for those who fought in this war unlike any war the world had ever seen before, it was a symbol, a reminder that as long as those who stand for freedom, light will always triumph over darkness. my fellow americans, jill, vice president harris, secretary mcdonough, secretary buttigieg, secretary mayorkas, director haines, deputy secretary hicks and most importantly our veterans and service members and equally as important their families. we come together today to once again honor the generations of americans who stood on the front lines of freedom to once again bear witness to the great deeds of a noble few who risked everything to give us a better future. those who have always kept the light of liberty shining bright across the world, our veterans. that's not hyperbole. our veterans. every year on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month we gather in this sanctuary of sacrifice to pause, to pay tribute to these patriots of the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. as commander in chief, i have no higher honor, as a father of a son who served, i have no greater privilege. as for so many of you, veterans day is personal to jill and me. on this day, i can still see my son, the attorney general of delaware, standing ramrod straight as i pinned his bars on him the day he joined the army national guard in delaware. i can still feel the overwhelming pride in major beau biden receiving theing the bron and the service cross. we miss him. i can still hear my wife jill every morning she got up to go to school to teach praying over a cup of coffee during the year he was deployed to iraq and six months before that he was a civilian overseas. like it was yesterday, i can still hear what he told me when he signed up to serve. i said, beau, why? this is god's truth. he said, dad, it's my duty. duty. that was the code my son lived by and the creed that millions of veterans have followed. from baghdad to gettysburg to korea to kandahar and beyond, each one linked in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days. each one bound by a sacred oath to support and defend not a place, not a person, not a president, but an idea, to defend an idea unlike any other in human history. that idea is the united states of america. we're the only nation in the world that's built on an idea. every other nation is based on things like geography, ethnicity, religion. we're the only nation built on the idea that we are all created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. because of you, we've never walked away from it. throughout the annals of history, whenever and wherever the forces of darkness sought to extinguish the light of liberty, american veterans have been holding the lantern as high as they can for all of us. they were there when a determined band of patriots sparked a revolution, delivering a nation where everyone is endowed with certain inalienable rights. they were there when less than a century later they gave our nation a new berth of freedom. they were there when the forces of fascism brought the fight to the trenches of europe and the bloody pebeaches of normandy. they were there in korea and the sweltering jungles of vietnam. and they were there when darkness came to our shores, signing up for tour after tour after tour to keep our democracy safe and secure these last two decades. folks, as a nation, we owe them. we owe you not just for keeping the flame of freedom burning during the darkest of moments, but for serving our communities even after they hang up their uniforms, for inspiring the next generation to serve. we see this at bases all across america where young women and men continue to risk their own safety for the safety of their fellow americans. we see it around the world in all the countries i've been in when our troops continue to stand with our allies against the forces of tyranny and terrorism. to this day, wherever the forces of darkness have sought to extinguish the light of liberty, americans troops are there. and right by their side are their families. as english poet john milton serve, they also serve who only stand and wait. they also serve who only stand and wait. our veterans are the steel spine of this nation, and their families, like so many of you, are the courageous heart. most americans never see the sacrifices that you as family members also make. they'll never see those holidays, those birthdays made special even with the empty seat at the dinner table. they'll never see all the packing and unpacking, readying the family to make another move, needing to move to a new school, a new job for the spouse. they'll never see all those nights spent waiting for word from a loved one deployed overseas because you're not sure. too often your sacrifices go without thanks or without acknowledgment. we must remember only 1% of our society today protects 99% of us. 1%. we owe them, we owe you. so to all the families across our nation, to all those who are grieving the loss of a loved one who wore the uniform, two all those with loved ones still missing or unaccounted for, i want to say to you we see you, we stand with you and we will not forget. you've kept the ultimate faith to our country. we will keep the faith with you. as a nation, i've said many times we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred obligation, to prepare those we send into harm's way and to care for them and their families when they return home. it's not an obligation based on party or politics, but on a promise that unites us all. together over the last three years we've worked to make good on that promise, passing more than 30 bipartisan laws to support our veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors. that includes the pact act, one of the most significant laws ever to help millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins in burn pits during their military service, pits the size of football fields incinerated with the wastes of war, tires, chemicals, jet fuel and so much more. too many of our nation's warriors have served, only to return home to suffer from permanent effects of this poisonous smoke. too many have died. in the 15 months since we wrote and signed the pact act, a half a million veterans and their surviving family members have already started receiving benefits. but far, far too many are still not getting what they need, the care they deserve. that's why i'm proud to announce that any toxin exposed veteran who signed in the pact act will be able to enroll in va health care starting next year. we're not stopping there. the act has processed more claims than ever before in va history. we expanded resources to end veterans' homelessness, poverty, end the silent scourge of suicide, which is taking more veterans than war is. we're launching a new initiative to protect veterans from scam iscams, because no one should be defrauded by those they defended, for god's sake. [ applause ] >> through jill's work and others in joining forces, we've also announced the most comprehensive set of actions to strengthen economic opportunity for military and veterans spouses, caregivers and survivors. this year as we marked 75 years of a desegregated military, 75 years of women's integration in the military, we've doubled down on our efforts to ensure all troops, all veterans get the services they need and that no veteran is denied the honor they earn because there is this char -- discharged for being lgbtq plus. it matters. it matters to the vet from the state of delaware, who after years of being homeless, after years of living in a tent made of his own uniforms finally got a roof over his head. it matters to the vet in arkansas, who after answering duty's call on 9/11, after dealing with debilitating post-traumatic stress for years, finally is able to receive tailored mental health care that's changed his life. it matters to the vet from utah, after flying mission after mission over burn pits in iraq, after danger diagnosed with cancer at just 23 years of age, he's finally receiving full coverage for his treatment. it matters. [ applause ] >> it matters to the vet from florida who was being exposed to agent orange in vietnam who after applying for benefits and being rejected four times, is finally able to get by a little easier now. today we not only honor these stories, but the story of all veterans, for it's a story of our nation at its best, a nation that stands as one to forge a better future for all, a nation that faces down fear generation after generation, a nation that meets darkness with light again and again and again. no matter how high the cost, no matter how heavy the burden, ladies and gentlemen, for nearly 250 years the sacrifice of many of you sitting in front of me and behind me and those who served have kept our country free and our democracy strong. as that young soldier wrote more than a century ago after world war i ended, if you could only see lanterns shine in every window and door, today we not only see that light of liberty, we live by it. just like our fore bbearers, it on all of us together to ask ourselves what can we do, what must we do to keep that light burning, to keep it shining in every window and door for generations to come? i know we can. i know we will. because as our veterans know best, we are the united states of america, and there's nothing beyond our capacity. [ applause ] nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. god bless you all. god bless our veterans. and may god protect our troops today and always. thank you and thank you for your service. [ applause ] >> president biden speaking at the arlington national cemetery in observance of today's veterans day. he said the country has one duty, to prepare those we send into harm's way and to care for them and their families when they come home, very much stayed on the topic of veterans, did not stray into any conflicts going on in the country right now. that said, moments ago president biden before he began to speak, he and vice president kamala harris marked veterans day at arlington national cemetery in virginia. there, the president laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. joining me now is cat the white house. he had been touting achievements he made legislatively in this category over the week. what policies has he been working on here? and any reaction to what we just heard? >> reporter: president biden stood there at arlington national cemetery, a site he described as a sanctuary of sacrifice, honoring the veterans that have served the country. he said he was there to honor the generations of american who is stood on the front lines of freedom. he talked about the battle between darkness and light, and that generation after generation, american troops and veterans have shown up to fight that battle against darkness. the president talked about this in very personal terms, saying it's a privilege as the father of a son of a veteran, referencing his late son beau biden who served in the delaware army national guard in iraq. this comes on veterans day, but the president's administration just yesterday had rolled out a series of actions that they are trying to take to help veterans. that includes trying to make some health care and nursing home services free of cost for world war ii veterans. they're also establishing these programs to help protect veterans and their families from fraud and scams. then there is also the speeding up of eligibility for those veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits. that piece of legislation, the pact act, is really one of the marquee pieces of legislation the president has gotten across the finish line when it pertains to the issue of veterans. president biden today taking a moment to honor and celebrate those veterans who have given their time, their service, also the families who have supported them all in defense of this country and that idea of democracy. >> thank you so much. we started the show in virginia in the washington, d.c. area, but we're going to go overseas next. gaza's health care system has passed the point of no return. that's the warning from the internatioional commitittee of red crcross. now to the critical situation unfolding in gaza. aust israeli troops are fighting near a hospital. the idf has declined the claim that al shifa hospital is under complete siege with staff and patients unable to leave. the red cross says gaza's health care similar has passed the point of no return. meanwhile, israel's defense forces say they have captured 11 hamas military posts. thousands of gazans fled south. with the world watching, the humanitarian crisis unfolding, today leaders from arab and islamic nations have been meeting in saudi arabia reiterating calls for a ceasefire between israel and hamas. we're also seeing major protests around the globe, including a large pro-palestinian demonstration today in london. police there say they had to arrest more than 80 counter protesters for what they call a breach of the peace. ben wedeman is in southern lebanon. but let's start with ed lavandera in tel aviv for the latest on the ground in gaza. ed. >> reporter: today has been described as dire and catastrophic as the situation in particular around that al shifa hospital in gaza city has become more desperate by the hour. this is a key hospital, one of the largest in gaza. for years, israeli military officials have said this is the hospital where hamas military fighters hide underneath those bunkers. it's one of the principal areas which they operate from. that's why they consider this such a strategic point in their military operations on the ground. according to the hospital officials and people inside the hospital, it's coming at a dire cost. one hospital official telling cnn there are a hundred bodies simply wrapped, unable to be taken anywhere. as you mentioned, hospital officials there believe the entire complex is under siege with hospital staff and patients unable to leave the area. that as idf will only say they are engaged in intense fighting in that area, but they wouldn't elaborate beyond that as to exactly how things have unfolded there. this is also coming at a time where there are still 240 hostages inside of gaza, and there's growing skepticism about israel's strategy here in terms of carrying out this intense military campaign against hamas fighters and whether or not that could come at the risk of the hostages' lives. some family members of the hostages put out a statement on friday saying that victory in this war should not be measures by whether or not the militant fighters that carried out the october 7th attacks are assassinated in this operation, but victory should be measured by whether or not the hostages are brought home safely and alive. omar. >> of course a lot of factors happening at the same time. ed lavandera, thank you. i want to go to ben wedeman in southern lebanon. what did the hezbollah leader have to say earlier today? >> reporter: one thing he said was that the cross-border exchanges of fire between israel and hezbollah are intensifying and they are going deeper into one another's territory. in fact, today we saw the highest number of exchanges of fire between the two sides, by one count about 40 individual incidents. today the israelis did conduct a drone strike on a truck about 25 miles north of the border, which represents the deepest penetration by israeli drones since the war in 2006. hezbollah is using for the first times attack drones going into israel. he also noted hezbollah is using iranian-designed short-range ballistic missiles that have a more than half-ton explosive payload. in fact, we saw video of that particular strike using that missile, and it was very big. he also went onto say that as far as these attacks on u.s. forces by pro-iranian militias in iraq and syria, he said that if the americans want these attacks on their forces in syria and iraq to stop, they should stop the war in gaza. if you don't want this to be a regional war, you must stop the war in gaza, he said. >> the iranian president meets in saudi arabia, of course iran known to have close ties to the militant group hezbollah. ben wedeman, thank you so much. still to come, mounting pressure domestically and abroad on president biden over his support for israel amid images of destruction in gaza. how the white house is dealing with the fallout. - [young alec] my favorite people in shriners are the doctors and the nurses, because they help people through life. - [adult alec] wow, i was a really cute kid, (laughs) but it's true. shriners hospitals for children is awesome. the first time i went to shriners hospitals for children, i was two months old. because of their care, now i live a full, independent life. i got my driver's license, and i'm going to college. when you call right now, and give just $19 a month, only 63 cents a day, we'll send you this adorable blanket as your reminder of the journey you helped me make, and the journey you're helping other kids make too. - it's amazing to know that there's someone looking out for me and my family. - and it isn't just the doctors and nurses who have been looking out for me. it was you. pick up your phone or go to loveshriners.org, and you'll be a part of something special too. there are growing protests over the biden administration's continue support for israel's war effort in gaza as the palestinian death toll continues to rise. demonstrations have been held around the globe, including major u.s. cities and college campuses. in new york city last night, demonstrators marched through the streets demanding a ceasefire in gaza. in a notable shift, america's top diplomat, secretary blinken said friday that, quote, far too many palestinians are being killed. it comes as cnn has just obtained a cable from the u.s. embassy in oman saying the u.s. is losing badly on the messaging battle space. any moment the president will be on his way to delaware, where he'll be greeted by protests gathered near the street where he lives. what are you learning? >> reporter: i was just over there, omar. it is a sizable protest, a pro-palestinian protest here in wilmington. i've been here a lot over the last three years. i don't remember a protest of this size while the president is in town. certainly it does mirror these events you have been seeing around the country and, in fact, president biden has been seeing as well when he was in illinois earlier this week. there were pro-palestinian protesters on the street. he has been interrupted during a few of his speeches over the last several weeks. it does reflect this anger of american citizens concerned about the american approach to israel. certainly you have also heard that from american diplomats as well, including in that cable from a senior american diplomat at the u.s. embassy in oman, who warned that the american approach to israel could be losing support among arab public for the united states, that it could be lost for a generation. certainly president biden is walking a tightrope here. while he does support israel's right to protect itself, he's also encouraging israel to adhere to international humanitarian law and to protect civilians. we did hear that slight shift in tone from antony blinken earlier this week saying that far too many palestinians have died and more needs to be done to protect civilian lives. we have seen efforts by the administration over the last several weeks to try and implement what they call these humanitarian pauses to allow aid to go in and allow some ci civilians to flee. the white house did say that israel had agreed to daily four-hour pauses that they would implement to allow these humanitarian corridors for aid to flow in. certainly you heard some discontent from president biden as he was asked about this, because this is something he had been pressing the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on for several days and he did say he wished that had happened a little sooner. >> lots of nuance coming out as of late. with me now to talk more about this is julian zelzer. i want to start a little bit of where we left off. what do you make of secretary blinken's change in language and tone, saying too many civilians in gaza are being killed? it's some of the strongest language we've heard from an american official on that front. >> well, i suspect system of this is diplomatic. it's a message intended to reach the israeli government and also to try to win back public support for the effort. but part of it is probably also with politics on the mind, meaning, this comes a week where there has been some even with the election bad polling for president biden in swing states. i think the administration is really concerned about how this is all going to play out on the home front. >> yeah. along those lines, arab and muslim voters played a key role in biden's 2020 election win. should he be worried about losing that voter bloc over his position on israel's war effort in gaza? >> well, sure. anyone running for reelection is going to worry about that. you're not talking about huge parts of the electorate that will be necessary to swing this election in swing states from what we're seeing. so he's thinking of small slivers of the electorate and how they can matter. this includes young voters as well. i think he's understandably concerned about the fallout. >> no voting bloc is a monolith, but viewers voters are also a critical bloc for biden and the democrats. it's one thing to find a balance in policy and diplomacy, but how difficult will it be for the administration to find a balance when it comes to an election and when it comes to politics here on the home front? >> very difficult. when you're dealing with purely domestic issues, often president has more control over the situation. but when you're dealing with a situation overseas in an area like the middle east, we don't know what's coming each day. so it becomes very hard to make those kind of calculations. >> from a public statement standpoint he won't be able to run from commenting or speaking about events taking place overseas. i want to talk about something on the home front. we're coming off a pretty good election week for democrats in ohio, kentucky and virginia. you wrote, although election week was good for democrats, they shouldn't take much comfort in those positive results heading into 2024. why? >> it's unclear if reproductive rights always has this beneficial political effect. presidential elections are different than off-year elections. it's going to be about character. it's going to be about the entire package that the administration is putting forward. we see this again and again in different presidential elections. so some of the beneficial things that took place from the recent election might not play out when it comes to 2024. >> and essentially what you're saying is president biden's polling and fortunes and the way he's perceived is almost in a separate category from the reasons that propelled democrats into victory on tuesday? >> yeah. those issues can help with turnout. they will matter to voters for sure. but it's unclear if they will be sufficient to push president biden up in the swing states come november. so this alone should not be the kind of comfort democrats depend on in the next few months. >> we will see. i want to say 2024 is far away, but we're already in it at this point. thank you so much. meanwhile, arab leaders are at an emergency summit in saudi arabia today. the message system of those leaderers have for the u.s.,., . happening today in saudi arabia, arab leaders are meeting at an emergency summit over the war in gaza. iran's president arrived earlier and was greeted by mohammed bin salman. mahmoud abbas said the u.s. bears responsibility for the absence of a political solution for palestinians. let's bring in robert greenway. he's the current director for the center for national defense. robert, some arab leaders are warning the u.s. about its continuing support for israel in war. it's a sentiment echoed by u.s. diplomats in a recently leaked cable. is there a point where the u.s. should reevaluate its support? i know you've been a strong voice of support for israel. where do you stand right now on that? >> thanks for having me on. happy veterans day. >> of course. >> i have to say this summit, the arab league summit, is a reflection really of decline of u.s. influence and the result of policy choices the last few years. when you have the iranian president at the summit and then invoking the final solution in his remarks, i think it's an indication of just how far things have fallen. second, i would say if you remember six years ago, a it isis i sitting american president convened the leaders to galvanize the threat of isis, isolating iran and also setting the stage for the abraham accords. six years later we see now the stark contrast in current american policies and our position in the region. >> i think at this point there is worry about this spilling into a larger regional conflict. where do you see the chances of something like that happening based on what we're seeing now? >> i think unfortunately the odds increase each day. it's the principal u.s. role here to prevent escalation and allow israel to complete its mission in gaza. but the situation is complicated and difficult. they need our full support. i think if we can manage to allow them to focus and prevent escalation, i think we can prevent a regional conflict. we've seen almost 50 attacks against u.s. forces in iraq and syria since october 17th. it's not stopping or showing signs of abating. that indicates this could lead to regional escalation. >> on your point about the israeli mission right now, they've said their goal is to wipe out hamas. we have heard that in efforts before. i think what we're seeing right now is how incredibly difficult that mission is, even though the mission so far has moved relatively slowly as they've captured hamas points. how realistic is it to wipe out hamas without necessarily wiping out large numbers of civilians in gaza as we've seen to this point? >> two things. first, hamas is the organization responsible for the brutal killing of men, women and innocent children. there's no place in the international society for them. their elimination, i think, is utterly warranted. second, it is not going to be easy because they occupy a densely populated urban area. there's precedent for doing this. isis once occupied major urban areas and they were successfully eliminated as a terrorist threat. i think it can be done. i think it is not going to be easy. it's the price, i think, for allowing them to metastasize in the first place. our support for israel has to be unequivocally provided under the circumstances. >> the red cross has said the hospital system in gaza is at a point of no return after a lot of these attacks. obviously it is a balance that needs to be struck. we have seen the secretary of state saying too many civilians have been lost so far in gaza. what can be done now to alleviate some of the humanitarian crises we have seen so far when it's the israeli goal to wipe out hamas and it takes consistency and persistence to move forward? >> it's a great question. this is where the united states can also play a constructive role. not being present at the summit and not engaging successfully with our regional partners, i don't think we've accommodated the population. as a result, there's no way for them to leave gaza for those who are not directly affiliated with hamas. innocent civilians can't leave the area. in large measure, i think that's because the united states has not worked with regional partners to accommodate the population. as a result of that, i think the situation becomes even more complex. israel is to be commended for their efforts and also for the humanitarian corridor which they continue to protect and defend and allow them to move south providing some protection. >> we will see if some these humanitarian pauses do make a difference in saving civilian lives. thank you so much. >> thank you. next, the remarkable story of how a surgeon used breast implants to save the life of a lung transplant patient. we'll hear from the surgeon himself about how he did it. c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's 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. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. as flu season ramps up, an incredible story of a medical procedure that saved a flu patient's life. a 34-year-old man with preexisting lung issues got the flu and his lungs stopped working. doctors determined an emergency transplant was the only way to save his life. with no time to do the procedure and no lungs available, doctors needed to buy time. they came up with the idea to use breast implants to keep his heart from collapsing by filling the lung cavity while they waited for a donor pair of lungs. it was worked. the patient was stabilized until he could get a full transplant. the doctor who performed the procedure joins us now. congratulations. this is incredible. tell us why were the breast implants needed and what got you and your team thinking this could actually work? >> thank you for having me. good to talk to you. so when we got call to help this man, he had a complete and profound damage to both his lungs. we thought we could bring him to northwestern and transplant him. we had some experience doing transplants for covid patients and we thought we could apply same principles. within 24 hours of him arriving, his heart stops and we were doing chest compressions on him. it was clear that although he needed a transplant, he didn't have time. the thing that made logical sense was to do the source control and take out the lungs that were making him that sick. so we came up with this strategy to rate out the blood as it's pumped from his heart by creating some artificial channels just to keep him alive. one things we realized as we took out the lungs is how do you support the heart. if he sat up, that would cause the heart to fall in one place and that would be the end of everything. we were thinking how to stabilize that. one thing that caught our attention was to use the biggest implants we have because the chest cavities are pretty big. the double ds were the biggest we had. so we used those to temporarily stabilize his heart while we took him to the icu and did the transplant. >> one thing that's incredibly here is usually when you're talking about a transplant, it takes time to find donors and find a match. why was this emergency transplant situation so unique and unusual? and did you have any worries about taking this step? >> well, every year over 200,000 people in the united states get diagnosed with what we call acute respiratory distress syndrome from respiratory infections or flu. 40% of those patients die. one of the common causes of that death is what this young individual went through, which is the lungs are destroyed but they get a second wave of infections from nasty infections acquired in the hospital in the icu settings and they're not able to make it to the transplant although the transplant is necessary. in him, because he was otherwise quite healthy, we felt like potentially we could use a creative, innovative strategy to get him to the transplant while removing the source of his infection and giving time for his body to clear the infection. double lung transplant is a very complex procedure, and the body has to be able to withstand that. patients who are so sick, they will just not be able to go through that procedure until you get them to somewhat of a point of stability. >> for those who don't know, you and other northwestern searches performed the first known double lung transplant on a covid-19 patient in the united states. did that procedure at all inform anything on this one? and is there anything from this procedure you think will help with future surgeries? >> absolutely. thank you for that question. absolutely we learned a lot from that, everything that took place after covid ironically taught us a lot. so with covid we found these lungs were damaged very profoundly and riddled with nasty infection. to be able to take those lungs out safely without spilling the infection in the bloodstream gave us novel insights into how to perform these operations. that, in fact, resulted in us being able to do transplant in carefully selected patient who is had stage 4 lung cancer. with that, we were able to successfully take both the lungs outs and temporarily support the patients. it's interesting how covid taught us something that led us to the transplant for cancer patients and that taught us something that led us to this. >> how is the patient doing? >> the patient is doing great. he has returned back to his apartment and he continues to have a full recovery. >> we will see what the next steps are here. i think as a fellow northwestern alum, i am requi