hi everyone. that, for joining me. i'm jessica dean in for fredicka whitfield. a u.s. defense official saying an american warship shot down two drones in the red sea and lps responded after a ballistic missile attack. cnn's zach cohen and ivan watson are following the situation. zach, let's start with you and this attack. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: a u.s. defense official saying a u.s. destroyer in the rid sea had to shoot down two drones today, controlled by the houthi group out of yemen. this is an iranian-backed group, that has voiced support for gaza and for hamas in their war against israel. u.s. forces in the region, including these two carrier strike groups that this destroyer was operating as part of, have come under a steady drum beat of attacks since they were deployed in the aftermath of the october 7th attack by hamas on israel. u.s. officials maintain this is not a sign that the war has expanded more broadly. the steady drum beat of attacks we've seen from not only iranian-backed groups in the red sea but across the middle east and syria have raised questions on whether the biden administration's response to attacks on u.s. forces have been aggressive enough. >> thanks so much. ivan is in southern lebanon. ivan, does this latest incident exacerbate, as zach was just saying, these fears that war could spread around the region? >> sure, that's one of the concerns. at the same time what we're seeing is these various iranian-backed groups are finding ways to pressure u.s. and israel and its ally, the u.s., and perhaps distract and irritate. we've got the tacts on shipping going through these vital shipping lanes that the u.s. navy is involved in helping protect ships, but also here on israel's northern border that is with leb bon, you have had a simmering conflict over the border, basically for the past month and a half. it died down during the seven-day truce when israel stopped, paused its offensive in gaza, but it has since restarted. so the militant group based here in southern lebanon, hezbollah, it has claimed responsibility for a number of cross-border attacks just today, saying they were, quote, in support of our steadfast palestinian people in the gaza strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance. the israeli military has confirmed that an anti-tank missile was fired at one of its vehicles and that several of its soldiers were likely injured and the vehicle was damaged. where i am here not far from the israeli border, i can see some israeli positions, mountaintops from where i am here. this afternoon we were hearing the thud of incoming israeli artillery, a strike nearby here that shook the building i'm standing in, too. the conflict here has been deadly, not of the intensity that we've seen in gaza, but at least 100 people have been killed over the past month and a half on the lebanese side of the border. the majority of these casualties are hezbollah fighters, but also more than a dozen civilians including several journalists. jessica? >> ivan watson for us in southern lebanon. our thanks to you and zach cohen who is in d.c. joining me is retired air force colonel and cnn military analyst cedric leighton. great to see you, as always. it want to talk to you about these attacks that involved that u.s. ship. does it appear these attacks were trying to do damage, or was this about trying to test the u.s. and just be provacative in a way? >> it might be both actually. my understanding from the reporting that we've seen is that the missiles that the houthis sent in the direction of the civilian ship, that came pretty close. so that -- that would indicate there was a deliberate attempt to do some damage. the ship in question, called the m.b. unity explorer, that is a bahamian-flagged vessel. it's also owned, in part, by an israeli entity. the houthis are clearly looking at this as a possibility for doing some economic damage to the israelis. as far as they're concerned, it doesn't hurt from their perspective to put at risk u.s. naval forces. i think that's what we're seeing there. they want to send a message that shipping, especially shipping tied to israel in one way or another is not safe. the other part, jessica, is they want to make sure that the u.s. keeps its distance from what they're doing in yemen and possibly what the rarns might be doing in the persian gulf. >> do you think today's attack escalates the chance of this kind of second front opening up in the war? if that's the case, does it increase the chances of further u.s. involvement? help us understand more broadly what this might mean. >> it's definitely -- it could potentially increase the risk. the fact that these incidents are occurring at a fairly frequent pace, yesterday there was another incident in the persian gulf involving the other carrier strike group associated with the eisenhower carrier strike group. that involved shooting down a drone from iran that was moving in an unprofessional manner, according to the u.s. navy. so that kind of activity indicates that there is the potential at least for them to ramp things up. the iranians have a history of engaging us in the persian gulf and in the areas around there, like the gulf of aden and places like the red sea as well. usually for those parts they use proxies like the houthis to handle things there. generally speaking, this could ramp things up a bit and it is certainly -- it puts us at greater risk of having these kinds of events potentially go out of control, but i think at this point in time, things are under control and this is kind of par for the course. no one was injured in either of these incidents, and that's also a key indicator right here that this is a message as opposed to an actual attack. >> getting to the resumed fighting in gaza, the u.s. and secretary of state tony blinken has urged israel to avoid the number of civilian deaths that we saw when they attacked northern gaza. a lot of children that were killed. how able is the i.d.f. to be more surgical in who it is targeting with these stlieks when we also know that hamas does use human shields? >> yeah, it's i haved difficult for the idf or any military force to do this, to be more surgical in their strike capabilities. what the israelis can do is they can user smaller ordnance. for example, some of the weapons they used in northern gaza during the pre-truce hostilities were 2,000-pound bombs. they can switch to 250-pound bombs or other smaller ordnance to minimize some damage to civilian entities. however, the problem that they run into is, 250 pounds is still a pretty big bomb when you're on the receiving end of something like that. coupled with artillery, it can really create a major decimation of some of the areas that are around there. so what you're looking at is an attempt by the israelis to try to minimize things. they're really going to have to depend on precise intelligence to enable precise targeting. the other thing they have to watch out for is that hamas has gps jammers that they got from the russians indirectly, and that will certainly cause some problems for some of the precision munitions the israelis have. that's another complicating factor in all of this. >> i also want to ask you about -- there are comments nah the defense secretary lloyd austin said where he warned about the dangers of alienating the civilian population in gaza. that sparked this sharp reaction from republican senator lindsey graham on cnn earlier which i'll play, and then we can talk about it. >> this kind of fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat. >> he's so naive. i've just lost all confidence in this guy. it's like this is a tranquil population only inflamed after israel goes in to defend itself is really naive. this is a cad ralized population. i don't want to kill innocent people. israel is fighting not just hamas, but the infrastructure around hamas. >> colonel, what is the risk to israel that its ally, the u.s., its leaders are divided a bit on this in how they see this should all play out? what's the risk when it comes to the civilian population in gaza? >> yeah, jessica. there's interesting aspects to this. first of all, what secretary austin said is correct. the fact that your center of gravity, the thing you're really worried about in warfare is, in this particular case, the civilian population. we used to call it hearts and minds. basically what we're looking at here is trying to convince the civilian population not to support hamas over the long term. it is not naive of the secretary to think this. he has a lot of experience in the middle east and the region. having said that, there are certain aspects of this where it is absolutely true that the civilian population in gaza has for a long time been subjected to hamas propaganda, subjected to attitudes that are taught in their schools against israel. so it would take a long time to win over the trust of the civilian population. i think the big thing that the u.s. leadership is focused on here as they talk to their israeli counterparts is the idea that they actually need to work a strategic solution which would involve finding a better way to dealing with the hamas population -- the gazan population and eliminate hamas politically. that's a very, very difficult thing to do, especially with constraints placed on israel not only by international and u.s. public opinion, but also the laws that israel has sworn to follow as well. it is a very difficult situation for the israelis. it's also difficult situation for the u.s. leadership, so there is that division that we see here between in this case graham and secretary of defense, but the key thing is this, the center of gravity, the thing you're worried about, is that civilian population. it's really in israel's interest to try to minimize their attitudes of hostility against israel. that would be something that would serve them very well for the future. >> colonel cedric leighton, thank you so much. we sure do appreciate it. >> you bet, jessica. as the fighting resumes in gaza, u.s. officials say they're working to get truce negotiations back on track. this is coming after israeli officials recalled its negotiation team from qatar saying those talks had reached what they call a dead-end. cnn white house correspondent arlette saenz is at the white house for us. arlette, how is the biden administration working to get these two sides talking again? it seems like a tall order right now? >> reporter: it certainly does, jes jessica. a senior u.s. official says they'll continue to pursue every effort to get the u.s. hostages back home. it remains unclear if that's even possible as the talks between israel and hamas have completely broken down. one of the key concerns, sticking points in those talks, has been about the release of women. straem insisting that hamas has more women to release. hamas arguing that some of these women are considered idf soldiers. the u.s. point of view is that the onus is on hamas to live up to the terms of the deal and release these women. it does come as u.s. officials have continued to meet and speak with their counterparts art the release of hostages. you have roger carsons who met with his israeli counterpart yesterday, and vice president harris while in dubai this weekend held meetings and phone calls with arab leaders including the amir of qatar and the egyptian president. in both those conversations she stressed the need to try to get more american hostages back home. take a listen to john kirby insisting that the u.s. is going to try to get these talks on track, even as the talks are at a standstill. >> there are no official negotiations going on right now, kristen. that's because hamas, hamas failed to come up with yet another list of women and children that could be released. and we know they're holding additional women and children, not combat tants, female idf soldiers, but innocent civilians they have that they couldn't put on a list and turn that in. unfortunately, the negotiations have stopped. what hasn't stopped is our own involvement trying to get those back on track and trying to discuss with those partners and all those interlock lores to see if we can get it bark in place. >> reporter: the u.s. secured the release of four american hostages since this conflicting began, but there are eight held in gaza, that includes one woman who the u.s. initially would be part of that initial deal to secure the release of 50 women and children held by hamas. there are another seven men, three of which are considered to be idf reservist soldiers. so the u.s. has insisted they will work around the clock to try to make sure they get the hostages back home with their families i. remains unclear if that will happen, especially as these talks have broken down. >> arlette saenz at the white house, thanks so much for that update. police in new york have identified a suspect in a brutal stabbing that left four family members dead. we'll have details on that next. plus, the situation is growing more dire for civilians in gaza as the idf orders people to evacuate more areas in southern gaza. a unicef spokesperson will join us live from gaza coming up. a horrific mass stabbing attack early this morning in the new york borough of queens. officers received a 911 call saying her cousin was killing her family. when officers responded, they were attacked and injured. authorities later found multiple family members dead. polo sandoval is following the story. the suspect is dead. what else do we know about what happened here? >> reporter: the nypd basically summarizing this morning's horrific scene of which in which they found multiple victims, a house on fire and who they described as a madman on a rampage and on a mission. what that mission was is still unclear, though police did say that all of those affected are family. so there's early indication here that this could have been a family dispute gone horribly wrong. here is what we know about what transpired. it was just after 5:00 in the morning when a young person reached out to 911 dispatchers telling police her cousin was killing her family. two officers initially arrived and encountered a knife-wielding suspect. initially, approached the officers. the officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries before police officers shot and killed the suspect identified as 38-year-old courtney morgan from the bronx. they found an 11-year-old girl who was dead at the scene and the house was on fire. once they were able to extinguish the flames, investigators went inside that home and that's when they found another three victims who had been killed, including a 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old female and man in his 30s found inside the house. a third victim survived and they're in critical condition at this hour. >> polo sandoval for us -- >> officers get to the driveway and see a male walking out, carrying luggage. our officers asked the male a question or two, an encounter that lasted about ten seconds where the male draws a knife on our officers, he established one officer in the neck/chest area. he strikes the second officer in the head. >> again, those officers are going to be okay, jessica. investigators believe this suspect, a 38-year-old from the bronx was likely there at that home visiting family. a lot we don't know, but enough to paint an awful, disturbing picture of what transpired in queens this morning. >> no doubt about that. polo sandoval, thanks for the update. a suspect connected to the killings of three homeless men in the los angeles area has been arrested. police say 33-year-old jerrid joseph powell was already in custody for allegedly killing another person during a robbery. all four of those murders took place within days of each other. police recovered a handgun from powell's car which they believe is the same weapon used to kill the homeless men. so far no motive has been determined. coming up, as israel continues its combat operations in gaza, the u.s. is stressing the importance of protecting civilians. i'll discuss the humanitarian crisis with the global spokesperson for the united nations chilildren's funund. stay w with us. israeli defense forces are ordering people to evacuate more areas in southern gaza as troops expand their ground operations inside the enclave. the israeli military saying it's destroyed at least 500 tunnel shafts during its offensive in gaza. idf officials claim many of the tunnels were in civilian areas and structures. fighting also heating up on the israeli/lebanon border. hezbollah says it targeted several sites in northern israel. the idf saying several soldiers were injured by an anti-tank missile there. prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying israel's forces will not stop in gaza until hamas is eradicated. hamas says there will be no negotiations for the remaining 136 hostages they hold until israel agrees to a ses fire. cnn's ben wedeman is in jury room. ben, israel's attacks in gaza have returned to full force following this seven-day truce. >> reporter: yes. what we're seeing, jessica, is there have been some very intense air strikes, not just in the south, but in the north as well. yesterday and today we saw massive strikes in the jabalia refugee camp which is north of gaza city. i've covered every war in gaza since israel pulled out in 2005, and i have never seen this level of destruction before. this doesn't appear to be precision bombing. it appears they're taking multiple apartment blocks out, just completely turning them into dust. of course, in the process, many women and children are being killed. look around. this is gaza city's ally baptist hospital where the wounded are treated in the open on wooden pallets. the emergency room is already jammed. the courtyard is full of body bags. dozen were killed in a series of israeli strikes saturday, many more still under the rubble. israel claims one of those strikes killed a senior hamas commander who helped plan the 7 october attacks. he was perhaps one dead among many, many others. this woman lost her daughter and grandchildren and names them all. >> [ speaking non-english ]. >> may god judge those watching us die, she cries. it's a similar scene at the hospital in central gaza. more wounded, many of them chi children, dead. they bombed an entire street says saed. his brother mohammed was dead. says saed, let me say goodbye to him. [ screaming ]. >> my father has been killed cries this boy after a strike on the jabaal yeah refugee camp on sunday. the seven-day truce seems like the distant past. according to the palestinian red crescent societies 100 trucks were able to get into gaza today from egypt through the rafah border crossing. they brought food, medicine, medical aid and what we know yesterday, there are also 100 trucks coming through, they brought body bags. jessica. >> ben, the idf is telling people to move further south. they had already been pushed south to begin with. you've been inside gaza. what kind of impact do you think it's going to have on the humanitarian crisis there? >> reporter: well, things are bad enough as it is. we heard from one spokesperson who said because of the poor sanitation, the rate of intestinal diseases has gone up four times, that skin diseases have gone up four times. people are already crammed, well over a million into a variety of u.n. schools and other shelters. these are so crowded that there's a danger of disease breaking out. where do they go if they have to leave? you have to keep in mind just how crowded gaza is under normal circumstances, but now we know well over a million people have been displaced from the north, have been crammed into these shelters in the south. many of those shelters are in places like khan yunis which also seem to be feeling the brunt of military operations at the moment. >> ben wedeman in jury room, we appreciate that reporting. we'll talk more about what's happening on the ground. james elder is the global spokesperson for unicef. he's in khan yunis which ben was just talking about there. james, thanks for making time and being here. walk us through what you're seeing first on the ground right now? >> fear, jessica. first, it's the sound. even though in two minutes of listening to your correspondent, three or four massive blasts -- i don't know what you can see. this place has consistently smoke and dust. there's so many people on the move, walking, carrying what they can. they don't know where to go. there's a lot of confusion, and now there's panic, jessica. the attacks have been so sustained and so vicious, this idea that was sold to the world that what would happen in the north would not be repeated in the south. i can bear witness that it's very much being repeated here right now. >> i think i know the answer to this based on what you're describing, but oebbserve a lotf people, children that need access to medical care. are they able to get that at this moment? what is available to them? >> no. i spent a lot of time at the hospital here. itches at the hospital this morning and that's where i first sensed, having not been there for 24 hours, it was a different world. many more people. it was wall-to-wall in people. a lot of people with the wounds of war. the panic again -- families who have seen day after day were holding my shirt and holding my arm saying, please, take us somewhere safe, take us somewhere safe. there really is nowhere safe. there really is not. throughout that hospital, children with the wounds of war. many children came as i was there. you would hear a blast and then the ambulances, hundreds of meters, not far from the hospital. children would come in with horrendous injuries to the head, with shrapnel. the burns are utterly heartbreaking. mothers crying over babies that likely won't make it. disease threats are very well. taking people to places not with one toilet per 400 people, as they have had, but no toilets. there's no toilets here. there's no water. it's getting cold. there's no blankets, no nothing. children get sick from diarrheal diseases. the hospital acan barely treat child who has a limb amputated. despite all the warnings, there's an acquiescence, a green light for the war on children to continue. >> i want to ask you, the idf is urging civilians to leave khan yunis and go to certain shelters. it's been dropping leaflets, trying to get that message out online. are people doing that? is that a feasible thing to do? >> it's not, jessica. it's a great question. it's a very dangerous narrative i think that has been spun by those in power. some of it was a leaflet coming to people. going back a step, these are people who have had their homes bombed. they're home sitting on a couch and seeing their grandmother, mother die. they're moved. they're forced to the south in a humiliating way, in a grossly overcrowded camp again, and then asked to move again with a leaflet that says scan a qr code in a place that hasn't had electricity for 50 days. this is a generator and there's no 4g. if someone does want to move, apart from there being no transport and no water, no sanitation, it's not scientific. it's not rational. it's not possible. the only things i think it is are calculated and cruel. i think this is a game of chess, of moving people from place to place. of course, it's not a game. it's utterly deadly for people here. it doesn't mean people aren't seeking to move. they just don't know where to go. they're be well dired and scared. there's good reason. the bombardments are utterly relentless. >> lastly, i want to ask you about aid. we know some aid was getting in during that seven-day truce. obviously things have changed dramatically since that expired. what is the current status of that as you see it where you are right now? >> lifesaving, utterly lifesaving. a doctor has told me that these safe zones will become disease zones and zones of death because disease will take root and aid is the essential thing that can break and possibly break that for anyone anywhere not in safe zones. that's not a real thing. that's for the people spread in centers or be there in hospitals. but it's not a meaningful amount. we have to say there is no way the' normally of what was needed here, the devastation. and it's been allowed drip, drip, drip, nothing to the north, some to the north. there's a little bit coming into people here in the south. nothing like the amount, jessica -- when i was at the hospital today, i was trying to move around. pandemonium from people. children screaming as they came in. blood on the floor. a little girl was following me, 6 or 7 years old, following me tugging on my shirts. she had two water bottles, they were empty. she was just looking for water for them in a hospital. the only water there is brackish. that's not an option. her story is repeated with brutality and callousness across the gaza strip. >> it sounded like there was an explosion or something off to the side just a minute ago. >> yes, there's been four or five in the last ten minutes. they're consistent. it's a sleepless night for people. you're under beds, under tables and now again, as you hear, the smoke and the dust will pour in. we were driving back from doing a supply run earlier this evening and there was a bomb maybe, i don't know, 70, 80 yards away. it's the second strike that is very fearful because they might be getting more precision. you don't know if you're in a line of fire. 100 united nations workers have died in this war, the most ever killed in any conflict since the united nations has been there. it's an ever-present threat and it goes to that point that nowhere is safe, jessica. it's not a cliche. there are no bunkers. nowhere is safe for the boys and girls in this place right now. >> what about the fact that hamas is wrapped up in so many of these civilian populations, even around children, families? what do you do about that? >> well, i think -- proportionality. you understand that by killing large numbers of children and destroying gaza, you will not possibly bring peace and understand the immense levels of frustration that are here for people in terms of their being captive in one sense and bombed by another. it's difficult for me, of course, on the ground. there are enough security risks to go into detail, but people feel trapped across the board. to paraphrase a palestinian, how can we be trapped by one people here and bombed by another? that's what's happening. the discussions here need to be a little bit more nuanced from those leaders who have control and to start with empathy and, of course, to understand the mass bombardment, the mass killing of children -- i'm sorry. that's exactly what it is -- the israeli children who need to get out, to end that torment. the only people who seem to want war here, jessica, are the parties fighting it. to think the devastation of gaza and killing more children will bring peace -- it will be polarization, anger and frustration. it's bringing so much heartache. >> james elder in gaza tonight. thank you so much for taking time. we appreciate it. still to come, former california governor arnold schwarzenegger meeting family members of israeli hostages held by hamas in gaza. we'll give you that story next. former california governor arnold schwarzenegger hosted family members of some of the family members and friends of those killed by hamas. joining me is cnn correspondent camila bernal who was there at that event. camila, i can imagine it was pretty emotional. what did the family members have to say? what was the former governor's message? >> reporter: the former governor said these are the stories that people need to hear, and not just once, but as many times as possible as we're hearing from the people that are directly impacted by the war. among the family members there was a 14-year-old girl. she described what it was like being there on october 7th hiding with her mother and others and saying that she heard the screams, the gunshots, the explosions. she hid for hours until she was rescued by the idf. she said even after coming out of hiding, it was seeing the blood, the bodies, the destruction. she describes it as the smell of war and said that it is something that she's never going to forget. it's obviously a traumatic experience for her and her family. days later, she found out that her father had been killed by hamas. so going through that grieving process, while also learning that her cousin had been kidnapped. she described just how difficult it was to go through this period of time and then eventually finding out that her cousin was released as part of the truce. she said, obviously, it was a joyful moment, but then there's also the fact that many others are still suffering. they're still kidnapped. among those is believed to be the father of a 27-year-old man who we also heard from who told me how difficult it is to see other families or other family members being released while also knowing that he doesn't know where his family is. this is what he told me. >> we know nothing about his situation or where he's at. he's without his glasses, without his medication, including blood thinners. this is someone who had a heart attack two years ago. we just want them back. that's all we want. all the families, we just want our loved ones back at home. >> reporter: this was all organized by the museum of tolerance jerusalem. the goal is to have americans learn about these stories as well. the people i talked to say they're holding on to hope and hoping those family members return. jessica. >> it's absolutely agonizing and unimaginable what those families must still be going through. our hearts go out to them. camila bernal, thanks so much for the update. coming up, the college football playoff is now set. who is in, who's out and why one undefeated team didn't make it. that's up next. college football playoff noti now set. michigan will face alabama followed by washington and texas. undefeated florida state is out, so is two time defending national champion georgia. carolyn manno is joining us. a ton of conversation about this. did the playoff committee get it right? i think that is the debate. . >> and that is the question. i think that this makes the most sense unless you are a florida state or georgia fan. then you are really disappointed by this. but the playoff selection committee really had the toughest job that they have ever had. we knew michigan and washington were the top two teams, so it came down to the final two spots. texas players couldn't contain their excitement after they earned the third spot. longhorns rolled past oklahoma state in the big 12 title game and beating alabama earlier in the season gave them an edge too. crimson tide recovered from the early defeat to win the s.e.c. title and earn the fourth seed knocking georgia out of the playoff. this is really where the decision was difficult. do you choose a team with a loss that is a better team at this moment over a team with a perfect record. unfortunately for florida state who is now without their starting quarterback, they are now the first power five conference team go undefeated and still miss out on the playoff. they looked very disappointed afterwards. and as you can see, they lost jordan travis to a devastating leg injury two weeks ago and the committee chair says that that loss definitely factored into this decision. >> florida state is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks. coach norvell, their players, their fans, you know, an incredible season. but as you look at who they are as a team, right now without jordan travis, without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team. >> jordan travis expressing how he is feeling in this moment tweeting devastated, heartbroken in so much disbelief. i wish my leg broke earlier in the season so you can see the team is so much more than the quarterback. i'm so sorry. go knnoles. so michigan will get alabama, that is followed by washington and stotexas. ohio state will face missouri in the cotton bowl. next year this playoff moves to 12 teams, so this is really the final year where you might have this kind of confusion and what a way go out with so many teams really deserving that spot. tough to pin it all on a quarterback who is injured. you can imagine that he is feeling some kind of way right now. but we you'move on and it is wht is they say. >> carolyn manno, thanks so much. we want to remind you there is still time to vote for your favorite cnn hero, you can cast ten votes a day and you can use all for one hero or also spread the love.