but the closer really was steve witkoff. steve witkoff, the business guy. he describes himself as just a real estate guy from new york, but he did know how to put pressure. and on a key saturday, he went to netanyahu's. you know, he went to netanyahu's home and it was a saturday. it was the sabbath. negotiations don't usually happen then. and he really said, according to nbc news reporting, you know, do you want it or not? i'm going to say the same thing to hamas. and then this week he went into gaza, the first american official to do so since the war began. of course, a year ago, october 7th. and that was the finish line. by then they had the deal, these three phases, but a lot of frustration among the american hostages, that there was no american in the first group's release. so finally today, one american, keith siegel, the oldest. and then we're expecting at least hamas has said that sajid khan, whose father jonathan has been another fierce advocate for the hostage releases he leaves both in israel and in florida. and i've talked to him so many times, i

special envoy to the middle east, steve witkoff is with us, good to see you. to big messages that i see tonight. number 1, iran can never and will never have a nuclear weapon. number 2, gaza, which has been destroyed, can no longer be a launching pad for hamas or other radical islamist terrorists. and knowing donald trump as i do, tell me if i'm wrong, is he not telling the middle east that it is time for you to step up and absorb the population of the palestinian people and rebuild this and demilitarize this area? >> first of all, think you for having me tonight shawn. i think he is telling the middle east that the last 50 years of doing things was not the correct way of doing things. and that he is going to change it up because all of those iterations have not worked. he is also telling the middle east that he wants to be transparent with the palestinian people. gaza today is uninhabitable and will probably be uninhabitable for at least the next 10 to 15 years. that is how much work has to be done. >> sean: are other countries in the region -- because you ha

special envoy steve witkoff, who is here somewhere. steve? stand up, steve, please.hat a good job you have done. i'm proud of you. [applause] you have done a fantastic job. national security adviser mike waltz. thank you, mike, for working so well with us. [applause] thank you. we have in addition, marco rubio who is on the phone right now listening to every single word that we say. and he's going to be great. and, pete, congratulations and scott, congratulations. i see you are here. and karoline has been doing a great job. she has really talked about probably more than anybody here. she has done a fantastic job and thank you very much, karoline. we are proud of you. but we will only be satisfied when all of these problems are solved and we have the team to solve them and that's going to happen. and it's going to happen, i think, very quickly. i also strongly believe that the gaza strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it and especially those who lived there and frankly who has been really v

and later, trump special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff will be with those hours after the presidentivered the stern warning to ira presn, take a look. >> president trump: they cannot have a nuclear weapon.ir around cannot have a nuclear canweapon. we don't want to be tough onca anybody but they cannot have ann nuclear weapon.si >> what if it's iran and their proxies who threatened to retaliate against you and youra team by killing you guys? >> president trump: they have not done that, that would be a terrible thing for them to do, if they did that they would be obliterated. i have left instructions, if they do what they get obliterated. they will not be anything left. and job i should have said thad. >> sean: the president also introduced a proposal for the future of gaza, he said the palestinian population needs to be absorbed by other countries, gaza needs to be demilitarized and he is offering to the do the joariz b and rebuild it into a beautiful safe haven. >> president trump: the only reason the palestinians want to go bacreask to gaza as they havo alternative. it's right now

reporter: the president sees the gaza strip as total demolition site and steve witkoff said countless unexploded munitions are there and damaged buildings that make it unlivable adding it might be 10-15 years to rebuild. if a ceasefire can hold, president trump believes that life needs to change for palestinians. >> it's unsafe, it's unsanitary. it's not a place where people want to live. nobody is going to -- they have no alternative but if we go back and give them alternative of liliving in a beautiful open ple with nice quarters and housing of sorts and the money and middle east can build that. reporter: steve witkoff said they're in phase two of ceasefire deal and negotiating about release of hostages. back to you. larry: edward lawrence, appreciate very, very much. next up, update on trump's tariff diplomacy and fox news peter doocy live in the briefing room. peter, what's cooking? reporter: larry, all the officials continue telling us all the tariffs are about keeping fentanyl out of the country. but we are also marrying from one trade adviser that the trade is part of a laryngo

the special envoy to the president, steve witkoff, recently traveled to gaza and came back with images of the dire situation here. in the president made this decision with the humanitarian heart for all people in the region. reporter: thank you, are any officials here preparing to fight democratic lawmakers in the streets? sec. leavitt: absolutely not. and thanks for the question. reporter: democrats are so steamed about doge. congresswoman mciver says we are at war. gil hon omar says we might see somebody get killed. and chris van hollen says we will have to fight this in the congress and in the streets. so what now? sec. leavitt: and may i just point out, if you heard that type of violent rhetoric from our side of the aisle, from republican leaders on capitol hill, i think there would be a lot more outrage in this room today. it's unacceptable the comments that have been made by these democrat leaders and, frankly, they don't know what they are talking about. because president trump was elected with a mandate from the american people to make this government more efficient. he campaig

we did hear from the middle east envoy steve witkoff just a short time ago. he responded to a question about what president trump meant when he said, just a few days ago that gaza should be cleared out. take a listen. >> this 30,000 unexploded munitions, it is the buildings that could tip over at any moment. there's no utilities there whatsoever. no. no working water, electric, gas, nothing. god knows what kind of disease might be festering there. so when the president talks about cleaning it out, he talks about making it habitable. and this is a long range plan. >> so he's staying there next to the national security adviser, steve witkoff mike waltz. excuse me. and they made clear that they are trying to figure out where these people can go. they're going back mostly to rubble because so much of gaza has been destroyed right now. boris, the focus is continuing these negotiations to keep this cease fire on track and getting to that final phase when reconstruction could actually start. one final note, i think what was interesting in what steve witkoff said the

see a more full now, although the americans are still insisting that things are on track, that steve witkoffregional mediator, pointing out that there are contradictions here between the big picture that president trump has laid out, and this stated commitment to the current ceasefire deal. to jordan and libya. he's in london. peter millett, thank you for talking to us. what your talking to us. what is your reaction to what president trump has said? i reaction to what president trump has said?— reaction to what president trump has said? reaction to what president ti a np has said? reaction to what president ti a np he word. ' reaction to what president ti a np he word. i cannot see rd is a good word. i cannot see this being in any one's interest other than far right in 7- the ground have palestinians on the ground have an affinity to the they an affinity to the land, they are not going to go unless they are not going to go unless they are forced. if they are h, £777ifiat§77 55”... h, 7777that7is7 7777 thatlsethn7|c forced, that is ethnic cleansing, that is a violation, serious violation of in

the first is steven witkoff, who is in the room, to be your middle east envoy. >> where is steve? steven witkoff, everybody. great job in the middle east. really great. but we will see how it all turns out. it is complex but i think he will do very well. >> next we have your special envoy to latin america. >> ok. good man. >> thank you, sir. next we have retired general keith kellogg to be your special envoy on russia-ukraine issues. >> we have made a lot of progress on russia, ukraine. we will see what happens. but a lot of progress has been made. we are going to stop that ridiculous more. >> thank you, sir. next, we have designation of richard grinell to be your envoy for special missions. pres. trump: i sent him to california to turn on the water. it was not easy because we had to go through a lot of environmentalists that are causing a lot of problems. we have billions of gallons of water. it was on three days ago, you probably saw it. should have gotten a lot of press but it didn't get much. while we are doing is giving los angeles and the entire state of california virtually

i'm not at all confident. which is supposed to bring about an end to the war and with steve witkoff,nt president trump's to achieving a ceasefire. and when i looked at my calendar and saw that three weeks was january 20th, it was very clear administration, the incoming administration, that president trump, didn't want to create any problems between the president and himself. and in fact, he's been rewarded for that as new administration. now, the big question is whether trump will will adhere to that pressure and move forward with this second deal. israel certainly will not accept hamas continuing made by anyone who's going to control gaza. first and foremost, the question for the that's been done to gaza. the 100,000 wounded, 80% 2 million people homeless. and whether or not they in fact want hamas to continue to govern that territory. and of course, with these hostage releases, and crucially, how they would take take part in any future negotiations. well, it's very clear that hamas has not been destroyed that they're putting on a show of strength. they were supervising the movement

netanyahu is in washington where he is expected to meet with president trump's middle east envoy, steve witkoff. negotiations on the second phase of the gaza cease-fire, which are set to begin today. netanyahu will meet with president trump tomorrow. for more, let's turn to matt bodner. we are still in the first phase of the cease-fire. how's that going? >> reporter: frances, good morning. the cease-fire is holding for the moment, though it continues to be on shaky ground. over the weekend, hamas released three more israeli hostages. that was on saturday. this was followed hours later by the release of 183 palestinian prisoners from israeli custody. at the same time, allegations of cease-fire violations continue. on sunday, the idf conducted a strike on what they claim was a suspicious vehicle in gaza, this wounded four palestinians. the vehicle was moving outside of authorized areas, making it a suspicious target. several incidents like this have taken place since january 19. we are currently in the first phase after two-phase process. 18 hostages have been released, 60 more will remain in cap

what we expect today is that the first of these high—level meetings will begin. envoy steve witkoff whoome. in the middle east to end. he said he would be discussing in washington victory but here he faces also the struggle for his when the six weeks of this initial ceasefire are over, fire chiefs say the uk is not prepared to deal they have limited resources to manage majorflooding, the national fire chiefs council says the government council says the government for fire and rescue services across the country. in the uk, as well as devastating wildfires in los angeles. on record, with fire and rescue services stretched to their limits. year. and circumstances, at times. in flood, you know, in the number of storms that are affecting our communities. in 2020, flooding incidents attended by fire and rescue by another i2% in 2022. like storm severity, the overall trend shows a steady rise in flooding incidents across the country. a government spokesperson said: . today, the nfcc will publish a new set of recommendations and resilience needed to protect communities, infrastructure and the e

. >> steve witkoff. >> and he does think that this would be a plausible idea. >> and let's. >> listen to a little bit more about what he had to say. >> about it last night. >> i envision a world, people living there, the world's people. i think you'll make that into an international, unbelievable place. i think the potential in the gaza strip is unbelievable, and i think the entire world, representatives from all over the world will be there and they'll and they'll live there. palestinians also palestinians will live there. many people will live there. >> the president saying. >> the potential is unbelievable. you'll notice that you know, him being a builder developer. >> that language. >> matches that banana. >> one of the. >> most potentially stunning. >> parts of this. >> is that the president. >> insists that other surrounding countries, for example, egypt and jordan, will would take some of these palestinian refugees. of course, those countries, it's not just highly unlikely that they wouldn't do it. it's all but impossible. and the president is. essentially asking. >> those coun

that includes steve witkoff, his middle east envoy, as well as national security advisor mike waltz. i'm told that he actually spoke about this. both of them spoke about this with netanyahu when they met with him on monday at blair house. so this wasn't exactly something that came out of nowhere. the president was planning on saying this. but again, a lot of people, including people within his own administration, were not fully anticipating this, while others who have been involved in these conversations were. now, we did hear as well. some support of messages in the aftermath of this from people, top people in his cabinet, people like secretary of state marco rubio. i want to read for you what he posted. it was also quite striking. he wrote, um, quote he said, um, excuse me. oh, here we go. gaza must be free from hamas. as potus shared today, the united states stands ready to lead and make gaza beautiful again. our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people. now, one thing as well, boris, that i'm picking up on in my conversations is how serious the president is ab

now steve witkoff, the president's middle east envoy spoke a little bit about this idea last night. i want you to take a listen to what he had to say. >> peace in the region means a better life for the palestinians. a better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you're in today. a better life is about better opportunity, better aspirations for you and your family. that doesn't occur because you get to pitch a tent in the gaza strip. >> reporter: now you're seeing this being framed as a way to give palestinians more security, more opportunity. that is certainly how it is not being interpreted across much of the arab middle east. and frances, we should say that while the esident announced this and the high-profile forum standing next to the israeli prime minister, it really isn't clear at this point if he's actually doing anything to turn this into u.s. policy or what that policy would look like on ground. >> here at home, bipartisan lawmakers calling it dee ranged. >>> mr. trump's cabinet is starting to come together. only one democrat voted for pam bondi. and two o

the special envoy, steve witkoff, who's here somewhere, steve. stand up. steve, please.a job you've done. what a good job you've done. i'm proud of. >> you. >> he's done a fantastic job. national security adviser mike waltz. thank you, mike, for working so well with us. thank you. we have uh, in addition, marco rubio, who is on the phone right now listening to every single word that we say. and he's going to be great. and, pete, congratulations. and, scott, congratulations. i see you're here. and, uh, caroline's been doing a great job. she's really probably talked about more than anybody here. she's done a fantastic job. and thank you very much, caroline. we're proud of you. but we'll only be satisfied when all of these problems are solved. and we have the team to solve them. and that's going to happen, and it's going to happen. i think very quickly. i also strongly believe that the gaza strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it, and especially those who live there and frankly, who's been really

now steve witkoff, the president's middle east envoy was on fox news after this bombshell idea was floated at the news conference alongside benjamin netanyahu. this is what he had to say about how he envisaged this proposal working out. take a listen. >> peace in the region means a better life for the palestinians. a better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you're in today. a better life is about a better opportunity. better financial conditions. better aspirations for you and your family. that doesn't occur because you get to pitch a tent in the gaza strip. >> reporter: so this is being framed as a way to get palestinians safely out of the devastated gaza strip and on a longererm basis give them better opportunities. but frances, that is not how it is being interpreted through a lot of the middle east. egypt and jordan, both saying they see this as a non-starter. hamas saying they will not allow the palestinian people to be displaced. and frankly, frances, we don't know at this point whether there are real mechanisms in place to make this formal u.s. policy. >> a sho

will be the first foreign the isreali pm is already in washington meeting with middle east envoy steve witkoffasefire. cessation of hostilities. however, it comes as the wall streetjournal congress to approve an arms sale to israel worth $1 billion. this is the border rafa it is ten past eight local time, so activities ongoing as it is ten past eight local tirr that» activities ongoing as it is ten past eight local tirr that is ctivities ongoing as it is ten past eight local tirr that is much as ongoing as it is ten past eight local tirr that is much as ongoir is as it is ten past eight local tirr that is much as ongoir is in. you see, the trucks are ihiédéiiw 7 77 7 77 7551197555217 77 $5“;ng so 54,51; 7 15“;ng so béépiéaie reddish through and people are as the trucks go gathering as the aid trucks go through and there's is; 1 iljmping jumping on 7777 7 jumping on board on peoplejompihgeoh board on the of trucks as are 7to 7 to get hold7of any as it 7 as it passes through, so the 7 7 the pictures7we are those are the pictures we are receiving this morning from thanks for talking us. thanks fo

trump's middle east envoy, steve witkoff, to discuss negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire those talks come after the israeli military said it fired at a suspicious vehicle in northern gaza that wasn't traveling on the route agreed to in the ceasefire. new preliminary data shows conflicting readings about the altitudes of the passenger jet and army helicopter when they collided near reagan national airport this past week. the national transportation safety board said different readings came from data from the passenger jet's flight recorder and data from the control tower. investigators say it could still be months before they have final answers about what happened. today, family members and loved ones of the 67 people killed in wednesday night's crash visited the scene. a short time later first responders said the bodies of 12 of the victims remain in the water but they are committed to giving the families closure. >> they're just all hurt and they still want answers and we want to give them answers. it's horrible. no one should have to suffer through this. so, yeah, it is

netanyahu is in washington where he is expected to meet with president trump's middle east envoy, steve witkoff. on the agenda, negotiations on the second phase of the gaza cease-fire, which are set to netanyahu will meet with president trump tomorrow. for more on this, let's turn to matt bodner. in the first phase of the re stl cease-fire, how is it going? >> reporter: the cease-fire is holding for the moment but appears to be on shaky grounds. over the weekend, hamas released three more israeli hostages. this was followed by the release of 183 palestinian prisoners from israeli custody. at the same time, allegations of cease-fire violations were claimed. the idf says a vehicle was moving outside of authorized areas, making it a suspicious target. several incidents like this have taken place since the cease-fire went into effect on january 19th. we are currently in the first phase of a two-phase process. during the first phase, hamas is set to release 33 hostages. 18 have been released so far. 60 more will remain in captivity for now. phase two is meant to see the release of those remaining ho

mr netanyahu is already in washington meeting with president trump's middle east envoy steve witkoff worth the white house, it's worth out they had at points pointing out they had atpoints fractious relationship a fractious relationship the two men. he will be between the'two'menrrhe—will'be to hear president words 7_77 words about one row, the nation's agency, will no united nation's agency,rwill no be e’i also bgryger be funded. and is also to emphasise what he sees keen to emphasise what he sees strategic threat posed as the strategic threat posed by israel's rival by iran, israel's great rival in the region. in short, per minister netanyahu is going to in the region. in short, per mi trying ~ietanyahu is going to in the region. in short, per mi trying to :anyahu is going to in the region. in short, per mi trying to influence going to in the region. in short, per mi trying to influence the 1g to be trying to influence the thinking the new man in the thinking of the new man in the white house, to shift his worldview to one that aligns with the one that mr netanyahu —: 7 -7 it is po

think prime minister netanyahu for working closely with my transition team, the special envoy steve witkoff, who is here somewhere. steve? standup steve, please. what a good job you have done. what a good job you have done. proud of you. done a fantastic job. national security advisor mike waltz. thank you. we have, uh, in addition, marco rubio, who is on the phone right now listening to every single word that we say. he's gonna be great. pete, congratulations. scott, congratulations, i see you are here. caroline has been doing a great job. she has really probably talked about more than anybody here. she has done a fantastic job and thank you very much, caroline. we are proud of you. we will only be satisfied when all of these problems are solved and we have the team to solve them and that is going to happen. it's gonna happen i think very quickly. i also strongly believe the gaza strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it, especially those who live there. and frankly, it has been very unlucky. it has been an unluck

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steve witkoff to discuss the second stage of the gaza ceasefire.evastation that has been left from rafa, and you can see the d! the :ation that has been left from rafa, and you can see the d! the area i that has been left from rafa, and you can see the d! the area but t has been left from rafa, and you can see the d! the area but t has been the in the area but throughout the last hour we have seen aid going into area and w wtogoon w w to go on after the they started to go on after the ceasefire was agreed and ceasefire deal was agreed and the food programme said the world food pregame-25 5355 w ... more the world food pregame-25 535w w ... more trucks the werte feet! pregame-25 535w w w more trucks have the werte feet! pregame-25 eeieww w w more trucks have managed many more trucks have managed to get in since that although has said it needs 200,000 hamas has said it needs 200,000 tends to house the many people who have headed to the north of the territory since the road reopened as part of the aan hostage deal. who is in jerusalem. we can start th

situation and very much because of president trump's hands on leadership, his presidential envoy steve witkoff is conducting shuttle diplomacy and gone to gaza and first american official in gaza in 15 years and what we're seeing right now is that the president is thinking out of the box and coming up with suggestions that will actually lead to peace in the region and not get stuck on avenues that did not work in the past. joey: i felt like the conversation of her ended on the idea of what that looks like after this is over, whatever over means. the war, hostages or whatever over means. she brought up the abraham accords and the question is not just is there a two state solution, what is the relationship with the neighbors after this? rachel: yeah, it's a really interesting point and meeting with benjamin netanyahu and going for them taking office and it'll be interested as well and screaming to the negotiation and didn't really want this donald trump committed to peace and finding a long term solution and not just because he wants that region to have peace but wants america to focus on americ

. >> i know you and steve witkoff met with netanyahu yesterday tell us about this idea and how this came about. >> well, the president has been thinking about this for quite sometime. and has received a number of briefings, including his special envoy witkoff's multiple trips to the region. look. here is a common sense reality that the president is absolutely rooted in, hamas started this war roughly 16 months ago, it -- the palestinian people are the victims of hamas's terrorist dictatorship gone on in gaza for quite sometime, you're talking to me a veteran has little been shot at by terrorists hiding behind women and children, used as human shields ill defended its having we rightly supported that reality is gaza is a wasteland miles and miles and miles of rubble, you have nearly two million people living without with sewage, barely with drinking water, with hundreds and hundreds of trucks trying to bring basic necessities of life, so the entire region heart breaks for these people, who have suffered under hamas far too long we are not hearing or seeing any realistic plans for what to

. >> benjamin netanyahu met with michael waltz university and steve witkoff, who is hopeful about negotiationsen israel and hamas. president trump expressed skepticism about the ceasefire future. >> president trump: i have no idea if it will hold, no guarantee peace will hold. >> the two leaders will hold a press conference following their meeting, it could be later today and could include dinner. >> steve: you never know. thank you. >> ainsley: hand over to carley with headlines for us. >> carley: good morning to you, guys. more news. transportation secretary sean duffy visiting site of the deadly medivac crash yesterday. he is saying it is save to fly despite the fl flight and phily. >> air travel is safe e69 form of travel in the country. you can travel and feel good about it on american airlines. this is safest mode of transportation and understand as public and demand we can't stand to have crashes, this is unacceptable. >> carley: he says they will hire more air traffic controllers . and vice president j.d. vance heading to upper yoo for his fis trip abroad since taking offic. he will he

and you know the on going conversations that special envoy steve witkoff had with saudis. reporter: administration officials say that presidencies gaza strip as a ddemolition site, witkoff said countless unexploded munitions are still there and damaged buildings that make it unliveable, it might be 10 to 15 years to rebuild, if a cease-fire can hold president trump believes that life needs to be changed for palestinians. >> it unsafe and unsanitary, not a place -- they have no alternative but to go back, if we gave them one, living in a beautiful open place, with some you know nice quarters, nice housing, of sorts, and we have the money and middle east to build it. reporter: special envoy witkoff said they are in phase 2 of that ceasefire deal they are negotiating about next release of hostages. larry. larry: all right, edward lawrence, i appreciate it very much. let's see next up, update on trump's tariff diplomacy, fox news peter doocy is live in the briefs room, what's cooking. reporter: tell me. and all officials that we're talking to here at house tell us that tariffs

anyone who walks the ground, as steve witkoff did sees it is a wasteland of rubble and nobody can reasonablyere for over a decade that we think it's going to take to rebuild. let's talk those practical solutions and keep getting out the hostages. at the same time, we cannot allow hamas to conduct future october 7th. they have to be destroyed and removed from power. the palestinian people have ultimately been the victim of this terrorist dictatorship that launched the war. >> martha: netanyahu would like the united states to take over the gaza strip? >> look, there is all kinds of forms of ownership. we have the deal maker in chief sitting right there in the same seat as the commander-in-chief and all of those discussions are ongoing. he is casting a big, broad, bold vision and this won't be the first time we've seen the world come along. >> martha: mike waltz, thank you so much. great to have you with us today. more to come. thank you, sir. >> dana: trump's illegal immigration crackdown moving at full speed with first deportation flights landing at guat gitmo. deliverer of dance. ok, dave! l

steve witkoff talking about this with us at a lunch in and talking about it and help from all the countriesthere to try and get a solution to this. not only sanctions being tightened and oil turned off as much as possible and also no nuclear weapons and iran cannot have nuclear weapons and i don't know whether he's allowed -- president's elaborated on that or not. what do you think? we have problems with all their people they support, the houthis and hamas and people in hezbollah and lebanon and staying with president trump and keeping him in a situation where he's got a chance to get some answer to this. so stay with him and give him a opportunity to do whatever he needs to do to gloat a collusion to challengers bog on in the middle east. larry: senate xx tommy tuckerville, thank you ever so much, sir. we appreciate it. moving along in washington dc. joining us now is cliff ton and going for them and i see that. you've grown in the super star. you ragaini about that and going for them. the five year tax cut extension and going for them and why, why do we have cbo just admitted that i was l

. >> we will be joined by an all-star lineup, including white house committee special envoy steve witkoffnd paul, congressman ryan matyas. a huge lineup coming up. all new at 2:00. we will be right back. minutes. this isn't a spa. (laughs) that's a rule. meanwhile, at a vrbo— when other vacation rentals make you share your turf with a host, try one that's all yours. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. and adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for type 1 diabetes or children. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take if you or your family had mtc, men 2, or if allergic to it. stop taking and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or any of these allergic reactions. tell

ceasefire would not be in effect if it were not for president trump and his middle east envoy, steve witkoffot the ball across the line. as they look forward here though, they will be faced with an incredibly challenging domestic political situation, because the israeli prime minister is under immense pressure from current cabinet members and former cabinet members including his former national security minister to resume the war against hamas if inside gaza. and i can tell you that the images that we're seeing out of gaza today certainly don't help the situation. the prime minister previously said that israel was close to total victory, that they had methodically destroyed and dismantled these hamas if brigades across the strip. the reality is far from that. you see hamas in the backs of pickup trucks parading through the streets of gaza. they're being cheered on, and they still have weapons and fires that if israel because go back to war against this organization, they will be up against. it is an incredibly challenging domestic political situation for the prime minister, and we can expect

middle east special envoy steve witkoff and national security advice i mike walz yesterday as the administrationprove a $1 billion weapon sale to israel that would include thousands of bombs and armored bulldozers. well, state farm insurance is asking for an emergency rate hike from california state regulators after wildfires devastated the los angeles area. the company is seeking a 22% increase for homeowners and 15% hike for renters that would go into effect by may 1st. it's warning multi billion dollar payouts threaten the balance sheet saying the boost is necessary to say solvent. the insurance administration will review to make sure people are not being mischarged. the trump administration reportedly is considering a sweeping executive order that bodies mantel the department of education, shifting power back to the states and limiting federal involvement in schools. officials discussing moves to shut down parts of the agency not ex p explicitly written froe statute or fold into other departments. the department of education doled out over $2 million to universities to fund counseling course

prime minister met with trump national security adviser mike waltz and middle east special envoy steve witkofffor special presidential for adam boehler joins us now. great to see you, adam. obviously, trump and bibi have an awful lot to talk about. probably the most important thing at the moment is the fact that as we are getting hostages returned, which is fantastic news, the problem is that hamas still has its deadly grip over gaza and elsewhere in the middle east. what are the moving parts that they are going to talk about to figure out how to solve that problem? >> i think first and foremost. they need to separate out the hostage issue from occupation. sometimes they get intertwined. but the number one priority has to be for the israeli people and quite frankly for us as americans is to get every single hostage out. that's what the president of the united states said. that's what he wants to do. and i want to be clear, there are two americans that are supposed to be released very soon. we have got a soldier that's the second phase. but these are americans. this is somebody that grew up in

special envoy steve witkoff, who's here somewhere. steve. stand up. steve, please.you. >> done a fantastic job. national security adviser mike waltz. thank you, mike, for working so well with us. thank you. we have in addition, marco rubio, who is on the phone right now listening to every single word that we say. and he's going to be great. and pete, congratulations. and, scott, congratulations. i see you're here. and caroline's been doing a great job. she's really probably talked about more than anybody here. she's done a fantastic job. and thank you very much caroline. we're proud of you. but we'll only be satisfied when all of these problems are solved and we have the team to solve them. and that's going to happen, and it's going to happen, i think, very quickly. i also strongly believe that the gaza strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it, and especially those who live there and frankly, who's been really very unlucky. it's been very unlucky. it's been an unlucky place for a long time

. >> whatever happened to america first, president trump's mideast envoy steve witkoff says it's unreasonable to think that palestinians could even return to gaza within the next 5 years because of all of the destruction in washington. i'm today some lot back to you. protests are taking place outside of state capitols across the country in response to the trump administration's executive orders, demonstrators say those. >> are part of the heart. the are the orders are part of a heart right playbook called project 2025. rallies taking place in sacramento, indianapolis and philadelphia, among some other locations. these rallies are meant to focus on issues like immigration, transgender rights and the gaza strip proposal. last weekend, thousands of people marched against the deportation plans that was in southern california. still ahead here this afternoon, a lawsuit claiming the university of california is the going giving administration preferences will break down accusations. >> break college students in the south getting some new digs. we're going to take a look at redesigning plans for san

monday netanyahu with national security adviser mike waltz and the president's middle east envoy steve witkoffis he hopeful the negotiations will be fruitful, still the president on monday expressed some skepticism about the cease-fire's future. >> i have no assurances that it will hold. i mean, i have seen people brutalized. i have never -- nobody has ever seen anything like it. no, i have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold. >> president trump will reportedly hold a joint news conference with netanyahu later today. steve, ainsley and charlie? >> steve: all right, maddy, thank you very much. >> ainsley: thank you. >> steve: one of the other things, and he won't be able to work it out with mr. netanyahu, he has said in the past that he would like to get jordan and egypt to take some of the people from gaza. i think his terminology was to help clean out gaza. so just like the problem with a lot of migrants in this country about we want to send them back, where do the people of gaza go because for the most part gaza has been leveled. a lot of it. >> ainsley: president trump saying egyp

. >> and steve witkoff, who is president trump's new special envoy to the middle east, has just traveled to gaza. no american official of his stature, anyway, has been to gaza for quite a long time, and i think he came out of there expressing, you know, what an extraordinarily devastated place that really is and how much work is going to need to be put in to rebuild it. he i think what his statement emphasized was that america has a role in that. now that america is not the only the only one that has a role in that. both the biden administration, i presume the trump administration will try to recruit arab countries in the region to play a big role in that. it won't be just the united states, but there's obviously a national security interest there in the united states, rebuilding or at least finding a way to deal with the crisis, the humanitarian crisis in gaza, because that simply, of course, destabilizes that region even more. the more gaza is, you know, left to be a wreckage and a wasteland, the more possibility there is for insecurity, for terrorism, for conflict. so again, as jeff s

. >> and president trump's mideast envoy steve witkoff says he doesn't think palestinians will be able to move back into gaza even for 5 years because of the scale of that destruction. >> and what is the status of the cease-fire in the region right now? >> yeah. so there's phase one of the cease-fire that was negotiated during the biden administration with some help from some trump folks that's holding right now. it's a temporary stop and fighting some of the hostages came back. they're negotiating right now, a phase 2, but there are some people in israel's government to want prime minister netanyahu to ignore phase 2 and start the fighting again. >> all right. thank you for that live report of an a and president trump is expected to sign another executive order this time involving transgender athletes in women's sports. the order titled keeping men out of women's sports will prevent trans women and girls who were born male to compete in women's sports. san jose state university. there has become a flash point in this debate over whether to protect transgender athletes under title 9 ea

middle east envoy steve witkoff netanyahu is scheduled to meet tuesday with u.s.resident donald trump. >> in the meantime, the families of the latest group of freed hostages thanked those involved in their release and urged israel to reach a deal to free all of the remaining hostages in gaza. on sunday, the israeli military blew up several buildings in a west bank refugee camp. you can see the debris there for rising from the explosions in this video. the palestinian news agency says nearly 20 buildings were blown up in jenin, leaving palestinian families displaced. >> the israeli military launched a large scale operation in the west bank on the heels of the gaza ceasefire deal. israeli officials say the buildings were used as terrorist infrastructure. israel has provided no no evidence to support that claim. donald trump says he has, quote, meetings and talks scheduled with the ukrainian and russian leaders, but he isn't giving away any details yet about when those talks will take place so far. officials in kyiv don't seem impressed by the trump administration's

after he talked about clearing it out, his mideast envoy, steve witkoff, earlier today had said that when the president talks about clearing it out, he's talking about making it habitable. but what we heard from the president there in the oval office is that, no, he's actually really talking about clearing it out of people. he was asked, where would the people go? where would palestinians go? he said jordan and other places. and he seemed to say they would just be very happy to do that, to go somewhere else. um, historically, that is not the case. that is not certainly what would be expected here. so a lot more to fact check, but we're here at the end of our hour. >> yeah. and also he said those chinese retaliatory tariffs are fine. we'll dig into that on the lead with jake tapr

because what he was just saying, i don't like steve witkoff as of now, his middle east envoy has been by all observations that i've heard, been very thoughtful and diligent leader in this region. yeah. while that sounds you know, there was a joke during the first trump administration, you know, donald from queens, you're on the air like, you know, he would just say, like what? just, you know, just like some guy from queens was spouting off on am radio and like, how much was that new policy and how much of that was donald from queens? you're on the air. >> well, i mean, it does if you don't really when you're not focused on the history of this place or what it means to displace. >> people to real estate. >> things, then it is common sense. it does kind of make sense. why would you have people living in rubble with as what national security advisor walt said today, or and also witkoff said today? you know, i think 80,000 unexploded ordnance in this area with buildings falling down. it's literally a dangerous place. and both of them, the national security adviser tried to change this. an

steve witkoff, the middle east envoy, has been spending time on the ground with hostage families. he's going to be hearing about all the bad things that hamas has done and how hamas needs to be defanged, but then you're going to have riyadh come in and say, i'm the king of jordan is supposed to be visiting soon as well, saying, the only way that you will have peace in the middle east, true peace, if is if there is a two state palestinian independent state solution. >> yeah. and we know that some of the hostages are here in town and sending a message to both the prime minister and the president as there are more hostages there, as well as palestinians who are living in a hellscape in gaza, wondering what is next. kim dozier, thank you so much. a new hour of cnn news central starts right now. >> so breaking this morning, standing by to see the markets open after the new trade war launched overnight, president trump backed away from two fights. why is he moving ahead with this one? thousands of aid workers in limbo this morning with millions, maybe billions of dollars in aid, twistin

. >> that was president trump's special envoy to the middle east, steve witkoff, supporting his boss'sshocking proposal for the gaza strip. the president suggesting the u.s. would take over the territory. >> mr. president, given what you've said. >> about gaza, did the u.s. send troops to help secure the security vacuum? >> as far as gaza is concerned, we'll do what is necessary. if it's necessary, we'll do that. we're going to take over that piece that we're going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs. >> trump's pitch turned the land into the riviera of the middle east. that would require displacing nearly 2 million palestinians. a hamas official remember, they governed gaza, calling it, quote, a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region. trump's middle east special envoy, now doubling down on the idea. >> it's a dangerous place to live today. and the president is saying, let's make it better for these people. let's give them more hope. and if there are different places for them to live, let them, let them. let them make that choice. and i think he's right.