Today on inside politics, panic, pain, and fear of whats next. Israeli forces are ramping up air strikes in response to hamas Terrorist Attack. The barbaric attack in israel just over two weeks ago. The idf says 320 Quote Terror Targets were struck in gaza overnight including tunnels and Operational Command centers used by hamas. New video from gaza city shows the aftermath of those strikes this morning. Streets reduced to rubble. As the humanitarian crisis deepens, sources tell cnn the white house is pushing for a pause on any Ground Incursion into gaza. A move they hope will allow time to get much needed aid to gaza and more hostages freed. Since hamas released two american hostages on friday, there is still hope that the 222 others kidnapped during the October 7th Attack in israel could go home, too. The Biden Administration is sidestepping questions about israels plans for the next phase against their war on hamas, but theyre working vigorously to try to stop it from spreading across the region. I want to bring in jake tapper who is in tel aviv. I know you just arrived, but what is the feeling now on the ground . Reporter well, im in tel aviv and its just after 7 00 p. M. Its very quiet. One of the reasons of course is that fighting age men have been mobilized and are in the reserves and are around gaza ready to invade, but there is still, its only been two weeks and change since that horrific terro Terrorist Attack of october 7th. Theres still a sense of mourning, of sadness, in israel. And beyond that, of course, a sense of anxiety about what is going to happen next. How long is this Ground Incursion going to last . Will it be a matter of months . Of years . What will happen after that . Does this current netanyahu government that was in charge of course on october 7th, do they have a strategy for the Ground Incursion about the war, what happens next. Its quiet. Its mournful and a lot of anxiety, dana. Im sure that quiet youre feeling and you can see it, the quite eerie. Jeremy, what is the latest there on the ground in ashkelon . Yesterday, we heard Officials Say they were going to be intensifying their strikes on gaza and today, we are hearing and seeing the evidence of that. This evening, we have been hearing a steady Thud Pounding of the gaza strip in the background. The sound of bombs hitting the gaza strip. Last night, we know the idf struck 320 targets overnight, which was a significant increase striking tunnels where they say there were fighters as well as Operational Command centers. They also struck missile and mortar positions of hamas fighters inside the gaza strip. Of course, there is a toll that comes along with that. That toll is 436 People Killed inside of gaza last night. That includes 182 children. Children have been too often casualties. More than a third are children according to the Palestinian Ministry of health. On the ground, we are still watching the preparations, the waiting perhaps of all these troops who are massed along the border with gaza. As we drove along the gaza strip today, what we saw is hundreds of tanks, Armored Personnel Carriers and these d9 bulldozers prepared to go into gaza. Wr there was clearly movement the last couple of days but they are ready to go and waiting for an order. An order that has been delayed in part by the United States so they can negotiate the release of more hostages. So far now, at least, they are waiting for that order to come. Reporter and jeremy, whats the latest on, that youre hearing on a possible Israeli Ground invasion . When that time is actually going to happen. Reporter well, look, its clear that they have agreed to far to delay it at the request of the americans in order to allow for these qatarled Mediation Efforts to try and get some of these civilian hostages out of the gaza strip. We know also that hamas is clearly trying to delay a Ground Invasion by dangling that very possibility. I think whats clear is that while the israelis are certainly willing to wait a few more days perhaps to launch this Ground Invasion, they are not going to delay it inevitably. Whether you look at the comments of the defense minister, galant or the idfs chief of staff, what is clear is that they will be going into gaza. It is unclear when at this point. Reporter thanks so much. I want to turn now to sara sidner who is in jerusalem. Youve been covering whats happening in gaza. Whats the latest on the ground there, especially with the humanitarian crisis . How dire is that . Reporter it couldnt be worse at this point although there is a small trickle of aid that is coming in. Its less than 4 of what normally comes into gaza on a regular day when there is no official war that has been declared. So it gives you some sense of what we would normally see. Weve seen some where in the number of 40 to 50 trucks that have been let in over the past few days. I do want to talk to you though about something that i think is a bit under reported. We talk a lot about those who have been killed. About 5,000 according to the Palestinian Health ministry in gaza and the injured. W were talking about thousands injured. More than 10,000. What we rarely hear about are the doctors and nurses. The doctors and nurses according to the Palestinian Red Crescent society told us that they are literally hungry. They dont have food and so they have to take a very dangerous trip from the south to the north to try and give them some bread and something to drink as they are trying to care for these patients. They are in the north in those hospitals where about 60 of the hospitals are because the patients cannot be evacuated and the doctors are refusing to leave even though israel said the north needs to be evacuated. I also talked to an israeli spokesperson and ambassador who told me that israel would do its best to try not to impact of course the hospital there is but there is a great amount of fear and exhaustion on the part of the doctors and nurses trying to care for so many people with some of the worst kind of injuries from the strike. We also should note theres so much going on both in the north and the south here. That there is a real fear that this is going to turn into a regional complication but the Prime Minister of israel warning lebanon that if it does strike israel, it will be hit very, very hard. Jake . Reporter thank you so much. Appreciate it. Of course, we should always remind our viewers that the Palestinian Ministry of health is controlled by hamas and anything they say, hamas is responsible and they were lying last tuesday when it came to their blaming of the Hospital Strike on the israelis when it turned out it was almost certainly caused by Palestinian Islamic jihad. Dana, back to you. Its important to note that. Thanks for doing that. Good to have you there, jake. Well be back to you later in the program. For now, i want to go to the white house because President Biden did speak with Prime Minister netanyahu yesterday and sources do tell cnn his administration is working behind the scenes to delay a possible Ground Incursion in gaza. Mj lee is at the white house. What are you learning about this conversation . The latest one. Yeah, President Biden has really been in constant communication with Prime Minister netanyahu including this additional phone call that took place over the weekend coming at a moment when every indication seems to be that a Ground Invasion into gaza appears to be imminent, but what we are learning is that the administration has been urging israel to delay making such a move and there are a couple of things at play here. First and foremost, the issue of the hostages. We of course saw those two americans that were released on friday and u. S. Officials have said they believe there are additional american hostages being held by hamas and the president has made very clear that getting them out is the highest priority for him. So that is one important factor. And the other factor of course is allowing the humanitarian aid to continue flowing into gaza. We saw the first convoys of these trucks carrying aid going in over the weekend but we also happen to know based on our reporting including what sara pointed out, that that happens to be just a drop in the budget when you take into account the incredible, dire situation at hand. Now, when the president himself was asked over the weekend by a reporter whether he had been urging the israelis to delay a Ground Invasion, he didnt deny it. He said im talking to the israelis but i should note there is some resistance about the support coming from the israeli side. One israeli official says that kind of Pressure Campaign is not in existence. Its not a conversation going on. So theres some sensitivities here on both sides. I will also note that u. S. Officials have been careful, probably for that reason, in pointing out that any military decision that is made on the ground, that is up to the israelis. Yeah, it is very, very delicate. Thank you so much for that reporting, mj. Now to alex. Alex, i know youve been talking to sources about the very real concern about the conflict spreading much more broadly regionally. In fact, the Defense Secretary talked about it this weekend. Very real concern and a growing concern. I think what we heard from lloyd austin was emphasizing what weve been hearing across the administration that theres a real possibility this war could expand beyond just israel and gaza. That other groups could get involved and other fronts could be opened up. The concern doesnt just come from the potential for iran to essentially order its proxies across the region to start carrying out strikes against u. S. And isiraeli targets, but really a reflection of the Str St Springs of targets weve seen in iraq and syria. There was an attack on a u. S. Diplomatic facility on friday. That followed missiles and drones launched by the houthis in yemen. Those were launched north in the direction of israel. Had to be taken down by a u. S. Destroyer. This is a very real point. This is what he had to say on sunday. Were concerned about potential escalation. In fact, what were seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation. On our troops and our people throughout the region. And dana, i think the most immediate fear might be hezbollah to israels north in lebanon. One of the best funded, best equipped proxies and could easily o easily open up a second front. We have those two strike groups in the Eastern Mediterranean. What are you hearing about the u. S. Sending additional military resources to the region for lots of reasons including to try to be a deterrent against that potential hezbollah attack . A deterrent to show hezbollah, iran, and other that is the u. S. Could, that the u. S. Is there and sending a Warning Signal but also that they would be very well equipped to respond. So we have these two Carrier Strike groups in the Eastern Mediterranean but what we heard from the secretary there was that theyre sending more air defense batteries including patriot missing batteries to the region to help with air defense to help with u. S. Positions, u. S. Troops in the region and secretary austin said more troops are being put on what are called prepare to deploy orders. So these are very significant moves by the pentagon. As we wait for this imminent israeli incursion which could prompt a wider conflict, dana. Very scary, indeed. To say the least. Thank you so much for that reporting, alex. Coming up, israel is making clear a Ground Invasion is very much on the table. The question of course at this point is when. Im going to speak with a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense forces next. The loss of life here in israel and gaza is just unimaginable. Thousands of innocent People Killed in just over two weeks and now, one more name has been added to the list of the dead. His name is omar balva. The 22yearold Israeli American was killed while serving for the Israel Defense forces. Killed on israels northern border by an Anti Tank Missile fired from the terrorist group, hezbollah, in lebanon. He left his home in rockville, maryland, after israel called up more than 300,000 reservists. Dana, another family will just never be the same ever again. No, jake, its heartbreaking. And it has been more than two weeks since the war started. Since hamas went into israel with this brutal terror attack. And now, the question is what are the next steps in israels m military offensive. The question is a possible Ground Invasion into gaza and of course, the tensions jake was just talking about in the northern part of israel at the Lebanon Border where that american who left the United States to fight was already killed. I want to go to our colonel cedrick layton. A cnn military analyst. Lets start there, if you will, about the concern in the north. Obviously, the focus has been in the southern part of israel on the border with gaza. But the very real concerns about what is going to happen in the north and that is something we just heard in the last block that the Defense Secretary spoke about just more broadly about what that would mean for a bigger regional conflict. Yeah. Its very true that the north is really a problem area for israel. So basically, what its forcing israel to do from a Military Standpoint is divide its forces. It has obviously moved a lot of troops into the south right along the gaza border. All those troops Nic Robertson has been roberteporting on. Theres probably a redeployment going on as the israelis try to get the right force mix they need in order to go and execute whatever mission theyre going to be undertaking in the next 48 to 72 hours. As far as the north is concerned, the key thing to think about is hezbollah. Party of god as its known. Iranianbacked group in southern lebanon. 130,000 or so rockets to its name reportedly. That group has a potent Military Force that israel has tangled with multiple times over the last few decades and that group can really up end things for the israel ins in the north and it could cause a lot of problems for the israelis as try to take care of their mission in the south which is opposite hamas, but with hezbollah, the key thing is the fact that a bomb is behind hezbollah and if hezbollah gets a call, then the r iranian are likely to get involved. As you well know, the Iranian Regime is not only a backer of hezbollah, but also of the Hamas Terrorists who are still in charge in gaza. The ones who perpetrated the deadly attack more than two weeks ago. You heard alex talking about u. S. Resources, additional resources, moving into the region. Based on your experience, how much of a deterrent do you think that the mere presence of more u. S. Military troops and so forth in the region will be for hezbollah . And even for iran, which backs hezbollah . Right. It depends on what the force posture is. I think the fact there are two u. S. Aircraft carrier battle groups. One with the u. S. S. Ford. The other with the u. S. S. Eisenhower. Those two groups send a significant message and that is the principle or projection arm of the United States in this conflict because its something new thats been added to the dynamic of the force postures of the various nations that have bases in and around the middle east. The other thing, of course, is the Ariel Component to the fact that weve got several more aircraft Fighter Aircraft going in over the last few weeks. F16s, f10s, being deployed into the middle east region. That means the combat power at our disposal has gone up and it should be a deterrent for anyone at the Receiving End of u. S. Military power. The other part is the air defense component. The fact weve got patriots coming in, but also the High Altitude capability that is actually being deployed to various locations throughout the middle east. So that gives protection to u. S. Forces as well as to israel and that is a key component and could limit the responses from iran and hezbollah. Yeah. In the sea and in the air. Thank you so much. Always great to get your perspective, colonel. Thank you. And coming up, were going to talk about whats going on here in the United States on capitol hill. Maybe whats not going on. Jim jordan is out. Who is going to be in . Nine candidates are now vying for that gavel, which has been ungettable for more than 20 days. Were live from capitol hill, next. The power goes out and w