good morning, to our viewers in the usa and around the world. i m john avlon. it is monday, december 18th. it s 5:00 a.m. here in new york, noon in tel aviv, where the u.s. defense secretary is scheduled to meet now with his israeli counterpart. secretary lloyd austin s mission is to press israeli officials on specific milestones for progress in israel s war against hamas, as civilian casualties climb. here s democratic senator chris van hollen talking to abc this sunday. we do have unacceptable levels of casualties. we see loose rules of engagement, way looser than anything that the united states would exercise. we would not drop a 2,000-pound bomb on a refugee camp to target a hamas commander. a senior defense official tells cnn that austin will, quote, want to hear very clear articulation of the israeli self-assessment today. that same official has confidence in the israeli military and so he s there to ask questions and learn more about their plan. elliott gotkine
world. i m bianca nobilo. i m max foster joining you live from london. just ahead on cnn newsroom secretary of defense lloyd austin came to get more details from prime minister netanyahu to get a real sense of where israel is in its operations against hamas. the israeli military on sunday revealing new video of what it is calling the largest hamas tunnel they have discovered inside the gaza strip. former president donald trump ramped up this anti-immigration rhetoric during remarks in nevada sunday. they come from prisons, they come from mental institutions and insane asylums, many terrorists. senators have spent the weekend trying to see if they can get any sort of compromisen out issue of immigration. this is not just immigration reform. they re basically working diligently on just security at the border. announcer: live from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster and bianca nobilo. it s monday, december the 18th. 9:00 a.m. here in london, 11
today on inside politics, donald trump hanging onto commanding leads, his rivals are running out of time to catch up but one of them is starting to see a narrow path to a major upset. let s make a deal, senators are racing to get new border security measures. president biden facing pressure on one of the toughest problems to solve. democrats have never been this nervous about biden s chances, we will ask the pollster who elected bill clinton. i am jim acosta, let s go behind the headlines and inside politics. four weeks from today, the first republican voters will make their voices heard, the iowa caucus is 28 days away, most of the major candidates were crisscrossing those states this weekend and are back at it today. the ones not named donald trump hoping to survive surprise finish, we have a lot of new polls this weekend, that will tell us what the challenges are for some of these gop rivals. they have been pouring all the numbers, what are you seeing right now? let s st
more warning signs for president biden as he makes his case for re-election. could a potential new compromise in congress on the border hurt him even more with his party. joe manchin is considering challenging biden next year and joins me next. plus with friends like these, a month until the iowa caucus and on the trail, donald trump is quoting dictators such as vladimir putin. it shows the rottenness of the american political system. in a month will he be the defact onominee, chris christie is coming up. and israel reels after troops kill three of its own hostages waiving a white flag. will that change the way israel is waging war in gaza and effect crucial help from the united states? hello, i m jake tapper in washington. where the state of our union is frankly stunning. watchs the leading republican candidate donald trump quote one of our nation s foremost adversaries, vladimir putin, as a sort of character witness. while on the stump in new hampshire last ni
i m a little anxious, i m a little excited. i m gonna be emotional, she s gonna be emotional, but it s gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity. you re live in the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. we begin the hour with the biden campaign linking donald trump to adolf hitler, saying the former president parroted adolf hitler at a new hampshire rally last night. that s in response to trump once again accusing immigrants of poisoning the blood of the country, an echo of the vile rhetoric used by nazi germany to justify the holocaust. they re poisoning the blood of our country. that s what they ve done. they ve poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not j