The time. All right. Well, im glad you had one in the past few hours. I know each one of those has got to give you at least a sense of calm. Paul, thank you so much. I aappreciate you joining us. Thanks so much to all of you for being with us for our continuing breaking coverage. Breaking coverage. Ac 360 begins now. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com it is 3 00 a. M. In israel. The war here in the last hour or so may be widening or entering a new phase beyond just hamas and gaza to the south. Just a short time ago, Israels Defense Forces saying the idf the striking what it calls hezbollah Terror Targets in lebanon. So, theres that new development. And in a few hours, with troops on the verge of going into gaza, people here will be waking up to what could be the first of many Hostage Videos to come. Hamas released the first one in the overnight hours. The footage is of a 21yearold french israeli woman. Now, this is not from the video that hamas put out, which were not broadcasting, because it would serve no other purpose than propaganda for her captors. Hamas today said they now hold as many as 250 hostages. Earlier, israel put the number at 199. I spoke with mias family just before air time. Were going to bring you that in a moment. Well also be joined by the former man in charge of trying to get hostages back action about the difficulties now with so many hostages, all of which could grow that much worse in the hours ahead, especially if hostilities with hezbollah in the north keep growing. Which may explain the biden administrations decision to send a Rapid Response force into the region. About 2,000 marines and sailors, according to Defense Officials, joining two Aircraft Carrier battle groups either in the Eastern Mediterranean or heading this way. Secretary of state blinken returning here from stops in egypt and saudi arabia, for what turned into a marathon meeting, which just wrapped up, after seven and a half hours with israeli Prime Minister netanyahu and members of israels war cabinet. Were expecting an announcement from Secretary Of State blinken shortly, any moment now, and we will bring it to you when p it happens. A portion of that meeting was interrupted tonight by air raid warnings. The press in one location and officials in another, just across the street. And with hamas showing no sign of running out of rockets, it was far from the only such warning today. There goes another rocket missile. Theres the sirens. Were just going to step to the side, lock off the cameras, step to this shelter the side. Were expecting iron dome intercepts over here shortly. That was cnns Nic Robertson earlier near the border of gaza, where some 300,000 troops have been massing, pouring artillery onto targets in northern gaza, while refugees stream south through the territory. And humanitarian conditions there grow more dire. So, theres a lot to get to in the hour ahead. Again, we are expecting to hear from Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken any moment. Right now, lets go to cnns Nic Robertson. Nic, whats the latest we are seeing there . Reporter yeah, heavy impacts in gaza. And its confusing because there are a number of different things. There are some artillery over here firing in that we havent heard for several days. There were some air strikes before. The explosions really are just, sort of, booming and echoing around this area. There was another one. But youre talking there about the Israeli Defense force getting ready to go in. And they know that they face a big conundrum right now that hamas is in there. And although the idf has asked a lot of the civilians to move to the south, there are still a lot of civilians who havent moved. And i asked the spokesman here about that, who is responsible when your troops go in, if and when they go in . Whos responsibility for civilian casualties. Secretary blinken is speaking, nic. Were going to go live to that. Im sorry, nic. For the region and for the world, and hes come here to do the following. First, the president will reaffirm the United States solidarity with israel and our ironclad commitment to its security. President biden, will again make clear, since hes done unequivocally since hamas slaughter of more than 1,300 people, that israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from hamas and other terrorists and to prevent future attacks. The president will hear from israel what it needs to defend its people, as we continue to work with congress to meet those needs. Second, President Biden will underscore our Crystal Clear message to any actor, state or nonstate, trying to take advantage of this crisis to attack israel. Dont. To that end, hes deployed two Aircraft Carrier groups and other military assets to the region. Third, the president will continue to coordinate closely with our israeli partners to secure the release of hostages taken by hamas, including men, women, small children, Holocaust Survivors, and american citizens, as an indispensable humanitarian effort. Fifth, the president will hear from israel how it will conduct its operations the in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to civilians in gaza in a way that does not benefit hamas. To that end, today and at our request, the United States and israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in gaza, and them alone, including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harms way. It is critical that aid flowing into gaza as soon as possible. We share concerns that hamas may seize or destroy aid entering gaza or otherwise prevent it from reaching the people who need it. If hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance, including by seizing the aid itself, well be the first to condemn it, and we will work to prevent it from happening again. We welcome to government of israels commitment to working on this plan. The president looks forward to discussing it further when hes here on wednesday. Thanks very much. Secretary of state Antony Blinken making that announcement right now in tel aviv. Im joined by cnns clarissa ward. Alex marquardt as well. Clarissa, President Biden coming to israel wednesday. Thats going to be a really and certainly something many israelis will be paying very, very close attention to. Right. This is a big win for israel. This is something they very much wanted, a real show of strength and solidarity. And continuing the idea that the u. S. Is in lockstep with israel. I think for President Biden, he will be somewhat walking a tight rope as well in terms of needing to address growing concerns about the situation in gaza, about the soaring death toll, about the lack of humanitarian aid getting in. You did here of course Secretary Of State blinken addressing that, saying that the israelis and the americans have agreed on a mechanism, essentially, that would allow some of that aid to start flowing in to the gaza strip. He didnt really give any details as to what this might look like. This is something, anderson, as you know, that diplomats have been feverishly working on for days and days now, trying to facilitate the passage of aid through that rafah Border Crossing with egypt. So far it has been log jammed with all sides pointing the fingers at each other and blaming each other. But clearly after this long, more than sevenhour meeting that blinken had with the israeli war cabinet, they have come up with some kind of solution or mechanism that would allow that aid to get to those who need it most. He also talked about the possibility of creating zones within gaza, where civilians could flow into a, sort of, refuge, if you will. We have heard this before as well from israeli officials, that they would establish an area where potentially hundreds of thousands of people could find a modicum of security, could also have access to aid. You heard blinken also, though, Warning Hamas about doing anything to attempt to try to stop that aid from flowing freely. But i think a lot of questions still remain, anderson, and presumably well get more clarity on them as the president s trip gets closer and closer, as to what these zones will look like, who will enforce them, who will be allowed in, who will be allowed out. Thats obviously a big concern for egypt, which does not want a massive displacement of people in the sinai peninsula. So, a lot of interesting developments here, but a lot of questions as to what this will look like. Clarissa, this also must be good news for americans who are in gaza, who are hoping to get out. It seems highly unlikely to me that the president of the United States would come to israel with american civilians stuck still in gaza at the rafah border trying to get out. Reporter right. And according to the u. S. Embassy in cairo, they are tracking 253, i believe the exact number is, americans who are trapped inside gaza. Many have been, sort of, literally camping out right by that rafah Border Crossing for days now. Every day theyre told that it looks like tomorrow morning theyll be able to cross. Certainly today we expected that early this morning some foreign nationals would be allowed to leave. Then at the last minute, it didnt happen. The egyptians blaming the israelis, the israelis Blaming Hamas and so on and so forth. But certainly that will be a top priority for President Biden and for Secretary Of State blinken in advance of bidens visit. But, again, we dont know yet what the egyptians have to say about this specifically. Of course the rafah Border Crossing is on the border between gaza and egypt. They have had real concerns in the past about a number of issues. But primarily about the issue of security and also the issue of having a lot of people flowing into a part of egypt that is already a heavily militarized zone, anderson. Nic robertson, you are in sderot to want. What stood out to you from Secretary Blinkens statement . Yeah, i was trying to hear things that might point to a definitive offramp in terms of the Military Buildup for a possible incursion or language that might hint and intimate that israel is dialing back the level of anger, the real feel of a need and a desire to eradicate the hamas leadership through military means by going into gaza. But i dont really think i heard that offramp. But i think what we are hearing on top of all those Points Clarissa is making about the humanitarian area, when you look at the possibility of an incursion, it seems to me unlikely President Biden would want to come if he thought that there was about to be an incursion. In essence, the violence was about to go up a notch. So, i think in terms of the diplomacy and the politics that are involved here and overall just using the time to sop up some of the heat, some of the anger, some of the frustration, some of the hurt, some of the pain thats going on here. You know, people are still being buried here. There will be more funerals again tomorrow for people who were killed a week and a half ago almost now. That anger and frustration is real. Time doesnt heal it. But time gives politicians and diplomats the space to work. So, i think President Biden coming here on wednesday opens up a little more time. I dont see the mechanism yet of how President Biden comes and theres a conversation that will put Prime Minister netanyahu and his cabinet off from an incursion into gaza and find another method of dealing with hamas. I dont see that and i dont hear that in the language at the moment. But it does perhaps help bring down the Temperature Writ larger in the region. President bidens presence. But also just gives diplomats and politicians a little more time to talk. I want to bring in ben wedeman as well, whos in southern lebanon, which we have seen activity on the northern border of israel. The idf said they struck what they called Terror Targets in southern lebanon. Ben, Secretary Blinken mentioned nonstate actors, telling them to stay out of this. That seems to be a direct mess s message to hezbollah. Yes, its a direct message to hezbollah, anderson, but also iran, which is the main backer of that. What weve seen certainly in recent days is the increase in attacks by hezbollah on israeli targets. The Iranian Foreign minister has been making a tour of the capitals around here, beirut, baghdad, doha, and qatar. Hes sending a message, he said, any preemptive action in the next few hours is possible. Anything is possible. No side can remain indifferent. Hes essentially sending the message that perhaps iran and its allies, syria and hezbollah, for instance, are prepared or considering some sort of intervention in this war beyond what weve been seeing here in south lebanon. Certainly hezbollah is wellprepared, wellarmed, welltrained and ready if it gets the order from tehran to actually move and open a new front in this war with israel. Anderson . Alex marquardt, as Nic Robertson was saying, it seems unlikely that the president would come before, while any Ground Operation is underway. So, im not it would seem that this may be a sign that there wont be a Ground Operation until after the president leaves. Alex, what are you hearing . I think thats probably right, anderson. And there are probably two signs that the Ground Incursion would probably not start in the immediate future. Now, this very big sign, that President Biden is going and the unlikelihood, if you will, that the israelis would launch it while President Biden is on the ground. But also all the reporting that weve seen that essentially when israel wants to go into northern gaza, they want to make sure that theyre doing so when most of the civilians have been cleared out so they can focus their efforts on those hamas militants. Anderson, it does occur to me that this is the second time this year that President Joe Biden is going into an active war zone. He did the same back in february. He went to the capital, kyiv, the capital of ukraine, kyiv, on the First Anniversary of the russian invasion there. That trip was shrouded in secrecy. And in fact, Air Raid Sirens sounded when he was on the ground there. Now we have that 48hour notice that he is going to israel. You know better than i do, the Air Raid Sirens were sounding there tonight. We saw that happen while Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken was at the cure yaz, its known, which is essentially israels pentagon. The other thing that really strikes me anderson is that youve heard these messages of support from american officials. Secretary blinken last week, Secretary Austin as well that really talked about israels right to defend itself. Over the past few days, you really heard that coupled with the fact that there really needs to be a lot more work done when it comes to people trying to get out of gaza, trying to get aid into gaza. So, at the same time that President Biden is coming to express that level of support, theres a lot that he will be discussing on the ground, anderson. Yeah, more than sevenhour meeting with blinken. Obviously they have been discussing a lot. Alex marquardt, clarissa ward, ben wedeman, thank you. More now on the hostage who hamas released video of just before air time. I spoke with mia shims mother, karen shim, also her brothers ori and ellie. Karen, how does your daughter look to you . I would say that shes been through pain. Shes in pain. Shes injured. She looks a bitter identified. But she is alive and stable. Does it help to see her . Of course because until now i didnt know if shes dead or i mean, its been ten days. Until saturday, she was missing. And on saturday, they said that maybe shes been kidnapped. Thats all. So, i didnt know if shes alive or dead. And every day, the numbers of the missing and the dead people are getting up and higher and higher and higher. So, its really tough. Do you know where she was taken from . Where was she when the attack took place . She went to a Festival Party. And all i know, that saturday morning at 7 00, she sent text message to one of her friends who was in the party. And she wrote, they are shooting at us. Please come save us. Thats the only thing i know. The other thing i knew was rumors, like she was shot. Now i can see that is true because shes injured. You can see that she had an operation in her hand. She went to this party with her friend. They went together. And we know nothing about him. Not on the missing list, not on the kidnap list, not on the dead list. We still have bodys ies that we didnt recognize because we have so many. Now is the time when we are intervie