virginia senator joe manchin will not seek re-election. will he seek another office? we'll talk to bret baier coming up, a live look at pro palestinian students working out of school and rallying to basically shut everything down for palestine. let's listen to this. [chanting]. >> martha: some big numbers done there. we have a reporter down there. very big crowd gathering in new york city. we'll keep a close watch. also breaking right now, an interesting story. the department of justice has just announced that they have busted an alleged sex ring operating in massachusetts, boston area, and in virginia that is said to have surfaced many politicians, members of the military and other prominent corporate executives. we're keeping a close eye on that. we'll have more an soon as we get it later this hour. that's coming up. first, our lead story. iran keeps striking our bases. remember when the president said don't? they're not listening. we've had four more attacks in the last several hours. among them, our al-assad air base in iraq. now 46 in total. the message that we sent with the two strikes on these outposts overseen by iran proxies really has not slowed this down at all all so far. we have more than two dozen brain injuries of varying degrees and several other minor injuries overall fortunate that nobody has been killed in all of these attacks. we hope that continues. so as they continue to test us, the white house is jockeying with qatar and egypt trying to get a three-hour pause or four-hour pauses over the course of several days. we're getting sort of mixed messages on how this would work. it would be designed to bring home hostages. some of them reportedly under discussion right now in this deal would be american hostages. obviously all of these distraught families want to bring their loved ones home. watch this. >> we are pleading to you, the world, to help us, to speak with hamas. we have no clue what is happening to them. >> this uncertainty, when you're trying to fall asleep at night, the nightmares come and you don't know. she's a woman. you don't know what's happening to her. >> martha: what is happening to her. who knows. general jack keane will join us with his thoughts on the strategy in all of this in moments. we begin live at the state department with jilgillian turn. >> hi, martha. the short pauses are not in exchange for any american hostages as hard as the biden team might be pushing for that to happen, the short pauses are really we're told about getting humanitarian aid in to gaza. the state department told us that they're still, however, even now holding out a lot of hope that hamas might soon release more americans. listen. >> the announcement that was today is about ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid as well as the ability for civilians to move safely and depart areas where there might be hostilities taking place. but again, we have not -- we'll continue to keep our eye on the ball when it comes to a release of these hostages. >> as for the specifics, the white house confirmed that the pauses will last four hours at a time and civilians on the ground will be given a three-hour warning before each because begins. listen. >> we've been told by the israelis there's no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause. that this process is starting today. >> now, yesterday at the g-7, the secretary of state interestingly said the short pauses are important for staff to ultimately the longer pauses he talked about and getting the hostages freed. >> we all agreed that humanitarian pauses would advance key objectives, the increase the flow of assistance and to facilitate the release of hostages. >> now, martha, separately the talks about this bigger deal that are john going with the u.s. and israel, qatar and hamas on the other side are continuing. we heard from trey yingst there's but some break through progress there. nobody at the state department is sharing any details about that this hour. they have not all along. they have been very short on information. martha? >> thanks very much. let's go to israel to the southern part of israel with our correspondent jeff paul where thousands of israelis are calling for more humanitarian aid in to gaza. hi, jeff. >> yeah, martha, as israeli forces continue the ground assault in and around northern gaza, very little progress has been made in the release of the more than 200 hostages that were taken back on october 7th. you can see their faces on the posters. their family have little information about where they are, let alone how they're doing. tonight here in downtown tel aviv, that frustration boiling over. we were there to capture the moments. >> thousands gathering here in downtown tel aviv. many doctors and nurses. they are pointing out that here we are more than a month in to the war and very little is known about the health conditions of the innocent people take hostage by hamas. they want everybody to be returned home. the very least, they're pleading with organizations like the red cross to do their job, get in to gaza and help the most vulnerable. >> we have to realize every moment could be the last moment. why should it exist, the red cross? what is the purpose of existence in such humanitarian case, regardless of anything, you don't need to be for israel. you need to be for human. >> they're all some high level talks right now between the u.s. and israeli fishes and qatari officials about the possible exchange of hostages for a pause in the fighting. the idf, martha, has been very clear that there will not be a cease fire until every one of those hostages is back home. martha? >> thanks, jeff. with that, we go to tel aviv and dr. ophia faulk. good to have you back on the program. we heard from our reporters about these high level ongoing talks between the united states and israel and some of these other factors as well. you have qatar and egypt i involved. what is israel's understand of what will happen in these pauses and are you in favor of them? >> thanks for having me, martha. let's make it clear, there's no cease fire and there will not be any cease fire without the release of our hostages. the idf and israel is dismantling hamas. there will be no cease fire without release of hostages. what we're doing, israel is setting humanitarian corridors that enable safe passages for civilians to get out of harm's way, to get in to safer zones, to go from the north to the southwest of gaza and today as well as yesterday, about 50,000 gazans that got out of harm's way. israel urges gazans to evacuate and go to the south where there is safe zones. asking for a cease fire with hamas is like asking for a cease fire after pearl harbor or after 9-11 can al-quaida. that won't happen. the idf is dismantling hamas right now. >> sandra: they will do so until hamas is destroyed. and we release our hostages. >> martha: let me ask you this. what does hamas get out of these pauses? we've seen the video that you just talked about with thousands of gazans leaving. they're holding white flags. i've read records about idf members going from building to building and coordinating with residents there to make sure everyone knows that they have this opportunity to get out. so what is the point of the pause if you're allowed to deliver assistance without the pause? >> well, israel is all in favor of providing humanitarian aid, providing civilians with food, water and medical attention. israel seeks to save civilian lives while hamas seeks to kill civilians. our civilians and their civilians. they hide behind and below their civilianses. we will continue to target the terrorists. the idf will continue to dismantle hamas. the day after hamas wants -- once after hamas is destroyed, the day after we will make sure that gaza is demilitarized, deradicalized and rebuild. then there will be a future of hope. >> martha: we have to go -- or you have to go. but very quickly, how close are we to seeing hostages released, do you believe? >> i cannot elaborate on how close we are. the only thing i can is a what has facilitated a hostage release to date is pressure. pressure on hamas, massive pressure on hamas. that pressure will grow and grow and grow until our hostages are released and hamas is destroyed. >> martha: hangs very much. good to have you with us, dr. falk. general jack keane will be here moments away. we'll talk to him about the concerns about a wider war because hamas has said that the reason for the assault, the barbaric assault on october 7th was really to shake things up in the middle east. that's what we have seen. so we're going to talk to general keane about what comes next, what their goals are and whether or not we are doing anything to deter iran at this point. we'll speak with him in moment. we'll go back to bryant park where we're watching a large gathering. look up and down the streets. there's a lot of people down there right now. we have a reporter on the scene. students that have walked out of class was the back story of this particular protest. they say they want to shut it down for palestine. i've struggled with generalized myasthenia gravis. but the picture started changing when i started on 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have walked out of their high school and college classrooms as part of nationwide protest to shut it down for palestine. brian brenberg is down there, co host of "the big money show" on fox business. he's covering this for us this afternoon in midtown, manhattan. what can you tell us, brian? what are you seeing down there? >> martha, it is quite a scene down here. we've been here for about 20 minutes. i would say the crowd size has at least doubled in that time. you can hear and see the chanting behind me. i'm in front of the new york public library. you have a mix of people here. this is supposed to be a high school student and teacher walk-out event. but you actually have i think a huge variety of people. we've seen high school students, we've seen college students, college professors from area schools. they're here, they say, to shut it down. they seem to be calling for a cease fire, although it's interesting when i talk to people here, they have different interpretations of what shut it down means. some of them are talking about military relationships. some of them are talking ant what is happening in the streets around us. there was a group earlier at black rock talking about shutting it down. it's a wide interpretation. the point is, there's a ton of energy here. this crowd is growing very fast. they have not stopped chanting since's been here. we're trying to get some takes from folks on the ground why they're here. i can tell you it's already getting heated. we've seen what looked like some close altercations, some calls for police. one young man who seemed to be counter kind of getting moved out in the streets. we'll watch it. things are just getting heated up here. >> martha: keep us posted, brian. we'll keep a close eye on it. we have the live camera and you as well. we'll keep watching it. thanks. brian brenberg of "the big men show" on fox business. another attack against the united states on our bases in the middle east. today it happened in iraq at al-assad. a one-way drone that was active in that area. we'll keep a close eye on all of these attacks. general jack keane will be here with us after the break on the appropriate action from the united states and whether the world is on the cusp of something much wider when we come back. this is your season to smile with new dentures from aspen dental -- to raise a toast and gather together, to wrap up the fun and round up the gang. to help get you ready, your aspen dental denture team is celebrating 25 years of affordable care with an epic anniversary savings event. don't miss enjoying a moment with fast repairs in our onsite labs and 20% off your custom dentures. plus, we have a denture money back guarantee so you can smile with confidence. aspen dental. book today. i'd like to take a moment to address my fellow veterans, because i know so many of you have served our country honorably. one of the benefits that we as a country give you as a veteran is the eligibility for a va loan for 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intent to kill american personnel. in a moment, four star general jack keane. first to jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. hi, jennifer. >> hi, martha. since the u.s. carried out air strikes in eastern syria last night, there have been four new attacks but i rainian proxies against u.s. bases. three attacks on u.s. troops in syria and a fourth in iraq. a pair of f-15s struck an iranian weapons storage facility last night. the second u.s. air strike in two weeks following 46 attacks on u.s. bases since mid october. iran and its proxies are not getting the message or being deterred. three u.s. troops received minor injuries at green village. today no u.s. injuries. pentagon deputy press secretary sabrina singh says there's 56 u.s. service members that have reported injuries since october 17th. half of them traumatic brain injuries. >> we have 25 of our troop members have been diagnosed with tbi. the other injuries are very minor. we're talking headache, rolled ankle. cuts. but that is it. all have returned to duty. >> the u.s. has not responded yesterday to the downing of a u.s. mq9 reaper drone yesterday off the coast of yemen. the $32 million surveillance drone went down over the red sea. the u.s. air strikes on a weapons storage facility in eastern syria is targeted a weapons storage facility used by iran's irgc, the same drones and rockets used to target u.s. troops and bases. nobody was killed in the u.s. air strike. defense officials said they have ramped up the defense of u.s. bases in iraq and syria sending patriot missile defense batteries and other defensive capabilities to the u.s. troops. martha? >> martha: thanks, jennifer. let's bring in retired four star general, jack keane, former vice chief of staff for the army and the chairman of the institute for the study of war. when i listen to jennifer's record, i'm reminded of president biden staring down the camera and saying my message for iran is don't. is iran listening based on what we just heard? >> heck no. iran's strategic objective in the middle is dominate and control it. also take control of the persian gulf oil. they've had that as their aspirational goal since the early 80s. then they have two objectives to achieve it. they state this every single year. drive the united states military presence out of the region and that's what these attacks are all about. break american will at home. why are we still in iraq and syria? they want the american people to be asking the administration that. why are we putting our troops at risk over this issue. that's what they want. that's playing out in the united states as they speak. their second objective is to destroy the state of israel. they're using hamas, hezbollah and houthis all to reduce israel's influence or geo political stature inside their own country, get their people to lose confidence in them, worldwide condemnation, which they're getting as a result of it, isolate israel, more geo politically. some of that is happening. the second objective, the one that you're focusing on here is to drive the united states out of the region. these are complementary things to iran achieving their goal. when the administration tries to separate them, that is wrong. this is all part of the aspirational goal. what should we do? you have seen that these measured deliberate attacks, they will continue to attack us. and they're trying to kill us. are we going to wait until somebody gets killed and then we have to look that family in the face and try to explain why we didn't take tougher action? come on. this is america here. here's the issue. when iran punches us using our proxies, we have to go back and hurt them where they recognize that hurt. reagan learned this in the mid 80s. after he lost the marine barracks, two embassies, lebanon, kuwait, hundreds killed. later on when iranians were interfering with the flow of out of of the gulf, he struck their oil platforms andtism rgc bases. they shut down. president trump took awhile but he learned a lesson. in january 2020, after the iranians are punching at us as they're doing right now, he takes down the leader of the irgc leader. they kill him. they came back us and shut down and they were back on a their heels when the biden administration took over. what should we do about this? we have to recognize that the tie, the connection here to the iranian proxies is the irgc. they train those proxies at the irgc training center in iran. as they have -- hamas was in there in september. 500 plus of them training there. >> neil: practicing with the paragliders. >> yes. take that facility down. tell them that's what's going to happen if you continue to do this. they do it one more time, take it down. why don'