versus wade. tonight the texas attorney general is threatening to go after her doctor. we're following new images coming out of gaza, as israel is rounding up what appears to be dozens in a mass detention, all stripped down to their underwear. i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source." we begin with the breaking news tonight, as the justice department has now filed a new criminal case against the president's son, hunter biden. we just got the details of this nine-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury. according to the special counsel, david wise, the president's son engaged in a four-year tax scheme. evan perez broke this story. evan, walk us through what we are seeing in these nine charges. >> this is a 56-page indictment that has been returned by a grand jury in los angeles, which is where hunter biden lives, just outside of los angeles. we're talking about three felony counts, felony tax counts. six of these counts are misdemeanor tax counts. and what prosecutors say is that hunter biden engaged in a four-year scheme to evade taxes, not paying his taxes from 2016 to 2019. there were about $1.4 million he was supposed to pay and failed to pay during that period. he was spending all this money on luxury goods, on his personal expenses. he was using a company that he owned to essentially take money out and pay for things, including a very healthy habit, apparently, on adult entertainment. he was spending more than $188,000, according to prosecutors, on adult entertainment during this period. there are things here listed, tax deductions, that he attempted to claim for things like wages, which ended up going to women that he was involved in, including, for example, a $10,000 membership in a sex club. these are the things that prosecutors allege hunter biden used his money for instead of paying his taxes. again, we're going through these documents that were filed just this evening. we knew, kaitlan, that this was coming, obviously, because prosecutors, david weiss, the special counsel, had telegraphed that this was coming after this plea deal had collapsed several months ago. but we also knew that he was collecting evidence from witnesses. we knew that they had brought in witnesses to testify and to provide evidence to that grand jury in los angeles in the last few weeks. so, today now we finally see those charges. kaitlan. >> evan, you mentioned that plea deal that was supposed to happen, that hunter biden walked into court that day, i believe it was in august, thinking it was going to be signed off on by that judge. remind us just how we are still seeing the continued fallout right now from what happened that day in court. >> for hunter biden, he was minutes away from having these ordeal put behind him. now he's facing these charges because a judge asked him very frankly appropriate questions. she simply asked whether hunter biden and his lawyers understood what the terms of this deal entailed. and everything, sort of, fell apart after his lawyer said, essentially, we don't have a deal anymore, your honor. this is how we're here. this was going to be put to bed with a simple misdemeanor deal. he was going to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. and if you remember, he was also being investigated for buying a gun during a time that he was prohibited, according to the federal government, he is facing, kaitlan those separate charges still in the state of delaware, again federal charges, for owning a gun during the time he was prohibited. >> yeah, i mean, two remarkable indictments here. evan, as you read through this lengthy document -- i know it just came out. we just got this after you broke this story. >> yeah. >> is there anything -- to be clear here because i know this is the next question that's going to be asked on capitol hill. is there anything here that ties back to the behavior of president biden himself? >> right. there's nothing in this -- in these 56 pages that relate to the president of the united states. all of this has to do with hunter biden, who was struggling with substance use. he has said himself that he was addicted to drugs during this period. he was not paying attention to his personal affairs, obviously, had a very messy personal life, as detailed in these documents. and none of this, though, goes to any of the allegations republic republicans have been making that there was some kind of deal between hunter biden paying money that he was getting from his business deals overseas to the president -- to the then-vice president and now the president of the united states, his father, right? there's nothing in here on that. of course, kaitlan, you and i know this is not going to satisfy republicans who still have a lot of question. you, of course, know they have subpoenaed hunter biden to appear next week here in washington. hunter biden has said he will appear, but only if he gets to testify publicly. they're asking for a behind the scenes deposition. so, there's a bit of a standoff over how that might go forward in the next few days, kaitlan. >> we'll continue to track that. evan perez, great reporting. thank you for that. for more, cnn's former federal prosecutor and legal analyst elie honig is here. elie, this is remarkable to think that the president's son could be on trial next year for two separate matters, as his dad is running for re-election. >> and the stakes are much higher with this new indictment than they were before, on the tax counts out of california. the original deal or near-deal they had to that evan just alluded to that fell apart only would charge hunter biden with paying his taxes, which is a misdemeanor. now we're into felonies -- three felonies -- because of evasion and fraud. if you owe taxes and don't pay, you're not going to go to jail. if you're convicted of felony because as this indictment alleges, they allege hunter biden intentionally took steps to fool tax collectors. now you're into felony territory. it's much more serious. if he gets convicted here, the guidelines will recommend a prison sentence of some nature. >> you were looking through this. they break down on the one pages the expenses. they look at his bank accounts. one of them that evan was referencing, it says payments to various women. a total of $683,000, adult entertainment over that same time period, $188,000. i mean, why is that something that they're looking at when it comes to how he paid his taxes? >> right. so, enormous figures, definitely going to gather attention because of the salacious nature. here's why it's legally relevant. the allegation is he made these payments that had nothing to do with his business and he tried to claim them as business expenses, which is a fairly common way that people commit tax fraud. so, the allegation here is he did that to the tune of $1.4 million or so, and as a result he's look at vastly more serious charges now in california than he almost pled guilty to a couple of months ago. >> elie, stick around. we have a lot of legal developments we're following tonight. speaking of courtrooms, it was appearance number nine for donald trump at his civil fraud trial here in new york today. all of this is what's leading up to what we believe will be his tenth appearance on monday. that is when the former president is expected to take the witness stand once again. his lawyer says she is advising him not to testify, given that gag order that has since been reinstated. >> he still wants to take the stand, even though my advice is at this point, you should never take the stand with a gag order. but he is so firmly against what is happening in this court. >> donald trump is donald trump, which means he often dispenses of the legal advice he is given. his own former lawyers will tell you that. this comes especially now, as he is on what he sees as a mission to save his company and really his entire brand. we are told that he will take the stand again in his own defense on monday, as this civil trial is getting close to its send. trump watched today, as his legal team questioned its final expert witness. for someone who watched all of that happen, cnn's kara scannell is in the courtroom. kara, i just want to see what trump was obviously not on the witness stand, not talking today. he did a lot of talking outside of court. for everyone who wasn't watching the courthouse closely today, this is what he said. >> this whole case is a fraud. it's election interference. it's keeping me here instead of iowa and new hampshire. and i should be right now in iowa and new hampshire, south carolina. i shouldn't be sitting in a courthouse. and i don't have to sit here. i could just do what i want -- whatever i want to do. but i want to make sure that you get the true story. >> to be clear, he did not have to be there. he was a spectator today. but what happened in the courtroom? >> well, you know, it's interesting. he's attended nine days of this fraud trial. today was the first day he attended any of the defense's case. so, his own case that he was putting on. and he chose to come when they put on their final expert witness, professor of accounting at new york university. his testimony was probably the most unequivocal of any of the witnesses that trump has put on, his strongest witness in a sense. and he testified without hesitation. he said he reviewed all these documents, reviewed testimony. he said there was no evidence whatsoever of accounting fraud. he said there were no material or important misstatements on the financial statements. these, again, are the ones that the judge already found to be fraudulent. so, the judge interrupted the questioning and said to him, you know, is your testimony that the attorney general's case is without merit? and he said, absolutely that is what my opinion is. so, really favorable testimony to the former president. but, you know, as you know, the judge has already found that these financial statements are fraudulent. and what trump is doing in this case -- they have been pretty open about it -- is they're working toward laying the grounds for an appeal because they suspect the judge will rule against him on the original six claims. they're appealing the original findings. a good day of testimony for trump to sit there and listen to and come out and talk about. it was squirarely in his favor. >> does the judge buy that? how does the judge see that testimony? >> that piece of testimony, the expert saying there's no fraud, that's improper. that's ultimately the issue. that's up to the judge or some cases, not this one, the jury. what's proper for an expert to say is they followed established accounting procedures. what do you do if you're the judge and conflicting experts? some experts saying there's mass fraud. this guy saying, there's no fraud. you have to decide who you're crediting based on the person's qualifications, based on how plausible their testimony is, based on common sense, based on the underlying support for it. i don't think it's much of a mystery how this judge is going to come out. as kara said, he's already found there was pervasive fraud. maybe he was so persuaded by this witness that he'll completely change his mind, but it seems unlikely to me. >> the witness is dismissing what the finding of the trump apartment that we all could see vastly inflated. >> right. when trump testified, he even admitted on the stand that was a mistake in their financial statements. for several years, it said it was three times the size, meaning three times the value it actually was. trump admitted that was a mistake. this witness saying that was an error, but he said it wasn't fraudulent because he said errors like that happen because these are personal financial statements, not audited financial statements. he was trying to draw distipgs there saying there are different accounting rules that govern those. they also had these disclaimers, a lot of the arguments the judge already rejected. >> kara scannell, elie honig, legal drama tonight. also tonight, keep watching because on "lara coats life," former attorney general eric holder is going to join her to discuss these legal stories. in the meantime, there was a historic ruling in a state that has some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. tonight the texas attorney general is offering a new warning to her doctor. plus, israeli soldiers detaining dozens of men who were stripped to their underwear in gaza. more on what we are learning about this dramatic scene right after this. fresh off of a $500,000 fund-raiser, pulling in some powerful endorsements, it's clear who 2024 republican candidates see as a major threat at this point in the race, other than donald trump donald trump, of course. nikki haley found herself at the center of attacks that she was fending off, or ignoring, in vivek ramaswamy's case, last night during the debate. >> i don't have a woman problem. you have a corruption problem. and i think that's what people need to know. nikki is corrupt. >> it's not worth my time to respond to him. >> her donors, these wall street liberal donors, they make money in china. they are not going to let her be tough on china, and she will cave to the donors. she will not stand up to you. >> he's mad because those wall street donors used to support him, and now they support me. thank you for that. >> here tonight to break down that fiery debate, two political veterans, van jones, a former obama administration official, and david urban, republican strategist and former trump campaign adviser. both cnn political commentators. david, let me start with you because obviously this is very clearly a big moment for nikki haley. we're watching this. i think the question is, even if she's having a good performance at the debates, her numbers are going up, she's still a distant second for donald trump. where does that leave her? >> it leaves her a distant second from donald trump unfortunately, right? you know, i was just reviewing, kind of, the past history, right? my good friend, rick san investor m, in 2012, was in the single digits and headed into iowa and surprised everybody with his upset win over mitt romney. maybe she's hoping for some of that mojo to rub off and move forward, a come from behind victory. short of something miraculous like that, donald trump is going to be the victor here in the iowa caucuses, at least it appears that way at this point. he's going to head into new hampshire very strong. he's going to head to south carolina very strong. so, i think her performance last night was exemplary. she should thank vivek ramaswamy and ron desantis. they make her look tough. she gets to punch them in the nose every debate and look tougher. her standings have continued to increase. and if something happens, if trump stumbles along the way, she's standing there ready to go. but short of a big stumble, kaitlan, i don't know how she gets in front of him. >> i think we're watching to see what happens in her home state. van, at one point in this debate, as we were watching this, you saw chris christie, who was standing to her left -- you, kind of, saw this divide in the sage. ron desantis and vivek ramaswamy on this side, nikki haley and chris christie. he stood up to defend her at one point. he said this. >> while we disagree about some issues and we disagree about who should be president of the united states, what we don't disagree on is this is a smart, accomplished woman. you should stop insulting her. >> and you saw the crowd reacting because vivek ramaswamy is, like, kindergarten during covid. no class. no class. >> i was wondering where he was going with that. >> yeah. and i thought chris christie was at his best because he was standing up to the bully. and he was saying, leave her alone. now, she didn't need to be rescued. she was holding her own. but i don't think people like to see somebody like a vivek who's never done anything, hardly ever voted for anybody, being personally insulting to someone like her. she took it in a classy way, and i think that chris christie was wonderful last night. >> the question was it decency, was it political strategy? the other thing we saw last night that was very clear, which was the attacks on donald trump. obviously that is chris christie's style. that was his modus operandi when he got on the debate stage. the question is for the others who were not willing to go after trump as directly. i think the furthest nikki haley and ron desantis got was talking about the deficit. how do you defeat the number one in the race if you don't talk about the number one in the race? >> that's chris christie's exact point. so, desantis and nikki haley and ramaswamy, to the extent that he's going to contend -- be a contender, they can't afford to alienate that base. they're very concerned about how far they can just push. because obviously donald trump's favorables in the state of iowa are very high. if you speak ill of him, you risk getting blowback on yourself. so, it's a really tough, tight rope to walk. chris christie is alleging they're not even bothering to get on the tight rope, let alone walk across it. he's the only one up there swinging and swinging hard. and he's at 3%. so, i'm not quite sure it's an effective strategy for him or for anyone else. so, again, it's just that -- it's a tough thing to see how somebody gets ahead of donald trump at this point, at least in iowa and the early states. >> van, do you think that this ends up where we get a few months down the road, we get to the nomination, and there's regret among those republican candidates? we saw it in the 2016 field, they thought trump would take care of himself so they didn't worry about attacking him, and he got the nomination. >> the establishment was facing down bernie sanders, they cleared the field. once biden won, everybody else got out. the republicans just don't seem capable of doing that. this is a more narrow field than you saw in 2016. they've learned something. they haven't learned much. i think the other thing you see, this rallying around nikki by the donor class, which they're trying to -- it's really the last gasp of the establishment, trying to figure out some way to hold this guy off. and nikki, she's got appeal to the grass roots, but she's also got to appeal to -- her fate is really the fate of the establishment in this party. >> and donald trump has been using that against her as well. van jones, as always, david urban, thank you both for being here. up next, a house committee now launching an investigation into harvard, u penn, mit, after their presidents underoath failed condemn anti-semitism on campuses. the backlash mounting tonight. i was born ten weeks early without my left arm. with my polio, i have tough days and my pain just pops out, out of nowhere. there's nothing to be afraid of because all the doctors are all so nice. when somebody sees these commercials there'll be a phone number on a screen and all they have to do is call and make a donation to help kids like me. thanks to a generous donor, every dollar you give can help twice as many kids like me and have double the impact. when you join with us, we'll send you one of these adorable blankets as a thank you and reminder of all the abilities you are helping make possible. merry christmas! please call the number on your screen and give just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day or whatever you can to help kids like us this christmas. and when you do, your gift will have two times the impact. tonight, the presidents of three of the top universities in the nation find their schools under a formal congressional investigation, after lawmakers said they weren't doing enough to fight anti-semitism on their campuses. all of them now scrambling to save their jobs, potentially, after they were asked what seemed to be a pretty simple question on capitol hill, just calling for the genocide of jews violating their schools code of conduct. seems easy enough to answer. but not for them necessarily. here's how they did respond to that question. >> it is a context independent decision. >> it's a context dependent decision? that's your testimony. calling on the testimony of jews is depending upon the context? yes or no? >> if the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment, yes. >> conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide? the peach is not harassment. >> it can be harassment. >> dr. gay, as harvard, does calling for the genocide of jews violate harvard's ruling of bullying or harassment, yes or no? >> it can be, depending on the context. >> what's the context? >> targeted at an individual. >> it's targeted at jewish students. it does not depend on the context. the answer is, yes. and this is why you should resign. these are unacceptable answers across the board. >> joining me tonight is the visiting scholar at the harvard divinity school, rabbi david wolf, who announced his resignation today from harvard's anti-semitism advisory committee. rabbi, thank you for being here tonight. can we just start with, tell me why you resigned. >> i resigned because i came to the conclusion that i was not going to be able to make the kinds of changes that i thought harvard needed through that -- through the committee. and at a certain point, you realize that you have accountability without authority. that is, people are looking to you to say, look, why aren't these changes happening? you're on the committee. and if you don't think you can actually make the changes, then the only honorable thing to do is to leave the committee. >> and, i mean, following what we heard just on capitol hill this week, you posted a long message about this. what did you make of what the harvard president had to say in response to that straight-forward question from the lawmaker there? >> i felt as though i watched hours of the committee hearing. i think that i probably watched more of it than most people did, for obvious reasons. and i thought that president gay and the other presidents were constrained by a, sort of, legalese and equivocation that was difficult and painful to watch and that the kind of straightforward answer that the person off the street would give, i think they felt unable to give whether because the lawyers had told them they couldn't or for some other reason. so, i thought that this was going to be a bigger -- it was just going to be a bigger lift than i had imagined, i think, when i first came on the committee and that there was a culture at the universities not only at harvard but at harvard in particular, which is where i was on the committee that was just not going to happen any time soon. i think that everybody who watched the committee hearing, sort of, you know, went like that, as they listened to one after another after another not be able to straight-forwardly condemn what anybody in the street would straight-forwardly condemn. >> you wrote something i thought was powerful where you said, battling that combination of ideologies is the work of more than a committee or a single university. it is not going to be changed by hiring or firing a single person or posting on x or yelling at people who don't post as you wish when you wish, as though posting is the summation of one's moral character. this is the task of educating a generation and also a vast unlearning. what does that look like in practice? >> so, in practice, that means people who say, oh, obviously to fix this you just have to get rid of that person or you just have to change this. they're underestimating the fact that this is a deep, cultural pattern, the idea that there's a class of oppressors and a class of oppressed no matter where you go and what you do. and therefore you always know who's right and who's wrong in any conflict. and you can see jews and israelis suffering but they must be wrong because after all, they're oppressors. this is an ideology that pervades the universities, the elite universities, and many, i would say, outside the university. and they have to unlearn that ideology and start to learn to see individuals as individuals and understand that people have to be judged the same way that they would wish to be judged and that prejudice on the left is no better than prejudice on the right. and that seeing a class of people as bad, no matter who they are, is intrinsically, intellectually lazy and morally corrupt. >> rabbi david wolpe, it was a powerful resignation statement. happy hanukkah as well. as we noted at the top of the hour, there's been a major abortion ruling in a state that has almost totally banned the procedure. it's the first of its kind since the fall of roe versus wade. but we're still hearing more from the state's a attorney general totonight. momore on thatat in a momement. tonight, texas attorney general ken paxton is warning a doctor who was authorized by a judge to perform an abortion that she could still face penalties for that. the legal threat coming after the judge ruled in favor of a pregnant woman today, who sued the state to allow her doctor to perform that abortion, despite the state's strict ban, that has very few and narrow exceptions. this is believed to be one of the first attempts in the u.s. where someone is trying to get a court ordered abortion after the supreme court overturned roe versus wade. in her lawsuit, kate cox, said her baby had been born with trigenic 18, a genetic abnormality. the condition would not only put her life at risk but also her ability to have children in the future. tonight, kate cox talked about what the judge's decision meant to her. >> it's a hard time. you know, even with, you know, being hopeful with the decision that came from the hearing this morning, there's still -- we're going through the loss of a child. there's no outcome here that i take home my healthy baby girl, you know? so, it's hard, you know? >> i'm joined now by her attorney, mark herron, who is the senior council for the center for reproductive rights. mark, thank you for being here tonight. you can hear just the emotion in her voice there. what was her response to what the judge ruled today, after hearing the arguments from y'all's side and also obviously from the state who is trying to block this from happening? >> well, first and foremost, relief, great relief that a judge heard what she is going through and understood that kate is someone who very much wants to get pregnant, very much wants to expand her family, and wants to preserve her ability to have kids again in the future. and right now, the procedure that she needs to be able to do so is an abortion. because if she were to continue carrying her current pregnancy to term and deliver, she is at significant risk of losing her future fertility. she has health risks, her life is at risk. and it was -- you know, she's grateful that the court system heard that she needs an exception under texas law. texas law is incredibly confusing, and the doctors' hands have been tied. so, it's been incredibly frustrating for her to go through this system and now be told, as a life long texan, that texas law prevents you from getting the health care you need. >> i saw where she said that she and her husband, they knew abortion was illegal. but they didn't know just how strict it was when it came to the exceptions until she needed one of those exceptions. mark, i wonder what you make of the texas attorney general, ken paxton, who came out tonight and was saying that the hospitals, the doctors, that they're not insulated from civil and criminal liability for violating that law, despite what the judge said today, that this procedure can go forward? >> kaitlan, this is shameful. the attorney general of the state of texas is telling everyone that a judge's order, that a judge's injunction, is essentially meaningless and that he's going to come after doctors and hospitals and that they're exposing themselves to criminal liability, the threat of lawsuits, to loss of professional licenses. if they're following a judge's order. we have a legal system in this country. we have rules. we have a rule of law. this is a democracy. and for the attorney general to come out and threaten hospitals, doctors, and other people for following a judge's order, it's shameful. i have never seen anything quite like it. and to be honest, this is exactly why doctors across the state of texas are terrified of providing essential health care to their patients. because now suddenly ken paxton is going to come along and second guess their decisions. so, now, what, does every person who needs an abortion in the state of texas, who needs to rely on the exceptions, going to come and ask ken paxton, in your medical opinion, do i finally qualify for abortion? that's not how this system can work. it is unworkable. it is untenable. and, you know, the rule of law has got to be followed here. >> mark hearron, what your client has been through here, it's so painful to go through it in such a public way. thank you for coming on to talk about that tonight. for more perspective on what women in texas are facing, i'm joined by an e.r. doctor and the dean of the yale school of public health. it's not just one man in texas. it's my home state of alabama. it's a lot of states where they have these really strict exceptions. what do you make of how the state -- they're disputing her doctor who found she did need this they believe not just because of the baby but also her home life and her own future ability to conceive children. >> listen, at the end of the day, the choice to have an abortion is a medical decision between a woman and a doctor. in this case in particular, you have a woman who is a mom of two, who had a wanted pregnancy, who has been told that the fetus is not going to survive or if it is does survive is going to die very soon after birth, and has been told her own health is at risk by carrying this fetus to term. she made the choice with her doctor that the safest thing for her and her family is to terminate this pregnancy. and now she's being told she doesn't have autonomy over her body. and her physician is being told they cannot follow their hippocratic oath to first do no harm. i will point out that lawyers are not doctors. doctors are not lawyers. i don't play one ever. i will never try to make a legal decision. but i will help make my patients make decisions about what's best for them and respect that choice. in this case, neither the patient, nor the physician, is being allowed to do that. >> the state was arguing -- there's a huge question of whether or not this forces the state to more clearly define what is allowed. but the state was arguing just last week, quote, if a woman is bleeding or has am bee yotic fluid running down here leg, then the problem is not with the law. that is for the doctors. that would clearly qualify for the exception. if she has to come to court to make that happen, that is not the state's fault. that is from paxton's office. >> as an e.r. doctor, i find that somewhat incredible. i have taken care of countless women with ectopic pregnancies. i have taken care of women's whose placenta have separated from their uterus. they don't have time to go to court. and my job is to save their life. and to say that somehow we have to get a lawyer involved in that moment instead of doing what's necessary to save her life, to protect her family, to protect her future ability to have children should she want it is infuriating. >> dr. ranney, it's just such a notable case here. just the fact she is actually pregnant seeking this help. it's not a case they go and ask for access. she's pregnant and needs the help now. thank you for helping us break dhoun. it's great to have you in person. >> it's a joy to be here. of course tonight, as we noted there with the rabbi just a few moments ago, jews around the world are marking this first night of hanukkah, celebration of light overcoming a lot of darkness that we are in right now, hope shining in israel, families of hostages lighting menorah candles tonight. we have big news out of gaza, really striking images, as this war against hamas rages on. we'll tell you what you're looking at here right after the break. since hamas viciously slaughtered israelis on october 7th. we are seeing stark new images inside gaza in the southern set of nakhan yunis. after an israeli airstrike hit, this fighting in the war is continuing to rage on as these pictures emerged today of israeli soldiers standing over what appears to be a mass detention of men. you can see dozens of them are stripped to their underwear, they are kneeling on the street, all wearing blindfolds. the exact circumstances, the dates of what is happening here, it's still unclear tonight. we asked the israel defense forces for comment. they have yet to respond to cnn on what you are looking at in these pictures. joined by cnn political and foreign policy analyst barack, one of the best source reporters in the region. we geolocated these images. they are coming from northern gaza. cnn is also hearing from at least some of our sources that am some of them are civilians. they have no known afill filiat to a militant group. what else have you learned about what we're seeing here? >> i think that's completely right, kaitlan. and seven i think the idf is no saying that those are all hamas militants that were arrested. what happened, according to my understanding, is that this happened, as you said, in northern gaza where in parts of northern gaza there are still shelters where civilians stay, and i think that what we see in the pictures are people that the idf encountered in those areas and looked at them as suspects. and according to what i heard from israeli officials, some of them who idf think have connections to hamas were taken, were arrested and taken into israel and the rest are still in gaza and ints unclear exactly what the idf is going to do with them. >> they have been said -- but as we are seeing what's happening in the fighting, we confirmed the son of a member of the war cabinet, israel's former top military commander, lieutenant-general guadzy eisencot his son was killed. one it's a reminder of how most families in israel have or know soldiers serving in the reserves right now. what are you learning about the circumstances around his death? >> what happened there was that his unit, which is a commando unit's, was searching for tunnels in the town of jabalia in northern gaza and when they encountered the tunnel and started excavating it a booby trap went off and an ied went off and he was badly hurt. he was taken with a helicopter to a hospital in israel, but they couldn't save his life. and, you know, one of the most tragic parts of this story was that his father at the time was at the headquarters of division 162. this is the division thatt his son's unit is a part of that division. while he was there in the war room, he got the update that his son was badly injured. >> it's just -- i should note his speaks to how personal this for the people who were directing the war fighting that you're seeing playing out. speaking of the troops, we saw prime minister benjamin netanyahu visiting israeli forces today on the call. he also had this call, his 16th, i should note, since october 7th, with president biden. it had an incredibly long readout talking about hostages, talking about protecting civilians in gaza, talking about getting more aid to them. what's your sense of why this was the first call that they had in a week and a half? >> yeah, i agree with you. when i heard -- i first heard about this call i said to myself, wow, they haven't spoken for several days now after that -- in the first few weeks of the war they spoke almost every day. i think now it's been something like a week without them speaking. i think the main reason that they spoke was the israeli cabinet decision yesterday to increase the amount of fuel that israel allows into gaza. this came after quite strong pressure from president biden and his advisors, and what was most interesting to me in this readout that the white house put out is that it said that biden welcomed the cabinet decision and at the same time he said this is not enough. we need to do much more. and i think that the biden administration understood that this is where it can go in and have the most influence. on putting pressure on israel to get more humanitarian aid into gaza because it knows that the israeli government knows that in order to get backing from the biden administration it would have to do much more on the humanitarian front. >> yeah. initially, they resisted. still as we see what's happening in gaza, not close to enough. thank you for that great reporting. >> thank you, kaitlan. there is, obviously, a lot going on in the world tonight. we are continuing to track those updates. there is also a lot of good happening in the world. talk about cnn heroes that you want to meet. that's right after a quick break. year is about giving back. for cnn heroes, an all-star tribute that sleuths ten extraordinary people, they put others first all year long. the star-studded event appears live this sunday 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. here is look of what you'll see. >> sunday on cnn -- >> we provide bilingual education at the u.s./mexico border. >> support the extraordinary people making a difference in our world. we are rebuilding the colonies here in the florida keys. >> i am going to ensure that people in ghana have health care. >> you see a pet in need and a person who cares for them dearly. >> trauma can be a pathway for growth. >> we must all have reading space in the barbershop. >> we all are connected because of the shared experience of having an incarcerated parent. >> there should be no homeless vets, period, none. >> i want to make sure they get all the attention and love that they deserve. >> c"cnn heroes: an all-star tribute" sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. >> it is going to be a great show hosted by anderson cooper and laura coates. you don't want to miss it. i will be watching as well. thank you so much for joining me tonight. we will be back tomorrow night. cnn news night with abby phillips starts right now. sex clubs, a rented lamborghini, plane tickets for an exotic dancer. th