There was so much sorrow here, for those who have missing loved ones or witnessed their abduction. We crossed the rubicon in terms of being uncharted territory, never having seen anything like this. Reporter blood on the walls. Bullet holes in the walls. They just went in there and shot these innocent people. They shot him. And i was saved. He absorbed all the bullets. We dont know if shes alive, if shes hiding. I cannot describe the pain i feel. I dont even want to connect to my own emotions because i know that i will fall apart. I dont know if someone invented a word to describe what happened there. It was planned, well designed. We have never seen atrocities like this time. The images of the devastation and destruction are just the beginning. Were working every hour with israeli officials on these americans where they are and how they are. The things that survivors saw are things they will never forget. The world needs to see this. And the world is watching as we begin this hour. Again, with this breaking news. We are following very fastmoving developments with israels war with hamas as it escalates. These are live images on your screen of gaza as air strikes there continue overnight. Israel pounding gaza with more of these air strikes despite hamas threat to execute the hostages they are holding in retaliation. Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu says this is, quote, just beginning. We also learned up to 150 hostages including children and americans are believed to be in gaza right now. And hamas militants are threatening to kill them and to do it on camera. And theres growing signs that israel could soon launch a Ground Offensive into gaza. This is new video from our team on the Ground Massing near the border. Moments ago our Nic Robertson had a firsthand look at one of the border communities invaded by the hamas militants during their unprecedented surprise attack. Reporter these were the homes of the young families. The general told me when his troops got here and this is the end of the kibbutz that is closer to the gate with gaza. So when hamas came in, these were some of the first buildings they went to. People, their families, were hiding inside. Parents, young parents, with young children. And he said, when they opened the doors and went in, he said some of them had their hands bound and they had been shot, executed. This is why the death toll keeps, keeps climbing here in israel. Over 900 people now. Why . Because its only when the military can take control of these villages that they can begin to find the cost of hamas attack. That they can actually get into the buildings that are in the community thats now secure. And just find out how many families were slaughtered. And thats why the number keeps going up. And you know, when you talk to a career general, 39 years in the military, he himself just moved himself when he retired, moved himself here as soon as he could on saturday morning, when you see the tiredness in his eyes. I asked him before when he was rubbing his face, i said have you had any sleep . Its like, no. Not since saturday. These guys have been on the go. This is now where they take a pause, take a breath. They brought a number of journalists here today. Were on the team that they brought in. But this is where they can pause. But its a pause to move forward. Its not a pause to rest back. This is how it feels. And as nic described to us in his reporting earlier, it is only as they go town by town, kibbutz by kibbutz they find more bodies, more killed and the number this morning, the death toll in israel, at least 900 confirmed dead. And nearly 700 palestinians have been killed in gaza. We have Team Coverage on all of this. Lets bring in our Nic Robertson. Nic, to you. Tell us more of what youve been seeing on the ground this morning in that kibbutz and show us where you are in relation to the gaza border. Reporter yeah, the gaza border is just sort of through the kibbutz over the hill there. You cant see it at the moment. We moved away from the location we were at before. But this is one of the houses that hamas was holding out in. That the Israeli Defense forces had to take back control of as they came in to the kibbutz, working their way through it, working their way through it, going deeper and deeper and deeper. We have been around this area now. Its astounding what you see, an elderly persons Mobility Scooter outside a house. We have no idea what happened to that person in that Mobility Scooter. Kids toys just strewn. Kids bikes just strewn around. There are Hand Grenades left by hamas on the pathways to houses. You have to watch where you put your feet because you can quite literally step on a grenade if youre not watching where youre going. There are forensic teams going through all the different houses, searching the houses. Making sure they recovered everyone from here. Making sure the buildings are now safe. When you look at the edge of the kibbutz, we got down to the edge before quite close to that, quite close to the gaza end, there were still holes in the fence. Theyre patched up, if you will, by having huge tanks parked across them. And the whole time that were here, you can hear these explosions going off. Those are explosions in gaza. Its so close. Thats why theyre so loud. And it gives you an indication sort of active volatility of this situation. So it is, as i was saying before, a pause to move forward, not a pause to sit back. This one is secure. Theyre securing more. But as we heard from the Israeli Defense force from today the day and the general in charge, theres no 100 certainty that you have every single hamas operative Inside Israel. That continues to be a threat. That will continue to be a threat. There are more troops coming in. There is more heavy armor coming in. There are tanks here. There are a lot of infinity here. But theres also that forensic work to go through all the buildings. So many booby traps here as we witnessed. And so easy to almost stumble upon them as well. Becky anderson is live for us in tel aviv. Becky, to nics point, this is a pause to move forward. Not a pause to fall back. Do we have any sense whether or not a Ground Incursion is imminent at this point . Reporter yeah. I think the bottom line here that a Ground Incursion does seem probable and imminent. The idf has, to quote their spokesman, saturated the Southern Border with troops, reports of as many as 300,000 troops. Those are just reports. Cant confirm them at present. But we certainly seen this massive buildup. They continue with the intensity of these targeted air strikes, which has seen military par lens softening up the ground as it were for a ground attack. Just to be quite clear, were in tel aviv. Down the coastline, of course, is gaza. And we can hear the booms from here. Its sort of continuous rumbling and has been for, what, hours and hours and hours. 200 strikes overnight alone they say. And to quote the Idf Spokesman, i think this is important. On the Ground Incursion, he said the issue here is that we have been tasked with mitigating or making sure that hamas doesnt have any military capabilities at the end of the war. And that will be achieved. And he went on to explain i quote, what happens on the way and how we implement that task will be seen. But at this stage, we continue to strike from the air and there are plans, of course, to expand that. And the troops, the reserves and the regular units that are amassing along the Southern Border are readying for their task. So, i think its quite clear and we have been told this both on and off the record, that this Ground Incursion is clearly on the table. The israelis are not going to release the details as to when that will start, but you see all of the sort of planning that goes into what they will hope will be an Effective Ground incursion building up. Now, what that Effective Ground incursion looks like, though, what this ground war will lock like and what sort of price will be paid in terms of lives, of course, is a massive question. At least there are these 150 hostages as we know in gaza. Then theres the lives of the civilian palestinians as well, which are clearly absolutely in play here. And will be a real concern to the idf. They say that these are military targets, that they are degrading at present. But you can only imagine what this Ground Incursion is going to look like, how they will try and secure these hostages and how they will try and avoid civilian loss of life. But thats difficult. Absolutely difficult. This is so complicated. Back to you guys. Becky, thank you so much for that reporting. To our Nic Robertson, our appreciation for his reporting on the ground as well. Well get back to you soon. Joining us life from tel aviv, spokesperson for the Israel Defense forces. Sir, we appreciate your time. I want to start with nic has been on the ground and kind of watching all this Work Kibbutz Through kibbutz. In terms of the scale of the attack, do you have an assessment of how many hamas militants were killed . We have seen numbers ranging from 1500 to 1600 . Do you have clear numbers at this point . No. We still dont know exactly how many terrorists infiltrated or were killed by the idf and the other Security Forces operating in the immediate vicinity of the communities, the towns that the kibbutz of southern israel. What is clear, the magnitude of their attack is unprecedented. As Nic Robertson clearly pointed out and showed you these devastating images of the destruction, disregard for human life and just them being bent on hamas, this terrorist organization being bent on ab abducting, killing and massacring people in bedrooms. To that point, that has i think the recognition of that has driven the assumption of an imminent Ground Incursion, invasion, from idf forces. Is there an update on what that time line may be at this point . Well, obviously i wont go into operational details. Indeed the idf is rallying its forces. We have recruited over 300,000 reserve troops. And we are making the preparations to take this to the next step. Will a Ground Incursion, will it happen . The most important demand is that hamas release all of the prisoners, all of the civilians, all of the women, children and men they abducted to gaza and release them to israel immediately because they will bear the consequences of their action. You cannot expect that they infiltrate into israel, abduct and kill and that they will not be any consequences to their actions. They are going to be on the Receiving End of the idfs capabilities. When you talk about those capabilities, hamas officials have threatened to execute those hostages if there are continued strikes, if there is a Ground Incursion. To what extent does that factor in to the planning here . I would highly recommend that they dont do that. As i said, we are very, very concerned about the civilians abducted into gaza, about israelis, about the women, about the children, about the elderly. Its unacceptable. We cannot accept that. They have to calculate their steps in a way where they restore and release the israelis that theyre holding or pay those consequences. You know, what were doing and as Becky Anderson rightly pointed out, were currently targeting hamas infrastructure, their command and control positions, their staging grounds because they are still trying to stage attacks against israel. We wont let them. This devastation of Israeli Society cannot be permitted to happen again. We wont let it happen. That is why we are rallying. Is there any shift in terms of posture, in terms of how you guys deal with potential Collateral Damage in a place like gaza, given the scale and brutality of the attacks that you have seen over the course of the last several days . Our war is against hamas. They chose strategically to attack israeli civilians on saturday. We are seeking them out and we will seek them out and destroy their capabilities, degrade their operational elements against israel and if need be, hunt them down. Our enemy is not the people of gaza but their leadership will pay a price for their actions. U. S. Officials said they offered fbi assistance when it comes to Hostage Recovery. Have been discussions about other players, any headway on that front . Do you have any developments in terms of a potential breakthrough . I cant say i cant comment on that. Our relationship with our u. S. Counterparts is extremely strong. Historically and were very grateful for their support. The idf is fighting its fight at this time, using our forces, our intelligence, our operational capabilities and the support of our colleagues and friends Around The World is very much appreciated. Last one before i let you go, have you seen any signs theres been a lot of concern about up north in terms of what hezbollah may do. Has there been any signs of escalation on their side of things, any signs things could be ramping up there . We had a few skirmishes yesterday including an Infiltration Attempt which the idf killed. Unfortunately one of our servicemen was killed in the exchange there. Theyve also fired some rounds towards the border. I would advise hezbollah, look very carefully at whats happening in gaza today against hamas. Look very carefully at how hamas is hiding and needs to be continue to hide from our actions. There will be very severe consequences if they decide to chime in. I suggest they look stay on the sidelines because we are prepared. We have the forces on the ground. We have the forces in the air. And also at sea. So, we hope not but were prepared if r that outcome as well. Lieutenant colonel peter lemer, we appreciate your time. Thank you very much. Now back to the civilians in anguish the middle of all of this. Ahead, were going to speak to parents desperately trying to find their 23yearold son. You see him there. He was attending a Music Festival on saturday when hamas militants shot civilians and took hostages. And this just in, why some israeli parents are being told to remove social media from their childrens phones as a Hostage Crisis in gaza unfolds. So this just in to cnn a new alert to some israeli parents that is a grim preview of what may come in the days ahead. They are being told to remove social media from their childrens phones because they might be exposed to hostage videos. Here is more reporting on this. Good morning. What can you tell us . Reporter poppy, this is a message from the Parent Association at a tel aviv high school. The mother who is both british and israeli forwarded me. This came from the Parents Association saying we have been informed obviously we saw the threats from hamas to execute and broadcast those executions of hostages if israel were to carry out attacks on the gaza strip without prior warning. So following on from that, this message saying we have been informed that may be videos of hostages begging for their lives. Please remove tiktok app, the tiktok app from your childrens mobile phones. We cannot allow our kids to watch this stuff. Its also difficult for us to contain all this social media. Thank you for your cooperation. This is a Parent Association. Its not something coming from the Education Ministry or anything like that but clearly there is a lot of concern and anxiety about children who otherwise at least physically are affected by whats happening mainly in the south of israel being exposed to Something Like broadcast executions. So, a lot of anxiety, a lot of concern about this. Children in israel are very mobile savvy. You know many of them have smart phones from the age of 7 or 8. So there is a concern that with pretty much all of them exposed to social media, if this does transpire, broadcast executions that their children will be exposed to them. Trying to protect them in any way they can. Thank you. Lets bring in cnn chief International Anchor christiane amanpour, Foreign Affairs correspondent, rina naan. Guys, i actually want to start with you. We were talking yesterday about the dynamics here related to hamas. And that hamas in terms of when it came into actual elected governmental power and how israel played that between the Palestinian Authority and fata at the time, there was no expectation it would ever reach this scale. And trying to figure out what israel does next i think is a difficult thing because you never thought it would get to this point. Yeah. Israel has to figure out what its objective is. We know this very well in the u. S. In terms of going into war. What is the objective . What is the end goal, iraq, afghanistan, it changes over time. Israel dealt with the same thing. War in lebanon in 06. In terms of hamas, were talking about regime. Were talking about regime change. I was struck by the Idf Spokesperson talking about decimating hamas. Last night netanyahu talked about eliminating hamas, saying the west knows how to deal with isis, complete elimination. What youre talking about there is regime change. Regime change could take months if not years and what replaces it . Israel has to be very clear with its objectives and figure out what exactly is the end goal for what hamas is after all this. Christiane, as we think about the end goal and what that means, you also just had a very powerful interview. What can you tell us and share with us . As you heard the Idf Spokesperson, first and foremost, theres a number 1500 dead hamas has been recovered. That is what were being told from Inside Israel in the fights between Israeli Forces and hamas as they try to secure the border over the last, you know, since saturday. So that what weve been told. 1500 hamas bodies. Secondly, the Idf Spokesman and generally israel and its government are very, very, very concerned clearly about the hostages. As you heard men, women, children, elderly. And i have been talking to friends who also know people who have been taken, relatives who have been taken and its really high, highest on peoples list. So i was speaking on my program yesterday to a young woman. Her name is alexandra. Her sister, 19 years old, was taken. And this was our exchange. The last call my sister made was on the 7th of october, saturday. 6 30 a. M. She called me then my parents. And she basically called to say goodbye. That she loves us. And she told that theyre in the bomb shelter because of the missiles and the bombing. And then after the bombing, there was a raid on the base. They heard the terrorists that they are going through the base near them. And that they heard shooting. We guess that the terrorists shot all the male or female who did that were able to get weapon. And they hurt the other girls and took them and abducted them. So, you can hear alexandra saying that this was a military base. There were many, many women in that military base. And her sister is one of those who was taken. Now i will say because youre talking about the end game, wider conflagration. Many are supporting israels right to self defense. There seems to be if not green light, you know, green light being given for pretty much as much as it takes. However, we are also hearing at the same time former officials, certain officials, warning that this exactly what hamas wants. The former british secretary written in the newspaper today that that is hamas aim, to draw israel into a massive reaction, to potentially spur reaction from all over the region, a higher conflagration and this is clear he said, to cause so many deaths inside gaza, palestinian deaths inside gaza to eventually make israel potentially lose the moral high ground as they defend themselves against this mass murder. Thats the warning from William Hague as the next steps are considered. To that point, i think thats absolutely standing out there. I think everybody understands the scale of what israel is expected to do in response will eventually lead to a point like. Absolutely. What christiane said there is just so powerful because thats what surprised me the most was the International Support. We have never seen International Support like this for israel leading into a war. When you look at the evolution of hamas, there was a point, believe it or not, where Israeli Intelligence did believe this could be an organization we might be able to work with. Fata was corrupt at that time. They thought this might be someone they could work with. Clearly the evolution you have seen over this weekend changed to using isistype tactics they have never used before. Kidnapping a soldier, wounding, taking them hostage, yes. That was a tactic always employed. But what we saw this weekend was a whole new level with ha has. Of Kidnapping Civilians and now threatening to kill them on television. Absolutely. What about from the north . You have spent time with hezbollah fighters. So, youve been on the ground. Earlier in the program we were talking to Major General mike lions about the fact that he said that is a greater threat than hamas. Because their capabilities could be five to ten times more than what hamas is capable on the ground. Thats the assessment right now. When youre looking at that war overall, poppy and hamas and in the gaza strip, hamas with their brutality this weekend handed israel two unexpected wins that people are overlooking at that time. One, there was this divided country that suddenly became united. Within 48 hours, reservists who said im never going to serve in a war led by Benjamin Netanyahu put down their politics. Within 48 hours, 300,000 israeli reservists showed up to support this country. Then you have the International Support that christiane talked about to have the u. S. Send the uss ford to give israel the ability to resupply to also have long range capabilities. Thats something you cant disregard. That was a huge program for the russians in the war in ukraine, inability to resupply. They have the backing of the u. S. They have the british Prime Minister saying, yes f you need military backing we will be there to support you. I never heard a brisht Prime Minister use that language before. I was going to say, one of the big questions, christiane talked about the green light that the world has given, the world support. How long does that green light exist until it becomes a red light again . Talking about hamas dream is to draw israel into a full scale war. Hamas bases its operations, bases its military within residents, amongst civilians in gaza. One of the big concerns for the israelis here as they go in is civilian casualties. If theres an incident massive civilian casualties that turns the world against israeli operation. We gave you a few days, its over now. Ultimately the israeli objective recently to have a peace deal with saudi arabia, to prevent a con flag ration in the west bank and lebanon as the Civilian Casualty as they rise in gaza, as the thing escalates and continues, the risks regionally start to get larger. Right. Its striking when nic on the ground talking about how its a dynamic and fluid situation on the ground. Geopolitically its a dynamic and fluid situation. We appreciate it. Thank you. Israeli Officials Say up to 150 hostages by the way that includes children and elderly are being held inside of gaza right now. Well be joined next by parents who say their 23yearold son was kidnapped on saturday. They have not heard from him since. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. Israeli Officials Say now up to 150 hostages, and that includes children and the el elderly, are being held inside of gaza as we speak. We are about to speak with two parents who say their 23yearold son is one of them and theyre desperately trying to find him. He was attending that Music Festival on saturday when hamas militants attacked and started taking hostages after the initial attack. The family says that he went into a bomb shelter and hamas militants started throwing grenades inside that shelter and shooting at the civilians that were taking cover. His parents received two whatsapp messages from their son saturday morning at just about 8 in the morning. The first one said i love you. Shortly after that he also wrote to them, im sorry. The police told them that around 12 45 that afternoon his phone signal was on the gaza border. They have not heard from him since. Joining us now, his parents, rachel and john. Thank you both for being with us. The anguish thank you for having us. Of parents missing their child is something no one can wrap their head around. You have not heard from him, rachel, since those Text Messages . Right. And they were both in the same minute at 8 11 it said i love you. And at 8 11 it said im sorry. And i knew immediately that something horrible was happening. And then it was trying to find where is he . Because i called immediately. Normally i dont use my phone on the jewish sabbath, but because the bomb sirens were going off in jerusalem, my daughters and i ran into our bomb shelter in our apartment. My husband was at synagogue already. And when we got out of the bomb shelter, i said im turning on my phone. I have a child who is somewhere and i want to make sure hes safe. So that was why i turned on the phone. And i had those two texts waiting. And i immediately tried to call him and it just rang and rang. And i sent him a text saying, are you okay . And there was no reply. Ten minutes later i said let me know youre okay. And he didnt reply. And ten minutes later i said im leaving my phone on. Tell me youre okay. But we have never heard from him again from after 8 11 from those texts. Rachel, you kissed him on saturday morning, as every mom does, right, as their child is leaving the house no ch i kissed him friday night. Thats when i last saw him. As he was heading out. As every parent would. And you also said he is the perfect son for me. As you and everyone there continued to search for him, can you tell us about him . I know he loved these festivals. G he was going to a place that brought him so much joy . Hersh has a few passions. One is travel and knowing all about geography. And the other is music and going to Music Festivals. And hiking. And so, he was doing something that was a very fun outing for him. He just turned 23 years old on october 3rd. And it was just supposed to be a fun outing with a lot of young people. And it turned into a complete disaster. John, i think something that really speaks to the character of your son, as we understand it, while he was in the bomb shelter, he was also protecting a young woman, someone you had a chance to speak with. Is that right . Thats right. So, theres been chaos in the country. Weve filed reports with the police. But theyre understandably overwhelmed. And so, from midday on saturday, when we knew there was a problem, we put out a message to a few friends and have been surrounded 24 hours a day since then by a Group Of Eight to ten, 12, 15 friends depending on the time of day and sprung into action as a group. And through our own research, using social media and so on, have gotten some firsthand Witness Testimony from others who were in the bomb shelter with our son. And what we learned from them is from about 7 30 in the morning when they got in there, very quickly thereafter, they came under heavy fire, gunfire, and grenades. Hersh and his good friend were trying to pick up each grenade and throw it back out of the bomb shelter and protect people who were particularly shocked. What we understand, by the way, his best friend who he was with, was standing in the doorway. Hersh was in the center on the side. And that everyone we have spoken to has said that his best friend was a complete hero and taking these grenades and throwing them back out and fighting actually physically fighting with terrorists who had akmachine guns that they were shooting at them. Yeah. And we heard from this young woman yesterday that hersh was sitting next to her. And she was hysterical, understandably. And that he kept putting her head down, his arm over her head and telling her, youre okay. Youre going to be okay. Were going to be okay. And comforting her. So that was really interesting to hear. Yeah. And great to hear. John, your family made the decision i believe when hersh was about 8 years old, your family moved from richmond, virginia, to jerusalem, is that right . That is correct. Yes. Rachel and i are both from chicago. Hersh was born in california where we were living at the time. And then, as you said, we lived in virginia for four years and moved here in the summer of 2008. We will be speaking to the white house a little bit later this hour. And i wonder if you have any questions for them, a message for them, as well in terms of american involvement here . We understand that it is believed there are american hostages as well. Well, i truly feel that the American Government, that President Biden, and the State Department are working tirelessly any angle that they can to ensure that these american civilians who are being held hostage are freed, taken care of. Unfortunately what we found out about hersh from these eyewitnesses is that after this gunfire situation, sometime around 8, or a bit after 8, hersh arm was blown off from his elbow down. So we know that he has been critically wounded. He tourniqueted with his shirt his own arm, but the terrorists came in after the gunfire settled and they said anyone who can stand up walk out. And we heard from this young woman who was next to him, she pretended she was dead. He was, im sure, shell shocked and, you know, not really understanding what was happened. Physically wounded with a severe injury. He stood up, didnt lose consciousness. He was very calm. He was not screaming and he walked out with his tourniqueted arm. And so, what im hoping is that the Powers That Be, wherever they are, the American Government or anywhere around can see to it that this civilian, american, who is critically wounded, is tended to. As are many of the other hostages, american and nonamerican hostages. So, our hope and our message to the Powers That Be is that we really believe in you. I feel that its very sincere. Everyone we have spoken to i feel the distress in their voice and they sound like us. Yeah. And hope that all we can do is hope that they have someone with whom they can negotiate. Well, we are showing everyone pictures of your wonderful son, hersh. Thank you very much. Were all hoping, praying right alongside you for his safe return very soon. Rachel and john. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Of course. Well, this morning with aid to israel and for ukraine hanging in the balance, House Republicans are gearing up for a Showdown Over who the next speaker will be. Congressman tom is one of the members who voted to oust Kevin Mccarthy. He joins us next. Also this morning, Iran Supreme Leader denying all involvement in the attack on israel. Reaction from the white house. Well have that for you. Stay with us. Later today, President Biden is set to deliver remarks to the American People on the evolving situation in israel and gaza. His administration and Congressional Democrats have been weighing the idea of tying additional aid to israel with additional aid to ukraine. Many House Republicans, theyre cautioning against that. Crucial moment comes as the house still speakerless. Kevin mccarthy was ousted from the speakership because of the last second shortterm Spending Bill he shepherded through to avoid a government shutdown, now mccarthy isnt exactly ruling out the possibility of a return. Whoever the conference picks, im going to support. But if the conference chooses you theres been a number of Mod Rale Republicans who come out and said that they think you should attempt to reclaim the speakership, if that were to happen, would you accept the position . Let the conference decide that. You could right now officially say that youre no longer interested in the job as you did last week. Look, the conference if you want to talk about that, thats not why im here. Were watching a war take before our eyes. Joining us now is republican congressman from tennessee, one of the eight republicans who voted to remove Kevin Mccarthy from the speakership. I appreciate your time as always. To start with what we just heard. It does feel theres been a shift from the former speaker who announce head is taking himself out of the running, now not really closing the door to it. Do you think theres a possibility he could return to the job . No, i do not. From what i understand theres he possibly has five votes in the conference, so i dont really see that as the thing. I would think that if he was truly interested in whats best for the conference and the country that he would call those five and remove his name. But that yet remains to be seen. To that point, if he has five votes, though, nobody is going to be able to get to the 217 needed to become the next speaker of the house. How do you figure out a pathway . Well, like i said, if hes serious in what his comments were, then he would call those five and tell them to get out. Theres 30 or so for scalise and 40 or so for jim jordan, from whey understand. So its it will be handled inhouse, though. I totally expect us to have a speaker by wednesday. We will come out of Conference United in that. And i believe that will be the case. We wont go to the floor and have 15 votes. I dont believe well go through that misery again. Why are you confident in that . Because coming out of the Conference Meeting last night didnt seem like others shared your confidence that there would be coalescing by wednesday. Because i know this conference. I think that the others will see the persons that are not in the majority will say, in fact, lets do whats best for the conference. I know the people that are running. Steve scalise and jim jordan are both honorable people. Both fiscal conservatives. They understand our needs at the border. They understand the that message to the conference and i believe they will unite around the person who has the most votes. If they do not sew a path forward. Who do you think that persons going to be . I dont know. I guess we will see wednesday. Is your vote we will hear their speeches today. Will your vote be determined who looks like of those two has the best chance or no. I am going to vote for the person i think will do the best for the conference. Trying to get to 218 is not really governing, in my opinion. Thats kind of going with the crowd. We need to have a set agenda and follow it. Thats part of the problem in the past. We have taken 5 trillion a year and we spend 7 trillion. Leadership in the past has been comfortable with that and the American Public i doubt the people at cnn could run their company that way either. I think we are going to see a change in direction and somebody with some clear vision that will emerge from the two that are actually running. Do you believe what transpired in israel the past weekend has accelerated the effort to get a speaker actually set . Well, we said we are going to do it by wednesday. It was my vote to stay in all weekend and work on it. But that remains to be seen. I think that i dont know what address is going to do. Israel already gets 3. 4 billion, basically on auto check regularly from the United States government. Thats already in place. The president of the United States has already sent our largest carrier, jarld r. Ford. So i dont know what Else Congress is going to do, issue a stern warning aor something lik that. There might be additional aid we could vote for. But the president freed up extra funds there as well. No regrets given what happened in israel over the weekend that you voted to outages Kevin Mccarthy . Well, if it was such an urgency, why isnt the senate preparing something . This outrage at the house, good gosh, the dysfunction over there rivals anything i have seen in my life. Why arent they preparing something, so when we get back in session we could vote for it. You tell me what congress can do thats not already being done and we will talk about it. Until then, i think its just not accurate. All right. Congressman, can you promise if you dont have a speaker by wednesday we can talk about it on thursday on the show . We sure can. If we are, i will be gravely mistaken, very upset. I am i think we need to close the door and handle it t. Could be a long one. Appreciate your time, sir. Thank you. Thank you, brother. Yes, sir. Israel on a kansacounteratta hamas warning there will be executions and they will be broadcast. American citizens are likely among more than 100 hostages that have been take opinion by hamas. That is according to President Biden who in a statement confirmed that at least 11 american citizens are among those killed. Joining us to preview President Bidens address today and answer some critical questions, national skoecurity council, jo kirby. Lets begin with how concerned the United States is about what how believe to be american hostages being held by hamas now that they have said that they will execute them publicly. Well, our concerns mwere hig before we thought there was a likelihood americans could be in that population. We dont know that for sure. Our concerns were high immediately. You cant take a threat like that lightly. You have got to take it seriously because of the barbarity that hamas has shown they are capable of. We have talk to the zbisraelis about offering them additional intelligence information as Hostage Recovery expertise. We have that in United States, in the law enforcement, military, intelligence community. We offered that assistance to the israelis. Right. There have been discussions about the fbi, any aid that that organization can and you also said there is no intention to put u. S. Boots on the ground in israel. Given that there are believed to be likely american hostages, we talked to the parents of a 23yearold, american citizens shl the family is an israeli citizen, live there, they are hopeful this add administration can help. Can you explain how far the Biden Administration is willing to if to bring american hostages home . If there is american hostages, we will work with might and main to get them returned their families as best we can and we will always put the safety and security of americans being held overseas really, really high, right at the top of the priority list. The president has shown that. Its not helpful now to speculate. We have to keep in mind that unlike, say, the wrongfulfully Detained Americans In Tehran in a prison, we dont know if there is americans in this population, where they are, we dont know how they are being held and its an active war zone. That complicates the options before you. We will do everything we can to help with Hostage Crisis with or without americans being in the population. If there are, we will work very, very hard to do what we can to get them home to their families where they belong. Intelligence has been framed as an offer. Is that active on intelligence on potential Hostage Recovery . Yes, it has. The israelis were grateful for that offer of assist he has and we are having those conversations now. In terms of the military action there is an expectation and i know you are not going to speak for what Israeli Military is on this new, in terms of the scale of what might come next in the response, have there been any Warnings Issued to the israelis about Collateral Damage, about civilian casualties or about strikes on iran or hezbollah and lebanon . We are focused on making sure israel has what it needs to defend itself and take action against hamas. There is a First Tranche of Military Assistance on its way to israel as we speak and i suspect that there will be additional tranches going forward. We will always make sure that they can defend themselves and they can take this kind of action. Look, we dont want to see any innocent civilians killed anywhere in the world, certainly including in gaza and israel. Sadly, there have been to many innocent civilians killed in this conflict by hamas, 1,000 Israeli Citizens w he also know as a vibrant democracy israel shares many of our values and interests oand one is a respect for life and we are always Better Together when we are observing that respect for life and for the laws of war as well. As you know, the Washington Post this morning reporting that this attack planned for more than a year with key support from iranian allies who provided Military Training and logistical help. Thats the Washington Post. Given that, has the Biden Administration asked israel whether it was the president on the calls with Prime Minister netanyahu not to strike iran . I wont get into the details of the conversations that the president had with Prime Minister netanyahu. Look, our israeli counterparts a day or so ago said the same thing we are saying. We havent seen any direct evidence that iran participated in these particular attacks. Now, we do know, of course, there is a degree of complicity because they have been supporting hamas for years, tools, training, resourcing, rhetorical support in the last 24 hours. But no specific evidence that they were participating in this resourcing this, planning these series of attacks. To be clear, youre saying that that explicit ask has not been made of israel . I am not going to get into more detail of the conversation that the president had with the Prime Minister. I suspect there will be additional conversations with the Prime Minister ahead for the president , of course. But, again, neither we nor the israelis have seen any Firm Evidence or intelligence that says iran was directly involved in participating in these attacks. Admiral, can you outline the scale of the diplomatic discussions happening right now . In 2021 administration relied heavily on egypt in terms of being kind of a middle person or is something in this situation that has happening then in the middle east. Qatar has played a reeole relat to some of the hostages. How does that work from the u. S. Side . Whats the involvement of the u. S. And the administration . Across the administration at defense, state, here at the National Security council and at the white house, we are having a range of conversations with allies and partners inside and outside the region. The president spoke to our european allies yesterday on the phone. There will be additional conversations with partners going forward. So we are having all kinds of conversations with folks all throughout the region. The prime focus and main set of conversations that are happening are happening with israe