coy, thank you. thanks to all of you for joining us. cnn this morning starts right now. good morning, everyone. so glad you're with us on this monday. this morning, we're watching growing threats of the israel/hamas war spreading to a much wider conflict, new overnight, israeli military ramping up air strikes after announcing it was expanding the ground assault to the entire gaza strip including in south, where so many civilians have fled, the idf say the strikes destroyed 20 on hamas targets. >> the u.s. navy destroyer came to the rescue of three commercial ships that were attacked by iran-backed houthi rebels. we're also keeping a close eye on israel's northern border with lebanon, where they've been exchanging fire with hezbollah. three israeli soldiers were hurt by mortar shells fired from lebanon. we have team coverage. let's start with cnn's ben wedeman in jerusalem. expanding it to the entire gaza strip over the weekend, where the civilians who have moeftd to the south supposed to go? >> reporter: that i think is a question that many people in gaza are asking, we know that more than 80% of the population of gaza is already displaced, many have gone to the south, now the israelis over social media have put out a map showing hundreds of individual blocs that are numbered and on theory people can go to that map there's a qr code, and nowhere is safe and where is not the problem is most people in gaza don't have electricity to charge their phones. don't have an internet connection. therefore, they're very much really left to their own devices and of course another problem is, already the shelters, the schools that have been converted into shelters in gaza are already crammed with people, as many as 40 0 to 500 people per toilet, if there's even a toilet. phil, poppy. we saw on saturday, fighting in the north of israel across the border with lebanon, hezbollah, saying one of their fighters was killed. what does that indicate to you, does that indicate the beginning of a broader, expansion of this to the north and more broadly between not just israel and hamas but israel and hezbollah? >> reporter: well, starting on the 8th of october, hezbollah basically entered into this fight with limited strikes on israeli poxes in some communities on the other side of the border, but it's worth noting that during the seven-day truce, they also observed the truce, they didn't open fire, but what we have seen since the truce broke down on friday morning there's been a real intensification of the back and forth fire between hezbollah and the israelis. i've been in touch with our correspondent in lebanon, he said there's hourly shelling back and forth. poppy. >> quite telling. ben reporting for us in jerusalem, thank you very much. phil. exchanges in the north just the latest example that every hour the threat that america could get dragged directly into the war seems to grow. u.s. military said a u.s. navy destroyer and three commercial ships were attacked in an hours-long assault in the red sea. launched ballistic missiles and drones. the nu.s. blaming the attack on rebels backed on iran. it's stoking fears of a wider conflict. natasha joins us live from the pentagon. to give an example for people on the map where this is all happening, israel up here, ben talking about lebanon, we're talking specifically in this area here, the red sea, down in yemen, proxy organizations tied to iran, have been a significant player on attacks on u.s. ships and other commercial ships, i think the big question right now, particularly in the wake of those hostage negotiations breaking down, is this a sign that an escalation is coming or just a return to what we saw the six, seven weeks webefore that pause? >> this was a particularly active day in the red sea. iran-backed houthi rebels. this was a number of attacks, four attacks on three separate commercial vessels in the southern red sea including one attack in which the houthis used a ballistic missile. the uss carney responded to each of these attacks which occurred on sunday at several different times throughout the day and many of them resulted in damage to these commercial vessels in the southern red sea and the u.s. now says that this is really, really dangerous, obviously, not only did the uss carney respond to these attacks but they also shot down a number of drones that were launched from these houthi-controlled territories in yemen. clearly they're taking advantage right now of the tumult in the region of the u.s. presence in the region to try to attack these ships and the houthi-run yemeni run forces they'll continue to wage these attacks against these, quote, israeli ships and those aligned with israel, standing in solidarity with palestinians. the u.s. central command said that these attacks pose a quote a direct threat. importantly they say that have every reason to believe that these attacks are fully enabled by iran, now the big question is how the u.s. is going to respond, of course we've seen the u.s. military strike these iran-backed groups in iraq and syria. but yemen whether they're going to go after the houthis in yemen is an entirely different question. phil. >> natasha, thank you. hostage negotiations with hamas are at a stand still this morning, a source says the breakdown in talks came after israel continued to insist of the release of group of women that hamas has refused. militant group says there won't be any deal to release hostages without a quote permanent cease cease-fire. >> we are still working it really hard hour by hour to see if we can't get the sides back to the table and see if we can't get something moving. we'd like that to happen today, honestly i just don't know. >> arlette saenz joins us from the white house. what is the white house' belief in terms of its ability to bring them back to the table. >> reporter: clearly some major divisions when it comes to trying to get back to negotiating table between israel and hamas, but u.s. officials say they're pushing the two parties to try to return to the negotiating table to get these conversations back on track. an administration official telling the u.s. remains to pursue to get the hostages back home. u.s. and israel saying that hamas hasn't followed the terms of agreement and hamas saying now they will not talk about the release of hostages until there's a more permanent cease-fire, so it remains unclear whether there's any hope in the immediate future to get those hostages out as these hostilities between israel and hamas have resumed. at the same time, the u.s. is also going to great lengths to privately and publicly pressure israel to take more efforts to protect civilians as they're expanding their operation in gaza, you heard very forceful words from vice president harris saying that more needs to be done to protect palestinian civilian lives. austin saying it's a strategic imperative for israel as they're waging their campaign. just last night, secretary of state blinken spoke with a prime minister of qatar who pushed for a longer cease-fire and deescalation. time will tell if they're taking the measures that the u.s. e exactly wants to see in this moment. >> something that's breaking this morning, the budget director sending a letter to capitol hill leaders, republican and democrat with some very, very stark language about their funding requests, particularly as it pertains to ukraine, say there's no magical pot of money, if there's no action on it in the couple of weeks it will kneecap ukraine's war effort, how real of a concern is this behind you the. >> reporter: a huge concern, something that the administration has been pushing for some time. the omd director wrote in blunt terms that time is running out for providing further aid to ukraine. she said i want to be clear without congressional action by the end of the year we'll run out of resources to provide, procur more weapons for ukraine and provide equipment from u.s. stocks. there's no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment, we're running out of money and nearly out of time. she added cutting off the flow of weapons will kneecap the ukraine and increasing the likelihood of russian military victories. . the administration has asked for over $60 billion funding for ukraine. serious resistant up on capitol hill. republicans want to see policy changes when it comes to border security. the white house stressing that this is a very real need for ukraine. >> arlette, thank you. how the president's team plans to use it to their advantage. liz cheney making what she calls a dire warning about democracy, putting trump back if the white house could be the end of our republic. >> one thing happening today is a sort of a sleepwalking into dictatorship in the united states. this morning, we have a clock, we're six weeks from the iowa caucus, the first test of 2024 republican presidential primary. with pressure on to save his struggling campaign, governor desantis completed his tour of 99 counties and he took a swipe at the frontrunner. >> by the fact that i'm willing to do this that should show you i consider myself a servant, not a ruler. >> nikki haley didn't have any public events scheduled in iowa over the weekend, but there's an ad, she started running ads there for the first time as she's rising in the poll. the front-runner is looking past the primary and zeroing in on president biden. >> we don't like corrupt politicians like joe biden. without question, this is the worst president, most corrupt president in the history of the united states of america, without question. and i promise you this, if you put me back in the white house, the reign will over and america will be a free nation once again. >> with us at the table lee carter, welcome to the program. jamaal simmons. jonathan avlon. nika haley's ad. >> right now, there's a lot of folks who are coalescing around nikki haley and ron desantis is in trouble. in all seriousness, i think it's very clear that grass roots leaders are looking for an alternative to donald trump. the number one criteria for iowa caucus-goers is someone who can beat joe biden. nikki haley is the best positioned to do that. while folks are flooding the zone for nikki haley, i think she may be do better than expected. >> and she khas koch money. >> every pathway for nikki to becoming a competitive, she has to win new hampshire. >> she needs to have something in iowa and new hampshire, south carolina, one of those has to go her direction, right now the polls are so staggering in favor of donald trump, even though we're talking about momentum with nikki haley she's not breaking 20 points in any single state, donald trump 53% south carolina, 54% iowa. 42% new hampshire. the only way i see that any candidate is if others go out, one-on-one, i don't think desantis is showing any signs of dropping out. >> what about this fight over obamacare, president biden thinks this is a win for them, desantis said he has a plan in the spring, we haven't seen it yet, but you're complimenting trump he's seeing something in the polls -- >> absolutely, there's a difference between the republican primary and the general electorate, inside that kaiser poll, you see that republicans, only 73% of republicans have an unfavorable view of obamacare, right, the iowa caucus in 2016 was 97% white and among white citizens in that kaiser poll, 62 -- 97% -- i'm sorry, 47% of whites now polled think it's unpopular. obamacare is unpopular. if you're a republican, what you believe is, your voters don't like obamacare, so you want to go out and campaign against obamacare while everyone else said it's for it in the general election. donald trump can switch his opinion from the primary to the general and nobody's going to hold him accountable. because nobody ever holds him accountable. >> except the courts. three times the supreme court struck down, including two justices that he appointed. >> i don't think hi's particularly worried about it. >> supersede is a new desantis word to repeal and replace obamacare. you're talking about a poll, a policy that's gotten more popular over the last decade and if it impacts more than one out of ten americans. this idea you're going supersede it in desantis' world and replace it is just bs. >> that's what we're running on, the truth of the matter is look 77% of americans are dissatisfied with the healthcare system in america, that's not saying anything about obamacare, so yes it's a republican primary, 7 in 10 republicans have a negative view of obamacare, but 70% are dissatisfied with healthcare. easy way to pivot to say we're going to replace obamacare -- >> with? >> we're superseding. i was obsessed with this word. as a word person, it's like, make it relevant, more than repeal and replace, it's something more -- we'll show it what it is in the spring. >> what's fascinating to me no one other candidate wanted to touch this with a ten-foot pole. trump touches it, he was just about an editorial, other candidates have to walk into buzzsaw, fascinating to watch how it plays out. you guys are spoken. i have spoken and we're out of time. please stay with us. >> don't do that to phil. >> that's inappropriate. >> sorry, phil. we'll talk about football later. donald trump tries to turn the message on central command messages from joe biden. he claims biden is the destroyer of democracy. college football playoffs, the final four teams are set for the playoffs, but one coach said he's quote, disgusted and infuriated at the draw. first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you. it's the horror, the reality of war on full display in a refugee camp in northern gaza. children crying out for their family. hamas-run ministry of health said more than 15,000 people have been killed in gaza since the war began. >> the israeli operation is expanding in the south where many people, millions were told to evacuate. after the israeli military warned them to leave the united nations report up to 1.8 million people have been displaced in gaza itself. keep in mind how small gaza is. 830% of its population. >> defense secretary austin urging israel to limit civilian casualties. austin calling it quote strategic imperative. >> joining us now is former white house foreign policy is dan senor. dan, great to have you. you've been pretty supportive of how president biden has been responding to israel but over the past couple of days we've seen vice president harris on her trip saying as israel defends itself, we saw john kirby saying, basically israel don't move into the south unless accounted for these civilians. israel does not seem at least on the surface to be heeding any of those warnings, is it because netanyahu doesn't think there will be any repercussions? >> it's not just netanyahu it's the israel's political consensus. it used to be you would define israeli policymakers as netanyahu, the voice he has and the policy he has on gaza and hamas represents the entire israeli political spectrum from the right to the left. it views hamas as an existential threat to israel. israel can choose when and how to fight. hamas is choosing to fight in civilian areas, so in every one of those statements you hear from u.s. officials they constantly here israel has a right to self-defense but, then you hear the caveats. if you listen to blinken statements, yes, but. then he lays these caveats out, but israelis hear we have the right to defend ourselves and we can't choose where hamas chooses to fight there will be collateral damage. in southern gaza, what they've done over the last several days, they've dropped these lealeaflyers. they're basically saying this is where we're going to hit, this is the time we're going to hit, telling people to leave certain areas. this undermines israel's war fighting. civilians are seeing those maps. israel says, their argument we're always going through extraordinary lengths, that we have a right to defend ourselves, what does defending ourselves rook like if we can't confront hamas. >> the caveats that u.s. officials have, those caveats aren't being made in a vacuum, they have an audience as well, the u.s. is thinking through where jordan is on this, where egypt is on this, the saudis and uae, they're thinking about what happens after, does that matter? >> yeah, so, what u.s. officials are hearing behind closed doors from arab leaders and i have heard this from u.s. officials and some officials in arab governments is, one, the leader of hamas in gaza is a psychopath, that's word they use over and over again. they think the palestinian authority in the west bank is corrupt. three, israel has to destroy hamas, so these arab leaders are telling the u.s. government make sure israel destroys hamas because they view hamas as a palestinian sibling, if you will, the palestine ian broth brotherhood -- can the images please don't be too bad. domestic implications for them in their own population. they lay out their views and then put the caveat. the front end of the view always include israel must destroy hamas. we're hearing from the arab league want hamas destroy, we're hearing from the u.s. government to destroy hamas. >> what did you make of the argument yesterday about israel should have a red team and blue team presenting different options and he opened his column -- he said confucius a smart guy. >> israel should be thinking about who's going to rule gaza. once israel is done fighting. you don't want there to be a hamas 2.0 that emerges from the rubble. israelis keep saying yes that is true, when the united states was fighting the nazis and imperial japan, when the united states was fighting isis, the u.s. was facing mortal threat, they had to think about removing the mortal threat. remove the mortal threat and then focus on what comes next. 200,000 israelis not living in their homes because it's not safe to live in the communities. israeli leaders are asking themselves, how do we get 200,000 israelis to move back to their community? in evidence of hamas lurking, they're not going. this is existential for us dan, thank you as always. outrage over another aspect of the attack hamas launched on october 7th, women call out the united nations over its weeks' long delay in condemning the rape of women. look at this car, slid off the snowy road in the mountains of washington state. our meteorologist is tracking all of the storms right now. perfect winter wonderland for parts of the pacific northwest, this series of atmospheric river that has brought moisture to the region, freezing levels to create this winter wonderland. the next approaching atmospheric river has a moisture plume, back to hawaii, it's going to be warmer and that means we're going see more rain out of this event, will melt the snow and also produce significant flood threat for the region. "cnn this morning" will be right back. unfathomable, disgusted, heartbroken, the decision to exclude florida state university from the college football playoffs. college football matters in this country. these are the four teams that will get a shoot for the national championship, unfortunately michigan is one of them, alabama, texas and washington. who's not in there, the seminoles. the school and fans are furious they have been left out. coy wire, not a lot of precedent for this, this always pisses people off every year. this is another level. >> the opinion of committee members that's all that matters,