Language] is what it is in hebrew. A few nights ago, here a young canadian pianist named kevin chan served up some of that hope at a concert at new york citys carnegie hall. He surprised the audience with a performance of this song. Israels official account on social media shared the footage online, Thanking Chan for playing that. I want to thank you so much for joining us on this busy night here. We will be back tomorrow night, of course,. Cnn news night with abby phillip starts right now. New signs there is growing daylight between the u. S. And israel on this war, as the clock ticks on the lives of dozens of hostages in millions of civilians. Thats tonight on news night. And good evening, im abby philip. Two more female hostages are now free tonight after being released by hamas. Both are israeli citizens. Two women, 79 and 85 years old, are now at a hospital in tel aviv after being handed over at the rafah crossing. You will hear from one of their daughters in a moment. But first, cnn is reporting that the u. S. Has been pressing israel to delay its invasion of gaza to allow for the release of even more hostages. And there are some signs that israel is getting impatient. Airstrikes have grown, troops have been massed at the border for a week now, and verbal warnings of an impending assault from the, quote, air, round, and cer multiplying as these days go by. And israel, which denied being asked by the u. S. For a delay says it is not considering any kind of ceasefire. And there are more signs of the Biden Administration has concerns. U. S. Intelligence shows that iranianbacked militias already to ramp up their attacks against u. S. Forces in the middle east. On official telling cnn that red lights are flashing everywhere. And this apparent tension over a Ground Invasion is nowhere they, as we learn that the u. S. Has rushed unamerican Three Star General an expert in Urban Warfare to help the israelis. While the general may be able to advise on how to avoid civilian casualties, in a region that is already it does raise some risks the appearance that may very well be the reality that the u. S. Is linked to the israeli operation, no matter how it goes. And at the center of all of this, of course are the hostages. Here is the daughter of one of the ones that was released, speaking with anderson cooper. When you heard the news, it went through your mind . [laughter] its impossible to describe. My mother, i think she had a good smile, i dont know. Im so delighted, but my heart is with you know, this is a small ray of light in a big story that is still unfolding. My sister is there. There are so many other people, we are waiting for news about everybody. My heart is with all my friends and loved ones and Everybody Else that are still a hostage. I think that this is a great sign that we are moving in the right direction. Lets great straight to anderson cooper, whos on the ground in tel aviv. Anderson, what more have we learned tonight about these two hostages who have now been released by hamas . Yeah, lipschitz, who is 85 years old, and cooper, no relation to mean, whose 79 years old, both were released earlier, going across the Southern Border Into Egypt when they were eventually brought into israel. Both are in a hospital here in tel aviv. I spoke to miss lipschitz daughter who is heading from an airport, i think i talked to illinois about to board a plane at heathrow airport, she is flying here. She is obviously overjoyed. I also spoke to yocheveds Grandson Daniel, who came down from basically the kibbutz where these two were kidnapped from. Lifshitz was one of the founders back in 1957 with their husband, that kibbutz, there is a huge slaughter there of the people that were living their. About a quarter of them are either dead or missing. Many of them had been kidnapped. They are still nine founding bodies of some of them. Those who have survived have been relocated to theres a lot of happiness in this Hotel Tonight because theyre alive, and thats where the family and their Grandson Daniel was. He flew here to tel aviv to see is family there. He said great, they didnt go into a lot of details with her about the nature of our captivity or what she may have seen. But for the family members, and frankly, for everybody here, theres a lot of focus obviously on both of their husbands of the women who are still being held, along with more than 200, there is about 218 right now believed hostages currently being held, very young children, more elderly people, people who have severe lifethreatening injuries and wounds, people who need medication. There is an urgent call for all of the hostages to be released. That of course is all in the hands of hamas. Yeah, and it still remains unknown really what methodology theyre using to decide who they release and who they do not. And just on that note, i mean, there are so many other families, hundreds, really, that are still waiting for any news of their loved ones who are believed to be in captivity. And you actually spoke to one of them. What they say . I did. This is an american couple, john poland and reach troll goldberg, was kidnapped, he was at the supernova music festival. He was hiding in a shelter at 28 other people. Hamas came along, they threw in multiple grenades into the shelter. Many people in that shelter died. Hersh, who is 23, an american, he had his left hand part of his left arm blown off. And there is video, which i was able to get to the family last week, that actually shows him being looted by hamas planted into a pick up truck, along with three other hostages, all of whom seem to have had very serious injuries, and being taken away. His status is unknown. But that family has been very outspoken about the urgent need to free all these hostages, and particularly those who are wounded, those who have lifethreatening conditions. Seeing that video in general gave us a dose of optimism. As horrible as it is for a parent to see your kid under gunpoint being pushed with one arm, the composure with which hes walking on his own legs, pulling himself with his one week hand, hes a lefty, and his left arm is blown, off peninsula this one we cant onto the truck, gave me a real dose of strength that is handling a horrible situation. And hes doing it with composure. I, mean were saying he walked out calmly, which he did, but i think it was for shock. That video that theyre talking about is a video i actually had been shown by a soldier here about a week ago. And while i was interviewing that couple about a week ago live on television, i realize as they were talking with the injury their son had, i realized i had seen this video and i had it in my possession that they had never seen before, they had no proof of life for him. So is able to get them that video, send it to them. But and its given them a little bit of hope because it is evidence that he was alive with that injury, got in the vehicle, they still do not know what is current status is. Wow, thats really incredible. Anderson, thank you for sharing that with us and thank you for being there. Thanks, abby. Two hostages freed tonight but the families of hundreds of others are waiting desperately for news about their loved ones and hoping that they will be the next to come home. With me now is his family lives in Kibbutz Barrie and he recently found out that his sister did not survive the attack by hamas militants. A hall, thank you so much for being here. When we last spoke, you had so much hope for your sister and your family, im so so worried here about your loss. How are you holding up tonight . So im now back in israel with my family. I think its extremely just extremely sad, a lot of pain, grieving, such a beautiful person, you know, killed for, i dont know, being jewish, being an israeli, just very sad. We yeah, so, please. No, and theres nothing to be sorry about. Im so sorry to hear that. I wonder, have you been able to get any information about what happened to her and her family . She seems to have been separated for her from her husband anything nephew. What do you know about what happened there . You know, so we know nothing, really. So we just know that but 180 bodies bullet of kibbutz beeri, where i grew up, where my dad and other sister lived. And they were just put in a bag, and then being identified. And now, she is dead. And you know, i if i may, i wanted to talk about something that goes over and above my own grief and pain and the pain of my family and for the experience here in israel. You know, i think what happened here with hamas and this evil terrorist organization doesnt just hijack israel ladies, they also hijacked the palestinian cause. And i think this does tremendous disservice to this cause because now calls for free palestine, from the river to the, seek become slogans like [speaking in a nonenglish language] which means murder the, because they all now behind this evil i. S. I. S. Like, National Socialist like organization, and theres the ones who want to free palestine. So i think palestine must separate themselves from this organization because and them and the progressive putting themselves behind this evil in away makes them in a way accomplice to all this. And also, i dont think this serves the purpose of getting the state funding, i really dont. And i really hope the death of my sister and applying to what im going through, not just, me many others here with the same situation as me, looking for loved ones, and really dont know what is the situation, husband and two kids, i still consider to be captured. And theres a tremendous avoid that one has it when you have no information of the people that you love, its very difficult. Yeah, you made such an interesting point, and i think thats your perspective, you know, as it relates to the Palestinian People. I do wonder, i mean, the rest your sisters family could very well be in gaza right now. And you have concerns about their safety if there is a Ground Invasion . You are a former navy seal, a Ground Invasion that could involve street by street combat, Urban Warfare. Are you worried for them . Of course im worried. But you know, i think i believe there is a chance that if there is a Ground Invasion, they will be released by the israeli army. And i think in the bigger picture, the dismantling of hamas and the destruction of this evil Islamic Radical organization should not be hindered by the plight of the hostages to be a parallel thing. Give some time now, because theres some chance, maybe people with u. S. Citizenship, maybe children, maybe mothers, maybe babies will be released, because they took all of them hostages. And then after this, you know, you need to do something about this concept or it will kill us. So its difficult. But i dont think that you should forever hold a Ground Invasion, whatever it takes to dismantle this i. S. I. S. Level organization. And you see this deal with it as well, and parallel to trying to get of the hostages. Thats my view. All right, thats really an interesting perspective. And we appreciate you joining us again and sharing that with us. And we continue to hope with you for the rest of your family, ahal, besorai, think you so much. Thank you, abby, thank you. And up next, the red lights are flashing everywhere. The new u. S. Intel that shows iranianbacked militias are ready to attack u. S. Interests. Plus, i will speak with a former Army Special Operations member about the challenges of saving those hostages we are just talking about. And former President Obama is now speaking out on this crisis, warning israel how revenge could it backfire. Tonight, two more hostages are safely out of gaza, but far outside of the borders of gaza tensions are boiling in the region with new warnings over iranianbacked groups preparing for attacks against u. S. Forces in the region. And joining now is alec pizzas, hes a former member of the Army Special Operations unit. Alex, you are really excellent person to talk to about a whole host of things happening there. I want to start with the hostages because weve seen two americans released, now two israelis. Clearly hamas is seeing some kind of strategic advantage here in releasing the hostages. What is it, in your mind . I have responsibility for Hostage Rescue Operations and policy at the pentagon of this is by far the most complicated Hostage Policy or of Stooge Operation of a scene. There are 200 people in tunnels, where they are located, different groups trying to do simultaneous rescues is going to be extremely difficult which is why were seeing negotiations. So, the drip of two people out, to people out a think it benefits hamas. One, the longer they drag this out more focus is on the humanitarian conditions in gaza as opposed to what happened with 14 other people were murdered. One other thing that were learning is that these hostages were released out of the rafah crossing, right around here. Right in the south of gaza. So, just a couple of things. We already understand, im gonna go this other map here, this is northern gaza, this is where the israelis have said evacuate because going to be active in this area. This is raw fall down here, does that have a sense of where the hostages might have been, where they might have traveled to, anything like that . Sure, most of the other crossings are closed. The main crossing right now, that will be in egypt, would be rafah. So, the israelis have asked this citizens of northern gaza, gaza city to move south of the green line that youve drawn there. So thats about 1. 1 million people, or have the population, so gaza itself is like an and farms. Or somewhere between 15 to 100, not just tunnels, but Tunnel Complexes under the ground. So the hostages are dispersed all over the place. One of the other factors in this is the risk of regional escalation. The u. S. Now saying that they are seeing real activity from iranbacked militias all around the region. That has a lot of people worried. When you look at this map, this is a map of israels, they like to say a very dangerous neighborhood right here. So, when you look at this, what do you see are the risks here for escalation . Sure, there are a number of risks for escalation. Right now, hamas is sponsored by iran in terms of being a proxy force. Iran has sponsored a number of proxies in the regions for a number of years. I myself at the battle of city in 2008 against the she about her militias. So they backed the militias in iraq, syria, and then Southern Lebanon with hezbollah. So its known as the shia crescent. Basically tehran basically controls policy to tehran, damascus, baghdad, to the Southern Lebanon and where the saudis and riots had fought of proxy war for quite some time. Each of those represent a particular risk and the iranians early on in the conflict it stated that if they were to be attacked directly they would respond with proxies from these locations. So weve seen in the last couple of days, weve seen two strategic Ballistic Missile launches by the rebels in yemen that had to be taken down. This is down . Here exactly, by u. S. Navy ships that were bringing missiles down. And u. S. Bases in iraq and syria, which is a message from the iranians. This is what were showing up here. This has been a really active area here and it has gone from a question of whether this attack down here was something that was perhaps coincidental, now were seeing more attacks happening in the region. It is looking not coincidental at all, but more plant. Youre entirely right. Given the timing, all within a matter of hours one another, and particularly the missiles in yemen. We havent seen Ballistic Missile launches like that and theres no way that the Strategic Asset would be authorized, even if its just iran saying, and guys, im fine with you guys doing what you, want theres at least sometimes of tested permission from the iranians if not a coordinated message from the we can reach out and touch whenever you want and if this Ground Incursion goes forward thats the risk that youve been. Its a jurors earns message from the iranians. Similar to the u. S. Handling more firepower into the region as well. Alex plitsas, thank you so much for joining us on all of that. And former President Obama now has a new warning for israel as it threatens a Ground Incursion and also a plea to americans about of the dialogue around this war. Plus, fans reportedly walking out of Dave Chappelles show after the comedian criticized israel. One democratic lawmaker called it a week answer and tonight the white house is clarifying its messaging around the rise of antisemitism following this afternoons press briefing, when initially asked by cnns mj lee about the president s level of concern, specifically about threats against the jewish community, the White House Press secretary said this. Look, we have not seen any Credible Threats. I know there have all these questions about Credible Threats and so i just want to make sure that that is out there. But look, muslims and those perceived to be muslim have endured a disproportionate number of Hate Field Tack and certainly President Biden understands that many of our muslim arab americans, and palestinian loved ones and neighbors are worried about their hate being directed at their communities. Now, there was a lot of criticism for that response to a question that started about antisemitism. Her answer was focused, instead, on antimuslim rhetoric. Now, secretary, press secretary Karine Jeanpierre has since posted on x. To be clear, the president and our team are very concerned about the rise of antisemitism especially after the horrific hamas Terrorist Attack in israel. That is why the president mobilized his Homeland Security team to address any potential threats that could harm jewish communities as well as muslim,. Arab, american, and Palestinian American communities. And, according to a new Intelligence Assessment put out by the department of Homeland Security, hate crimes rooted in both antisemitism and in islamophobia will surge in the u. S. As the war between israel and hamas intensifies. Now, former President Obama is also weighing in today releasing a statement that underscored his support for israel and its right to defend its citizens from violent attacks, but he also issued a warning reading, in part, that even as we support israel we should also be clear that how israel prosecutes this fight against hamas matters. In particular, it matters as President Biden has repeatedly emphasized, that Israel Military strategy abide by International Law, including those laws that seek to avoid, every possible extent, the death or suffering of civilian populations. With me now is j michaelson, is a columnist for Rolling Stone and also with us here is natasha elvers, shes a cnn political analyst. Natasha, this is really interesting from President Obama. He didnt have to do this, this is very likely post, but he seemed to be offering some guidance to his own party at a time when, clearly, democrats are a little ribbon here between the left that wants to voice more support for the Palestinian People and others who want, pretty unequivocal support for israel. I think what you see is a president walking a tight rope, understanding that this horrible attack by hamas has taken innocent lives and, at the same time, the American People have all been watching innocent children slaughtered. And they are seeing it on their phones and in realtime in a way that, maybe in the past, they didnt have that. Off to the media is an intermediary where politicians create a narrative and they share that, but the American People are seeing this directly and without filter. For that reason we have to speak to the lives lost because there are so many people who they may not know the intricate history of israel and palestine, it may not be able to pointed out on the map, but they feel that the cost is too high when they look at the people who are dying. And so politicians have to, they cannot ignore, that reality of being able to speak to the value of all lives in this situation. So, he did that in this statement calling out the need to abide by International Law, but also saying that we should not repeat the mistakes that the u. S. Has made in the past when it came to 9 11. I thought that was really remarkable because it is highlighting that this is something that we have seen before and we talked about islamophobia, antisemitism, weve seen this play out in america because we know that this is something that we have struggled with. Hate, acceptance, the sense of all people belonging and being american. So that is why its important. So, jay, i want you to just weigh in on that. But i want profit by saying that you have a pretty unique view of this as someone you are actually a rabbi. You are so close to the jewish community. As someone who has put, in america and around the world are not okay today, but what is it like to be, sort of, on the left as a jewish person right now . Thats my article, youre jewish friends are not okay. My newsletter. We are very much not okay. This whole episode is triggering not only deep trauma, this is the largest number of massacred since the holocaust, but also a real sense, as you said, of alienation. Those of us who are on the sort of liberal side of the political spectrum witnessed some deafening silence on october 7th and eighth, justifications of terrorism, where nothing, not even the justice of the palestinian cause, which i do believe in, could justify what happened. And i think the two statements that we just looked at a sort of illustrate that. It is exactly a minefield. Everyone is extremely sensitive. Do you think he navigated it . I actually like the obama statement, i noticed it with to the left of President Bidens statement and i thought it was intentional. Why is President Obama putting out a statement at all . Because there are perspectives that cant really go into an official white house statement, but which are important. And i think he did do that. I also write an article on the International Law of this issue, im a law attorney as well, and you know theres a lot of news talk happening right now. The Virginia Side is getting thrown around really carelessly. There is actually a definite mission of that term that is not being looked at as closely and i think informs the discussion. So here i felt like it was actually kind of didnt tempt to tone it down a little bit, not that this is not important, not that we shouldnt have our feelings and political and moral commitments, but that this is not a time to jump on not on those who jumped on the white house statement. It wasnt a great statement, it wa from the precipice here, just in our rhetoric, that might actually serve values more. One of the other things that happened recently, dave chappelle, the comedian, he reportedly had a walk out late last week at one of his shows after he gave his own take on this war. It was in a show in boston. We have also seen tech ceos is stepping down, we have seen students facing consequences, big Dollar Donors pulling out of universities that they want to support it. There is a big debate happening about where this line is in our society between speech and other things that need to be marginalized that would not acceptable. How is this going in your view . I mean, i dont think its going great. We are already in the space where we are flooded with misinformation, there are people who are intentionally using propaganda to divide us, to make sure that we dont even have democracy. So, imagine this on an international level. I said this earlier, but there are so Many Americans who could not even pointing to you where israel is on a map and that is just speaking to the way that we think about our place in the world. We often dont look at the world and care about others, but now that you have people carrying, again, people watching their phones, this is a moment for education and it speaks to the power of the media to do the right thing. I feel like thats the understatement of the year, that things arent going well. This is been a total breakdown in civil discourse. In this country. It scrambled our usual alliances. So, you normally you agree with conservatives who dont like cancel culture, those same conservatives or calling for the Cancellation Firing of pro palestinian activists who didnt sign a letter. I didnt love that letter, to put it mildly, but were expressing their free speech. Meanwhile, on the left, where a lot of people care about safe spaces, are being harassed in public spaces in high schools, colleges, universities, everywhere, on the street there is graffiti in the subway. There is Street Violence everywhere. A few months ago, before this a Molotov Cocktail was thrown at a temple two miles from my home. Now my kids School District is getting notes that there are not only extra cops everywhere, but jewish schools are being closed. So this is a moment of extreme, i would just say panic and trauma that we are going through as a society and its more than just not okay because this there are many who are exploiting this moment to make political points or it to grandstand or Something Like that, and that to me is really deplorable. My fear is for the most innocent among us, and those are the children. I cannot get to the image of what the six years old out of my mind. That is what we face right now if we do not tell the truth of whats happening. Look, i think this is probably a moment where a lot of people who are doing a lot of talking should be doing quite a lot more listening, including listening to jewish people who are in a lot of pain right now. And Palestinian People who are in a lot of pain right now, creating some space for that as well. Jay michaelson, natasha alford, great conversation, thank you. Up next, Breaking News from capitol hill. Republicans just got out of their Audition Forum for the next speaker. Well speak with one of the lawmakers who is inside that room. Standby. For that. Pers time to win is running out in our prize packed kick off the savings Monopoly Game hurry in to play for your chance at over 25 million in prizes and money saving offers like this, and this, or even this. Plus, you still have a shot at up to 100,000 in guaranteed prize money. Stop in while you can still win and shop your Favorite Brands sporting the kick off the Savings Monopoly Tag for unlimited bonus game tickets at lucky moments ago, House Republicans essentially Holding Auditions for eight, eight speak candidates. That is 20 days after Kevin Mccarthy was ousted and three days after jim jordan was rejected. We will hear from a lawmaker who is inside the meeting in a moment, but first it is worth remembering that there is a republican primary for president still happening right now and the front runner of that race had some pretty wild and notable moments today on the Campaign Trail in new hampshire. First, donald trump on his own legal jeopardy. This is all all of these indictments that you see, i was never indicted. Practically never heard the word it, wasnt aware that registered. Trump obviously has been indicted four times now and he seemed to remember the fact just an hour later in his speech. I had a rough day at the office today, darling, i love you very much. I got indicted. And next week i will be indicted again and the following week again and then again and again. And one of those cases he offered up a new defense today. I did nothing wrong, at all. In fact, my box it was secure, everything was good. Just a reminder that many of these boxes, as you can see here, classified documents, they were in the public, others were found in a bathroom like this one and, more importantly, that is also not the point of the charges. He also, by the way, commented on yet another case. This time it is the civil one involving his company by, again, attacking the judge, despite already being under a limited gag order. And this radical left, hes a trump aging judge, he hates trump. He refuses to accept Appeals Court decision. So the case should be dropped immediately. Now, an Appeals Court judge did not exonerate him. Instead, the judge ruled that the dissolution of his companies should be paused while that trial proceeds. But then, trump went on to compare himself to, of all people, now Nelson Mandela. We dont get me scared, i will tell you what, i dont mind being Nelson Mandela because im doing it for a reason. Just a reminder, mandela spent 27 years behind bars for taking a stand against south africas apartheid system. Trump also praised some of the worlds strongman and then he mixed up his countries while doing it. You know, i was very honored. Viktor orban, did anyone ever hear of him . Hes probably one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world. Hes a leader of turkey. Viktor orban is the leader of hungary and erdogan is the leader of turkey. Trump also, today, fantasized about a physical fight with his successor. He was recalling when biden said he wouldve taken him out behind the gym at a high school. [applause] id hit him right in that fake nose. That fake news. That plastic lying all over the floor. Given his potential rematch with President Biden it is interesting that he once again downplayed the very idea of voting. Youve got to get out there and watch those voters. You dont have to vote, dont worry about voting, weve got plenty of votes. Youve got watchful action night. Whether that was said seriously or ingest, just keep in mind that many republicans blamed comments just like those for their losses in 2020 and in the midterms in 2022. And trump also, in another comment, made a roof on a New Discovery that he made. I am for us. Im for us. You know how you spell us, right . You spell us, you s. I just pick that up. Has anyone ever thought of that before . A couple of days i was reading and it set us and i said, if you think about it, us equals u. S. Now if we Say Something genius theyll never say it. Genius or profound, whatever you want to call it, by the way he also vowed to build an Iron Dome Type System for the u. S. And suggested that the u. S. Has a single religion. I will implement strong ideological screening of all immigrants. If you hate america, want to abolish israel, if you dont like our religion, which a lot of them dou dont sympathize with sympathize with jihadists, then we dont want you in our country. And, finally, and that has been a lot already, but finally on the speakers race and trump said that he is not endorsing this time after his last pick, jim jordan, failed to advance as speaker and he used a historical figure to illustrate just how deep of a mess at the gop is in. I said theres only one person that can do it all the way, you know that is . Jesus christ. Jesus came down and said i want to be speaker, he would do it. I want to now turn to someone who was in that closed door meeting we talked to about earlier. That meeting just happened, hes also one of the eight republicans behind this nearly threeweek speaker fight voting to oust former speaker Kevin Mccarthy earlier this month. Joining me now is tennessee congressman tim bertrand. Congressman, i dont know if jesus christ was in this meeting, whether he will get the votes to be speaker, but take us in there. What happened, what was the reaction all of this slate of those candidates who basically had their auditions tonight . Thank you, miss phillips, and a pleasure. Philip, excuse me, i know its not plural. Thank you for having me on. The only place i know jesus that was in that room was in my heart. As the Southern Baptist i can say that, but thank you so much for avonlea on, maam, and i dont say that lightly, either. I really believe that, actually, and the bible says that you do 94 men, i suppose you want to do that on cnn. But we had a very good meeting. We had nine men stand up there and all for themselves, i guess on the sacrificial altar of being speaker, and eight emerged and they decide not to run and he called for unity and received a standing ovation. I thought he handled himself very well. And we have a very deep bench and, i think we are in very good shape. I think we will have something will emerge from that this week and hopefully well get back to business. So matt gaetz has said there might be a new speaker might morrow night. Do you think thats the case . I think thats very possible. I dont speak for matt, he doesnt speak for me, but he knows as well as i do that of the eight gentlemen that are in there, each of them could handle it and i think each of them could do the job very well. And they are concerned about our fiscal situation, they understand that were three or t three trillion dollars in debt, and were taking in five trillion and so bending seven trillion. We spent a trillion dollars a year if you can imagine that, just on interest loan, and a lot of that goes to our enemies. The communist chinese. Thats okay, congressman, i dont mean to interrupt you. I want to clarify, though, you have said recently that you think whoever is going to need to get to the floor, they have to get about 217 votes and they have to come out of the conference with that. Do you think that there was one candidate who came out of this process most likely to get to 17 and if so who is it . I think there is, but as i stated, as you stated, on one of the eighth that cold for the previous Speakers Ouster so i think that my best strategy would be to endorse the person who dont like the most and have them fall on their sword, so to speak. So im going to keep that between me and them and my voting will be done tomorrow, but i dont think that will help the cause very much. This has been going on now for three weeks. If there is not a speaker, dont you think enough is enough here . How chaotic has this been for your party . I think it would just be a blip, actually. If you ask a kid what happened on september 11th, and they probably would not be able to tell you. A lot of your colleagues are saying that they are hearing quite the opposite when they go home. They are hearing that voters think that this is nonsense. Sure, like i said, in two weeks there will be Something Else. There will be another wreck on the interstate, not that i want to wreck to happen on the interstate, but Something Else will happen. Of course, the war in israel against hamas, thatll be the headline. And im sure ukraine and our borders are just overflowing with Hundreds Of Thousands of Illegal Immigrants coming over. Monthly. And i think that is going to be an issue. I think the issue of the number of people on our Terrorist Watchlist will come over our southern border, for goodness sakes, is an issue. Used to hear a lot of talk about fentanyl but now nobody stephen talking about it now. You said something about 9 11 earlier. You are not comparing the situation to 9 11 . No, no maam. You described it as a blip, but i wouldnt even describe 9 11 as a blip. I am just saying historically, if you ask kids what happened on December 7th 1941 and i would dare say that many people would not be able to answer that. My point of this, if we do a poor job of remembering history, this will be one of those things that i dont think anyone will ever i would never play down 9 11. I lost a couple of friends, i would never play that down. I think the other part of this, congressman, is that this is not just about history its about the next 3 to 4 weeks in which congress has to do some things, including on the war on the Government Funding and none of that has happened or been able to happen in the past three weeks because of all of this chaos. Well i would submit to you the war just started and the bill has not come over from the senate, yet, from the president. We know that that hundred billion dollars package is going to have some problems. Only ten billion of it is actually, about 12 billion of it is actually israel. And the rest is for ukraine. And hiring more bureaucrats to process folks coming in over our borders. Either way there is still no speaker. Theres no way to handle it. But the bill is not up, the bill has not even come up and weve been off, protecting ugly weve been supposed to be off even last week, so we were here trying to elect a speaker, but i would say that, i would also submit to you, to, the president has already put the Gerald R Ford carrier group, the largest in the world, is already in the mediterranean. 600 ships are there. The iron dome is currently funded, i believe, we spend basically about 3. 6 billion dollars to israel every year. They are, according to the briefings ive got, they are well armed and the ready to go of business as long as the United States stays out of their way. We will see what happens tomorrow. If there is no speaker we will have you back on to explain yourself. Congressman tim burchett, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you miss philip, its been a precious pleasure. Whats the best path forward now for Getting Congress out of this mess. Kaitlan collins joins me next. We just heard from a republican who is inside of that closed door meeting about who the next Speaker Of The House to might be. For more want to bring in mckay coppins, staff writer for the atlantic. Hes the author of the new bombshell book romney, a reckoning. It is hitting bookshelves tomorrow. Mitt romney getting out of dodge just in time to not have to deal with all of this stuff. I mean, this is, honestly, the fulfillment of the things that it seems like hes been warning about for a really long time. What is he looking at this thinking right now, as somebody who is probably spent way too much time in his diaries and parts of his brain . Ive talked him about whats going on in the house. You know, when he first arrived at the senate a few years ago somebody told him early on that here in the senate, 20 senators do all the work and 80 of the rest are just here for the ride. They want to make noise, they want to get on tv, thats it. I think the proportions are even worse in the house. The dysfunction is one saying, but it is rooted in a cynicism, right . I think we heard some of that in that interview that you just had where there is this idea that the consequences of this, they are not going to be remembered. Nobody can remember this in a few weeks and i think that belief that it doesnt really matter, what we are doing daytoday, has been internalized by a lot of people in congress. All of these revolts have kind of lead up to this build up to this. Like the tea party won that im sorry, that got john boehner kicked out. And paul ryan basically pushed out. The institutionalists still won at the end of the day. This time it seems like, you know, the bubbles are running the place and its not actually functioning very well. I think youre right. I think part of the reason that mitt romney, for all of his he talked a lot about mitch mcconnell, who when we are writing this book, he is a lot of problems with mcconnell, but he still sees mcconnell who is trying to keep the train on the tracks. But mcconnell is losing his grip on his caucus and the senate and i think in the house there is no mcconnell, right . There is no republican statesman who knows how to manage the egos, who knows how to give various members what they need to keep things going. We just saw mccarthy get ousted, we now we are seeing a succession of people who dont know how to run the government, and that used to be the main qualification for somebody to be Speaker Of The House. Now that is not what people are looking for. They are looking for who can cultivate enough allies to just get through the next few days. One of the other things in the book, romney told you that a very large portion of my party does not believe in the constitution. I think about that because the last round of the speaker vote, it was jim jordan, an election denier, there are now eight candidates out there. A couple of them election deniers. To your point, one of them, at least one, byron donalds, was literally just elected and even recently would not say that joe biden was the duly and fairly elected to president. Is this what romney is talking about here . No question. The reason that he agreed to turn over all of his emails, turn over all these journals, tell all these stories from behind the scenes, is because he is worried about the fragile state of our democracy. He believes that what we are seeing in the house, what weve seen the senate in the last few years, january six, all of these are just data points in the Fragility Of American Democracy and he thinks that, it looked at this book, and i look at this book as a warning for americans. That all the theatrical, and this isnt just performance art, its not just drama, this is a symptom of a deeply dysfunctional government and a sikh democracy and we, as americans, need to take that more seriously. Its hard even see how it gets healed if the analogy is a sick patient. I dont know where the cure is coming from, it doesnt seem to be, the patient doesnt seem to be all that interested in being cured. Mckay coppins, thank you so much for this. And the book is called romney, a reckoning, and i want to thank you, also, for watching us tonight on news night. Laura co i