good morning. i m carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. as hamas rain down on israel, the israeli air force continues to target gaza. with hostilities mounting on both sides, nnts innocents are caught in the crossfire. we have a close look at one family s nightmare. the aziz family is taking away what they can. their home was destroyed. just hours before an egyptian sponsored cease fire was supposed to go into effect. i asked what she wants, cease fire or escalation?
gets leaders to hammer out a permanent change. he wrote in part, the current thrash between israel and gaza offers potential game changers. the very threat of full scale fighting can serve to motivate the combatants to seek a way out. how can a long term solution arise out of this? how is this different? well, the situation does offer a certain opportunity. we don t have to look so far back into the past, carol. just recently, an american-led operation to remove chemical weapons from syria was completed with great success. president obama often cites that as one of his outstanding foreign policy successes, and at the time, when it was first proposed last summer, people scoffed at it.
aid packages for the people of gaza, an interesting of the israel blockade. the economy has been hard hit by hamas mismanagement and corruption. an opening of border crossings which are vital to the palestinian population well-being. an easing of the blockade. all those factors are have to come into play. i believe it can be done. many obstacles are in our way, but the vision is out there. michael orren, thanks so much for your insight. i appreciate it. happening now, the department of veterans affairs says it s getting its act together, but some members of congress don t buy it. this is a live look at the senate committee on veterans affairs. lawmakers are grilling acting v.a. chief sloan gibson demanding answers about p plans to untangle the issues plaguing v.a. offices around the country.