the trump administration under trump, donald trump. trump at the time said they would do that. donald trump. donald trump. donald trump. so when he gets off the teleprompter, you don't know what he's going to say. >> a whole lot of trumps from ron desantis. >> he knows he's the number one front-runner. >> ron desantis goes after, you guessed it, donald trump. why the florida governor showed new urgency in attacking the front runner after months of pulling his punches. plus losing support over indiscriminate bombing of gaza. how the israeli prime minister is reacting as we learn the idf has started flooding some hamas tunnels. breaking overnight, a done deal. nearly 200 countries sign on to a historic climate deal to move away from fossil fuels. hear what happens next. "cnn this morning" starts right now. here is where we begin. witnessing a very tenuous moment in the history of u.s./israel relations. the public rift over the war in gaza is growing with president biden delivering his sharpest public criticism yet of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his hard line right government. biden told donors at a fund-raiser israel is losing international support because of the indiscriminate bombings. more than 18,000 people have now been killed in gaza, according to the health control ministry. benjamin netanyahu is openly admitting he has disagreements with biden what should be done with the gaza strip. several of americans' closest allies broke with the united states at the united nations general assembly in a vote that overwhelmingly demanded an immediate ceasefire. canada, australia and japan were among the 153 nations to vote yes after previously abstaining. in gaza the military suffered one of its biggest losses yet in their ground offensive. at least nine israeli soldiers including a commander, killed in a single incident in northern gaza. this is a firsthand look at how intense the urban combat has been in the gaza strip, new video released by the israeli military, and it was released this morning and it is troops sprinting to the ruins as gunfire rings out. let's begin in tel aviv on the news of the nine idf soldiers who were killed. is that an indication the battle is more challenging or at least different than what was expected? >> well, poppy and phil, it's an indication of how there are still these hamas and other militant strongholds in the north, of how fierce the fighting is in the northern part of the gaza strip as the idf tries to focus and move into the south. they still haven't secured the north. and so we saw one of the deadliest days for the idf since the war began back on october 7th. there were actually ten soldiers killed on tuesday. one was by himself and nine, as you mentioned, in the single incident. those nine were from the famed golani brigade. one was a young battalion commander who was a lieutenant colonel. this brings the idf death toll to 115. and, phil and poppy, there have been some fairly notable deaths among those 115 including the son and the nephew of a current minister who used to run -- who used to be the top general in the idf. in terms of a bit more context, the idf says they have killed some 7,000 militants overall, but, as you noted, poppy, at the top of the show, the staggering death toll continues to grow, the health ministry saying some 18,400 palestinians have now been killed in gaza. >> alex, for weeks you and our security team have been reporting the difference between u.s. and israeli officials. those differences spilling into public view. prime minister netanyahu firing back a little bit on his position. the question is given israel's reliance on the u.s. on just about all fronts of this war, how does this impact the war? >> reporter: well, phil, you're still seeing the biden administration's full throated support for israel's right to defend itself but you are hearing growing discomfort from biden and top officials about how israel is prosecuting this war, how they're carrying out the war in gaza and netanyahu is admitting there are disagreements with the u.s. you have these very pointed comments. i would say some of the starkest yet from president biden yesterday to donors in which he said prime minister netanyahu needs to change, insinuating he needs to change tactics but it's difficult, he says, because of the far-right government he is in control of. he also went on to say israel is losing this international support because of what he called the indiscriminate bombing campaign in gaza. at the same time netanyahu, while thanking the u.s. for their support, said there are disagreements with the biden administration over the question of governance for palestinians, who and how palestinians are going to be governed both in gaza and the west bank going forward. but i think it's really interesting to see the u.s. becoming increasingly isolated on the international stage. they really are, we saw the u.n. security council last week, the only ones rejecting the calls for an immediate ceasefire, and now you have this growing list of very close u.s. allies who are calling for a ceasefire while the u.s. continues to reject that. phil, poppy? >> alex, what the u.s. has said is we want language directly in these u.n. resolutions condemning hamas, but is it clear the u.s. would sign it if that was in there? >> reporter: no, it's certainly not clear, but you're absolutely right. that is the excuse, essentially, they're making for rejecting this calls for a ceasefire. the u.s. is saying, what we're hearing from israel, hamas needs to be eradicated, their infrastructure and their fighters and leadership need to be taken out, and that that is not done yet. biden and officials say we will continue to support both politically and militarily until that mission has been completed. what is not clear, however, what exactly that means, what is eradicating and getting rid of hamas actually look like? >> alex, thank you. some negotiators report progress is being made on a deal that would include border security and then aid to ukraine and israel but this is far from a done deal. volodymyr zelenskyy had an in-person plea for president biden and congressional leaders yesterday. some republicans seemed unmoved by the visit, and biden seemed to acknowledge the current climate in congress. >> the american people can be and should be incredibly proud of the support in ukraine's success. we will continue to supply ukraine with critical weapons and equipment as long as we can. >> as long as we cannot as long as it takes, which is what he was saying before, and that is a big difference. overnight the mayor of kyiv says 34 people were injured in what is being called a russian missile attack on the capital, most from falling glass and from blown-out windows from the blast. we'll keep you updated on the talks. ron desantis changing tactics antond tone on teflon donald trump to see if it sticks. he turned questions about issues into a straight rebuke of trump. >> donald trump, so he's -- when he gets off the teleprompter, you don't know what he's going to say. donald trump has refused to debate throughout this campaign. when donald trump ran in '16, he was going to repeal and replace obama care. i'm the only one running that can beat trump one-on-one. >> but the newest poll shows this. trump with a 32-point lead over desantis in iowa, where the caucus will happen almost a month from today. jessica dean joins us again this morning in des moines at grand view university. quite a night, quite a tone change from ron desantis on a number of fronts. i thought it was really interesting. what's your read? >> reporter: good morning, poppy and phil. when i was talking to people close to the campaign, they were very excited for him to have this opportunity to talk directly to iowan voters. this has been their message, their strategy, to go all in on iowa. they really saw this as a big platform at a time a lot of people are tuning in and what we heard, to poppy's point, from the florida governor, a much more direct attack on the front-runner, former president donald trump. >> thank you. >> reporter: republican presidential candidate ron desantis answering questions from iowa voters and taking aim at the gop front-runner. >> donald trump, so he's -- when he gets off the teleprompter now, you don't know what he's going to say. i went to the rallies with donald trump. he said he was going to build the wall and have mexico pay for it. that didn't happen. the last year with covid, i think was mishandled dramatically. shutting down the country was a huge mistake. one thing in this case i think is important to point out is donald trump flip-flopping on the right to life. trump tweeting and attacking people, i think that created division we didn't need. >> reporter: desantis, feeling the pressure to gain support in iowa after disappointing poll numbers from the "des moines register" earlier this week, showed trump still has a commanding lead in the state. he down played the polls though touting his ground organization in the hawkeye state. >> iowa voters will choose, not pundits and polls. we have the best organization in iowa. we have tens of thousands of iowans who have committed to caucus for us. >> reporter: fielding questions on foreign policy, saying he feels israel over ukraine has the most need for u.s. assistance. >> it's the state of israel because they are our strongest ally in the middle east. we have a relationship with them that's like no other, and they have the whole world against us. they require the united states to be there, to stand with them as a friend. ukraine has all of europe. these european countries need to start pulling their weight. >> reporter: he's also supporting congressional republicans who are refusing to authorize further military aid to ukraine unless more is done to secure the u.s. southern border. >> what they are seeing is you've got to defend our own country's borders before you start sending money all across this world. as president, i'll do the border on day one. day one we're going to declare it a national emergency. i'm sending the mailitary to th southern border. >> reporter: california governor gavin newsom criticizing desantis' performance calling it, quote, his signature rant and scare tactics that offer no solutions to the real issues that matter to americans across the country. >> we are all in on nikki haley! >> reporter: former south carolina governor nikki haley winning out against desantis and others to get a highly sought endorsement from that state's governor, chris sununu. >> it doesn't get any better than this. to go and get endorsed by the live free or die governor is about as rock solid of an endorsement as we could hope for. >> reporter: so we are now in the last sprint until voting begins. that's going to happen january 15th. it starts here in iowa, of course, with the iowa caucuses and in the hawkeye state today, former president donald trump will be here giving some remarks and also, phil and poppy, just a note for everyone, another town hall behind me vivek ramaswamy will be taking the stage with abby phillip at 9:00 p.m. >> you will hear directly from nikki haley and governor chris sununu joining dana bash at 12:00, noon, eastern time. a landmark moment in the fight against climate change, a really big deal, the united nations climate summit ended with a call to transition away from fossil fuels. critics say, though, it has cavernous loopholes. >> we are just hours away from a possible vote to formalize the house gop impeachment inquiry into president biden. that's next. there is the u.s. capitol. a big day in the u.s. capitol as we are just a few hours away from a possible vote to formalize the house republican impeachment inquiry into president biden. democrats have been calling it baseless as investigations have yielded zero evidence of any crime from the current president. >> lauren fox on capitol hill, good morning. speaker johnson continuing to say republicans are taking the next step, but do we even know about what hunter biden, for example, is going to do today? set the stage for what's going to happen today. >> reporter: this is a major day for republicans as they move forward with their pledge to move forward with this impeachment inquiry. we expect a possible vote today on the floor and leadership has been working really hard to ensure they have republican unity later today. there have been skeptical republicans over the course of the last several months and the argument leadership is making at this point is that just because we formally vote on an impeachment inquiry does not mean we have to move forward, it is not inevitable we have to do an impeachment of the current president, joe biden. you heard from mike johnson yesterday his argument this is just about getting more information, bolstering your case in court. meanwhile, the house oversight and judiciary committees have requested a deposition with hunter biden. they are threatening if he doesn't show up, they may hold hunter biden in contempt of congress. what we know right now from our justice team is that hunter biden is in washington, d.c. we know, however, his lawyer has made crystal clear to these committees they want to make sure if hunter biden testifies that he does so publicly. what they don't want to happen is him go in a closed door meeting with the republicans and have selective pieces of this leak to the public without the full transcript, without the full testimony being released at one time. so that is why they've argued that should be public. we're going to be watching on the hill to see whether or not hunter biden shows up. again, that threat of potentially holding him in contempt of congress is a real threat from house republicans. we're going to be watching very closely today. but obviously this is a momentous day and it also is a day that matters because they are about to go on their holiday break, and this is sort of the last opportunity that they're going to have to talk about this for the next several weeks. phil, poppy? >> lauren fox, i hope you get a holiday break, too. you've been working around the clock. thank you, my friend. the racist, vile and threatening voice mail sent to election workers in georgia have been sent to court, real people, real impact. two women suing rudy giuliani for defamation. coast guard cadets opening up after being assaulted. this all comes after cnn first uncovered how their reports were completely mishandled. what those survivors want to see changed next. loving this pay bump in our allowance. wonder where mom and dad got the extra money? maybe they won the lottery? maybe they inherited a fortune? maybe buried treasure? maybe it fell off a truck? maybe they heard that xfinity customers can save hundreds when they buy one unlimted line and get one free. now i can buy that electric scooter! i'm starting a private-equity fund that specializes in midcap. you do you. visit xfinitymobile.com today. really big deal for the world, planet, the fate of our environment. we're all waking up to a landmark agreement that could curb the use of fossil fuels that science proves contribute to the climate crisis. this new deal was hammered out in dubai at the united nations climate summit. those are cheers from attendees. there's already pushback about whether it will work. >> covering cop28, live in johannesburg, south africa. david, there's a lot of skepticism they could reach an outcome here. what does this all mean? >> reporter: good morning, phil and poppy. this is a big deal, historic, say many people, because they have managed to explicitly put in this climate deal transitioning away from fossil fuels. now that means oil, gas, coal. for many years that was never part of these agreements explicitly. this is important because the world is heating up this will be the hottest year on record. if you look at some of these achievements this deal came through, triple the renewable capacity by 2030 and help poorer nations and developing nations to finance all of this. these are not concrete goals necessarily and there are many loopholes say critics. the u.s. climate envoy john kerry said it's important particularly with the other crises that are going on in the world right now. >> everybody here should be pleased that in a world of ukraine and the middle east, war and all the other challenges of a planet is floundering, multilateralism has come together and people have taken individual interests and attempted to find the common good. >> reporter: well, almost 200 countries have a consensus on this deal, so it is important they come up with the language. the question is whether people will put their money and actions where they were. >> a big step for sure. you're right, what's the action to follow? david, thanks so much for the reporting. israel's strongest ally said it's losing international support for its war against hamas. how u.s./israeli relations could be impacted. also, abortion rights and the race for the white house. ron desantis says donald trump is flip-flopping on the issue. a look at whether his new attack line will work for gop voters. i think that we have made it clear to the israelis, and they're aware, that the safety of innocent palestinians is still of great concern. and so the actions they're taking must be consistent with attempt to go do everything possible to prevent innocent palestinian civilians from being hurt, murdered, killed, lost, et cetera. this morning those are the strongest words of warning yet from president biden and other world leaders to israel saying benjamin netanyahu has to change his approach on the war against hamas in gaza telling donors in washington and israel is, quote, losing international support for the war. biden called netanyahu's government the most conservative in israeli history and added, quote, it doesn't want a two-state solution. and several key u.s. allies are going a step further. several prime ministers say they support urgent international efforts toward a sustainable ceasefire. >> netanyahu admitted he and biden disagree on what should happen but he hopes they will reach an agreement. netanyahu also rejected the president's call to have the palestinian authority play a role in gaza's future because, according to the prime minister, they support terrorism. joining us to discuss all of this, david sanger, a white house national security correspondent for "the new york times." david, this is episode 7,000 of what the president says at fund-raisers, tells you what the president is thinking right now, the assessment of the warnings in the closed door fund-raiser. were you surprised? >> not surprised in that we have seen a ramping up of the public commentary about a really tense set of conversations between the president and prime minister netanyahu. what is remarkable the president is out there making the case for $14 billion for israel, for the military actions that need to follow the october 7 events, and yet the prime minister is out openly saying we are not going to go along with the u.s. policy suggestions. and let's delineate what they are. they have been repeatedly told, you have to be extraordinarily careful about preserving civilian lives as you go about the operations. the israelis say they have been, but very few administration officials believe that has been really the number one priority. the second thing is that prime minister netanyahu has never been in favor of a two-state solution. that has been the president's explicit goal, and to come out as strongly as he did is remarkable. this really tells you about the limits of even a president's infl influence. >> you put it so well when we were chatting in the break that netanyahu is asking for $14 billion in aid and, i'm not going to do what you're telling me to do. they are n