[laughter] i love this handoff now. okay. thank you. good evening. welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. breaking tonight, tens of thousands of people flooded the national mall here in the nation's capital today. what was billed as the march for israel was a direct response to the rising tide of anti-semitism mosque attacks last month. correspondent mark meredith is at the mall with the latest. good evening, marc,. >> good evening to you. today's rally brought out a lot of people including celebrities, politicians even the families of some americans who are still being held hostage tonight in gaza. organizers chose to host this event right here on the national mall because they wanted the people who work on the hill to hear their pleas for help. and, of course, there has been so much focus on what has transpired in the last month and these jewish americans, they told us, they plan to keep speaking up. [cheers. >> with israeli and american flags in hand, tens of thousands descended upon the nation's capital to send a message to the world. >> we stand here in support of our israeli nation who have stood up like a nation of lions. >> the crowds came from city coast to coast. some holding signs of people kidnapped by hamas while others simply wanted to support the jewish community. >> we are coming together not just as jews but with o our alls across all races, all faiths to stand up as israel. >> the new house speaker mike johnson standing shoulder to shoulder with house democrats vowing to give israel continued support. even as lawmakers from both parties fight over which foreign aid packages to support. >> survival of the state of israel and our people unites us together and unites all americans. >> we stand with you and we will not rest until you get all the assistance you need previously planned economic summit was unable to attend. ambassador debra spoke on the administration's behalf. >> this government stands shoulder to shoulder against jew hatred voorcht drawing worldwide reaction including the president from jerusalem. >> we, the people of israel are eternal and no one will break us. but it was the families of those still held hostage which left the crowd with a renewed spirit of both despair and determination. >> love is the only thing that can repair our shattered hearts and bring us back together in the name of peace. >> >> as you can imagine, security was stepped up today throughout d.c. for the event. we were out here all day, did not see any major incidents right here where this event was featured. as you can see they are breaking it down now. things have wrapped up. organizers say their biggest challenge next is to make sure people do not forget about those people who are still fighting for their lives tonight. bret? >> bret: quite a sight today, mark meredith live on the mall. thanks. the biden administration is arranging for iran to get billions of dollars from iraq. this money comes from payments for electricity. it does give the president's critics some more fuel though that he is soft on iranian regime which continues to target u.s. service members through its proxies in the middle east. correspondent gillian turner at the state department to explain it all tonight. >> good evening, bret. biden administration is renewing the sanctions waiver that is going to allow the iranian regime access to up to $10 billion in funds that have been frozen inside iraqi bank accounts. this comes, the news comes, bret, of course as iranian backed militia groups continually are attacking u.s. forces based inside the middle east. now, despite 59 strikes, 56 strikes, excuse me, in 29 days, state department officials insist they are unconcerned about the prospect of that money being used to fund terrorists. >> we don't worry about on continuings. we worry about reality. the reality is that these last few weeks we have taken a number of actions ensure deterrence and conducted strikes against iranian backed militias. >> this waiver allows iraq to play iran for electricity to european as well as amani banks. 40% of power suppliy iran. it was two months ago the biden administration released $6 billion of frozen iranian funds and 5 iranian prisoners. in exchange for five u.s. hostages being held in iran. officials later touted a plan to prevent iran from accessing those same funds. critics though called that episode the largest ransom payment in history. republican lawmakers are now calling for increased sanctions against tehran. >> my advice to the biden administration is knock them out of the oil business. >> there is a whole suite of things we can be doing right now as a country to weaken iran and choke them off. this is not kinetic. this is good old fashioned hard, reimposition syria's sanctions. >> iran's ayatollah bragged should regabe access to billions of dollars of frozen funds, they plan to use it however they see fit to include funding hamas terrorists activity by way of defense tonight, bret, the state department tells us they have instituted 400 plus sanctions against the iranian regime during the biden administration. bret? >> bret: gillian turner at the state department, gillian, thanks. president biden is preparing for tomorrow's meeting with chinese leader xi jinping on the sidelines of the asian pacific economic cooperation or apec summit in san francisco. white house correspondent peter doocy is with the president it san francisco tonight. good evening, peter. >> peter: bret, president biden's first order of business here in san francisco to go lay low at his hotel for a few hours. he is going to headline he's clod door campaign fundraiser later on this evening, though. and there is so much talk about what this state's governor might have planned for 2024. but this afternoon, gavin newsom greeted air force one. >> the world's two most powerful men are meeting to bury the hatchet. >> being able to pick up the phone to talk to one another in a crisis, being able to make sure our militaries still have contact with one another. >> peter: on the negotiating table a deal to keep a.i. out of nuclear weapons and drones according to the south morning china post. >> once a fast follower in military in technical realms china is now seeking to leapfrog the united states. >> fentanyl also on the to-do list as the u.s. seeks a chinese crackdown on chemical plants. >> i wouldn't trust xi jinping and the chinese communist party on something you could throw them on something like this. >> the israel-hamas war will come up. >> we would welcome opportunities for if china was willing to be helpful in making sure that israel could get the support that it needs to defend itself. >> peter: dissent within the biden administration is growing. 400 u.s. officials from 40 departments, including state, the white house, and the national security council signed a letter that says we call on president biden to urgently demand a cease-fire and to call for deescalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained palestinians. >> we think the diversity inside the department is actually a strength, not a weakness. >> peter: the chinese economy, once fast-growing is slowing down, which president biden sees as leverage. >> i'm not going to continue to sustain the support for positions where if want to invest in china we have turn over all your trade secrets. >> peter: locals refers to this city's problems as a doom loop. that's high crime, homeless encampments and empty offices. while we have seen a ton of vacant store fronts, the city is spotless. everywhere that we go, somebody is spraying the sidewalk or the streets with a power washer. bret? >> bret: just need an apec summit every month. peter doocy traveling with the president, peter, thanks. israel's defense minister says his forces are now in control of the center of gaza city. he says troops have surrounded the hospital which israel maintains sits atop an underground headquarters of hamas terrorists. u.s. intelligence now confirms with that according to officials. in the north, israeli forces are responding to renewed aggression from lebanon. correspondent alex hogan is in northern israel again tonight. >> an exchange of rocket fire on the border of israel and lebanon, the israeli military sending in fighter jets and hezbollah using anti-tank missiles as the northern conflict escalates. >> hezbollah is a real army. they have a long range missiles. they have it units, they have special forces. they have been trained. >> to the south in gaza, the idf took control of hamas police headquarters, a command post and discovered this in the basement of a hospital. a baby bottle zip ties around chairs, a daily log, and a motorcycle. the idf says these are all traces that the hostages who were taken on october 7th. pentagon now confirms there is evidence that u.s. uses healthcare facilities to cover its tracks. president biden weighing in on a possible release. >> i believe it's going to happen but i don't want to get any detail. >> new hope for the families of hostages who today started marching from tel aviv to jerusalem. in gaza, families are marching, too. more than 200,000 people fleeing the fighting in the last 10 days. israel's foreign minister said the country likely only has a couple weeks before it will give in to international pressure for a cease-fire. after backlash, he quickly recalled that statement. still, officials here argue a cease-fire isn't as simple as it sounds. >> nobody wants to rule gaza as long as hamas is still standing on its feet. >> tonight, israel's defense minister says that the war has reached a next phase in gaza. he also warned that the idf has taken control of the north and that nowhere will be safe in gaza until those hostages go free. bret? >> bret: alex hogan in northern israel. alex, thanks. fox news alert. house speaker mike johnson's plan to avert a government shutdown this weekend minutes ago just passed the house. how he got that across the finish line has been the question. senior congressional correspondent chad pergram has the answer on capitol hill tonight. good evening, chad. >> bret, good evening, a big win for new house speaker mike johnson the vote 336 to 95. johnson found allies across the aisle to pass the bill. the democratic leadership team endorsed the bill because it lacked immediate cuts. >> we have made clear that there would be no spending cuts. we made clear there should be no poisonous political partisan policy provisions house freedom caucus spending for number of months. oppose the plan but they support johnson for now. >> we promised the american people that we would stand to thwart this administration. cut spending, secure the border. we have delivered on none of that so far. all we have delivered on is increasing the debt, 4 to $6 trillion. >> however, the new speaker had few options. either go to the mat for right wing priorities and force a shutdown or live to fight another day. >> yeah. chad, i'm one of the arch conservatives, okay? i want to cut spending right now. i would like to put policy writers on this. when you have a three vote majority as we do right now, we don't have the votes to be able to advance that right now. >> johnson passed the bill with more democrats than republicans. 209 democrats voted yes compared to 129 members of the g.o.p. that's exactly what happened when former house speaker kevin mccarthy passed an interim bill to avoid a shutdown in september. yet, he was shown the door. bret? >> bret: so, chad, quickly, is there any thought that johnson could go down the same road? i mean, the vote is almost exactly the same. he is just talking about it differently? >> not yet because they have that option to try to make these cuts some time in february. some time in january. and he has a lot more goodwill right now than kevin mccarthy had back in september. >> bret: okay there you go. that's the difference. chad pergram live on capitol hill. chad, thanks. stocks soared as cooler inflation numbers boost hopes that the fed is done tightening interest rates. we will see. the dow surging 490 today. the s&p 500 was up 84. the nasdaq jumped 327. up next, why the prosecutor in former president donald trump's election interference trial in georgia is so upset tonight. we'll take you there. and, later, general jack keane joins us with his analysis of where the israel-hamas war is right now. ♪ constipation, and sleepiness. qulipta®. the forget-you-get migraine medicine™. >> tech: when you get a chip in your windshield... trust safelite. ♪ upbeat, catchy music ♪ >> tech vo: this couple counts on their suv... as they travel for their small business. so when they got a chip in their windshield... they brought it to safelite... for a same-day in-shop repair. we repaired the chip right away. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? 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realizing his larger plan might be unraveling. the prosecutor in the election interference case against former president donald trump in georgia is upset over what she says are videos intended to intimidate witnesses. correspondent jonathan serrie explains tonight from atlanta. good evening, jonathan. >> good evening to you, bret. fulton county district attorney fani willis filed an emergency motion seeking protections for witnesses and evidence in the georgia election interference case. this comes after several mediaoutlets, including abc news and "the washington post" published leaked videos of confidential conversations prosecutors had with the four co-defendants who accepted plea deals. in one, former trump lawyer jenna ellis describes a conversation she had with then white house deputy chief of staff dan scar trivino as they were running out of ops challenging the 2020 election result heside the boss is not going to leave under any circumstances going to stay in power i said it doesn't quite work that way you realize he said we don't care. >> in her motion d.a. willis argues the release of these confidential video recordings is clearly intended to the intim witnesses in days subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial. she told a "the washington post" live forum the leaks were not surprising but disappointing. >> i'm not happy that that it was released and the junior colleague got to do the story. >> we don't always agree. >> to prevent further leaks willis wants to require attorneys and defendants to view controversial recordings in the d.a.'s office and prohibit them from leaving with copies. former president trump's lead counsel tells fox news suffice it to say we are opposed to the prosecution's intention to restrict full discovery of video proffers well, the former president did score a major victory in another stateful. a judge in michigan overturned a case to remove mr. trump from the primary ballot based on a provision in the 1st amendment that bars anyone involved with insurrection holding public office. >> a number of states looking to do that, jonathan serrie live in atlanta. thank you: "common ground" segment up next. first, here's what some of our fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. fox 9 in minneapolis as police in england say they have made an arrest in connection with to the death of adam johnson, national hockey lead. the incident happened while johnson was playing hockey with the panthers in elite hockey lead. he died after a player's skate cut his neck open during a collision. fox 22348 columbus, ohio with three deaths and 18 injuries in a fiery crash that shut down traffic on interstate 70 in licking county. the semi-truck rear ended a charter bus that was transporting students, parents and teachers with a high school band. and this is a live look at boston from earth cam, i think we have it. there you go. one of the big stories there tonight from wfxt, massachusetts lawmakers discuss a bill that would establish a four day workweek, four days. the measure was originally filed back in april, but the house is just now taking it up two days before they go on their seven-week holiday break. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. ♪ everybody's working for the weekend ♪ everybody wants a new romance ♪ everybody's work there's stily and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems 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one of the eight people who voted to oust former speaker kevin mccarthy, basically accused him of assault? >> kevin mccarthy won't mind. he elbowed me in the kidneys as he walked by. and kind of caught me off guard. >> you felt it was on purpose and not an accident. >> 100 percent on purpose what are the chances. >> florida republican congressman matt gaetz in return, he was also one of those who voted to oust mccarthy led the charge has now filed a formal ethics complaint against the former speaker. mccarthy though is denying anything deliberate happened. >> i guess our shoulders hit. did i not run and hit the guy. did i not kidney punch him. >> you didn't assaul