cnn's matthew chance is on the ground in tel aviv and has the latest on the fighting inside gaza. >> well, jim, israel is continuing to carry out strikes across gaza, hitting what it says are hamas targets, up and down the densely populated territory. there are dramatic images of another israeli strike on the jabalya refugee camp in northern gaza after strikes there on saturday killed dozens, according to the hamas-controlled palestinian health ministry. israel, which is, of course, trying to destroy hamas and secure the release of more than 130 hostages still held in gaza says that it's identified and destroyed hundreds of hamas tunnels. they've also started to focus its strikes on sites for extensive military operations in the north. in a bid to limit mounting civilian casualties, estimated to be around 15,000 people, israelis have issued these maps, dividing it into evacuation centers, multiple blocks, each assigned a number from which palestinian civilians are ordered to leave ahead of any israeli military action. but for poor internet and communications in gaza means that it is unclear frankly in the warnings are getting through. amid international concern, they have been allows aid trucks into the gaza strip with essential splice of food and water and medicine. but the israeli military is vowing to keep up its pressure on hamas, saying it will wage its campaign as strongly and as thoroughly in southern gaza as it did in the north. back to you, jim. >> and our thanks to matthew chance for that report. as the fighting inside gaza intensifies, the death toll among the palestinian people is mounting. cnn's bill wedeman gives us inside look at the devastation there. we have to warn you, this report contains disturbing and graphic images. >> look around, this is gaza city's ali baptist hospital. where the wounded are treated in the open on wooden pallets. the emergency ward is already jammed. the courtyard is full of body bags, dozens were killed in a series of israeli strikes saturday. many more are still under the rubble. israel claims one of those strikes killed a senior hamas commander, who helped plan the 7 october attacks. he was, perhaps, one dead among many, many others. this woman lost her daughter and grandchildren and names them a all. and may god judge those watching us die, she cries. it's a similar scene in al aqsa martyr hospital in central gaza. more wounded. many of them children. and more dead. many of them children. they've bombed an entire street, says saad. he pulled his brother, hamid from under the rubble, but his brother, hamid, was dead. says saad, let me say good-bye to him. my father's been killed, cries this boy after a strike on the refugee camp sunday. the seven-day truce seems like the distant past. >> and that was our ben wedeman in jerusalem. thank you, ben, for that report. tonight, the u.s. is keeping a close eye on its naval fleet in the middle east after an innocent in the red sea. a u.s. defense official says that an american warship shot down at least three drones from the houthi rebels in yemen. the "uss carney" also responded to a distress call. joining us now to talk about this is cnn military analyst, lieutenant general mark h hertling. general hertling, as these types of attacks keep occurring from these iranian proxy groups, do you think we could see a more forceful response from the u.s. to get these groups to knock it off? >> we certainly will, jim. i expect that will be coming. you know, those ships in both the ford and eisenhower groups were put in specific locations to do exactly what they're doing. intercepting missiles from other countries. but it certainly puts the crews in danger, even though they have a great deal of air defense capability on each one of those ships. multiple capabilities on the "carney," for example. so they can self-defend. but what they're also doing is protecting israel and making sure that this doesn't expand. but i think we're going to see, to answer your question, additional strikes, probably on the houthi rebel groups and other groups in the near future. >> and how difficult is that going to be to carry out? does the united states know where they are? do they have targets? is that possible? >> well, you know, any kind of targeting operation requires intelligence to say, hey, we're with the point of origin from these launches. what kind of signals intelligence or human intelligence do we have in the location? you know, on this war by iranian-backed houthi rebels has been going on with saudi arabia for several years. so there's a pretty good overview, and as you know, jim, we've had forces, we've had special operators in yemen in that area for the last several years. they left about a year ago. but i'm sure there are some pretty good targeting data, and also, our capability to do signals intelligence and overhead imagery to find where some of these launches are coming from, and there will be strikes against proportional targets, as we always do, to send the message to try to get them stop. but this is going to be very difficult. those iranian-backed rebels will continue to try to harass shipping in the gulf of aden and the arabian gulf and in several other areas in that area. >> general, i want to ask you about what's going on between israel and hamas. the idf says it's expanding this fight against hamas. sw we seem to be seeing a new ground offensive moving into targets in the south. do you think we'll see a similar situation that was unfolding, all of that devastation, prior to that truce? do you think things might be a bit more surgical this time around? we were just watching, and i'm sure you picked up on some of ben wedeman's report a few moments ago, already, the toll on the civilian population appears to be fairly significant and, yes, the israelis will say hamas is hiding behind these folks, they're the reason why these civilians are getting hurt. but you're sense of it now, because it does appear that the israelis are moving forward with something rather significant here. >> yeah, jim, what i would say is, what we're talking about is an operation by israel that they've done in the past, actually, in gaza. but you have a constricted battlefield, if you will, and there's no relief valve, there's no capability for the civilians to leave. so israel is trying to do the best they can to get palestinians into those so-called safe zones. but it has been reported, you know, it's hard when the internet's out, when there's not the capability to communicate, to push them into different sectors. but from the very beginning of this campaign, you know, it started in the north, because those were the tunnels that hamas was using to launch missiles. those are the ones with the closest ranges to places like tel aviv and jerusalem. but there are certainly tunnels throughout the country. and what you're going to see, we've been talking about gaza city in the north. below that is a city called -- an urban area, below that is khan yunis, and below that is rafah. and they have portrayed in each one of those four urban areas, the amount of underground tunnels, the sub-terrainian activities. and as the palestinian population move from north to south to get out of the way, guess what, so do the hamas terrorists. you know, they blend in with the people and it's a different phase of their campaign to go to these three other cities spop, yeah, i believe and i believe from the very beginning, we're going to see israel go into those three other urban areas, because there are tunnels underneath, they've confirmed that, and they know there's truft terrorists and perhaps the hostages are in underground tunnels underneath those cities as well. >> it sounds as though, based on what you're skpag what the israelis have in store is that it may be some time before we see all of these parties get back to the negotiating table to try to get more hostages out. >> yeah, it's going to be very difficult. i know the biden administration is pushing continued negotiations, but you know, it's from the very beginning, israel has said that time is their enemy. they've got to continue, because they know that the world public relations is going to go against them. it always has in these operations. but i just go back to what you said at the very beginning, hamas is the organization that's using these palestinians as shields. and hamas is the one that attacked over a thousand israelis and brutally murdered and raped and used sexual assault as a weapon, so it is a requirement, i think, for the israeli government and that's their strategic objective to rid themselves from hamas. it's not going to be easy. it's a battlefield that's constricted and there's not any way out for the citizens off palestine. >> lieutenant general mark hertling, thanks. next up, president trump's latest political attack. president biden, not him, is the threat the democracy. our david axelrod joins us next to talk about that. there he is. and later on, college football chaos. there are three undefeated teams at the top of college football right now, but one of them will not be in the championship playoff. of course, we're talking about florida state right there. was this decision fair? we'll discuss that. you're live in the "cnn newsroom." as the calendar gets closer to 2024, president biden has been sharpening his tobaccos on his likely opponent, former president donald trump. he's called trump and his allies a threat to democracy, likening trump's recent campaign rhetoric to nazi germany. in response, trump is accusing biden of being a threat to democracy, passing out signs this past weekend that read, "biden attacks democracy" at an event in iowa. i want to bring in cnn senior political commentator, david axelrod. david. i was wondering if you saw these signs that they were handing out at this trump rally that said, biden attacks democracy, and you heard trump this weekend saying that biden is the destroyer and all of these things. what do you think of all of that? >> first of all, the fact that they had signs reflects some premeditation. this wasn't just a spontaneous comment on his part. and jim, you know this better than anyone. you followed the man for his entire eight-year political career. his go-to play is when he is, uh -- >> uh-oh. did we lose david there? david's back? go ahead, david. lost you for a second. >> yeah, i'm sorry. this is his go-to play. when he's suspected of corruption, he accuses his opponents of corruption. he loses his election, he fabricates a story about the corruption of the election. and jim, he's good at this. we should all acknowledge that he has a fer al genius for this kind of branding. when you look at the fact that 70% of republicans believe that the last election was dishonest. probably the most scrutinized election in the history of this country. yet they believe it. and a similar number of believe that these charges against him are political. and what he's doing now is, he's trying to set up a construct in which these trials, which he will have to go through, at least one of them is likely to happen, relative to january 6th. they are going -- he is going to brand it as a political attack on him by biden. i mean, that's very, very clear. so, it's not surprising. i mean, we all kind of like shake our heads at the audacity of it. but when he does it again and again and again, you know, you can't be surprised by it. >> you know, does the -- does his campaign need to hit back harder? should the campaign come out with signs that says that trump attacked democracy? >> i don't think they need signs, that i think story is out there. but trump needs to be responded to. he will be the nominee of the republican party unless something very, very strange happens. he's got an historic lead in that race. we're looking at a race between biden and trump, and it has to be a comparative race. and trump has to be very much in that equation. so when he says these outrageous things, he needs to be called on it. there needs to be an army of surrogates out there responding to him, as a campaign strategy, because in some ways, despite all of his bombast, he's been sailing a little bit under the radar so far. and i don't think biden can afford that. >> and i remember it was just last month, you and i had a conversation about this. we were putting forward the idea that maybe the president should think about whether or not he should be the nominee next year. but it sounds as though, as much as biden has been running against trump, maybe not as much as democrats would like them to, trump is now basically running against biden. it looks like he's looking past this republican field. >> well, i think that's very much been his message. skipping the debates, you know, biden's been the focus of his attacks. i mean, there's an ancillary benefit here, which is, he's telling republican voters again and again that primary race is over. the main event is on. so don't pay attention to this side show that's going on. so it serves two purposes for him. but, look, just as biden needs this election to be a choice, trump really needs this election to be a choice, too. because he's deeply unpopular, he's obviously very flawed. he may be a convicted convict by the time republicans meet in milwaukee next summer. and not just convicted of any crime, but of the crime of trying to subvert democracy. so, you know, he needs to -- he needs to make it a comparative race and i expect that he is going to keep this up. >> and, david, i know, you and i both covered -- well, you were working for barack obama. i covered barack obama when obamacare came forward. and in the last several days, en trump go after obamacare. he put out this truth social post saying that obamacare sucks. we've heard ron desantis in the last day or so say that he's going to have a plan to repeal and replace obamacare. trump vowed to do that. he never came up with a plan to replace obamacare. i remember back in those days, you guys were very worried that obamacare was not very popular at that time. it has become increasingly much more popular. how do you wage that battle? >> well, yeah, it wasn't popular at the time, because it was passed, but it wasn't implemented yet. now it has been implemented and everyone with pre-existing conditions in the country know that they can't be denied insurance. people who are between jobs know that they can find insurance. i mean, there are so many benefits that flow from it and people have experienced. listen, i thought it was interesting that when trump said that, so many republicans, as my friend in texas would say, ran from that like scalded dogs. they didn't want anything to do with it. because they lost that fight, they got brutal i'd by it. it's not a popular issue for them. the fact that desantis is jumping in reflects his campaign strategy, which is a failed one, trying to be sort of trump -- you know, trump a-plus-plus. and the fact is that people who are for trump like the trump they have. they're not looking for a mini me here. and i think the thing that's -- one of the things that's really hurt ron desantis in this race. but the republicans are not going to repeal obamacare, because it is popular, jim. and it's bad politics. >> all right, david axelrod, a lot more to discuss. we didn't have enough time tonight. we'll get you back soon. thanks so much. good to see you, sir. >> thanks, david. all right, in the meantime, a new college football controversy after un-defeated conference champs florida state is left -- did you see this earlier today. they were left out of the ford team championship playoff. were they snubbed? was it the right decision? everyone has a thought about this. we'll talk about it in just a few moments. bold. daring. expressive. contra costa college allows me to be whoever and whatever i want to be, providing the stage, the canvas, the tools to use my voice and write my story. find your passion and create your future at contra costa college. start today at contracosta.edu the power goes out and we still have wifi at to do our homework.e. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. the college football playoff is set, but not without a lot of controversy. here are teams that made it. michigan will face alabama in the rose bowl followed by washington and texas in the sugar bowl. who's missing? unbeaten florida state and their coach is hot happy. here's part of a statement he released earlier today saying, i am disgusted and infuriated with the committee's decision, a team that overcame tremendous adversity, found a way to win, doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. it's a sad day for college football. rachel nichols, host of "headliners with rachel nichols" on showtime joins us now. rachel, do you think the playoff committee got this right? everybody has an opinion on this today. >> absolutely. look, disgusted and infuriated, those are strong words. he also said, why even bother to play the games. and you can certainly understand where he's coming from. florida state beat every single one of the very strong opponents in front of them and the fact that they did it after getting down to their third string quarterback should work for them, be more impressive, instead of working against them. but the college football committee made it clear going into all of this that they're not giving these spots to the teams that had the four best records this past season. they're giving them to the four teams that they think can create the most competitive and highest rated games for these college football playoffs. and there is no doubt that alabama versus michigan is going to do bonkers ratings, jim, and give a more competitive game than fsu probably could have gotten with their third string, true freshman quarterback. and i've got to be frank about this. anyone who expected this process to be fair, with the teams that were the most deserving hasn't been paying attention. this process is about making money. this is not about some honorable calling or cause. this is about a sport that has said from the very beginning, we want to try to milk this cow as much as possible. and if your not interested in playing that, i don't know, maybe switch to track and field or something that's determined by a stopwatch instead of a dozen people in a room behind closed doors in texas. >> i hear what you're saying, rachel. but you know, florida state finished the season undefeated. alabama did not. they played a fairly good louisville team last night and looked good with, as you said, a third string quarterback. and you know, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong here, but it sounds as though alabama might have gotten some preferential treatment here. yes, they did beat the number one team in the country in georgia, but at the same time, i have to wonder whether the college football playoff gods would have done this had it been just about any other team coming from any other conference. and that this was showing favoritism to alabama and coach nick saban and the s.e.c. that ain't fair. >> it's a totally reasonable question, totally reasonable position. could absolutely be accurate. but you said the key word there, preferential. this is about people's preferences. when you have a system that is determined, again, there's 13 people on this committee, 12 men, one woman, they decide, behind closed doors, in a room, they meat in grapevine, texas, right near the airport. they make the decision, their opinions, their biases come into play. and one of those biases is, who's going to get us the money. who's going to bring in the ratin