it is guilty party number 1 for all the massacres today and in the past. it is the united states directing the war in gaza. it must pay the price for its occupation and crimes in iraq, syria an palestine. >> neil: that doesn't sound promising. the leader of hezbollah lashing out. warning that americans will pay the price he says. former defense secretary mark esper here on how the u.s. should respond. welcome, everybody. i'm neil cavuto. we'll be hearing from the president of the united states. he's in lewiston, maine to recognize those that lost their lives in that mass shooting. let's go to steve harrigan where hezbollah has all of that strong firepower and from which the leader of hezbollah is making these inflammatory remarks. steve? >> hezbollah fighters are two miles away and firing daily. there's a lot of fear here about what nazrallah might say today. would he try to launch a second all-out front against israel using hezbollah's powerful long range guided missiles. that is not the case so far. instead, he said the operation against israel, the attack was a palestinian operation. he also said that hezbollah is doing its part to help. mainly by tying up israeli forces here in the north. >> the operations forced the enemy to maintain forces on the northern border, particularly some elite forces that they wanted to move from the west bank to gaza. >> the talk from hezbollah has been tough and remains tough. the actions still remain limited. much of the fighting is cross border skirmishes. two miles back and forth on the border, about 60 hezbollah fighters killed so far in the fighting. but for people that live in places like shimona, that's little consolation. rockets hitting daily. further escalation from hezbollah is possible. they say it depends on the situation in gaza and of course all across the north here, israeli forces remain on high alert. back to you, neil. >> neil: be safe, steve. i want to take you to the president of the united states. he's in lewiston, maine remembering the 18 people shot and killed. we're expecting him to comment on what's going on in israeli. benjamin netanyahu said there will be no temporary cease fire without a return of hostages, rebuffing pressure coming from the white house to offer humanitarian pauses, again, the president of the united states. >> no pain is the same. we know what it's like to lose a piece of our soul. the depths of loss is so profound. some of us have been there. 18 precious souls stolen. 13 wounded. children, grandchildren, spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents. bowling coaches, union workers. beloved members, friends of the hard of hearing community. all of them live lives of love and service and sacrifice. we also remember the survivors that forever carry the memories of the physical and emotional scars of this. they should be embraced. i know you will. i know you do. you know, as we mourned today in main, this tragedy opens a painful, painful wounds all across the country. too many americans have lost loved ones or survived trauma of gun violence. i know because jill and i have met with them in buffalo and uvalde, monterey park, sandy hook. anyway, too many to count. too many to count. from places that never make the news, all across america. it's about bringing people together. different voices, perspectives. for an honest conversation on what is a long road to recovery. you know, i've been at this a long time. i know consensus is only possible. this is about common sense. reasonable, responsible measures to protect our children, our families, our communities. because regardless of our politics, this is about protecting our freedom to go to a bowling alley, a restaurant, a school a church without being shot and killed. let me close with this. scripture says the record is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. saves the crushed in spirit. our prayer is that the crushed in spirit survived this more rapidly than otherwise. you know, as we gather here today, we me your hearts are broken. because -- be we also know your spirits are strong. the way this community has come together, the way this state has come together. it's been a marvel for the rest of the country. so god bless those we lost, those that have been wounded, may god bless the first responders as well. i told the nurses and docs in there's any angels in heaven, it's the docs and nurses. they make you want to live. thank you, thank you. now i'd like to invite senator collins to come up and say a few words as well. senator? >> thank you very much, mr. president. i have been asked to remind the cameras to include our interpreter in your shots so that others who are watching will be able to follow what's going on. first, let me express my deep gratitude to the president and the first lady for being here. it means so much to this community and to the entire state of maine. i also want to thank our first responders who are there behind us and all of the federal, state and local officials who have responded to this heinous killings. october 7 is a day that is seared in our memories. a day of horror and grief. but also a day of courage and compassion. to the families of those who lost loved ones, i offer this proverb. death leaves a heart ache that no one can heal. love leaves a memory that no one can steal. in their memory, let us continue to support those who have lost loved ones, those who are injured, those who are recovering. as they grieve, let them know that we are with them. and let us ensure that what makes lewiston and all the communities in this close knit area so special continues. lewis on the strong. to my friends in the deaf comm community, stay strong. >> it is fitting that a president who has known the depths of personal grief has come to main and lewiston to share the grief of our families and our state. i want to thank him and the first lady for making this journey. there's little that we can say or do to ease the pain of a tragedy like this. but we have to start by acknowledging it. and committing ourselves to the sacred duty of remembering those who we have lost. and today is about remembrance. i've said for years that maine is a big small town with very long streets. we know each other. we care about each other. we're an old fashioned community. and that's why this tragedy has hit us so hard. what happened last week was a tear in the fabric of that community. but it will heal. it will heal. as we come together in respect, in remembrance and in love. god bless those we have lost and those that they left behind. god bless the state of maine. >> i too want to add my thanks to the president and the first lady for making the trip to maine. i know how much it means to lewiston and maine people. frankly, no one is better than this president at comforting someone, telling them that i vents you'lly it will be better, at letting them talk about the family member that they lost. we're so grateful that you took the time to be here with all of us. i want to add my thanks to the first responders that were there, to the law enforcement who conducted a massive search many a very difficult moment in time, to all the doctors and nurses at the hospital. i'm sorry my colleague jared couldn't join us today. i want you to know when he and i went back to washington this week, we were instantly embraced by our colleagues from all over the country. some sharing stories of the shootings that happened in their districts. all of them saying that they had been watching what had been going on in maine every second of the way. they were there to help us and support our state. last night jared red a beautiful tribute on the floor, the delegation of two from maine and the maine house of representatives. he did a wonderful tribute to his home community, the lives lost, to what we need to do moving forward. i'm pleased to be here with you. i don't live in lewiston. i represent half of the state of maine. when you live in maine, it feels not only like a small town but each one of us lives in a community where you drop your kids off at the bowling alley or go somewhere for a beer or feel this level of comfort knowing that you'll be safe. that safety was shattered. we can't let that happen again. thanks, mr. president, for being here with us, the first lady. you've brought us so much comfort and means so much to our state. president biden, dr. biden, on behalf of the people of lewiston and the people of maine, thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming here today. we're enduring unfathomable pain from the families of those tragically taken from us, to those injured, to all of the people in lewiston and all the people of maine. all of this darkness, i believe there's light. i believe there is hope. i see it in the people of lewiston, a people who are as resilient are that as kind, are that as strong as compassionate. that hope, that love is all around us today. it is in every blue heart and every window. it is in every ribbon tied on every telephone pole. it's in every thank you card written by every volunteer. it's in every small act of kindness. it's the love that is in our hearts for one another. today, we honor the louives of e 18 beloved people we lost and grieve with their families. we wrap our arms and those injured and we give unending gratitude to the law enforcement officers and our healthcare professionals whose heroic actions saved lives. mr. president, in this difficult time, we take comfort and solace in knowing that the entire nation stands with lewiston and with maine. we feel the warmth of your visit and the strength of your unwaivering support for our state. and we see love and hope in the future as difficult as that may be. we put one foot forward in front of the other. we know the road to healing will be long and tough, but we will heal together. thank you and may god bless the people of lewiston, the people of the great state of maine and the united states of america. thank you. ♪ >> neil: what a sad moment here. the president of the united states remembering the tragedy of october 25, nine days ago, when robert card, an army reservist had a numb of mental issues, shot and killed 18 people, wounded about a dozen others. all of those others are expected to recover. molly line in lewiston, maine. molly, we see this play out quite afternoon where a president has another crucial role as consoler in chief. this is something that we see fairly and tragically often. the town was hopeful ahead of his visit. i wonder if this offers any sort of closure for them now. >> as you mentioned, neil, it's been a somber journey. president biden and the first lady, jill biden arriving today. they're making several stops throughout this devastated stu of lewiston, maine where as you mentioned the shooting occurring a little over a week ago. they first stopped at the location of the bar and grill. laid flowers there. that's the site of two mass shootings. and then they just arrived at the just in time recreation and bowling alley where they can see the outpouring of love and loss here in this community, the memorials, the flowers and messages that line the street here and throughout the city. 18 people brutally killed by the gunman last week. the president in the wake of these losses talked about how americans shouldn't have to live like this. he urged republicans to protect the people. he called for safe gun storage requirements and an end to an immunity to gun manufacturers. here on the ground, speaking before the people and working to comfort the first responders and many family members of the victims, he didn't get quite as much in to specifics. he said i know consensus is not only possible but this is about common sense. reasonable, responsible measures to protect our children, our families and communities. regardless of our politics, this is about protecting our freedom to go to a bowling alley, restaurant or church without being shot and killed. he also talked about the challenges, the broken hearts and the healing in the days to come. talked a little bit about scripture. he also praised this community for its strength and looking ahead saying it's been a marvel to the rest of the country to god bless those lost and god bless those wounded. the calls for reform are coming in the wake of what we know about this investigation. a lot of the focus is on the mental health of the man that police named as the shooter, the gunman of the investigation. so there will be more to discuss in the coming weeks and years ahead. back to you. >> neil: thanks, molly. we are patching together and piecing together some details that maybe we're not readily available after the shootings of the days following those shootings. no indication that any documents were made available to local police officials, but we know the family itself of robert card had notified at least the sheriff's deputy in that community back in may that he had become very angry. was starting to get increasingly paranoid. they began to claim that he was wrongly, the family said, being accused of all sorts of things. many in his imagination. they thought it was serious to let local authorities know. that was back then. again, a lot we're piecing together. it's easy to play monday morning quarterback. i do want the raise this with nicole parker, the former fbi special agent. there were a number of missed warning signs. that often happens, nicole. what do you make of some of these latest revelations? >> you know, as a prior law enforcement officer, i want to be careful. i'm sure there's an ongoing investigation. i'm not privy to all of the information. when you look at special like this as a special agent that has responded to mass shootings, it's horrific and tragic for these families and the loves ones of the victims. it's importants for law enforcement and all involved to go back and check and so see where could we have handled this differently. how could this have been handled differently. the warnings, if you see something, say something. in this instance, many people heard things and spoke up and reported things to law enforcement. between the military actions and law enforcement actions, something slipped through the cracks, this individual was suffering from mental health issues and shouldn't have been in position of those firearms. >> neil: that depends if that information gets to local gun shops. oftentimes it does not. there's laws in the books for this sort of thing. people talk about other laws. we can debate that forever. but there were laws in place and are laws in place to address this sort of thing. communicate and share information like this. now, we don't know all the details to your point, nicole, but we know it wasn't shared with people that should have known. so what to make of that? >> well, again, in is very complicated. in the state of maine, they have the yellow flag laws. in florida, they have the red flag laws. in maine, this individual card was not deemed as being mentally incompetent by a medical professional. that wouldn't have triggered the yellow flag laws. they did local welfare checks with this individual. there's many things that will be looked at behind the scenes in this investigation. americans do deserve to go out. they deserve to be safe. as someone who has responded to these, this community will likely never heal. i feel very similarly here in parkland. the darkness, the tragedy, the loss. people move on, but i can tell you the victim's families don't move on. we have to be respectful of that. aim appreciative of law enforcement, the first responders that handled this. it's fair for people to say how could this have been handled differently. >> martha: thanks, nicole parker. our other big story remains what is happening half a world away in israel. we had a long rambling speech from the leader of hezbollah. more or less saying, we think what happened on october 7 was a good thing. we think it's something that we fully support and fully support hamas. but they did cite going back to that that that was a hamas operation. having said all of that, it comes at the same time where there's growing pressure on benjamin netanyahu, not necessarily the cease all fire but to have a temporary opportunity where you have the cease fire without it escalating beyond a couple days. he's apparently rejected that saying that there will be no temporary cries fear without the return of hostages. since that does not appear to be in the offering, we're getting confirmation that israel expects to go full throttle on this attack on gaza. with the very latest from israel with mike tobin. mike? >> neil, let me start you out with an incident that is catching fire on social media in the arab channels. an israeli strike open an ambulance in front of the hospital in gaza. the ambulance was struck. 15 people are dead. the idf says that the ambulance was struck because hamas fighters were in it. they say the hamas will use the ambulances as cover and use the ambulances as mobile units. it happens as you mentioned, secretary state antony blinken was in the area. not seeing eye to eye with israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. blinken is stressing the need for humanitarian aid and getting using humanitarian pauses in the fighting to do that. >> we are absolutely focused on getting hostages back and getting them back to their families safely. we believe among other things a humanitarian pause could help that effort. >> i made it clear that we're going with full steam ahead. israel refuses any temporary cease fire that does not involved the release of the kidnapped israelis. >> from our vantage point here, we watched a prolonged battle yesterday in the northeast corner of the gaza strip. as the smoke cleared today, israel said they seized a number of weapons, fighting positions, anti-tank weapons and machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. they also got a tunnel there. they neutralized the tunnel. something that they have to do time and time again. they want to do combat with the tunnel system underneath gaza city. it has the nickname the metro. the u.s. pentagon has sid that u.s. military drones are in use over the gaza strip. they're not armed, these drones. they're to spot things on the grounds and aid in the effort to get the hostages free. neil, back to you. >> neil: thanks, mike. be safe. meantime, here, this was a surreal day. we heard from one of the top honchos of hezbollah. some of the comments that he made shook those in the community that support hamas. saying in a televised address that the october 7th assault was 100% palestinian, that it was something that was justified and needed. but he went on to make inflammatory comments that got attention worldwide. >> victory for gaza, victory for the palestinian resistance in gaza and for hamas in particular to be victorious in gaza. >> neil: all right. victory in gaza. going on to say, by the way, they're not deterred by any of the u.s. warnings. says we're not going to concern ourselves with warnings. making it very clear that things would stay that way. this follows 1 1/2 weeks after this photo was taken showing leaders of not only the hezbollah movement but hamas and others. in the old days, they would be hiding in caves. this way they go out in public, make televised addressed. in that case, showing world that they're in contact with one another. and no fear of being fingered for being public exposed. they welcome it. major general dana batard. the combination of that photo a little over a week ago and this latest address, if you can call it that, but a top honcho in hezbollah shows no fear of being exposed. in fact, quite the opposite. >> good evening, neil. i think with the leader of hezbollah, it's what he didn't say that is really important. i mean, he did a lot of bold talking, everything else. but what he didn't say is that hezbollah is going to be attacking israel. opening up another front. that is what hamas wanted. that's what some others wanted in the palestinian movement. but he's not going to do that. so i think that's very important to understand that. >> neil: he didn't say he wasn't going to do that. all possibilities on the lebanese front, that's where hezbollah is concentrated and they're open now. that americans have to pay. now, this is threatening language. i get that, general. but it's not as if hezbollah has been just sitting on its hands as this is going on. they hit israel with rockets, many of which deflected. it's a player to the north and being stirred up in the north. do you worry with iran's backing that that will get more agitated? >> we should always be concerned about that. hezbollah attacked israel in 2006. and came out the worse for it. even though at the very end of 2006, they were still launching rockets in israel. they were so bruised after that. don't think they want to do that again. however, they're being pushed to try to pin down as many israeli forces as possible in the north to take presentation sure off of gaza and gaza city. but the true problem is their bakers, iran. iran is the center of this. iran as far as funding, backing of hezbollah, islamic jihad, hamas and others, that's where we need to put pressure on is iran. >> neil: when we talk about putting pressure on iran, we go after their proxies and shoot a tent in the middle of a syrian dessert. i'm not being flippant about it. but there's never a target on iran itself. so if i'm iran and i know that all right, they're going after our proxies, the people we pay to do these things, fine. they're not going after us. they won't because they're afraid of escalating in the world. we don't have to worry about that. so should our strategy be more targeted at iran itself? i understand the risks. but if iran understands that we're not taking that risk, then they're going to keep doing this, right? they've had 28 such attacks on u.s. soldiers in the last week. >> i understand what you're saying on that. there's options short of attacking iran itself. there are places where the iranian guards irgc are located in syria and iraq. those could be targeted. we have not necessarily targeted those with iranian personnel there. that's something that we can do if we needed to escalate and send iran a message. >> neil: real quickly, sir, benjamin netanyahu is dead set even a temporary cease fire without the return of hostages. further more, he's rebucked pressure for the humanitarian pauses. that they won't happen. what do you think of that? >> i understand his position on that. couple things. one is there is momentum and up tempo with his forces. his forces are moving in deliberate manner to encircle city and will eventually move in. that's one. the other is the position of not wanting to do any kind of pause until hamas releases the hostages or starts releasing more hostages. that is amazing leverage to be able to do to possibly get back some hostages. >> neil: general, we'll watch what happens. we're going to take a quick break. following the markets this week. that might seem like a disconnect. they were up across the board, sprinting ahead 5 to 6% each. largely on the belief that interest rates are coming down, maybe this war does not erupt to what i'd did it 50 years ago. very different times back then. i always stress this, it's a big disconnect what happened 50 years ago in the yom kippur war. many of you will remember that led to an embargo, long gas lines and the united arab world against the u.s. not that way today. more after this. ♪ it takes two to make it outta sight ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a thing go right ♪ ♪ it takes two to make it outta sight ♪ ♪ one, two, get loose now ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ 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(feedback rings) have a choice in how you invest with schwab. >> neil: all right. it's all about getting people out and aid in. rafah barreder right now coordinating with egypt and qatar to try to find a middle ground to make sure the right people get out that do get out and not the wrong people. that would mainly be hamas militants. alex hogan has the very latest. alex? >> hi, neil. the u.s. secretary state antony blinken is in jordan. he was in tel aviv speaking to a small group of journalists about what the u.s. objectives are in this conflict. he said there's about four of those, the main ones are making sure that civilians are protected in gaza to bring in enough humanitarian gaza, bringing home the hostages and also one of the big ones is preventing this spill-out elsewhere. he said those words are being put in to action. >> the deployment of two air craft carrier battle groups to the region including with action that we've taken, for example, against missiles coming from yemen in the direction of israel, shooting them down and including as well with strikes that we took in response to multiple attacks on our personnel in iraq and syria. >> as the idf presses forward in gaza, the military says in the last day they took out infrastructure above and below ground constantly gathering as much intelligence as possible with the air force standing by ready to take out those targets. as all of this takes place, international organizations are warning about the devastating and deteriorating conditions for civilians that are still caught in the middle. in terms of what comes next, in today's press conference, blinken said that hamas needs to be defeated physically but also in the idea of it adding that people in gaza will need a better future or all of this will create more alienation. as far as americans who are there in gaza, the white house says as many as 100 u.s. citizens and their family mens managed to get out of gaza today and about 100 trucks carrying aid managed to go the opposite direction back in to gaza to deliver that much-needed relief. neil? >> neil: you're there, alex. i'm curious. how do you make sure that the people who are getting out are not the bad guys that had them trapped in. hamas would love to go to egypt or what have you but have been stopped by egypt. how are they policing that? >> that's part of the main reason that we have seen such a delay against some american citizens that have been there. the last 25 days, they have been stuck, unable to get out despite conversations with the state department, this is a very difficult security question for egypt, for palestine, for israel, all of the surrounding countries. on on the of egypt not taking as many refugees as we have seen in other conflicts. remember, poland took in millions of refugees when the war between russia and ukraine broke out. it's a very delicate dance. all of these partners are trying to have these conversations. part of the reason that blinken was here, having the difficult security conversations and what will see again. 100 u.s. citizens managing to get out today. it's a very specific protocol for what will take place in the hours and days to come. you can't show up to the rafah crossing. every person will get this specific time and place when they will be able to leave. as far as people that are not u.s. citizens, a lot of questions about that. neil? >> neil: thanks, alex. be safe. alex hogan in tel aviv. much has been said about egypt and setting up this rafah corridor, but a lot of this was orchestrated by qatar. a lot of people working along with qatar in our government and thanking them for their role in playing a mediator a middleman. governor doug burgum has a different view of qatar's role in this and it's not a good one. he will explain after this. known for loving the outdoors. known for getting everyone together. no one wants to be known for cancer, but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to treat cancer. fda-approved for 16 types of cancer, including certain early-stage cancers. one of those cancers is triple-negative breast cancer. keytruda may be used with chemotherapy medicines as treatment before surgery and then continued alone after surgery when you have early-stage breast cancer and are at high risk of it coming back. keytruda can cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body during or after treatment. this may be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, severe nausea or vomiting, headache, light sensitivity, eye problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme tiredness, constipation, dizziness or fainting, changes in appetite, thirst, or urine, confusion, memory problems, muscle pain or weakness, fever, rash, itching, or flushing. there may be other side effects. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including immune system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, received chest radiation, or have a nervous system problem. keytruda is an immunotherapy and is also being studied in hundreds of clinical trials, exploring ways to treat even more types of cancer. it's tru. keytruda from merck. see all the types of cancer keytruda is known for at keytruda.com, and ask your doctor if keytruda could be right for you. businesses need 5g solutions today. that's why they choose t-mobile for business. las vegas grand prix chose t-mobile to help power operations for one of the world's largest racing events. mlb partners with t-mobile to advance how the game is played. and t-mobile's network helps aaa stay connected nationwide... to get their members back on the road. now's the time to see what america's largest and fastest 5g network can do for your business. 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>> oh, jeez, peter. let's take a step back and look at this. >> they're a terrorist group that killed americans in the last month. >> peter, qatar has been helpful in getting those americans out. i'm sure you'd agree with me and everybody here in your network would agree that getting american hostages out is a good thing. qatar was a key player in that regard. >> neil: so john kirby, clearly does not agree with the tone or the question from peter doocy. my next guest does. that it's a legitimate concern that qatar is not a mediator or savior here. they're anything butt. doug burgum with us now. very good to have you. you share this distrust of qatar and whether their intentions are all good. >> neil, thanks for having me on. but yes, just because we have open lines of communication with someone and because they say the switzerland or the middle east doesn't mean they're our ally. when you take a look at their track record, the last decades they pushed over $1.5 billion in gaza in support of hamas. 80% of that has gone to the hamas organization, not to humanitarian or serving the people trapped in gaza. and then you take a look at this hostage. praising him right now. there's 240 hostages, four have been released. we're supposed to price them for that? they're housing the leaders of hamas. it's 20 miles away from our largest air base in the middle east. so of course, they have also been supporting iran. this is -- the biden administration, it falls on them. it's not just all on qatar. the biden administration will send tens of billions and lift sanctions on iran. it's a mixed signal. who are we support something biden is funding both sides of this war because he's been funding iran and iran is funding hamas. >> neil: i understand where you're coming from. no disrespect. we've had a nefarious and questionable relationship with qatar going back in administrations. having said that, would you not then work with qatar -- they're the best chance you have of getting americans out of gaza. >> as you say, neil, they do have a great dependence on us. the air because is a huge protection of security for them. the amount of dollars our country puts in. if we're negotiating from our strengths in this position, we should be saying, you know, qatar, do your airways, do you want to be flying to the united states? do you want to have full diplomatic relations and a full commission relationship with us? we need to see something more than two americans out of this. we should be escalating the pressure up. >> neil: you're disappointing in whatever conversations we've had. so two americans right now. there's hope that a half a dozen more could follow. that's not enough to justify even communicating with them? >> i think the communication ought to be hey, we need to see americans being released or things are going to change in our relationship. they have a sweet relationship with us and funding hamas. now with this attack that hamas has had on israel, things have to change, this biden administration is acting like it's business as usual. because we got their phone number, doesn't mean they're our ally in this situation. >> neil: do you support the israel aid package that the house backed? the senate has something grander working to provide to ukraine as well. where are you on that? >> well, we need to support our allies. this is clear. it doesn't matter where in the world that is. the biden administration is basically got a set of energy policies. we've lifted the sanctions on iran. that's tens of billions -- >> neil: i'm sorry, sir. it's not what i asked. would you support the israel only aid or widening it in to ukraine? the white house wants that. where are you? >> neil, you're ask ago question. where should the u.s. dollars go. what i'm saying, if the biden administration is supporting an aid package where we sends our taxpayer dollars to support israel but at the same time we're not enforcing sanctions which are given even more money to i ran, that makes no sense. we have to figure out which side we're funding. can't fund both. you can't separate an aids package from the sanctions which are driving tens of billions to our enemies. >> neil: would you aid ukraine in this environment with the priority of many of your colleagues on israel. >> well, we have the ability -- this is not a question of israel versus ukraine versus the u.s. southern border. this is a yes of are we going to leave in a world of appeasement under the biden administration where we concede to russia, concede to iran and china, taiwan. is that the world we want to live in? >> neil: governor, i mean no offense. you answered my question. where are you on this? many are interpreting that there's a division among republicans and by the way, there's a division among democrats, too, on who you prioritize when it comes to immediate aid. >> you're asking a question that the congress is asking itself. i'm not in congress. >> neil: you want to be president of the united states. >> i want to be president of the united states, of course. when i'm your president, we would have this clarity. we won't be spending trillions trying to push a green agenda and then saying we don't have much the money to support our allies and secure the border. we can do it all, neil. this is not a trade off. we can support our allies. right now if we abandon our allies right now, americans will be less safe and less prosperous. the president of the united states, your job is to make america safer, make america more prosperous. the way to do that is support our allies. >> neil: thanks, governor. the former defense secretary of the united states under donald trump. dr. mark esper. i'd like to pick up on that theme with you. there's been a great divide here among republicans as to who you help and when. you know the house israel package is dead on arrival in the senate. so what should the policy be? >> neil, we should pass the comprehensive package, the $105 billion or so that would provide aid to israel, ukraine and taiwan and the southwest border. they're all related. iran is supporting hamas and hezbollah and also russia and ukraine. there's a china involvement here as well. they're all interrelated. we should provide the funding. it's important not just to help our allies and partners but also helpful in terms of supporting countries that face threats, dangerous threats from their neighbors and it's our -- expresses our willingness to stand up to dictators, whether it's president xi or putin or the ayatollah. >> we heard from one of the top honchos of hezbollah. >> he said all possibilities of the lebanese front are open. that's where hezbollah is concentrated. he went on to say americans have to pay. some have interpreted it that we would do it from there. they might already be here waiting to do that. what do you think? >> clearly he's making the statements, but yet hezbollah is not fully committed to the fight. there's been this back and forth over the border with north israel, southern lebanon. i believe that if hezbollah gets involved in a major way, launching its rockets and missiles, the united states will get involved. we have to get involved based on our forces and the rhetoric coming out of the biden administration. when you get to the border, we've had three years of illegal crosses. 2.5 million people at this point in time. we know hundreds and hundreds are from watch countries, over 650 from iran alone. hundreds from syria and lebanon. these are all countries that host and support hamas and hezbollah. so look, i'm very concerned. i think fbi directeder chris wray speak about this on the hill. the fact is we have no control over our borders. we don't know who is coming in. that's a big problem. >> neil: secretary, benjamin netanyahu says there's no temporary cease fire without a return of the hostages. he's rebuffing clear pressure from the white house to at least look at a humanitarian pause, to do that. what do you think of that? >> well, look, the first war crime that was committed was october 7, which was the slaughter of innocent israelis, men, women, children, the olderly. you name it. horrific, right? the second war crime is when the hamas terrorists pulled innocent civilians. now we know numbering over 240 and took them hostage. yet that seems to be forgotten oftentimes in the narrative out there. so look, i -- i can accept a very ordinarily tailored pause if israel knew that they would get something specific out of it to have a pause for no reasons makes no sense to me. any pause, whether it's in israel's benefit ultimate or not, benefits certainly hamas. >> it allows them to chance to refit, regroup, rearm and replan attacks against israel. so netanyahu is in the right place here. it's not unreasonable to ask that the hostages be released and that that be dean during a pause, the physical exchange. i wouldn't pause to have more talks. this has been going on for 3 1/2 weeks. these hostages should have never been taken in the first place. they should have been released a long time ago. as should have been, by the way, americans allowed to transit out of southern gaza through the rafah crossing. that's also been presented by hamas. we have to keep there in mind >> neil: do you think hamas operatives are planning an attack on this country? >> i don't know. we know hamas is in this country. they could be directed, they could be inspired. i think we have to have confidence that law enforcement, local all the way up to fbi is on top of this. i think it's a real threat, particularly when you see what's happening on campuses. the threats being made all across the country. frankly, i think this war is not going to get worse but it's going to get really bad. that might incite some of these people to take action to lash out. anti-semitism is up 400%. again, fbi director wray said, this is religious hate, talk, speech, crimes. 60% is perpetrated about 2.5% of the population, which is jewish. it's terrible, tragic. i'm concerned that at some point in time this could get violent as the situation in the mid least gets worse. >> neil: doctor, secretary, thanks very much. >> thanks, neil. >> neil: mark esper. i want to go to c.b. cotton. as he alluded to the friction and the hatred will be play out, anti-semitism and you name it, big planned rallies in washington d.c., but across the country, maybe across the world. c.b. has more. hey, c.b. >> hi, neil. pro palestinian and cease fire rallies are continuing a cross the country. this one happening in philly yesterday. hundreds of people taking over the 30th street station bringing it to a standstill. some protesters detained by police after refusing to move. similar rallies erupting on college campuses. a video surfacing this week appears to show a harvard jewish student. you can see him surrounded by half a dozen demonstrators holding scarves, blocking his movements and shouting shame over and over. a source confirming to fox, there's an active fbi investigation. meanwhile, the harvard student paper says the confrontation started when the jewish student began filming people. late last month, harvard's president denounced anti-semitism during a dinner with jewish students and denounced the creation of an advisory board to tackle anti-semitism. neil, just last night here in new york city, we saw the israeli flag burned and israeli hostage flyers ripped down during a pro palestinian rally in midtown manhattan. tens of thousands are expected to rally for a pro palestinian rally. back to you. >> neil: a lot of times you worry with these rallies that they turn violent and people don't leave and block roads. that was happening in philadelphia last night. is there any beefed up police protection as a result of some of these cities where they were caught flat footed? >> absolutely, neil. we know that police agencies and several major metropolitan cities continue at a high alert. they continue the messaging there's no credible threats but it's important for police to be at transit areas, houses of worship to make sure people feel safe. we know that new york city has the largest jewish pop you outside israel and tensions are heightended. we can expect to see beefed up police presence. >> neil: i look forward to your coverage on that. you get the big picture. c.b., thank you. to her point here, those rallies, protests, whatever you want to call them will be massive. the one in washington is kicking off tomorrow could have more than 100,000. we'll be watching it tomorrow. my live saturday show we'll be exploring that with former top secretaries of state and others to weigh-in on the significance of what is happening here. it's sort of a powder keg. that you often here. see you tomorrow.