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Connect the World

Israel Expects Gaza Deal Within a Day; Red Flag Warnings Issued again for L.A. and Ventura County; Marco Rubio Confirmation Hearing for Secretary of State; Qatari Officials: Announcement on Hostage-Ceasefire Deal is Imminent; Grassley: Change Needed at Justice Department, Bondi Highly Qualified; Confirmation Hearing for Pam Bondi, Trump's Pick for Attorney General. Aired 9-9:37a ET

Aired January 15, 2025 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: You are looking at the scene right now in Khan Yunis, where as we wait and we watch negotiators, of course,

trying to hammer out the final details now to stop the fighting in Gaza, to bring dozens of hostages, home. It is currently 04:00 p.m. in Gaza, 09:00

a.m. here in New York, I'm Erica Hill.

We are also, of course, monitoring two breaking stories in the United States. In Washington, six of Donald Trump's cabinet nominees set to take

questions this morning in Senate Confirmation Hearings. We are going to be really tracking two key appointments here, Attorney General Pick Pam Bondi

and Marco Rubio, the Senator, of course, who is also Trump's choice for Secretary of State.

In Los Angeles County, millions remain under a critical fire threat as firefighters there continue to battle these strengthening winds, the death

toll from those wildfires is now rising.

And as we come to you this hour, there is news out of Israel that its government does expect that ceasefire hostage release deal with Hamas could

actually be announced later today, or, if not today, on Thursday, that coming from two sources familiar with the matter. As we do wait for

official word, it's important to note, there has been no let up to the fighting in Gaza.

Israel's military and intelligence service announcing 50 targets attacked over just the past day, another 54 Palestinians have reportedly been

killed. This, of course, on top of the more than 46,000 who have been killed in Gaza, according to health officials there since the October 2023

Hamas terror attack in Israel, which killed 1200 people.

Negotiators in Doha still hashing out the final details here of what is understandably a complex agreement. What we know as of now, it would call

for the release of 33 hostages currently being held by Hamas and a six week pause in the fighting talks for a permanent ceasefire would then happen

during that time frame.

Jeremy Diamond has been following all of these negotiations for us from Tel Aviv and joins us now with more, including more of this information on your

reporting from the timeline here.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. Two sources familiar with the matter tell me that the Israeli government

expects that a ceasefire deal and hostage release deal will be announced, likely today or tomorrow, that is currently the expectation.

And if indeed that happens, that means that we could see this ceasefire actually be implemented on the ground, with the first hostages released,

and of course, a much-needed respite for the Palestinian people of Gaza from the aerial bombardment that they have faced over the last 15 months as

early as Sunday.

So, Sunday could be the day, if indeed things stay on track as they appear to be now that this ceasefire deal could indeed go into effect, bringing a

six-week ceasefire into effect, the release of 33 hostages over that period of time, and the entry of hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid per day

into the Gaza Strip.

Now, once this deal is actually announced in terms of Israel and Hamas both officially signing on and agreeing to the terms of this agreement, the

Israeli Prime Minister will need to bring this deal before Israel's security cabinet, as well as for a vote before the full cabinet that is

known here as the -- as the government itself, meaning the majority coalition that the prime minister maintains.

This will be a simple up or down vote, and after that happens, the Supreme Court will then give, likely, approximately 24 hours to hear any petitions

from individuals who would like to oppose the release of Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for those 33 hostages. So that

is why you will see, likely, a 48-hour period or so between when we see the announcement of this deal and when it is actually implemented on the

ground.

But one source familiar with the matter telling me quote, we are very close. It appears that the parties are down to negotiating some of those

final details relating to the actual implementation of this agreement. Again, this is a day that so many here in Israel, as well as in Gaza, have

been waiting for 15 months now to see the hostages released, to see Israel's military assault on the Gaza Strip finally come to at least a

temporary end.

And then, of course, there is this hope that perhaps this six-week ceasefire that has been agreed to now, or that we expect may be agreed to

in the next 24 hours, that that then will perhaps evolve into a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and an end to the war

as we know it now.

[09:05:00]

But that will require much more negotiation, which we expect will begin on the 16th day of this ceasefire agreement actually being implemented, once

again, cautioning that this deal has not yet been fully finalized, but the expectation right now is that it could be within the next 24 hours, Erica.

HILL: Certainly, an important development. Jeremy, really appreciate the reporting. Of course, we'll continue to check in with you. I also want to

bring in our colleague, Paula Hancocks, joining us now from Abu Dhabi. You have been closely following the fighting which continues in Gaza. What more

do we know about these latest strikes?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, even as we are talking about a potential imminent ceasefire deal, they are seeing none of that on the

ground in Gaza. We have been seeing over the past 48 hours alone, dozens of people being killed, among them women and children in just one apartment

block in Khan Yunis in the south that some 12 people were killed, many of them were children.

So, we are still seeing that civilians are bearing the brunt of what is happening there. Israel says it is still targeting Hamas. There is

certainly no sense of powering down or no sense of calming the situation in Gaza, even as we are this close, let's listen to what some of those on the

ground feel about this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Abdul Rahman Salama (ph) digs through the rubble of his home in Khan Yunis, hoping to find a blanket or a mattress, anything to

help his family, living in a tent by the winter sea.

There are no memories he says, our life has vanished. There's no future. He calls negotiations lies, saying we celebrate a little until we see a drone

strike, an artillery shell hit, or the quad copter shoot at us. Abu Samir (ph) walks through his neighborhood, a place he says residents no longer

recognize. He asks about the day after.

Let's say a truce happens he says, and the residents of this area return. Where do they go? Is this area fit for humans to live in? Ahmed Salama (ph)

tries to repair one room in his destroyed home, mixing sand and water to make clay. He says he kept waiting to do this, thinking negotiations would

work.

But he now needs to move his family from a tent on the coast, which collapses every time it rains. They say the same thing every time he says,

but nothing happens. We want anything, anything is better than this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (on camera): Now just eight months ago, we saw celebrations in Gaza as there were reports that Hamas had agreed to the ceasefire. But of

course, they were premature celebrations, so you can understand why those on the ground in Gaza are extremely skeptical about what is happening with

these negotiations, but also extremely hopeful, Erica.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Paula, really appreciate it. Thank you. I also want to bring in now Becky Anderson, who, of course, is in Doha at this moment.

Becky, I know you've been speaking with your sources. You have some new reporting as well. I turn it over to you, my friend.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: That's right. Of course, we've been waiting now for some time since we heard from the Spokesman for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Qatar that we were in the final stages of these discussions, and it was really sort of formalities about how the

implementation of this emerging deal would come about.

That is what is being discussed. We know that those discussions between the key stakeholders went on for hours yesterday, further discussions today,

and I've just learned that the announcement for this deal now is imminent. I've been told by an official briefed on the talks that it is imminent, but

there are still some final confirmations needed.

Now, a final confirmation needed. I haven't been told what that is, but certainly it does seem we are now on the cusp of a deal, and we've been

discussing what that deal looks like. It is multi phased, of course, as we know, phase 1, 42 days, 33 hostages to be released in exchange for

Palestinian prisoners.

And as we move further through the phases of this deal, if indeed that happens, and of course, there is much talk about whether there should be

any confidence in what happens after 42 days.

[09:10:00]

But as we move through, and if negotiators can move this deal on into the seventh week that will see Gazans return to Northern Gaza and the beginning

of what will feel like the end of this conflict. But at present, as I say, we are hearing that this announcement is now imminent and a ceasefire, at

least a temporary ceasefire, looks as if it is coming into play.

As soon as we get a deal of course, there is a period of time before the implementation. So even if we do get this deal announced today or tomorrow,

it is likely, not likely, that we would see hostages released for some 48 to 72 hours. And we will have a lot more on what is this emerging ceasefire

agreement later on "Connect the World".

HILL: All right.

ANDERSON: I talked to Alan Pinkus, who was Foreign Policy Adviser to Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, about Israel's positioning during these

talks and why it has taken so long to reach a deal. Of course, the parameters of this deal look very like a deal Erica that was on the table

back in May, proposed by Joe Biden himself, which was a deal that had been, we were told, agreed to at the time by the Israeli Prime Minister. Will

those that and other deals fell apart, as we say, we may now be on the cusp. Back to you.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. We will continue to watch it. Becky, thank you. We are also keeping, of course, a close watch in the U.S. on those powerful

winds in Southern California now prolonging the battle for firefighters who are trying desperately to put out the deadly wildfires there. At least 25

people have now been killed since this began.

Just over a week ago an official is warning this critical fire threat now extends to more than 6 million people. In Los Angeles, authorities are

urging people to keep wearing their masks to avoid inhaling dangerous ash and other particles in the air now, as a result of the fires. I have an

animation to show you. So, if you take a look at this, this is focusing on the Palisades fire. It's the most extensive of those major fires which are

burning at this moment, but it gives you an idea of just how far, how fast the fire spread.

So, as I noted, it began a little over a week ago. To this point, nearly 10,000 hectares have been burned. That's about 24,000 acres. Officials say

the Palisades is one of the most destructive fires they have ever seen in Southern California.

CNN's Stephanie Elam has been covering this for us from the very beginning. She is live this hour in Pacific Palisades. Steph, I know you have your

mask back on. There is a real concern among all of the other concerns that officials have about the air quality.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, for sure Erica. When we first got out here, I didn't have it on. And then as we're standing out here in the

dark, in the light, I can see all the things that are blowing past the light. And I was like, yeah, it's time to put the mask back on, because

these particles are just so fine.

And I am standing in the midst of properties that look like this everywhere around me. It's still too dark for me to show you everything. It looks just

like this, devastation and destruction. So, all of that toxic ash is just blowing in the air around us, and that's part of the reason why they're not

letting people back into these areas.

Also, because at this point, cadaver dogs are going through and sniffing and making sure that they account for everyone who is missing, and if

anyone lost their lives, that they can find them. And there's also Cal Fire going through each of these lots for different reasons. And in fact, take a

listen to a Cal Fire Representative here explaining what they're doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT FOXWORTHY, CAL FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: Crews are doing a methodical process of moving through the area, going to every individual

structure, and searching it, looking for hazards, possibly searching for any victims that may not have made it out of the fire.

And they will continue to do this until they cover the entire fire area. It's a considerable amount of structures to search thousands, and it's

going to be a long process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And it's worth noting that there's a new study from UCLA that's saying that these fires burned hotter and longer because of human induced

climate change, and the fact that we're seeing changes in our weather patterns out here in California.

Basically, we've had two really wet years, which allowed for dense brush to grow up, and then since May, we really haven't had any rain, and so that

brush all dried, and in that time, it just becomes kindling for a fire. Now they're saying the fires themselves probably still would have happened.

But they were made worse because of climate change, something to keep in mind, as people are looking to finally get back in here after the winds die

down, and they're looking to rebuild making sure that they're hardening their buildings, their homes when they do start the rebuild process.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Steph, really appreciate it. You and your crew stay safe, my friend. Thank you.

[09:15:00]

Still to come here on CNN, we're standing by for these high stakes' confirmation hearings today, six of Donald Trump's key cabinet picks will

be facing questions. First up in the hot seat, Pam Bondi, of course, who is his pick for Attorney General.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: South Korea's embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol arrested for questioning in multiple criminal investigations related to that failed

decree of martial law last month. This is according to the country's Anti- Corruption Agency. CNN's Mike Valerio has more now from Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): it was a motorcade that signalled surrender from a standoff, defiance turning into disbelief as

supporters of South Korea's suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol watched the former prosecutor arrested by authorities. He's now South Korea's first

president to be detained while in office.

DO MYOUNG-JA, YOON SUPPORTER: I don't know what to say. It's too much that I don't want to live too tough. This is not normal.

VALERIO (voice-over): It was the second attempt this month to arrest the suspended president. The first happened on January 3rd, but that day,

Yoon's equivalent of the Secret Service refused to give him up. This time, Presidential Security backed down. And Yoon said in a pre-recorded address

he left with law enforcement because he did not want violence.

YOON SUK YEOL, IMPEACHED PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA: Responding to these illegal and invalid procedures is not an acknowledgement of this, but at

heart to prevent unsavoury bloodshed. This

VALERIO (voice-over): This moment brings South Korea ever so slightly back from the brink of crisis. Yoon's opponents saying South Korea's sitting

president must answer investigators questions about why Yoon declared martial law in December, leading his critics say an insurrection.

Yoon Suk Yeol who is supposed to uphold the Constitution and laws, has committed grave crimes opposition lawmaker Park Chan-Dae said violating the

Constitution and laws to declare martial law, but also obstructing justice through force and turning the Republic of Korea into a lawless state.

VALERIO: Being questioned here is only one of Yoon's problems. He's a suspended president because right now he's going through an impeachment

process over December's martial law, and that process could remove him from office within the next few months.

VALERIO (voice-over): For now, weeks after hundreds of thousands of Yoon opponents took to the streets celebrating lawmakers green lighting the

first steps of the impeachment process. Yoon's most ardent supporters say they are not backing down. Some supporting martial law to further Yoon's

conservative agenda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, I fully, fully support the martial law and including how it was executed. Nobody got hurt, nobody got arrested.

VALERIO (voice-over): Mike Valerio, CNN, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:20:00]

HILL: In Washington today six of Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees will face questions on Capitol Hill in their confirmation hearings. Among them,

Trump's pick for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, as well as his choice for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and his pick to lead the CIA, John

Ratcliffe.

The hearing for Pam Bondi set to kick off just a few moments from now. You can see people already there in the hearing room, live pictures for you

there from the Senate Judiciary Committee. We all going to bring you back once that kicks off, and we will bring you, her remarks.

We are taking a closer look at what these could look like, certainly after what we saw from one of Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet picks

during his hearing on Tuesday, at times contentious as of course, as you see there. Pete Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services

Committee.

Democrats coming out swimming hard at Pete Hegseth, who is Trump's choice for Defense Secretary, looking to highlight his controversial personal

background, arguing that he was unfit for the job, that he lacked the necessary experience to run the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Are you saying that you would stand in the breach and push back if you were given an illegal order?

PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY: I start by saying, I reject the premise that President Trump is going to be giving any illegal

orders.

SLOTKIN: I understand. You've done your genuflecting to him.

SEN. KRISTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): You cannot denigrate women in general, and your statements do that. We don't want women in the military, especially in

combat. What a terrible statement. So please do not deny that you made those statements, you have.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Another colleague, not anonymous. We have this said that you took coworkers to a strip club. You were drunk. You tried to dance

with strippers. You had to be held off the stage.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): How many nations are in ASEAN, by the way?

HEGSETH: I couldn't tell you the exact amount, of nations in that.

DUCKWORTH: No, you could because --

HEGSETH: But I know we have allies in South Korea, in Japan and in AUKUS with Australia, trying to work on submarines with them -- allies across.

DUCKWORTH: OK. Mr. Hegseth, none of those three countries that you mentioned are in ASEAN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: The performance, though reportedly winning points with the president- elect's team, multiple sources telling CNN transition officials were reassured by the warm reception as well that Hegseth, really from received,

rather from Republican Senators on the committee.

Joining me now to discuss CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Kimberly Dozier. Kim, always good to see you. Let's start with what we're going to see today.

There's a lot of focus on, as I mentioned, Pam Bondi, John Ratcliffe and, of course, Marco Rubio, as we're looking at these.

Each bring a little bit something different, also in terms of expectations for these hearings, I would imagine there will be, a fair amount, of

questions for Pam Bondi when it comes to her loyalty to the Constitution versus her loyalty to the president-elect. How much meat do you think we

will get from those questions?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah, they're probably going to go over her past interviews. This would be the Democrats, of course,

where she has promised to -- or called for investigating the investigators. This is part of the MAGA movement's drive to hold responsible those inside

the Department of Justice for investigations of Donald Trump.

The Russia investigation, the investigation into National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, before he resigned from that position to hammer down how she

would turn the Department of Justice into the Department of Inquisition. This is the same thing that the previous nominee, Matt Gaetz had promised

to do with the Department of Justice.

But be clear, this is probably going to be performance politics. The Republicans have the votes if they go with party line votes. And Bondi is

not as controversial to many of the Republican Senators as Hegseth is, for instance, because of the allegations of sexual assault against him, et

cetera. So even though it's going to be a fiery hearing, Bondi is likely to make it through.

HILL: Rubio also likely to make it through, and he already has a fair amount of Democratic support.

DOZIER: Yeah, Marco Rubio has worked during his time in the Senate to have bipartisan legislation he's seen as an adult in the room. Yes, a

conservative, but he really knows his stuff on foreign policy, unlike some of the other Trump nominees, the Democrats say have little or no experience

for the job, as they accused of Hegseth, whose past experience was -- he was a major in the military.

He didn't rise through the general ranks, et cetera. Whereas Rubio has been on the Foreign Relations Committee for years. I do expect them to give

Rubio a hard time about two things, Ukraine and Donald Trump's relationship with Russia. On Ukraine, in the past, Rubio has been one of the republicans

who voted against Biden's funding of the war.

[09:25:00]

And has called for a resolution, a negotiation. So, he will be likely leading the charge to convince Ukraine to give up some of its territory to

end that war of Russian aggression.

HILL: Yeah, I agree with definitely interesting to see some of the questions on that point. Kim, always good to talk to you. Thank you. We'll

be talking with you throughout the Arizona throughout the hour as well. Also, some updates when it comes to the inauguration, which, of course, is

now just five days away.

CNN learning Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk was, of course, the owner of x, Tesla SpaceX, and these days, a close confidant of the president-

elect and Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos will not only be attending the event. We've learned, they will also be seated near Cabinet nominees and other

prominent guests on the inauguration platform itself.

A spokesperson for OpenAI telling CNN, its CEO, Sam Altman, also plans to attend the inauguration on Monday. One person who will not be there, former

First Lady Michelle Obama, in a statement from the Obama's office, noting that she would not be in attendance, but did not offer a reason for that

absence.

Just ahead, here more on the latest efforts to secure a cease fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. Stay with us for those developments

on the other side of a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Welcome back to "Connect the World". Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, about to take questions from senators on the Senate

Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing. We're going to bring you that when it happens. We are also closely following developments in Doha,

where Israel now says it expects a deal with Hamas within the next day, a possible announcement could come as soon as today.

In the past 24 hours, separate protests, both for and against the hostage released, cease fire deal taking place in Israel. CNN has also been

speaking to relatives of the Israeli hostages, as well as speaking with Palestinians who are hoping to return to their homes. The message we have

been hearing on both sides here one of tempered optimism.

Alon Pinkas was Foreign Policy Adviser to Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, he joins me now from Tel Aviv. It's good to have you with us.

[09:30:00]

I was struck by some of what you wrote in terms of this deal. Right making the case that, as my colleague Becky Anderson was just noting, in many

ways, this is essentially the deal that was presented some eight months ago. And you are really taking the prime minister to task for playing

politics here going on to write, and pardon me, while I read this, that for eight full months a deal was presented time and again by Qatar and the

United States.

But that Netanyahu only had politics on his mind, and you also note that his level of callousness, cruelty, disregard for the hostages, and

indifference toward their traumatized families who even blamed him -- who he blamed, and the sheer recklessness you go on to state that this was

staggering, even by Mr. Netanyahu standards. Strong words ahead of this deal. How widespread do you think that frustration and that feeling is?

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Well, I'll tell you. I'll say this, Erica, in the Biden Administration, I'm probably in the

majority. They mostly share what I wrote, their frustration has been evident in the last eight months. In fact, it was on the 31st of May, 2024

that President Biden presented this very outline of a deal.

And in fact, said this is a deal that Mr. Netanyahu forwarded to me only to have Mr. Netanyahu, three days later, renege on that deal and say, no, no,

it wasn't -- as for Israel, I think that there, you know, I may not be in the 90 percent majority, but at least 50 percent of Israeli believe, most -

- more than 50 percent if you look at the polls, that Mr. Netanyahu is driven primarily by political expediency, rather than care for the hostages

or any desire to end the war.

HILL: When we look at this too, there has also been reference to an element of Donald Trump coming into office, and what role that may play here. How

much of a fact is you think that is right now?

PINKAS: It's a huge factor. In fact, as of the November election in the U.S., Mr. Netanyahu sets the 20th of January inauguration day as the

deadline until which he needs to strike a deal, because Donald Trump, then president-elect, still president-elect, made it abundantly clear that I

want this wrapped up.

I want this to go away. I don't want to deal with this. Then he went on to spread some threats, there's hell to be. Hell will come about, you know,

all kinds of unfounded threats. But that's not the point. The point is that once Donald Trump was elected, Mr. Netanyahu was under this pressure that

he was not under Joe Biden.

And that's a big deal because it vindicates, validates rather the criticism that for months Mr. Netanyahu was playing politics in prolonging the war

without having any tangible political objectives through the continuation of that. So, it's all about Trump, yes.

HILL: Based on your experience, what we're hearing, obviously, from -- you know, from my colleagues, what they're hearing from their sources across

the board on this? How likely do you think it is that, in fact, in a matter of hours days, we could have this announced?

PINKAS: Very likely, but I have to -- but there needs to be caveat attached to that. There will be an announcement, maybe today, as you said a few

moments ago, maybe tomorrow. Then there will be some kind of a signing ceremony with representative. It'll be in direct -- will not sit next to

Hamas, so that the mediators will have to take care of that.

That may happen in the next two, three days, probably in Egypt, but not necessarily. Everyone is going to say that this is a bad deal, but it

needed to be done. But here's the caveat -- here's a caveat there. The whole thing, the whole deal, the 42-day phase structure of that deal is

based on the durability of a cease fire, which I doubt will be kept.

I doubt will be complying here to and that endangers the second phase. So yes, there's going to be a first phase in which 33 Israeli hostages, and in

exchange for several 100 -- almost 1000 Palestinian prisoners are going to be released. There's going to be a cease fire.

They're probably going to call it a cessation of hostilities, but unless that cease fire holds, which I doubt it will. I hope I'm proven wrong, but

I doubt it will, then there won't necessarily be a second thing, and that complicates everything.

HILL: Well, you sort of read my mind on that question, which was going to be in terms of that second phase and the negotiations that are supposed to

take place during that -- during those 42 days.

[09:35:00]

PINKAS: Yeah.

HILL: I understand what you're saying, that it's likely that it may not last to that point then. How long do you think it can hold?

PINKAS: Well, that's a good point, because, you know, there's a cease fire. OK. We call it cessation of hostilities. We can call it hiatus. These are

synonyms. Any synonym that you choose means an armistice of sort. Now what would constitute a violation? Because Hamas could say, well, you know, we

don't control the Gaza Strip.

The fact that a gang of five people starting to get Israel or Israeli soldiers, Israeli military, and the Israeli military responded that does

not constitute a violation of the ceasefire. Israel may see it differently. Israel may say, either you -- this is enforceable or not, and this wide,

you know, room for miscalculation and misinterpretation could bring the cease fire to falter pretty soon on the trade.

Now, I -- now there's another thing that we may need a different segment, Erica, that is, you know, we're talking about a 42-day hostage/ceasefire

deal. Who's going to control Gaza?

HILL: Yeah.

PINKAS: Let's say the cease fire home. Let's say that my skepticism is unfounded or proven to be wrong. Fine. Who's going to manage Gaza?

Certainly not Israel, certainly not Hamas, who then, I don't know.

HILL: Yeah. It's an excellent question. Alon Pinkas, really appreciate you joining us this hour, as we are closely watching for all of these

developments. Thank you.

PINKAS: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: And stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: We're going to take you now live to Washington, where we're hearing from the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley,

for Pam Bondi's, of course, confirmation hearing. Let's listen in.

[09:37:00]

END