global partner as well as private sector investments and the importance of democracy, and they're also going to announce a spate of commitments to that end, including i'm feeling a document known as the nairobi washington visit, which which called vision i should say, which calls on creditors to help and alleviate the financial burden of african countries, but also designating kenya as a non, a major, non nato allies. so clearly the two countries trying to

. >> priscilla alvarez is live wars white house. and here on set we have cnn's alex marquardt as well. alex president biden has remained vague about what this red line is, what it would take for the us to reconsider sending certain weapons for use by the idf what do you anticipate he's going to relay today? >> well, i think it's unlikely that there's going to be any kind of reversal of position. >> i mean, that strike in rafah took place on sunday night that killed more than 40 civilians and when us officials came back after the memorial day vacation day off, they were firm in saying that israel had not crossed the red line and we've do we journalists have been badgering the administration about what this red line is and john kirby, the national security spokesman, summed it up as israel smashing into rafah and as far as the administration is concerned, that has not yet happened, despite the fact that we've seen numerous strikes that have killed scores of people what we're seeing is this operation from israel grow in a slower away i

campaign is just responded to trump's speech a little while ago, cnn white house correspondent priscilla alvarez is joining us from the white house right now. so priscilla what are the campaign say? >> well, we're just getting this statement, wolf and it says the following. this from communications director michael tyler, quote, america just witnessed a confused desperate, and defeated donald trump ramble about his own personal grievances and lie about the american justice system i'm leaving anyone watching with one obvious conclusion. this man cannot be president of the united states. it goes on to say, on hinged by his 2020 election laws and spiralling from his criminal convictions trump is consumed by his own thirst for revenge. and retribution, goes on to say that they will continue fighting against trump. now this is a pretty scathing statement from the biden campaign, which has been leading the charge in response i want to the verdict that was yesterday. now, the biden campaign does not bank on this conviction really changing the calculus of the alliance section entirely. but certainly the

collision course with history with a very intense start to summer ahead of us cnn's priscilla priscilla alvarez is joining us now from the white house with more for so what are you learning this morning from their about how they're now preparing well, kate, there was groundwork that was being laid leading up to the announcement yesterday that these two will go head-to-head. >> of course. remember, last month, president biden told howard stern that he was quote, happy to debate trump and not really started to set things in motion in earnest in recent weeks, we've learned the biden campaign and trump campaign. we're having input formal conversations behind the scenes, largely focused on their mutual disdain for the commission on presidential debates, which wouldn't have started. it's debate schedule until september, which both campaigns viewed as too late, but still a remarkable moment to see two campaigns two candidates agree when they usually just don't. and not only that, but also shun the commission. so yesterday in rapid succession, we saw the biden campaign pitch and altered proposed schedu

cnn's priscilla alvarez is there where are they going? what are they doing and why priscilla while they're gonna make their third is stopped in the city of philadelphia, a crucial city for the president as he tries to clinch that victory in november. >> of course, the president here is trying to sure. up support among black voters. they were critical part of the coalition in 2020 and really propelled him to victory. but polls have recently shown waiting and doozy asm among this voter block, in particular, including a shift toward his republican rival donald trump. but even more concerning for the campaign is voters just not going to the polls. and so this is a stop and philadelphia where he will be he joined by the vice president to again try to stoke enthusiasm among voters and list off the accomplishments of his administration and try to to outline how it has helped their communities of course, this is part of a months-long effort by the white house. they also commemorated brown v. board of education and also did campaign stops in atlant

cell alvarez is at the white house, priscilla, a lot on the agenda in this three-day visit a lot on the agenda and all of wide range of issues broken into three buckets here. they're talking about elevating. can you have a regional partner to a global partner? the importance of democracy and also private sector investments just yesterday to two liters met with business leaders on this exact issue today, as you see there in those images, meeting in a bilateral meeting. and also having that arrival ceremony this morning. but of course, looming over all of the pump in sacrum circumstance and also over these issues is countering china's influence. of course, the us and china have been jockeying for economic and geopolitical influence and china in particular has provided high interest loans to africa. so those investments and economic cooperation are really core to the conversations that the two liters are having over the course of the day. and they're also expected to announce a spate of commitments, including a document known as the nairobi washington vision that calls on creditors to ease

let's get right to personal alvarez at the white house this morning, priscilla, what's the administrationaying about this well, of course this was an incident john that gained wide gone hello, nation around the world. >> and we are now learning that was us made munitions that were used. now, we have asked the white house for comment on this. they have not weighed in yet. the pentagon though does saying in a statement, quote, i do not know what type of munition was used in that airstrike referring if the israeli airstrike, i'd have to refer you to these release to speak to that now, of course, we are learning more details about these munitions through a cnn analysis of video at the scene. now that video captured the tail of a gbu-39 small-diameter bomb. you can see some of the images there according to weapons experts these are designed to strategically target important points, but we still also saw all the collateral that was involved in that with the deaths of dozens of people. now, the white house yesterday maintain that israel has not crossed a red line. remember president biden did is