Military and government of hamas. Translator heroic fighters have one goal to destroy this enemy and to make sure the existence in our country. Never again, never again is now. As each hour goes by, more evidence that the conflict is escalating. This video was shot by a cnn producer in gaza. It captures rockets being fired into israel. And cnns sara sidner and her team captured this video of a Rocket Barrage over tel aviv earlier today. Israels iron dome Defense System intercepted these incoming rockets from gaza. Civilians in Northern Gaza say theyve endured the heaviest bombardment of the conflict last night. Israel says its warplanes struck 150 underground targets, the sophisticated hamas tunnels that run for miles and miles in gaza. Cnns Nic Robertson is joining us now from sderot in israel, not far from gaza. Youve been seeing and hearing these explosions in the skies going on. Whats the latest . Reporter still hearing fighter jets behind us, wolf. Still hearing artillery going into gaza. Some of the fighter jets flying low with their after burners on at times. So unusually were able to see them. We can see them on the bombing sorties, coming in, flying low, then pulling up and turning away. After theyve done that, weve seen big, yellow flashes of bright light on the horizon, illuminating the horizon. The whole sky seemingly lit up with these big flashes, and then following that, huge detonations, missile after missile after Missile Landing on gaza. Thats been in the past couple of hours. Before that, it was heavy, sustained rounds of tank fire being fired out from very closely here, from a few hundred feet away, fired into gaza. Again, this is something that we have not been experiencing over the past few weeks. The intensity this evening i would say Even Stronger than last night. Those rounds of artillery, outgoing, shaking this house. So what we are witnessing tonight i think is the further evidence of this bigger buildup, this shaping the ground for this next phase of the operation of a larger incursion. Troops already in gaza. But what were seeing from here this evening is the support effects, the tank fire, the artillery strikes, the missile strikes, taking out those hamas positions. As weve been able to see from the video coming out of gaza tonight and what we saw last night, as well, those huge impacts that we feel here absolutely shattering the silence and the, didness in darkness in the cities behind us, wolf. It is quite a ferocious night even compared to last night. This buildup, this really big buildup for the supporting the incursion is continuing, wolf. Certainly is. Nic robertson in sderot, israel, not far from gaza. Stay safe over there. Thank you very much. Joining us now, michael orren, former israeli ambassador to the United States. Ambassador, thank you so much for being joining us. It was good to always see you in washington. Nice to see you here in tel aviv, although i wish we were meeting under different circumstances. Indeed, thank you. Good to be with you, nevertheless. Lets talk about whats going on right now. The Israeli Defense minister today, you probably saw the news conference, said that the israeli assault on hamas in gaza thats ongoing right now, he says will help Hostage Negotiations. Do you agree . I do. I do. And i explained the logic of it because there was a theory that by starting the Ground Operations we were basically forfeiting the ability to negotiate for the hostages. I think its just the opposite. As long as hamas was sitting underground with the hostages and we werent on the ground attacking, hamas could determine the conditions, and the conditions were far more than israel could ever accept. It was not just releasing all the terrorists and israeli in israeli jails, people who killed hundreds, killed 1,000 israelis, so with a lot of blood on their hands. The hamas also wanted unlimited Fuel Supplies for its fighters, and it wanted a ceasefire. You understand a ceasefire for israel is death. It means hamas gets away with mass murder. It means we cant restore our security, cant restore our deterrence power, were finished. We couldnt accept that. As the Israeli Forces move into gaza slowly and encircle hamas, hamas is going to have to use those hostages as a get out of jail free card. They could pull what you you remember this, what Yasser Arafat did in 19828 1982, let us out and well give you the hostages. It increases the chance that theyll keep the hostages alive and in good shape because thats their last bargaining chip. Is it possible that israel might accept some sort of pause, not a ceasefire but a pause to allow more humanitarian aid to get in to help the civilians in gaza . Its possible. Its very difficult politically here. Im explain why. We dont want to say palestinians suffer, its important to move them out of the combat zone as much as possible because theyre in the combat zone. The amount of palestinian civil casualties will shoot very, very high up. On the other hand, many israelis, especially the families of these 222 israelis who are held hostages are saying why should we give food and fuel to the palestinians when they wont let us know who they have as hostages. They wont let the red cross in to see them. By opening those corridors were giving up the last leverage we have to find out about our loved ones. Very difficult calls for the israeli government. Im not representing the government now. You know, wolf, i would say in the long run its israels benefit because if we you dont have that type of humanitarian corridor, youre going to have increasing International Pressure on us for a ceasefire which would, as i said before, would be disastrous for us. Politically, its a heavy lift here. To go ahead and delay any fullscale Ground Invasion no, im talking about the humanitarian corridor. To stop that. You have to answer to the families. Im meeting with these families every day. They all say the families of the israeli hostages, more than 2 n00 in ga. They say whatever you do, dont agree to this humanitarian corridor. As much pressure as youre under by the United States, by the International Community its the last leverage we have to find out the status of our loved ones. Many dont know if if there werent some video clip taken of the hostages, they dont know that theyre there. They just know theyre missing. And only a minority were filmed. So most of the people im meeting with dont even know if their loved ones are there, in fact. As you know, if the Israeli Aerial and ground assault intensifies right now, as it clearly is, theres going to be a lot more civilian deaths in gaza. Is israel prepared for the International Outcry that almost certainly will develop . I think israels prepared, but were prepared for something close to death, israeli deaths. Understand were sending our kids into combat here with the the gentleman there will be a certain the knowledge that there will be a certain number who wont come home. Thats why israel is adopting an interesting military strategy, one we havent used before. Theyre calling it the american strategy. You target a certain neighborhood or a village, you bomb that village to clear it out the best you can, you move forces in there, and then you establish thatville animal as a bridge that village as a bridge head to the nextville an age, next neighborhood. In 2014 we moved the army, suffered a tremendous amount of casualties. Israel is going to try to do this as cautiously as possible and slowly, slowly close that corridor, slow the noose, if you will, around hamas. Also giving more Palestinian Civilians more time to flee to the south. As you heard the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, say today, a few times, this is israels second independence war. The first was in 1948 when israel was established. This say war for stalls existence israels existence. Keep saying that. People agree with him, agree with the prime minister, because if we dont win, if we dont upright hamas, dont defeat hamas, we cant live here. People will not be able to return to the south. The south is 62 of the country. Will people live in tel aviv even knowing that tomorrow hamas or hezbollah in the north could do the same thing to us without deterrence. And we live if a very, very tough neighborhood. And people dont fear us, theyll attack us. You and i are sitting in tel aviv now clearly within range of hamas missiles and rockets coming in from gaza. But certainly within ranging of hezbollah rockets and missiles coming from South Lebanon into israel. Are you afraid that this war could widen to not only include israel and hamas but others, hezbollah, others in the region . Including shiite militias in iraq and Houthi Rebels in yemen who fired missiles at us the other night. The uss carne took it down. Thanks to the u. S. Navy. Of course. And we have a tremendous amount of forces in the north prepared to deal with the hezbollah contingency. Theres a debate going on. Eye been part of the debate whether israel should have attacked hezbollah first. Hezbollah has 15 as many rockets, theyre bigger, more accurate, they have a Terrorist Force thats been Massacring Syrians for the past ten years. Very dangerous. The same people, they do the same thing to our people north, what hamas did to our people in the south. It is determined that israels going to deal with hamas first, and the way were dealing with Hopefully Stage By stage, not a massive onslaught, that american plan, may be that will lessen the pressure on hezbollah to intervene. That is the hope. Nothings guaranteed here. You were israels ambassador to the United States for a fewa. You understand washington. How much pressure is israel feeling from the Biden Administration right now to calm things down . I dont think its pressure, i think its more like advice. I know pressure. I know when to feel it. I think that the United States has made the the president of the United States, first of all, his speech when everyone was watching he and crying. There was nothing like it, the way he connected his personal pain with our pain, the unequivocal support for israels trite to defend itself. Hes still doing that and maybe paying a political price within his own party. Extraordinary. What he did which i never would have thought hed do went beyond what i would have expected is he moved huge naval forces into this area, two Carrier Strike forces. A massive naval armada, at a time when, as you know, in washington almost the only bipartisan issue is isolationism, is not getting involved in a war, not in the middle east. And people are shooting at the americans. People shooting not only to include hezbollah, iranianbacked but god forbid iran . Certainly who are who are firing at american bases in iraq and syria right now are iranianbacked militias. And theyre getting a green lights and also getting their ammunition was iran. The United States has fired back now at some of these positions. But i think when the administration and joe biden says to iran and to hezbollah dont, that one word, i think he means it. What do you think he means . I think he means dont try us. If they do, what is he going to do . I think the first stage, this is speculation, iran hezbollah has 150,000 rockets, i mentioned earlier. That would 150,000 rockets, potentially that could reach not just haifa in Northern Israel but all the way to really . A lot. Further south than tel aviv. The range is not the problem. The range is the accuracy. They have guided rockets. The stuff that you see firing at us, that you saw on the screen, called standup rockets. They go up and down come from hamas in gaza they go up and down and the iron dome meets them here. The iron dome intercepts the rockets. What if you have a rocket that goes like this, being guided by a joystick. Thats a whole different level of threat. Theres a system called davids sling which can take out a cruise missile. But it hasnt been tried that often in combat. And every interceptor costs about 1 million. So its a pricey system. And i think with 150,000 rockets would overwhelm pretty much any system we could put above us. We need the systems aboard the carrier groups. They have a number of very advanced antimissile systems. They have the thad, the egis, and the patriot. The United States would use the systems. The question is would then iran or these proiranian militias take a shot at the ships or escalate the fire at american bases in iraq and syria. That happens, i wouldnt i wouldnt i wouldnt push joe biden too far. Yeah, you keep mentioning those two u. S. Aircraft carrier battle groups that are not far from where were sitting now in eastern mediterranean. Right over there. What do you think their mission is . I think their mission is to deter. I think deter iran and hezbollah . And hezbollah. Understand that this is not just two carriers with a capacity of about 150 warplanes, its huge. The size of an air force. Its destroyers, frigates, probably submarines. Youre talking about some of the biggest naval forces on the planet have been moved here by the president of the United States. And were very appreciative of it. The big question, i get involved with israelis asking will joe biden pull the trigger. Will he pull the trigger. I believe deeply that he will if hes pushed into it. That takes guts giving american that bipartisan opposition to foreign entanglements. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. Always good to be here. Former israeli ambassador to the United States. Were going to have much more coming up from here in tel aviv. Were following all the Breaking News thats unfolding right now and Significant Developments unfolding. Much more of our special coveragege after thihis. A major shakeup in the 2024 republican president ial race. Former Vice President mike pence making a Surprise Announcement that hes suspending his campaign. Came here to say its become clear to me theis is not my tim. So after much prayer and deliberation, i have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today. Joining us now to discuss is cnn political commentator sc cupp and vanity fair correspondent molly jong fast. Thank you so much for being with us. Its very busy this saturday afternoon. Molly, let me start with you first. You know, is pence do thing the doing the right thing . Republicans have said the ones who dont want trump as a nominee that eventually theyll have to coalesce behind one challenger to trump. This means them in that direction, although i dont see, you know, these others heading through the doors just yet. Yeah, i mean, i dont think this is a very this is not a caucus where people are, you know, coalescing behind one person. I think whats interesting about this pence decision is that its really trumps party, right. I mean, thats what we see. Theres no place for someone who trump really i think theres probably no place for a nominee who isnt trump, but at the very least theres no place for someone who trump really has, you know, called for violence toward. And so i think this was kind of a campaign that always i wondered who it was for. But it is very worth noting that this is very unusual for a Vice President not to be able to get the nomination. And like the most the other recent precedent to this is dan quayle. Right. And to mollys point, pence spent years serving trump. I remember those Cabinet Meetings at the white house, they would go around the table, theyd praise the leader. Mike pence was usual leading all of that. But he refused to carry out trumps demand to overturn the 2020 election results. And we cant forget this is what took place on january 6th. [ chants ] i mean, did mike pence ever really have a chance . No. Its been a wild ride for mike pence. I was reminded ten years ago i wrote a profile, i went to indianapolis, he was the governor of indiana. I wrote a Big Profile On there it is on mike pence in which we called him the future of the gop. He really did have a lot of promise. He was a deficit hawk then. He was a social conservative, he had a lot of evangelical fans, and for fiscal conservatives like me we found him to be an important voice. When he abandoned all of that to carry trumps water and become the number two for a guy that didnt ware any of the things that mike pence claims to care about, he lost a loss of us, a lot of the fiscal conservatives who also didnt appreciate trump. Then this carrying trumps waters then in carrying trumps water but not all the way across the finish line in 2020, hes now seen as traitorous by the other wing of the Republican Party. Who is left . Theres no other voter in the Republican Party for mike pence to get. He had no natural constituencies. I was saying this in 2020 when, you know, people were saying, oh, mike pence will probably run for whom . This seemed inevitable from the start. Yeah, and molly, it does, as s. C. Was saying, conjure up a larger commentary about the Republican Party under donald trump. I mean, i remember when the Access Hollywood thing happened, mike pence did not bail on donald trump. And it just made this bargain, as did the rest of the gop. And at the end of the day, this fall for mike pence, could that be any more emblematic of all of this, that you cant you cant put your arms around trump, bear hug trump, make trump, you know, a part of your political career and your political future and then not deal with all the other ramifications that go along with that, Everything Else that comes along with that deal . Yeah. And i think mike pence was actually sort of too good at his job. He was brought on to tell evangelicals that they could trust trump, that trump was one of their guys. And evangelicals went along with it, and then they didnt need pence. Once they had decided that trump was their guy, pence almost made himself obsolete. And so i do think that that has sort of hes kind of, you know all of his purpose has been served. And everything trump touches. Yeah, and s. C. , are we going to end up in a place where i mean, much of the world is distracted by other things right now. In a very short period of time, the countrys going to wake up, the worlds going to wake up, and Donald Trumps going to be on the verge of winning the Iowa Caucuses because there isnt any other candidate at this point who is threatening his status at the top of the field. Its not even close. One thing that does happen when pence or anyone else drops out it frees up some money, frees up some fundraising, could free up surrogates, staff, infrastructure. So that could shake things around a little bit. But mollys right, you know, i certainly believe trump will win the nomination. The base of the Republican Party is still completely addicted to him. Yeah. And molly, i have to ask you about this on the democratic side, Dean Phillips, the congressman from minnesota, launching this bid to challenge president biden. What do you think of that . I asked seth moulton about this in the last hour, and he sort of you know, tiptoed around it and said hes with joe biden. That was about it. What do you think . I think its ridiculous. First of all, talk about being an entitled white guy, right . Hes a member of congress, he served, what, three, three terms. Hes decided that he is going to run. You know, the rest of the party has gotten behind joe biden, and this guy has no almost no policy differences between him and joe biden. He just is he just doesnt like the fact that biden is 80. And i think that comes across as really ageist. And i also think, you know, you have to have a constituency just like with mike pence. Like you have to have people who support you. And he does not have that. And you hear these speeches to empty halls. You see him, you know, surrounded by journalists and no fans. Like youre not hes not there is no movement. Theres no Dean Phillips movement. The few people who know who he is think he is kind of a grandstander. Yeah. And s. C. , we were noticing this, the home page for joebiden. Com, very similar to the home page for Dean Phillips. I mean, i dont know if we can show that on the screen here, but its very the two Campaign Websites are very much the same. I guess because theres very little time for dean fill tapes mount a campaign phillips to mount a campaign. Thought, the Biden Campaign web site looks good, lets do that. Its late to be doing this, isnt it . Yeah. It is. Its very late. Listen, ill say Dean Phillips has identified correctly a problem for the Biden Campaign. It is that he is old, and ageist or not, people have some anxiety about that. Joe bidens Approval Numbers are not great. Now Dean Phillips, having identified the correct problem, has not identified the correct solution because its not Dean Phillips. You know, he doesnt have the name i. D. , he doesnt have the movement as molly has said. Hes not the guy to be a contrast to joe biden. As you said, everythings the same. Hes not even saying that hes running against joe biden. He corrected a news anchor by saying im not running against joe biden, hes literally running against joe biden. So yeah you know, correct problem, incorrect solution. And i saw the dean name on the bus and was having flashbacks to howard dean. Anyway, thats going back way too far. Yeah. S. C. , molly, thanks, ladies, very much. We appreciate it. Sure. All right. Coming up, we are going to go back to israel. Israel says its warplanes have hit 150 underground targets overnight. Well break down what israels strategy is to address the complicated maze of tunnels underneath gaza next. Cmon, were right there. Cmon baby. Its the only we need. Go, go, go, go ah Touchdown Baby touchdown are your neighbors watching the same game . Yeah, my 5g Home Internet delays the game a bit. But you get used to it. Try these. Theyre noise cancelling earmuffs. I stole them from an airport. Its always something with you, man. Great solid greek salad . Exactly dont delay the game with verizon or tmobile 5g Home Internet. Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. Tonight our cnn teams on the ground reporting a barrage of explosions near the israelgaza border. This comes as the idf says they are expanding the Ground Operation into gaza right now. Here in studio with me now is cnn military analyst colonel cedric leighton. And wolf, colonel leighton, i mean, the activity that were seeing especially in Nic Robertsons live shot right now, these explosions coming after last nights intense bombardment, what are you see, colonel . What do you make of this . I think this is one of the most important aspects of this particular phase of the phrase of the operation. When you think about what Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defense might bester said, this is the minister said, this is the next phase. This is the second phase. What are they doing . Basically what theyre doing is theyre coming in in these areas right here, primarily focused on gaza city, but potentially also here. And theyre moving forward in these directions and doing so incrementally. They are softening up the target area where both tank fire, artillery fire, as well as airplanes used in bombing missions, using specifically presessionsguidedmmune precision guided munitions or pgms. That allows them to soften the territory here and potentially move forward as they discover various other aspects of what theyre going after, especially hamas tunnels and command and control noodes. Wolf . Its interesting, israel had already been striking gaza, as you know. Give us some context on what kind of landscape the Israeli Military is likely finding in gaza now. Absolutely, wolf. One of the key things right here is to look at how the damage has actually occurred. And when you take a look at areas with damaged buildings, you see some areas right in this area right here, they have both damaged buildings, as well as Impacts Craters. Those Impacts Craters will make a big area here because and especially in areas like this, youve got both damaged buildings, impact craters, and what that means is youve got total destruction in those areas. And that means that theres very little movement. And the type of movement that theyve got is going to be limited by the fact that a lot of these areas are so narrow that they dont have the ability, hamas wont have the ability to move around in this area if these strikes continue. And colonel leighton, what about hitting the tunnels . So the tunnels are extremely important here, jim, because as you can see, this particular tunnel is built with concrete, a concrete casing. Thats going to be really hard for any aircraft to really impact because about bombs can go down to about 100, 150 feet at most, ones that are designed for this kind of activity. Were talking high impact explosives that could potentially destroy an opening like this. But if they dont do that, if they dont use that, the tunnels become far more of a difficult piece to actually use. And that then becomes something that they will have difficulty getting into. Very narrow, very tough, and youve got a once they do the bombing campaign, the infantry has got to come in and take this area over. And the tunnels are critical because its a big bpiece in ths because the hostages could be in some of these tunnels. Absolutely. All throughout gaza, and when we go back to some areas here, all throughout gaza youve got tunnels that really intersperse the city and these other areas right in this area. And the problem that the israelis are going to have is theyre going to find tunnels that are used for hostages, for storage areas, for rocket launches, all those kinds of things that will become important. There are going to be a different set of targets they need to deal with. Very good. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. To wolf on his end, as well, we appreciate him, as well. Still ahead, many civilians stuck in gaza unable to get out as israel expands its Ground Operation. Were seeing it unfold this hour. Stay with us. One of those staorories is jusu ahead. D. The World Health Organization says health workers, patients, and civilians in gaza spent Last Night In Darkness and in fear. There are still many civilians who are trapped as israel says its expanding its Ground Operations in gaza. We spoke to a man who traveled to gaza with his wife and 1yearold son to visit relatives. Now hes stranded in gaza. He tells us what the situation is like right now. Listen. We tried to go to sleep last night, but we actually didnt get much of it. The four of us, my wife, our son and the newest Family Member that we took in, we all huddled together so close so that in case something happens, unpredicted, we would all at least face the same fate and would Stay Together or basically be gone together. Every night we try to Sandwich Yusef in between us. This way in case of if the house was targeted for some reason or if a nearby bombing happens, in case of any flying debris or shattered glass made its way, at least he would be protected to some degree. Again, needless to say i think last night was probably the hardest for us since the beginning of the war. What weve been hearing the last couple of days and keeps increasing is that fuel supply is really running low, that these Filtration Stations fwhafl are nearby that are nearby use generators to power stations. Every time we run for Drinking Water supply, were told that their fuel reserve, diesel, is running extremely low, and its nearly depleted. So well try to go out again today and secure some Drinking Water when we feel that its safe enough to step outside. And in terms of our departure, we still have no official updates from the state Department Regarding when we could expect to leave gaza and head home to safety, back in the states. We remain hopeful that theyre working on our behalf has been communicated to us in the past. And we remain hopeful that it will happen any day. Thats what we tell ourselves, thats the only way for us to keep going because if we if we lose that hope or if we believe otherwise, we could end up in a very dark space psychologically. So were trying to stay strong and trying to live another day. We, of course, watch the family a safe return to the United States and hopefully it will be soon. Well have much more of our special coverage on israel at war, thats just ahead. Youre looking at live pictures of gaza. Were going to stay on top of that. Obviously were not going to take our eyes off all of this as the hours go on. While we keep an eye on the situation in israel and gaza, ukraine continues to fight back against russia. 21 months after russia invaded. Secretary of state Antony Blinken this week announcing 150 million in new military aid including artillery, small arms ammunition, and antitank weapons, but any future support may face political opposition from republican hardliners up on capitol hill. Thats where my next guest comes in. The Senior Sergeant in the Ukrainian Armed forces and leader of the ukrainian womens veteran movement. And thank you so much for joining us. I just want to note the last time you were here, you brought us this coin. Yes. Made out of a tank that was for counteroffensive. Hello, jim, hello, United States. Its a miracle that im here, but im happy to be here. I want to ask you about that. After we last saw you, you went back to ukraine. You helped liberate kherson. Correct . Yeah, yes. You fought there, and you almost died. Yes. What happened . After liberation in kherson, i got blown up by antitank russian mine. So my spine, my hand, my jaw were broken. My internal organs were defeated. My spinal cord was defeated. Thats why i just like spent nine months or so for rehabilitation. And now im here. I learned how to walk, how to go to the bathroom and eat, and everything that consists of just being a human. So im you had to do that all over again. Yeah. Now im here, and im looking forward to coming back to the front line again because i do not have a privilege not to fight for freedom. So i just do not want my son had to fight soon. Yeah. The reason why youre here is youre talking to politicians here in washington to remind them ukrainians are still fighting for their freedom. I know one of the things that ukrainians are concerned about with so much of the focus on israel and gaza yes. All of thats very important. You dont want the people Around The World to forget about ukraine. Yeah, thank you for asking. But you know, russia, iran, north korea, now are united, and this evil just have the same face like in israel and ukraine. Ukraine now is not on the top news in the media, Around The World. But i just want to explain to americans and congressmen that we have a whole terrible war in the center of europe now. And the delay of for supporting us means a lot of lives of my brother in arms and sister in arms. Thats why we need to fight. We know in ukraine we know how to fight, we know how to gain victory fast you know how to win. Yes, we know how to win. And we want american as a great partner of ukraine to be on this Victory Party with us. Thats why we are asking for air superiority, longrange cruise missiles, ammunition, and just to help us to gain this victory fast. And your arm there, you have parts of the rehabilitation i have a lot of my spine, my hand. In your spine, in your arm. All this my jaw. Your jaw. This was added after you were almost yep. What has that process been like for you . It was hard. But i do not have a privilege just to say, oh, im ill, im im sick or Something Like that because my brother in arms are fighting, my husband is fighting against russians. And we are fighting like just for freedom and for life of our kids. So i had a strong will to gain victory. Thats why they support me and i hopes that americans understand me that we are fighting for life of our kids. Youre fighting for your survival. Yeah. And for our survival. What happens if the american support goes away . Oh, im worried about that because it means that we will fight further, but the situation can be that Ukrainian Forces will be out of soldiers. And who will protect stability of europe and the rest when they bring in armed forces, well be out of soldiers. So we need military assistance to ukraine, and we know how and we also now have a campaign to make russia pay for our victory, you know, to take 350 billion from sanctions from Oligarchs Russian and put into production of american weapons and to like produce for ukraine and to gain this victory together. And you were just telling me before this segment that you have not seen your family. Yes. In a very long time, your son. You know, i just take this time my son has a birthday today. He is 8. Happy birthday. Mama and father love you from the earth to the moon and more. And we will present you a world free and beautiful, happy world for you. Were just fighting for you. You are fighting for him, Fighting For Freedom for all of ukraine. Yes. Thank you so much. I wont grab your hand too hard there. I know youre recovering. But this always will mean a lot to me, this coin that you gave me. I will bring you such coin in future from crimea, okay . Perfect. Sound good. Ill wait for that. Thank you. Good to see you. Thank you so much. Coming up, back to the Breaking News in israel. What a qatari official tells cnn about ongoing Hostage Negotiations that are happening right now. Details on that just ahead. Also, Breaking News on the Campaign Trail as former Vice President mike pence has suspended his campaign for president. A very busy night in the cnn newsroom. Well be right back. Youre probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. But what if we told you its possible that comcast Business Mobile can save you up to 75 a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers . Have we piqued your interest . You can get two unlimited lines for just 30 each a month. There are no Term Contracts or line activation fees. And you can bring your own device. Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible. You are back live in the cnn newsroom. Im jim acosta in washington. My colleague, wolf blitzer, is in tel aviv, israel, for us. Good evening. It is 1 00 a. M. In israel, and our crews say the siege on hamas appears to be intensifying in recent hours. That was a short time ago. The sound of gunfire and Explosions Lightsi Ing lightg up the sky. This is cnns Nic Robertsons Position A Mile from the border with gaza. A dramatic escalations of the conflict building to israels official goal in all this, to smash hamas and rescue the hostages. Israels military says it has troops inside gaza, but its not clear yet if this is the expanded operation, whether its the beginning of that broad Ground Incursion that was widely anticipated for many days. Wolf, how are things on your end . Certainly intense here. Civilians in Northern Gaza, jim, Say Last Night was the heaviest bombardment of the conflict so far. Israels Defense Minister says the intensifying assaults will improve israels chances of freeing all the hostages, more than 200. Listen