you, andy scholes. thank you very much for being with us. i'll see you tomorrow. and thanks to all of you for joining us. don't go anywhere. "cnn this morning" starts right now. good morning, everyone. glad you're starting your day with us. here are fife things to know. happening right now, the israeli military carrying out an operation at the besieged hospital in gaza. there are reports of active fire fights inside of that collects. we'll hear from the idf live later this morning. and new hope for a deal to release the hostages. president biden says he believes it's going to happen. also president biden today set to have a high-stakes summit with chinese president xi jinping. the goal to keep tensions from getting any worse. it's up to the senate to prevent a government shutdown before the deadline on friday night. the house passed a short-term measure yesterday. and new overnight, president biden blasting donald trump for calling his enemies vermin. the remark was language you heard in nazi germany. "cnn this morning" starts right now. happening right now, israeli forces are in the middle as we speak of conducting a mission inside of gaza's largest hospital. the palestinian journalist who is inside the hospital tells cnn there's been intense gunfire as israeli soldiers search the complex and interrogate young men. he says there are tanks in the hospital courtyard and the israeli army is using bull horns to tell people to come out and surrender. >> they have accused hamas of running a command center underneath that hospital and using civilians as human shields. the military is calling this a precise and targeted operation based on intelligence. thousands of civilians have been sheltering at this hospital and conditions have grown dire with food, water, and power running out. listen to this doctor describe the raid. >> it's a scary situation. >> i'm hearing sounds. >> it's the tanks. >> the israeli military says medical supplies have been delivered to the hospital. medical teams and soldiers are part of the operation to help protect civilians. this all comes as president biden says a deal to release the hostages held in gaza is, quote, going to happen. a mass says the negotiations are focused on releasing 70 women and children in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting. israel is pushing for 100 hostages to be released. we have team coverage live on the ground. i want to start with you. the operation launched last night still underway. what do we know about how it's being carried out? >> the ground operation began in the early hours of the skmorng continues according to the israeli military. they say they are operating in a specific area based on intelligence they received. they say that's where hamas has essentially built its infrastructure ask is using that part of the hospital. but take a look the at the hospital complex. it's a massive facility in gaza city. we don't know exactly where in that facility they are operating. again, they described it as a precise and targeted raid inside the hospital. according to an israeli senior military official, they train for this mission for a couple weeks because of how specialized it has to be. that includes arabic speakers to talk to hospital officials as well as patients and civilians and then the training for how complex it is to operate in a military hospital in the middle of what has been gunfights around the hospital and more. israel accused hamas of using the hospital for its terror infrastructure. they have evidence as part of this operation that hamas uses it. they will release that in the coming hours. we'll want to see the evidence because it's been such a central claim of the recent operations in and around the hospital. athey called for hahs mass to surrender. >> we just heard in the re reporting that the gub fire that the doctor was saying he was hearing as he was trying to continue to do his work. but the idf came out with this statement and said they have facilitated wide-scale evacuations of the hospital and maintained regular dialogue with authorities. i know a lot of the patients are still there. hundreds, it's bloefed. how are they being impacted. >> reporter: there are hundreds of patients stuck inside the hospital, including hundreds of medical staff. there are many people, hundreds gathered outside civilians who are attempt ing to take shelter on the complex of the hospital. as we have heard the warnings from medical staff for the last couple days, many of these patients cannot be evacuated in an easy or straight forward manner. they require specialists medical evacuations. we have heard from doctors who told us that in order to e evacuate some of these patients, they will need more time and they will need security guarantees, which they haven't received yet. some said if they evacuate now will die on the way. and that is the primary concern here. we have seen doctors a the hospital working under challenging and horrific circumstances. these situations they are facing has really been deteriorating by the hour. we know that the hospital is not automobile to operate as a fully functional hospital anymore. we saw videoses of premature babies being removed from the neonatal unit pause of the lack of oxygen and supplies. they were taken to another part of the hospital, cuddled together and wrapped in blankets and foil to keep them warm. we heard from a number of human rights organizations and medical teams from as cross the globe expressing widespread concern over the ongoing situation. we heard from the u.n.'s humanitarian chief describing this as a huge point of concern, but calling for hospitals not to be the treated as battle gr grounds. >> benjamin netanyahu spoke by phone. they have been doing that regularly since october 7th. while the read outs of these calls are the not exactly fulsome, you pay attention to the words. in last night's readout, the prime minister discussed at length the efforts to free the hostages. that was a new framing of things we saw the rally in washington. tens of thousands of people. you were marching with the families and friends and supporters of hostages yesterday. what's the latest on the negotiations? >> reporter: it is very much a focus of the white house and also of the israeli government. you're right. the conversation was at length, which is notable wording in a read out between prime minister and benjamin netanyahu. there are few details other than that. negotiations are ongoing. largely held with qatar who communicate with others involved in the conversations to try to make some sort of progress. worth noting, israeli radio reported that the army has not found evidence that the hostages were found at the hospital. so that part of the search continues as israel trying to find some way to locate 239 hostage there is. it's worth noting that the defense minister, he met earlier today with the white house's special coordinator for the middle east. in that discussion, the defense minister told him that the operation would continue against hamas until it's defeated and all the hostages are rescued. >> oren liebermann, thank you. in a matter of hours, the fbi director plans to issue a stark warning that the israel-hamas war raised the threat of an attack against americans in the united states to a whole other level. he's spet to speak before the homeland security committee. he emphasizes efforts to root out terror threats to the u.s. saying that the fbi has, quote, kept our sights on hamas and have multiple investigations into individuals athe filluated with that foreign terrorist organization. he says america will continue to be alert and careful, but they shouldn't stop going about their daily lives. the fbi's men and women are working with urgency and purpose to confront the elevated threat. today in california high-stakes meeting for the president. he will meet with xi jinping. it is summit there on economics. they will meet on the sidelines. this follows months of tension over a bruising trade war, a pandemic and escalation on the military front. the aim is to turn down the temperature and try to restore the military to military communications. senior national correspondent david culver joins us. you have such unique perspective because you spent three years in china under xi jinping as the president. so the stakes are very high. what is the key that you believe people should look for out of this meeting? ? >> reporter: it's daunt ing whe you think about all the issues taking place. the list, we can show you it. it is just never ending. any one of those on their own would be a major issue, yet you have them collectively and wonder where yo do you start? the biggest focus, more than anything else, is creating global stability. no pressure, right? tough, but that's what many of the economies are going to be look ing for as they are here fr the other main event, that being apeck. if you have an agreement on chinese crackdown on fentanyl, if you have the reestablishing of military communications between the u.s. and china. if you get shotgun out of clooi mat, that would be a win, no question. but these are very difficult things to come to an agreement on between the u.s. and china when you see so much is really going in the opposite direction. more than anything else, this is going to be about stopping the downward spiral. it's something that we have seen over and over saying what almost feels repetitive, but the low just keeps going down. >> what about particularly as it pertains to the war between israel and hamas? how biden is expected to speak with xi about china's relationship is with iran and russia. >> he's going to want leverage to those relationships. he knows that china has a cozy relationship with iran. and even cozier with russia. president xi has called president putin his best friend. and so the u.s. is going to likely heavily lean on that. the question will be if china will bring action to this. there will be substance beyond rhetoric. that's what u.s. officials are going to to want to see beyond what happens here today. >> david culver, thank you so much. we'll watch for this critical meeting ahead. overnight, president biden responding to donald trump calling his political opponents vermin, biden likening the language to the rhetoric of nazi germany. and republican tensions reaching a new peak in congress. what a day yesterday. the verbal and physical smackdownsns, that's a ahead. president biden hitting back at former president trump for calling his political rivals vermin. you'll remember he did that in the speech over veterans day over the weekend while speaking to donors yet. president biden kmared that comment from trump to nazi is rhetoric. he said, quote that's language you heard in sit germany in the '30s. with us is john avlon and sara fineberg. it's great to have you. you know biden. you were in the obama white house. he does not jump on every wild thing that trump says, but he did on this one. i wonder why you think that is. >> he did on this because it's so specific. it's so offensive. i think to not call it out is to do a disservice. so i think he did the right thing by calling it out. it would be nice if over the next couple days we didn't have a debate about whether or not this was as offensive as we know it to be. but if people turned away is and said, you know what, i have had it. i can't do this anymore. vermin is a step too far. >> turning away or ignoring it or trying to down play it and saying he's crazy, i feel like we have done that for six or seven years. it doesn't have any effect. so last night was another night where i was talking to donors around the campaign, if only we saw this on cam rarks we would feel comfortable about the message. >> that's whn the white house's power. they should probably take that note. but i think the problem is that trump is degenerating into something before our eyes that is far uglier and more dangerous historically than what we have dealt with in the past. it's not just the rhetoric. it's the policies that he's proposing. it's the threats and the vengeance. we should all be very cautious nazi is parallels. but that's exactly the language of hitler then you have to say we're heading into a dangerous place. >> switching gears here. joe manchin did an interview on cbs. and she asked the question, and if you run as an independent, doesn't that affect one of the front runners. here's his answer. >> i don't buy that scenario. i have heard that. and i wouldn't buy that because if you look back in history how things have played out, i don't think they thought ross perot would elect bill clinton. it would be help ing joe biden because it takes votes from donald trump. >> someone at the table, both people at the table know a lot about the history of all this. is he right? >> no. this is a specific case you can't say he took from both candidates. but just take a look at the other two cases of third-party candi candidates. bush wins by 537. that's green party voter who is thought he wasn't good on the environment. fast forward to 2016, jill stein, absolutely her vote total was the differential in three states. michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. so it's not about third parties per se, it's the stakes about this is a way someone who has a low approval rating with a narrow base can win and nobody can predict how not just a no labels candidacy all those independent candidates impact the trajectory. >> yo know all the players and how campaigns operate. it's not just will joe manchin run, it's jill stein is in, rfk jr. is in. it the proper amount of attention being paid to those candidates? what should democrats be doing? >> in terms of those potential third party candidates, the one i would worry about the least is joe manchin. not because he can't get votes, but because of all those folks, he's the least likely to allow this to get to a point where he would cost joe biden an election. this is someone who certainly enjoys the spotlight and is struggle ing with the fact i dot think he sees the path for reelection in west virginia. but ultimately, i do not think he will allow the country to end up with donald trump because of him. >> stick around. we're the not going to let you leave. i like hanging out with you guys. congress now on the path to averting a rapidly approaching government shutdown after a stopgap bill on tuesday. how is the the senate going to react? plus congress turns into an episode of jerry spinning er springer. one of the most bizarre days we have ever seen. >> you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults and finish it here. >> fine, perfect. >> you want to do it now? >> stand your butt up then. >> stop it. >> is that your solution? >> sit dowown. you'rere a united d states sene. you want to be able to provide your child with the tools or resources they need. with reliable internet at home, through the internet essentials program, the world opened up. fellas, fellas. that's how my son was able to find the hidden genius project. we wanted to give y'all the necessary skills to compete with the future. kevin's now part of this next generation of young people who feel they can thrive. ♪ ♪ choose your word, circus, mess, this is your u.s. congress at work, or maybe at war. capitol hill on tuesday more closely resembled a bad remake of "fight club". the house managed to pass a stopgap bill, but it needs approval from the senate. that bill extends funding until the middle of january for priorities like military construction, veterans affairs, transportation, house ing and t energy department. the rest of the government, everything not covered in the first step, will be funded through early february. it doesn't include aid to ukraine or israel. that's progress. progress before a shutdown, but lawmakers managed to find plenty of time for nothing more than schoolyard antics. phil, you have covered congress for more than a decade, and i think it's the affordable care act that you're no longer there that they are all misbehaving. >> i don't want to speculate, but that's not an unimportant element of all this. as you know well, congress is a lot like high school. there's clicks, there's a cool crowd and the nerds and the jocks. it operates a lot like the awkward four-year window we experienced in our teenage years. over the course of three hours on tuesday, that reality was laid particularly bear. let's start here. this is speaker kevin mccarthy. they don't like each other. that's just true. in the lead up to his ouster last month, burchett thought he mocked his faith. that didn't end wul for kevin mccarthy. why do we know that? of the eight republicans who voted to oust kevin mccarthy, one of them was tim burchett. now mccarthy's verbal disdain for the eight republicans hasn't been subtle, but target a reporter texas turned physical on tuesday when kevin mccarthy walked by burchett in a hallway and elbowed him in the kidneys. it's like a freshman year hallway dust up, to be clear kevin mccarthy denies anything intentional. >> i would not hit him in the kidney. not a very big hallway. >> let's show you the hallway. that is a hallway. it's the hallway in the basement of the capitol build ing. it's a place where reporters stake out lawmakers. there were more people in this space when the alleged altercation happened, but it wasn't packed. >> i was one of eight that voted against him. that hallway, there's plenty of room. you can walk four side by side. h he chose to do what he did. >> we're going to be joined by tim burchett later in the show. >> there was actually a second one and it may have actually been even worse. so who are these individuals? this was the equivalent of the locker room flex off. >> you said it, not me. >> that's what i have been told. the scene was a senate hearing on unions. that's where o'brian's past tweets became an issue, including one where o'brien called the oklahoma senator a clown. and add ed you know where to fid me. any place, any time. >> you want to run your mouth, we can be adults or finish it here. >> that's fine. perfect. >> stand your butt up. >> you stand your butt up up. >> stop it. >> sit down. >> sit down. you're a united states senator. >> i love bernie sanders, the peacemaker. you'll notice him reaching to take off his wedding ring. it's a classic prefight move. it's a move you nimight do at a bar late at night making really bad choices. not in a senate hearing room. that's a new one. but seem like what we are moving on. the reversion to high school was quick. >> it's not the it. >> he made a lot of statements. >> his statements are fictional at best. >> answer the question please. >> i can't understand him, to be honest with you. he rambles so much. >>s that just funny, but it's not decorum for the body. a quick note here. i think this is important to add. he's probably the last guy you'd want to pick a fight with on capitol hill. he's in the oklahoma wrestling hall of fame. he's a trained mixed martial arts fight er. he has a 5-0 professional mma record. >> you wonder if o'brien knew this. >> i think he did. >> there's a third. we have a trend. it wouldn't be high school without the cutting and petty personal jabs. i present to you house oversight committee james comer and congressman jared mosque wits. been going after the investigation into the biden family on the house oversight committee. on tuesday the attack dog fully triggered the chair. >> continued to try. i'm not going to give you your time back. we stop the clock. you all continue, you look like a smur of. >> hold on. if we're not on time -- >> first of all, love this. second of all, you were there for more than a decade. why is this happening now? >>smurf is new. to be clear, i'm oddly passionate about congress, about the institution. i take covering it extremely seriously. you know we