Natasha ber grand and Becky Anderson is here with me in tel aviv. Jeremy, the Secretary Of State took cover in a bunker alongside Benjamin Netanyahu for a few minutes as i understand as Air Raid Sirens went off. What are you learning about whats come out between them today . Reporter yeah, thats right. Secretary blinken has been meeting with the israeli Prime Minister over the last nearly three hours now at Idf Head Quart nurse tel aviv. During that time we have heard not one but two air ride sirens going off in tel aviv and you are very well aware. We know during that first instance that the Secretary Of State and the israeli Prime Minister went to a bunker for about five minutes before emerging and continuing their discussions. I would assume that the same situation happened just minutes ago when those Air Raid Sirens went off once again because as far as we know Secretary Of State and the israeli Prime Minister are still there having those meetings. During this day weve seen Air Raid Sirens going off in tel aviv at least three times, i believe, also silence here in jerusalem. Both of those locations are typically less frequently the site of Rocket Attacks from hamas. We see those typically much close tore the gaza strip. Its always quite notable when they do go off in tel aviv as well as jerusalem, effectively the Central Israel area. The Secretary Of State is in israel after a week of Shuttle Diplomacy between israel and several arab countries in the middle east. He has gone to saudi arabia, qatar, bahrain, the United Arab Emi emirates, jordan, egypt, all to prevent this conflict from escalating into a id woulder regional war. What hes also tried to do is to try to allow the flow of humanitarian aid into gaza and also to try and get american citizens who are trapped in gaza to be able to exit the rafah crossing into egypt. Theres been some conflicting information over the last several days about when that rafah crossing into open. U. S. Officials believed that it would be open perhaps even saturday, telling american citizens in gaza to head down o citizens it seems have been able to get out. There were some conflicting reports about whether fuel was able to get into gaza earlier today, but clearly all of the Secretary Of States meetings today focused around that humanitarian issue as well of course we have to note the fate of those hostages. 199 hostages believed to be held by hamas, 20 of whom at least are believed to be american citizens as well. And, natasha, some americans have already arrived in the u. S. From israel. I understand others left on a cruise ship today. Talk about the Evacuation Efforts and the pentagons role. Reporter yeah, anderson. So the u. S. Government they have been assisting american citizens who want to leave israel to do so. Just this morning there was a cruise ship that the u. S. Government actually chartered to get u. S. Citizens who want to leave from Haifa To Cypress and i dont know jarred by chartering flights for those unable to make their own accommodations. That is one way in which the u. S. Government is helping citizens flee, but at this point there is no active u. S. Military role here in terms of a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation as such, the kind that we saw of course in afghanistan just a few years ago when there was a massive Military Effort to kind of airlift people out. That has not happened yet because according to the u. S. Government and the white house they simply have not seen the kind of demand signal from u. S. Citizens currently in israel who are trying to leave in large numbers. But, look, that does not mean that the pent gone is not planning for such a scenario. We are told that the 26th Marine Expeditionary unit is preparing for the possibility that they might have to deploy closer to israel to help support this kind of largescale evacuation if such an order is made. That is part of these marines Mission Essential task, its a Rapid Reaction force and they are preparing for that order if it comes down for them to support and provide humanitarian assistance to a very large group of people. Now, of course, none of this really explains how the u. S. Government is going to help get those 250 americans who are in gaza, who are trying to leave, out of gaza. That really remains to be seen because of course you cant just place a cruise ship there on the side there. So that is something that they are still struggling with, but the u. S. Military pretty much on stand by and ready to deploy assets if that order comes down, anderson. And, becky, as weve been covering for civilians in gaza, the situation increasingly dire. Reporter and i spoke a couple of hours ago to a palestinianamerican, he is 55 years old, has two kids, hes married, has lived in gaza for years. He grew up in gaza and he is a translator. About 3 00 in the morning a day into the israeli demands that people evacuate from Northern Gaza he did because there was bombing all around his Apartment Block in gaza. He went with friends. He has a cabin in the gaza valley which is not actually that far a drive from gaza city, but thats where theyve been told to go, get down into the south. There are 50 50 people including 20 children now in this small cabin, all together. They can hear the fighter jets going across, they are he said to me he explained it saying we are literally down to fumes as far as fuel is concerned. That means theyre going to struggle with water because the generators to run the water, they are low on food supplies. I said what are you doing with the kids . He said were distracting them. They actually had a Birthday Party for one of his daughters who is 9 years old. He said all we can do is distract them but he is very desperate. 500,000, perhaps more people have heeded the warnings and moved south. Hamas was telling people not to leave but a lot of people have. The question is what sort of setup is there for them. I talked to a u. N. Official who said that there is equipment for shelters and the like, they want to get in, hasnt been able to get in. All sitting on the egypt side of the border. I was told today by the u. N. The egyptians are working really, really hard to ensure that they can accommodate the sort of scale of operation on the egyptian side of the border, the w. H. O. , the u. N. , the uae have flown in aid and jordan have flown in aid. Were talking fuel, medical supplies from the w. H. O. , food aid but its getting it in. Youve been reporting on this conflicting news that were getting about whether that border will open for incoming supplies which is massively important, the next thing is will it open for outgoing people. It is stunning just given the american citizens in gaza thatter we are now nine days in i think and that they have still not been able to get out. Absolutely. And, look, the egyptians are theyve talked about a red line as have the jordanians about the slippage of palestinians from Gaza Into Egypt and possibly into jordan. The sinai desert is a very big Security Spot for the egyptians and they are very nervous about what would happen in an enormous amount of people they cant accommodate them is what theyre saying. It gives the impression that they are not being sort of accommodative at a really tough time. That isnt the point. They dont want Hundreds Of Thousands of residents of gaza but can they open for the u. S. And can keen nationals who we know are trying to get out. Thats obviously something worked on behind the scenes and massive priority for Antony Blinken. Joining me now is retired Big Deer General steve anderson. Appreciate you being with us. Do you expect israel to announce when its Ground Forces have begun to enter into gaza. In the past they generally have once its already begun. What do you think that that will look like . Thank you, anderson, for having me. I would certainly expect them to announce it. I dont think it will be a big secret. I mean, we have so much media on the border right now, but, you know, i would urge them to exercise restraint here. Theres a lot of saberrattling, a lot of people i understand the motivation of revenge, a horrendous attack against the israeli people by hamas, but they need to exercise restraint. I do not believe that they need to go rushing into the urban environment. I quite frankly think that iran would like Nothing Better than to see israel bogged down in an urban fight in a place like gaza city. Anderson, you no doubt remember fallujah and ramadi in iraq and how difficult it was in that kind of environment. I submit to you that gaza city is going to be like fallujah on steroids with perhaps hundreds of kilometers of tunnels at least according to hamas, all these Underground Tunnels and then of course maybe perhaps a half a million Human Shields that are still in the gaza city area. So the blockade is working, were seeing evidence of that, people are complaining that theyre not getting the food and the water and the fuel and the electricity they need. Theyre putting some hurt on the Palestinian People and hopefully that will yield more human intelligence, more information about whats going on on the ground and more help to the israelis in terms of intelligence in order to locate those hostages and to locate the hamas leadership that they need to take down. How difficult is i mean, fighting in tunnels with booby traps, i mean, ive read accounts of Tunnel Warfare during the vietnam war, but those seem pretty primitive tunnels by comparison to what hamas has. Yes, anderson, my First Sergeant when i was a young lieutenant had been a tunnel rat in vietnam and in those days they send you down a hole with a flashlight and a 45 and say have a nice day, but, no, these are very complex, very, very much, much different situation. Its more like an underground metro system when you think about it. Weve seen some evidence of that, they have shafts that go into buildings, they can pop out in any number of places. Its going to make this fight which was already a really, really tough fight, fighting in an urban environment, its going to make this really, really difficult. So theyve got to take that into consideration. Theres things they can use to you know, theres lots of innovation and technology perhaps that they can use to help them down there, but, again, the israelis understand theyre motivated to seek revenge but they need to show restraint. They need to continue to apply the noose that they have applied, tighten their grip on gaza, put the pressure internally, continue with the blockade and set conditions for an appropriate attack into gaza city when the time is right. From a Military Standpoint let alone a humanitarian standpoint, but from a Military Standpoint, isnt it in israels best interest to have as many residents of gaza in the south and to enable supplies and shelter for those residents in the south to keep people staying in the south . Absolutely, anderson. Could not agree more. I would recommend that in terms of a tactic, in terms of an operational approach to this, cut the country in half. When they do attack into gaza, go straight for the Gaza Power Plant which is about ten miles away, cut the country in half and allow all the civilians heading north to come down through the south, check they can out, make sure they dont have weapons and arent bad guys and aid as much as they possibly can in the evacuation of civilians from the gaza city area. Set up camps, use the World Health Organization i mean, when i was in iraq we set up camps all over the place 15, 16 years ago in iraq. They need to set up camps obviously to take care of these refugees coming down, but, yes, they have to get many of them out of there. They have to tell them, look, you guys are hungry, children dont have medicine, come south, cross through the border, cross through our essentially our check points and move south to get your family taken care of. Motivate the people to come south and then they can take on the leadership of hamas and actually execute the kind of attacks into the city and the location of the hostages like they want to. Obviously given the complex political and the history in this region theres a lot of palestinians who doubt they would be able to return to their homes in the north, that this is part of an effort to move them out once and for all so that is obviously in play in peoples minds here. General anderson, i appreciate your time. Cnns special live coverage continues from the region in a moment. A federal judge today imposing a limited gag order on former President Donald Trump after he unleashed a series of attacks on prosecutors. In her ruling judge Tanya Chutkan said trump, quote, does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases. Cnns Katelyn Polantz is joining us from outside of the u. S. District court in washington. What more can you tell us about what was decided here . Reporter well, brianna, what happened today in court was judge Tanya Chutkan was react to go things that donald trump has already said since he has been a criminal defendant in this case related to january 6, this federal indictment. As a criminal defendant the judge found that she can place restrictions on him, including on his First Amendment abilities to speak freely, even if hes campaigning for president. The First Amendment is not absolute was something that she said. What she did was she put some narrow procedures in place or narrow orders in place that restrict what trump is allowed to stay as this criminal defendant so that the judge can maintain some integrity for the trial, protect the jury pool and protect witnesses and others in this case. The specific things that she responded to was that trump had posted about the judges clerk in new york in a civil trial, she reacted pretty strongly to that even though that wasnt this case, also that he had called the special counsel offices prosecutors thugs and that he suggested that general mark milley who could be a witness here called to testify that he suggested that he should be executed and also had been posting about mike pence, bill barr, some other witnesses. So what the judge did here is she said he can say whatever he wants about joe biden who hes running against, the Biden Administration generally, even the Justice Department generally and people in d. C. Who are very possibly called as jurors. What he cant do is say specific things about the prosecutors office, the prosecutors working on this case, others working on this case, the court mike pence running for president against donald trump. Donald trump cant talk about mike pence and what he did on january 6 that is potentially part of this case. That is covered. Its very, very likely that trumps team will appeal and will want that appeal to move fast, but this is something that the judge has done today and that donald trump could face severe sanctions if he doesnt follow these court orders as he awaits trial in march. He could talk about other things related to mike pence politically if he wanted to, though, right, katelyn . Reporter thats right. And the prosecutor in this, molly gaston was the prosecutor, they were the ones making the ask and they said this is a small fraction of the restrictions that we want to be able to put on what he says on the campaign trail. There is so much that donald trump is able to speak about on the campaign trail, but related to mike pence its just what pence would have been privy to on january 6 that he could be testifying about thats already in the indictment. Thats where the restriction is. Its not on him attacking pence more generally. All right. Katelyn polantz, thank you so much for the very latest there. Boris . U. S. Leaders are mounting an urgent effort to prevent israels war against hamas from escalating into a broader conflict. Today irans Foreign Minister called on israel to stop the bombardment of gaza, warning the likelihood of this war spreading to other fronts could become, quote, unavoidable. Secretary of state Antony Blinken is back in israel again today for another round of meetings with top israeli leaders. Here in the United States president President Biden postponed a trip to colorado to focus on National Security meetings. Lets get perspective from susan glasser, a staff writer from the new yorker. President biden warned israel against a Military Occupation of gaza in a 60 minutes interview. Do you anticipate that israel can eliminate hamas all together without having an extended presence in gaza . Well, i think we might be at some point i