a rare face-to-face between the leaders of two global powers. moments from now president biden and china's president xi meet on u.s. soil amid rising tensions. can they reset relations? plus, israeli troops raid gaza's largest hospital after claiming hamas is using it as a terror cell. will the idf show evidence as hamas and hospital officials deny this? where are patients supposed to go? an emergency hearing in fulton county, georgia. why the district attorney says they need to seal evidence in the case against former president donald trump and others. all these stories coming in right here to "cnn news central." ♪ ♪ at any moment president biden and chinese president xi jinping are set to meet face-to-face for the first time in a year. president biden is hoping this highly-anticipated meeting will put the u.s./china relationship on steadier footing. the president has been lowering expectations heading into it. the summit is taking place in san francisco. cnn's dana colbert joins us now with more. what is the expectation for what will come out of this meeting? >> reporter: it's an important part and first step in something that hasn't happened in a year between these two leaders. both president xi and president biden arrived at the estate just south of san francisco and this is where they'll have a discussion that could last about four hours. as far as the agenda items, depends on who you ask. we get much more transparency on the u.s. side. president biden says it's about making things normal again and re-establishing military communication. this has been severed since two summers ago. it's an important and crucial time given how highly contested the south china sea is right now. that's a priority on the u.s. side. as far as china is concerned, we don't hear from president xi directly ahead of events. that's how the chinese handle things. they'll put a read-out on the back end. we can look at what china needs, which is a boost in their economy. look for something that would be economy related that could benefit china, perhaps easing pressure on chinese businesses to allow that boost to take place, which allows for social stability within china which is crucial for the chinese communist party. >> president biden hinted china's economy isn't doing so great. china wouldn't come to the table unless it was going to get something from the u.s. in this meeting. for the u.s. part, you know, it's -- look, there likely won't be a joint statement that is customary. at the end of the day is this just about preventing tensions from spiraling further out of control between the u.s. and china? >> reporter: strange to think how much lower we could go between these two countries, but, yeah, it's about cooling intentions. that's a priority for president biden if anything to avoid a u.s./china conflict. he wants to refocus on israel and hamas as well as russia and ukraine and focus energies on the 2024 campaign. china and their struggling economy, it's critical for them to figure out how to survive through what's been an incredible downfall in recent years. they'll be looking for any sort of aspect that could help them boost that. that's also going to include meeting with business leaders here in san francisco. >> that's right. tell us more about that. what can you tell us about that? it's worth reminding viewers that president xi actually studied in iowa about 40 years ago. he's going to be meeting with i i iowans as well in california. >> reporter: yes. he's calling on old friends from iowa. he's got ties here in san francisco. his first visit to the united states was in 1985. he was a communist party official, not as high as he is now having secured a third term. this meeting with business leaders, that's going to be interesting. it's already proved to be very polarizing here in the u.s. what china needs is to woo these business leaders, particularly american companies back into china. what we've seen in the past couple years is these companies have been dissuaded from doing business in china, in part because of beijing's crackdowns on companies. they're hesitant and concerned about getting profit out of china back into the u.s. these are things that need to be discussed. there's a big welcome xi dinner, if you will, that's planned after this one-on-one with president biden and president xi. that has drawn concern from lawmakers, one many particular, the chairman of the house select committee that focusing on the ccp, mike galalagher. he called this unconscionable. there's a price tag for business leaders to attend this dinner. in some cases it's been reported to be $40,000. he wants to know what companies are involved and who will be going to this dinner. >> okay, thanks. breonna? israeli troops carrying out a raid at gaza's largest hospital. the israeli forces claim they found concrete evidence that hamas was using this hospital as a command mode. doctors at al-shifa have denied such claims. israel and the u.s. said intel indicated hamas did, indeed, have operational infrastructure at the hospital. cnn's jeremy diamond is in israel. jeremy, we haven't yet seen the evidence from israel. >> reporter: that's right, breonna. the idf just started to share some video evidence, showing inside the hospital that there are ak-47s, ammunition, go bags placed in different parts of the al-shifa complex. they show an mri center at the hospital and say they found a bag behind the mri machine. there's no way to independently verify the veracity of these claims. we obviously were not able to be with israeli troops as they uncover this -- these weapons and ammunition. the idf is saying this points to clear evidence that hamas was using al-shifa hospital to carry out its operations. they're not yet revealing whether they found any tunnel entrances to that massive underground complex, which not only israeli officials but u.s. officials have said they believe, based on their intelligence, exists below al-shifa hospital. israeli troops are continuing to operate at the hospital at this hour. it's not clear how much longer they intend to stay there. i had a briefing with a senior israeli defense forces official who told me there were no battles between troops and hamas militants on the al-shifa complex, but as they arrived at the complex they killed four hamas militants on the outside of that very large hospital complex. we also know and what is clear is that thousands of people were at al-shifa hospital when israeli troops entered. they gave doctors about a half hour notice before they arrived to carry out this operation, to carry out these searches. that includes doctors and patients, but also thousands of displaced gazans who have been sheltering on the hospital grounds. a reporter inside the hospital told our colleagues he heard heavy gunfire battles across the hospital yard over the night and that they also saw tanks and armored personnel carriers and a large number of troops at the hospital. what's also clear is there are still patients at this hospital and the conditions are precarious, including for those premature babies, which the whole world has seen at this point. israeli forces say as part of this operation they delivered incubators and other medical supplies to the al-shifa hospital. we can't independently confirm when those supplies were delivered. at this hour the director of gaza's hospital says those premature babies are in severe danger and that evacuating them right now is very, very difficult. breonna? >> it's essential, though, as we've seen. jeremy you're there and you're very close to northern gaza. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, what's interesting is that yesterday the israeli defense minister said israeli forces were in total control of the gaza strip, that hamas lost its grip on the northern part of the gaza strip, focusing above gaza city. what we've been witnessing not only overnight as the operation was happening in gaza city early this morning and this evening, is intense battles between israeli forces and hamas militants in the area behind me. it appears to be around the refugee camp. we saw explosions and tracer fire being shot and intense gun battles happening in two directions between hamas militants and israeli forces. even as israeli forces push deeper into the gaza strip, deeper into gaza city, they're also still very much dealing with the threat of hamas militants in the northern part of the strip. part of that may have to do with the tunnel systems that hamas has. we know israeli forces told us repeatedly over the last several weeks that ambushes are one of the most serious threats they face as they operate inside gaza. >> extremely dangerous operations there. jeremy diamond, thank you so much. we have nada bashir in jerusalem. strong condemnations coming from the u.n. about this hospital raid. what can you tell us? >> reporter: there have been repeated calls from the u.n. and other human rights groups for civilians to be the primary concern here. this is a hospital that still holds hundreds of patients. there's concern around their security. we continue to see bombardment around the vicinity of the al-shifa hospital. the situation uninside the hospital has been deteriorating. this is one of the majority hospitals in northern gaza. it's not operational. they don't have enough medical supplies or fuel to keep the generators going. we've seen oxygen supplies in the neonatal unit cut off at the al-shifa hospital. huge concern around the capability for doctors to provide the urgent care needed by so many patients inside the al-shifa hospital. we've heard the repeated calls for civilians to evacuate from northern gaza to southern gaza. as we know, it's extremely difficult for patients to evacuate through that route. >> certainly is. just a snapshot of the humanitarian crisis. nada, thank you so much for that. pam? president biden just about to arrive for his meeting with chinese president xi jinping. m.j. lee is standing by for us. m.j., the united states is rolling out the red carpet for president xi. everything has been so carefully choreographed leading up to this meeting, right? >> reporter: yeah, and that is very much expected given that the stakes could not be higher for both leaders. we have heard that both leaders have arrived at this historic estate. any minute we should be seeing pictures of the two leaders shaking hands. just to give you some context here, of course the last time that the two leaders met face-to-face was about a year ago on the sidelines of the g20 summit in bali. you think about everything that's transpired over the last year where the two countries' relationship has deteriorated. there was the issue of the chinese surveillance balloon shot down. there was the issue of former speaker nancy pelosi visiting taiwan which angered beijing officials. that ultimate ended up leading to the military to military communications between the two countries being severed. we're told behind the scenes in their conversations that they've had with their chinese counterparts, u.s. officials for months have been pressing them to consider re-establishing that communication, which they say is so critical to making sure there's not any unnecessary misunderstandings between the two countries. we're told they used the example of the surveillance balloon as an example of why that communication being open is so important. as we were talking about before, that is just one of the few tangible outcomes that u.s. officials hope to see coming out of this summit which should be beginning any moment. >> we're expecting the two leaders of the two super powers to arrive any moment. when they met a year ago in bali, the goal was to establish a floor and ahead of this meeting administration officials are trying to temper expectations, right, m.j.? >> reporter: in terms of specific outcomes, pam, yes. as we have been talking to u.s. officials heading into the summit, they said, we have a big picture goal. that's to bring u.s./china relations back to a new normal, whatever that might be. that's about establishing those lines of communication, making sure that there are diplomatic conversations having so that, even though the two countries are competitors and have plenty of areas where they disagree, they can work together on areas where there are -- areas where they can work together, but also just to make sure there aren't any unnecessary, pricey back-them-up between the two countries. >> m.j., i'm going to interrupt you. we're seeing the two leaders meet in this remarkable moment. president biden and president xi meeting ahead of this high-stakes meeting. >> that's right. very big day here as they're meeting. this is a very dramatic place where they're meeting, sending a signal how important this is. they haven't met here. there hasn't been a meeting for several years as they go inside the estate between san jose and san francisco. this is on the sidelines of the apex summit this year. there are so many topics to cover as we're joined by evan and matthew. we were just talking about gaza. one of the things they're supposed to touch on is, you know, leaning on china to lean on iran to lean on its proxies to not provoke a further situation in the middle east as israel and hamas is battling it out. do you think china's going to be receptive to that? what's that going to look like as biden is asking that of xi? >> you saw in the body language right there, this is a solemn occasion. this was not a particularly amo amorous, friendly encounter. this is business. they got right into it. they walked into the door. we'll hear more from them in a few hours. china has leverage when it comes to iran. they're iran's biggest consumer for energy. they buy 1 million barrels of oil a day. the united states is saying to iran, look, you're in a position to get iran to change its behavior, but we want you to understand we expect you to use your leverage when you can. a meeting like this is important face-to-face because we don't know what kind of information xi jinping is getting from the people around him. in a regular government where you know the foreign minister will speak to the president, then you can give your message to the foreign minister. in this case you have to give it directly to xi. >> matthew, big picture for our viewers, how significant is this meeting? why should everyone care about these two leaders meeting right now? >> the united states and china are the two -- the world's two biggest super powers, the two largest economies on earth. there's a fear the united states and china could go to war over taiwan. xi has asked the people's liberation army to give him the ability to invade taiwan by 2027. the biden administration is trying to put guardrails on the relationship, trying to find areas for cooperation, communication. i'm skeptical they'll fully succeed. i'm skeptical to the previous question that china's going to help the united states solve its problems, but it's important to have this channel for dialogue. >> right, because so much of the relationship between china and russia and china and iran is hatred toward the u.s., right? >> at its core the relationship xi jinping has with vladimir putin is about the fact that they're the two leaders who are standing up to the united states. there was a telling moment a few months ago when xi visited putin at the kremlin. it was caught on camera. you heard xi say, there are changes in the world, the likes of which we haven't seen in a century, and you and i are leading the charge. putin said, i agree. that's what the united states -- that's the lock we're trying to pick to some degree. we're trying to say to xi, yes, we know where you lined up for new, but there's this larger concept where we expect -- if you want to be treated like russia, we'll treat you like russia. >> new world order is what they're talking about. we're looking at this meeting. it's been rocky. if it goes off the rails, what does the world order look like? what do we reflect on this meeting? >> i think it's a imagine inflection point. i think the old world order is over. i think this could be a decades long competition between the united states and its allies in the free world and china who is increasingly working with iran, russia and north korea. i think this is going to be a contentious relationship for decades to come. >> i think -- when we talk about a summit, that term came from winston churchill in 1950. he talked about high-altitude meetings with the soviets. his idea was you have to go to the top and you have to talk to them. he said, it's better to meet jaw to jaw than go to war. this is a meeting to say let's just keep talking because the alternative is unattractive. >> that happens. don't worry. >> for historical context, when xi jinping has met with past presidents, trump, obama, commitments were made. what happened? >> well in a bigger historical context, xi is a different type of chinese leader. the united states tried to engage china for many decades after the end of the cold war with some success. xi decided he's taking the relationship in a different direction and wants to compete with the united states. he has let us down in the past. he told obama he wasn't going to militarize the south china sea and then he did that. he told trump he was going to work on fentanyl and china is dishonest on other issues. it lies about genocide. it lies about its gdp numbers. we have to take anything agreed upon with a grain of salt. >> do they understand each other, these two leaders? >> they spent a lot of time together. i was living in beijing when biden came over the first time and met with him. they went out on this buddy comedy road trip. they went across china and then xi came to the united states and visited in los angeles. biden came back and said to his advisers and said, this man doesn't have a democratic bone in his body and we've got our hands full with this guy. biden understands how xi jinping regards himself than different as the guys before. >> for the meeting this week, look, this time of year -- about a year and a day ago we met in bali on the sidelines of the g20. since then, key members of our teams have had important discussions on issues that matter to both our nations and to the world. as always, there's no substitute to face-to-face discussions. i've always found our discussions to be straightforward and frank and always appreciated them. mr. president, we've known each other for a long time. we haven't always agreed, which wouldn't surprise anyone. our meetings have always been candid, straightforward and useful. never doubted what you told me. i value our conversation because i think it's paramount that you and i understand each other clearly leader to leader with no misconceptions or miscommunication. we have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict and we have to manage responsibly that competition. that's what the united states wants and what we intend to do. i believe that's also what the world wants from both of us, candid exchange. we have a responsibility to our people and the world to work together when we see it in our interests to do so. the critical global changes we face from climate change, narcotics to artificial intelligence demand us to work together. i welcome you. the floor is yours, mr. president. again, welcome back. >> translator: mr. president, good morning. coming here i thought of -- i think of your trip to china when i was the vice president of china. we had a meeting. it was 12 years ago. i still remember our interactions very vividly and it always gives me a lot of thoughts. last time we met in bali, you said it was a year and a day ago. a lot has happened since then. the world has emerged from the covid pandemic, but is still under its tremendous impacts. the global economy is recovering, but it's mo