Good day to our viewers in the United States and around the world, im kasie hunt. Its monday, october 23rd, 5 00 a. M. On the east coast. New in gaza, where israels military said they struck in air strikes overnight. Killing at least 25 people. Hamas said their fighters also clashed with israeli troops inside gaza. A senior israeli official tells cnn there will be no ceasefire. Idf troops are amassing at the border, but israels Ground Incursion hasnt begun. While the u. S. And qatar hope to free more than 200 hostages held by hamas. 4600 have died and the humanitarian crisis is worsening by the day. Meantime, israel has agreed to the u. S. Request to demand humanitarian aid into gaza. When i hear the stories when i see the pictures, of Young Children who have lost their lives in this conflict that hamas is making, whoever they are, wherever they are, whether theyre palestinians, whether theyre israelis. Whether theyre jews or muslims, it hits me, thats why its so important to do Everything Possible to protect them and why its so important to do Everything Possible to get assistance to those who need it. At least 14 aid trucks entered at the Rafah Crossing with food, water and other supplies on sunday. But fuel is still scarce. And patients are overwhelming gaza hospitals, doctors say infants on ventilators wont survive without electricity. Elliott gotkine joins us now. Elliott, good morning to you. When do we expect the Ground Incursion . Is there any time line . Theres no time line, kasie, weve been expecting this Ground Incursion pretty much since the incursion of october 7th. Troops have been amassing assets, Armored Personnel Carriers and the like have been amassing around the gaza strip. We still dont have a time line. To be fair, its i guess, that the idf isnt going to give us a time line because it wants to keep it a surprise. The idf said its going to ramp up targets into the gaza strip. 320 targets hit according to the idf in the last 24 hours, that may be the largest number of targets hit since the beginning of this war. Certainly, thats what the idf want. Theyre looking into specifically whether its the largest number. But we heard from our Nic Robertson in sderot, to his mind, to his ears, was the heaviest bombardment since the start of the war. Israel is targeting everything from militant tunnels to Operational Command centers including those which actually had militants from Islamic Jihad inside. And firing antitank missiles as well. Also saying its Hitting Targets in order to reduce the threat, targets that pose a threat to the areas next to gaza. Of course, we saw the first clash on ground inside the gaza strip between idf and militants yesterday. That was altered from an antitank missile fired, with the death of one idf soldier and three more injured. Hamas claiming to have destroyed a couple of Military Bulldozes are and a tank. So skirmishes have started but this doesnt seem to be the starting of a full blown Ground Incursion, kasie. Elliott, there are reports over the weekend about the role that the u. S. Was potentially playing, and the typing here, whether there was an ask for a delay that potentially related to the hostages. What do we know about that . Well, we understand from our reporting at cnn that the u. S. Has been leaning on israel to delay its Ground Invasion. We saw two Israeli Americans released by hamas out of more than 200 that it abducted from israel on october 7th. The u. S. Wants to see more of those released and being helped to that end by the qataris. On top of that, of course, we know when President Biden was physically here in israel that may have went to some delay because israel was never going to go on the ground while President Biden was in town. In terms of that, they say this is a decision Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken said when asked this is a decision by the israelis as to when to go in. The israelis have dismissed the story saying its not true. And President Biden simply replied i am talking to the israelis so not giving anything away there. But we do understand that the u. N. Has been leaning on israel to delay a Ground Invasion. There are elements that suggests there could be some delay. But there could be other reasons whether its fresh intelligence where the hostages are, or even the weatherer that could delay this Ground Invasion which weve been waiting for pretty much for two weeks now. We seem to be getting closer to it all the time. It hasnt happened yet. We really dont know when its going to happen but we dror expect it to happen at some point, kasie. Elliott gotkine, thank you. Coming up, the pentagon worried about a wider war as they bolster troops in the middle east. Plus, jim jordan is out, whos in nine candidates vying for that potential gavel. Welcome back. U. S. Military sending additional troops to the middle east on prepare to deploy orders. Officials have already stressed there are no plans to put american boots on the ground in the war between israel and hamas but defense secretary light austin warns the u. S. Is worried about a wider war. Were concerned about potential escalation, in fact, what were seeing is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks, on our troops, and our people, throughout the region. And because of that, were going to do whats necessary to make sure that our troops are in the right position. Theyre protected. And that we have the ability to respond. All right. Retired air force colonel Cedric Leighton joins me now. Colonel, good morning. Always great to start the week with you. How close are we here . And how would the u. S. React if there are some sort of attacks on u. S. Troops in the region . Obviously, it could come from many places that were not directly related to the israelihamas conflict but obviously, tensions are heightened. How do you think the u. S. Would respond if there were an incident . Yeah, good morning, kasie. Good to be with you. Whats called the force protection, and secretary austin talked about that, anytime you put forces potentially at harms way, the biggest thing a commander does, they take a look, how can i protect my troops . If they were to be attacked, if there were something, you know from any of the possible players in the middle east or anywhere else, i think the response from the u. S. Would be pretty strong and separate swift, as long as they can figure out who did the attack, conducted the attack. Thats the key thing. The intelligence would have to be really good in determining where the attack came from. And i think there would be a response, probably a proportionate response, depending on the nature of the attack, anybody who would risk attacking u. S. Troops would risk getting attacked themselves. Can you help me understand, this quoteunquote prepare to deploy order . Im just not familiar with that. What does that mean . So, it basically means what it says, finally theres something that the Department Of Defense actually means pretty close to the english language. Who knew . Yeah, who knew, exactly. What youre dealing with, youre telling a unit to get ready to deploy. What does that mean concretely . It means they will get themselves ready, so that when theyre given the deploy order, they will move out within 24 hours. So prepare to deploy, in other words, is kind of like the yellow light, the green light then is you have a Deployment Order. A Deployment Order as its called. And then thats sent out to the unit, and they move out. And everything is basically put in place, the logistics, you know, all of the materiel that they need to make sure theyve got their weapons at their ready. And that they can then move that step forward, all of the equipment, all of the personnel, move that forward to a predetermined location. Thats basically what prepare do deploy means. It means get ready to go. And then the next step, of course, would be to actually deploy. Got it understood. So there was an incident in israel, kind of look the border fence is my understanding in gaza, where there was an antitank missile fired at an israeli operation. What happened there . And how does it conduct with what we expect to be a planned incursion into gaza by the israelis . Yeah, so, its kind of murky, the details are kind of murky on this incident, kasie. As far as we can tell, the israelis may have done something known as a reconnaissance in force into a portion of gaza. Or they may have been shot at some, the gaza side by hamas, and then responded to that, so theres still a possibility there. But basically what happens is, a military tries to get into a particular area, theyll send Reconnaissance Universities basically like scouts into an area to determine what the soft points are. How can they move forward. What are the vulnerabilities, what are the points of access. The israelis are probably doing a mission like that. And that resulted in the death of at least one israeli soldier and the wounding of several others. Sir, i was just talking earlier with elliott cgotkine with some of the u. S. Urging a delay. All he would say in response was he was talking to the israelis. But could you help us understand the military reasons why the u. S. Might be urging the israelis to kind of slow their roll on the incursion into gaza . Yeah, so, kasie, the real issue from a Military Standpoint is that if you get into a place like gaza, its going to be really hard to extricate yourself. So from a strictly Military Standpoint, putting all of the political and diplomatic stuff aside for a second which is very relevant to this, actually, but in a military sense, what theyre doing, theyre telling the israelis, hey, weve had some experience with this. There have been some mistakes made. You risk getting involved in something that you cant really extricate yourself from. And thats the danger. Have a plan to get in, get out and do it quickly is the basically message. All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you for your expertise, ill see you soon. You bet, kasie. And israel will one day find itself considering the same question in gaza as the u. S. Did in iraq. What would, as we were just discussing, the Exit Strategy be . Thats next. Something needs to be found that ensures that hamas cant do this again. But that also doesnt revert to israelis going into gaza. That is Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken talking about who might govern gaza after the war is over. He also said this. One things for sure, Israel Cannot Go back to the status quo. Israels Prime Minister has vowed to, quote, wipe hamas off the face of the earth, end quote. Blinkens remarks appear to be the first time that the administration has come up with a strategy for what comes after that. Cnns max foster joins us live from london. Max, good morning. So good to see you. So, weve been discussing, and, you know, as the israelis are contemplating going into gaza, talking about it with Cedric Leighton, you heard President Biden, when he went to israel, talk about how it was understandable that the israelis were angry. That they felt rage. But he urged them not to be consumed by the rage. And he compared to the American Experience of 9 11. He said that america went into offense into iraq for justice, they got justice, but they also made mistakes. And that does seems to be kind of instructive here in terms of how everybody is thinking about this situation. Theres a Military Component to this and a governance and diplomatic concern which we can talk about. But strictly on a military basis, if they do wipe out hamas as they go in physically into the gaza strip, they have a plan to get out of there, no . They do have a very clear plan. Its an exist strategy for israel, but not an exist strategy for gaza, in terms of what happens to gaza afterwards. The Israeli Defense minister was speaking to Parliament Last week, and essentially said the first phase is to take out hamas. And then about taking out pockets of hamas. And then it is withdrawing. They have no intention, they say, staying in gaza. So the third phase, according to the Defense Minister will require the removal of israeli responsibility for life in the gaza strip. And establish a new Security Reality for the citizens of israel. As you know, kasie, israel supplies basically necessities to gaza. And that is seen by the u. N. As a responsibility, effectively, for occupying air and land. I dont know how israel looks at this, do they still occupy it . The question is, if israel pulls out all services to gaza strip after all of this is over, how does it continue forward. Right. I mean, its impossible, right . It also raises the question, too, what rises up in its place. Bus something needs to someone has to govern gaza. Even if the israelis are providing as weve seen, they had the capacity to cut off the water and fuel so theyre providing that but theyre not administering that day to day. The reality is hamas doesnt get along with palestinians and plo and organizations that run the west bank, for example, its really difficult to see who is going to administer the day to day . And the Palestinian Authority is only representative of the palestinians and the talks that are going to happen effectively with the rest of the world about what happens with governance in gaza afterwards. Its a huge question. Egypt is the only option for getting stuff into gaza after this. How does that work . Does it want that responsibility . How is it going to get support from our countries to do that . I mean, there are huge questions here about is gaza, how its going to survive after all of this is over. The and the Palestinian Authority is seen as many with weak leadership. In other organizations, they have to emerge to fill the vacuum. The big worry, of course, if you destroy hamas, you just create another hamas under a different name afterwards that replaces it. If israel is no longer part of that process or having any involvement in that, who is . Right, power with the vacuum is a cliche for a reason. In the event, they destroy one organization, whats to stop another group from rising up in its place. Especially considering all of the young people who are experiencing whats happening to gaza right now. And the potential for what happens next, with many people who are going to be extraordinarily, honestly, devastated by whats happened and react to that. Max foster, thank you for being with us. I appreciate it. Just ahead, israels military says its taking out hundreds of Terror Targets in gaza. And that the u. S. Capital republicans just one gavel, whos going to get it . Well be back. Good morning. Thanks for getting up early with us, im kasie hunt. A few seconds before 5 30 here on the east coast. Israeli forces targeting gaza with air strikes. Killing dozens in the refugee camp. Aim add the militants and their command centers. The hamas military said they were destroying homes in gaza and gass city. The senior israeli official says theres no ceasefire as the Military Targets hamas and command centers. This comes as the u. S. Works to get about 600 mipalestinian americans out of gaza. We have several Hundred Americans and other civilians who want to leave gaza. Weve had people come to rafah, the crossing with egypt. And to date, at least, hamas has blocked them from leaving. Officials at Gaza Hospital Say that they are overwhelmed with casualties as they struggle with electricity and fuel shortages. The Palestinian HealthMinistry Says more than 4600 gazans have died thus far. Reporter Elliott Gotkine joins us live from london. Elliott, welcome back, we do know that troops are amassing by Tens Of Thousands at the border. Still no word on the Ground Incursion thats expected any day now. What do these increased air strikes tell us about whats going on . And what is the work going on Behind The Scenes to try to free the hostages ahead of the potential incursion . Kasie, as far as the hostages are concerned we know that the u. S. And qataris in particular who have a direct line to hamas and the leadership there in doha, they are working Behind The Scenes to try to get more of those now 222 hostages. That figure has been updated from just over 200 just in the last few minutes. 222 hostages that were abducted by hamas in that Terrorist Attack of october 7th. During which up to 1400 or more than 1400 people were killed sn inside of israel. So, thats whats happening Behind The Scenes. There i