Good day to our viewers. Im kasie hunt. It is thursday, october 19. 5 00 a. M. Here in washington and noon in gaza where there is some hope that humanitarian aid could soon reach palestinians in gaza. The strip has been blocked off and under heavy bombardment since the october 7 hamas terrorist attack. President biden says he has struck a deal with egypts president to get much needed aid into gaza starting tomorrow. He agreed that what it would do is open the gate to do two things. One, let up to 20 trucks th through, the satterfield ambassadors down there in cairo now, he will coordinate it, he has my authority do what is needed to get it done. And that was the president aboard Air Force One talking to reporters as he flew home from his trip to israel where he managed to convince the israeli war wab net to allow aid to cross the border. But of course he was also snubbed by the leaders of jordan, egypt and palestinian authority. Plans for a fourway inperson summit were quickly canceled after the deadly blast at a Gaza Hospital that killed hundreds of people. The president did back israels claim that they were not responsible anxious that the explosion was actually caused by a misfired palestinian missile. Becky anderson is live in tel aviv with more. Lets talk about gaza because the president is focused on trying to get the trucks across the border. There are still a lot of logistical hurdles to getting that done. There is. Joe biden said that he had gone to get the job done and i did it. He said. Referring to getting that aid crossing open. So lets talk about that specifically. That is the crossing to the south of gaza between with egypt on the other side and enormous amount of aid built up on that side of the border in the sinai in egypt. So the agreement is that some 20 trucks of aid will cross likely by friday into gaza to try to alleviate what is a near catastrophic situation. When i spoke to the u. N. Agency on the ground there today, which has shelters very close to the rafah Border Crossing, one would assume that they would get some of this aid, one has to assume that as this aid sort of gets into gaza, but the u. N. Agency spokesman told me two things. Firstly, they are still hearing strikes and seeing results of israeli activity in that area. So that is an issue. There is clearly a real issue about whether that area is safe at present. And then we are talking about 20 trucks. You talk to anybody on the ground here including the u. N. Agency on the ground, he said that we need hundreds if not thousands of trucks. The problem for egypt, americans, getting the aid this is that the roads are very badly bombed. They have been sort of, you know, partially destroyed as a result of airstrikes in that area. So an enormous amount of effort being made to try to make the roads passable in order to get the aid in. U. N. Told me they have 10,000 people in a shelter very close to the rafah border. As i say, they are tell under threat of airstrikes. Their supplies are running extremely low. So this aid while be enormously important by friday really is just the beginning of what both southern and northern gaza need. And remember the israelis have conceded to demands from the u. S. To get the Border Crossing open in egypt, but the rest of the borders around gaza controlled by the israelis, they say they will not be open, they are not prepared to do that and therefore there will be no aid getting into gaza primarily into the north where we know the real humanitarian situation is unfolding. Because israelis are not conceding to demands to allow that in. There is a lot of talk about a ceasefire Behind The Scenes. If joe biden came with a number of objectives, obviously one was to get the humanitarian aid in through that gaza crossing. We also know u. S. Citizens in gaza are a real priority. They want to get those out. We havent had any information about whether he achieved that, nor whether there was any movement on the release of the hostages. We hear that the idf is now informed the families of 203 people that they are likely held by hamas. They have also said that more than 300 soldiers have been killed since the hamas attack on october 7. Numbers are just hideous here, 471 people now killed in that Hospital Blast according to palestinian authorities. And behind every one of these numbers of course is a person and behind this enormous humanitarian effort and catastrophe involving are men, Women And Children whose lives are at risk at this point. Of course. Although i have to say all those hostages being held, a prospects of a ceasefire seems dim. Beckdy, thank you. Just ahead here, a cnn investigation reveals that hamas had remarkably detailed intelligence ahead of the october 7 terror attack. Where did they get it . Plus americas house still without a speaker this morning. What happens now. There are lingering questions about how Israeli Intelligence could have missed signs of such a large scale attack. But what about on the hamas side . A cnn investigation is taking a closer look at the dat the dept intelligence hamas appears to have gathered. Reporter even with detailed intelligence, not every hamas objective was achieved. The nearby kibbutz not even attempted but we have Documentary Evidence that hamas intended to have human cai casualties and hold hostages. Individual buildings were assessed for their military value. Kitchen describeds as the main place suitable for holding hostages. And inside the guard Room Soldiers must be neutralized the instructions say. And the Dental Clinic designated a place for first aid for both enemies and friends. Lets bring in former Director Of Communications for u. S. National intelligence shawn turner. Some of these details are terrifying. What is your view on how hamas was able to gather this . I mean, there were maps, battle plan, they knew about the locates of rural road, generators. How is it Possiblegat Gater gathered all this information . Good morning, thanks for having me. No doubt that hamas has made significant progress with regards to Military Tactics and strategies. And even in their collection of intelligence. But make no mistake, there is no universe in which hamas has the type of resources necessary to get the level of detailed information that we see in some of the documents and some of the reporting since this attack happened just more than a week ago. I mean, as you pointed out, you look at the fact that they knew where Communication Towers were. Those were critical to taking out some of israelis remote defenses. They knew where there were openings in barricades across the area. They evened ed had a sense tha they could overwhelm the Iron Dome System if they launched multiple rockets at different trajectories. So that tells me that there is Something Else going on here with regard to how they obtained that intelligence. On when you say there is Something Else going on here, what are the possibilities . Is it the iranians, do they have Human Sources inside israel around these kibbutzs . How do you think this would be possible . You hit the two key ones. I think most likely scenario is that iran may have participated in gathering intelligence, either gathering it themselves or stealing intelligence through cyber incur gents that they provided to hamas. That could have happened over a long period of time and that intelligence could have come from a range of different resources or different sources. That is a likely scenario. Worst Case Scenario is that hamas was able to recruit and place humans or Human Intelligence sources on the ground within israel to return that intelligence back to hamas. Again, i say that is the worst case and it is too early to conclude that that is what happened here. But when you look at the level of detail, the level of specificity here, this is not the kind of information that you get from a Google Search or from paying close attention. It is also the kind of information that is very present, very relevant. Intelligence exchanges very rapidly in israel. They tend to upgrade their systems, what have you, so intelligence is fairly recent intelligence. So i think those are the two most likely scenarios. But in either case israel was still caught off guard. Yeah, just stunning the level that Matthew Chance was able to kind of walk us through here that hamas actually was able to obtain. Sean turn he, grateful for your time. Thank you very much for being with us. Thanks for having me. And u. S. Intelligence is backing up israels claim that they did not strike the hospital in gaza. Is it enough to convince skeptics and does it matter. Ahead. U. S. Intelligence assessment now backs up iz rails claim that israel was not responsible for the blast at the Gaza Hospital and it was actually caused by a misfired palestinian missile. Both sides are waging a furious pr campaign trying to blame each other for the deadly explosion and fire. Alex marquardt lays out what we know. Reporter The Explosion Rocked Northern Gaza and lit up the sky. Another angle appears to show the blast at the hospital. Cnn has not determined definitively that the rocket and explosion are related but in tel aviv today President Biden said u. S. Intelligence matches israels version of what happened. Based on the information weve seen today, it appears the result of an errant rocket fired by a Terrorist Group in gaza. Reporter he didnt name the group but israel says it is islamic jihad. The american assessment less than 24 hours after the Deadly Strike was based on what the white house now says is intelligence, Missile Activity and open source video and images of the incident. The statement adding that some Palestinian Militants in gaza themselves believe it was carried out by islamic jihad. The u. S. Now to weigh in and the u. S. President to weigh in on this, this does strongly suggest this was likely not the israelis. Reporter Israeli Military published recordings it claims are Audio Intercepts of hamas militants acknowledging the rocket came from inside gaza. [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] cnn cannot independently verify them. It is part of a vigorous effort to prove it wasnt their rocket arguing the damage from the strike was far lighter than the bombs they usually drop from the air. Assaults that have left buildings across gaza flattened and huge craters in the ground. At the hospital today, charred vehicles littered the parking lot which is pot marked and has a small crater. Sources tell cnn that israel shared its intelligence with the u. S. And taken together the u. S. Now believes that the body of evidence paints a solid picture. You have to piece it together with other sources of information not just from that ally. Because that may be biased. Reporter but the public outcry and blame of israel were swift and fierce. Bidens summit in jordan with arab leaders was canceled as crowds in the streets grew. I can understand in this circumstance they wouldnt believe. I can understand that. But i would not you know i dont say things like that unless i have faith in the source. Reporter the theory now threatening to deepen the crisis. Even before israel launches a possible invasion of gaza. Deepn this. Lets bring in max foster. Good morning. We wanted to give our viewers an opportunity to see everything that we here at cnn know about what happened here because and lets start there before we Start Talking about whether or not any of it actually matters to the arab street. But there has been a lot of back and forth obviously with the palestinians immediately coming out we should say Hamas Palestinian health authority, controlled by hamas, saying that the israelis caused the deaths of hundreds of people by striking a hospital, huge globalismly indications. But now it seem like all the Information Israelis are putting out have at least convinced the americans that they didnt do it. What is the view from where you are in Western Europe and how much does that matter right now . Well, i think you need to look at it in terms of the rage that has built up here coming from a lot of arab world where generally there is a huge amount of sympathy with the palestinians and you automatically think that it was an israeli strike, israel then comes up with evidence to counter that and the americans back that up with their intelligence. And they are pretty clear that it wasnt israeli strike. But it is almost as if emotions have already bubbled up before then and they would say that, wouldnt they, of course america would back up israel. So i think what weve got is a lot of people are not looking at the facts but the long term trend here of suppression as they see it of the Palestinian People and this speaks to it. One thing worth noting is a lot of arab leaders did immediately condemn israel and they havent since the intelligence come out supported israel. So also a lot of people in those countries looking at their own government saying do they really blelieve america israel. What are the dynamics for a lot of the arab leaders as they try to balance domestic pressures and the clear emotion and rage that has enflamed many young people an sd sent them to the streets and what is going on Behind The Scenes. It seems like there are Political Considerations for each of these leaders that maybe are running into what their international imperatives might be. Yeah, i mean, interesting to know what the conversations are Behind The Scenes particularly with key allies like the king of jordan. But lebanon and jordan have huge palestinian populations. Jordan has a bigger palestinian population than gaza. They are absolutely concerned about destabilization within their own countries. They dont want to provoke more rage and a rush toward supporting gazans and trying to balance the language. So the diplomacy going on Behind The Scenes. We don progress is being made there. There is a lot of key u. S. Allies that they are speaking to. But to the public they need to manage the emotion and rage and massive distrust about anything that any of these western powers are saying and israeli powers as well. Rishi sunak has now gone to the middle east. Not a huge player if you compare it to President Biden, but perhaps there is a role for some of the european nations to come here and also create a bit of a bridge perhaps. And it really does underscore that the Information War is as important as anything else here because regardless of what facts may come out about an incident in war, the initial narrative is going to drive so much of what happens. So that is on us. We have a real responsibility to be careful in terms of how we characterize these things. And it is so hard getting all the information, isnt it, in any war, but nows networks were brought in yesterday when the israelis were saying you were saying this and it wasnt true and these were things that cnn was not saying and they were criticizing us for running with the hamas narrative which we didnt do. So incredibly hard for us as reporters to try to be independent when were being drawn into the story. Last thing that you want to do, to be a part of the story. Were just trying to tell the facts as they are and allow people to make up their own choices. Max foster, thank you very much. And President Biden says he has reached a deal for humanitarian aid to reach gaza. We have more on how that could work. And jim jordan falls short again to become house speaker. Will a third vote be any different . Good morning. Thank you for being up early with us. Im kasie hunt. Just hours from now President Biden will deliver a Primetime Address Calling for continued aid to israel in the face of has mass attacks and to ukraine in their ongoing war against russia. Biden telling reporters on the trip home from tel aviv that he had a very blunt meeting with israeli leaders. The president says that while israel has been badly victimized, it has an obligation to allow humanitarian aid into gaza. You have an opportunity to alleviate the pain, you should do it. Period. And if you dont, you will lose credibility worldwide. He says he struck a deal to get the aid to the palestinians starting tomorrow. Becky anderson is live with moor. The reality is there are still significant complications to be addressed before this aid can start to move. Youre right. They have to fix the roads and aid not likely to get in until friday. But it is a start. It is a start. And weve spoken to people on the ground who say this is incredibly important and if this is just the beginning, it could allow for more. They are talking about the need for hundreds of trucks a day to come through. But it was certainly one of the objectives joe biden had in coming to israel here. And to get that humanitarian corridor open, he also of course is looking for the evacuation of u. S. Citizens in the first instance out of gaza. And indeed the release of these hostages. And we know there are a the least a handful if not more american hostages being held. And so we didnt hear a constraints, but we are hearing for calls of a ceasefire. The number of dead and injured continues to rise. And the humanitarian situation as weve been discussing for those who have survived this is getting worse by the minute. Behind the scenes, diplomatic sources tell me, us, here at cnn that qatar continues to mediate talks between the hamas, u. S. And israel on the lease of what is now confirmed to be 203 hostages likely held by hamas. Israel determined there will be no cease fire until the hostages are released. So we await the next phase in this conflict as israel vows that hamas will be, quote, annihilated. I spoke earlier to one very influential palestinian politician who hood this to say about the role that he believes President Biden who has been much criticized for his trip here and is sort of taking a team as it were. But he talked to me about the role that the u. S. President could take going forward. Have a listen. I think the one person who could stop all these atrocities immediately is President Biden. But do that, he has to stop saying that he is teaming up with the israelis. And calls them our team. He cannot be on the team of one side while one side is committing war crimes against the other. He has to take a different position. And that is why i think that the United StatesMust Immediately change its position and allow the passage of a resolution in the Security Council to have immediate ceasefire. There is one country in the world that has influence over israel and can stop the atrocities for the sake of palestinians and israelis and that is the United States of america. And i have to say, to hear that after so much talk in the past 24 hours about the irrelevancy of the United States in this, the fact that in the past people might have looked to it as an interlocutor, a country that could really make a difference, as we saw the protests and demonstrations around the region, i think that it is really important just to pause and listen to him there and consider what role the u. S. Might play going forward. Extremely difficult, extremely complicated behind the krscenes. But were waiting for the next phase of what is the promised incursion by land, sea and air by the israelis to, quote, annihilate hamas. So extremely worrying for the people of gaza. And ill be quite candid, the view from washington is that the gentleman is disconnected from what is possible here and none of that will play out that way, the u. S. Position i think will remain the way it is for the foreseeable future. Becky anderson, thank you. At noon today the house is set to hold a third vote after republican jim jordan failed to win the xwafl wednesday. Hard right ohio congressman actually lost ground in the second vote with the number of republicans voting against him climbing from 20 to 22. At this hour jordan has been vowing to stay in the race but his critics in the house are running out of patience. This right now is an embarrassment and this is not what we should be dealing with. We were sent here to work and we should be working. Do you think it is healthy to have disagreements . But there is a point at which like the disagreement becomes dysfunction and paralysis and well reach that point if we continue this much longer. To those who started all this, the eight who started all this, what was your plan . Clearly you didnt have one. Now were in total chaos. Clearly you did not have a plan. And here we are. Some of the lawmakers voting against jordan complained that they have been the targets of intense pressure campaigns including public attacks and about abarrages of angry phone o their offices. Congresswoman meeks said she received credible Death Threats last night. Jordan condemned the Intimidation Tactics. Should never happen. It is just wrong. We dont want to happen to anyone, any american, any member of congress. It is just wrong. But it is happening. That is the reality of where we are. Lets bring in congressional reporter for the washington examiner. Samantha jo, thank you for being with us. I want to focus in on these threats because it ask seem like this is part of what is backfiring on jim jordan. This 22 number was a little lower than some people expected. Some expected as many as 25 republicans or so to vote against him on the floor. But it still underscores that his path forward is bleak and frankly the people he is trying to pressure to move feel like they are being intimidated and harassed and it is not making them inclined to feel warm and fuzzy enough about jim jordan to try to rescue him. Absolutely that is what im hearing as well. One talking about how his wife was receiving some of the Text Messages and threats. And this really only emphasizes some of their points. A lot of these folks say the intimidation really does not work against them. They are very, very against jordans bid for speaker and any of the Intimidation Tactics are not going to work. So it absolutely is backfiring. And some of the folks are saying if there is a third vote as we believe there will be, there will be even less republicans who are supporting jim jordan today. So that all remains to be seen. It does. And just to kind of give people a sense of what we think the plan is right now, the house is supposed to come back at noon today. We expect but we dont know that there will be a third vote for jim jordan on the floor, but there is increasing chatter about the possibility in the event that say a third vote fails, it would be expected to fail, about what to do if that happens. Because there is increasing frustration with the fact that they cant do anything. They want to get an aid package out the door to israel. Most want to get aid to ukraine as well. They want to keep the government open. That might involve empowering the temporary speaker Patrick Mchenry. What is your reporting about where those conversations stand what democrats might do in the event that happens and how that would play out inside the republican conference. Right now those discussions are under way. We know they were happening last night. And i think they will go on. Jeffries has not said whether or not whether he would help some of the republicans empower Patrick Mchenry. Obviously democrats will be needed in order to be able to do this. So some of jim jordans supporters dont want to see this. They think it is a distraction. Another big question is whether Patrick Mchenry will even want to do this. He has been reluctant to even want to be speaker. A lot of folks are wondering what he will do on this. But this is a really credible question and moving forward as you mentioned so many things are happening. They need to happen. November 17th is that critical spending deadline. And as long as this happens, nothing can happen with that spending. The senate is paralyzed as well. So something needs to happen and whether or not Patrick Mchenry is emboldened with more power really remain tobs seen. But it is something that republicans are talking about. And he is a man with a young family who has to deal with all the various personalities if he is going to be thrust into this role that frankly nobody has had much success in recent years dealing with. There are reasons why he doesnt want the job that are very easy to understand. But he has started leaving the door a little more open to the possibility. Samantha jo, thank you very much for being with us. Up next here, President Biden is preparing a pitch to the American People with a Primetime Address Set for the oval office tonight. His strategy for backing the war efforts in israel and ukraine, up next. Tonight President Biden expected to deliver a primetime address from the oval office focusing on americas response to the hamas attack on israel and russias ongoing war with ukraine. President biden is just back from his trip to tel aviv where he reaffirmed support for israel and work toward a deal to get aid into gaza. Here is biden on Air Force One talking about his phone call with president el sisi. He agreed that what he would do is open the gate to do into things. One, let up to 20 trucks through to begin with. So cnn asked biden if he was disappointed that his stop in jordan was canceled in the wake of that explosion at the hospital in gaza. No. Disappointed . Look, i came to get something done and i got it done. Let bring in daniel strauss, cnn National Politics reporter. Good morning, always great to have you. Sounds like biden was able to make some progress in terms of getting aid in from egypt. They agreed on 20 trucks. That is a very limited amount and there are obviously conditions attached, but it would be a major change from what is happening right now which is nothing getting in and it sounds like the message he gave to the israelis that this will be untenable for you to continue to maintain this position that no aid will go into gaza. Yeah, and lets remember this is a very, very complicated conflict ongoing with no clear easy solution. So the fact that President Biden got any sort of deal in aid getting into israel is something that the white house will highlight in the coming days. At the same time though, the fact that there was this summit planned and it was canceled at the last minute will overshadow any clear senses that bidens trip to the middle east was a smashing success. So so far it depends on what you focus on. Good point. Lets talk about the address tonight. Because obviously this is taking place against the backdrop were not yet into 2024, but we are heading toward the start of voting early next year in the Republican Caucus in iowa, primary in new hampshire, President Biden will be running for reelection. Right now we have a bit of polling on how biden is doing. Granted this was taken before his trip. How much do you trust that President Biden will make the right decisions about the situation in israel . 47 say they trust him a great deal or moderately. Not much or not at a, 53 . And that tracks closely with his overall Approval Ratings in a lot of these polls. But we also asked how much sympathy do you have for the israeli people and 71 told us that they have a lot of sympathy for the israeli people. And i think that that kind of underscores why the president is so comfortable taking the stand that he has and showing the solidarity he has with israel. What do you make of kind of the sentiments and how they are driving the white houses decisions . I mean, it is very clear that across the political spectrum, there is strong support for israel in the United States right now. You would expect maybe that number would be slightly lower in the Democratic Party given sort of the lefts past comments on palestine and israeli conflict, but it is pretty clear regardless of party affiliation, this is where the United States people are. And so it is pretty clear what biden can do to highlight or at least burnish his approval numbers on Foreign Policy. At the same time though, i want to stress that i am usually pretty skeptical about how often a Foreign Policy event or conflict can play in any sort of domestic policy election in the United States, but i think that this might be an exception. I think that how biden conducts himself on israel and palestine and how the republican primary also addresses it is going to direct the course of the next election cycle. You know, i think that is really smart and i think it is true. Because the israel issue while it is officially in the Foreign Policy category is something that is also incredibly personal to people, incredibly tied up in many other ways in which people engage with politics in this country, with the evangelical community on the republican side and of course the independent voters who will be critical to deciding whether or not President Biden gets reelected. Daniel strauss, thank you for being here. Thank you so much. And coming up next, more action on israels northern front, and increasing concern over hezbollah with israel already at war with hamas. Is it possible my network could take my business to the next level . It is with comcast business. Powering all your devices with gigspeed wifi. And you get fast downloads and uploads. Pick it up pick it up oh we got this because its powered by The Next Generation 10g network. More speed for your business . Its not just possible. Its happening. Get started for 59. 99 a month for 12 months. Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. Welcome back. At israels Thornorthern Borderf say they are hitting hezbollah after skirmishes with hezbollah fighters. Clare sebastian is live in london. What is driving the increase in the strikes and why now . Reporter yeah, kasie, this has been going on since day one sincing on the 7 Wheoctober 7 W The Rampage took place. We sawmill tamilitants fire acrs the border and there is a cycle of tit for tat attacks. Why the increase now . Over the weekend we did see an israeli strike kill a reuters cameraman, injure two other reuters journalists. That seems to have been the trigger for the increase on wednesday. Hezbollah said it attacked six border posts, it claimed also to have attacked an israeli tank and were hearing about more crossborder attacks this morning. And this doesnt seem to be yet an attempt by hezbollah to get involved in the conflict, they have not signals that they are going in essentially to bat for hamas, but of course they do politically support hamas. They also backed by iran. This may be a signal of their capabilities which are significant. And it is dangerous the Chief Of The General staff of the Israeli Defense forces was in the region this week, made it very, very clear that israel would respond forcefully if provoked by hezbollah. Take a listen to what he had to say. Translator we need to get to a point where there will be a victory in every encounter. If hezbollah makes a mistake and strikes us, it will be destroyed, destroyed, destroyed. Reporter he goes on to say that were fighting for our home, our civilians, our sovereignty. It is clear that israel sees this as existential and significant that he was there in the first place when israel is laser focused on the next potential stage in their fight against hamas in the south. So the u. S. Also clearly incredibly concerned about this because it would mark a pretty significant expansion. Reporter it would. Not only is hezbollah more powerful, better armed than hamas, but of course it has tentacles throughout the region. It has been involved in several regional conflicts fighting on behalf of assad forces in syria, it has alliances that might then become involved. So it is seen as a Potential Tinderbox in the conflict, that is why you see now two Aircraft Carrier strike groups the u. S. Deploying to the eastern m mediterranean along with other Military Assets moving closer to israel on top of the diplomacy that we saw President Biden in the region. I think this just shows how concerned they are and in particular about that thnorther border. Clare sebastian, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. Really appreciate it. And thanks to all of you for joining us. Always wonderful to have you. Im kasie hunt. Cnn this morning starts right now. Now