newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. we begin with fears of growing escalation in the middle east. the pentagon says an iranian attack drone struck a commercial ship operating in the indian ocean on saturday. a u.s. defense official says a fire broke out on the chemical tanker with nearly two dozen crew members on board, but no one was hurt. it comes as newly declassified u.s. intelligence suggests iran has been deeply involved in a series of attacks by houthi rebels in the red sea. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is announcing a d deepening of the conflict saying the fighting will intensify until there s a vikt rip over hamas. one of the deadliest days of the conflict with 15 soldiers killed on friday. several hamas militants also killed as mounting slin deaths grow, beyond 20,000 according to hamas-controlled health ministry in gaza. we re covering this story from all angles. let s go to kevin liptak at the white house for us. kevin, how are the u.s. and other
to earth cam, thousands of revellers are expecting a soggy countdown. we ll go live to the big apple later in the show. gillian: first to our top story this hour, the world is now mourning of loss of a historical religious figure. the vatican is announcing death of pope emeritus benedict xvi. and charles has more on his long lasting legacy. what a story he had. pope benedict xvi had an impact on catholics across the world in a position he never imagined himself in. for decades cardinal joseph ratsinger had been a key advisor to pope john paul ii, as a staunch conservative. and took the cardinals just two days to give the job to a german, scholarly man who didn t appear to want it. as pope benedict xvi, he rattled relativism, what might be true for someone, might not be true for someone else. and he will be remembered not only for his birthday celebration in the white house, a stop at ground zero and a mass in yankee stadium, but also, by the way in which he addressed the ca
i was honored to serve him. alicia: right now, we can take a live picture. we have a live feed coming out of st. peter s basilica at the vatican right now. pope francis excuse me the exteriors leading the vespers service there. as we look at that, how he didn t really seek this position. he was more of an academic, a professor, someone truly dedicated to catholic teachings, but it s also been said that those who do not seek leadership are the best ones for it. your thoughts on that? i think it s a great point. actually, he tried to resign multiple times in his previous job and pope john paul didn t let him. and all of a sudden pope john paul passed away and the papacy was handed to benedict. he was gracious. i remember the first night he was satisfying his first mass and i work with young people and he said young people, the world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness and you could see young people respond to that great call.