thanks to all of you for joining us. i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere because "cnn this morning" starts right now. ♪ good morning, everyone. we're so glad you're with us. phil is off this week. erica hill by my side. good morning. >> good morning. >> we have a lot of big news to get to this morning. let's start with five things to know for this tuesday, november 21st. breaking overnight, sad news to report. a gunman opening fire inside of an ohio walmart just days before black friday. four people injured and the gunman died of self-inflicted gunshot wound. there's movement in the talks to release hostages this morning. a hamas leader now echoing what the white house is saying that they are, in fact, getting closer to a deal. new this morning, we could get a decision on donald trump's gag order in the federal election subversion case. the judge is signaling they could narrow it down. the speaker of the house meets with the former president at mar-a-lago, though it's not clear what they talked about. after mike johnson endorsed trump for 2024 last week. thanksgiving travel troubles. get ready. weather in the forecast for tens of millions americans and you know all about that ripple effect as a key airport and connection hub possible delays. "cnn this morning" starts right now. ♪ and we do begin with the breaking news overnight. police say four people are injured this morning after a shooter opened fire at a walmart. this happened right near dayton, ohio. that shooter then took his own life. >> of course, this happening just days before the thanksgiving holiday. police say the man entered the store around 8:30 last night and began shooting. a woman recorded this video on facebook live shortly after the incident. take a look. >> you guys nobody that's in walmart right now, call and check on them because he shot like ten times and i don't even know how much more afterwards. but i'm so lucky to be alive right now. he literally walked right past me. >> cnn's jason carol joins us now. walk us through what happened here, jason. >> reporter: first of all, the condition of the victims unknown at this point. this all started, as you say, at about 8:35 last night when a gunman walked inside that walmart in beavercreek, which is located east of dayton, a suburb there. according to a witness, the gunman walked inside, started firing then he turned the gun on himself. police say the suspect died at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. one eyewitness describe what had he saw when he was shopping and suddenly heard the shots. >> while we were shopping, we were passing the tide aisle and 5 to 6 shots rung out. and she looked at me and said, is this a joke. no, i know what that sound is. i've been around gunfire in the past. and turned around and told her, you know, get behind me and then i turned around and i was 10 to 12 feet from the shooter. >> reporter: guys, walmart released a statement on the shooting saying in part, we're heartbroken by what's happened at our beavercreek, ohio, store. this remains a developing situation and we're working closely with investigators on the scene. all questions should be directed to local law enforcement. so, this walmart has made national news before. it's the same walmart where nearly ten years ago police shot and killed john crawford iii, an african-american man who was holding an air rifle that he found on a shelf when he was shot by police. it should be noted there have been more than 600 mass shootings in the u.s. this year. >> yeah. >> guys, back to you. >> on pace for a record sadly. jason carol, appreciate the reporting this morning. thank you. well, just moments ago, a massive explosion -- you can see that cloud there, seen in gaza. this is just across the border from israel. we'll bring you more information on that as we have it. but as you can see, quite the cloud there from that explosion. all of this as overnight hamas leader says the militant group is close to reaching a truce agreement to release hostages as the israeli military ground assault grinds on. and that comes after the white house had said the negotiations -- negotiators rather were closer now than they have ever been on a potential deal. there is still work to be done. >> we are laser focussed on the american citizens that we know are being held hostage. we want them out, all of them, everybody should be out now. but here we are in a negotiation. and we're getting closer to the end, we believe, of that negotiation. >> key words, getting closer to the end, we believe from the white house. meanwhile, anger and frustration growing in israel. those are the families of hostages. they are demanding more action and more transparency from prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his government. we were able -- some were able to meet with netanyahu and his cabinet yesterday. at a heated committee hearing, family members confronted the national security minister and other members of that far right government. watch. >> they're saying talk about the living. as we bring in oren lieberman, our correspondent on the ground. oren, you know, that was just a sample of an incredibly heated meeting there about what is being done and how much they believe the netanyahu government is doing or not doing, they believe, to bring home their loved ones. what can you tell us this morning? >> reporter: well, there's clearly quite a measure of frustration on the part of the families of the hostages held by hamas in gaza because they haven't seen their loved ones yet, haven't gotten concrete information on their condition. we heard from hamas a deal is close, closer than it's ever been. you can still be 99% of the way there but you're still 1% away from it happening. and it can all fall apart in that 1% as they try to hammer out the final details, whether that's the number of hostages released, how they're released, how quickly they're released, how long of a pause in fighting in order to release a certain number of hostages. these are the details where we understand this keeps getting tied up and effectively not getting over the finish line. as we saw, a number of the families of the hostages met for the first time with the war cabinet at the defense ministry behi mn tel aviv. they waited for hours for that meeting. it lasted several hours on its own. we spoke with one of the family members there. and he left early because he said there was no new information and although it was certainly good to have a meeting, there was quite a bit of anger on the part of the families when they pressed the government, including israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, on whether the release of the hostages was number one and the answer they received was, it's not number one. it's at the same level of defeating hamas. that's clearly not the answer they want. they want to hear that the government is doing and the war cabinet is doing whatever it can to make sure the main priority, the only priority is bringing home their loved ones. >> appreciate it. we should share with you as well, we just got a statement from benjamin netanyahu. that statement reads rurng our hostages is a sacred and supreme mission to which i'm committed. we will not let go of the mission to return them and it is my responsibility as well as the war cabinet's. so, perhaps heard some of it, but to your point, oren, still not the answer that many of these families were looking for. there was also an attack on a hospital in northern gaza yesterday, different hospital. what more do we know about that? >> reporter: so, this is focussing on the indonesian hospital in northern gaza, one of the few functioning hospitals left as many of them have already shut down for lack of resources, lack of fuel, lack of water, lack of the ability to treat patients. israeli strike killed 12 people inside the hospital including patients and a member of the medical staff. that as we have seen video and pictures from the hospital showing kids lying down on card board on the floor, which speaks to the conditions that already existed before the strike. the world health organization says they were appalled by that strike on the hospital. israel defending its actions saying it was in compliance with international law and followed the principles of proportionality and distinction. foreign policy adviser for prime minister benjamin netanyahu telling cnn that israel is the most moral army in the world. >> oren lieberman, appreciate the reporting. thank you. so this morning a federal appeals panel is expected to rule on a gag order in donald trump's federal election subversion case. the panel has signaled that that gag order will mostly be reinstate bud narrowly. the three-judge panel heard oral arguments yesterday in what was a tense, two-hour hearing in washington. >> trump's team argues it violates his free speech right. when does political speech derail or corrupt the criminal justice process. >> there's a balance going that has to be undertaken here. and it's a very difficult balance in this context. we certainly want to make sure that the criminal trial process and its integrity and truth-finding function are protected, but we have to use a careful scalpel here and not step into really sort of skewing the political arena, don't we? >> zachary cohen joins us live in washington. the fact that that judge said we have to use a careful scalpel and weigh these things. shows this is unprecedented to have a case like this with a front-runner in an election for president. they have to weigh these things very carefully. >> yeah. we're seeing precedent set in realtime because it is unprecedented, as you said. look, the judges did indicate yesterday they are open to restoring a version of this gag order on donald trump. and one that might actually let him attack special counsel jack smith more directly on the campaign trail. trump's lawyers really took issue with how broad the original gag order was. they said it essentially would not allow the former president to defend himself outside the courtroom and that he was in a unique situation because she in the midst of a heated political campaign. the panel of judges was skeptical about that as saying, no, not everything qualifies as political speech and no, donald trump cannot say whatever he want. they were open to nailing down on certain areas where he could speak out publicly and one of those was about jack smith. take a listen to what two of the judges said yesterday when they were discussing this issue of political speech. >> well, and it can't be that he can't mention mr. smith. he has thick enough skin, he's on this team. he has to speak ms. manners while everyone else is throwing targets at him. >> reporter: so, we'll see what the appeals court rules. it could come as soon as this morning. but as you said, unprecedented ruling. unprecedented hearing and more to come for sure. >> for sure. thanks, zach. appreciate it. growing divide among democrats over president biden's handling of the israel-hamas war. this is the second senator calling for a cease fire. plus, how the white house is responding to protesters labeling the president genocide joe. also, severe weather could disrupt your travel. hope not. but take a look at that map as people head out for thanksgiving. we're tracking the storm. ♪ well, new this morning, democratic senator jeff merkley is calling for a serious fire between israel and gaza but with conditions. the cease fire requires an immediate cessation of military hostilities by both sides, but the cease fire and the negotiations that follow must accomplish a number of objectives or it will not endure. hamas must release all of the hostages without conditions and lay down all their arms. a group of 13 democratic senators wrote a letter to president biden calling for the administration to work gaza to open its border. all coming as the white house is pushing back against protesters now dubbed the president genocide joe for his stance on the war. >> this word genocide is getting thrown around in an inappropriate way by a lot of different folks. what hamas wants, make no mistake about it, is genocide. they want to wipe israel off the map. they said so publicly. what happened on the 7th of october, murder, slaughter of people in their homes or at a music festival. that's genocide. thanks so much. let me start with you giving your experience in the government dealing with issues exactly what john kirby is talking about. he says the word genocide is being used too casually here and certainly the white house is not happy to seeing it applied to the president. can you speak to this issue? >> he's absolutely right. i was surprised at the beginning. genocide is a legal term. it is where you have the deliberate killing and ethnic cleansing of a group of people specifically of that group with the intention of wiping them off the map basically and proving intent -- >> part of the hamas charter by the way when it comes to israel. >> 100%. it's very clear. hamas doesn't hide the fact they want to annihilate israel and pursue, jihad against jews in order to do that. so it is absolutely part of hamas goal to apply in part in this war and not to say by the way -- i'm not trying to diminish the ugliness of war. you have numerous wars around the world. the war in syria, for example, which killed almost half a billion people was not dubbed genocide. and so, genocide is a legal term. it's meant to imply specifically the intent to kill a group of people because of their background. and proving that intent is critical. and using that word inappropriately it just further polarizing things, divides things, it undermines the foundation needed for peace. it's not an appropriate way and certainly not appropriate to apply to the president when he is supporting israel in this because if this were to happen here, by the way, when your talking about a terrorist group like hamas or any islamist radical group, these terrorist attacks can happen here, they have happened here. when he's pursuing this effort, it's as much deterrence as much as it is to defeat hamas. >> you talk about the legal definition. understanding the terms. the way things are getting thrown around. the reality is, it's further enflaming already enflamed rhetoric and divide that is growing every single day. is what we're hearing from john kirby the best way to combat that in this moment? >> well, mine, it is what it is. i don't think a protester out there calling the president genocide joe is a gettable voter for the president. there's always going to be a left element that rejects the democratic party. the extent to which that speaks for a large portion of the electorate, clearly there's a large generational divide within the democratic party about israel. i don't think the election that we have next year is going to be about israel principally. i think it will be about domestic issues. but when you look at that statement where he says there should be a cease fire and says that hamas should lay down its arms, uncondition bli release the prisoners, they cannot govern gaza anymore. none of that is going to happen. so i think part of it is easy to look at all of this from the united states and say, if all of the people on the ground over there had a more reasonably set of preferences and idealogies, it's very easy to fix the situation. you can draw the map for the two states and say people should be satisfied with this. this should be the solution. but we have a history of decades of those sorts of agreements being rejected. the palestinians rejected them over and over. the israelis have been basically trying to gradually annex the west bank with the expansion of settlements aimed at preventing a two-state solution. if the u.s. could fix this problem, it would have been fixed already. >> but speaking to the west bank k you speak to how significant it is that the biden administration said they would put sanctions on people who go after palestinians in the west bank. i don't think we have seen that since clinton. >> when i saw that piece of news, it felt like it was -- it came out there and then it was -- no one really covered it that heavily. >> what does it mean? >> well, so, the u.s. for a long time has viewed settlements as a major problem and major sticking point to peace negotiations. there haven't been the principle spoiler. hamas suicide attacks have been the principle spoiler in peace negotiations. the settlements are a major problem. the u.s. views them as illegal. they have always been a problem because they are -- they undermine the ability for a two-state solution. if you've got hundreds of thousands of settlers in the west bank, and many of whom pursue very -- some pursue violence, some are purr sug tough or provocative -- it undermines the process for peace and the united states, which is in a position of -- by the way, not only supporting israel but the u.s. also provides a lot of support to the palestinians financially. the u.s. has an interest in solving this problem, in having two states and this has been one of the sticking points. but for them to come out there and say, we're going to go so far as sanctioning those individuals is the strongest step i have ever seen. >> what does it mean? what would it look like? >> well, it's a little bit hard to see if they're going to identify each individual settler. >> to your question, how do you enforce that? >> technically you could identify each individual settler and put them on a sanctions list. my guess is they would do it by settlement and say this settlement overall is sanctioned and therefore if let's say they produce oil, then they're not going to be able to sell that olive oil. sorry, i'm talking about olive oil. they won't be able to export that olive oil. i'm giving a specific example. so they'll go after that leader specifically. that is kind of how sanctions work in general. but, yeah, it was definitely a strong announcement. and something i didn't expect to see coming from the administration. >> karine jean-pierre was asked about that growing divide in terms of support and how it breaks down when you look at this by age. here was her take. >> but what i'll be very clear about is we're going to not going to govern by polls here. we're going to -- or poll numbers. we're not going to change the minds of americans. i get that. americans are going to feel how they feel. >> i get that answer and yet my question is what's the real conversation, josh, privately that is being had in the white house about this? >> look, it's clearly a bad political issue for the president. he doesn't choose geopolitical events. and so i think, you know, they realize that they have been dealt a very difficult political hand here. this is an easier issue for republicans where you have voters who are basically broadly aligned within the coalition. but so it's sort of makes sense to take the perspective that she has there. if they can't do anything here that is going to please the broad political coalition, they might as well do what they think is the correct course. >> do you think there's anything happening behind the scenes? do you think there's actual concern? >> i'm sure. but again i think the u.s. has limited ability to create the sort of situation on the ground that it wants there. if israel was truly a client state of the united states, there would not have been netanyahu governments through the obama administration. we didn't want israel pursuing a set of various policies that it had there. to the extent that biden leans on israel, the israelis know there will be republican administration sooner or later will be reliably supportive of whatever they want to do. that reduces the need to moved. broad shift in u.s. politics that was bipartisan, it would be possible to put pressure on israel. this is not domestic poli