Youre live in the cnn newsroom. Im jim acosta In Washington alongside erin burnett in tel aviv with our coverage. Several developments this evening. Today Israeli Defense forces raising the death toll to more than 1400 Israeli Armored vehicles are now staging near the border why gaza in anticipation of what they call significant Ground Operations. That invasion expected to happen at any moment. The idf confirms hamas has more than 150 hostages eight days their after attack. And israeli air strikes continue to pound Northern Gaza and idf shelled 250 targets today. Tens of thousands in gaza are still scrambling to find safe passage to the south. But the raffa Border Crossing in egypt is closed. Waiting for authorities to open the gate for days now. Today tony blinken promised that the border will open as the u. S. Appointed a new Special Envoy to coordinate aid into the gaza enclave. Let me go to erin burnett live on the ground in tel aviv. I understand you were able to catch up with a bipartisan u. S. Delegation that was on the ground in tel aviv with you. What did they encounter and what did you find out . Reporter well, jim, yes, absolutely and it was bipartisan. Senator romney here and Senator Schumer and Senator Cassidy and Senator Kelly and rosen. So it was a bipartisan group. They met with the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and they said, one of them told me they were shown pictures, weve own shared one at this point with our viewers, but they were shown pictures of a group of children that they say were burned alive. Sort of they had no words to describe what they were actually confronted with and what they saw today. But they did have those meetings today. And in addition, as you mentioned, the Secretary Of State is going to be coming here to israel again tomorrow and sort of a desperate effort of diplomacy to try to get some of the other players involved. I had a chance to speak with Senator Schumer about what happened here and what is next and that u. S. Carrier strike group and here is what we just talked about just a few moments ago. Leader schumer, thank you sop for your time. In tel aviv youve been meeting throughout the day with the Prime Minister netanyahu and others. What did you learn here . Well, first, we came with a simple message to the israeli people, we have your back. We feel your pain. We ache and america will stick with you in this most difficult time. We had three missions. One, to let israel know were for them. Two, to find out what israels needs are, and we had extensive discussions of the military, diplomatic and intelligence and humanitarian needs that israel had. But third we wanted to show that this was bipartisan. So i went with two democrats and two republicans. Senator cassidy and senator romney and Senator Kelly. Yes. And senator rosen. And senator rosen. And in this time of such partisanship, this is one area where the congress is united and i believe were going to pass very soon, were going to put together a very strong package. We will pass it soon. Were not going to wait for the house. Were hopeful that if we pass a strong package with bipartisan majority, it will put pressure on house to act one way or another however the heck they figure it out. So, Secretary Blinken is coming tomorrow, coming back. No one had known that this is happening, obviously, hes coming from other places in the middle east, just met with the saudi crown prince. What is his goal . Do you know . Is he trying to have netanyahu delay this . No. I think his goal is to try and keep the triapartheid negotiations going on between saudi arabia and israel on track. Many suspect that hamas and iran did this dastardly horrible terrorist action to make sure that that didnt happen. And he feels very strongly as do most of us, that we should keep it on track. And the viciousness of hamas, in one instance cutting the throats of little children, having their parents watch. Hamas is trying to say, were going to intimidate you from doing the things you want to do including this triapartheid attack and think i theyre saying were not going to be intimidated. John kirby said there is no plans, no intention for u. S. Troops to be involved but he wouldnt rule it out. So im not going to rule anything out. Do you think that should be on the table israel has never asked for troops. Theyve asked for aid. Theyve always asked for help. But i mean for the american hostages . No, right now our country and weve met and talked to Secretary Blinken about this, we met with some of the of the families of american hostages, and the best way to go is to pursue some serious diplomatic channels to put pressure on hamas through other countries. Cant mention the countries because it might mess the whole thing up. But that is the plan. So, as you were on your way here, there was the announcement that there is a second Carrier Strike group coming from the United States. And incredibly high Military Posture off the coast of israel. Yeah. Youve got the war in ukraine going on as well. When you take a step back, senator, do you think the u. S. Is closer to war itself than it has been in a long time . I think sending the two carriers here will make us less likely to have a war because it is a strong message to hezbollah and lebanon and to iran, dont mess around here because we have a lot of might in the area. What is the status of u. S. Knowledge of irans involvement right now in ongoing conflict as well as it still sorry. It is still unclear whether iran knew all of the details and pushed hamas at this time. But there would be no hamas without iran. So iran will be culpable one way or the other. Here in tel aviv, you had to take shelters from rockets and that is the daily life here. Did that give you a different sense. Yes, when youre here, you see it. I asked five or six random people, the driver of our car to people in the hotel, several waitresses at restaurants we were at, every single one of them has a relative or close friend who died. It is unbelievable. Look, i think about 9 11 every day. Yes. And ill think about this every day and im sure every israeli will for the rest of their lives. But theyre a strong people and a res olute people and hamas trying to intimidate them with terrorism is not going to succeed. Senator schumer, thank youch. Good to see you. Thank you. Reporter and i want to go now to cnn diplomatic editor Nic Robertson live in sderot, israel, a mile east of the gaza border. Now, Israel Forces have been Staging Ground for several days, right . Weve all witnesses the incredible build up and the pace of the buildup, which is the situation there where you are at this hour . Jets overhead. Not usual. Missiles being fired into gaza. Weve heard several of those. About an hour ago we had a round of incoming missiles coming from coming from gaza into here. The iron dome intercepted them. Really low over our heads. That was another Missile Landing in gaza. We heard the jet there. That is the missile. But were been down along the border area today to see some of the training that is going on. And were with a unit that was tanks, and it was infantry, it was mechanical engineers, Combat Mechanical Engineers who were getting ready to training to line up their vehicles in a field and practicing for moving off together when they get the order to go into gaza. Another unit of troops were in this mockup big concrete palestinian town, it had mosques and it had stores and civilian housing. And these troops were going through combat training, training to fight in a combat environment. So what were seeing here is not only the deemployment of the troops close to the border but what looks like some of the lastminute training before theyre going in. We talked to some of the commanders who will be some of the first to go into gaza and i said, looking we know that the idf has told civilians to head south. We know that hamas has told them not to. We know that in the past, you know, there will be when you go in, as soldiers and in 2014 incursion into gaza that hamas is hiding out behind civilians, you could do this without civilian casualties and the commander said were a professional force. Were fighting terrorists not civilians but if hamas does that, it will make our job very difficult. And this is what were hearing from the spokesperson here as well. I was asking them the same question. And they said quite distinctly, were asking the civilians to leave. Hamas is telling them to stay. If the civilians that is hamass responsibility, not our responsibility. So i think everyone here is getting ready for the potential of Crossing Into Gaza and also the difficulty and knowledge of what they may find when they get in there. Bup as you heard from that missile strike, again, it is a very, very active night tonight, erin. I mean, it has been days. We hear this day after day. At some point the distinction between the next steps an the current steps becomes cloudier. You heard the Majority Leader schumer say that he thought that the Secretary Of StateAntony Blinkens report trip to israel to meet with the Prime Minister was about keeping peace talks on track, the normalization of relations with saudi arabia and israel talks on track. Obviously those at this point are not to state the obvious. Is that what you think it is about . Hes saying it is not about the u. S. Trying to have netanyahu pull back or slow down or stall, anything like that. What do you see . Look, i think the importance of keeping the saudi discussion on track is a big one for the saudis, for israel, for the United States. And i think it is interesting that on it trip, Secretary Blinken has been twice to see Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and trying to play a diplomatic role in the region and he will be appreciating the egyptian president to take a softer role about the possibility of opening that raffa Border Crossing to allow palestinian out of gaza into there. Yes, it is a contentious issue and there is a lot of historical baggage with palestinians but i think there will be a lot of and lets not forget, the hostages behindthescenes efforts will be made, a lot of efforts to get the hostages released. And we could believe that some leaders like crown prince in saudi arabia and others in the region will be making their best efforts to help that happen. So i think Secretary Blinken being in the region it signals not ome to iran or hezbollah that the United States is here, it is behind israel, but it tries to sort of keep that diplomatic behind the Scenes Movement on all fronts, on broader stability and on the longterm goals and the possibility of hostages and trying to keep those alive. But as you and i both know, and Senator Schumer was hearing from people, there is a will here to settle the score and really reduce the risk from hamas at the moment. There is. It is an overwhelming will at this point for sure. And of course it comes as the u. S. Has the two Carrier Strike groups in the region. Nic robertson, thank you very much. And still to come, the white house is not ruling out sending u. S. Troops to help free americans held hostage by hamas in gaza. More on that as we talk about this escalating conflict with congressman adam smith with jim next. This just floor cnn, the american death toll in israel has risen to 30. 30 americans who have died since this war began. The State Department is also aware of 13 american nationals who are unaccounted for after last weeks Terror Attack as the u. S. Is bolstering its defenses in the region by sending a second Aircraft Carrier, the Uss Eisenhower and the white house is not ruling out sending troops to rescue hostages held by hamas. There is no plans or intentions to put u. S. Troops onp ground to fight in this fight between israel and hamas. But the americans we are actively trying to find out exactly where they are and i mean, shannon, we dont even know how many exactly. We saw a small handful that we know but there could be more than we know. What i wont do is rule anything in or out when it comes to being our hostages home. Were working on this by the hour. And joining us now to discuss is democratic congressman adam smith of washington state. Hes the Ranking Member on the House Armed Services committee. Congressman, great to see you, appreciate you coming on. Let me ask you, what john kirby was abobeing asked a few moment ago, should the u. S. Contemplate sending troops no gaza to help free americans being held hostage, presumably Special Forces type of troops, but what are your thoughts . Two things about that. First of all, if we had a situation where we knew where our hostages were and we felt there was a plausible plan for Special Forces to go in and get them out. We would do it. It is just highly unlikely given how hamas has built the system of tunnels and hiding places throughout gaza. I forget the name of the israeli soldier but they held him for years without israel being able to know where he was and rescue him. So if that situation presented itself, if our troops could get in an out, clearly we would do that. It is under the circumstances it highly unlikely that we could do that successfully. And were showing our viewers live pikes of gaza. It is 12 19 and it is quiet and similar to what we showed viewers yesterday. What is your sense as to what is happening right now, and i suppose there was some expectation that this was going to start as some point this weekend and it hasnt. Do you know what might be behind that . What are your thoughts . I think there is deep concern, by israel and by the u. S. As well, for the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in gaza. And for the civilians that are in harms way. And this is part of hamas plan. They put civilians in harms way. They take supply away from humanitarian aid for civilians and keep it for themselves. They want the civilians there. Theyre blocking civilians who are trying to leave. So israel, the u. S. , and a lot of people in the region are trying to figure out how can we, you know, deal with the threat from hamas and protect civilians an trying to open up humanitarian corridors. Certainly the one in egypt is being talked about. They are still hopeful that they could potentially have one into israel. But how could do we do that safely and what will hamas do to block it . Look, and i know this is an incredibly emotional issue, people are suffering horribly on both sides of this fight. But there was one thing i hope people will keep in mind, hamas literally does not care about human rights or civilians or about protecting life. Israel at least cares. They dont always do everything we would like them to do. But they are fighting a determined enemy and an enemy determined to wipe israel off the face of the map. It is a very difficult situation. But i think what is happening is people are trying to wrestle with that conflict. How do you stop hamas, while stopping the humanitarian catastrophe going on in gaza right now. And i guess what are your thoughts on the second Aircraft Carrier being sent to the region . I suppose to deter folks like hezbollah and iran, i guess presumably from sticking their fingers in this. Should they take this as a serious threat of the use of force by the United States . Yes. Absolutely. That is the second big thing that is going on. Is try to stop the con flick from spreading as has been reported. There is concern about what hezbollah will do in lebanon and other places in like syria and iraq and in some cases the groups could threaten u. S. Military personnel. We have troops in syria and in iraq. If they are targeted by iran, we will defend them and it is all part of the effort to deter this conflict from spreading. And the Secretary Of State tony blinken promised today that the crossing, the raffa crossing between gaza and egypt will be open. What do you know about why this is becoming a problem . American citizens in gaza say theyre still stranded at the border. What is being done to get them out and what is going on with this crossing . Is this the egyptians or hamas . What is happening. I think it is a number of different groups. Hamas is trying to prevent people from leaving. That, you know, helps slow down the process. And then, you know, both israel and egypt want to make sure that their security is protected within this corridor. And israels case theyre worried about weapons and supplies getting in to strengthen hamas within gaza and egypt is worried about hamas ill tants or other extremists coming out of gaza and into egypt. And i think both egypt and israel are aware of the fact that theyre going to have to take some degree of risk. There is no guarantee if you open up this corridor that either of those bad things that i just outlined might not happen to egypt and israel. But it is a risk theyre going to have to take if were going to contain the humanitarian crisis that the people in gaza are facing right now. All right. Congressman adam smith, thank you very