good morning. i m phil mattingly with erica hill in new york. poppy is a off today. right now secretary of state antony blinken is back in a war zone in israel. diplomatic source telling cnn he is pushing for a pause in the fighting to allow mediation as civilian deaths and suffering mount in gaza. he spoke moments ago before his meeting with israel s president. we stand strongly for the proposition that israel has not only the right, but the obligation to defend itself and to do everything possible to make sure that this october 7th can never happen again. how israel does this matters, and it is very important that when it comes to the protection of civilians who are caught in a crossfire of hamas making, that everything be done to protect them and to bring assistance to those who so desperately need it. the israeli president in those comments also insisted israel has followed international law and that went through the numbers even in terms of the warnings that had bee