Standing by for a vote on House Speaker after all the chaos. New developments over just the last few hours indicate that this vote really, finally, genuinely might be the one. We have brandnew reporting just in. And the new u. S. Warning for israel to avoid a fullscale Ground Invasion in gaza, to avoid mistakes as the past u. S. Battles and there are new air strikes in gaza this morning. Donald trumps former Chief Of Staff mark meadows granted immunity and new details on what he reportedly said. Im john berman with kate bolduan, sara sidner is in israel. This is cnn news central. A speaker of the house, it might be imminent. This could be happening for real this time, maybe. Possibly. We are standing by for a full House Floor Vote on the Louisiana Republican mike johnson after the Republican House conference said he was their man overnight. Now, if youre following this at home, this last three weeks, they booted Kevin Mccarthy from the speakers chair. They then picked steve scalise, but he dropped out before a house vote and then it was jim jordans turn and they voted on him. He lost several House Floor Votes. Yesterday they selected tom emmer. He lasted four hours before dropping out before a House Floor Vote and then they settled on mike johnson late last night. Now, emmer gone, too. Mike johnson, as far as he is concerned, they held a ballot to see how republicans would vote today On The House Floor. Three republicans voted precedent which is to say they withheld their support for johnson. 22 were absent during that vote. If any four if any of these 25 vote against johnson that would be enough to spike his efforts, but we are getting new reporting on where some of these 25 are now headed. Lets get right to cnns chief Congressional CorrespondentManu Raju On Capitol Hill for the very latest. Manu, what are you hearing . Yeah. After weeks of infighting and complete gop disarray that has left the chamber completely paralyzed, unable to act on the nations business, there are clear signs this morning that finally, republicans can put this ugly episode behind them. There is momentum behind Mike Johnsons bid to become speaker of the house and none of those members that you indicated there have indicated theyll vote no On The House Floor which is good news for johnson who has been working behind the scenes overnight and into this morning to ensure that he does not have more than four republican defections On The House Floor and the expectation at the moment is that he will not. Now in talking to a number of the republicans over the last day. Some of the more moderate members from swing districts, they say theyre simply ready to move on. That is something congressman mike lawler told me last night and some of the Hard Line Members are falling behind, given johnsons conservative politics indicating that this time theyll get the votes. You know, obviously, i did not support the removal of Kevin Mccarthy. I think it was arguably the stupidest move ever made in politics, but we have to move forward, and so we are going to rally around mike johnson and elect him speaker tomorrow and get back to work. Its a different situation now. There was a trust factor with leadership last time. You guys are going to give him leeway for that . Was It Worth Throwing Out Mccarthy for johnson . Thats not the question at this point. The question is mike johnson the right guy at the right time, and i think he is. So mike johnson is relatively inexperienced in his fourth term in the house. Former conservative talk show host, former State Legislator and someone who sits on the House Judiciary Committee and someone who aligns himself with the far right members of his conference in terms of his ideology, Social Conservative Politics and also led the effort in the house and tried to overturn the 2020 election. Something some of his critics will point out, as well and nevertheless, still expected to get the votes On The House Floor today and huge issues ahead, john, dealing with the government funding and dealing with aid to israel and aid to ukraine and the years of republican infighting have sidetracked their efforts to deal with key issues and something johnson will have to confront immediately if he gets the vote today. It doesnt get easier for him and never been in leadership and never been in a Committee Chair and could be the least experienced speaker of all time. Well see what that means. Manu raju, keep us posted on what you hear. Thank you very much. Kate . Joining us now is democratic congressman from new york, the top democrat on the House Foreign Affairs committee. Now you have mike johnson, what are democrats going to do about this vote at noon . A no vote or a vote to get this thing over the line once and for all. Hakeem jeffries, the next person to be the next speaker of the United States house of representatives and thats hakeem jeffries. You will see no difference from democrats on the vote at 12 00. You will see 212 members of the Democratic Party voting for our leader hakeem jeffries. One thing that this Paralysis Impacts is do anything to offer further support to israel among so many other things, and i want to ask you a few things about the conflict that were watching play out in israel and gaza right now. Turkeys president , congressman, just today said in a speech the following. Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a group for liberation and a mujahadin fighting to protect their land and citizens, this from a u. S. Ally. What do you say to that . I say that hes absolutely wrong, and to say and make that statement is horrendous. Hamas is a Terrorist Ocean who was created for one purpose, not for trying to help the Palestinian People. What they are there for is to wipe out the state of israel. They do not believe that israel has the right to exist and that therefore they are not asking for peace, not asking to try to figure out a solution. Theyre saying that israel should not be, and then if you look at the actions that hamas took, the chopping off of heads of babies and raping of women and taking of hostages and killing people, just innocent Women And Children in the streets, thats not the act of a group that is that is trying to liberate or anything of that nature. Thats the actions of a terrorist organization and a terrorist group. And then theres also this from the u. N. Secretarygeneral just yesterday. Let me play this for you. It is important to also recognize the effects of hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian People have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. Now, the secretarygeneral did go on to say the grievances of the Palestinian People cannot justify the appalling attacks by hamas, but the secretarygeneral had to come out just a few moments ago and im just reading it now, congressman, to as he says, set the record straight because he says hes shocked that his statement at the Security Council is as if is being seen as if it was justifying Acts Of Terror by hamas calling that interpretation false, but those words from the secretarygeneral at the Security Council has led to israeli leaders calling now on guterres to resign. What do you what do you make of this . Do you think he should resign . Look, i think when you talk about this and you look at it from a Historical Context and you look at what took place 75 years ago, when it was a decision that should be a state of israel, and in trying to figure out how you can have, and i think the ultimate idea, and i know of what i am a strong supporter of is a twostate solution. However, when you look at at that time, the arabs and others in the area, they all believe that israel did not have the right to exist and many of the wars of the past. For example, before it was with egypt and it was about israel not existing and i think that what has to take place here as what happened with egypt and as what happened with jordan there came a point that israel has the right to exist and well figure this out and thats the reason why hamas is the bad group because they are not talking to say, okay, israel has the right to exist, and thats why the im a supporter of the Abraham Accords where you start to see other arab nations for the first time saying israel has the right to exist and by saying that venue is opening a door for real peace and not saying that israel should be destroyed and israel should be wiped off the map and those individuals who do not want peace. They want war. So i would hope that we would be able to move with some of the arab states to come on in and a dialogue continue with reference to the Abraham Accords because thats the way that we can get to a twostate solution and have some peace in the middle east. At the same time, as the secretarygeneral was and we heard tony blinken from the Security Council, you can also say that all civilian life is precious and of equal value and the humanitarian crisis that were seeing in gaza is dire and deserves attention, and thats why i was wondering youve gotten a lot of briefings and you came out of a classified briefing, what are you hearing about the efforts and likelihood of getting the Hundreds Of American Citizens who are currently stuck in gaza out . Yeah. No. Look, im with President Biden who is working 24 7 to do just that. Hes been in Constant Contact with the Prime Minister netanyahu and the israelis. He is focused on the humanitarian aid and getting in there. Hes working and talking to the egyptians about making sure that the rafah gate is open so that we can make sure that aid is getting in there. You can hear him talking in regards to delaying some of the ground attacks so that more innocent people are not killed. So i think theres no it hurts my heart to see any child whether and each life is very important whether 2 be israeli and palestinian and that is devastating. We want to mack sure those individuals because all palestinians and most palestinians, overwhelmingly, are not hamas, and so my beef is with hamas not the Palestinian People and we need to find ways to make sure that the humanitarian aid can get to those innocent men, Women And Children. And to be able to get american citizens out if they want to. And get them out. Thats correct. Congressman, thank you very much for your time. John . We are getting new pictures just in. The australian Prime Minister arriving at the white house. You can see President Biden and the first lady right there. Important security meetings, not just about the pacific and about china, but obviously about what is going on in the middle east, as well. U. S. Military officials are warning israel, dont repeat the mistakes the u. S. Made in iraq. Why they say israel should avoid a fullscale Ground Invasion in gaza. As Fuel Supplies dwindle, people in gaza reportedly resorting to donkeys to transport bodies to those killed by israeli air strikes and Donald Trumps exChief Of Staff has cut an Immunity Deal with prosecutors. Thats according to a new report. What he is telling them about conversations that he had with the former president. Of course, its the white house right now. You can see President Biden right there with the Prime Minister of australia anthonial ban ease. They will meet today and a range of issues to discuss including Global Security and a military partnership visavis china and no doubt the situation in the middle east. We will hear from President Biden on all of this. In the meantime, we did see pictures just in over israeli air strike, brand new air strikes and israeli troops have been deployed all around, all around gaza for days and days and days now, but but the Ground Invasion seems to be on pause at least for now. Lets get the very latest on the situation, why the wait. Cnns diplomatic editor outside of gaza, nic robertson. Explain this delay. The delay seems to be because there is a pause for diplomacy, possibly around the release of hostages, up to 50 foreign nationals being held by hamas and also around a big and growing International Push for a humanitarian pause or ceasefire, also because hamas is insisting it wants fuel for gaza and gaza says it has fuel in gaza. The hospitals are running out of fuel, dangerouslily and u. N. Operations could stutter to a halt. At the moment, the diplomacy is front and center, but i can tell you where we stand now we were very close to gaza when the big air strike happened. We heard multiple rounds of artillery going in and saw a huge plume of smoke rise up and you may have heard bangs behind me and there was an artillery not far from where we are that is putting shells into gaza at the moment. So although the incursion is on hold, the military activities around gaza and the pressure thats being put by the idf on hamas, thats continuing at the moment. No doubt and again we can see that plume of smoke rising up over gaza there. Independent counsel robertson in sderot, just outside of gaza. Thank you very much for that. Kate . The humanitarian crisis worsening in gaza. The main u. N. Agency working in gaza says it will be forced to stop Relief Efforts by the end of the day, potentially because of the Fuel Shortage that nic was just talking about which has become a big part of this crisis. Heres abdelaziz with more. Aid is slowly trickling into gaza, but in u. N. Camps families desperate for food and water say theyre getting bars of soap. This socalled aid provides nothing. We are dying a slow death this man says. You dont hear the people screams at night when they fight over a piece of bread. Theres not even water to drink. So far the total amount of aid delivered is less than 1 of what the enclave would receive on a daily basis prior to this conflict. And a crucial lifeline is missing fuel. Without it, enra, the main u. N. Agency on the ground says it will be forced to Halt Operations by wednesday night. The International Community is begging for help. We are appealing, we are pleading, we are on our knees asking for that sustained, scaled up, protected humanitarian operation. Israels reply, ask hamas for fuel. Translator fuel will not enter the gaza strip. Hamas use the petrol for military infrastructure. Fuel hamas stole from anra should be given back to hospitalses. Anra previously declined the claims of fuel looting. As israel intensifies its bombardment of gaza with more than 200 hostages still being held by ham a the Fuel Shortage is already costing lives, doctors warned. At least six hospitals have shut down due to a lack of fuel and hundreds of patients from premature babies to the many wounded in icu are at risk. If the hospital is not provided with the necessary fuel we are issuing a death sentence, this doctor says. The execution is in the hands of the free world. Everyone is guilty. Water pumps will soon stop working, too, making it even more difficult to get clean drinking water. Bakeries are closing, Aid Deliveries are more difficult, and more than 2 million people, half of them children, already under bombardment and under siege could face starvation. The clock is ticking. Now there are intense, diplomatic efforts under way to try to get that fuel in before that deadline of wednesday night, but there seems no indication, no sign that thats going to take place, anra, the u. N. Agency says it is making declarations for what its going to cut, what help critical aid will no longer supply to the 600,000 people sheltering in its camps. Salma, thank you so much. John . Joining me now is general wesley clark, former allied supreme commander, great to see you. If we can i want to talk about things that happened outside of israel over the last 24 hours. We know that there was a meeting in beirut between hassa nasrallah, the Shia Militia Group that operates outside of lebanon and political leaders from Islamic Jihad and hamas. They took a picture of this meeting. Meanwhile, we got word that there was an air strike, an israeli air strike on a Syrian Military location over the border inside syria. Talk to me about the significance of all of this, particularly when we talk about the fears of a widening conflict. So this has always looked look a threephased operation from the hamas perspective. That is provoke israel, get israel to come in and then use hezbollah and Palestinian Militants to squeeze israel and hamas wants the decisive battle. Whether this will be that or whether this is more psychological operation, but we do see problems with lebanon on the north. We see the israeli strikes here and striking at the airfield. We know there have been attacks on u. S. Forces in syria and iraq. We know there are weapons coming into the west bank, we know theres fighting in the west bank so israel is facing a multifront problem here. The things that have been going on at the border there, this is the border between israel and lebanon. Hezbollah has a lot of power particularly in southern lebanon. How much power . What is the threat of hezbollah on israel . They really built up their Rocket Supply and theyve got much more sophisticated rockets than hamas has. Maybe 100,000 rockets and maybe 150,000. We dont know what the unclassified level exactly what they had, but we do know that the rockets have precision guidance. They could strike key infrastructure all through israel. They can take out the airport and they can take out Power Facilities and really wreck israel just by launching the rockets. Israel went in on the ground in 2006, and it didnt go well. So israel has really good intelligence on a lot of this. They have precision strikes by air. We have the two u. S. Carriers. They might get involved with u. S. Aircraft if this gets ugly . General, lets stand by for one minute and lets go to the white house where President Biden is speaking. Welcome. Good morning or good day. It is an honor to welcome you all to the white house as we celebrate the alliance between australia and the United States. An alliance thats marked by imagination, ingenuity and innovation. Nearly 55 years ago american astronauts took humanitys first step on the moon. They sent a message forever etched in history, quote, thats One Small Step for man, One Giant Step for mankind, but the only reason anyone down on earth saw this feat ore heard those immortal words was thanks to a team of australian engineers. As dawn broke at nasa station just outside of camera, they aimeded a telescope toward the heavens and captured a lone voice among all of the stars and shared it with millions of people watching breathlessly all around the world. Ladies and gentlemen, mr. Prime minister, today australia and the United States continue to stand together, continue to innovate, to push back the bounds that have been in our way and make a giant step toward what could be to race undaunted toward a future we know is possible if if we Work Together because time and time again weve seen what America And Australia can do when we stand as one. We saw it during world war i when our troops helped turn the tide of war on the western front. We saw it during world war ii when we fought the forces of fascism side by side in the pacific cementing a makeshift between our people, and we saw it again during the war against terror when australia invoked the treaty for the first time to stand with the United States after an attack on 9 11, and we will never forget those brave australians and americans who generation after generation, gave their lives to give us a better world. Well never forget our obligation to them to keep upholding the Democratic Values for which they gave their lives, to keep forging a Better Future for generations to come. Together, australia and america are meeting that obligation. As two proud pacific nations for ensuring indopacific remains free, open, prosperous and secure including through our Historic Partnership with the united kingdom, we are building stronger economies. Economies where no one fears coercion and everyone, as you say down under, gets a fair go. Together, we are standing with israel against hamas terrorism. We are standing with ukraine against putins tyranny and we are providing and proving that democracy can deliver on the challenges that matter most to peoples lives from Climate Change to cancer, and today we are fueling the spark of innovation that has long burned in the hearts of aussies and americans. Innovation that will help uplift people in the indopacific and all around the world. Innovation that took us to the moon will take us further in the years ahead. Mr. Prime minister, the alliance between australia and the United States has never been more important than it is today and we have never been more committed than we are today. Australia and america stand ready, ready to do the hard work, the historic work to tackle the challenges we face. Ready to take a giant leap together toward a brighter future, one of greater opportunity, dignity, security and liberty. For americans, for australians, for all, may god bless our alliance and may god protect our troops and now its my great honor to introduce Prime Minister albanese. I am honored to invite you to say a few words. Thank you. [ applause ] President Biden greeting the australian Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese talking about the strong bonds between the two nations and noting that the u. S. And australia stand together in supporting israel in the middle east and stand together in supporting ukraine in its war with russia and talking about the two nations and noting there will be a state dinner. You see the statement made just in the presentation on the lawn of the white house and the state dinner this evening. We are keeping an eye on this one. Coming up, donald trump and his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen facetoface in a new york courtroom again today. Cohen back on the stand testifying about his former boss in a Civil Fraud Trial that could threaten the fate of trumps business empire. To duckduckgo on all your Devie Duckduckgo comes with a builtn engine like google, but its pi and doesnt spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. And theres no catch. Its fre. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. So two former employees of donald trump are now going under oath testifying against their old boss. Right now in new york trumps former attorney Michael Cohen is back on the stand testifying against trump in the 250 million Civil Fraud Trial that could take down trumps business empire. Cohen testified started his testimony yesterday and talked about how he helped manipulate trumps net worth, talking about reverse engineering. Also theres this, in d. C. , Donald Trumps former Chief Of Staff, mark meadows has now been granted immunity to testify in the 2020 election subversion case. According to abc news, meadows has spoken with a special counsel jack smith in his team at least three times this year reportedly telling investigators that he did not believe the election was stolen and said so. Cnns Kristen Holmes following the story for us and joins us now. Kristen, what more are you learning about meadows, what he has said and what he could do here . Yeah, kate. Ill start with Breaking News because we actually just heard from donald trump addressing this directly outside of court when he was on his way to the courtroom and he said he doesnt believe these reports that meadows was offered an Immunity Deal and took an Immunity Deal and hes spoken to mark meadows many, many times over the last years and he, Immemeadows Stron believed the election was rigged. In this report it says meadows sat down with federal prosecutors on multiple occasions and in those conversations, meadows denied that he, himself believed the election was stolen and he said that trump was being, quote, dishonest when after the election and after those polls closed in 2020 he went and said they won the election, claiming victory early on. The other thing, according to this report, that federal prosecutors focused on were conversations between meadows and trump after he lost the election as well as trumps reactions on the day of the january 6th riot. Do i think we cannot stress enough how important meadows is as a witness. We do not know any kind of details of what this Immunity Deal could be, but just given his proximity to the former president , he was not only his Chief Of Staff. He was one of his closest confidants and he was essentially in the final days of the white house a gatekeeper for donald trump. Keep in mind, people donald trump does not usually use his phone. He didnt in the whis. He wasnt getting calls on his phone or texting on his own phone and he was going through mark meadows and thats one aspect and we heard from the january 6th meeting that meadows was at the center of denialism. He could not be a more critical witness, if this is true, and if these reports are true and this Immunity Deal is true and i talked to a number of trump allies who are concerned. Thanks for the reporting. John. New reporting about what military advisers are telling israel this morning and how they want israel to learn from americas past battles and a huge social media lawsuit. States take on meta over addictive features that are affecting youth Mental Health. So this morning, cnn has learned that u. S. Military advisers are urging israel to essentially learn from americas past battles, advising a measured, strategic approach in its response to the hamas terror attack. Cnns Natasha Bertrand live at the pentagon with the very latest on this. What exactly are they advising, particularly when it comes to a possible Ground Invasion . Well, john, theyre advising israel to have a very Clear Strategy and one that doesnt get them bogged down in a longterm kind of occupation of the gaza strip. So what they have been telling thees r the israelis is to avoid The Street By street, house by house fighting like the u. S. Did against insurgents in iraq in 2004 in fallujah and focus Precision Air strikes and Special Operations Raids to try to target some of these senior hamas figures that israel s said it wants to eliminate in order to degrade the organization as a whole. The message has been tried to steer them away from a largescale, ground incursion that does not have very clear military objectives and towards something that is more precise and more well thought out in terms of not only the strategy to getting these hamas figures, but also an exit plan. That is one of the key messages that theyve sought to drive home from the israel sis learn from our mistakes and have a Governance Plan in place for gaza because hamas right now is in control of the entirety of gaza. So all of these things are being communicated by the israelis by a threestar general on the ground who led marines in fallujah in 2004 and someone very quick to advise them on the complexities of urban warfare. Someone who knows first hand what can go right and what can go wrong there. Natasha bertrand, thank you very much. Kate . Coming up, dozens of states taking on meta, the owner of facebook and instagram. The massive lawsuit claiming the social media giant and the platforms are literally harming people and contributing to the Mental Health crisis. One of the Attorneys General leading this lawsuit joins us. Just announced taking on meta of facebook and instagram. State Attorneys General have joined forces to essentially say you are hurting our young people. 33 state Attorneys General are now filing this lawsuit that alleges this, in part, and ill read it. It alleges, metas Design Choices and practices take advantage of and contribute to young users susceptibility to addiction. They exploit psychological vulnerabilities of young users through the false promise that meaningful social connection lies in the next story, image or video and that ignoring the next piece of social content could lead to social isolation and theyre not alone. In addition, eight other states are filing separate, but similar lawsuits in state court. One of the Attorneys General leading the federal lawsuit is the Attorney General of california rob bonta, and he joins us now. Thank you very much. First and foremost, why now are you all taking this step . As you know, there has been concern and it has been studied and displayed for years the impact Social Media Platforms could have on young kids Mental Health. You know, we want to bring a case when the facts are aligned and when the case is fully built out and where weve analyzed our theories of legal liability and over the last two years we had an investigation thats launched. We interviewed witnesses, weve received volumes and warehouses of documents and did our due diligence, so now that that is complete, weve had an opportunity to discuss the federal and state theories of liability and we are ready to file. Its important when we do it, we do it right and so our due dial jens is complete, and we have come to a very sober and somber conclusion that meta is hurting our children and nations children and that they are doing it knowingly and that theyre lying about it and as the father of three and the Attorney General of california, i cant stand by and let that happen, so we are taking action to hold them accountable. What does accountability look like here . Well, we have a number of causes of action. We have a federal cause of action as well as two state causes of act for california and accountability looks like change, Behavior Change and it looks like injunctive belief. In short it means stop harming our children knowingly today, its easy. When you drill down to what it looks like, it looks like reviewing and analyzing things like endless scroll and autoplay and the like button and the Plastic Surgery filter, and the alerts, beeps and vibrations that hit childrens phones in the middle of the night when theyre sleeping and in the middle of the day when they are learning. It looks like theyre looking at a different algorithm and there are a number of ways to achieve those results and it is known to meta how to do it. So this is not something thats rocket science. Its not something that is unknowable. Its known and all it requires is the will of meta to make the change and if they dont express that will through action we will force them to through court. Thats what i want to ask you because i want to read part of the statement from meta on this. We share the Attorney Generals commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online and have introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families. Going on to say that were disappointed that instead of Working Productively with companies to create clear and appropriate standards for the apps that the teens use, the Attorney General has chosen this path. Was there another path here . Could you get a quicker fix and a quicker solution for the countrys kids if you would work with the Companies Rather than take them to court . Look, if they say, shared the commitment to the health and safety of the nations children they know exactly what to do. Its one thing to say it. Its another thing to act on it. We need action, not words, and if you share that view act on it. Its really that simple. They have known for the last two years that they have been investigated by Attorneys General throughout the country and by the way, multiple states, 33 states, bipartisan states, states that dont agree on a lot, but agree on this. Red states, blue state, republican states and democratic states, they agree that meta is hurting our children. This is no surprise. Theyve had two years to act. I think those are empty words, really, to say that now, now that the lawsuit is coming. They knew it was coming. They two years to act to change their course of conduct. They can still change their course of conduct. It is not too late and a point beyond return. If they mean when they say, act on. . Well continue to follow this as this lawsuit starts making its way through. Attorney general, thank you for your time. John . Counting down to what could be the decisive vote on House Speaker. Republicans telling our reporters that this time will be different. We are getting Fresh Information just in