♪ right now on "early start," negotiators nearing a deal for the release of dozens of hostages being held by hamas. we're going to have new details about the timing. and the sudden ouster shocked silicon valley. now the founder of openai sam altman has a new job. and the world said good-bye to the steel magnolia, former first lady rosalynn carter. ♪ good morning to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm kasie hunt. it's monday, november 20th. 5:00 a.m. here in washington, 12:00 noon in gaza, where the israeli defense forces have released surveillance video that she say shows a remote operated camera being lowered into the tunnels that israel claims are a hamas command center beneath the hospital. the idf also released video that it says shows hamas fighters bringing two hostages into al shifa hospital on october 7th. one man is force fully marched through the main entrance. another wheeled bleeding into a room. cnn cannot independently various file the idf claims. cnn has learned a deal for the hostages may just be days away. sources familiar with the negotiations say a recent draft proposes a four to five-day pause in fighting for the initial release of hostages, jon finer didn't get into the details with jake tapper but he did have this to say. >> we think that we are closer than we have been perhaps at any point since the negotiations began weeks ago. that there are areas of difference in this agreement that have been narrowed if not closely out entirely. >> finer added that nothing is agreed to in everything is agreed to. and mean while, doctors in southern gaza are treating 31 neonatal unit babies evacuated from gaza city. they say they're all fighting serious infections. those infants are being transferred to hospitals in egypt this morning. and that's where cnn's eleni giokos is standing by. good morning to you, what is the latest on the condition of those seriously ill babies and the plans to transfer them out of gaza? >> reporter: yeah, look, as you say, all of them are fighting serious infection, that's according to the world health organization and 11 of them are in critical condition. speaking to some of the doctors inside the hospital, in the southern part of gaza, they say the condition is difficult, stable, but they could deteriorate, given the fact they might run out of electricity because of the fuel situation. while they've evaded some of the biggest risks at al shifa hospital where they've potentially been trapped, now, they're in the southern part of gaza where medical supplies and also fuel has run short. you spoke about al shifa hospital. we know there was an idf raid there. the egyptian authorities have been waiting for 36 neonatal babies for over a week now. sadly, they were saying every minute is critical. we know that number has now changed, kasey, we know it's gone to 31 babiyies we know som of them have tragically died. they say only some have living relatives. we no that there are ambulances, as well as incubators waiting for them. they've been on high alert all week now we're seeing them moving into egypt where they will receive the care that they need. we know the conditions in al shifa has been absolutely catastrophic. and so many more patients are stuck inside. evacuation efforts are currently under way to get more people out but all eyes what we're seeing with these babies. we've seen images currently from the hospital, you hear the babies crying and they need intervention right now. the egyptians are helping that. >> thank you for that report. let's bring in retired colonel cedric leighton. colonel, it's always good to see you, i want to bring us back to some of that video we showed at the beginning. because at the end of the video, we see a closed metal door. and the idf says that that door under the hospital has not been opened out of fear of it being booby-trapped. what could be behind the door that we see in the idf video? >> yeah, good morning, kasie, there could be a lot of things behind that door, one supposition is that it's an armed storage facility by hamas. that they have a lot of weapons stored behind that door. more likely, though, given the type of door that it is it's a blast door that's designed to withstand explosions, it's possible that it contains communications gear for hamas and if that's the case, that could be in line with the gear that the israelis have reported that the command and control center for hamas. there are all other kinds of possibilities, but those are the two most likely. and it could be a combination of those two. so, that's the kind of thing that we're looking at, clearly, they wanted to protect this area, hamas did. it's also possible that there may be other elements there of, you know, actual troops there. and actual hamas fighters there. so, that's, you know, that's always a possibility. but of course, the israelis are worried this might be a booby-trapped area so they're trying to figure out how to get there without destroying themselves or damaging the evidence that might be behind that door. >> right. okay. so, we also showed and the cctv footage that the idf released of hamas moving two hostages one is nepall nepali, the other is thai. where might those hostages be now? and what does the fact that they came through the hospital tell you? >> well, it's hard to say where they might be now. the supposition would be that they would be in the tunnels somewhere else, perhaps, within gaza. of course, one other possibility, you know, they could be behind that glass door which i don't think is likely. but you never know in a case like this. as far as the fact that they came into this hospital, if everything checks out in terms of the accuracy of this video and thes really assertion that, according, you know, to the idf. that tells you that, clearly, hamas has some kind of activity at the al shifa hospital. normally, hostage takers will bring their hostages to a place that is safe for them. and it could also be a major node for them, either a headquarters type element or some other installation that they have control over, that's why this is particularly noteworthy. >> retired general cedric leighton, thank you for getting us started. see you soon. new overnight, defense secretary lloyd austin makes a surprise visit to ukraine, we'll have a live report from kyiv up next. plus a big shift in president biden's poll numbers when it comes to foreign policy, we'll get into that. and severe storms in the south could delay travel plans just ahead of your thanksgivivi holiday. we'll be back in just a moment. welcome back. in a show of u.s. support for ukraine, defense secretary lloyd austin arrived in kyiv overnight for high-level talks with their leadership including president volodymyr zelenskyy. this is his second trip to the region since russia's invasion. meantime, ukraine ace military said its forces have pushed back troops in the southeastern part of dnipro, after months of an offensive. cnn's anna coren joins us live. anna, good morning to you. what's the goal of this unexpected trip? >> kasie, this is really about showing support for ukraine. you have to remember this is a war that's fallen from the global hughes headlines because of the war in israel. ukraine has felt very neglected and overshadowed by what's been taking place in the middle east. so lloyd austin arriving here in kyiv in asurprise visit, is really a shot in the arm. a show of confidence and support in the timing, that is crucial. this comes the an incredibly difficult time in the war here. you mentioned that counteroffensive which, quite frankly, has been dismal. they have not been able to produce the results that they had hoped for, you know, those breakthroughs that they the west wanted ukraine to make. but this is now a war of attrition. on the eastern front and the southern front. the operation that you mentioned in kherson, the that dnipro where the mall marines have managed to cost and create a foothold on the left bank, this is significant, but they are coming under heavy russian bombardment. we spoke to to a marine in the operation last night, during the interview, you could hear the explosions taking place around him. he says he has not heard silence there for more than an hour. it's constant bombardment. so, this is heavy fighting takes place in the south and east. lloyd austin coming here, as i say, a show of support that america has ukraine's back. >> anna coren for us in kyiv, thanks very much for that report. >> and president biden has drawn a connection between the ongoing crisis in ukraine and israel. writing in the op-ed in "the washington post" putin and hamas plan to collapse and take advantage of disorder. america cannot and will not let that happen for our own national security interests and for the good of the entire world. let's bring in cnn's max foster. max, good morning, happy monday to you. so biden has made this point before, he's talked about it in the oval office address that he gave after the israel hamas war started but the new nbc news polls show 32% of americans approve of biden's handling of the foreign policy. only 34% approve of his handles of the israel hamas war, clearly trying to fill support for these conflicts is a very significant challenge for him. this is especially true among young voters, if you dig into some of these numbers. what do you make of this? and what does it spell for the west and our focus on these two challenges? >> yeah, i mean, raises a few eyebrows, obviously comparing hamas to president putin one is a prescribed terror organization, one is an internationally recognized loader. so some controversy there. i think outside of america, certainly. but in america, you've got a situation where the numbers suggest the broad support for israel in that war. i think outside of america, there's broad support, obviously, for the way america has backed ukraine in that war. biden trying to tie the two together. he's been doing this over time, hasn't he? because he needs to get that funding to continue supporting ukraine in that war. and to do that, he's tieing it to the israel war. that's a u.s. politics thing, the speaker of the house largely against more ukrainian funding. so it's a very complex affair for president biden. he wants to support israel, he wants to support ukraine, and he's bringing the two together. i think that's what this op-ed speaks to. but i think this is more about washington politics in trying to keep the funding for ukraine going. >> yeah, i mean, for sure, it absolutely is. and the challenge in congress, you're absolutely correct. i guess, do you see the ties he's trying to make as buying relevant here, or do you think it's a stretch? >> well, if you take europe, for example, there's broad support for ukraine against russia, so that's not controversial at all. the support that america's given israel is more controversial. outside america. because there is support, obviously, for palestinians, particularly in the arab world, there's a lot of support here in europe as well. we've seen those protests and demonstrations here. i don't think outside of america the two are part of it. defending freedom when supporting ukraine, there are two freedoms in the middle east which some groups keep pointing to and there's not always a balance there, in their view. >> right, interesting. max foster, thanks for being here. i'll see you tomorrow. i really appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up next for us, shakira, shakira, the pop star's tax fraud trial in spain. after a shocking f firing, e opopenai ceo sam a altman justs offerered a new jojob. you want to be able to provide your child with the tools or resources they need. with reliable internet at home, through the internet essentials program, the world opened up. fellas, fellas. that's how my son was able to find the hidden genius project. we wanted to give y'all the necessary skills to compete with the future. kevin's now part of this next generation of young people who feel they can thrive. ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back. with quick hits across america now. the openai co-founder sam altman has a new job, three days after he was fired as ceo. overnight, microsoft announce they had would hire altman to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence team. they report over the weekend that openai's board was reconsidering altman's firing, but ultimately they decided against reversing their decision. this morning, shakira is on trial in barcelona, spain, accused of not paying more than $15 million in spanish income taxes between 2012 and 2014. shakira denied the allegationing saying they didn't live in spain during that period. and i-10 one of california's vital arteries reopening last night. the interstate was down after a massive fire last weekend. authorities released videos as a person of interest captured near the time and place of the blaze. the storms including possible tornados could get in the way of holiday travel in the south. meteorologist allison chinchar tracking all of it for us and has the latest forecast. allison, what can americans expect? >> likely a few dres in terms of road and airways, it's going to be the date, as the air is making its way across the country. right now, you've got a rain and snow mix across the intermountain west. and midwest and even thunderstorms as you push farther south. and that's really the area to watch late this afternoon and into the evening. because as that low pressure intense nice and deepens, it's also going to produce severe thunderstorms much of the coastal region in texas all the way to alabama late in the afternoon and evening. main threats are really go be to be damaging winds, potential for tornadoes and large hail, you're talking memphis, over towards galveston and new orleans and shreveport as well. but also, that area you see kind of right there in the center. this has the greatest possibility for not just a tornado in general, but the potential for a strong tornado as we go through the evening hours. it's part of this low-pressure system right here. but also a lot of rain sliding across. if you have a connection today and tomorrow, especially tomorrow across chicago, atlanta, charlotte, washington, d.c., a lot of big connector airports you may encounter delays as this system continues to slide off to the east. once we get to tuesday overnight and especially wednesday morning, now becoming more of a factor for more of the northern eastern cities and the eastern coast. keep that in mind, too, as you go through your travel plans and also tomorrow, you may encounter delays. also snow in portions, focused in interior new england but though higher elevations could end up getting half a foot. in terms of rain, most of the areas as the system slides through looking at one to two inches, but you could have a few spots, if you have travel plans in the midwest, specifically l.a., you could have delays there, kasie, but a different reason for the high winds. >> allison chinchar, thank you for being with us this morning. i really appreciate it. coming up next here, new individual of what israel claims are hostages taken by hamas into a hospital. plus former president trump ramping up his rhetoric endorsing a a texas sisize endodorsement, t that's nextxt. ♪ good morning. thanks for being up early with us, i'm kasie hunt. here's the big story, the really military under pressure to approve his claim of the hamas underneath the al shifa hospital. this is a camera being lowered into the shaft, the remotely operated unit and moves along the hallway some distance before encountering a door. the idf released videos which shows two hamas fighters bringing two men into the hospital october 7th. one man is pushed into the main entrance down the hall. and another brought in on a gurney, this is video shot by the idf, cnn can't independently verify what they show. meanwhile telling cnn the release of dozens of hostages, cnn's clare sebastian joins us from london. clare, what is the latest for the termsing of a deal and when will we see it happen? >> well, it's closer than it's been been as the national security adviser jon finer said on cnn on sunday, kasie, he said certain negotiations have narrowed, others, in his words, have been closed out. separately, we heard from the prime minister of qatar, a key broker in these talks saying good progress has been made in a press conference on sunday. he said the sticking points are more logistical and practical than related to the core of the deal which will sounds promising. agency for the core of the deal, various things are coming out from various sources about this. we heard earlier in the month from a u.s. official that it looked like it would involve a large group of hostages, potentially women and children, first in exchange for a day's long pause. longer than the time that israel has been doing. so far, hamas, there's been other demands during a day as you long pause, including palestinians sent to the south to return home. the release of women and children, prisoners and persons within israel. more fuel and aid into gaza. even we heard last week, from several sources from israel, they wanted israel to stop flying surveillance drones over gaza. and they coming to a deal is a significant achievement, look, the videos that we're going from the idf, particularly the cctv videos they put out showing what they say are hostages in the center, one of them being roughly treated. the uninjured one, as you can see in this video here. separately the news that we also got from the idf last week two bodies of hostages they say have been found close to al shifa. and what we heard from jon finer, the national security adviser, they basically don't know how many are still alive. the situation for the hostages is precarious and unclear and unprescient for the negotiations. indeed, clare sebastian, thank you for that. let's bring in joel reuben, deputy secretary of state for the obama administration. joel, always great to have you. >> yes, kasie, good morning. >> let's start with the new idf video and what they say are pictures the hostages, you know, coming through the hospital. what do you see, sag as you wat this, and what's your understandings what this relates to, it's obviously a informational ward what this is being used for? >> no doubt, it comes to mind, is this a hostage hospital, why are there hostages going lieu al shifa. there are they there to get medical treatment, like they would like the world to believe? or being brought through tunnels brought underground. so there are a lot of questions. clearly, this demonstrates that hamas is separating from within the hospital. at a certain level, perhaps a military center. certainly, they have a tight relationship with the administration there. they weren't being told to stay out. they weren't being told if you come here, you're going to attract israeli retribution, but that's what's happened. it's very serving they're in that hospital and it seems they've been in there ever since. >> joel, we keep hearing about this hostage, the possibility of a hostage deal. >> yeah. >> and yesterday, it never actually seems to happen. what is your understanding of where things stand right now? >> so, what i'm gathering in talking to folks around washington about this, you're right, as the reporting was, there is some contour of 50 or so people being treated for a temporary pause. and the question then, of course, that israel has, well, give us the names what are the specifics, what happens next. so then key sticking point, the question, of verification, in other words, during the pause what happens if hamas gets to run freely inside of gaza without anybody looking at them without israeli surveillance, that's what they're looking for. and that's certainly not an idea that israel woul