migrant apprehended last week, and last week, two from lebanon. the countries promote terrorism, and behind closed doors, dhs, cbp and border patrol officials are concerned what we see happening in israel could happen here because the border has never been more unsecure and this sector alone, more than 60 miles of unpatroled border because the majority of border patrol agents, 90% of the shifts have to do their processing under that bridge. one more stat to leave you with, that's this. in these first 14 days of the fiscal year, already across the entire southwest border, more than 30 iranians, nearly 60 syrians, 285 afghans, more than 100 russians, a handful from lebanon, and get this, nearly 2,000 chinese migrants, so when we hear and see the images a majority are from venezuela, but not all are from the central american and south american countries. and that's raising a lot of interest right now and that's why the border officials are watching where they are coming from in the first 14 days, nearly 100 different countries have been represented. back to you. >> sandra: important reporting, griff jenkins, live in eagle pass, texas. thank you. >> we are trained, we are prepared, we don't want to be here but we have to defend our kids, we have to secure our borders. people that haven't had enemies at their door for a long time fell asleep. think about what it is to have enemies and so when you have a real enemy you need to address that. >> john: it's just past 9:00 here in jerusalem and fighting still raging between israel and hamas for a 10th straight day as fears grow that the deadly war may have already become a two-front conflict. continuing coverage as "america reports" begins a second hour. i'm john roberts in jerusalem. here we go with what is going to be a very busy week, sandra. >> sandra: absolutely, and you are already bringing us great stuff from there, telling the stories of the people on the ground, john. i'm sandra smith in new york, as israel combats hamas terrorists in the gaza strip, fighting intensifies. hezbollah is firing at israeli military bases and the pentagon is warning the group to "think twice" before opening a second front and says the u.s. is prepared to come to israel's defense. john, quite a moment that you have arrived there in. >> john: yeah, there's no question about that, jerusalem had been quiet for the last couple of days, we received a couple rockets earlier today, the iron dome system was activated, took them out, it's comforting to think you have it at your back here as the rockets fly all over this country. and what's happening in the north, sandra, brings people back 17 years to 2006 when hezbollah was shelling and firing rockets into the area in the northern border between the mediterranean sea and the galilee peninsula, and a sense the war is just beginning. gillian turner at the state department as antony blinken returns to israel for a second time now in less than a week. >> sandra: but first, greg palkot live along the israel-lebanon border. we are watching closely at this hour. what is the latest on the situation developing there? >> greg: sandra and john, we are close to the border. we have witnessed firsthand hostilities from both sides, yeah, there is that fear this could be at least the very beginning of some kind of second front. take a look at what we saw and heard today. you are looking at lebanon a half mile from where we are now, northern israel, hezbollah militant fighting there, engaged with the military here this past week as things escalate down south, things here could definitely heat up. intense exchanges between israel and the iranian-backed hezbollah militants. artillery, small arms fire, casualties. 28 israeli villages evacuated. >> do you think they are doing this because of the action down south? >> i have no doubt. do you have doubts? it's -- it's very obvious, yes. >> greg: israeli military building up here, tanks, reservists, commando teams. >> ready for anything? >> ready for anything. > an hezbollah>> -- ready for anything. >> they are watching what is happening down south as the israeli military builds up around the gaza strip ready to go after hamas militants which has left so much death and carnage here in this region. and in fact, a full scale land, sea and air invasion could very well be imminent as we have been reporting. and inside gaza strip, degrading humanitarian civilian situation, people are fleeing. again, hamas catching civilians in the crossfire, food, fuel, water and medicine and yes, back to this region as for the escalation, all know that hezbollah is a dangerous enemy, a claimed 100,000 fighters, possibly 150,000 rockets, clashed with israel in the past, iran a backer of hezbollah just like it is a backer for hamas. one last word, sandra, the message from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu today, to hezbollah, don't make the mistakes of the past. the word back from hezbollah, we were ready for all possibilities. back to you. >> sandra: at the israeli-lebanon border, thank you. >> john: secretary of state antony blinken is back in israel meeting with israeli officials as the war continues to worsen. israel's defense minister telling blinken the war is far from over as the state department focuses on humanitarian aid and deescalation. gillian turner joins us from the state department. what's the latest where you are? >> gillian: secretary of state antony blinken is on the ground in israel as you mentioned, meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu as we speak. his priority is freeing american hostages held inside gaza and evacuating american citizens back here to the united states. take a listen to blinken with israel's defense minister a short while ago. >> this will be a long war. the price will be high. but we are going to win for israel, for the jewish people, and for the values that both countries believe in. >> you have, always had the support of the united states. >> gillian: the state department has announced the appointment of a key diplomat to oversee lifesaving american aid to millions of israelis and palestinians and the reopening of the rafa border crossing. >> putting in place with the united nations, with egypt, israel, others, the mechanism by way to get the assistance in and to get it to the people who need it and that's exactly why ambassador satterfield is taking this on. >> gillian: over the weekend, blinken met with the saudi crown prince in riyadh, pressuring to keep hezbollah from entering the war. and focus to prevent the conflict into a major regional war. the white house is thinking now about what comes next after the looming ground invasion of gaza. >> for the moment, the focus has to be on helping israel defend itself against the brutal terrorism of hamas and we will have opportunities as we go forward to look at diplomatic initiatives like normalization that help lead to a long-term, more stable, more integrated region. >> sandra: john, we are told by the pool over there on the ground to expect to hear from secretary blinken when he finishes that meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. that will be coming to us any moment now. again, state department emphasizing the priority is those 13 americans who remain unaccounted for, john. >> john: and he's heading to jordan from israel tonight, and likely he will not be going home any time soon. sandra. >> sandra: thank you, john, gillian, thank you. israeli officials notifying the families of 199 hostages that their loved ones are being held by hamas terrorists. the white house says more than a dozen americans are also still unaccounted for and hamas says it will kill hostages in response to unannounced israeli strikes on civilian targets. lieutenant colonel darren gobb, former army commander and blackhawk helicopter pilot. sir, thank you very much. obviously this is going to be an incredibly challenging situation. what can you add to it so we can understand fully how israel will go about this knowing there are right now 199 hostages being held by hamas of which a dozen could be americans. >> yes, sandra, this is, i guess, the easy description, this is one of the most difficult environments to operate in, specifically when it comes to hostage rescue in the entire world. what you see in the pictures is an environment that used to have roads and other ways for people to move and communicate and now are destroyed and filled with rubble. all of that creates a lot of different obstacles and challenges for physical movement through the area. secondary as well, the fact the intelligence to identify where a hostage is in a group or as an individual has to be extremely precise, otherwise you put that hostage at risk and the entire rescue mission taking part in recovering that risk as well. so they have to be -- they have to consider that in every level and they have to have the most precise intelligence that you can imagine and the situation on the ground in gaza city has changed enough due to the destruction that they cannot assume they know what they used to know before. >> sandra: this was john kirby, spokesperson for the white house on the situation earlier dealing with the american hostages. listen. >> we unfortunately don't have a whole lot of more information this morning mika about where they are, what kind of groups they might be in, whether they are moved around. we don't even know the full total hostage pool certainly for americans, we think a small number of americans are in that group but it could rise. some 15 accounted for americans, don't know where they are, it's entirely possible some of them could be also being held hostage. what i can tell you, we are working very, very hard. >> sandra: you can just -- challenges are unthinkable what they are going to have to go through to avoid killing, having those americans killed or any of the hostages, for that matter. when you hear from peter lerner, the idf spokesperson, lieutenant colonel lerner, talking about iran, saying the hostages would be released if the idf stopped shelling them. your reaction after we listen. >> i don't trust iran. iran are the puppet masters behind this brutal attack. without their support, without their training, without their financing, without their supplying weapons, hamas would not have been as successful as it was in their view. without doing the same and equipping hezbollah as the same, so i don't trust anything they say. >> sandra: and obviously that is the point. who do you trust for any of the information in this hostage rescue? >> that is a great question and a tough challenge for all. i agree with everything he said as far as trusting iran and anything they tell you. as far as we know, the hostages may not even be there, may not be alive, we just don't know. its been too long since this started and every 24 hours that goes by it gets harder and harder to definitively, i guess, identify their locations and figure out what happened to every one of these individuals. we hope they are alive and are recoverable but it's harder by the day and nothing iran says to be the deciding factor, and assistance we are giving to them as the united states. >> sandra: appreciate you joining us, thank you. paints a picture hour delicate and challenges in the hours and days to come. >> john: i've talked to so many people in the last couple of days about this and where this is headed, and to a person they all believe this is just the beginning of what's ahead, and the real fear is hezbollah will decide to throw in, they won't be able to leave hamas by themselves at the hands of the idf. and if hamas goes through the huge arsenal of missiles, you can believe tel aviv is going to be one of the main targets and that really raises the stakes for everybody, sandra. >> sandra: and many thanks to the lieutenant colonel joining us on that. >> john: world leaders raising concerns the war in israel could indeed spread and that iran could get more directly involved in the conflict. our next guest worked with the idf over a decade in the intelligence field. we will ask him if israel's military is capable of handling a multi-front war. veteran homeowners. are you applying for a car loan? the monthly payments can be expensive. with an affordable home loan from newday, you can pay cash and own the car or truck of your dreams. this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ it's electric... hmmm. ...it's gas. hmmm. quite the paradox. it really is both. hmmm. the first-ever lexus rx plug-in hybrid. ♪ with the freestyle libre 2 system, know your glucose level and where it's headed. no fingersticks needed. manage your diabetes with more confidence. freestyle libre 2. try it for free at freestylelibre.us businesses need 5g solutions today. that's why they choose t-mobile for business. mlb partners with t-mobile to not only enhance the fan experience, but to advance how the game is played. aaa relies on t-mobile's network to stay connected nationwide, so they can help get their members back on the road. and we're helping pano ai innovate, to stop the spread of wildfires. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business. (bridget) with thyroid eye disease i hid from the camera. and i wanted to hide from the world. for years, i thought my t.e.d. was beyond help... but then i asked my doctor about tepezza. (vo) tepezza is the only medicine that treats t.e.d. at the source not just the symptoms. in a clinical study more than 8 out of 10 patients taking tepezza had less eye bulging. tepezza is an infusion and may cause infusion reactions. tell your doctor right away if you experience high blood pressure, fast heartbeat, shortness of breath or muscle pain. before treatment, tell your doctor if you have diabetes, ibd, or are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant. tepezza may raise blood sugar and may worsen ibd. tepezza may cause severe hearing problems which may be permanent. (bridget) now, i'm ready to be seen again. (vo) visit mytepezza.com to find a ted eye specialist and to see bridget's before and after photos. is it possible my network could take my business to the next level? it is with comcast business. powering all your devices with gig-speed wifi. and you get fast downloads and uploads. pick it up! pick it up! oh we got this! because it's powered by the next generation 10g network. more speed for your business? it's not just possible. it's happening. get started for $59.99 a month for 12 months. plus, ask how to get an $800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. comcast business, powering possibilities. >> john: incredible video here. israeli defense forces releasing this stunning account of navy squad members stopping a number of hamas terrorists from reaching israel's coastline. soldiers can be seen spraying machine gunfire as surviving terrorists swam off into the sea. it happened on october 7th, it was the same day hamas launched the deadly surprise attack against israel from gaza. this was just in the sea out north of ashkelon, gives you an idea how far they had gotten about of they were intercepted by the idf. >> sandra: wow, that is incredible video. concerns are growing israel could soon be facing a two-front war and iran could get directly involved. evacuating towns within a mile and a half of the lebanon border after hezbollah launched an attack over the weekend. israeli officials say iran was the mastermind and moving weapons through syria. benjamin hall live in london for us. how active is iran on the ground right now, what do we know about their operation? >> what we know, iran is involved in this. what we are seeing, more and more activity from the iranians, militarily and diplomatically. we have seen secretary blinken and now seen the iranian foreign minister doing the same and he started off in qatar, meeting the head of hamas. hugging him, kissing him at the time, and sending a clear message they stand together. they have been very clear as he travels around with their messages, they say if the gaza offensive continues, he made it clear iran will get involved, he said, and that iranian hands are already on the trigger. and also warned and threatened america and said if this war does expand, significant damages would occur on the u.s. now, on the ground we are seeing them escalate as well, iranian-backed hezbollah already firing across the border, anti-tank missiles and rockets, they have said more weapons are heading that direction and the israelis have been striking trucks passings through syria, and the aleppo airport to try to stop some of the flow of weapons and iranian-backed military leaders have moved to the israeli borders as well, that is a clear sign iran is actively moving people, moving more weapons in that direction. on the american side, they have been trying to warn iran off, sending clear messages and sent two aircraft carrier groups to the region. jake sullivan says the u.s. have reached out directly to iran, warned them to stand down. lindsey graham on the republican side is far firmer, saying to iran, if you escalate, we are coming for you. but not just iran. it's a global level now and a glimpse from the hamas weapons, the ones used in the attack. iranian weapons, but there were also chinese and north korean and russian, and it is a reminder that all these countries, they are working together on some level. all would like to degrade the u.s., all would perhaps like to think this might be a great way of doing so. and remember also iran has just in the last year done deals with russia, with china, with venezuela, with saudi arabia, and there's a real concern that perhaps not enough attention was paid to the iranians, perhaps sanctions were not enforced enough, $6 billion shouldn't have gone there. more questions in the short-term whether or not iran gets more actively involved, whether hezbollah comes in and with the two-front war. >> sandra: benjamin, thank you. john. >> john: more on that question, an american israeli who worked on intelligence with the idf for more than a decade. charles, thank you for coming in. appreciate it. >> thank you, happy to be here. >> john: the first question everybody has, when will the ground operation start. people thought it might have been yesterday but the weather was not conducive. if you were a betting man, when would you say it happens? >> no one can say when it's going to happen but expect it soon. a day, two days, three days, it's a complex situation because of the complex threats that can be -- come from tunnels underground and also the hostage situation in the gaza strip and nobody wants to do anything that's going to cause the hamas to take, you know, to start murdering people on the air and you know this can happen so it's a complex tactical situation. >> john: many people have remarked with the advanced equipment the idf has, why are they worried about a few clouds and a little rain. but when you are going into a hornet's nest like gaza is, make sure the drones can see everything the commanders and the units will see. they are not worried about a little clouds and rain, they trained for different weather scenarios, the question is when is the correct tactical timing for the forces to go in and with support from intelligence and where they want to go. and i think also one of the main things we need to point out, idf is asking and telling the gazan citizens to evacuate the north part of gaza. they don't want civilian casualties, and unfortunately, what has been seen that has been happening is that the hamas has been deterring the -- >> john: telling them to stay. some reports they are taking their car keys. >> they are more than telling them to stay, they are blocking the roads, forcing them. because they use the palestinians as a human shield. it's sickening. what the whole world needs to understand, the hamas is using the palestinian civilians as a human shield. it's sickening in a way to think about it but that's their goal. they have a different mindset. >> john: turn to the possibility of a second front. this morning word went out that evacuations were happening along two kilometer perimeter along the border between northern israel and lebanon. you expect that is because there is anti-tank fire, mortar rounds coming in, or something else? >> so my perspective on that, i spent a lot of time in the idf on the northern borders, the northern borders are very, very tense. during peace time, takes advantage of the peace and the quiet to build different sites to get ready for attack, to plan different attacks and i think that there's a very, very high possibility of opening up another front. we are praying that won't happening. the idf is ready for it. presence of an american military presence like the aircraft carriers will deter them. >> john: you think the evacuation is more oriented toward the infiltration like we saw two weeks ago? >> evacuation is not only just because of the threat of anti-tank fire or mortal shells or things like that, it's definitely a precaution that the country is taking in order to avoid a possible infiltration from the lebanese border, either from tunnels under the border or -- >> sandra: you look at the towns along the border, there is about 70,000 people, maybe more, who have to evacuate from that area. >> uh-huh, yeah, it's a lot of people and i think it's a wise precaution the country is taking. i think a lot of people don't realize how small israel is. we are here -- >> john: it's small but also big. >> depends on traffic. >> john: ask you quickly, if hezbollah throws in with everything, i would assume tel aviv becomes the main target. >> i would say tel aviv, the whole country a main target, these people want to see -- they have more advanced weapons and they want to see as many casualties happen and sadly that's their goal. it's a different mindset from what we see in the west and i would -- they have much more advance weapons than hamas, a higher trained armed force and it's definitely a very big threat. >> john: the mindset a week ago saturday was very 6th century. don't imagine it's a whole lot different with hezbollah. charles, thank you for joining us. appreciate you coming in. >> sandra: universities are starting to feel pressure from wall street to condemn the anti-israel rallies on campuses all over the country, as harvard students gathered for more massive rallies over the weekend, both for israel and against it. molly line is live at harvard square in cambridge, massachusetts. molly. >> sandra, universities that responded late or not emphatically enough are facing major backlash, including from dors no. go to u-penn, john huntsman says they will close the checkbook giving to penn, published in the campus student newspaper, the daily pennsylvanian, reached a point where remaining impartial is no longer an option. silence in the face of reprehensible evil against the people of israel when the only response should be outright condemnation is a new low. silence is anti-semitism and that is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obvigate. they recently held a palestinian themed literature festival featuring speakers with a public history of speaking viciously against the jewish people, noting the university does not endorse their views, writing she and the university are horrified by and condemn the assault on israel and violent atrocities against civilians, no justification, none, and as you noted, dualing rallies and events, pro palestinian and pro israel across campuses, including here on harvard, both gatherings were held over the weekend on campus. sandra. >> sandra: molly line on that, a story we are all following very closely, campuses all over the country. thank you. john. >> john: this is a story that shocked the nation. our nation, not israel. an illinois landlord has been charged with a hate crime after allegedly stabbing two of his muslim tenants in their home. the man killed a 6-year-old boy and gravely injured his mother who tried to defend herself and her son and called police. garrett is with me now with more on this. and garrett, we know it's a hate crime, but do police know what prompted this man to go on, allegedly go on a rampage? >> john, investigators say this landlord targeted this mother and son because they were muslim. 71-year-old joseph zuba was interested in the conflict in the middle east and told his wife he wanted the muslim family to move out of the home. saturday morning, he has no prior record, and knocked on the door, when the 32-year-old woman answered it, he attacked her and stabbed her more than 12 times and yelled you muslims must die. she came to the u.s. from palestine 12 years ago fought back and fought in the bathroom to call 911. minutes later, she found her 6-year-old son on the floor of another bedroom, he had been stabbed 26 times and the knife was still in him. this picture of wadea, from just a few weeks ago when he celebrated his 6th birthday. >> he was a lovely boy who loved his family, his friends, he loved soccer, he loved basketball, and he paid the price for the atmosphere of hate, and dehumanization that frankly i think we are seeing here in the united states. >> the mother hanan is expected to survive. but she will not be able to attend the funeral of her son this afternoon. an outpouring of condemnation from the mayor, to the governor, and from the white house. charges first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and federal hate crimes as well. >> john: absolutely horrible story. garrett, thank you. >> sandra: tensions are on the rise after attacks on israel. fbi says an increase in threats against jews and muslims here at home. bill daly now, former fbi investigator knows all too well the sense of the growing threats and cities are on high alert, bill. we are getting word in places like right here in new york city, they have deployed additional new york police department resources terrellgous schools in the city, houses of worship, some synagogues have even hired private security guards, bill. highlighting what some of these cities are doing. washington, d.c., installed metal barriers outside of the capital building, down south on the east coast here in miami-dade, county, partially activated emergency operations centers and on the west coast, high alert as well. san francisco and los angeles, the lapd is patrolling jewish and muslim communities. bill, what can you add to what we are seeing as far as these growing threats coast to coast? >> sandra, just yesterday director wray mentioned an increased number of threats, but no credibility on any significant threat. probably the ambient concern. we just heard about that terrible story a few minutes ago from the midwest, but you know, concern here is both home grown individuals who may have a propensity to commit an act of violence, of hate, and all they need to do is see something on television, see someone in their community, see a protest, and kind of invigorates them. so a home grown person or instantaneously radicalized and abt out. authorities are looking to protect the locations, where they is an he a high concentration of synagogues, churches or community centers where people could congregate. >> sandra: some of the largest jewish populations as far as the biggest u.s. cities are concerned right here at home in new york city, 1.3 million, 25%, a quarter of the u.s. jewish population resides here in new york city, los angeles, boston, 8% in the southern california city. but taking it back here to new york city, the mayor sending a very strong message to residents here in a speech i think was tuesday in new york city. yesterday. >> your fight is our fight. your fight is our fight. and right here in new york we have the largest jewish population outside of israel. this is the place that our voices must raise and cascade throughout the entire country. we will not be all right until every person responsible for this act is held accountable. >> sandra: he was applauded by even some of his harshest critics for the messaging. that message, i was struggling with whether or not it happened over the weekend, it certainly finally went viral over the weekend but did say that on tuesday. what did you make of that? >> extremely demon strative and coming from a mayor with a large population of people with uish ancestry speaks well for what he's trying to do, make sure that all aware and alert, that we are behind whatever they are fighting for in the middle east and speaking well for all new yorkers. i think he did a good job in that regard. one of the concerns we have, sandra, not just people in the major cities but incidents even in 2018 in pittsburgh, a synagogue was attacked. as much as we are focusing on the major cities, there are many places people need to be alert, aware of their surroundings. >> sandra: including the southern border. i know you wanted to highlight that with the time we have left, we are looking at these apprehensions, the last two weeks, 14 days at the southern border, iranians, syrians, russians, afghans, chinese and pakistanis. your thought on this. what is your warning? >> certainly these are countries who have "special interest" by the border patrol, but we are not talking about here the 150 other people who have been stopped who are on the fbi terrorism watch list or other people who have already come into the country as got-aways, who may have a propensity of committing an act. i'm not saying an immediate nexus between people across the border but certainly a lot of things that are going on we need to be concerned about and back to 9/11, the 9/11 commission said how our own system was being used against us because 19 of those terrorists came into the country on visa with two of them overstaying the visas. so i think we have to take a hard look at everything we are doing. the southern border as porous as it is, now is the time we shake our heads and say what have we been doing the last many years for not stopping this. >> sandra: great point, bill, not looking at what has been happening here at home over the border. have you back soon. john. >> john: more than 3,000 israelis were wounded in last week's attack with 600 still recovering in israeli hospitals. one of those critically injured is amchai shindler who protected his family as hamas terrorists raided his home. his story and how his family is rallying around him coming up next. do you know what's taking a big bite out of family budgets? car loans. get a newday 100 va cash out loan. own your car and have no more monthly car payments. this is spring semester at fairfield-suisun unified. they switched to google tools for education because there's never been a reported ransomware attack on a chromebook. now they're focused on learning knowing that their data is secure. ( ♪ ) my a1c was up here; now, it's down with rybelsus®. his a1c? it's down with rybelsus®. my doctor told me rybelsus® lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill and that people taking rybelsus® lost more weight. i got to my a1c goal and lost some weight too. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. need to get your a1c down? you may pay as little as $10 per prescription. murdered in last week's terrorist attack, they are also commending the countless who heroically protected their friends and loved ones. one of those heros is amichi shindler, prevented them from getting into the safe room, saving his wife and six children as hamas riddled him with bullets. i visited amichi and had the honor of speaking with his family. sadly, not the first time the shindlers have experienced the pain of a terrorist attack. watch here. >> this is hakim shindler, last week on saturday, we celebrated the torah, and he stayed at home with his wife and six children, when the terrorist animals came in and they went into the safe room, into the center, and he knew they were there, he hold the door protecting his family. >> john: he was stopping them from breaking in. >> and the bullets in his -- he literally stopped the bullets and the terrorists from injuring his family. then the armed people came in to rescue them and there was a bomb that was bombed there, and he was severely wounded as you can see, but the family was rescued alive, a wife, and six children was rescued alive. and one of the things that struck us very emotionally, the family lost 13 years ago, lost another son, his brother, and his friends rescued him said we won't let the shindler family lose another son. and they have done great work and dr. klein with the trauma unit could save his life here and we hope for the best. >> john: what are the extent of his injuries? >> mainly severe bilateral hands injuries and one of the problems that the minute the rescuer went in, they couldn't evacuate him to the hospital and they had to stop the bleeding with tourniquets, and the prolonged tourniquet time caused extended damage. so right now the fight is at the beginning was for his life because he was in severe condition with all the consequences of prolonged staying in the field, with massive injuries to his upper limbs. now we are facing more with the pain, it's very painful. we treat him in all modalities of pain management, both systemic and regional, with blocks, nerve blocks. >> amichi is fighting for his life now but will go through rehabilitation. he's going to be better. >> john: he's going to be with you for a long time. >> a long time. his name in hebrew, my people is alive. and this symbolizes, it symbolizes. we will make sure of that. >> and the meaning of the term in shalom, of peace, and we are peace-loving people but we also know the other way. >> john: i get your meaning. the team, the team -- and kibbutz that integrates secular people and other people. living together. no fights. no conflict. >> john: until last saturday. >> the terrorists cannot accept that, that we live in peace together. so they bomb them with missiles for many years. every bomb that falls in the kibbutz, the kibbutz plants a tree. a tree for every bomb. >> pray for peace. >> trees for peace. >> she wants to show you some pictures. >> in the kibbutz. the tree. >> john: where the bomb landed and you plant a tree where the bomb landed. handsome fella. he looks a lot like my nephew. beautiful family. >> she wants to show the house, the house, there's no house now. the house is ruined. >> john: you can see in the last picture, sandra, that his house was about 150 feet away from the gaza fence. so the terrorists got to them very quickly. as the ceo of sheba medical center pointed out, his name amichi in hebrew means my people live, and he lost a lot of friends and neighbors in the kibbutz, he saved his family. he's going to be in the medical center an awfully long time but looks like he's going to pull through. a lot better than he was a few days ago. >> sandra: the family has been through so much, and you think about the story of this one family and how many stories there are like this right now. >> john: repeated hundreds of times. >> sandra: thank you for bringing that to us, john. dozens of families are back home in the u.s. after getting out of israel. charter flights organized by the state department are getting them to various hubs in europe and now commercial airlines are getting them back on american soil. olivia, some families are finally touching down after their harrowing journeys. have you been able to speak to the families arriving today? >> hi there, sandra. we have. we talked to families arriving from tel aviv, arriving here in new york earlier today. they tell us they are relived to be here in the united states now, but some are determined to go back to israel. sandra, we witnessed the emotional reunion among sisters today. 14-year-old tamar arriving from israel leaving behind her parents, and joining her older sister here in new york with plans of staying here for the foreseeable future. but the joy of the reunion, there is also grief. >> everyone knows someone and so the whole -- the whole country is mourning right now, and it's hard, it's also hard to be here and not be able to do anything. >> israeli airline el al is operating limited direct flights between the u.s. and israel as major commercial carriers like delta, united and american have suspended direct flights to israel and the biden administration continues chartered flights that started on friday, taking americans out of israel to surrounding european countries, commercial air carriers are boosting service to get americans home faster. but the biden administration's chartered flights have come under criticism from the likes of florida governor ron desantis who says the evacuation of stranded americans from israel is taking too long. governor desantis signed an executive order last week to send his own flight to israel and sandra, just last night he welcomed the return of more than 260 people fleeing israel as they arrived in tampa, florida. sandra, back to you. >> sandra: just remarkable, lydia hu keeping track of all of that. john. >> john: devastation and destruction here in israel felt around the world. but the hamas attacks are also having an impact on the race for the white house. byron york with more on this coming up next. this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ veteran homeowners. car payments are getting out of control. not long ago, you could pay off a car in a few years. now, car loan rates have climbed to 15% and can take five years to pay off. so get this, the newday 100 va cash out loan. our lower rates let you use the equity in your home to pay off high rate car and truck loans. and you can save $500 a month. ♪ i'm gonna hold you forever... ♪ ♪ i'll be there... ♪ ♪ you don't... ♪ ♪ you don't have to worry... ♪ with the freestyle libre 2 system know your glucose level and where it's headed without fingersticks. manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. it's covered by medicare for those who qualify. ask your doctor about the freestyle libre 2 system. ♪ ♪ make your dream car...a reality. mercedes-benz certified pre-owned vehicles are rigorously inspected to live up to the highest of expectations. >> john: this fox news alert. fox news has just learned that over the weekend, the secretary of defense, lloyd austin, issued a be ready to deploy order to a significant number of u.s. forces to be ready to deploy to israel within a 24-hour period. the order to deploy has not gone out yet. this wouldn't be a deterrent force as we see with the u.s.s. gerald ford and the keisenhower. this would be troops to support israel in the fight to come here. we don't know how many troops might be affected. the number could be as high as 2,000. we're not sure if they would go in to the fight or support some other way. this is significant order to these troops. i don't want to say escalation. i don't think it's there yet. >> again, to reiterate, these are be ready to deploy orders sent out over the weekend for further defense for israel if needed is the wording that we know of so far. you reference that "wall street journal" report. it had reported that the u.s. military selected 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support israel. so we'll see what exact information we get on this. these troops were tasked with missions the journal is reporting like advising and medical support. they're from across the u.s. armed services. this is the "wall street journal" report. they are not intended to serve in a combat role. that's what we know so far, john. >> john: just before we go, i want to point out here, we have this amazing little app on our phones. it's called "so far." it monitors all of the air raids sirens throughout israel. there's a lot of activity around tel aviv. i don't know if it's because secretary blinken and expected to deport sometime in the next little while. hamas is trying to send a message or this is just an escalation and trying to attack tel aviv with rockets. it's been particularly busy in that tel aviv area. all right. the devastation in israel raising new questions about the race for the white house with republican candidates going after one another for their positions on the conflict. byron york, the chief political correspondent joins us now. this was all sparked by donald trump saying in recent days that he was being very critical of israel for dropping the ball on the intelligence this was about to happen. going so far to say that hamas was very smart. i haven't talked to anybody in israel that thinks that hamas is smart. but there's a lot of criticism of what happened here in israel and how it happened. democrats and the former president's republican contenders for the republican nomination have been very critical of what he's said, which is really interesting, byron. the israelis really like him. >> the former president has been walking back those words for a couple days now. he's speaking again in iowa today. he's probably going to walk it back again. i think the consensus in the republican race is it's just not a good idea now to say anything nice about hamas. it is kind of the way trump has spoken in the past about some adversaries. but his republican opponents have gone after him on this. one of the reasons is if you look at public opinion polling, nationally americans are highly supportive of israel in this situation. but specifically on the issue of whether an israeli response will be fully justified, more republicans than anybody else believe that. the recent poll you had 68% of republicans that said yes, it would be versus a smaller number of democrats. so if you're running for president as a republican, a pretty good rule would be support israel. >> john: what i find interesting, we've talked to very left-leaning israelis since we got here saturday. literally to a person they say that israel has to stand strong against hamas. israel has to smash hamas so this never happens again, which would seem to fit with the republican way of thinking. but they're praising president biden for what he's been saying in regard to u.s. support for israel. >> there's been a lot of support in israel for president biden for the clarity of his remarks about that. however, in new polls, you see biden is still under water on whether americans believe he's going to do a good job handling the crisis in israel. he's basically under water with everything including his handling of the war in ukraine as well as all domestic issues. so this -- whether or not americans are positive to his response to this will not change his overall standing. >> john: thanks, byron, so much. that will wrap it up for our first day here in jerusalem. more to come this week. >> thanks so much for everything, john. set your dvr. thanks for joining us. i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'm john roberts. "the story" with more that i