, and then, there were four. the rnc unveiling the least carted debate stage yet for the 2024 republican presidential race, especially because the front runner is continuing to stay on the sidelines. can any of these for catch up to donald trump? >> plus, apocalyptic, with a blatant disregard for basic humanity. that is how one top u.n. official is describing the punishing attacks on gaza as the israeli military expands operations in the south. we have a live update israel in just moments. and what we are learning about this house explosion. police trying to serve a warrant, the suspect, allegedly shooting flares, we are set to hear directly from police soon, following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. the stage is set for the most intimate yet of republican debate lineups in the 2024 race for the white house. the rnc is announcing for republicans qualified for the fourth debate tomorrow. chris christie, ron desantis, nikki haley and vivek ramaswamy. all will take their podiums in tuscaloosa, alabama, trying to woo voters with just 41 days to go into the first true test of their appeal, the iraq of's. once again, the leading contender, former president trump, will not be there. and, as he stays away, there is chatter among some republicans that chris christie should get out of the race, as another republican, liz cheney ways an entrance all in pursuit of making sure that donald trump does not win the nomination. we begin the hour with cnn's elena chain, and kristen holmes with us as well. all right, first, i mentioned liz cheney, kristen. let's talk about what her thinking is. >> reporter: now, what she is saying, we know one thing about liz cheney, she does not like donald trump. she is probably the most anti trump republican. she had said she would do whatever it takes to make sure he does not go back to the white house. now, apparently, part of that is that she is weighing a third party run. here's what she told the washington post. several years ago, i will not have contemplated a third party run. we faced threats which could be exo central to the united states, we need a candidate who will be able to deal with and address, confront all of those challenges. that will all be part of my calculation as we go into the early months of 2024. now, it should be noted, there are anti trump republicans who do not want her to enter the race. they actually believe this will take votes from joe biden, and would propel donald trump to the white house, something else she said she would take into consideration. this has all been part of what she has been doing lately with her new book, and also amplifying what a trump 2025 agenda would look like, and what it means for democracy. >> so, this debate that we are awaiting, how much is at stake here, elina? >> reporter: lots is at stake, one thing is the timing of this, we are six weeks out from the iowa candidate, and these four candidates will do anything they can to continue building momentum as we get into the early primaries. i think one big thing i know a lot of republicans are looking at, or two candidates i should say, are ron desantis and nikki haley. both have really emerged as the candidates who could be an alternative to donald trump. but, we know that nikki haley has done very well at the debates in the past. i think they are looking to build some of that momentum. but of course, donald trump, the front runner will not be there. he is going to be doing a fund-raiser in florida instead. that has really frustrated a lot of his opponents. people like ron desantis who said yesterday in new hampshire, why aren't you showing up? when i talk to donald trump's team, to his inner circle, they tell me and kristen this as well, they want to make it look like donald trump is in a different league. and these debates are beneath him, they think it is working and it is effective, that is why he is measuring up. >> he is certainly keeping himself in a different league, a different planet almost, when it comes to these debates. so, i mentioned chris christie facing pressure from some republicans to get out of the race. he is clearly trying to withstand that pressure here. how much is he really under? >> well, look. i think chris christie is interesting. he is not polling very well. he barely made the threshold for that debate tomorrow night. but he is saying he is determined to remain in the race through the republican convention. he needs to stay through new hampshire, that's where his campaign has been spending most of their time. now he says, i think we are doing well enough to keep on until the convention. but a lot of people want one candidate to rally around as the alternative to donald trump. they think that chris christie is not doing well enough to be that candidate. so, they need him to step back and go after either ron desantis or nikki haley, someone who they think could be donald trump for the nomination. >> what is donald trump doing, kristen, since he will not be there on the stage? >> reporter: he's been doing this counterprogramming, we saw him do a rally in miami just down the street from where the debate was, we saw him with an interview with tucker carlson, now he's holding a fund-raiser. he will be behind closed doors. to expand on what alina's was citing about trump's team evading the debate, they think they made the right decision, not having him participate in this debate. they were a lot of people on the fence when he skipped that first debate. it was not clear if this would go in his favor. is he going to miss out on something? will something? will he not be able to reach certain voters because he's missing these debates? they no longer feel that way. they feel like they have been able to take control of the narrative, one of the things donald trump is very good at doing. and they have seen his poll numbers continue to rise. there is no indication that he is ever going to participate in any of these events. and, as you reported last week, the rnc is now considering changing rules on how they hold primary debates, already in reaction to donald trump not participating. again, they feel like they want this one. >> yes, he has not taken a hit, and none of the candidates have really hit him on the stage -- not too many anyways, right? they have not been piling on. elaina, kristen, thank you so much. boris? president biden's also focusing on 2024 today. he is now in the boston area on a fundraising blitz. cnn's kevin liptak has been tracking the president. kevin, what is president biden focusing on today with these different events? >> reporter: yes, this is the most intensive fundraising sprint president biden has taken part in, since taking office. he will hit three events here in boston today, including a concert fund-raiser tonight, that is headlined by the senior, james taylor. they are calling it, you've got a friend in joe. between now and monday, biden will hit seven fund-raisers altogether, he is headed out west next week to los angeles. he will have help from some hollywood heavyweights, stephen spielberg, sean derives, rob reiner, all hoping to bring in cash ahead of the fundraising deadline at the end of the month. of course, president biden, last quarter, raised $71 million along with democrats. that was outpacing the republicans in the field, but it is lagging behind other incumbent presidents at this point, in their presidency. but certainly, the campaign says that the fundraising is picking up. they said november was the biggest month for grassroots fundraising sense biden announced his reelection campaign in april, certainly, they do expect next year to be a very expensive campaign as they look to position president biden for reelection, boris. >> kevin, on that note, there's been a record number of money spent on this advertising, it's been an off year for president biden's reelection. the top spender is not actually his campaign? >> reporter: yes, it is the super pac, in fact. certainly, president biden's campaign is also spending heavily on television ads. it gives you an idea of where all of this morning that president biden is trying to raise its going towards. they spent 45 million on television advertising so far this year, far ahead of what president trump or obama spent in the off-year before their reelection. what the campaign is doing is trying to test messaging in these ads ahead of next year, trying to see what resonates, trying to see what sticks. we have seen them run ads, including during nfl games, about the economy, health care, even criticizing president trump's record on health care. certainly, president biden's challenge to try to reverse the approval ratings, trying to convince skeptical voters that he deserves reelection, certainly, campaign officials do say that will cost a lot of money. boris? >> some concerning numbers for the white house, specifically with younger voters recently published. we will get into that in a second. kevin liptak, live in boston, thank you so much. let's dip bieber with cnn political commentator kate bedingfield, she served as biden's white house communications director. kate, thank you for being with us. i just referred to the numbers among young folks with president biden. there is new harvard ayo peephole on the youth vote. it found nearly 20% are unsure, or do not plan on voting in 2024. voters aged 18 to 29 do prefer president biden, but it is not a majority. you see it on the screen, he is also slipping among black and latino voters, both by double digits. kate, seeing those numbers, what advice do you have for the campaign? >> reporter: well, the good news for the campaign, for the biden campaign, they are still a year out, they have time to work on this. obviously, seeing a softening in your faith, your coalition is concerning. based on my conversations with the biden campaign, they certainly take it seriously. i think some of the key things that they can do is to really speak to the things that president biden has done, but help for example, young people. you saw them do that this last week on health care, obamacare. they really seized on donald trump saying he would repeal obamacare. part of the reason that is such a potent argument, we certainly saw that in 2019 and 2020, in the democratic primary. part of the reason that is such a potent argument, you are telling people who are 26 years old and younger they will be taken off their parents insurance. so it's a really tangible argument about something that will make a difference in young peoples lives. so, it is smart for the biden campaign to jump on that, not only to say joe biden has done things to make your life better, but also to say, look with the alternative is if donald trump becomes president, this will be taken away from you. every opportunity they have, not just to tell people what biden has done, but also put in the framework of, these are the stakes, if donald trump takes office, that is a smart thing to do. they need to do that consistently to get these numbers back up. >> kate, notably, that's one issue that appears to be energizing some young progressives, they are unhappy with the way the white house has hundred the israel hamas conflict. you see it on social media, you see it at pro palestinian rallies. how much of the issue for the white house's messaging on this, how much is simply policy? >> reporter: well, one thing that i can tell you, having worked for joe biden for many years, it is not going to make a substantive polity -- policy decision, particularly in foreign policy, based on whole numbers. i say that not because he is disregarding the impact, voices or the perspective of the young voters, but because, foreign policy plays out overtime. it requires sometimes difficult conversations. it requires private conversations. some of the work that he has done led to the temporary cease-fire that got a lot of hostages released. i think biden has been very clear that the violence, the level of violence being committed against palestinians is unacceptable. i think he will probably continue, him and his administration will continue to ramp about language up. we have seen tony blinken talk about that over the course of his last trip, even to israel. he will continue to do that. at the end of the day, he is working towards a solution that brings the violence to an end, which is his ultimate goal. >> i want to get back to the conversation breonna was having at the top of the hour. that is liz cheney toying with the idea of running as a third party candidate. i'm wondering how does the biden campaign feel about that? do you think it helps him orders and former president donald trump? >> reporter: i think it is hard to see a world where it helps joe biden. i think for liz cheney, the clearer sense is if she were to run as a third party candidate, she would likely take more votes from joe biden than donald trump, in part because she has been such a vocal critic of donald trump. i think in our current system, it is nearly impossible for a third party candidate to win the presidency. but what a third party candidate can do is leach support from the leading two candidates. given her criticism of trump, she is certainly not palatable to the republican base. i think for a lot of independents who would have suspicion about her, given some of her more conservative policies they don't agree with, i think it is hard to see a world where she does anything but take votes from joe biden and ultimately help donald trump in that scenario. i certainly hope that she would spend time continuing to call out the potential threat, a second donald trump term would pose, continue to ring the alarm, rather than entering the race in a way that would almost certainly heard joe biden. >> yes, the former congresswoman has said that she is going to weigh the math. if she thinks it will help trump win, she will not wind out running for office. caitlin field, on going to leave the conversation there, could continue to appreciate the perspective. >> thank you for having me. >> of course. still to come on cnn news central, an apocalyptic situation with no safe place to go. that is how united nations officials describe the situation in gaza, as israel is expanding its ground operation in the south. we take you live to the region in just moments. plus, we are expecting to hear from police after a massive explosion rocks a neighborhood, just outside of washington d.c.. we will bring you what police tell us about the blast. and later, under pressure. federal officials now putting together a panel, taking a closer look at a mental health rules for pilots. we have the details just moments away. an apocalyptic situation, with no safe place to go. that is how the united nations is describing the chaotic and dire conditions facing civilians in gaza today. many are now digging through rubble, searching for anything they can find in a way of a food. the desperation only deepening as israeli forces are marching further into gaza. the idf now say its troops are in the heart of khan younis, a city in southern gaza were hundreds of thousands have fled in search of safety. israeli forces have been tightening their grip on the enclave since launching ground operations meadowbrook, which of course began with evacuation orders in northern gaza. the idf say their troops in that part of the strip now have the refugee camp surrounded. today's soldiers are ordering many in khan yunis in the south to clear out. let's take you now live to senator israel, with jeremy diamond. jeremy, what's the latest on israel's ground operations in gaza? >> reporter: well, boris, the israeli military appears to be on the brink of a very decisive battle in gaza's second largest city, that is the city of khan yunis, where tonight, israeli military chief of staff hertzy halevi size but's forces have encircled that city of khan yunis. we know the israeli military is still continuing to operate in the northern part of the gaza strip, but they are beginning to make a very decisive offensive in the southern part of the gaza strip. according to both local accounts as well as israeli military officials, there have been heavy strikes into key cities, in the central part of this trip as well as in khan yunis, where the israeli military appears to be making one of its primary offensives in the southern part of the gaza strip. there is some indication that senior hamas commanders might be in that city. tonight, hertzy halevi, the chief of staff is saying, the address for the israeli military that it is targeting is hamas, and it is the group's leader, as it moves forward into southern gaza. now, amid this offensive, the israeli military is also ordering fresh evacuations of huge swaths of southern gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people live, directing them to move towards cities even further south, the city of rafah, we're already hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and are living in overcrowded shelters. tonight, the u.n. refugee agency is warning that city simply cannot accept the flow of hundreds of thousands of additional people. they don't have enough shelters for them. the water system is unlikely able to support the individuals. now, civilians in the gaza strip are facing increasingly difficult choices. not only facing the destruction from the airstrikes they are seeing in some of those key cities, but also the very difficult choice of whether or not to heed those evacuation orders, whether to head further south, where the conditions simply might not be right for them. amid all of this, hamas is continuing to fire rockets towards southern and central israel. we saw them today, as there weren't rockets intercepted above northern tel aviv, indicating hamas continuing to be able to strike at central israel, even amid this intense operation by the israeli military. boris? >> jeremy diamond, live from us from sderot. i want now to go to the white house, and cnn's mj lee is another, so the reporting on how the white house is reading other continued insistence that israel do a better job at targeting hamas, and preventing civilian deaths. walk us through the reporting. >> reporter: yes, boris. you know, if you have been paying close attention over the last few weeks, you will have noticed that both white house and other u.s. officials have been increasingly emphasizing this idea that israel has been heeding the u.s. warnings about making sure that its military operations are tailored so that they can definitely sort of minimize civilian casualties and the destruction in gaza. we saw vice president kamala harris on sunday, for example, saying i do believe they have listened when she was asked about this. we have seen other senior officials recently using the word receptive to describe how israeli officials have been listening to the advice from u.s. officials. but in private, this is not necessarily a consensus view. one senior official telling me, they, for one, would not be comfortable using the word receptive, and that right now, the reality is that the white house remains deeply concerned about this next phase of the war, where israel is targeting the southern part of the gaza strip, with its military operations. for now, boris, we see that the white house is declining to offer any kind of initial or even comprehensive assessment of how those military operations are going, giving the u.s. continued urgings of minimizing civilian deaths. we saw that repeatedly with jake sullivan when he was in the white house briefing room yesterday, basically, the administration saying it is too soon to make those kinds of judgments. but, boris, it is important to note, part of what is going on here is that the white house has believed all along, since october 7th, that it is best to quietly, behind the scenes, counc