. this is cnn breaking news. good morning, everyone, and welcome, i'm phil mattingly with erica hill in new york. poppy is off today. right now, secretary antony blinken back in the war zone in israel. we are expecting blinken to speak in just moments after meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his war cabinet. >> blinken's trip comes as one of the most intense nights. we watched rockets and missiles rain down live on cnn as flares list up the night sky. blinken, president biden and his top advisers are warning israel that the human suffering in gaza is eroding public support for the war and the outcry for a cease-fire could reach a tipping point. the israeli military says its troops are completely surrounded gaza city. the latest video in this morning from those ground operations, casualties are rising on both sides, the idf now says 23 israeli soldiers have been killed since that ground assault was launched in gaza. >> this morning the red crescent says israeli strikes near a hospital blew out the windows and parts of the ceiling came down and injured at least 21 civilians, including women and children sheltering inside. we're starting with jim sciutto live for us in northern israel. with the secretary of state back on the ground clearly the ground operation advancing at a level that some israelis would say is faster than expected. this is a huge moment. what are the stakes today? >> reporter: i think you could call this a mission of moderation from the u.s. secretary of state as you said meeting with with israeli political leaders benjamin netanyahu but also the war cabinet. part of the message and, and he said this before he took off from the states, encouraging israel to take steps to protect civilians in gaza as u.s. concern grows about the fate of civilians there, particularly with air strikes we've seen this week, including on the jabalia refugee camp where israeli forces targeted, but many civilians died in the attack as well. in addition to the message he's delivering here he's going to follow this trip with a visit to amann. president biden was meant to go there and meet with arab leaders after his stop here in israel. that trip was cancelled following the attack on the hospital in gaza, initially blamed on israel, of course u.s. intel has since assessed that was a palestinian rocket. regardless we have the u.s. secretary of state the top diplomat going to amann to meet with jordanian leaders and others to bring them on board to some degree for a way forward, not just about the israeli military in gaza, but efforts to prevent this war from expanding to the northern front here where we are facing lebanon and syria, as well as the attacks we're seeing coming from as far afield as yemen, the rebels there. >> jim, when you talk about the fears and concerns related to expansion, there is no more important marker than what we're going to hear today from the leader of hezbollah for the first time really in a tangible manner since the war began, you and i have been talking about this all week. what uh listening for? what we expect to be an hours-long speech. >> reporter: it's listening to what he say to say but more importantly what the fighters loyal to him do. we got a sense of that yesterday when there was a real uptick, a spike in rocket attacks across the border from southern lebanon here in the northern israel, at least a couple of dozen. our team was out and we saw israel's missile defense system catch two rockets in the air. it was a definite uptick. will his words today signal that that's just a taste of what's to come? i mean, he can certainly be expected to express solidarity with his brothers in arms, hamas, which he's done already, but to come out and make this public speech, not just to his supporters but to the world, a lot of anticipation, and hezbollah always media savvy, social media savvy and releasing these videos portending a major statement. we'll see what he has to say. but more importantly i'll tell you israeli forces up here as well as u.s. intelligence is watching more closely as to what those hezbollah fighters do in response to his statements. >> words, but also actions. jim sciutto, we'll be with you all show, thank you. joining us now from tel aviv, idf international spokeswoman major libby wise, good to have you with us this morning, taking a look at what we saw overnight, the escalation, the intensity in gaza, the fact that gaza city is now encircled, there is a note that idf forces were engaging in face to face combat. give us a better sense, is this a few soldiers, or is this more widespread? >> reporter: we are continuing to expand our ground operations in gaza with a very clear focus, and that is to dismantle hamas, and we know that hamas is deeply entrenched in that area. they've invested millions and millions of dollars over the years to be as entrenched as possible. but we are facing them, and we are dismantling them man by man. >> it's more than just a few soldiers to clarify dealing with face to face combat, essentially? >> for obvious reasons i won't expand on specific troop numbers but the ground operations are expanding and we are facing the threat that hamas exposed to our people, and going after them the best we can. >> there are multiple outlets saying the u.s. is actually flying drones over gaza as part of this search for hostages, can you confirm that? >> i can't confirm that. it would be best to direct that to the west but of course we understand that many countries are deeply concerned about the fate of the hostages being held by hamas right now, and the fastest way for them to come home would be for hamas to release them immediately, to release civilians immediately, have them come home. what they did was a war crime, and these hostages shouldn't be held there. much of the world is deeply distressed, as we are about their well-being. >> as this continues, being there, having gaza city surrounded, is there encircled, rather, has there been anymore evidence that's been found of hostages in that area? >> well, i can't elaborate on the specifics, we want to make sure that we are being as cautious as possible to allow our soldiers to continue with their efforts, and we hope that they are going to be rescued and that they -- again, the fastest with for them to come home would be for hamas to release them immediately. >> hamas warned yesterday the israeli bombing is endangering the lives of the hostages, i recognize that's coming from hamas, but we are also hearing from humanitarian aid organizations and from families who share a similar concern. what is the idf's level of concern when it comes to the location of those hostages and their safety at this point? >> their safety is a top priority for us, we are a small country, we all feel deeply and personally connected to every single one of those hostages, they're not strangers to us, and we are thinking about them at all times. and having them come home safely is a top priority, that goes hand in hand with our mission of dismantling hamas, it's a complicated operational reality. that is the nature of this war that hamas launched, but of course the well-being of those hostages is a top priority for us, and it goes hand in hand with our goal of dismantling hamas. >> as you know secretary blinken is in israel today where he has said he will be urging israel to take, quote, concrete steps to protect civilians, this morning 13 democratic senators in the u.s. release add letter calling for a short-term cessation of hostilities in gaza, urging israel to allow humanitarian aid in. is a pause or a break in conflict on the table? >> that is something that on the political level would have to be decided and we will of course in the idf facilitate whatever decision is made. it's important for me to say that we are listening to our american counterparts and are very grateful for their support and in the meantime we are continuing to facilitate the entrance of humanitarian goods into the gaza strip, more than 300 trucks have gone in with humanitarian goods, specifically, food, medicine and water for the civilians in gaza. they are not our target in any capacity, and we will continue to dismantle hamas, and to do that until we get any other directive. >> i do want to get your take on this quickly before we let you go. one of the 13 senators who signed that letter, senator chris murphy of connecticut released a separate statement yesterday in which he called the civilian death toll unsustainable. went on to write, i urge israel to immediately reconsider its approach and shift to a more deliberate and proportionate counterterrorism campaign, surgically targeting hamas, how do you respond to that criticism and that request? >> i won't comment specifically on the exact complaint that he expressed. what i can say is that more than two weeks ago we instructed civilians in the northern part of the gaza strip to move to the southern part of the strip, we provided them this warning, we know that more than 800,000 of them have moved to a safer part of the gaza strip and i'd like to say that we did this despite the fact that on october 7th, nearly a month ago, hamas had no warning to the civilians in this country. they went after them deliberately and intentionally. that is not what we are trying to do in the gaza strip. we are providing a warning in advance to our operational detriment, and we're doing this because we want to minimize the impact on civilians. at the end of the day hamas is responsible for the well-being of the civilians in the gaza strip. they should be facilitating the movement of civilians to safer areas, within the gaza strip. and effectively we should not be the only party in this conflict concerned with the well-being of the civilians, also the responsible of hamas in the gaza strip. >> major libby weiss we have to leave it there this morning, thank you. >> thank you. secretary of state antony blinken is back in the war zone this morning showing support for israel but warning about the growing humanitarian crisis in gaza. and new this morning, president biden facing mounting pressure at home to deal with the suffering. as we mentioned 13 democrats in the senate calling for a short-term cessation of hostilities to allow for more aid. the impact ahead. the republican-led house has passed a $14.5 billion aid package, aid for israel alone. does in the include funding for ukraine. the bill is doa in the senate. chuck schumer already said he won't take up the house bill. the white house for its part says president biden will veto any aid package that does not include assistance for ukraine. new this morning 13 senate democrats are pushing for a pause in military activity in gaza. in a joint letter released this morning which calls for a short-term cessation of hostilities to provide humanitarian aid. dick durbin was the first member of the caucus to call for a cease-fire during his appearance on this show yesterday. >> is a cease-fire needed now? >> i think it is, at least under -- in the context of both sides agreeing, for example, the release of those who have been kidnapped should be part of this, immediate release, that should be the beginning of it. efforts should be made to engage in conversation between the israelis and the palestinians. we need to have a resolution in the middle east that gives some promise for the future. >> it is a tangible shift from some of the white house closest allies, happening at the exact same time secretary of state antony blinken is back in israel meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu to press them on the ongoing offensive in gaza. before leaving washington blinken said he planned to be clear how the u.s. feels about the growing loss of civilian life. >> how israel does this matters. we will focus as well on steps that need to be taken to protect civilians who are in a crossfire of hamas's making, and we want to look at concrete steps that can be taken to better protect them. >> cnn's natasha bertrand joins us now live. this is a delicate diplomatic dance ongoing, not just for the secretary of state but for all u.s. officials. can you take us behind the public statements, what are the kind of goals that the secretary of state has with this visit? what does he hope to secure from the israelis? >> reporter: well, look, phil, i think first it's very important to note that the administration is getting increasingly concerned by the death toll, the rising death toll of civilians inside gaza, and so one of the key priorities for blinken is going to be to get an update on the military operation inside the gaza strip, as well as to discuss concrete steps that the israelis can take to minimize those civilian casualties, that's a key part of his message here because the administration believes that it is going to get increasingly difficult for israel to continue prosecuting this war as long as the images keep emerging of children and women being pulled from the rubble of these air strikes, and so that's going to be a key priority here, but another one, of course, is going to be getting sustained aid into gaza, he said that there are about 50 to 60 trucks of aid per day going into the gaza strip but he wants to see that get up to 100, if not more, and so that sustained aid is going to be key. but then, a third priority for him is going to be the day two question, what happens if and when israel manages to degrade hamas to the point where they no longer govern the gaza strip? who then can be responsible for governing this very large population of palestinians? that is something that he is going to be discussing because while many people say it is premature at this point to talk about what comes after this military operation ends, the administration does not want to see israel becoming occupying force inside gaza. the question then becomes, who can take that on? so that's going to be part of his discussions, and then in relation to that when he visits the jordanians, he wants to reassure them that palestinians are not going to be expelled en masse from gaza because that is not something that the jordanians or other regional partners want to see either, phil. >> it's been notable in the president's calls with king abdullah, and president -- notable inclusion in the readout of the white house calls. i have to ask, every day i'm struck by the convergence of so many complicating factors, another one, syria sending a missile system to hezbollah. what do we know here? >> syrian president bashar al assad has agreed to provide hezbollah with a russian air defense system. it is apparently going to be delivered by the wagner group, that russian mercenary organization. these are all connected because they all really operate inside syria. so hezbollah is backed by iran, iran supports assad, russia also supports assad, and all of this is coming together, of course, at a very, very delicate moment when there are serious concerns across the u.s. government that hezbollah could join the conflict on that northern border with israel. having a missile defense system that's being delivered by wagner potentially, we don't know yet if it has been delivered or the status of that. that could really, you know, intensify this conflict in a way that the administration has been urging the iranians and hezbollah and other iranian proxy groups not to do. it is definitely a concern, but it just shows just how many actors there are who could potentially join this conflict and make it even worse. >> that's such an important point, natasha bertrand, thank you. eric, trump will be back on the stand today in the trump family's civil fraud trial. financial statements at the trump organization, next. and former crypto king sam bankman-fried found guilty last night of fraud and conspiracy. what that convictition couldld for the future of the cryptocurrency market, we'll have more. nice footwork. man, you're lucky, watching live sports never used to be this easy. now you can stream all your games like it's nothing. yes! [ cheers ] yeah! woho! running up and down that field looks tough. it's a pitch. get way more into what you're into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. eric trump is expected back on the stand today in the new york civil fraud trial against the family business. he and his brother don jr. are accused of knowingly participating in a scheme to inflate their father's net worth. cnn's brynn gingras is at the -- what is the contention so for far eric? >> erica, good morning, there's a couple things to keep in mind. these financial statements are at the core of the case. the brothers took over the family business when their father took over the oval office so the state's attorney wants to know what their role was in preparing these financial statements which showed an inflation of assets of the family company. so, they want to know how much they knew about them, did they play a role in preparing them? when states attorneys were questioning eric trump about this it got a little contentious, he was distancing himself. the attorney general's office brought up emails, brought up his prior deposition, phone calls, evidence showing he had knowledge and that he had possibly a role to play in this. it got a little heated on the stand for eric trump, but he still, along with his brother don jr., denies any direct involvement in preparing those financial statements. and don jr. spent about three hours doing just that, and then he came outside this courthouse and he spoke to the cameras about this civil fraud trial as a whole. take a listen. >> before even having a day in court i'm apparently guilty of fraud for relying on my accountant to do -- wait for it -- accounting. i mean, think about that. what does that do for literally any other business? >> reporter: and, yeah, he said this was a political persecution by the attorney general's office, something that we, of course, heard from his father as well, as he's taken to the micr microphone throughout this trial. anger comings from brothers as it pertains to the trial. we will see eric trump back on the stand, court ends about 1:00 today. >> we may hear from ivanka trump, what happens next here? >> reporter: this judge ordered she has to come to testify. that is set to happen next wednesday after her father goes under oath on monday, the expected date. and the court -- a higher court basically said they don't accept her attempt, her appeal to put a stay, not only on her testimony, but this entire trial as a whole. so as of now, they are expecting her to be in court next week, so it's going to be another eventful week here in downtown manhattan, guys. >> it certainly will, and i have a feeling you'll be there with a front row seat to all of it, brynn, appreciate it, thank you. attorneys for samuel bankman freed are beginning their -- the exchange he created ftx. sbf as he's become known could be looking at spending more than 100 years in prison. cnn's jason carroll is live with more, i was struck when the jury started deliberating, only four hours. >> should have been a sign. i'm sure that it was. he clearly, even before the verdict came down, looked uncomfortable, he was tapping his foot, he clearly looked shaken, though, as the decision came down. each guilty verdict that was read when bankman basically sunk his head deeper and deeper into his lap, his parents also in the courtroom, they appeared devastated, the jury found him guilty on all seven counts, including wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and guilty of money laundering. the verdict not a surprise to many who had been following the trial, the prosecution presented an overwhelming amount of evidence, incoming financial documents, phony balance sheets which showed lenders that they had money that simply did not exist, incriminating conversations between