u.s. secretary of state antony blinken speaking moments ago during an unannounced trip to iraq as he continues his high-stakes trip through the middle east as the israel-hamas war intensifies. here is what he had to say. we just finished meetings here in bagdad. we started with a briefing for our entire team at the embassy about the security situation. as you know, there have been a series of attacks directed at our personnel, both in iraq as well as in syria. job number one for me is to ensure the security of our people. so i got an update on everything we re doing to make sure our personnel are safe and secure. in addition, i had a good, productive, candid meeting with the prime minister. there were two areas of focus. the first was to reaffirm our commitment to our partnership with iraq. we ve made tremendous progress with iraq in recent years, particularly working with the iraqi government on everything from economic reform, to energy independence, helping to strengthen
it s the top of the hour. i m boris sanchez with jessica dean in washington, d.c. we have new video just into cnn, and we should warn you it is graphic and disturbing. so if you need to, it may be best to turn away now. it shows dozens of casualties near a hospital in gaza. we re seeing at least a dozen bloodied bodies strewn across the ground near an ambulance. the escalating humanitarian crisis in gaza, a main focus as america s top diplomat returns to the middle east. the secretary of state antony blinken today pressing israel for a pause in the fighting with hamas as the war now enters its fifth week and international condemnation grows. we need to do more to protect palestinian civilians. we have been clear that as israel conducts this campaign to defeat hamas, how it does so matters. it matters because it s the right and lawful thing to do. it matters because failure to do so plays into the hands of hamas, and other terror groups. now while blinken was speaking, the
erin? jeff, thank you very much.. and thananks to all l of you fo. good evening with the israeli military saying troops have now surrounded gaza city, we have been watching for most of the evening now some especially heavy air strikes on gaza, intense enough that cnn military analyst cedric layton said earlier tonight it reminded him of what he called the shock and awe air campaign against iraq. here is some of what it looked like and sounded like from sderot, across the border from gaza. with flares overhead for much of the time, israeli warplanes launched wave after wave of air-to-ground guided munitions at targets in gaza. one ripple of tightly grouped ordnance after another could be seen streaking downward, while in the background outgoing artillery followed by thumps of warheaded and shells landing. shortly before this began, antony blinken left on a swing, including stops in israel and jordan. his message was twofold. well, as we said, and it s important, israel h
today on inside politics, fear of an escalating war. the united states top diplomat is on the ground in israel as hezbollah warns it is an unprecedented battle that they are in with israel. and all scenarios are on the table and possible on the border with lebanon. plus, president biden is under pressure from his own party over israel s response to the brutal hamas attack inside israel. 13 senate democrats are now pushing for a humanitarian pause in gaza. and a cnn exclusive, republican congressman george santos is speaking out on the criminal charges he s facing and why despite all of the lies, talk being a lot of lies, and his legal problems, he still thinks he has a shot at reelection. i m dana bash, let s go behind the headlines and inside politics. we start with secretary of state antony blinken s powerful message in israel today. he was visibly shaken, describing more horrific images that he was just shown by israelis. from the barbaric hamas terror a
right now. an extraordinary new israeli offensive in the skies of gaza you re probably going to see a significant reenforcement of israeli ground forces did occur. israeli officials saying that they have encircled gaza city. cut the north off from the south. fears of a second war along israel s northern border intensifying, the leader of hezbollah is expected to break his silence. hezbollah fighters saying their fingers are on the trigger. you have secretary of state antony blinken back in israel. can the united states tell its ally how to fight a war? how we can set the conditions for a durable, sustainable peace for israelis and palestinians alike. there are just weeks before the public calls for a cease-fire becomes untenable. we can get the hostages out, we can get humanitarian aid in. this hospital will turn into a mass grave. there s nothing for this place other than a place to come and die. good morning, welcome, i m phil mattingly with er