Transcripts For FOXNEWSW America 20240702

Night of bowling and he just came in and there was a loud pop. Ive had all my friends on the phone with me to make sure they are safe. I believe it, i know its real. I dont want to believe it, you know. To see People Killed like that, especially children. What are the things they are looking to do, get into his phones, his computer applications. The full weight of my administration is behind Law Enforcements efforts to capture the person of interest, robert card. A live look at the scene in lewiston, maine, police and the fbi are searching for the gunman suspected of killing 18 people, Deadliest Mass Shooting in the United States this year. John, hello to you. John tragic news and obviously a lot of concern in the community. John roberts in washington, america reports. Residents of maines second largest city and neighboring areas have been urged to shelterinplace and keep their doors locked as the sole suspect, 40yearold robert card remains on the loose at this hour. Horrifying rampage beginning around 7 00 last night, a gunman was scene entering a busy Bowling Alley and killing seven people before heading four miles away to a local restaurant and shooting at diners there. Sandra horrific, every minute of it. Police say they consider card, trained in firearms as an instructor and army veteran as armed and dangerous. And likely still, they believe, possesses a large amount of ammunition. John Nicole Parker standing by authorities did not give specifics but did provide more information about the victims. You mentioned, 18 People Killed, actually lower than was previously reported, and we learned more about how it happened where police say card walked into a local establishment, a Bowling Alley at 6 56, and murdered seven people. They then say just 12 minutes later he murdered eight people at a billiards bar and restaurant, three others who were taken to the hospital later died which brings you to the total of 18 People Killed and three of the 13 killed in critical condition. But some of the victims have not been identified. Listen to the Press Conference moments ago. Ten people, ten of these victims still need to be identified at this time. Currently there is an Arrest Warrant for eight counts of murder for mr. Card. And the reason its eight counts, because ten people have not yet been identified. As those people are identified, the counts will probably go to the total of 18. You mentioned, john. Card is considered armed and dangerous. Hes a Petroleum Supply specialist in the army reserve. Didnt have any combat deployments, but does have a documented history of Mental Health issues. Recently made threats to shoot up a National Guard base in maine, had heard voices or complained about Hearing Voices and admitted to a Mental Health facility for a couple weeks. As recently as this summer and because of what happened last night, hes also a trained firearm instructor, this is a very, very dangerous man right now and because of that where we are right now in lewiston, maine, its a ghost town, john. Pretty much just see media, as well as Law Enforcement out. Most businesses are closed, schools in the area are closed down. Cards vehicle was found in lisbon, one of the towns with a shelterinplace order right now. Authorities say they have scattered their resources around maine right now as they have multiple different pieces of information and evidence coming in. But they did not provide a whole lot of clarity of a search perimeter, the governor expressed her sorrow at the tragic loss of life, saying a long time to recover and heal from this but the entire state of maine will do it together. Back to you. John clearly a dangerous situation ongoing there, nate, thank you. Sandra. Sandra former fbi special agent Nicole Parker. How do you find a suspect like this, nicole . Sandra, this is a very complex situation. This is very atypical of a mass casualty, typically the shooter is apprehended or commits suicide. The fact he is still on the loose, you know, now youve got two complex crime scenes, the Bowling Alley and the bar and also have a fullon manhunt. And i first of all would like to thank Law Enforcement, First Responders and those in the medical community who have aided these individuals. This is a very, very difficult situation for this small community. And theres Different Things that Law Enforcement is looking at right now. Obviously, you know, they want to understand the motive. The first goal is apprehension and keep the community safe. For those in the area, you need to continue to shelterinplace. Its a long process, its been 17, 18 hours, but the key is to stay where you are. If you see anything odd or off, you need to contact Law Enforcement. Make sure that your doors, your windows, your garages, your sheds, any vehicles are locked and secured. Sandra as far as what we know about the suspect, nicole, how will that play a part in how they find him. We know according to maine Law Enforcement hes an army reservist, stationed out of maine. He is a trained firearms instructor, recently reported Mental Health issues, nicole. Reportedly threatened to shoot up a National Guard base. This is clearly someone who had some red flags along the way. Oh, absolutely. Youve got red flags going off every possible way. The tragedy of this is that this never ever should have happened. I dont know how this slipped through the cracks but that will definitely be determined at a later point. Right now they need to, you know, the goal is safe apprehension. We did not want this individual taking hostages, dont want anyone else getting hurt. If any Family Members are in communication with him, he needs to report himself to Law Enforcement. It is a very thorough investigation thats going on and obviously Law Enforcement behind the scenes is going to be doing the obvious. Scrubbing the social media accounts, going through text messages, serving search warrants, you know, looking at his, you know, Search Online through google, anything electronic and digital footprint looked at closely. Whats interesting, he ditched the vehicle by the boat dock area. Im not sure of the year of the vehicle but if was around a 2017 or more recent, those kas have infotainment systems. Maybe he ditched the phone. But if he charged it in the car, there could be a lot of information, and i would assume Law Enforcement and fbi have removed that to see what they can look at. Gps information, mapping information, potential text messages, contacts, anything he potentially had in the phone could be downloaded on to the infotainment system. Dont underestimate what Law Enforcement has there are things they are doing we do not know about and are purposely not showing all information because they dont want to tip off the individual. The suspect would be like we said be on Police Radios or, you know, watching the media. They are keeping it tight but also keeping the citizens aware. Sandra a lot of concerns for the victims and families, those that died and those that survived, and the Maine Medical Center provided an update on the victims. Public safety commissioner talking about how difficult this will be for them. Listen. We do have Behavioral Health liaisons to work with families and victims in the hospital seeking treatment. Those things are actively occurring. Sandra brutal, brutal time for so many. While this manhunt is ongoing. We know the police have put up the number, extension there, saying anyone, anyone with tips call in the police tip hotline on the screen for our viewers there, and nicole, thats going to be a huge part of the minutes and hours ahead for them to track this person down. What is your message to those shelteringinplace right now. They have been inside a long time. Harder and harder the longer this goes on, until they lift the shelterinplace order. Whats your message . Stay calm, and be patient. Law enforcement is doing everything that they can, and their number one priority is your safety. Your safety matters most right now and we do not want anyone else to get injured. There have been 18 fatalities, multiple injuries. Its difficult, but please, continue to shelterinplace and if you see anything that seems off, report it to Law Enforcement. If for any reason you think you may have contact with the subject, you contact 911 immediately. You know, you cannot understate how important it is to continue to shelterinplace until Law Enforcement directs you otherwise. Sandra Nicole Parker, you are an incredibly valuable asset to us. Thank you very much for coming on and we will be watching every minute of this as we await another update. Thank you, nicole. Thank you. John sandra, we are also awaiting a White House Press briefing any moment now with the National Security Council Spokesperson john kirby. Press secretary Karine Jeanpierre after there was a raid in the gaza strip. And State Department this hour by the way. Fox Team Coverage with greg palkot reporting on connections between iran and hezbollah. But first, live to trey yingst, live on the ground in southern israel as he has been since this began. How significant was the overnight operation into gaza by the idf, trey . It was very significant. Breaking news, appears to be some firefight along the eastern border between gaza and israel. Large burst of gunfire, tracer rounds, drone overhead and fighter jet targeting a specific position behind me. This does come after the israelis conducted a surgical airstrike, the target, the Deputy Intelligence Commander for the entirety of hamas, we are also learning three other top hamas officials were killed in israeli airstrikes today. Tonight you have the countrys Defense Minister speaking about the israeli efforts and what they are trying to do inside gaza, making it clear the number one enemy is hamas and the goal to completely describe the organization. Describing it as us versus them. And some video of Inside Gaza Last Night as the israelis conducted a raid in the nighttime hours. Used d9 bulldozers and infantry troops and entered the gaza strip with one thing i think mind, destroy many cells along the border and according to the israeli military, they were successful in doing that. They say they took out a number of hamas cells and antitank Guided Missile positions. You can see inside the gaza strip, this video from the city, shows the aftermath of the israeli strikes that continued tonight. Over the past 24 hours, 250 different strikes along gaza and we do expect that number to rise, Israeli Air Force trying to clear a path for the eventual ground operation. John. John trey yingst in the southern part of israel as the action continues. Thank you. Sandra wildfires started by gunfire breaking out in Southern Lebanon as clashes between the idf and hezbollah intensify. It comes as iranian Terror Proxies escalate threats against the u. S. And allies in the region. Greg palkot is live in northern israel. What can you tell us at this hour . The latest we heard were small arms fire, not too far away from us, we are against the israellebanon border. Escalating, and the last 24 hours, four hezbollah rockets were fired not far from us, got ten Return Blasts from nearby israeli artillery. Both sides have been keeping the scrimmages basically near the border, but there are reports of israel launching fighter jet and drone strikes deeper into lebanon as the toll grows. 46 hezbollah fighters killed in the last two weeks, at least six Israeli Soldiers along with civilian casualties. A very telling picture just released, a meeting in beirut, lebanon, between a top hamas official, leader of another militant group and the head of hezbollah. Behind them, pictures of past and present leaders, and benefactor, iran. Benny gantz in the israel war cabinet said about the fight with hezbollah. The idf have a thick and very strong shield along the entire northern border on all its fronts. There are significant casualties to hezbollah. I suggest to our enemy not to get confused. Our power is tremendous, ready to launch and they better beware. Again, sandra, its not a full scale war but the scrimmages are deadly and tying up Tens Of Thousands of Israeli Soldiers in this region, and forcing now estimated about 200,000 civilians to flee on both sides of the border. Trouble brewing. Back to you. Sandra greg palkot there for us on the israellebanon border. Thank you so much. History Iran Nuclear Deal we negotiated blocked iran from gaining nuclear weapons. If tehran returns to compliance with the deal i would rejoin the agreement. They said we are prepared to reengage in negotiations with the p5 plus 1 on Irans Nuclear program. John both a candidate and while in office, President Biden has promised to restore the Obama Administration controversial Nuclear Agreement with iran, but critics are pointing out, 2015 deal which freed up millions in assets allowed tehran to fund Terror Groups that have destabilized the middle east. Lindsey graham just returned from a Bipartisan Senate delegation to israel. Senator, i missed you, i was on the way out as you were on the way in. Sorry about that, yeah. John good to see you saw whats going on on the ground there. The previous live the Obama Administration, seemed to bend over backwards to appease iran and now that is coming back to bite them in a very sensitive spot. What do you say . Yeah, i mean, to reengage iran now on a nuclear deal would be insane. The Biden Administration has misjudged the iranians. They are not trying to build a Peaceful Nuclear program, they are trying to build a bomb. Trump had them in a quarter, had them diminished, biden came in and right quickly gave them billions of dollars, increased their ability to kill israelis and us. So it was a bad idea to give the ayatollah any money. He is a religious nazi. If he had a bomb, he would use it. John we have whats going on in israel and iran backing hamas, and lebanon, iran backing hezbollah and then syria and in iraq. I want to put up this graphic on the screen here about attacks against american interests in the region, these are being conducted by other iranian proxies, at the garrison, air base, Baghdad International airport, at least 13 attacks against american interests in the middle east. More than a couple dozen americans injured, one died from a Heart Attack Running to a bomb shelter, and here is what biden said yesterday with the australian Prime Minister to iran. My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continued to move against those troops we will respond. And he should be prepared. John he says if the ayatollah moves against the troops we will respond. They have already moved against these troops. Why arent we responding . Well, its just this we have lost deterrence. Trump had iran afraid of america. Now we seem to be afraid of the iranians. Nothing is happening without iranian support. This action by hamas was to stop the Reconciliation Process between saudi arabia and israel, which is a nightmare for iran. None of these proxies in syria and iraq could survive without iran. I would tell the iranian, one more attack on american troops and syria and iraq, we are coming after you. If hezbollah goes into the north to create a second front in israel, we are coming after you, starting with your oil fields. If they believe that, they would not do this. John the same time, now we have reporting in the Wall Street Journal from yesterday that some 500 Hamas Terrorists were in iran and also Palestinian Islamic jihad, training with a force of the Islamic Revolutionary guard core. A rear admiral from the idf said before the war iran directly assisted hamas with money, training and weapons and technological knowhow. Even now, iran is helping hamas with intelligence. Yet President Biden continues to say no direct link between iran and what happened on october 7th. What do you say . This is laughable to believe that hamas planned this for a year, maybe 2, 3,000 people involved and iran didnt know about it . Its laughable to me. Shot missiles at israel, iran is behind that. The idea iran did it without the ayatollah knowing about it or read it in the paper or saw it on tv is laughable. The iran, its not israel or United States, we have lost deterrence against the iranians. I am supporting President Biden the best i can but you need to make it clear, mr. President , that iran is going to be a target by the u. S. Military if they escalate in israel or attack our troops. We will be behind you, mr. President , if you will do that. Those in the field in syria and iraq deserve Commander In Chief who has your back. President biden, up your deterrent before its too late. John nominated u. S. Ambassador to israel, voted out of committee, a full vote in the senate. Israel says we need to have an American Ambassador there. We need an ambassador to israel and ive known him a while. Im thinking about it. But we do need an ambassador and i can understand some of the problems. But ill get back with you about that. I just got back from israel. A fight for their lives. They are trying to kill the jews and iran has b to dealt with through force and deterrence, not appeasement. We have appeased iran too long. John all right, senator lindsey graham, great state of south carolina, good to talk to you. Appreciate it. Sandra we are waiting the white house briefing. We are also awaiting a briefing from the pentagon a short time from now. Officials are expected to give an update on defense aid to israel. As iranian proxies escalate against u. S. Troops in the middle east. Keith kellogg, the touch screen, next. There is now Arrest Warrants for murder for this particular individual, mr. Card, so he is viewed as a suspect and there is a fullcourt press by all of our partners to bring him into custody. John and The Search For Maine Shooting suspect robert card continues as police say he could be the one tracking their movements. [ applause ] the day you get your clearchoice dental implants changes your struggle with missing teeth forever. It changes how you eat, how you feel, and how you enjoy life. It changes your smile and how others smile at you. 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Now theyre focused on learning knowing that their data is secure. an youve got two complex crime scenes, the Bowling Alley and the bar, they want to understand the motive but the first goal is apprehension and keep the community safe. John Authorities Say card may have in his possession a Police Scanner and could be listening in to their movements. David spunt joins us now. Whats the latest from officials on this . I just spoke to some officials, its a concern he does have a Police Scanner and is learning the moves of authorities as he is trying to hide. For the fbi and atf, obviously priority number one, finding card. And then the motive and whether it could be considered domestic terrorism or a hate crime. On the federal level. More and more fbi agents and atf agents continue to get on to the scene, thats growing. Evidence Response Teams are backing up local authorities and while this is being handled by Maine State Police and lewiston police, the fbi are assisting in a major capacity. Listen here. We are asking the public to stay vigilant and come forward with any information that you might have that you feel is helpful to our investigators. My pledge is that the fbi will carry out this investigative case with rigor. We will workday and night alongside our Law Enforcement partners to get the answers to the questions this community deserves. So last night an internal Law Enforcement bulletin sent out to officers in the state of maine, describes more about robert card, and the fact he was in a Mental Health facility receiving treatment for issues a few months ago. And goes on to indicate that he had some connections to the Army Reserves in saco, maine, and heard voices and threatened to shoot up a National Guard base. He went to a Mental Health facility and released how and why he had a gun after leaving the facility, thats what police want to find out. And authorities acutely aware he may have a scanner and is listening to their movements. Why they are apprehensive about what they are releasing, at least to the public now, what they are saying on the scanners, but this search area is expected to grow and grow more fbi, atf agents will relieve others working for almost 24 hours, not quite 24 hours, with no sleep. John all hands on deck, questions why it did not trigger the yellow flag law. That means authorities take the weapon away, versus family being able to. John seemed like a pretty obvious case. Well see where it goes. Thank you. Sandra. Sandra thank you, john. We are waiting a briefing by Pentagon Press secretary pat ryder a short time from now as the administration steps up delivery of defensive systems to israel, as concerns are growing whether President Biden should prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of americans from the region if the war expands beyond gaza. Joining us now, retired general keith kellogg. We need your expertise on a range of things, but first, the ongoing discussion of the moment over our warnings to the iranian proxies, dont, dont, dont, said the president. This was in the rose garden just yesterday. Listen. My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond. And he should be prepared. Sandra he also said dating back to an october 15th interviewing, general kellogg, dont, dont, dont, in response to a question from an interviewer, and a long list of iranian attacks on u. S. Military basis. When does it send a message to the proxies to keep on doing this . We have already sent the message we can keep doing it. 2020 state of the union, President Trump made the comment if you attack an american citizen your life is forfeit. What you are looking at is issue of Escalation Control and two parts to it. One is the iranian support for hezbollah in the north to make sure they dont open a second front ab the second is the attack on the u. S. Bases and personnel in the region. And both of those we have to respond. Protective power, switzerland, because we dont have diplomatic relations with iran so we have to do it through the swiss, and you pass to the ayatollah, say quite clearly, if hezbollah gets involved in the fight to the north we will react with actions against iran. And the second, say clearly to them, on the attacks going against u. S. Forces and people in locations in the middle east, go against the force, as john said earlier is helping to train hamas and hezbollah after their commander. Make it clear to them. We are in this. 33 dead americans. We are going to respond forcefully. The reason why they are doing this is they dont believe President Biden will execute anything against the iranians. He has to prove hes willing to do it and has not done that yet. Sandra we are inside the twominute warning from the white house, hear directly through the president s spokesperson, press secretary Karine Jeanpierre, john kirby will be at the briefing. Well hear directly from the white house in a moment hopefully on that. And address u. S. Military aid to israel. We have a picture on the screen from Travis Air Force base heading to israel. To give an idea whats loaded on there, this is heavy lift strategic transports, iron dome interceptors, two batteries, small diameter bombs, guidance kits, a lot packed on there. Can you give us an idea, as i flip to the other screen here, could you give us an idea of the two iron dome batteries and plane loads of interceptors going over there. This is how israels iron dome Defense System works. We are trying to get more missiles to intercept to israel as this is ongoing. What our capabilities are to continue to aid israel with these and what their current capabilities are. My understanding we have a good supply base to supply the missiles to protect the citizens. The biggest thing you said there was the guidance for joint direct attack munitions. Put them on dumb bombs, allows them to attack the infrastructure of hamas. Sandra really important stuff, we are going to cut away for a second to the white house. Karine jeanpierre is talking about the shooting and the manhunt underway in maine. Lets listen. And importantly, we continue to urge all residents to heed the warnings and guidance of the local officials and federal Law Enforcement on the ground to assist with the response. During the state dinner last night the president was informed and stepped out to receive an initial briefing of the shooting. Later he stepped out to speak with maine governor janet mills, as well as Senators Collins and king, and congressman jared golden. He pledged full federal support in the wake of this horrific tragedy. This morning the president received another briefing on the shooting from senior advisers, and he ordered that the u. S. Flag be flown halfstaff at the white house and upon all public buildings and grounds out of respent for all the victims as well. So i want to echo the president s sentiments on this tragedy. And the epidemic of gun violence in general. This is not normal. We cannot accept this. There have been literally hundreds of Mass Shootings in the last year alone, leaving empty seats at Dinner Tables across the country, and leaving those who survive these heinous acts both physically and mentally scarred. And while we have made progress since the president signed the bipartisan communities, Safer Communities act into law, much more, much more must be done. And the president has been clear that Executive Action alone is just not enough. As the president as the Vice President who oversees the newly established office of gun violence and prevention stated during todays state luncheon, many of you watched very closely as well, and she said it doesnt have to be this way. As our friends in australia have demonstrated. Again, it does not have to be this way. Its within congresss power to pass legislation that will make our streets safer, that will make our communities safer, that will make our schools safer. The house has a new speaker who he said, he said hes ready to get to work and to find Common Ground. Now is the time, now is the time to find Common Ground. Lets Work Together to ban Assault Weapons and high capacity magazines, lets Work Together to enact universal background checks, require safe storage of guns and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous individuals who have no business being armed with a weapon of war. The president will continue to do everything in his power to protect the american people, to protect our communities, protect our children, and we urge, we urge Congressional Republicans to come to the table, to come to the table if there truly is Common Ground at this time. With that, as you all know, i am joined today in the Briefing Room by the director of National Economic council to discuss the gdp report you saw this morning and any other Economic News thats out there. With that, welcome to the briefing for the second time. Sandra we are going to take a quick break from the white house because we are going to go back to the white house, john kirby is expected to take to the podium in a few moments. The State Department, matt miller is briefing right now. Lets dip in here. Information as soon as we had an update, as you know, there have been times we thought the gates were going to open and sent messages to american citizens telling them that it was possible it was going to open and so if they could make it safely there, consider doing so. And each of those times we unfortunately the gate didnt actually open for the reasons i just articulated. So, we are going to stay in touch with them and let them know we are working on it and as soon as we have an update about the them actually being able to make it through the crossing into egypt, we will send that update. Are there any u. S. Officials at the egyptian side of the Rafah Crossing . There are american officials, consular officials, i dont want to give their exact locations, on the ground in egypt, without getting into too much detail from this podium will be able to facilitate the onward journeys of american citizens when we are able to get them through the Rafah Crossing. Just for my understanding, the Rafah Crossings, when the convey moved in, is hamas presence not gates for trucks to go in and out and for people to walk through. Its a different thing. Egyptians are opening their side of the gate. I dont know who is opening the other side of the vehicle gate that these trucks are going through. I would assume its hamas but dont know it for a fact. Its a different Transit Point for people to walk through and there is no one there to open those gates and do the Immigration Processing that needs to happen for people to walk through and make it to the egyptian side. Has the State Department explored using the other Point Of Entry in the Emergency Situations to move trucks out of the area and perhaps grant assistance . We have explored every opportunity, including some we have not discussed here, continue to explore every opportunity. We dont talk about them publicly, because its often not useful, given the Security Situation on the ground but we are pursuing every possible alternative available to get the american citizens out, and will continue to do that. Lastly, those american citizens, you dont have any estimate on how Many Americans in gaza the State Department is in contact with . I dont, its the several hundreds, but a number we are in contact with and dont know how many will choose to leave. We provide information to all of them that have registered with the system, its several hundred, and any given day they make their choices based on their situation whether they want to leave or not. Also on the border crossing, specifically on the issue of getting fuel into gaza, where do we stand with trying to get an agreement on allowing fuel to go in . So, we do think its important that fuel be able to make it into gaza for humanitarian purposes. Obviously the aid workers who are delivering humanitarian assistance through rafah and then onward inside gaza need to be able to need fuel, to advance deliveries. Its important for medical care, desalination, and we are trying to work through a mechanism to ensure that we can get fuel in in a way that would not by diverted so it can be used only for humanitarian purposes. Its one of the things the ambassador, has a lot on his plate, is very much focused on. I dont have an update but something we are trying very hard. What kind of mechanism could it be that would at some point fuel is something that could be diverted once its in there. Is there a third party that could make sure it goes to the hospitals or the places its needed . As with all of these details, because of the subject of some very delicate ongoing discussions, i dont think it would be appropriate for me to talk about the details from here. And just on the issue of, you know, as you said, shipments have been going in, but it seems to be sort of happening very slowly. What is the you know, what is the holdup for, i think its only less than 70 trucks that have been in the last 4 or 5 days. There is some practical considerations we are trying to work through. Chief among them, not only, we need to speed up the Inspection Regime and we are working to do that. A slightly different issue. The president yesterday said he had no confidence whatsoever in the numbers given by the number of palestinians killed in gaza. Hamas is publishing today a list of names, 7,000, i think, people, thats the number given, what credibility at all do you give to that, and how obviously the president did not get into numbers, he said innocent civilians will be killed, but said he had no confidence whatsoever in the numbers. Do you have any numbers from the israeli side or ways to so, i will note just for the record the president also noted we mourn the loss of every civilian life and that includes innocent palestinians who had their lives taken over the course of this conflict and something the secretary has made clear on a number of occasions. But it is true that all the numbers that are provided publicly are provided ultimately by hamas. And so given the way that hamas has misled the public, most recently with respect to the explosion at the hospital last week, that they claimed was an israeli airstrike when our assessment is that is not accurate and we have released information about that, the Israeli Government has released information about that, we dont trust hamas. Now, we dont we dont have any way to make an accurate assessment of our own about the number of civilians who have died in gaza. Theres not an in dependent number, but we have Skepticism Everything Hamas says, with that said, a number of civilians have died. Go ahead, said. Thank you. You said that given the fact on the ground there are no more palestinians that have died what is that number in your view . How point is, we dont have a way of accurately assessing the number. Is it in the thousands . Is it in the thousands . See, there are a number, but i cannot stand here and give you not a United States body, not a united nations, not a credible body in there assessing. Let me just say we know its a significant number of people have died. We mourn the loss of every one of those civilians and why we are doing everything we can to make clear to the israelis they need to operate in a way to minimize civilian harm and doing everything we can to get human humanitarian assistance in. Theres no independent body making assessments. The only organization that can that is currently giving us numbers is hamas and obviously we dont trust hamas. To follow what the president said this is war, and people die, do you have a figure that would be acceptable to push the government of the United States that has a great deal of leverage on israel to say ok, the time has come for a ceasefire. Said, i think you are leaving out the things the president said. He said repeatedly as i just said that we mourn the loss of every civilian life and talked about how in direct conversations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he has made clear that israel needs to operate consistent with International Humanitarian law. We do not want to see one innocent civilian die. Dont want to see them die in israel, dont want to see them die in gaza. The fact is hamas continues to use innocent civilians as human shields. Israel is conducting legitimate Military Operations to take out the Terrorist Group that attacked them on october 7th. They need to do so to minimize civilian harm. Do you believe israel is following the law of war in this case . Looking at that entire neighborhood completely wiped out. Again, as i said, we talked about this, im not able to offer assessment of individual strikes. I will say that our expectation sandra we will continue to monitor the State Department, a lot breaking on the War In The Middle East. John and more statements from official Biden Administration folks that they do not trust the numbers that hamas is putting out when it comes to casualties. Lets swing over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue from the State Department, john kirby and Karine Jeanpierre at the briefing. To see if we can accelerate and increase the flow of humanitarian assistance in. Remains a high focus for him and the National Security team. I do want to, if you allow me to take a couple minutes to update you on the battlefield situation in ukraine. As we have said publicly, russia has launched a renewed offensive in Eastern Ukraine across multiple lines, including around three cities. I spoke about this in a gaggle recently but this offensive was not a surprise. We have been watching this build and come. We warned President Putin still aims to conquer ukraine and we have been working to make sure ukraine has the equipment to defend its territory. Today announced another package of security assistance, which includes air defense capabilities, javelin antitank missiles, more Artillery Ammunition and more ammunition for himars. Ukrainians have been able to hold on and hold on the defense against this offensive, successfully repelling russian tank columns. Since the 11th of october, russia has suffered significant losses in the offensive attempt, including at least 125 Armored Vehicles around the city, and more than a Batallion Worth of equipment. We expect more attacks to come. This is a dynamic conflict and russia still maintains offensive capability and may achieve tactical gains in the coming months. To pursue that income on the battlefield, russia continues to show no regard for the lives of its soldiers. We believe they have suffered thousands of casualties in their effort to conduct this offensive. Some of them on the orders of their own leaders. We have information that the Russian Military has been actually executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders. We also have information that russian commanders are threatening to execute entire units if they seek to retreat from ukrainian artillery fire. Russias mobilized forces remain under trained, under equipped, and unprepared for combat. As was the case during their failed Winter Offensive last year, Russian Military appears to be using what we would call human wave tactics, just throwing masses of these poorly trained soldiers right into the fight, no proper equipment, no leadership, no resource. No support. It is unsurprising that Russian Forces are suffering from poor morale, given all these conditions. Russias renewed attempt at offensive is sobering reminder President Putin is not giving up aspirations, and we have to continue to support the ukrainian people in their selfdefense because his intentions are clear, you heard the president talk about this last week, he basically said that if western weapons to ukraine stop, ukraine would have a week to live. So to ensure that we can continue to do that, its critical that Congress Step up and pass the supplemental request that the president put forward last week, which included a significant amount of resources for ukraine for their selfdefenses, humanitarian and economic needs. Its time now to move forward with that supplemental funding because time clearly is not on our side or on that of ukraine going forward. So with that, take some questions. The president yesterday, john, said he has no confidence in the Death Toll Numbers by hamas in gaza. How did he reach that conclusion . We know the Gaza Ministry of health is a front by hamas, its run by hamas, a terrorist organization. Ive said it myself up here, we cant take anything coming out of hamas, including the socalled ministry of health, at face value. And secondly, the president is talking more about humanitarian pause and reviving the israelipalestinian peace process. Whats prompting this tone shift . Two thoughts here. For one, the president has never backed away or never stopped affirming the need for a twostate solution, since coming into office, working on that hard and i know its a lofty goal and taken a long time to try to get there and we have not got there. He Still Believes as he said yesterday that when this conflict is over, that still has to be the goal we are driving to, a state for palestinians that they can live in peace and security and justice. That is a strategic longterm goal, and a tactical sense, as Secretary Blinken said. We do think there should be consideration made right now for humanitarian pauses. These are localized, temporary, specific pauses on the battlefield so that humanitarian assistance can get in to people that need it or they, the people, can get out of that area in relatively safety. Thats what humanitarian pause is, and we think its an idea worth exploring. Just to follow up about the president s lack of confidence in the numbers out of gaza right now, as you note, Gaza Health Ministry is run by hamas. To be clear, the president and the white house, you dont dispute that thousands of palestinians, many of them innocent civilians, have been killed by israeli strikes so far, do you . Of course not. We absolutely know that the death toll continues to rise in gaza, of course, we know that. But what we are saying is that we shouldnt rely on numbers put forth by hamas and the ministry of health. If they say its more than 7,000, any way to assess how many it is . The president said it was a dramatic moment he said we dont have confidence in that. We suspect you cant take hamas at its word but appears by all independent journalism that thousands of palestinians has been killed. We would not dispute that. Let me ask, is the white house satisfied that israel to this point has obeyed the laws of war, rules of war as the president has indicated and is israel and the white house view doing enough to this point to protect innocent lives . Again, we are not going to react in realtime to events unfolding on the battlefield in every allegation and every strike. We are not going to do that. The war completed have an assessment. We have been in contact search with our israeli counterparts to ask them the hard questions we want them to ask themselves and to reiterate as the president said yesterday, reiterate that there is an added burden here on israel to make sure they are doing everything they can to minimize civilian casualties, and we are in constant communication about that. John, to follow up, does the president have faith in the numbers released by the west Bank Ministry of health, run by palestinian authority, it has been more than 100 west Bank Palestinians killed i know of no dispute with the rough numbers out of there. Theres been quite a bit of violence in the west bank as well. Obviously the casualties are nowhere near the numbers that we are seeing coming out of gaza. Can i just follow up on the meeting between Jake Sullivan and rohid, will the president join the meeting, what kind of role can the that was like seven more questions. Mr. Sullivan is looking forward to this discussion, hes going to start out with meeting Secretary Blinken later this afternoon and tomorrow with jake here at the white house, and its a chance to continue the conversation that jake himself has had with our prc counterparts now for many, many months. Its another its another milestone in that effort to keep the lines of communication open with the prc. Now, it will be an opportunity for mr. Sullivan to obviously address areas of concern that we continue to have with some of the prc behavior, particularly in the south china sea, but also an opportunity to explore ways in which we can continue to keep these channels open and to try to get open the military to military Channel Communication which is still closed. On the gaza chinas role in the conflict im sorry, i have no doubt that part of this discussion and the agenda will be whats going on in the middle east and getting the chinese perspective and certainly looking for ways to encourage them to be helpful. John, the Florida Governor says the state is sending weapons and drones to israel at the request of the consulate in miami. Have you been coordinating with the florida government on this, and can states just send weapons and other material to foreign states . I would certainly let the governor speak to what florida is doing. It is not illegal for the governor of a state to offer a measure of foreign assistance to another country. There are there are laws and regulations which govern how the Export Process is handled, and thats all done through commerce. I couldnt speak with authority today about whether the governor has checked all those boxes or not. You should talk to him and his staff. Its not illegal for a State Governor to do that kind of thing. Quick followup regarding the death toll out of the hamasrun Health Ministry in gaza. Do you have any sense you acknowledge thousands have died in gaza. Do you have any sense of the percentage of those that are hamas militants versus civilians . I do not. More than 30 Service Members have been killed in attacks in iraq and syria, is the u. S. Ready for a War In The Middle East . Killed injured, injured. Ill let the pentagon speak, my understanding the troops back on duty and somewhat we call traumatic brain injury, the concussive effect when the rockets land close by and sometimes takes a while for the symptoms to manifest themselves. The numbers, i refer you to the pentagon. I suspect they could change over time. As the president said yesterday, we have troops in iraq and syria there on a very important mission, going after isis, viable mission, its a group that poses a threat. And they have in the past come under attack by some of these Militia Groups and you might recall back in march, we responded and retaliated pretty aggressively and the president said we are going to do what we have to do to protect those troops in our facilities. Now, what we decide to do as Commander In Chief, thats his decision to make. And hell make it in a time and manner of his own choosing. The u. S. And israel have said hamas is using palestinians as human shields. Is it acceptable that israelis are attacking places, even though they know civilians would likely be killed and are these strikes strategic or targeted enough. I will let the Israeli Defense forces speak to their operations and their targeting procedures. We are not involved in that. They have a right and a responsibility to go after hamas after what happened on october 7th. And we have said, as i just mentioned to peter, we have obviously had conversations with them about, and the president said yesterday, the need to be to be careful about causing civilian casualties and to be targeting hamas leaders in a way that minimizes risk to civilians and to collateral damage. You mentioned the idea of a humanitarian pause a little earlier. Did the president raise that with netanyahu when they spoke yesterday . I wont go beyond the readout. When we talk about a humanitarian pause, can you fill out a little bit more of what the u. S. Believes that would look like . How long would that last, would it be like a cessation of the bombing, would it be a halt in some of the cross Border Incursion we saw that yesterday or earlier today. Would it just be halt in the cross war incursions. Israeli sent tanks over the border briefly yesterday. Would it be a halt in the bombing, what would it look like and how long would it last . Not going to be a satisfying answer to you but the answer is it depends. Humanitarian pause by definition, like i said, a temporary and local agreement to stop the fighting long enough to do a discreet task. In this case, it would be to get humanitarian assistance in and or to allow people to get out. Hamas is not they are not encouraging and in some cases not allowing people to leave their homes. So it could be, i mean, kevin, it could be a matter of hours, it could be a matter of days, i mean it is by definition of short duration and geographically sort of a localized area. Now, it could also be more than one spot, right. What i mean it depends. We think its a valuable idea worth looking at to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in gaza. And did you have an