what's happening between gaza and israel and what could happen here. so there is a lot of fear about that right now. >> brings it home for so many. wolf blitzer, thank you so much for being with us for this perspective for your reporting. we will see you tonight on "the situation room." thanks for joining us. we will see you back here tomorrow morning. "cnn news central" continues our coverage. ♪ we begin with breaking news for you this hour. the u.s. is now in talks with israel and egypt to help get americans and other civilians out of gaza, but as that's happening there is fighting right now on two fronts. israel is responding to air and ground attacks from its north and its south. right now the idf says 300,000 israeli reservists have been called up to fight and are, quote, ready to execute the mission. this is as new rounds of israeli air strikes have been hitting critical hamas targets in gaza, but to the north israel is intensifying shelling inside lebanon, while at the same time preparing for a ground offensive. our cnn journalists are capturing the massive military presence that you've been seeing just there, is now staging itself just outside gaza on the border in gaza. israel is making major advances it says as it's preparing for its ground game. overnight the israeli military says the system hamas has been using to detect aircraft has been destroyed. much of gaza now in ruins as officials there say the city is expected to run out of power any moment. >> the death toll in gaza now stands over 1,000 with more than 263,000 people displaced. in israel more than 1,200 killed as families of those taken hostage continue to endure an excruciating wait. look at the picture of that crib overturned. when hamas first attacked we are told women, children and babies were, quote, butchered. prime minister benjamin netanyahu described it to president biden on the phone. >> we were struck saturday by an attack whose savagery i can say we have not seen since the holocaust. i mean, we had hundreds massacred, families wiped out in their beds and their homes. women brutally raped and murdered. over 100 kidnapped, including children. we have never seen such savagery in the history of the state and they are even worse than isis. they are even worse than isis. and we need to treat them as such. >> from the u.s. state department this morning, another sobering assessment that they believe the american death toll from this terror attack will rise today. the latest from president biden is that 14 u.s. citizens were killed in the hamas attack, 20 or more americans are still unaccounted for. overnight israel's defense ministry put out this video showing the first shipment of u.s. munitions arriving to help in whatever israel decides to do next. cnn's jeremy diamond leads us off, he is in southern israel for us. jeremy, what's the latest you're seeing from there. >> reporter: well, kate, the israeli military has called up more than 300,000 reservists. this is one of the largest mobilization efforts in this country's history. what exactly they are prepared for, we do not yet know, but the high speculation is that this could be a prelude to a possibly massive ground invasion of gaza. that, though, has not been confirmed. what you can see behind me, kate, is that mobilization effort in action. you see all of these cars, these are reservists, thousands of reservists coming from all across israel, coming to this base in southern israel to prepare for the next phase of this military campaign. all of these folks are coming in, some are in uniform, some are in civilian clothes, but they are getting ready, they are getting ready for the possibility of a ground invasion. that is what we've talked to a lot of -- several military reservists. they don't know exactly what their orders are, but they say that they are ready, they say that they are preparing to respond to these terrorist attacks from hamas over the weekend, which have really shaken the soul of this country. you know, israelis are no strangers to terrorist attacks, no strangers to war, but what happened this past weekend has really shaken this country to its core. largely because of the surprise nature of this attack, how well it was coordinated and how far these militants from hamas were able to get inside of southern israel. so what you are seeing now is a unified response from this country, not only the reservists who are being called up, some of whom aren't called up and simply start heading directly to their basis to await their orders, but you also see civilians. we saw folks yesterday who were delivering food to the soldiers, as we were driving down here you see folks all along the road, some cooking barbecues for soldiers at various points. we've seen military hardware moving. one thing is clear, kate, this is a country on a war footing. what exactly comes next, that is in the hands of the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and we don't yet know whether he has made a decision to go into gaza with ground forces. >> jeremy, i think what has shocked the israeli people and people around the world is who exactly was killed. babies, children. and how they were killed, the shear brutality of it. on our screen right now so people know we are looking at live pictures from gaza, you can see the smoke billowing up over that region as it has for days and days. jeremy, yesterday at about this time was the beginning of a large rocket attack from gaza into southern israel. what if anything are you seeing above you so far today? >> reporter: well, earlier today as we were making our way to southern israel we passed by the city of ashkelon just as the latest barrage of rockets from hamas was heading for that city. we were able to see some of those iron dome interceptions and of course we know from some of the images from this morning that there was actually -- there were actually direct hits from those rockets, which isn't always the case. as we know the iron dome system in israel is very, very effective, but it is not 100% foolproof and that is where we saw those hits on a residential building. there were the last time i checked there were at least two confirmed injuries to individuals in the city of ashkelon. and this is the reality. this is the percuss sieve tempo, the sound track, if you will, of life along the gaza strip in thesis realees communities is the sound of those rockets being fired, the iron dome missiles intercepting them, the boom in the air and then you see those plumes of smoke. and this really is both the imagery and the sounds of life around here at this precarious moment. >> all right. jeremy, we are looking, again, we just want to mention that we are looking at live pictures. you are on one side of the border, this is in gaza. huge plumes of smoke. usually our reporters who are close can hear planes flying over before there are air strikes, but this does appear to be an air strike. it looks very similar to the ones that we have been watching for the past several days now. we should also mention that we are just getting this in, the head of the gaza electricity power company says that the electricity is officially out. there are people, of course, that have generators, hospitals in particular, but even the hospitals we are hearing are very, very low on fuel because all of these things have been cut off. israel cutting off all of those things, electricity, water, food to the area as they prepare for a ground incursion. jeremy, i think we're going to be going back to you where you are. you have been seeing all this. you're talking about seeing some of what appears to be a preparation for a ground incursion. have you been hearing anything from, for example, the idf, the israeli military, as to when that might happen and whether it is imminent? >> reporter: yeah, you know, they are not telegraphing any timelines nor are they telegraphing whether or not there is an intention to go in with a significant ground invasion. what we do know is that the israeli prime minister and the defense secretary have made clear that what is to follow, what the israeli military response will be towards hamas will be unlike anything that israel has done in the past, signifying that it is going to be of a larger scale than previously. we know that on the road along gaza you can see artillery starting to be put in place, you can see tanks, armored personnel carriers, you know, driving along the border, you know, i'm not talking about directly at the border, but within a few miles of the gaza strip. we were able to see some of those, but there's also one thing that's clear in israel is that they know if hamas was able to pull off this coordinated surprise attack on saturday, then that also likely means they prepared for an israeli military response and that they also likely prepared for that possibility of a ground invasion. that means booby traps, that means additional tunnels have been dug and that also means reinforced positions of hamas fighters inside of gaza. so the israeli military brass knows that as they prepare for this next phase, whatever that phase may be, they need to be very cautious about preparations that hamas may have undertaken and so it's an open question as to how long this military buildup that we are watching, you know, right behind me start to take place, how long exactly does that buildup last? >> jeremy, thank you so much. we're going to go back to you very soon. let's get over to natasha bertrand, she is at the pentagon with more reporting. let's start first on the talks, what you're hearing about talks with the united states and others and how to get americans out. >> reporter: yeah, kate, so we are told that the u.s. is in discussions with partner countries including israel and egypt to try to establish some kind of humanitarian corridor out of gaza because as jeremy laid out so well there the israeli military is continuing to strike gaza, they cut off all electricity and water and there are americans inside gaza who are really desperate to get out, as well as of course other civilians. so what we are hearing at this point is that egypt, while they are willing to send medicine and food and other supplies into gaza, using a corridor, they are not willing to open a corridor going the other way to allow civilians out of gaza. so right now the u.s. is working with partner countries to try to establish, of course, a pathway for civilians to get out. americans have expressed a lot of frustration to cnn in interviews in recent days, saying that they don't believe that the u.s. has been able to help and that they are desperate for a way out. as israel continues to pound gaza with air strikes and with other kinds of attacks. so right now there is no timeline on when that corridor is actually going to be open, but state department spokesperson matthew miller he did tell us just this morning, quote, we're doing these discussions quietly like a lot of the diplomatic efforts we undertake. it is not productive to speak about publicly, he said, but it is something that the u.s. is trying to achieve. >> there's a lot of moving parts that goes into that and will be likely more developments on that one. talk to me also -- talk to us also about the new reporting that you have about what the u.s. and allies are doing in terms of the warnings they are now putting out to hezbollah. >> reporter: yeah, kate. so the u.s. and allies they are very concerned that hezbollah could use this opportunity to join the war on israel's northern border. they have issued several warnings to hezbollah through intermediaries warning them to stay out of the conflict. france has also issued several warnings to hezbollah at the request of israel. we are told telling them to steer clear of this war. now, at this point the u.s. is backing up its warnings with action. we saw that the u.s. sent an aircraft carrier to the eastern mediterranean as a deterrence measure to try to deter any potential actors including hezbollah from feeling tempted to enter the conflict. at this point administration officials do not necessarily see hezbollah as eager to join this war. there are a number of political and economic risks that the administration does not believe hezbollah is willing to take at this point, but of course that could change and things could quickly spiral and escalate. we have already seen a number of clashes on israel's northern border between hezbollah and the idf, so things are tense right now and u.s. officials and allies across the region are watching this very closely. >> absolutely. natasha, great reporting as always. stay close to it, we will get back to you. john? >> with us now retired u.s. army major mike lyons. let's focus in on gaza, down at the southern end of israel right now. we were just talking about the people inside gaza. gaza, by the way, roughly twice the size of washington, d.c. with three times the population. more than 2 million people. the only way out potentially right now would be rafah down here on the border with egypt. what does that mean for the 2 million people in here as israel potentially moves in and what does that mean for israel as it potentially plans a ground invasion? >> think concrete jungle, that's the level of built up areas that exist, especially in the north here. you can tell from the map here as to where those areas are up in here and up in this area here. so the civilians will have to make a hard decision, that is to try to get to the south where it's going to be safer because any ground operation likely does start when it does start will be in this northern area here. likely through -- right through the north. when they last came here in 2014 israeli forces came through this way, through here and through here. i have to think israeli forces in the south will allow a safe passage of those civilians but a lot of them will still get trapped up in this northern region. >> jeremy diamond brought up an interesting point. again, here is gaza, all in through here the kibbutz that hamas terrorists attacked on saturday. jeremy said there are can earns that hamas might be prepared for a ground invasion. what could hamas do to slow down the israelis if they did move? ? >> i think they have been preparing for it. you have to assume that israeli counteroffensive has got to be -- after those defensive operations they have to likely know where they think they're coming through. so this is a hard border, there's only certain areas which would allow the speed and shock effect was what israel would like to bring into that fight. those positions now have been built up and they have defenses. i think the second thing that israel had to get besides president biden's permission or for logistics to come through, they have to soften up those defensive positions. i think that's why it's going to take a few more days at least. >> what could be an even greater concern in terms of israel right now and that is the north of the country. let me draw the borders of israel here. you can see this is israel, down here is gaza where all the fighting has been recently but an enormous amount of concern toward lebanon because of hezbollah, which has set up shop really in the southern part of that country. one of the things we learned from 2006 when there was fighting between israel and hamas in gaza that hezbollah has multiples more in terms of strength and forces and missiles. >> tanks, they have anti-tank equipment and the like. it comes down to numbers. 170,000 active duty israeli forces, they have to put at least 100 k down here in order to have any kind of offensive operation there. then they have to make a tough decision mr. they garrison it or leave it alone. that leaves them 70 k of active duty forces to focus in the north. i have to think half of those reservists will be told their orders will be get to the north and stay there because this is where the greatest risk comes from. if hezbollah recognizes they have overcommitted to the south now, they're going to look at this as an opportunity that they will never see again, they will have the israeli army somewhat on the ropes and they can attack to the north and put israel in a bad way. >> no matter how much they do here they have to leave tremendous numbers in terms of reserve to deal with the potential north. tel aviv, we can see tel aviv the capital -- jerusalem considered the capital also, tel aviv the most populated city. hamas can't hit tel aviv with rockets and hezbollah has much more in temples of technical capabilities. >> them come from well north of lebanon. they can come from areas where the iron dome could likely knock them out but you're talking patriot missiles, those fly at a much higher altitude. the iron dome system gets lower, smaller range rockets. these ranges of motion could come from much further away. >> major lions, great to have you. thank you very much for that. thank you, john. all right. this is a live look right now at gaza on your right you are seeing smoke billowing, on your left you are seeing some of the damage from strikes. we have now learned just in the past few minutes that the only power station that exists in gaza for the electricity grid no longer has any fuel. the power is officially out unless you have a generator. with israel's constant air strikes and a blockade on all sides, there is no fuel, no water, no food getting through. the humanitarian crisis there will most likely expand. the latest on the aftermath of the attacks by hamas and the situation in gaza. showing you live pictures, these are live pictures from gaza as we are now seeing once again another day we're seeing israel pounding gaza with air strikes. we've also learned from the idf that some 300,000 israeli reservists have been called up to the fight. that's -- you've got the fight that could be coming in gaza, you also -- they're taking on pressure, taking on the fight also potentially in the northern part of israel at the border with lebanon. the death toll right now more than 1,200 people reported killed in israel. the death toll in gaza now rising as well. let's get the very latest. joining us is a spokesperson for the israel defense forces major libby weiss. thank you for coming up. i know you're in southern israel. could we first talk about the border with lebanon. what is happening at the northern israeli border with lebanon? >> hi. thank you for having me. you know, it is a situation that we are monitoring very, very closely. we have seen several isolated events in the last few days of mortar fire and infiltrations from lebanon. of course, though, we are sending a message as loud and clear as possible which is to tell any other terrorist organization or any state that harbors or sponsors them to not engage in this conflict and to not test us at this time. of course, we're monitoring what's happening there very, very closely. >> we do know that three idf soldiers were killed in clashes with hezbollah in the north, that was on monday. have more israeli soldiers been killed in the north since? because that is what hezbollah is claiming today. >> i don't have anything to add to what you -- to what you mentioned. of course, when we have, you know, additional news, we will be able to share it with you. >> one of your colleagues said today that 300,000 reservists are gathering near the gaza border. would it be wrong to read this as meaning a ground incursion into gaza is hours or just days away? s>> i would read it as saying that the idf is prepared for any decision that the government will make, decisions to escalate the conflict to a ground invasion would be something that the government would have to decide. as the idf of course we need to be ready for whatever decision may be made and that's how i think would be the best way to interpret it. >> gaza's only power station is now reporting just this morning, just this hour, that it is out of power, the power is out in gaza. yes, people have generators, those will be running out in just a matter of days, if you will. what does that mean for the idf? it's very clear what it can mean for civilians in gaza but what does that mean for the idf to have the power out in gaza? >> well, our goal with this -- with this war of course is to make sure that hamas has no military capability of being able to strike us again. i apologize for the noise, there's a lot going on around me here, so apologies for that. but that's -- that's what it means. of course, we want to make sure that hamas doesn't have any of the resources to continue targeting and killing israelis. >> the defense ministry put out video this morning of the first shipment of munitions from the united states arriving. what can you tell me about that? how much was it? what was it? and where is it intended? what's the impact of it for the idf? >> well, of course, i think as the president discussed in his speech last night, there is no clear sign of the strong ally that we have in the united states in the sense that i think much of the world is with us and wanting to fight hamas and make sure that the massacre that we saw is not something that happens again. you know, of course, i can't go into sort of specifics of what that means, but i think it's a very, very strong sign of the support that we have from all over the world and certainly from the united states. >> but safe to say at this moment when you're calling up 300,000 reservists not everyone has the equipment that they will need in order to pull off a ground incursion? >> i'm sorry, can you repeat the question? i don't hear very well because of the noise behind me. >> absolutely. but safe to say with munitions coming over to the united states, is it safe to say that all of the 300,000 reservists the largest call up that you have also means that not everyone will be on the front lines has the equipment that they need in this moment to pull off a successful ground incursion? >> again, i would not be talking right now about an on ground incursion. right now we want to be prepared for any kind of scenario and there are very close discussions that are being had at all levels with our american allies about potential scenarios and what kind of support potentially could be needed down the road. you know, that's the most i can comment about that right now. >> some civilians in gaza are saying very clearly they want to get out but they cannot get out. where do you suggest people in gaza to go to flee? egypt? >> well, first of all, i would suggest that if they are given advanced warning that they should move any kind of distance from where they are, and i would say more than that. i think that there are large questions that need to be asked to hamas in the gaza strip, a, as to why they decided to launch this massacre in the first place and why -- >> absolutely, but in the immediate -- gaza asking to get out. there is a lot of talk that the rafah crossing is not -- has been closed or at least temporarily and there was a statement from the idf that seems to have been clawed back that going to egypgypt was the suggestion. i'm trying to get clarity if israel has a suggestion of where people in gaza should go. >> again, first i would say if they do receive any advanced warning to simply put distance from where they are and go somewhere else even within the strip, and i don't know that there is another border that the gaza strip has with egypt and i can't speak to that -- to that situation at this stage. >> major libby weiss, thank you so much. sara? all right. amid the escalating conflict in he is real and gaza, the most innocent among us, children, are caught in the intense violence. i do want to warn you that these images are disturbing and they are graphic. the israeli defense forces tell cnn that hamas has carried out a massacre in a village in southern israel where they say women, children, toddlers and the elderly were, as they say, quote, brutally butchered in an isis way of action. you see that crib overturned there and, again, that included babies, brutally massacred. this video is from that village, you can see that crib, of course. officials could not confirm just how many people ended up being killed there. but for those who have survived there is anguish, there are terror, there are concern and confusion. this is ashkelon, israel, where erin burnett has been reporting all morning and rockets have been fired into that city. a firefighter is handing a drink to a child there after a rocket attack. you can see the distress on his face and those around him. children arelso among the hostages that have been taken by hamas. one mother has told cnn she was on the phone with her two children the moment they were taken and she has not heard from them since. and this is in gaza after an israeli strike. you are seeing one of the medical teams, ambulances, running a child into the back of an ambulance, the child clearly has been injured, potentially killed. there is so much damage there, it is almost unrecognizable. also in gaza you see a man holding the body of a child there, that child killed, covered there from an israeli strike. the last embrace before he had to bury that child. palestinians are saying that at least 260 children have now been killed in gaza. they say 22 entire families have been killed. we will be back in just a moment. happening now, congressional republicans are about to gather behind closed doors, the goal is to determine who they will back to be speaker of the house. whether they achieve that goal, totally unclear. the only two announced candidates are majority leader steve scalise and judiciary chair jim jordan. former speaker kevin mccarthy is telling colleagues not to nominate him again but he does seem to be playing a little coy at the same time. cnn's lauren fox up on capitol hill for all of this. how is this going to play out? >> reporter: i wish that there was a clear answer right now, john. the honest answer is that we do not know right now how this is going to play out. there is a couple variables at play right now, one is whether or not republicans adopt a rules change in how they elect a speaker behind closed doors. right now what you need to be the confirmed nominee to be speaker and head to the floor is a simple majority of the conference. that's around 111 votes b you it's likely that they could move to try and change the rules. that would be the first order of business so that you would have to lock down 217 republicans in that room before you go to the floor. of course, what they are trying to avoid is a messy floor fight that we saw back in january to elect speaker kevin mccarthy in those 15 rounds. the question is whether that rule passes because that could change the dynamics both in the room and whether or not we see a speaker candidate emerge by the end of the day. now, we don't know how many rounds this could go. the first few rounds of actual voting on the speaker candidates, those are done by secret ballot. obviously that means that members don't have to talk about who they're supporting. some members have publicly said who they're backing but you don't have a great gasp of where the rules stand until members get in that room, until we can talk to them afterward and if we can see whether or not that rules package passes. it's important to report to viewers back at home that without the house speaker nothing can be done to support israel, they cannot pass a resolution simply saying that they back israel, that the u.s. is the ally of israel. they also cannot provide critical fund that go may be necessary, something that the administration is looking at sending a supplemental request up to capitol hill for. so that just gives you a sense of the gravity of this situation as it affects the geopolitical status around the world. >> to be clear if they raise the threshold to 217, this he may never get out of that room. and, lauren, supporters of jim jordan predominantly are the ones who are calling to raise that threshold because they want to keep the squabbles perhaps private, not necessarily on the house floor, but there is another way of looking at it. there are supporters of steve scalise who say the jordan people are pushing that because scalise actually they say has more than half of the republican conference. any way to know for sure? >> reporter: i think that that's why you're seeing this frustration. there are a lot of scalise allies who argue this is akin to trying to change the rules in the middle of the game and this is how we've elected speakers time after time. this is actually how kevin mccarthy got the nomination and everyone was fine going to the floor and having a messy fight then, why not now? so obviously we're going to see in just a short period of time whether or not house republicans, a majority of them, support that rules change or not, john? >> lauren fox on capitol hill, keep us posted, please. kate? we are also going to get back to israel and we're keeping a close eye, we will show you the latest pictures we have coming in, this is from gaza as the bombardment continues. air strikes from israel into gaza as they're trying to root out the infrastructure, the military infrastructure of hamas and take out hamas terrorists. gaza reporting now the only power station in gaza says that they are out of power. some have generators, there's only so long that that fuel will last in gaza. what does that mean in the days ahead? we also have fresh reporting that the united states is in talks with israel and other partners in the region like egypt to try to help americans and other civilians get out of gaza. a key question of how to do that ahead of a potential ground incursion. that we'll discuss ahead. and the very latest, the idf saying 300,000 reservists have been called up and are, quote, ready to execute the mission. we'll be right back. this morning the idf says at least 1,200 people have been killed in israel. palestinian officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed in gaza. the death toll rising as the first shipment of u.s. weapons arrives in israel. the israel defense forces say the ammunition is, quote, designed for significant blows and the shipment comes after president biden called the hamas attack an act of shear evil. with us now is florida governor and presidential candidate ron desantis who joins us from his campaign headquarters. governor, after president biden's speech yesterday, michael oren, the former israeli ambassador to the united states said, quote, president biden's speech was the most passionately pro israel in history. he stood unequivocally against terror and anti-semitism and pledged the power of the u.s. to our defense. our people will always remember and cherish this speech and the man who delivered it. so what more or different would you have said than what president biden said? what comment by the way came from a man formerly known as bibi's man in washington. >> well, look, i think that those words were appreciated. i think, you know, he was missing in action over the weekend, they didn't even wake him up on saturday and then he called the lid monday when we had americans that were reported killed, but here i think is what's important, john. let's have unanimity between both parties all across this country that we're going to stand with israel not just today, not just tomorrow, but in the weeks and months ahead. i think there's going to end up being pressure, you already have the united nations, they put out a tweet the human rights council saying that they're concerned about people in palestine and other areas who may have been killed. they wouldn't even use the word israel. there's going to probably be media attention placed on israel blaming them. so if both the administration, the congress and the country can unite, i think that's going to be a good thing. i'm concerned when i see demonstrations in major cities that are celebrating what hamas did, the decapitation of babies, you're executing elderly people. this is barbarism and so the more unanimity we have the better. i would also ask the president to consider reversing his policies on the southern border. we are vulnerable. when you have all these military-age men coming in, do you think that our enemies have not been looking at that weakness? we know people from iran have come. we know people from russia have come. we know china and other parts of the middle east. that is not good for the security of this country. israel probably has the strongest border security in the world and yet this happened to them. >> we will get to the boarder in just a second, governor. there are 20 americans who could be hostage right now in gaza. if you were commander in chief today, what would you be doing to bring them home? >> we would use all available resources to rescue americans. this is our job and our duty as the president of the united states and we would do that and we would work closely with the israelis to get that job done. >> president biden has called for quick and rapid aid to israel, some democrats want to see that tied to ukraine aid in the house, some republicans want to see it tied to border security. what would you say to an israeli mother of a baby who was killed in a kibbutz? how would you explain to her that aid to her should be tied to anything else? >> well, first of all, i think that's the typical congress and congress has been in disarray, they haven't been producing and i think they need to get their act together. john, this is personal for us here in florida. we have the second largest israeli-american population in the country, we've been a magnet since i've been governor for orthodox jews, i was just in south florida at a synagogue announcing we're going to be expanding state-based iran sanctions because money going into that regime unfortunately is turned around and used to facilitate terrorism. there's people in the congregation down there, there's people all throughout florida who have lost friends, who have lost family members, who have friends or family that are missing and still unaccounted for. so the emotions are very raw, but i think the resolve of being able to cut through the clutter and just being able to bring justice to this situation, this is probably the darkest hour in israel's modern history and that's saying something because they've faced a lot of attacks -- >> are you calling, then, for a clean aid bill for israel? just aid to israel? >> so what i would just simply do is you want to help israel? let's just do it and don't try to leverage other things, but that's how congress operates. i will let them do that. i think we've had a long-standing security relationship with israel, we've said that we would be there and this is an hour that calls for strong support. >> you were just talking about florida i want to talk about anti-semitism in the united states and around the world. there was a peculiar statement from american white supremacist nick fuentes over the weekend who said that israel's intelligence failure he called it is a little suspicious in light of how the likud government will benefit from this crisis both domestically and internationally. what do you see to a statement like that? >> that is totally outrageous. you know, this garbage out there, you hear things people are saying that the babies really somehow weren't killed, that this is i understand there are conspiracy theories that could go on, but we have to put that garbage aside and we have to stand with israel, and yes, we have to condemn the antisemitism that has motivated these attacks and that has motivated attacks around the world. >> let me just ask you then on nick fuentes for a second. he ate at mar-a-lago with donald trump in 2022 and he also said "i love hitler." how do you feel about republicans associated themselves with him? >> well, i reject all conspiracy theories of that nature. i think that we just have so much garbage in our society right now. i mean, it broke my heart to see those demonstrators. it breaks my heart to see -- >> should republicans be putting this out -- >> all across the board. i think we just have to stand up together and do what's right and so, yeah, look, i'm proud of what we've done in florida. we've signed major legislation to combat antisemitism. we've provided security assistance for our jewish day schools and we've beefed up holocaust education because it's important we never forget. we led by example with our deeds and that's part of the reason why we have such a strong community here. >> you didn't answer my question on nick fuentes. i'll move on if you're not going to give a direct answer to that? >> honestly, we're garbled about mar-a-lago. someone was saying something bad. obviously, my record speaks for itself. >> i just want to know if republicans should be eating with nick fuentes? >> i would not do that. >> okay. thank you. last question, i'm from new england so i get wind of what's on the howie carr show up there. you were on howie carr talking about the speaker's race and you gave a kind of endorsement to jim jordan, howie asked you how you would vote for jim jordan. you said i think so, yeah. why is jim jordan your guy in this vote that might happen in a few minutes? >> i like both guys. i'm friends with both of them. i voted for jim in the past and when i was back there in my former days, but here's the thing. the important thing is to end the chaos and start delivering results. what happens in washington, all of the drama, constant soap opera, but they're not delivering results for the american people. in florida, we do it just the opposite. we don't do any of the drama. we're not running a soap opera. we produce results, economic resultses with budget surpluses paying down the debt, tax cuts, low crime rate and that's one of the reasons why our economy is ranked number one in america and why we lead the nation in migration. focus on the american people. they're paying too much for everything. our border's open. don't worry about the intrigue and show people that you can actually govern effectively and if jim can do that, great. if steve can do that, great, but they need to get their act together because people are watching. >> governor ron desantis from florida. great to have you on cnn "news central." we look forward to having you back on soon. >> we'll do it, thank you. >> the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken will head to israel today, but right now you are looking at live pictures of gaza. as you see, huge plumes of smoke. there have been air strikes in the early morning hours there and we are watching incursions both on the southern border with israel and on the northern border with israel. the border with lebanon. we will have more on all of this just ahead. chen. beity han un. beit hanoun. ayatollah ali khamenei. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more. the first shipment of advanced weapons from the united states has landed in israel. israel's defense minister actually put out this video early this morning showing a cargo plane being unloaded, clearly, blurring out exactly what was being unloaded, however. at this moment we do not know exactly what was included in this shipment. we asked the idf spokesperson earlier this hour and did not provide more detail. later today there will be another show of support, more assistance headed to israel in the form of secretary of state tony blinken. he is headed there and we expect to hear remarks from him. he expects to speak to reporters before he departs. let's go to the state department and alex marquardt. alex, this sends a big message that tony blinken is headed over there in the middle of all of this. what are you expecting to hear from him? >> it does, kate. this is blinken essentially echoing what the president said which is a full-throated defense of israel and their right to defense themselves. this is a show of solidarity. we expecting blinken to leave today, to arrive tomorrow to meet with all kinds of israeli officials to ask what more support they need. this is not a diplomatic trip in the traditional sense. tony blinken is not looking to call for peace here. he's not going to be calling for a cease-fire. this is very much to show that the u.s. is in solidarity with israel. the u.s. knows that a very harsh israeli response against hamas is coming and blinken will be there to say that he supports that response and at the same time there are major concerns about what israel may be doing in terms of a possible incursion into gaza and what that may mean for the palestinian civilians and what that may mean for the hostages that were taken by hamas. we know from the state department that there are at least 20, possibly more, americans among the hostages. the death toll among american citizens still stands at 14. the state department does expect that to rise. here is a little bit of what the state department spokesman told cnn earlier today. >> there's a list of americans who we have confirmed dead

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