thahello and a warm welcome our viewers. i'm bianca nobilo. max foster is off this week. just ahead on "cnn newsroom" life- >> president biden is trying to walk back remarks he made tuesday. >> he is running and i have to run. >> we're getting a preview of special counsel's playbook. >> they are ready to describe to the jury how he encouraged the violence on january 6. >> tuesday afternoon an apparent israeli airstrike dem molished this building. >> people have been forced to run from place to place seeking shelter. it is simply chaos at this point. live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with max foster and bianca nobilo. >> it is wednesday, december 6, 9:00 a.m. in london and 4:00 a.m. in washington where u.s. president biden is walking back a candid remark about his possible rationale for seeking re-election. he told democratic donors at an off camera fundraiser "if trump wasn't running, i'm not sure i'd be running." but a few hours later when pressed by reporters, mr. biden said this -- >> would you be running for president if trump wasn't running? >> i expect so, but look, he is running and so i have to run. >> the biden campaign was quick to tdown play the remark. they pointed to the fact that president biden has repeatedly described trump as a unique threat to the country. a democratic strategist says biden is right too beli believe he is the only one to defeat trump. >> i'm not surprised that he said this. it is no secret that he believes he is the only one that can beat trump because in fact he has been the only one that has beat trump. and look, he focuses on this is the reason why he is asking for re-election, to finish the job. it was clearly the early the day after donald trump left the white house that he was going to run again. and look what he did when he doesn't win re-election. he almost destroyed our democracy, our democracy was hanging by a thread. he is running again and the one person that was able to beat him last time i think is the one moving forward to beat him again. and when you have somebody like donald trump who is focused on going after his phones who he described as vermin, who talks about immigrants as poisoning the blood of our country, who said on truth social that he would get rid of the constitution of the united states, i think that is one of the most important reasons why someone who beat him already is running again to protect us from someone who has already told us he wants to be a dictator and wants to walk into the oval office and make it his own. >> maria cardona there. four republican candidates will take to the stage tonight in alabama for the party's fourth presidential primary debate. nikki haley, vivek ramaswamy, chris christie and ron desantis all expected to participate. each one of them is looking to separate themselves from the pack, to be seen as the top republican rival to donald trump who is skipping the events as h has the previous debates. vivek ramaswamy gave a preview of his strategy. >> we're in the middle of a race and there are key differences in this party. i don't intend to play with kid gloves and you shouldn't want people that is running for u.s. president sitting across the table from xi jinping playing with kid gloves either. >> meanwhile donald trump is again attacking the u.s. president's mental fitness for office. he told fox news that he does not think that joe biden will be the democratic nominee by the time the election arrives in november next year. mr. biden at 81 is just four years older than trump. but trump also side stepped a question during the town hall about whether he would abuse power or seek retribution against political enemies. take a listen to this. >> have any plans whatsoever if reelected president to abuse po power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people? >> you mean like they are using right now.[ applause ] in the history of our country, what has happened to us again has never happened before. over nonsense, over nothing, made up charges. >> i want to go back to the one issue though because the media has been focused on this and atta attacking. under no circumstances, you are promising america tonight, he would never abuse power as retribution against anybody? >> except for day one. >> former congresswoman liz cheney says she will do whatever she has to do to stop 2kuddonal trump from being reelected to the white house. >> i think there is a huge amount of work to be done after this re-election cycle, whether it is rebuilding the republican party which increasingly looks like maybe an impossible task, or helping to begin a new party that is very focused on what the republican party used to stand for before this cultive personality. but right now, and in this election cycle, i'll do whatever i have do to make sure donald trump is nelected. >> cheney lost her post in congress after publicly rejecting trump's claim that he won at the presidential election. and she says that it may be time to run a third party sdid to draw votes from trump as she mulls a third party run in 2024. cheney says she fears what trump might do in a second term backed up by republicans who might not defend the constitution over him. and we're learning new details about the special counselor planned strategy ahead of the subversion trial. federal prosecutors say the plan to present evidence that trump's continued support for capitol rioters helps to show that he intended to inspire violence on january 6 as part of a conspiracy that he led to overturn the 2020 presidential election. katelyn polantz has the latest from washington. >> reporter: federal prosecutors are saying in court that donald trump's trial next year related to the 2020 election, they are ready to explain to the jury how he encouraged the violence, not just on january 6, but generally was condoning violent supporters of his for some time around the 2020 election. now, this is a piece of the story as we're learning what exactly prosecutors are doing to prepare to go to trial in march in federal court in washington, d.c., taking donald trump to trial on four different charges related to his attempts to obstruct congress and to conspire to disrupt the transfer of power from him to president biden. and in this court filing on tuesday, the prosecutors are laying out that not only do they want to argue that to the jury, they also want to show the jury things that trump had said over the years that weren't specific to the 2020 election about how in 2012, 2016 and other years, he always had talked about doubting votes because of the possibility of fraud. that was some argument he had made. they also talk about wanting to explain how he said in a presidential debate in 2020 to the proud boys, the extremist group, stand back and stand by. and how he sympathized with rioters even in recent months after he was charged, said to them that he sympathized withkn screens singing the national anthem and also said that he was interested in potentially pardoning them. so all of that prosecutors say very well is something that they believe a jury should hear so that they can explain to them the motive and the intent that donald trump had after the 2020 election, that there is a story and a history here of violence, that the character traits of the former president is something that really should be heard about how he has always tried to doubt elections and how he's always sought to exploit the possibility of violence as a way to hold on to power politically. caitlinkatelyn polantz, cnn, washington. the speaker of the house says he intends to blush the faces of insurrections before he releases footage from that day. the reason is to protect them from prosecution and retaliation. >> we have to blur some of the faces of persons who participated in the events of that day because we don't want them to be retaliated against. and to be charged by the doj. >> federal prosecutors already have footage from january 6, but also have relied on regular citizens to identify some of the rioters and critics fear blurring the video could handle per that process. you will recall the capitol insurrection interfered with lawmakers inside exercising their duty to certify the joe biden election victory. it is just past 11:00 a.m. in gaza where the israel defense forces say they have carried out about t 250 airstrikes on hamas targets in just the past day. enclave sesecond biggest city kn yunis is bearing the brunt of that damage. israeli military says it is also destroying t terrorist infrastructure. eyewitnesses r report multiple strikes. a a nearby hospipital says it h received d dozens ofof bodies o tuesday. a spokesperson says many people are still trapped under rubble. meanwhile, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is rejecting the idea of an international force responsible for security in gaza after the war. he says only the israel defense forces should control the disarmament of gaza. for more on all of this, bring in claire a basilica january here in london -- clare sebastian here in london. bring us up-to-date. >> we're seeing an expansion and significant one. this is now day 6 in this phase after the truce ended on friday. yes, a lot of fool of folks in souths but also more strikes in the north, where head of the health run ministry says it is under siege, there is no fuel, they say they have more than 100 bodies that they can't bury and essentially there is new no health care in northern gaza. but the fact that we're seeing a significant operation in the south centered around kahn yunis where idf said that they were in the heart of the city having encircled it, so more sort of street to street urban combat, that is creating a delicate situation. even before this phase of the operation, israel was under increasing pressure do more to protect civilians. now that they are fighting in an area where they have pushed civilians to evacuate to this point, more than 80% of the population of gaza is displaced and we're likely to see displacement on top of displacement because they say there are qr codes to find out where to evacuate to, but also a test of how far international public opinion and in particular the u.s. will go to support israel in this. we're hearing there have been direct conversations pushing them to do more to protect civilians. prime minister netanyahu is very steadfast, in a speech tuesday saying that they will continue with full force for a complete victory. but he also as you pointed to noted about what he -- his vision for the security situation of gaza after this is potentially over. take a listen to what he said. >> translator: gaza must be demilitarized. in order for gaza to be demilitarized, there is only one force that can ensure this, and that force is the israel defense forces. no enter national force can take responsibility for this. >> so this is notable because we have not heard much from israel about what their vision is for gaza post-war. there had been some vague discussions in various quarters about potentially an international peace keeping force. it may be at odds with the u.s. position that has urged israel not to reoccupy the gaza strip and is pushing for some kind of leadership revitalized palestinian authority. but we're also hearing from u.s. officials that this ground operation may have to be over by january. so certainly the focus has to shift at this point to what happens next. >> clare sebastian, thank you. 15,800 palestinians have been killed since october 7 according to the palestinian ministry of health which gets its data from thamas-controlled sources. they claim more than 60% of homes in the enclave have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the war. displaced residents have been driven south by the attacks. ben wedeman has a closer look at what gaza residents are being forced to endure. a warning to you that his report contains disturbing images. >> reporter: they came here hoping to escape the war, and this is what happened. tuesday afternoon, an apparent israeli airstrike demolished this building in central gaza. more than 50 are now martyrs, this man says. the building's owner gave them shelter, they all came from the north. under the sand and rubble is a lifeless body. there is his head, someone says. wheel others peering into the ruins search for survivors. is anyone alive, he calls out. without heavy equipment, bare hands must suffice. at the only functioning hospital, the injured are rushed inside. the hospital spokesman says that they received more than 130 injured and more than 90 bodies. condition cannot ccan -- cnn ca confirm the death toll. and once again so many of the victims are children. stunned, confused, terrified, she grasps her mother's hand. the injured treated on the floor. the lucky are among those who fled and fled again further south and up in places like this, make shift mp ca camps def running water, electricity or sanitation. a plastic sheet is all that protects this family from the elements. we spend all night hearing rockets and bombs, she says. we're living between life and death. we may die at any moment. indeed in gaza now, the line between life and death is perilously thin. ben wedeman, cnn, jerusalem. egyptian officials say 50 trucks full of humanitarian aid trosed crossed into gaza on tuesday. two were carrying much needed fuel. that is in addition to 36,000 pounds of supplies from the u.s. air lifted to egypt and then driven into gaza. more supplies are expected to be delivered by military aircraft in the coming days. the u.s. agency of international development also announced an additional $21 million in relief for gaza. this follows an initial allotment of $100 million announced by the u.s. president back in october. the agency says that the funds will provide displaced residents with food, shelter and health services too. coming up for you on the program, u.s. republican lawmakers are standing firm against approving more aid to ukraine unless their demands are met. the white house calls it crazy. and the white angels bringing life-saving supplies to the frontlines. we'll hear from the brave e peoe woworking in t the warzonene. boris johnson made a highly anticipated appearance over the inquiry of the covid-19 pandemic. johnson will space two days of questioning with his reputation and of that the conservative government at stake ahead of an election next year. the panel has already heard damaging testimony about his handling of the pandemic and that includes claims of government incompetenct and allegations that johnson told colleagues he'd prefer to see people die in large numbers rather than order a second lockdown. his testimony could also be dnlgingdnlg i damaging for rishi sunak. the pentagon says it is getting to the point where the u.s. cannot sustain its current aid to ukraine without major action by congress. president biden is proposing a new aid package, but it is facing a road block in congress thanks to republican stonewalling. sfris frustrated by the inaction, mr. biden says he is not giving up. >> failure to support ukraine is just absolutely crazy. it is against u.s. interests. it is against the interests of the world. it is just wrong. and we'll get that aid. we'll get it. >> cnn's manu raju tells us what happened on capitol hill. >> reporter: ukraine aid and israel aid stalled at this critical time despite the pleas by american allies for new money to help with those two wars, uncertain if that will be resolved this year or punted into the new year as a major division between the two parties continues to exist. namely over a separate issue, dealing with the southern border. the migrant crisis, a surge at the southern border, republicans want tighter policies on immigration to be a part of their larger deal to deal with israel as well as ukraine. they say all that needs to be tied together in order to consent, particularly when it comes to ukraine. so behind closed doors earlier on tuesday when senators all met with administration officials trying to lay out urgent case to approving ukraine aid, instead it broke out into a fight on border security and immigration policy which ledto led to a sho match. >> it was hijacked mcconnell. >> we have to have the democrats recognize that the trade is that we stop the open border. they don't want to do that. so republicans are walking out of briefing because people there are not willing to actually discuss what it takes to get a deal done. >> reporter: amid the stalemate, democrats are setting up a key procedure vote to move ahead on the big aid package. but because it does not have the tighter him grace policies that republicans want and democrats say it is a nonstarter, this means that republicans are poised to block it which means that aid to ukraine, aid to israel will continue to be stalled hanging in the balance amid this bitter partisan feud over immigration. manu raju, cnn, capitol hill. russian troops shelled the city of kherson early on tuesday morning. two civilians were killed in the attack according to a local official and one more person was wounded. ukraine's military says russia targeted civilian infrastructure across the country with drones and missiles overnight tuesday into wednesday. and president zelenskyy says his forces shot down a russian aircraft in the black sea. he says that aircraft was attempting to strike the odessa region. russian forces are pressing on to capture the eastern ukrainian town with both sides saying that they made gains on tuesday. anna coren follows a group of ukrainians called the white angels who are bringing supplies to people still living in that warzone. >> reporter: at a warehouse stocked with humanitarian aid, this 23-year-old police officer picks up supplies. food, water, hygiene products and generator are on the list. he is part of the white angels unit, and they are heading to his hometown of avdiivka. i was born in this town, he tells me. my neighbors are there, my relatives, my friends. it is my duty to help them, we are their hope. but getting to a avdiivka is a death trap. shortly after leaving us, he spots russian shelling. look, the bomb has landed. report incoming of an ugly bastard. and there is another one he tells his colleague. russian artillery, mortars and drones target the road but he remains kaumg. this perilous journey has become routine despite multiple close calls. driving past the sign that proudly states avdiivka is ukraine, the town of once 30,000 residents is now deserted, devoid of the looting. as almost every single building has been shelled. but surprisingly some people still live here. including dr. vitale, head of the local hospital. diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decided that he is not going anywhere. we have a job and we do it, he explains. he called the white angels to evacuate a man who had just been injured from shrapnel. as they load him into the van, the idle chatter is interrupted. [ shelling ] in incoming, it is a mortar explains the doctor. as the explosions get louder, it is time to go. this is the road to avdiivka, there is one way in, one way out. we are not allowed to travel to this town which is 17 kilometers away saying it is too dangerous. but for the white angels, they travel on this road multiple times a week risking their lives to assusupport the less than 13 people still living in the town. as the white angels begin the drive out, he reflects -- it is very sad what is happening to my town, but one day we'll rebuild avdiivka and i will live there with my grandchildren. we just need to believe. a belief that keeps this community moonamong the ruins a. anna coren, cnn, outskirts of avdiivka, ukraine. still to come, leaders of elite universities face top questions from u.s. lawmakers about anti-semitism on their campuses. we'll have details on that hearing. plus they voted for donald trump once