january of 2020 or has he just flipped his position? a revealing cnn town hall with ron desantis attacking donald trump on personal and policy terms. >> we are all in on nikki haley! >> the opposition is divided. it will allow trump to conquer. at least nine israeli soldiers including a commander killed. >> flooding the hamas network of tunnels flushing out militants. >> he has not given any support in a two-state solution which is important for the u.s. ukraine's president seeking more aid and congressional republicans resisting. >> we'll supply with critical supplies and equipment as long as we can. >> as long as it takes is the refrain we have long heard. >> this is exactly what vladimir putin has been waiting for. republicans have taken the next step in their impeachment inquiry into president biden, threatening to hold hunter biden in contempt of congress if he does not show. >> that's going to backfire. good morning, everyone. you know that music. it's poll six. less than five weeks to go before the first votes are cast in iowa, and the gloves are coming off. florida governor ron desantis training his fire on front-runner donald trump in ways he never has before. at seemingly during every turn at last night's town hall. >> this comes as governor chris sununu endorses nikki haley. there's a lot to unpack. our jessica dean live in des moines. jessica, good morning to you. voters in that room getting to ask their questions, and i think hear from a tonally changed ron desantis. >> reporter: i think that's right. and phil is right, too. the music sets the stage. we're about five weeks from the iowa caucuses. things are getting serious in iowa and voters are engaging for the first time trying to figure out who they want to support and last night we heard from governor ron desantis who went right after the front-runner, former president trump, and took those questions from the audience. so many people excited to have that just a few weeks before voting starts. republican presidential candidate governor ron desantis answering questions from iowa voters and taking aim at the gop front-runner. >> donald trump, when he gets off the teleprompter now, you don't know what he's going to say. i went to the rallies with donald trump. he said he was going to build the wall and have mexico pay for it, and that didn't happen. that last year with covid i think was mishandled dramatically. shutting down the country was a huge mistake. one thing in this race that's important to point out is donald trump flip-flopping on the right to life. tweeting and attacking people created division we didn't need. >> reporter: disappointing poll numbers from the "des moines register" earlier this week showed trump still has a commanding lead in the state. he downplayed the polls, though, touting his ground organization in the hawkeye state. >> iowa voters will choose not pundits and polls. we have the best organization anyone has had in iowa, tens of thousands of iowans who have committed to caucus for us. >> reporter: fielding questions on foreign policy saying he feels israel over ukraine has the most need for u.s. assistance. >> it's the state of israel. they are our strongest ally. we have a relationship with them like no other, and they have the whole world against us. they require the united states to be with them and stand with them as the friend. ukraine has all of europe. these european countries need to start pulling their weight. >> reporter: he is supporting congressional republicans who are refusing to authorize further military aid to ukraine unless more is done to secure the u.s. southern border. >> what they are saying is you have to defend our own country's borders before you start sending money all across this world. as president, i'll do the border on day one. day one we're going to declare it a national emergency. i'm sending the military to the southern border. we're going to stop the inflation. >> reporter: california governor gavin newsom, a surrogate for the re-election campaign, criticizing desantis' performance calling it, quote, his signature rant and scare tactics that offer no solutions to the real issues that matter to americans across the country. >> we are all in on nikki haley. >> reporter: in new hampshire former south carolina governor nikki haley winning out against desantis and others to get a highly sought endorsement from that state's governor, chris sununu. >> it doesn't get any better than this, to go and get endorsed by the live free or die governor is about as rock solid of an endorsement as we could hope for. >> reporter: a big get for nikki haley as we head in this final stretch. the question remains and it looms over this primary. we saw governor desantis get the endorsement of kim reynolds in iowa. nikki haley has the endorsement of chris sununu. will it do anything to slow former president donald trump? we'll have to see what the voters have to say. to that back here in iowa we will see the former president in iowa today. he will make remarks and on the stage behind me we will see vivek ramaswamy, also running, he will take part in a town hall here on cnn with abby phillip. >> jessica dean, thank you. with us former white house communications director kate bedingfield and anthony scarimucci. you know i was going to say for a shorter term but i didn't want to be mean, but you said it. >> i didn't think about that. that was a mistake. >> just remember, good things come in small packages. let's go. >> kate, who had a better night last night, ron desantis or nikki haley? >> i actually think ron desantis seemed sharper, more focused. he seemed to be making a case he sort of struggled to make throughout the primary, why him and not trump. so i thought he kind of showed a life that i hadn't seen from him yet. but the challenge for him, i think, he has put all of his eggs in the iowa basket, said many times i have to win iowa, i expect to win iowa. he's losing by 30 points. there's still five weeks to go. for hip falling short in iowa is going to leave him with no momentum coming out of the contest whereas nikki haley has set up camp and got an endorsement. has set herself up. nikki probably had the better strategic night. >> 7:07 a.m. kate bedingfield complimented ron desantis. >> i'm going to lose my cred. >> be cool, guys. be cool. when you look at the dynamic poppy laid out, two big nights for two key candidates, give mean the case to make the point one of those two people has a chance. >> i think they probably don't have a chance in iowa, just being totally candid, because the way it is set up but there is a chance in new hampshire. whether it's governor haley, desantis or christi, there can be crossover voting. i think they're all trying to see themselves, the ones that are behind, as john mccain, back in the day when john mccain was nowhere. by the way, we could go to president biden himself. he had a hard time in new hampshire. he obviously won in south carolina and so forth. so, to me, if you're the candidate and you believe that you can be president of the united states, you want to stay in the race and you want to fight until at least you hear from a voter not from a pundit or pollster. >> that's fair. how is trump going to take to desantis' big tickup in criticism of him? what's he going to do about it? what will he say in iowa about it? >> he will bash him very hard, a lot of legislators are with president trump. he was neck and neck in the race and then the personal ridicule he's known for. governor desantis has a very goodbut he really hasn't shown up to be president. you look at him, the american people have a little test in their head. president, not president, and he has never rung the bell for large enough people. they don't see him as president. he doesn't have the riz -- is that a new name? >> a no percent chance poppy knows what you're talking about. i do and i respect -- >> i have no idea. >> and you know that and i know that. >> i'm young. i'm hip. excuse me. >> i think that's going to press on as it relates to this. >> i am of the opinion -- i love where this went. the most important thing that happened in politics what happened in texas, based on everything we've seen in midterm elections, do we have the nikki haley sound from yesterday addressing the decision? it tracks with what we've seen in her positions on abortion despite saying she would sign a six-week abortion ban. every democrat i've talked to says don't fall for it. she has a legislative record, a record what she would endorse. messaging doesn't change that it's a death knell for republicans. >> she would sign a six-week ban, if she somehow managed to become the republican nominee she will be tagged with that. the democrats will make clear she said just eight weeks ago she would sign a six-week ban if it came to her desk. yes, it is not a messaging problem. it's a substantive problem, voters have seen since the fall of roe, they have tried to take away women's rights. the issue has come under a rubric of freedom and choice and rights and republicans have been on the wrong side. so i think republicans have a credibility problem on this. nikki haley would and she just said she would sign a six-week ban. that's the position democrats would force her to defend. >> phil is right to point to her record as governor in south carolina. thanks anthony "riz" scaramucci -- down to the bedazzled -- >> i've been to enough as a reporter. >> you have the riz, too. >> down to the bedazzled swag on your lapel. >> appreciate to have you. today on "inside politics" governor haley and chris sununu will sit down with dana bash. throwing his support behind the south carolina governor. the interview airs today at 12:00 p.m. eastern. how the biden administration is reacting to calls to stop providing unconditional aid to israel unless they do more to protect civilians in gaza. the tactic the israeli military is using to drown out hamas next. this just in. we are learning president biden is expected to meet with the families of all eight unaccounted for americans thought to have been abducted by hamas on october 7th. the whereabouts of one woman and seven men are unknown following the attack on israel, according to the white house. four americans have been released so far. this will be biden's first in-person meeting with the families of american hostages. he previously met with them via zoom in october. the israeli military suffering one of its deadliest losses yet in the war on gaza. the idf says nine soldiers including a commanders were killed in a single incident this is new video released by the israeli military and it shows how intense the fighting on the ground has been in the gaza strip. troops are taking covering craters. there is a growing rift between the united states and israel over the war in gaza and it is spilling out into public view as civilian casualties mount. president biden delivering his sharpest warning to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his hard-right government telling donors at a fund-raiser israel is losing support because of the indiscriminate bombing in gaza. more than 18,000 people killed in the gaza strip since the launch of the military campaign. the biden administration is also making clear it has no plans to put any conditions on military aid for israel. that is despite growing pressure from democratic lawmakers and human rights groups over the staggering number of civilian losses in gaza. it's quite a juxtaposition. say these things at a fund-raiser, in public, listen to netanyahu saying, we disagree on the end game in gaza, and yet no conditions on aid y.? >> i think that's something else he said during that fund-raiser is indicative of how the president is thinking. he said, i'm having tough conversations with netanyahu. we're making clear they're losing support by the international community, but, at the same time, quote, we're not going to do a damn thing other than protect israel in the process. not a single thing. that really underscores how committed the president remains to providing israel with this military equipment even as he and his team are increasingly disappointed by the number of civilian casualties the operation has incurred and so we're hearing the reason they don't want to put the conditions on the weaponry including bombs, of course, is because they believe the quiet pressure behind the scenes is having more of an impact on changing israel's behavior and point to the early days of the war when the israelis had a much larger scale operation in mind, that the u.s. was able to pull them back from. they believe they can influence israel's behavior and not through restricting the kind of military aid and equipment they send to the israelis. >> you have really interesting new reporting on a new tactic israel is using and it has to do with flooding some tunnels with salt water. what can you tell us? >> this is something the israelis told the united states they are testing out on a limited basis and don't know if it will work yet because they want to drive fighters out of this very vast tunnel network but they reassured the united states they are only flooding tunnels with seawater they believe do not have hostages inside of them. they said to the united states they are being careful and testing this out on a limited basis. president biden said he is not confident there are no hostages in the tunnels. here is what he said. >> there are assertions made they are quite sure there are no hostages in the tunnels but i don't know that for a fact. >> reporter: so this shows how dependent they are on what they're telling them. the u.s., of course, has a very large stake in the hostages' safety with american citizens being among the hostages, poppy. >> as the president gets ready to meet with those families in person. >> we appreciate your time. i want to start on the limited basis efforts. can you explain to people what that actually means and why there's confidence there wouldn't be civilians or hostages there? >> israel is having to find creative and innovative ways to deal with an unprecedented threat in urban warfare, a city of tunnels built in gaza by hamas to shield its terrorists. now i can't comment on the specific ways that our soldiers are going about destroying the tunnels but we will, of course, be operating on the basis of precise intelligence. we will not do anything to harm the hostages. it is a central mission to bring the hostages home safe and sound. so many israelis, i have a dog tag that says bring them home now. this is an intensely personal issue for us in israel. 135 hostages. and we're committed to bringing them all home, the young and the old, we're committed to that pledge. there will be no one left behind and we'll do everything we can to bring them home while continuing with our campaign to destroy the hamas terror state in response to the atrocities. >> the president will be meeting, as we reported, with those families of the eight unaccounted for americans today. there has been a lot of discussion about the public view of at least what appeared to be a clear split between the prime minister and the president yesterday. the president's remarks at a closed door fund-raiser. i see your skepticism in your face. why? >> president biden said in that statement that israel enjoys the support of most of the world and it enjoys the support of most of the world because everyone understands the atrocities of 10/7 cannot go unanswered and the response to those barbaric atrocities must be the end of the hamas terror regime. we know that some nations are perhaps losing nerve. they're losing nerve because hamas is working very hard to manufacture a humanitarian crisis in gaza and continues to operate in civilian dress, out of civilian areas, putting civilians in harm's way because it knows those images. thankfully the united states and the biden administration have had the moral clarity to say we have to stand by israel's side. >> you make an important point. there is no talk of changing its posture. but the point that the president has been making and he said he had made to the prime minister in their calls is if what you're saying, other countries are losing their nerve, close allies, that is a big problem not for the u.s. and their support but for israel and what happens next and the process and time line of this conflict. >> we know that we're fighting the most moral fight imaginable, and that's a fight to bring justice to monsters. this war will end when it is safe for children to sleep in gaza and our allies know that and as part of that we're striking with unprecedented precision. we know we with going after the terrorist who is did that. and doing it by taking steps no army in the history of counterterrorism in the world has taken to protect civilians. and part of our job is to continue reminding the world the efforts that we are making to minimize civilian casualties on the other side despite hamas' best efforts. it's sick, twisted, deranged. despite hamas' best efforts to manufacture the crisis because they think those images will generate industry that will stop us fighting and make sure hamas can never perpetrate another 10/7. u.s. officials acknowledge given on what happened on october 7, exactly where the u.s. would be in a situation like that. however, the u.s. has made clear, repeatedly, it wants to see the palestinian authority or thinks the palestinian authority is the only real entity that's operational at this point that could lead gaza. the prime minister has been explicit that is not going to happen. he will not allow that to happen. how do you resolve this? >> unfortunately, the last time we gave the gaza strip on a platter in 2005, that led to the election of hamas and a coup hamas overthrew -- >> a two-state solution not on the table at this point? i'm not being flippant? >> you're asking me questions about -- no, no, i understand, but long-term horizon while we still have body bags of unidentifiable remains. our objective is to destroy hamas in response to the 10/7 massacre and what will happen the day after is hamas will not governor the strip. they have been projecting blame onto israel and giving extensive diplomatic cover. the prime minister said hamas is an inseparable part of the palestinian fabric, and we're saying that whoever governs gaza the day after hamas must fight terror and not fund terror and must be clear that hamas has no place in palestinian politics instead of trying to make excuses for its crimes and saying it's an inseparable part of the palestinian fabric. >> we appreciate your time, eylon levy, thank you. we'll be joined by john kirby with more on the u.s. support for israel and ukraine. breaking overnight, nearly 200 countries have agreed to transition away from planet destroying fossil fuels. why some say this historic deal still falls short. republican hopeful vivek ramaswamy joins abby phillip to take questions from voters. a cnn presidential town hall. vivek ramamaswamy toninight at p.m. e eastern. 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. new this morning, a lands mark deal reached at the cop28 summit in dubai that could push the globe away from using fossil fuels that contribute a lot to the climate crisis. does the deal have any teeth? bill weir joins us at the table. good morning. it's a good headline. >> it beats the alternative. optimist w