Law as republicans slam bidens threats to withhold weapons. Give israel what they need to fight the war they cant afford to lose. Martha tens of thousands flee rafah as ceasefire talks grind to a halt. We will do what we have to do to protect our country. Martha this morning, the latest on the humanitarian crisis in gaza with unicefs tess ingram. Plus, reaction from House Foreign Affairs chair Michael Mccaul, and democratic senator chris coons. Fiery testimony. Everything you have been watching has nothing to do with the case. Martha Stormy Daniels takes the stand in new york as trump successfully delays two of his four criminal trials. Our powerhouse round table on what it means in the race for the white house. And you are aware of the weight of history when youre in that room, and the history echoes through the room. Martha our George Stephanopoulos dives into the nerve center of the white house in his new book the situation room. Martha good morning, and welcome to this week. With martha good morning, and welcome to this week. With tens of thousands of palestinians killed with protests raging on College Campuses across the country, and with israel poised for a fullscale assault into southern gaza, this was the week President Biden put his foot down. After months of urging israel to do more to protect civilians in gaza, the president announced that he has withheld u. S. Weapons that were supposed to be sent to israel and warned that more could be stopped if israel invades the city of rafah, but at the same time, a state Department Report out friday fell short of concluding that israel violated International Law, but the report did say it is reasonable to assess that some u. S. Weapons have been used in instances inconsistent with israels obligation under the law, and that the high levels of civilian casualties caused by those weapons raises substantial questions as to whether the Israeli Defense force is using them effectively in all cases. This week anchor George Stephanopoulos sat down with White House National security adviser Jake Sullivan in the situation room this week and asked him about withholding those weapons. George israel has responded to President Bidens statement saying that it sends the wrong message to hamas and puts israel in a corner. How do you respond to that . Nobody has been a stronger supporter of israel than joe biden. He has sent an enormous amount of capability for israel to take on hamas. Secondly, the president has made clear hes going to continue to make sure israel has what it needs to defend itself, fullstop, four square, thats all. The president has said he has concerns about a fullscale military invasion of rafah, a place where theres more than a Million People sheltering. George what would happen if they went in . Because first, there are a Million People who have been pushed there because of the other operations in parts of gaza, you would have other really significant casualties, and while israel would also be able to kill some hamas folks, many hamas folks would melt away because theyre terrorists. Theyre not really organized fighters in the way we think about a typical military. In that context, he doesnt want to see american weapons used in that type of operation. Thats not to say hes going to abandon israel or cut them off from weapons. He was focused on a particular operation that he doesnt believe will succeed in defeating hamas and that will cause grievous harm. Martha so what does it mean for what happens next in this conflict . Im joined now by democratic senator chris coons of delaware. Good to see you this morning, senator. These huge bombs that the president is now pausing have already been used by the israelis in gaza causing massive destruction, civilian casualties, and yet the state Department Report says there is not enough information to conclude they violated any International Law. Are you satisfied with that conclusion . Well, martha, thanks for a chance to be on with you again. Lets be clear about what that report also concludes, which is that because of how hamas has conducted itself in this horrifying conflict that began with their tragic barbarous attack on 1,200 civilians in which they also killed 45 americans on october 7th, because hamas embeds its fighters and its war piles and its stockpiles underneath civilian targets, beneath hospitals and mosques and schools, the report by the state Department Says its difficult to conclude whether the unacceptably high civilian unacceptably high civi toll is because of hamas and its strategies and tactics or because of israel and how theyve conducted this conflict. I do think it bears repeating every time we talk about this, that hamas started this conflict and hamas and their conduct has largely driven the humanitarian crisis that continues in gaza. Martha no question that hamas started this on october some estimates of 7th, begagain, what youve seen massive destruction, civilian casualties. Some estimates of 14,000 children killed. Are you happy with the conclusions of the report, the conclusions gii just read you . Well, what matters more than the conclusions of the report, martha, is what we do, what the United States does with our close and trusted ally, israel. Privately over many months, President Biden has urged, has cautioned Prime Minister netanyahu and his farright government to not go into rafah at scale without first allowing for civilians, the million refugees who have moved down to rafah at the direction of the idf, and are now trapped up against the hard border with egypt because egypt will not allow any of them in. What matters, martha, is whether the next stage of this conflict against hamas, which israel has every right to carry out, allows for civilians to get out of the way of any future attack on rafah, and thats what President Biden has said now publicly as well as privately to our trusted ally, israel, is you can continue this war against hamas, but if you are going to use our munitions and continue to have our support, you have to do it in a way that minimizes civilian casualty. Martha senator, i know now that youve encircled rafah, pausing and allowing civilians to move forward. Fra frankly ill also note how hard President Biden is working to achieve a hostage deal and ceasefire. Martha cwhich has been paused, of course. Senator, i want to go back to the report. Your democratic colleague Chris Van Hollen said, its all making the actual determination. I think what theyre trying to do is make clear they recognize how bad the situation is, but they continue want to have to take any action to hold a netanyahu government accountable for whats happening. Your response . Well, i disagree. I think President Biden has taken forceful action, so much so theres been a lot of blowback for his recent public statement, and ill remind you other american president s have done the same thing when a close, trusted partner isnt listening to private admonitions. It was president reagan who repeatedly paused the delivery of f16s the thenPrime Minister senator van hollen t conducted a strike against a Syrian Nuclear complex and invaded southern lebanon and conducted the war in southern lebanon in a way that raised real concerns about the civilian consequences. So for my colleague and friend, senator van hollen to say that theres been no consequences and no forceful action by President Biden, i think, misses the point here that President Biden has over and over urged the farright government of Prime Minister netanyahu to take the appropriate action and he has publicly said what the consequences will be. Martha so senator, what is the line for moving from inconsistent to illegal . I think well be looking closely at the path forward that Prime Minister netanyahu chooses in the days ahead. Whether he will use american supplied munitions to bomb and invade and attack rafah and the million civilians who are there in order to get at the hamas fighters, who are buried in tunnels deep beneath rafah, or whether he will move ahead with allowing the civilians to be relocated in accordance with a plan developed with the United States, a plan that isnt yet fully acceptable to us, or my preferred outcome, whether the months of work to make ready a deal between saudi arabia and israel that will allow for a ceasefire, a hostage release, and a resolution to the arabisraeli conflict and a regional architecture that will allow for that against iran. Ill remind you and your viewers, it was just three weeks ago that President Biden ably came to israels defense in partnership with the british, the french, the saudis, and the jordanians when iran launched 300 missiles and drones at israel. Its clear we are willing to strongly defend israel, but hes urging president excuse me. Prime minister netanyahu to choose the path of peace thats right in front of him. That requires reaching a deal with regional actors. Martha if netanyahu, if Prime Minister netanyahu does go in with a fullscale assault on rafah, what do you think the president should do . Weve heard his warnings. I think we will act, and i think this will be up to the president in exactly what way he will act, but ill remind you theres precedent for this. President reagan was martha again, you remind us for that, but what do you mean he will act . Hell stop weapons . Hell stop more weapons . Yes. Martha how many weapons . All weapons . Im clear that we will not abandon israel. He will not stop providing defensive systems to israel. Look. Hezbollah continues to attack israel in the north. Just last night there was more rockets and shells coming into the north of israel. Martha so youre saying hell stop offensive weapons. Not defenseless, but you talk about specifically defensive weapons. Are you saying offensive weapons should be stopped . Look. I think whatever munitions such as the 2,000pound bombs that have previously been used in gaza that are supplied only by the United States, and that can cause massive civilian casualties may well be paused. It is tragic that were at this point, and martha, i want to conclude by saying that i hope Prime Minister netanyahu is thinking about his legacy. Right now his legacy is the huge, strategic failure of october 7th, and his legacy could be a real gap, a break in the long, strong, bipartisan strategic relationship between the United States and israel. I think that would be tragic. His legacy could instead be achieving Regional Security and peace for israel. Martha okay. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, senator. For the latest on the humanitarian crisis, im joined now by unicef spokesperson tess ingram who was in gaza just last month, and tess, i want to start with another part of this report that says it does not currently assess that the Israeli Government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of u. S. Humanitarian assistance. Is that your experience . We have for months now been calling for more aid to get into the gaza strip. The average number of trucks that got in last month was 200 a day compared to 500 before the escalation in hostility. Its nowhere near enough, and my experience was that the slow and complex screening process at the border is what is really slowing down the aid, and thats something that we can remedy to get more aid in and to prevent a famine which is could happen any day now. Martha describe what the situation is on the ground overall from your trips there, what you are say seeing. Its absolutely catastrophic. Its unlike anything ive seen, and a colleague who has been working in humanitarian emergencies at unicef for the best part of 30 years says tit the worst he has ever see. There are people on the ground fleeing rafah in the thousands. We know in the last week, 300,000 people have been forced to leave rafah. Theyre piling onto donkey carts and trucks and buses, possessions, people. We even saw people loading a toilet onto the back of a truck which just shows how desperate the situation is that people feel like they need to bring these sort of items with them because they know that where theyre going, the services are nonexistent, and that is unacceptable when we talk about having safety for people. Its not just safety from the bombardments that they need. Its also a safe place to go to, and the places where people are being told to move to, completely unsafe. Martha and tess, i just want to say. You read the report obviously. Youve heard that President Biden wants to put a pause on weapons, but youve also heard, and our next guest, Michael Mccaul, wishes we would give more weapons to israel. Whats your reaction this week . Look. As somebody who was on the ground and spent a lot of time in hospitals in gaza, including in rafah, i saw the impact of this fighting on childrens bodies, and it is horrific. I saw a 9yearold girl who was clinging to life in a hospital bed in rafah with major blast wounds down one side of her body, and when i met her, she had been that way for 16 days because the medical ability in gaza to repair those wounds was nonexistent. She was lying there in pain with open wounds. A 9yearold girl, and that was she was in her grandparents house when it was shelled. This is whats happening on the ground. So we have been clear at unicef. We need to see an end to the fighting, especially children. Martha thanks so much for joining us this morning, tess. Thanks so much to your courage and what you do. House Foreign Affairs committee chair, Michael Mccaul joins me now. Thanks for coming in this morning. Thanks, martha. Martha congressman, you slammed the administration for withholding some weapons and you slammed the state Department Reports. Do you see any evidence that it is reasonable to assess as the state department found, there are instances in the use of those weapons . Those big bombs especially that are inconsistent with International Law . Theres a lot of confusion about whats happening on the ground. I can tell you the weapons we approved, i sign off on all Foreign Military sales and myself, the Ranking Member the chair and Ranking Member in the senate. Thats four in the congress. We also passed the appropriations package. What were worried about is sort of a defiance of congressional intent here that we passed these weap weapons out of congress, and now the president s holding them back. I would say most of theise weapons to answer your question, are precisionguided weapons and that means precise, and that means that it spares civilian casualties because the targeting is so precise. Martha congressman, were talking about 2,000 of pound bombs here. The u. S. Rarely uses 2,000pound bombs. The radius can be 1,000 feet. If you look at the casualties there, if you look at the craters, if you look at the investigations, those 2,000pound bombs cause civilian casualties. Again, the u. S. Rarely uses them in especially population centers. You have no problem with them doing that . I, you know, the precis precisionguided weapons, you know martha you keep saying precisionguided, and that may be a term, but its not that. Hamas embeds themselves with human people, and use humans as shields. They are blocking a lot of this aid theyre trying to get in. They destroyed the checkpoint going from israel into the gaza into rafah itself, and its really an enemy like that. Martha you say human shields without question. They are doing that, and senator coons said the same thing. Theyre being used as human shields, and theyre in these tunnels, but would you be comfortable if u. S. Troops were in gaza, say, and doing the same thing with that enormous amount of casualties, the destruction of that . We didnt use 2,000pound bombs in mosul when we were going after isis. We didnt destroy kabul. We didnt destroy others. So would you be comfortable, if this was a u. S. Operation and u. S. Military . I think a good comparison is what happened in iraq and mosul what happe between isisk and civilians, and it was five isisk im sorry. One isisk to five civilian, and in this case, its two civilians to one hamas. So its actually martha where are those from . Those statistics . Thats what we gathered, you know those are the facts and figures that we have. Tsa actually lower than what america did in iraq. Martha again, people that ive talked to who were in iraq, who were in afghanistan, members of the military say we would not do a war like this, and if there were mistakes made, they would admit it. I we have commanders working with them. Heres what i object to, martha, is just to say pointblank that we are not going to give weapons to israel if they invade rafah. Now of course, you want to conditions with the humanitarian to be in place. Of course, you want the tents in place, but to say you cannot invade rafah, were telling the israelis, dictating their military strategy. This is the last point the last step in the completion of their military objective, and for us to step in and say, no. You cant go into rafah and finish the job, i think is tantamount to an arms embargo. Its also very similar for us to say in world war ii, hey. Like my dads generation, you can invade all the way up to berlin, but you cant go into berlin to finish the job, and chris coons is right. Until we do that, we will never have the resolution, the peaceful resolution that i think everybody wants. Martha do you think what President Biden has done pausing those weapons would really make a difference . The israelis basically say they have everything they need right now even for a fullscale assault. So why does this pause really matter in terms of rafah if that is, in fact, what they decide to do . Well, it may not matter i know it doesnt matter with respect to israel. Netanyahu has said and ive talked to him, im going to do this alone if i have to. You know where it matters, martha is a signal and the message were sending the rest of the world that you cant count on the United States, ecayou cant trust the United States. That our allies, you know, and our enemies see this as if our friends see this, and they want to buy military equipment from the United States, how are they going to trust us . And the rest of the world looks at this. Iran looks at this. There was a victory by this administration without a shot sfi fired from him, and i think russia and china are right there looking at this too. Martha you regularly invoke former president Ronald Reagan. You heard senator coons bring up the fact he paused weapons to israel as well. You constantly ask yourself, what would Ronald Reagan do . Whats the Ronald Reagan did. Well, look. I think in this case to say, look. Im all for the humanitarian peace here, and that can be done, but i am not for saying what the president said is different. He said, if they go into rafah, im not supplying the weapons, period. He didnt Say Something else. Thats what he said, and i have to go by his words because you know what . Theyre not giving us any information. The state department, this administration, have not been transparent. They have been hiding the eight ball, and thats what he said. Martha just quickly if you can, you heard tess ingram. You heard the horrible situation on the ground. Are you comfortable when you see those pictures of children and estimates are 14,000 children have died there. Are you comfortable with that . No. Im not at all. Its heartbreaking, you know, war as they asay is hell. War is messy, but israel didnt start this war. Hamas started this war and israels going to finish this war, and until hamas is eradicated, we cant get to the peaceful solution, and i think thats my biggest concern, but yeah. My heart goes out thomo them. I saw a video today of hamas trying to get food out of the trucks. Martha well stop it there. Thanks for coming in this morning, congressman. Thanks, martha. Up next, Stormy Daniels testimony in the hush money trial gets heated and Michael Cohen prepares to take the stand. Stand. Well break ate d healthiers not something that happens all alone it takes greg and lydia, and josie on the phone. Its grammy getting checked on in her favorite chair. Or dolling herself up to go handle all of her care. 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So this was a very big day, so this was a very big day, a very revealing day as youve seen, their case is totally falling apart. They have nothing on books and records, and even something that should bear a little, the relationship to the case is just a disaster. Martha that was former President Donald Trump reacting to the sometimes salacious and often heated testimony of Stormy Daniels this week in his new york hush money trial. Trumps former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen is expected on the stand tomorrow. Abcs aaron ka ter tersky has a preview of what this could mean for the case. Reporter over the last three weeks, the jury has heard a story of skpex scheming. Stormy daniels described a night with donald trump in a hotel suite he says never happened. She told the jury he kept old spice and manicure set which was gold in his toiletry bag. She said while she never felt threatened, there was an imbalance of power for sure. There are the details the prosecutor said trump paid to bury in 2016, and relied on Michael Cohen to pin the crime on trump. Im kind of looking forward to it because, again, cant be finished with something unless you start it, right . Reporter cohen has already been a trial fixture. The jury saw his 130,000 wire to daniels 12 days before the 2016 election. The invoices cohen prepared, and the checks trump signed to reimburse him in monthly install h installmentes, and the jury heard him on the phone. I cant even tell how many times he said to me, you know, i hate the fact that ewith did it, and my comment to every person that youve spoken to said it was the right move. Reporter trying to distance rims from criminal conduct, but trump will say cohen did not learn of the sexual encounter with trump that he denies happen. Cohen will have to overcome unflattering testimony from other trial witnesses. Stormys lawyer called cohen a jerk and highly excitable, sort of a pants on fire kind of guy who no waunted to talk to. Hope hicks says he was trumps fixer because he broke things. Trump says he cannot be trusted as a convicted liar and hes obsessed with trump. Here he is wearing a shirt on tiktok taunting his former boss. Trump 2024 . More like trump 20 to 24 years. Reporter ahead of his testimony, the judge instructed prosecutors to communicate to mr. Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements about the case. He will have plenty to say from the witness stand. Martha, when Michael Cohen takes the witness stand here on monday, it will be the second time in recent months he has come face to face with donald trump. Cohen testified against trump in the attorney generals civil fraud case. That time trump volunteered to come to court to stare down Michael Cohen. This time as t hell have no choice but to sit there and listen. Martha thanks to aaron kater katersky. Lets bring in our powerhouse round table, donna brazile, ramesh ponnuru, rachael bade, and charles lane. I want to start with you. Lets go back to storm ky danie. Trump denies there was any encounter at all. How do you think this played out . Its still open whether her testimony will help our hrt the case in this particular matter, but clearly a huge embarrass moment with the former president with her describing in details this alleged encounter. Martha given what the judge has said. And given he cannot attack her personally given this gag order, the former president has brought in a bunch of allies to two after her, people like rick scott who wants to lead the Senate Republican conference and is trying to get in his good graces right now, but as aaron was just saying in that piece he just did, the big question is i think, is moving forward, what is Michael Cohen going to say . This is a person who is a central witness. He was very close with donald trump, his fixer for a very long time, and hes going to be on the witness stand this week and to see them interact is going to be martha its going to be hard for donald trump to sit still during that one im sure. Charles, donald trump and his team actually thinks a all helping him and it polls say the same thing. The polls say its not hurting him and not just this trial is not hurting him, but the three other criminal cases, one in georgia and the two in florida, and the one in washington its hard to keep track sometimes, they have caused a lot of hassle. They have caused him to sit in a new york courtroom, but havent really affected the polls in the president ial race which show him still wellpositioned to win, and on the testimony this week, you know, dont forget the fact that she under the prosecutions own direction kind of strayed into, you know, a lot of detail thats kind of extraneous to Business Records martha putting it nicely. Yes, because thats the only way you can put it, sets up potential appeal issue, and that is the only case of the four that even stands to finish a trial before november. Martha and donna, regardless of all the legal merits or what was said in the court, daniels testimony really did seem to get to trump. Of course, and now we perhaps know why they went out of their way to make sure that this story never saw the light of day back in 2016, immediately following the release or whatever of the access hollywood tape. You know, i have to remind myself, and im not im a churchgoing christian, but i have to remind myself this is not about the sex. Its about the documents. Its about the paper trail, and i think to the extent the prosecution can continue to focus on whats at stake in those 34 indictments, thats the case. Thats the meat and bone. So the fact that a 27yearold woman, you know, had consensual or nonconsensual sex, thats irrevanlt. Whats relevant is the documents and the fact that had those documents come out had that story come out in 2016, it could have altered the outcome of that race. Martha ramesh, do you agree with that . Who do you think of the whole week . I think its absolutely right that its about the documents and not about the right now, and you relationship that happened 11 years prior, but thats what the prosecution is focusing on right now, and you have to wonder as charles was saying, whether that does set up the possibility of reversal or appeal. The Political Part of this though that i think needs to be kept in mind is the undermining character issues on display with donald trump here, theyve always held his numbers down. Its just that theres no new information about his character that the trial is giving us. Its sort of already baked in by the electorate. Martha and charles, back to you. Do you think that it is people just are not really listening at this point, and now as rachael pointed out, you know, probably no other cases are going to court before the election . There is a sort of hardcor of people, mostly democrats who follow this stuff really closely, but im skeptical that outside of that group, a lot of people are focussing on the daytoday. Now look. Stormy daniels is such a colorful story that it probably attracted more attention than usual, but i think trump has succeeded, you know, through skillful lawyering in part, through luck, and through his natural kind of bullet proofness with his own base to just kind of turn this into background music of american politics and something thats not providing a fresh drama that changes the narrative. As ramesh points out, people know donald trump is not exactly a conventional person and is kind of mean and nasty at times and does all kinds of sketchy the best way to putting it, but i think people w things, but that is not new. Hes no choir boy, and thats the best way to putting it, but i think people want a person with a little different character. I think a lot of maramericans a paying attention. Not just democrats, but independents. Look at indiana. When you got that many voters and 100,000 people saying, no way. Im stick with nikki haley. Martha youre talking about nikki haley getting 21 of the vote. Exactly. Martha i want to move to israel and you heard senator coons there and mike mccaul. The white house made the clearest conditioning of aid to israel yet. Your reaction to that state Department Report, ramesh. It sort of muddied this up in a way. He said, look. Were not going to weve paused these weapons, and we could pause them even further as they go into fullscale, but then this report is kind of somewhere in the middle. Its fingerwagging and yet nothing illegal. Somewhere in the middle i think is a good description of the biden administrations position on this, and it does make you wonder about what the underlying thinking is because a lot of it doesnt seem to make sense except with respect to a political problem in the United States, in the democratic party. This deep split over our policy on israel, but who is going to be made happy by this kind of sort of alternately fingerwagging and statements of resolve . If you are one of the protesters whos saying, biden is complicit in genocide, its hard to see you being mollified by this kind of gesture. Martha how do you see him threading that needle . With great difficulty. Just on the report by the state department, i have mine the only one who thinks this. I think the report may actually be true in the sense that it is very difficult youre right. These 2,000pound bombs are tremendously destructive, burned law, the question is whether their use was related reasonably to a proportionate military goal, and thats a judgment call. Martha it is about proportionality. Every military person ive talked to said, look. Its proportionality, and from what many ive talked to are seeing, its in some case its true. You would find that their use is inconsistent is International Law, but the people ramesh is talking about, saying genocide joe are not interested they want a cutoff of aid, and they wont be happy, and over here you have 26 House Democrats saying the president should not have done this. Hes betrayed an ally. Thats his problem. Martha what do you see from the angle of the hill . Youve got republicans like mike mccaul saying, what you are doing . Were talking about the split in the democratic party, but you have to think about the republican side. As you mentioned, there are some republicans, one in particular who said hes going to introduce articles of impeachment against joe biden because of his ham handling of this situation. Republicans tried to impeach biden months ago, and they didnt get any traction, and she shelved this. This idea has support by people like senator tom cotton. So im going to be watching that very closely. I think in the coming days were going to see the house pass a resolution to basically force biden to continue supplying the weapons to israel, and thats not going to go anywhere in the senate, and even if it did, biden would do that. Martha how big of a problem do you think this is for joe biden . The president made it clear in december he wanted to have a shift in strategy. The president has been firm in his support of israel. He has been so firm in giving israel everything they need including a couple of weeks ago when israel was under attack. So i doubt very seriously it will cause any more, you know, Division Within the democratic party, but its clearly something the president felt very strongly about. This is a president whos very proisrael. Martha rich, i want to end with you here and talk about what happened on the hill this week. The other big story, representative Marjorie Taylor greenes attempt to oust mike johnson didnt work. Overwhelmingly so. What does this tell you about the state of the Republican Party and the speakership . Yeah. So i was fortunate enough to have an hour to sit down with the speaker right after this vote took place and i can tell you he was very relieved. He told me he didnt see it congress, didnt get a headsup, but hes had this cloud hanging over him for months. Now that Marjorie Taylor greene has lost this vote, he seems to think that hes going to be on track to continue his speakership as long as he has trumps support. So well see. If he maintains that. Martha a lot of drama yet to come. Thanks to all of you. Coming up, George Stephanopoulos takes us inside the nerve center of the white house in his fascinating new book the situation room. Well be right back. Awkward question. Is there going to be anything. Left over . Yeah. Oh, absolutely. inner monologue my kids dont know what they want. You know who knows what she wants . Me with empower, we get all of our financial questions answered. So you dont have to worry. Empower. Whats next. I brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. Ugh. Here, ill take that. Woo hoo ensure max protein, 30 grams protein, 1 gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals. And a new fiber blend with a prebiotic. Rsv is out there. 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If youre 19 or older with certain chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, copd, or heart disease, or are 65 or older, you are at increased risk for Pneumococcal Pneumonia. Prevnar 20® is approved in adults to help prevent infections from 20 strains of the bacteria that cause Pneumococcal Pneumonia. In just one dose. Dont get prevnar 20® if youve had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. Adults with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. The most common side effects were pain and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, fatigue, headache, and joint pain. I want to be able to keep my plans. I dont want to risk ending up in the hospital with Pneumococcal Pneumonia. Thats why i chose prevnar 20®. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about the Pfizer Vaccine for Pneumococcal Pneumonia. Is there any prospect for a is there any prospect for a negotiated solution on bosnia . Well, you know the secretary is going to hear about how the talks have gone right now and we continue to hope that the parties do are able to work out a settlement. The president believes this is a serious situation. Hes taking it very seriously. We have an intensive review going on right now by the National Security council and advisers and we continue to view our options. Martha thats our George Stephanopoulos 31 years ago in a former life at the start of the Clinton Administration facing questions from the press on bosnia, just one of many global crises he witnessed first hand from the white house. Georges fascinating new book the situation room the inside story of president s in crisis delves into the history of the secret white house nerve center where some of the nations most profound decisions have been made. I sat down with him this week to discuss that extraordinary history. Its the most secure location in the white house, first set up by president john kennedy in 1961 to coordinate National Security after the disastrous bay of pigs invasion, but it was two years later when kennedys assassination would throw the room into crisis and heartbreak. George there are actually recordings, audio recordings of the situation room talking to pier sallinger, who was jfks press secretary who was on their way to tokyo, and what you hear in the tapes is the situation room duty officer through a series of phone calls telling pier salinger who was very close to the president , the president s been hit. Were not sure how bad it is. Five minutes later this is the situation room. I read from the ap bulletin, kennedy apparently shot in head. George ten minutes later, we have to report to you and we hear his voice shaking. This is situation room. We have report quoting mr. Kilduff in dallas that the president is dead, that he died about 35 minutes ago. George and this was the actual communication from the day that john f. Kennedy was shot. Martha that was, of course, the day that Lyndon Johnson inherited the presidenc situation room, where he would obsess on the vietnam war. George not only was he there all the time. He was calling the situation room all through the night for any scrap of information about vietnam. It looks like, there are two pilots lost . It looks like two u. S. Pilots lost and search and rescue is under way for them at this time, sir. George one of the things i as a researcher and i think the readers will take away from it is that you learn that this information is not necessarily insight. All the information in the world about what was happening at any particular battlefield wasnt really going to tell him how to win that war because it was an unwinnable war, and deep down, he knew that, but he was looking for any any chance he had to get some control over it. Martha lbjs reliance on the room did not pay off in the end, which may have colored the perception of the room for his successor, richard nixon, but he was managing a crisis of his own making, watergate. George nixon hardly ever went to the situation room, but probably the most dramatic moment of his presidency occurred in the situation room without him there. Its october, 1973. War breaks out in the middle east, the first yom kippur war, and nixon is overwhelmed by the problems hes facing. He is said. Ing spending most of his time in a private hideaway in the Old Executive Office building drinking scotch and listening to victory at sea, and Henry Kissinger kissinger, the russians started to move towards the middle east, and Henry Kissinger and his team believed that the only way they could deter them was to raise the Nuclear Level to death con 3 which had only been done once before, the cuban missile crisis and he did that without telling the president of the United States. Martha if that werent jawdropping enough, fast forward to a situation room meeting with the next president , jimmy carter. A nugget which george uncovered after reading carters diary. George the strangest story in the book. Martha it happened in the spring of 1980, just weeks after the failed rescue of the american hostages held if iran. George there was actually a program in the Intelligence Community during the 1970s and 80s called operation grill flame which used psychics and because they were so fascinated by this, they actually called a meeting in may so they could get a briefing on this parapsychology program. Jimmy carter doesnt say a word, just takes out his note bad and writes one word on it and sends it across the desk. The word was hostages. Can you do he was so desperate for anything that might help him get the hostages home. Martha needless to say it did not help. All of the hostages were not released until the day Ronald Reagan became president in january of 1981, and less than two months later, his aides would live another nightmarish day in the situation room. A gunman once again targeting a sitting u. S. President. George Richard Allen who was Ronald Reagans National Security adviser, on the day he was shot carried a portable tape recorder so you hear his top aides deliberating in realtime trying to figure out how to run the government with the president unconscious, and it really does capture the chaos, the fog of the equivalent of war and these people not really knowing what kind of shape the president was in, what the chain of command was. It captures a moment that became infamous, when al hague was the secretary of state at the time, famously went up to the White House Press room and said as enoughof now, i am in conf the white house. George thinking he was third in line for the presidency, and theyre talking about it before he goes out there. They didnt bother to correct him because he thought, he wont do anything about this. It became such a famous mistake for him and an indelible mark on his career. You also saw the human moments of them trying to figure out what capacities the president had to continue to do his job, and its really the only realtime record of that kind that was ever made in the situation room. Martha there has been great sadness, but moments of incredible triumph as well like may, 2011 when president obama and his advisers watched two dozen navy s. E. A. L. S carry out the raid that killed al qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. George i interviewed pete souza, president obamas photographer who was hitting the shutters as fast as he could. Hes pretty sure he cant be 1,000 sure, but hes pretty sure that the moment that he captured that is now the most iconic photo ever taken in the situation room, is the moment when the first helicopter had the hard landing. President obama famously said, you know, after all the intelligence came in on where Osama Bin Laden was, where that person, the pacer was indeed him, he said, listen. In the end, its a 50 50 call and you just have to make the judgment, because someone spent several hours in that room, you are aware of the weight of history when youre in that room, and the history echoes through the room. Martha and coming up, george takes us inside the situation room on january 6th. Well be right back. And were done. Hmm, what about these . Looks right. [thud] [rushing liquid] nooo. Nooooo. Nooooooo. Quick, the quicker picker upper only bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. And bounty is 2x more absorbent so you can use less and get the job done with one. This works. [thud] kind of. 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If youre over 50, the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside you. And as you age, your risk of developing shingles increases. Dont wait. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles today. Martha january 6th was one of the most harrowing days in our countrys history, so i asked george about the role the situation room played on that day. What was going on in the situation room that day as rioters were storming capitol hill . George harrowing. It was a harrowing day inside the situation room. I talked to a duty officer named mike steegler who it had been his dream to work in the white house and he was on duty on january 6th getting realtime reports from the Vice PresidentS Secret Service detail about how much danger the Vice President was in. He and his colleagues started to implement the continuity of government operations. The people may not know what that is. Those are the executive order the first person, dwight eisenhower, figured out how the government could attack a Nuclear Attack to put everything in place, the line of succession, safe places for people to go to. It had only been done once before, on 9 11. They were implementing those on january 6th, dealing with a crisis inspired by the president of the United States, and all during that day as theyre dealing with this crisis, President Trump never once called down to the situation room. The nerve center of the white house, george nope. It had been his dream to work in the white house and he couldnt believe what had happened, but he also knew he had to steel himself for goin martha never called the pent dp pen pentagon, never did anything . George nope. It had been his dream to work in the white house and he couldnt believe what had happened, but he also knew he had to steel himself for going back in the very next day, and thats exactly what he did because like all those people who served in the situation room, they say we serve the presidency, not the president. He feared that the institution would crumble that day, but it didnt. It still stood, and he was determined to do his part to keep everything going, but to this day, he and several of his colleagues who served the day still have a hard time talking about it. Go to the Lincoln Memorial every january 6th, and they raise a dpl glass that we didnt crumble that day. We stood our ground and the nation survived. Martha our thanks to george and the situation room will be out on tuesday. It is simply an amazing read. Well be right back. Livin large and having a big day the Meeting Point of humanity and history. In the middle of being the fun uncle in the middle of being a kid again beep beep theres something for everyone in illinois. The middle of everything martha thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of you martha thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us, and to all the moms out there, happy mothers day. Good morning to you and a look from our vollmer creek camera where weve got some may gray for mothers day. It is sunny in our inland valleys, but well talk about the cooldown expected to come your way today and the forecastor theeek ahead. Next on abc, seven experts are here to guide you. Whether youre looking for top brands like tempurpedic, sealy and purple. An organic option like avocado or the latest in Mattress Technology which youll get with our revive adaptive sleep mattress with Free Shipping as soon as next day, you can start sleeping better tomorrow. Discover