it's been a delight. we'll see you back here next week. all in, with two months until voters weigh in, a new iowa rivalry heats up. >> i delivered on 100% of my promises. >> all of this vendetta stuff, we can't go down that. >> reporter: florida's governor is all in on iowa. will it pay off? >> we have to send a great signal, and then maybe these people just say, okay, it's over then. >> reporter: republican presidential candidate ron desantis is here for an exclusive interview, next. plus, choose your opponent. facing political headwinds -- >> come on, man. >> president biden ramps up his attacks on former president donald trump. will that be enough to sway swing voters? our panel is here to discuss. >> and under pressure, amid outcry over gaza deaths -- >> free palestine! >> reporter: president biden rejects calls for a cease-fire, while his administration says they're working on a deal to bring back the hostages held by hamas. are they close? deputy national security adviser john finer is here. >> and maryland democratic congressman, jamie raskin joins me exclusively. >> hello, i'm jake tapper in washington, d.c., where the state of our union is praying for peace and praying for an end to this conflict, as soon as possible. pro-palestinian protesters took to the streets all over the united states this weekend, as president biden tried to defend his support for israel amid a growing divide in his party over israel's war against hamas, which has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of palestinians and the death of thousands of civilians in gaza. the world health organization says the al shifa hospital targeted by hamas is now a death zone. and hours ago, 31 neonatal babies finally were evacuated from inside the hospital. also in northern gaza, and i want to warn you, this good morning i'm about to show you, it's very disturbing. a horrifying new video shows dozens of bodies, including women and children, lying amid wreckage and covered in dust after a blast rocked a u.n. school that was, according to u.n. authorities, being used as a shelter. the u.n. said it did not know who was responsible for the incident. the israeli military said it was reviewing what happened. on saturday, president biden once again rejected calls for a cease-fire in the war. president biden writing that cease-fire is not peace. he underlined his support for a two-state solution in the long-term, as his administration is working hard to strike a deal between hamas and israel to release the hundreds of hostages still being held in gaza in exchange for some form of pause in the hostilities. joining me now is the u.s. deputy national security adviser, john finer. john, thanks for joining us. so what is the state of negotiations as of this morning? is there a deal imminent? >> re >> thanks, jake. i think you heard probably the prime minister of qatar speak to this earlier today. they have been extremely close, obviously, to these negotiations, as we have. the united states has been following this minute by minute, hour by hour, up to the level of the president for whom this is a major overriding priority, obviously, in part because there are a number of americans who are in this horrific situation. what i can say about this at this time is that we think that we are closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations began weeks ago. that there are areas of difference and disagreement that have been narrowed, if not closed out entirely. but that the mantra that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed certainly applies here to such a sensitive negotiation. and there is no deal currently in place. we are going to keep at this intensively over the course of the coming hours and days. we believe it is imperative, given how dangerous the situation is in gaza, to get these people home as soon as we possibly can. but we are not across the line and we are going to stay on top of it. >> i assume from the remark you just made that it is a requirement for president biden, that any americans being held by hamas must be included and any deal must be released? >> so i'm not going to get into any of the substance of these conversations. in part because we only have really one imperative here, which is to get the deal done. there will be a time and a place to lay out more detail about exactly what was agreed, if we get on a agreement, and exactly how this came about. but a time isn't now when we are still in the throes of a lot of back and forth to rytry to fini this deal. what i will say is that president biden feels no higher obligation, no higher priority than the safety and security of all americans, americans here in the homeland, americans overseas, but certainly americans who are held in such a horrific and dangerous condition as those who are being held hostage in gaza right now. >> we know at least three of the hostages kidnapped on october 7th have been killed. the remains of one and the bodies of two have been found. how many hostages do you believe are still alive? >> so, jake, we don't have exact numbers. one of the challenges associated with this is we're not on the ground in gaza, the united states. we are not in direct contact with hamas. we do that only through intermediaries. and so, we don't have perfect fidelity about exact numbers of hostages, including numbers who are still alive. but we do believe that there is a significant number of americans being held, that those americans are our highest priority, the president's highest priority. they include, by the way, a 3-year-old girl, who is an orphan, because her parents were murdered by hamas on october 7th. and so, again, i think you can see and understand exactly why this is such an acute concern, why i'm being a bit careful in terms of laying out detail and information, because really, first and foremost, we just want to get this deal done. >> meanwhile, the devastation in gaza continues, as the idf targets hamas. the u.n. says one of its schools in northern gaza was struck yesterday. the school was being used as a shelter, they say. video from the scene does seem to show dozens of dead bodies, including the bodies of women and children. what do you know about this strike? does the administration believe this was the result of an israeli strike? >> so, we are still gathering information about this incident that just happened yesterday. we've been in direct contact with unrwa, the u.n. agency on the ground in gaza. which, by the way, has lost more than 100 members of its own staff, you know, people who are going around, distributing assistance inside gaza pi. i met virtually with the head of unrwa just a couple of days ago. and we're in touch with the israelis to find out what they know about what happened. if harm was done to incident civilians sheltering at a u.n. site, that would be totally unacceptable. we'll continue to look at what happened in this incident, when we know more, we will share it. >> president biden we traveled to israel after hamas attacked on november 7th and killed roughly 1,200 israelis, the president warned israel not to make the same mistake that america did after 9/11, not to allow rage to consume them, not allow rage to divide their response. you, more than those of us watching the show right now, and more than me, know how much the israeli military is actually targeting hamas. whether the israelis are actually doing everything they possibly can to avoid civilian casualties. how bad the civilian death toll actually is compared to what the hamas-run palestinian health ministry claims. how widespread the destruction actually is in gaza. do you think the israelis took biden's advice about not allowing retaliation to be driven by rage? >> what i can say about this is it's not an assessment that can be made based on a snapshot of a particular moment. this is an ongoing conversation between the united states and the government of israel. and when there are incidents that take place, like the one that you just mentioned, that raise concerns, that suggest possibly that there has not been enough care taken about incident marin lives, which in our view are equal to innocent lives everywhere, that should go without saying, we raised those concerns directly with the government of israel. the president raised those concerns directly with the prime minister. for us, it is less about a real-time assessment and more about an ongoing process to try to steer things in the best possible direction, including for whatever combat remains, during the course of this conflict. we believe that the government of israel can draw, should draw lessons based on how the operations in the north have gone. and apply those lessons to wherever it takes this conflict going forward. >> a growing number of house and senate democrats are pushing for the administration to put conditions on the aid that continues to go to israel. senator bernie sanders, for example, says that any u.s. aid must be contingent on israel ending what he calls indiscriminate bombing in gaza, committing to not re-occupy gaza, reentering peace negotiations for a future two-state solution. what do you think about that? what do you think about conditions on future aid? >> i guess what i would say about that, jake, at this point, is that no assistance to the united states provides to any country is unconditional. it comes with a requirement that that aid be used consistent with international law, consistent with the law of armed conflict, and i want to also be clear that the president has said that israel has every right to defend itself against the horrific attacks that took place on october 7th. that is every country's right. that is certainly israel's right, and we are not only supporting that right rhetorically, we are, as you said, providing assistance to israel, so that it can do that in the most effective possible way. but to the points we were talking about just earlier in this same conversation, those rights come with obligation, and that obligation includes conducting this investigation that distinguishes civilians from noncombatants. in a way that's proportional. all of the requirements are applicable here. the last thing i will say on this, though, and it's important to bear in mind, that israel is fighting an adversary that not only does not hold itself to these same standards, it openly boasts about flouting them and its flagrant violations of international law. that does not diminish israel's obligations, but it is a facet of this conflict that makes the challenge extremely daunting. >> jonathan finer, thanks so much for your time today. >> thank you. president trump is asking iowans to give him a decisive victory in january at the iowa caucus. my next guest says he is the best chance to stop that, that he's going to win the iowa caucus. republican candidate ron desantis of florida is here exclusively next. plus, a big birthday for president biden. my panel breaks down his new campaign strategy. that's coming up. and welcome back to "state of the union." i'm jake tapper. we're less than two months out from the iowa caucuses, believe it or not. and last night, former president trump urged his supporters in iowa to help him seal up the nomination in midmust-january, with a fierce battle underway with two of his rivals, florida governor ron desantis says he's still the best one to beat president trump and says trump's attacks against him prove it. joining us from iowa, ron desantis, the governor of florida. thanks so much, governor. i want to start on israel. president biden is out with a new op-ed this week, he calls for a two-state solution, ultimately. even before the october 7th attacks, you have cast doubt on president biden's calls for a two-state solution. how do you think this should end for the palestinians? do you think that israel should occupy the gaza strip? what's your view of what comes after hamas is defeated? >> well, i think the fatal flaw with the push for a so-called two-state solution is that the palestinian and arabs have never embraced israel's right to exist as a jewish state. that ultimately, when israel's made offers in the past, that was the sticking point. and so you don't want a two-state that ends up being a stepping-stone to the destruction of israel. i don't think that should be contingent on any aid that they pursue that. and i should also note, jake, for many, many decades, people in d.c. said, you'll never be able to have relations in the middle east between israel and any other country, unless you have that. and yet we saw under the trump administration, the abraham accords, where they were able to make peace with many countries in the middle east and probably would have ended up being able to do it with saudi arabia had we not had the october 7th attack. going forward, i think israel needs to do what's best to defend themselves. i would note, gaza was not under israeli occupation. they pulled out in 2006. they uprooted thousands of their own israeli citizens and forced them to leave the gaza strip. and the idea was, give the arabs down there an opportunity to make something of it. and unfortunately, they turned to hamas and hamas used money to build a big terrorist infrastructure and ultimately wage attacks for many years, and the devastating october 7th attack. israel cannot allow history to repeat itself. >> right, but what comes next? i mean, i think that you would agree, probably, that israel occupying gaza is not going to result in piece eace in the reg. do you think that there should be a palestinian state where gaza is? >> i think that would end up becoming a hot bed of terrorism. i think we need to let israel win this war. we should support them publicly and privately to actually finish the job. because if you just do some glancing blows, hamas reconstitutes itself, we'll end up in this same cycle going forward. and israel is in a situation where they suffered the biggest attack on jews since the holocaust. you have an organization in hamas that wants to wipe israel totally off the map. this is not just some minor dispute. this is an existential threat to the survival of the world's only jewish state. i think they have to do whatever they can to protect their people and to make sure that this never happens again. >> something happened the other day that i wondered what you thought about, because you launched your campaign on twitter, now known as "x," and right now majority companies such as apple and disney are pulling their ads from "x," because elon musk openly endorsed this anti-semitic conspiracy theory that jews are conspiring to replace white americans with minority immigrants. i wondered if you saw the comment and if you condemn it? >> i did not see the comment, so i know that elon has had a target on his back ever since he purchased twitter, because i think he's taking it in a direction that a lot of people who are used to controlling the narrative don't like. so, i was a big supporter of him purchasing twitter. i think they're obviously still working some stuff up, but i did not see those comments. >> let me just show you. here's a post claiming that jews are pushing dialectical hatred against whites and flooding the country with hoards of minorities, and elon musk replies, "you have said the actual truth." he goes on to say that he's talking about the adl and other jewish groups are pushing replacements of whites. that's a lot of condemnation for singling out a specific religious group during this time of rapidly rising anti-semitism. i know you've been very out front when you see anti-semitism on the left. is anti-semitism on the right something that concerns you as well? >> across the board. and actually, i think in the advent of these attacks, the amount of anti-semitism that we've seen has really surprised me. and i'm somebody that's signed major legislation in florida to combat anti-semitism on college campuses. and yet what you've seen come out since then, and you have seen it on both sides. but i would say this. the difference is that on the left, that tends to be attached to some major institutional power, like some of our most austin universities, where on the route, it tends to be more fringe voices that are doing it. but it's wrong, no matter what, and i don't think that we've seen anti-semitism this bad in the world probably since the second world war. >> i don't know how fringe the voices are, to be completely frank. elon musk is the wealthiest man in the world and we've seen some major figures pushing really, really hateful stuff, backing this nonsensical theories of white genocide, white replacement theory, and i would ask that major republican figures like you use your voices as well to stand gen it. let's turn to another topic -- >> jake, with all due respect -- with awe due respect on that. to have somebody that's like blogging and doing stuff like that, okay, that's an issue. but to compare that with how some of these most powerful universities in the country have responded to this, we have jewish students fleeing for their lives, because you have angry mobs and yet they have not done what they need to do to protect the safety and well-being of those students. i have constituents in florida whose kids don't even want to go to campus in the advent of this because of such a hostile environment. i do think on the institutional side, you've seen this become part of a left-wing movement. a very significant pro-hamas movement, and it is backed by institutional power. >> yeah, absolutely, jewish students, just like muslim students, black students, gay students, all students should feel safe on campuses and the concern jewish students have right now is very serious. i'm just saying, elon musk is a pretty powerful guy and he's out there endorsing some pretty hideous anti-semitic conspiracy theories and i'm -- i still haven't heard you condemn it. >> well, because i haven't seen it, i know you tried to read -- i have no idea what the context is. i know elon musk. i've never seen him do anything. i think he's a guy that believes in america. i've never seen him indulge in any of that. it's surprising if that's true, but i haven't seen it and i don't want to pass judgment on the fly. >> let's turn to president biden this week at his summit on the pacific summit. he referred to president xi jinping as a dictator. now, yesterday you agreed with that, but also criticized personal diplomacy more generally. you said, quote, you're not going to win these guys over with personal charm. i mean, these guys are killers, unquote. just to be clear, you're calling xi jinping a killer? >> well, look, what's been happening to the uighurs? what's been happening in so many places in china? of course he's an authoritarian, of course he's a dictator. he's ruling the country with an iron fist. and i think that the summit was a big win for xi in terms of the propaganda. you know, you had american business leaders paying $40,000 to be able to sit with him at dinner. he got a rousing ovation from a lot of american ceos. i know that's already being played in china as an example of china basically being america's equal on the world stage. i don't think joe biden got anything of note out of this. i mean, they talk about cooperating for fentanyl as if china doesn't know the fentanyl is being sent to mexico and into the united states. of course, they know. this is part of their national strategy, to hurt this country. so i think it was a bust from biden's perspective. and i think it was a win for xi. >> you also attacked governor nikki haley this week over her response to the death of george floyd. take a listen. >> she was tweeting that it needed to be personal and painful for every single person. and i'm thinking to myself. why does that need to be personal and painful for you or me? we had nothing to do with it. >> so,