This is cnn Breaking News. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. We start in the middle east with new stories of the horror, the terror that hamas inflicted on israel. Some of what i am about to describe to you will assuredly be disturbing. A spokesman for the israeli Prime Minister said today that hamas decapitated babies and toddlers. This was part of a brutal massacre that hamas carried out over the weekend. I should note that as of now, cnn has not been able to independently verify the claims. The Israeli Defense forces said hamas brutally butchered, in an isis way of action, women, children, toddlers, and the elderly. This comes as some israelis are also expressing a sense of frustration that their government is not doing enough. Here you can see individuals at hospitals yelling at israels environment minister, telling her that she is responsible, she should go home. Eventually, the crowd forced her to leave the building. As israel and the military continue to pound gaza with rockets, gaza, which is ruled by hamas, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in gaza. Hundreds of thousands are now displaced, cut off from food and electricity. Gazas only Power Station has stopped working. A reminder that hamas, which the u. S. And the eu, categorize as a Terrorist Organization. Hamas embeds itself within the populace of gaza. This war has been raging for five days, and the death toll continues to climb. More than 1200 have died in israel. Another 1100 are dead in gaza. And at least 22 americans have been killed in the attacks. All of these numbers are expected to rise. Lets go to cnns erin burnett who is in tel aviv, israel. You are in a city that has been pummelled by hamas rockets. How extensive is the damage that you have seen . Reporter you know, jake, this is a situation where the city is under at least what we experienced today, it was pretty much nonstop in terms of incoming rockets. You would hear israeli bombs in gaza. We would see the smoke. You could smelt it, that acrid, oily smell of war. And then there would be the incoming response out of gaza. You know, look, obviously they intercept both of them. But it is the randomness that strikes you. You saw when they did break through, or only partially were taken down by the iron dome. We talked to some locals and found where to go, an Apartment Build bring people had just been inside. It was still smoking when we got there, and fire was going on. And then as we were there, sirens go off again. Of course, we take cover. Even first respondering were running to take cover. In this case, they were running into the bottom of a burning building to try to take shelter. And thats what they are dealing with here. Both businesses were closed, roads very quiet. But as you know, people still going about their normal life in some ways. Thats the juxtaposition you are seeing. But the iron dome is what is transforming this. We came here from a location about three miles from the gaza border where Israeli Forces were massing. We saw there, jake, armored troop carriers. We saw buses of israeli troops coming and unloading. We saw about 15 bulldozers. Obviously, an ominous sign ahead of a possible assault on gaza, all that where the israeli troops were gathering. At one point, jake, there were about over the space of 20 to 30 minutes, maybe 60 rockets that came in, lighting up that dome above us. As you can see them coming in. So its incredibly active and very clear from what we saw, when we talk about these numbers and you talk about the Israeli Forces gathering on the border, they are doing that, and they are there and ready and doing it in plain sight, jake. Erin burnett, thank you so much. I want to go to cnns Nick Robinson in southern israel. You are seeing an increased tempo where you are, more explosions, more rockets, more troops. Tell us whats happen thing evening. Reporter yeah. Weve seen tank fire as well this evening, jake. We havent seen that so far. We know that tanks are down there behind us on that hill, the land slopes away from here down towards the fence with gaza about two miles away. We heard the maneuvering. We heard them firing tonight. But we also heard something closely here that we havent heard with such intensity since we have been here, and that was heavy Machine Gunfire coming from the hill just over there. It was coming from a small community, about a mile and a half away, where the Israeli Defense force found and cornered and neutralized in their parlance three hamas militants who had been holding out in the area. But that gun battle, that exchange of gunfire, heavy Machine Gunfire, went on i would say for a good 10, 15 minutes. There were flares put up towards the end of the battle so that troops could see what they were doing, get a better visibility on the enemy. And the Israeli Defense forces very quickly announcing three Hamas Terrorists killed in that location. This has been the concern that there will be more of them around. Thats why i think were seeing these high level of foot patrols in this town. But this evening, as well, up like last night, this town getting a lot of artillery coming out of gaza. They only have a few seconds to intercept, because the town is so close. So earlier in the evening, we were hearing heavy artillery fire, huge explosions in gaza. But in the tempo of this war, its taken a down beat in the past hour or so, and its relatively quiet. Nic robertson, thank you so much. Lets bring in our next guest. Thank you for joining us. The u. S. Has specific intelligence suggesting that Senior Iranian government officials were surprised by saturdays attack by hamas. This does not mean that iran wasnt involved, but it could cast vote on the idea that they were directly aware and involved in the planning and plotting. Thats according to sources familiar with u. S. Intelligence. What do you make of that . That does seem to contradict what israeli sources are saying. Yeah, good evening. Thank you for having me here. I suppose youre referring to the New York Times rebuttal to the wall street journal. From my perspective, what we are looking at, what we are seeing at our level of detail is iranian hands everywhere. Iranian Finger Prints everywhere. And whether or not, and this i dont have finite israeli intelligence, but i can declassify and say yes or no, whether or not the iranians had their hands on the button and unleashed this horrible, atrocious attack against israel knowingly or whether they were just indirectly responsible for it by providing the weapons, money, military training, political guidance and knowhow to hamas is a little bit less relevant. It is important that if they were directly involved, that definitely escalates the situation. But from our point of view, iran is the source of all evil around us in the middle east. They are the ones who are providing for all of our enemies. There is not a single enemy today of the state of israel that isnt on the iranian payroll, that doesnt rely on iranian weapons, knowhow, equipment and political guidance. Today, a senior israeli official told cnn that israel and egypt may begin allowing u. S. Citizens and some Palestinian Civilians to leave gaza via the rafa Border Crossing in the south. Power is obviously out in gaza. Lots of properties are being destroyed as we speak. There are obviously many civilians who have been killed in the bombing campaign. Time is of the essence. How soon will this exit for innocent people be available . I definitely understand the urgency here. It is not something that we are part of. This is discussed by the higher echelons with their counterparts. I can say we understand the situation. I want to emphasize, again, ive said it before and i want to say it again, the civilians in gaza are not our enemy, and they are not the target of our operations. And when there is footage showing socalled civilian buildings being reduced to rubble, its important to understand that based on our intelligence, those socalled civilian buildings were used by hamas for military purposes. Theres no indiscriminate attacks on well, sir, with all due respect, and, look, what happened saturday is absolutely horrifying. But with all due respect, how good is your intelligence in gaza anymore . Fair question. Definitely fair question. Believe me, i have thought about it myself many, many times in the past days as this unfolds. There are definitely tough questions to answer about the quality and the time limits of our intelligence. I can say that there are different types of intelligence. Its one thing to be able to eavesdrop on your enemy and to foresee or predict his activities, and its another type of intelligence to be able to track movement and identity military targets. The latter, i think, is still very much in tact, and ive seen personally many times of targets that we have, the resolution of the intelligence as ins who house it is, which hamas commander uses the facility or what the offices in a building are used by hamas for. And i can tell you that the intelligence is solid, and it is focused, and that we are striking targets that are directly related to hamas and not targets that dont have anything to do with their military capability. Youre not really saying that every single missile that hits within gaza, and i dont even know how many have hit since saturday and, again, i understand the desire and the need to go after the hamas threat. Im not questioning that. But you cant really be arguing that every single missile is hitting a hamas target. Every single missile is intended for a hamas target. There is definitely, clearly, like in any campaign or any bombardment in dense urban terrain, there is collateral damage. Yes, that is fair, and that is the unfortunately, that is part and parcel of combat in urban terrain. And, again, it is also part of how hamas has structured its de deployment in gaza. Is the end game here the elimination of hamas totally, is that the end game . And if so, what comes after that . Those are questions that i think will be answered a little bit ahead of time, and i dont have answers for them now. What i can say is that our military aim, or the military capabilities of hamas, that is what we are targeting at this time. Lieutenant colonel, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it. Thank you. Up next, our other major story. Well go live to capitol hill where republicans nominated congressman Steve Scalise to be the next house speaker. The problem, he does not have 217 votes to become the next house speaker. So what happens next . Im going to talk to a House Republican about what happens next and whether or not welll ever have a house speaker. Stay with us. We have much more ahead from the middle east. But right now, were switching to another major Breaking News. We do not have a functioning legislative branch of the government here in the u. S. After a long day on capitol hill. Republicans have kind of settled on Steve Scalise as their candidate for speaker of the house, sorta. Lets get an update from manu raju. Manu, so a majority of the conference picked Steve Scalise as the nominee, but it doesnt look like there are 217 votes to make them their speaker. Reporter thats right. Steve scalise is far short of the votes he needs to be elected speaker. He was nominated by a majority of the conference. He got 113 votes, but to get elected to the house, you need 217 votes. And we are told that he is more than a dozen short votes short at the moment. Right now, hes needing his office with members individually trying to sway people. But a number of those members are indicating they have concerns, ranging from his views to his positions on some key issues. The fact that hes been in the leadership. One member raised concerns about his health, because hes battling blood cancer, and though hes on the mend, there are concerns about that in the ranks, as well. Im not supporting Steve Scalise. Ill be voting for jim jordan. Why is that . Well, jim jordan presented a strong plan for us, a detailed plan on how to move forward. We didnt hear that plan from Steve Scalise. It was more vague answers. But theres another situation thats very personal to me. I lost my father in 2021 to cancer. And unfortunately, steve is going through a Cancer Battle of his own, and, you know, i like Steve Scalise a lot. I like him so much, i would like to see him put his full efforts into defeating that. Im concerned he doesnt have the votes to get to 218, so we should resolve that before we go to the floor. Reporter now, Thomas Massie left scalises office and said he was down 20 votes at least, even though both of them voted for jim jordan behind closed doors, Margorie Taylor greene says she will vote for jordan on the floor when that vote comes. Unclear when that will happen, but jordan plans to vote for scalise and will nominate him. The question is, will they listen to him . At the moment, some are not. Manu raju, thank you so much. With us now, congresswoman nancy mace. You endorsed jacksonvim jordan. So im assuming you voted for him. If the vote was for Steve Scalise, would you vote for him today . I would not. I will vote for jim jordan on the floor. I personally cannot, in good conscious, vote for someone who attended a White Supremacist conference and compared himself to david duke. I would be doing a disservice to the voters i represent in south carolina. This is a reference in 2002, scalise spoke before the European American unity. In 2015, when this was reported, he said it was a group whose views i condemn, a mistake i regret and i oppose divisive views like these groups hold. Is this the main reason why other republicans are concerned about scalise . I cant believe Margorie Taylor greene would be upset about this. She mentioned his health. There are others who dont understand the path Going Forward on spending bills. Others with me that represent districts that would not support someone who attended those kinds of events in the past. And so as a woman, i have grave concerns as a woman in balancing the protecting life and protecting womens rights. So we were supposed to have this vote today at 3 00 p. M. On the floor. That has not happened, because he does not have the votes. Its the number im seeing is far higher than 12 will not be voting for him on the first round. Iffer going to have this, the American People want us to get back to work. Lets have this debate on the floor, move forward and find someone to bring us together. And lets get back to work. We have a very divided world right now. I see whats happening in israel. We want someone i want someone who will be a leader and bring our country together. Do you think jim jordan is the guy to keep the country together . Congresswoman liz cheney says sme she thinks he was one of the main plotters to undo the election and push mike pence to flip the electoral vote. And Adam Kinzinger said the same. Is he really the unity candidate you are suggesting . I voted to certify the electoral college. Every vote that night on january 6th, and i was a very vocal person opposed to what happened on january 6th. Were not going to agree on everything. Certainly with any speaker, thats what this is about. If its not jim jordan, who will it be . My vote will go to him, at least on the first round on the floor. You were asked about the charges, and the allegations i should say, being made about congressman jordan when he was an Assistant Wrestling Coach at ohio state university. This was sunday. You said you didnt know anything about it. I have since learned a little bit more. Again, this is these were, i guess, adults. This is something that should have been adjudicated in a court of law. I dont know that it has been. Again, we cant make decisions based on rumors but we should make them based on facts. I want a leader that we can trust and work hard for the American People and can bring even in some cases both sides together on different issues. Ill just suggest there are grown men who today are saying jim jordan knew about this doctor who was molesting them and hes a liar and he shouldnt be speaker. But moving on has that been adjudicated in a court of law is any mnext question. Moving on, who are some of the consensus candidates, if it goes to a third, fourth, fifth round . I heard congressman mchenrys name, tom cole, who are some of the other possible individuals who could get to 217 . I think jim jordan is not out of the mix. I talked to a lot of people that support him. I talk to democrats who trust him at his word. Jim jordan . Yes. I talked to democrats over the last week who do they trust . Even though they dont agree with him on many jim jordan from ohio . Yes, the jim jordan from ohio. Democrats in congress . Yes. They can work with him. Name one democrat from congress that trusts jim jordan. Im not going to name people. They trust him more than the former speaker in my private conversations. I will also say that other names are Patrick Mchenry and tom cole. Really what people want is someone that they can trust and who will be true to their word at the end of the day. Okay. Im not sure im buying the thing about democrats trusting jim jordan. I talked to people on both sides i believe that, i just dont know how much i believe democrats trust jim jordan. Im not saying they will vote for him. They just trust him more than the former speaker. Thats not a high bar. Not at all. Back to israel next where reservists are being called up to join the fight. Were on the ground with them, next. 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