Politics

(WASHINGTON) — The impact of the phone call between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was still being felt Friday as Israel responded to Biden’s demand for accountability in the wake of the Israeli strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy that killed seven aid workers.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, attending a NATO meeting in Brussels, was dialed into Thursday’s call at one of the most stressful points in the increasingly fraught relationship between the two allies.

As the ABC News State Department Producer, I was traveling with Blinken and have this account and analysis:

Behind the scenes before the call
Ahead of the conversation, the tension in the air was palpable — and it continued to build throughout the day.

Even though the call was on President Biden’s calendar, Blinken began the day planning for a full program at NATO’s headquarters. But then he missed a scheduled event and barely squeaked into another (he often runs behind schedule, but not on this level) .

Blinken also left a group meeting on Ukraine more than half an hour before it concluded, opting to hole up in a private meeting room instead. (He also outwardly appeared to be in a bad mood — another rarity.)

By mid-afternoon local time, it became clear that preparing for the Netanyahu call had become and all-hands-on-deck situation — and a chaotic one. Amid a frenzy of high-level calls, administration officials in Brussels and Washington struggled to get on the same page, according to sources familiar with the matter.

While these calls are quite often high stakes, usually working level engagement sets at least a rough expectation. Not so this time, officials said — they were flying blind, with no idea how Netanyahu would react.

Officials described the call itself as fairly grueling, but said they walked away confident they had secured at least one win — a promise from the Israelis to open up a number of portals into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as was announced not long after. (U.S. officials had been pushing for the Erez crossing on Gaza’s northern border with Israel in particular to be opened for months but had seen no apparent progress until this point.)

But there’s a challenging road ahead.

Uncertain stakes
After the call, Blinken shed remarkably little light on the situation during his news conference (even by his careful diplomatic standards) declining to say any more on what the administration might do if Israel doesn’t meet U.S. demands.

Diplomats often employ strategic ambiguity with allies and enemies alike, the argument for it being that if you keep expectations and potential consequences vague and you might get better results than if you spelled them out.

That could be at play here, but if so, it’s only part of the story. Officials say key figures within the administration hold a wide range of positions regarding potential repercussions, challenging the U.S.’ ability to form a cohesive strategy.

Cease-fire call
The White House readout of the call is the strongest statement from the administration delinking a cease-fire and a deal for the release of hostages in Gaza.

About six weeks ago, administration officials insisted that doing so would take all the air out of negotiations.

When I asked Blinken about this, he was vague, but an official says blurring the connection between the two has been a deliberate push and one directed by the White House.

Blinken also dodged on whether the administration sees Netanyahu as a limiting step for reaching an agreement, which is heavily implied by the president urging the prime minister “to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay.”

This would be a shift, too. Up until very recently, administration officials insisted Netanyahu was empowering his negotiators.

Regardless, sources familiar with negotiations say Hamas is still a big hurdle — and that despite intermediaries’ confidence that its leaders will back off demands that would allow the group to remain in power after the conflict, it hasn’t come to fruition.

What has changed?
The secretary was first asked on Tuesday about the World Central Kitchen strike shortly after it happened — and hours before the White House, the president and the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed their outrage over the deadly attack.

The French foreign minister was standing beside Blinken at the time and expressly condemned the strike, but the secretary was much more muted. He urged an investigation and voiced his grief over the deaths of the aid workers–but no outrage, no condemnation.

When I asked him what had changed on Thursday, I was expecting him to say that time had allowed the administration to evaluate the incident and come to a conclusion.

But instead, he responded by declaring that nothing changed — insisting he was outraged from the jump but was initially motivated by “focusing on the human beings involved” – and for some unexplained reason couldn’t take it a step further with condemnation for the act that killed them.

“I was focused on the — the people, the individuals who had lost their lives, given their lives in service of their fellow human beings. That was what was motivating me in those initial comments,” he said. “And I thought it was important as well to put the focus on that.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. is going to “watch and see” how Israel is implementing changes requested by President Joe Biden to limit humanitarian suffering in Gaza, White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday.

In a tense call on Thursday, President Biden issued a stark warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the U.S. would reconsider its policy approach if Israel didn’t take concrete steps to better protect civilians and aid workers after Israeli strikes killed seven food relief workers with the World Central Kitchen.

Hours after the conversation, Israel said it will open the Erez crossing on the northern border of Gaza with Israel as well as allow temporary delivery of aid through the Ashdod port, where most aid comes through and is then trucked to Erez, so more humanitarian assistance can cross into Gaza. Israel also said it would increase the amount of Jordanian aid coming in through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Kirby was asked by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos if such changes were enough to meet Biden’s demands.

“Well, we’re going to have to watch and see where they go from here, George,” Kirby responded on “Good Morning America,” calling the actions taken overnight “good starts.”

“But we’ve got to see them execute and implement those things over time,” the National Security Council spokesman said, saying Biden was clear with Netanyahu that the U.S. needs to see “meaningful changes.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a similar message as he spoke at a U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council news conference in Belgium on Friday.

“These are positive developments, but the real test is results and that’s what we’re looking to see in the coming days and in the coming weeks,” Blinken said, adding the U.S. would specifically be watching the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza on a sustained basis and whether food insecurity measurements are reversed. International organizations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, in particular over food insecurity.

But officials continued to decline to state what specific consequences Israel would face if it doesn’t meet U.S. requests, like whether the U.S. would consider conditioning military aid to Israel.

“I wouldn’t close down decision space for the president but he was very clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Kirby said on “GMA.” “We’ve got to see some changes. We’ve got to see the humanitarian situation improve in Gaza or otherwise we will have to take a look at our own policy and make decisions and change the way that we’re supporting Israel.”

US reviewing the IDF’s World Central Kitchen report
Another development Friday was the Israel Defense Forces’ release of a report on its investigation into the World Central Kitchen incident. Seven aid workers were killed in multiple strikes as their convoy traveled along a humanitarian route in central Gaza, despite their movements having been coordinated with the IDF.

The IDF admitted there was a “misjudgment” made on the evening of the strike in violation of their standard procedures, including the misidentification of an aid worker as a Hamas gunman and misclassification of the event. Two IDF commanders were fired as a result.

World Central Kitchen, in a statement Friday, was highly critical of the report. The food charity, led by chef José Andrés, said the IDF can’t “credibly investigate its own failures in Gaza” and again called for an independent investigation.

Kirby, who also appeared on NBC’s “Today” program on Friday, said the U.S. would defer judgment on whether there should be an independent commission until they examine the initial findings by Israel.

“We’re going to work our way through that investigation ourselves and take a look and see what we think of their findings and conclusions before we make any judgment going forward,” Kirby said.

He continued, “This is an agency of the Israeli government that has conducted independent investigations before. … They’ve done this responsibly in the past but we’ll reserve judgment until we have a chance to go through those findings.”

Leaving Belgium, Blinken also said the administration was reviewing the document carefully and would discuss its conclusions with Israeli officials and aid organizations.

“It’s very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It’s also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable,” Blinken said. “Even more important is making sure that steps are taken going forward to ensure that something like this can never happen again.”

Before the report’s release, however, Blinken had said it was “critical” there be “an independent, thorough, fully publicized investigation into the killing of the World Central Kitchen team.”

The World Central Kitchen incident, he said, was part of a “larger challenge that we’ve seen throughout [the conflict] which is the horrific number of children, women, men — innocent children, women, and men — who have been killed through the course of the military operations.”

More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel when Hamas launched a surprise terror attack on Oct. 7, according to Israeli authorities.

ABC News’ Shannon Crawford, Chris Boccia, Ellie Kaufman and Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.

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Through history, a party’s control of the House of Representatives has not changed in the middle of a session of Congress, though majorities have been slim before.

But with a razor-thin GOP majority in the House and a threat to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, could control of the House flip to Democrats ahead of the general election?

Since the start of 118th Congress, Republicans have maintained control of the House by only a handful of seats. In recent months, there has been a slew of retirement announcements and even some prominent Republicans announced they are leaving without notifying leadership before the end of their term — further reducing GOP control.

“Every conservative is frustrated about our current position,” Johnson said on Fox News’ “Hannity” earlier this week. “We have the smallest majority in U.S. history. We have a one-vote margin right now so it’s very difficult to move big things up the field for our principles.”

Control of the House could come down to the numbers and if more Republicans decide to leave before their term ends.

Former Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado resigned on March 22 and House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher will leave Congress early on April 19. His seat will remain empty until after the 2024 election.

In a self-inflicted wound earlier this year, the House voted to expel former Republican Rep. George Santos from Congress, decreasing the majority. Now the embattled congressman, who plans to run for New York’s 1st Congressional District, said last week that he will run as an independent.

The current makeup in the House is 218 Republicans to 213 Democrats, a difference of five seats. Once Gallagher departs, the breakdown is 217 Republicans to 213 Democrats, meaning Republicans can afford only one defection on votes to pass GOP-backed measures.

The special election to fill New York Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins’ seat is April 30, which is likely to give Democrats another seat. At this point, there would be 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats. But on May 21, there will be an election to fill former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s reliably red seat.

“It’s really quite unprecedented the number of retirements that have been announced in both parties, but particularly among the more seasoned Republicans in the House,” said Linda Fowler, professor emeritus of government at Dartmouth College.

“I’m sure there’s enormous pressure on remaining Republicans to stand their ground, not do any more retirements and so forth,” Fowler added.

Karen Hult, a political science professor at Virginia Tech, said the likelihood of a flip from Republican to Democratic control in the House decreases as the general election nears.

“I don’t think it’s impossible. I do think it’s unlikely because I think as we move closer to the election, and people are listening to their folks back home, a lot of people on the Republican side are saying, ‘You know, we’re going to be listening to nominee Donald Trump on the Republican side, we’re also going to be listening to members of our district. But we need to be careful to that we don’t give the house to the Democrats,’ which could happen,” Hult said.

Fowler, who specializes in American politics and Congress, said narrow House majorities have not always been the norm.

“For most of the history of the Congress, one party has been the majority, it’s been a dominant majority, and its majority has lasted a long time in the House of Representatives,” she said — adding that both Republicans and Democrats have enjoyed seasons of strong majorities.

That changed with the help of Republican Newt Gingrich, who helped bring his party the majority in the House after 40 years in the minority. In 1994, Republicans took control of the House during the midterm elections thanks, in part, to Gingrich’s push for a “Contract with America,” a conservative legislative agenda.

That year, the GOP took control of the House and Senate — and Gingrich was named the speaker. Under his speakership, what Fowler called the “Gingrich revolution” happened – “where committee chairs were pretty much brought to heel … and undermined, staff resources were shifted to the party leaders” and the speaker decided “who sits on which committees, who the chairs are going to be, and what comes to the floor or not.”

It has been “highly unusual” to have such slim majorities over the last few elections, Fowler said.

With small majorities comes more polarization, Hult said.

“What I think is more interesting or unusual at this point, is that it really hasn’t been since really then the 1890s, that we’ve had this much party polarization in the country,” she said.

“When the majorities get tighter, close, smaller, polarization goes up, because the stakes are so high that everything, even procedural votes, becomes looked at by the members in terms of the next election,” Fowler said. “And so with these really tight majorities, it’s really hard to get anything done.”

‘Difficult’ path with passing legislation
The slim GOP majority has made it increasingly difficult to pass bills with only Republican votes, leaving Johnson leaning on Democrats to get some legislation across the line.

Johnson said he hopes the conference will unify to pass legislation, but acknowledged the challenge given the current dynamics.

“We’ve got to unify — we’ve got to unify when you have such a small majority,” Johnson said on “Hannity.” “If the Republicans will stand together, we have a much better, obviously, negotiation strength when we’re dealing with Democrats in the Senate and a Democrat in the White House.”

Unification has not always been the name of the game as Johnson works to appeal to Republican hard-liners in his conference.

Hult predicts there will be few issues where Republicans and Democrats will band together to move legislation out of the House.

As former President Donald Trump puts his finger on the scale, weighing in on legislation such as the $95 billion foreign aid package — it will be more and more challenging to compromise, Hult said.

“I think it’d be very difficult to find that narrow path in which they can find something to agree on,” she said.

Speaker Hakeem Jeffries?
There is an effort to remove Johnson led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Georgia Republican filed a motion to vacate the chair before recess, placing intense pressure on Johnson.

Greene filed the motion to vacate Johnson after a vote to fund the government to prevent a shutdown — which Johnson needed Democratic votes to pass. Greene called her motion to vacate a “warning,” adding that “it’s time for our conference to choose a new speaker.”

“If Republicans once again send the House into disarray by moving to vacate the Speaker, the question is not what Democrats can do to save Speaker Mike Johnson from the extremists controlling his party, but instead whether there are two Republicans who will put country over party to provide the necessary votes to make Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker of the House,” New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman said in a statement.

Asked about the possibility of a historic change to Speaker Jeffries, Johnson shot it down Monday.

“Look, that’s a risk, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said, later adding “Hakeem is not going to be speaker and we’ll take care of business.”

Hult said she doesn’t think it’s likely that we will see a Speaker Jeffries before the general election, but left a window open on the possibility saying it “certainly it could happen.”

“Jeffries has been really skillful in keeping the party together, and if the allure of maybe having control of the House starts moving some of those members to say, ‘Well, let’s give it a try and see what happens,’ they may well be pulled back by Democrats and think, ‘Wait a second, I’m concerned about my own district and my own reelection, but I’m also concerned about being able to reelect President Biden,'” Hult said.

Many voters want to see a sense of decorum restored in a Congress riddled with chaos, Hult said.

“What’s clear to a lot of us from the outside, in looking, especially at the House, and a little bit increasingly at the Senate, is that there has been a clear erosion of norms of civility, and of trying to at least work together despite some serious disagreements, that’s going to be really hard to recover,” Hult said.

“And it’s not going to happen in between now and November.”

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(LINCOLN, Neb.) — Nebraska lawmakers are embroiled in a last-ditch, Republican-led effort, spurred on by Donald Trump and conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, to eliminate the state’s unique split-vote system for allocating three of its five Electoral College delegates just days before the end of the legislative session.

Such a change could have major implications for the outcome of the 2024 election.

The current system, which is also used by Maine, has been in place since 1991 and has faced multiple attempts to repeal it, coming just one vote short in 2016.

The latest proposal, originally introduced in 2023 and given new urgency with the endorsement of former President Trump and others, would reapportion the three electors awarded to the winner of each of the state’s three congressional districts, instead awarding all five of them to the overall victor of the state, which leans Republican.

In 2020, Trump and President Joe Biden split the state’s delegates, with Biden winning one through Omaha’s congressional district.

Candidates need at least 270 Electoral College votes to win the White House — and analysts say that there are various scenarios in November’s general election where Biden may need that singular vote to make it to 270 and beat Trump.

Likewise, without that possibility, it could be easier for Trump to keep Biden to no more than 269 Electoral College votes, which would mean Biden loses.

The latest legislation to change the state’s electoral system, proposed in January 2023 by Republican Sen. Loren Lippincott, languished in committee for over a year before receiving a renewed burst of attention this week courtesy of Kirk, a far-right conservative radio host and Turning Point USA founder.

In a roughly 200-word post on Tuesday about the bill and its implications on X, Kirk implored Nebraska to implement a winner-take-all electoral system by passing Lippincott’s bill.

“This is completely fixable. Nebraska’s legislature can act to make sure their state’s electoral votes go towards electing the candidate the VAST majority of Nebraskans prefer,” Kirk wrote, telling supporters to contact Gov. Jim Pillem’s office.

Just about five hours later, Pillem released a statement endorsing the bill, calling on the Legislature to send it to his desk, which Trump later called “very smart” in a post on his social media platform.

And thus the legislation was jolted back to life, surprising some other Republicans in the state.

Sen. Tom Brewer, chair of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee — where the bill is currently in limbo — told The Lincoln Journal Star on Wednesday that he was “blindsided” by the governor and others’ last-minute push to pass the legislation and that his phone “exploded with emails” following the promotion from Kirk.

“Just people being cranky about it,” Brewer told the paper. “And I’m like, ‘Well, you should have been cranky about it a long time ago.”

Supporters of the bill faced a setback late Wednesday after failing to attach provisions from it as an amendment to another piece of unrelated legislation moving through the state’s single chamber.

After that amendment was declared “not germane,” a procedural motion to overrule the decision failed badly, effectively killing the amendment.

Following that defeat, lawmakers continue to face several hurdles in their efforts to get the bill to Pillem’s desk. These include a quickly dwindling timeframe under the current legislative session, which adjourns for the year on April 18, and a lack of votes to overcome a potential filibuster in the chamber — a move Democratic lawmakers have promised if a measure including changes to the state’s split-vote system comes to the floor.

Appearing on Kirk’s podcast on Thursday, Lippincott acknowledged Kirk’s role in reinvigorating support for his proposal but insisted that he only has about 30 of the 33 votes needed to break a filibuster.

“Right now, unfortunately, we have milked the cows and the cows are dry,” Lippincott said.

“I just met with the governor just a short time ago, a half hour ago or so. And our game plan is to redouble our efforts. Hopefully we’re going to pick up some more Republican seats this next year, Charlie,” Lippincott said before Kirk interrupted him.

“That’s not gonna work. So I gotta interrupt you. … What is the plan today to get — your colleagues’ names? Who are they?” Kirk pressed.

“I’m doing everything I possibly can. And I appreciate the help that you guys have been giving us,” Lippincott said, noting that he met with “the secretary of state, the governor, lieutenant governor” and “the inner circle” and is doing “everything we possibly can” to pass the bill.

According to The Nebraska Examiner, Lippincott said he would attempt on Thursday to attach an amendment on the electoral changes to another bill that seeks to make elections in public power districts partisan.

If that bill fails to pass with the electoral vote amendment, Pillem also has the power to call for a special session that could force the state Legislature to reconsider the winner-take-all provisions as a stand-alone bill — though the governor’s office has not indicated yet if such an option is on the table.

Pillem’s office and Lippincott did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment on their next steps.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will visit the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore on Friday to meet with officials and get an “on-the-ground look at federal response efforts,” the White House said.

During his visit, Biden will meet with “loved ones” of the six workers killed during the bridge collapse, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

The container ship Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge at about 1:30 a.m. on March 26, partially collapsing the bridge, officials in Maryland said.

Six construction workers are believed to have fallen from the collapsing bridge into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River. The bodies of two of the missing workers have since been recovered, while four remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead, officials said.

“They were hard workers laboring in the middle of the night to repair potholes on a bridge that tens of thousands of travelers crossed every day,” Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Thursday.

Biden will be joined by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other Baltimore officials during his trip. The president will receive operational updates on response efforts and updates on wreckage removal, according to the White House.

Following the tragic collapse, Biden pledged to fully support Baltimore’s rebuilding efforts. He said it’s his “intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstruction of that bridge.”

The White House has since approved $60 million in emergency funding to assist in the initial mobilization and debris recovery efforts for Baltimore. While Moore expressed gratitude for the collective rallying behind the city, he said there is a “very long road ahead” for Baltimore and the reconstruction will be an “incredibly complex job.”

“The president is continuing to lead a whole-of-government approach in responding to the bridge collapse, as the president said within hours of the collapse, this administration will be with the people of Baltimore, every step of the way,” Jean-Pierre said during the Thursday briefing.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge has an annual traffic volume of 11.3 million vehicles, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority. The Port of Baltimore is the nation’s 17th largest in annual total tonnage of cargo as of 2021 and generates 15,300 direct jobs, with nearly 140,000 jobs connected to port activities, Moore said in a statement in February.

Jean-Pierre has discussed new efforts by the government to help support the local economy amid recovery.

“Today, the SBA [Small Business Administration] is launching two business recovery centers in Baltimore County. These centers will support impacted business owners’ income … in completing their disaster loan applications,” Jean-Pierre said Monday. “The Department of Labor is working with local and state officials to determine how to assist workers out of work due to closure of the port.”

The crash appeared to be accidental, not intentional, officials have said.

The Dali is a Singapore-flagged, 984-foot container ship. The Singaporean company that operates the ship should have “limited liability” in the aftermath of the crash, lawyers representing the company said in a lawsuit filed Monday.

“The casualty was not due to any fault, neglect, or want of care on the part of Petitioners, the Vessel, or persons or entities for whose petitioners may be responsible,” court documents filed in Maryland federal court say.

The White House continues to emphasize the unified approach to recovery efforts amid the ongoing investigation.

“President Biden and his team are working with Governor Moore, the congressional delegation, Mayor [Brandon] Scott, and numerous state and local officials to reopen the port, rebuild the bridge and support the people of Baltimore through the unified command,” Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Monday.

A small temporary channel has been opened for boats that are working on the bridge response, officials said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is warning of policy changes if Israel doesn’t take steps to better protect civilians and aid workers in Gaza amid international outrage over the killing of seven World Central Kitchen members.

President Joe Biden relayed the message in a phone call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said.

The two leaders spoke for roughly 30 minutes, their first conversation since mid-March.

Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” according to a White House readout of the call. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

While the warning is a significant shift in tone for the Biden administration, officials did not elaborate on what those policy changes would be if Israel doesn’t comply and reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s security.

Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if President Biden is threatening to withhold aid to Israel if sufficient changes aren’t made, National Security Council spokesman Kirby declined to get into any more detail.

“I’m not going to preview decisions that haven’t been made yet,” he said at another point in the White House briefing.

On timing, Kirby said they hope to see some announcement of changes on Israel’s part in the “coming hours and days.”

“What we are looking to see … is a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance getting in, additional crossings opened up and a reduction in the violence against civilians and certainly aid workers,” he said.

The warning comes amid growing frustration, and political pressures, between Biden and Netanyahu as Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza stretches into its sixth month.

Hamas carried out an incursion from Gaza into southern Israel by air, land and sea on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage, according to Israeli authorities. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 74,000 others have been injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, amid Israel’s ongoing ground operations and aerial bombardment of the strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

World Central Kitchen has called for an independent investigation into the airstrikes, during which its convoy was struck after leaving a warehouse in central Gaza. The food charity said the vehicles were marked and their movements were coordinated with the IDF.

“This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles,” the group said as it called on the U.S., Australia, Canada, Poland and the United Kingdom to join them in demanding a third-party probe into the events. The victims killed in the strike included citizens of those countries.

A senior adviser for Netanyahu told ABC News claims by the aid group that the strike was intentional were “absurd.” Netanyahu has said Israel “deeply regrets the tragic incident.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday that a “thorough and transparent investigation is being conducted” and findings will be shared with partners, according to a readout of a call between the two leaders provided by Gallant’s office.

While Kirby said the World Central Kitchen strikes prompted Biden to talk to Netanyahu on Thursday about his concerns, he said the two leaders didn’t talk about the strikes or what exactly happened in “great detail.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan also dialed into Thursday’s call between President Biden and Netanyahu, according to the White House.

Blinken, who is in Brussels to meet with NATO allies, told reporters Biden told Netanyahu the strikes that killed aid workers and the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza are “unacceptable.”

In their conversation, Biden also “underscored” the need for an immediate cease-fire deal in order for hostages to be released and allow more humanitarian aid to get into the Gaza Strip, the White House said.

They also talked about Iranian threats against Israel, and Biden “made clear the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.”

Kirby at the podium made clear U.S. support for Israel’s ability to defend itself from a range of threats, not just Hamas, is “ironclad.”

ABC News’ Mary Bruce contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — No Labels will not run a third-party “unity” ticket against Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, the group said Thursday.

In a statement, the centrist group said they were unable to find a candidate that had a credible path to winning on their hypothetical bipartisan platform — “so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”

“We will remain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lifetimes,” the group said. “We will promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith.”

The decision was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Despite being able to field a satisfactory candidate, No Labels said Thursday that “Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before.”

“Big ideas are not new for us,” the group said in its statement. “We have been working since 2010 to organize citizens across America and members of Congress through the Problem Solvers Caucus, which we created to push back on the extremes in our politics and push forward solutions to America’s biggest problems. That work is more important now than ever.”

“For now, suffice it to say that this movement is not done,” the group went on to say. “In fact, it is just beginning.”

Among the names that had been floated by the group were former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

But none of those figures ended up getting on board.

“While I believe this is a conversation that needs to be had with the American people, I also believe that if there is not a pathway to win and if my candidacy in any way, shape or form would help Donald Trump become president again, then it is not the way forward,” Christie said in a statement last week.

No Labels had faced a self-imposed soft deadline of early April to field a ticket in the 2024 presidential race, having declared last month that it would move forward with a third-party independent bid.

For the past year and a half, the group’s leadership has held private conversations with potential candidates in an attempt to lure in former and current political figures, according to people familiar with the outreach.

At the same time, the group has repeatedly rebuffed the argument that its hypothetical ticket of one Democrat and one Republican would merely act as a “spoiler” — probably for Biden.

“We will never fuel a spoiler candidate,” No Labels’ chief strategist, Ryan Clancy, has said. “We don’t want to fuel any sort of candidacy that’s pulling more votes from one side.”

No Labels had been slated to hold a Dallas convention on April 14 and 15 to hear from supporters and gauge whether the group would launch a third-party ticket. The convention ended up taking place virtually in March — a month earlier than planned, despite wanting to allow for more time.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat and close ally of President Joe Biden, said on CNN Thursday morning that if Israel pursues a large-scale military operation in Rafah without making provisions for citizens, it would be time for the U.S. to condition aid to Israel.

“I think we are at the point where President Biden has said and I have said and others have said if Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, were to order the [Israel Defense Forces] into Rafah at scale — they were to drop thousand-pound bombs and send in a battalion to go after Hamas — and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, that I would vote to condition aid to Israel,” Coons said on CNN News Central.

This is a change in position for Coons.

“I’ve never said that before, I’ve never been here before. I’ve been a strong supporter of Israel the whole time I’ve served in Congress. We just appropriated another $3.3 billion in support in the last appropriations bill we did. The challenge is to make it clear that we support the Israeli people, that we want to and will continue to have a strong and close relationship with Israel — but the tactics by which the current prime minister is making these decisions don’t reflect the best values of Israel or the United States,” Coons said.

Netanyahu has said going into Rafah is crucial for victory over Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, and to prevent future terror attacks. Biden has told Netanyahu that he believes it would be a mistake to invade Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinians have fled to seek shelter during the Israel-Hamas war, according to the United Nations.

The IDF has said it plans to push civilians toward “humanitarian islands” in the center of the Gaza Strip in advance of an offensive in Rafah.

Coons said he would continue to support targeted raids and special forces’ raids against Hamas.

“But the IDF can bring humanitarian relief in through the north of Gaza. They just demonstrated this two, three weeks ago by escorting in convoys of trucks through a new opening in the very northern security perimeter of Gaza,” Coons said. “It is the far north of Gaza where the IDF has the most control, where there is the most famine and the most urgency. I think we can move forward if we see real seriousness about addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as well as the security crisis that Israel continues to face.”

This comes amid a growing sentiment among Senate Democrats that the U.S. ought to modify the support it gives to Israel.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told “This Week” Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz on March 31 that he thinks the United States should stop sending offensive weapons to Israel until humanitarian assistance is allowed into Gaza.

“So, my view, Martha, is until the Netanyahu government allows more assistance into Gaza, to help people who are literally starving to death, we should not be sending more bombs,” he said.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a statement following the death of seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen in Gaza, called for a suspension of military operations.

“Israel must immediately suspend military operations inside Gaza and allow for a dramatic surge in humanitarian aid,” Murphy said.

The national security supplemental passed by the Senate in February contains $14.1 billion in unconditioned aid to Israel. That bill, which also includes $60.06 billion to aid Ukraine, is currently awaiting action in House.

Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested he will amend or counter the bill with a version of his own.

If the House sends the bill back to the Senate, Democrats will face new considerations about whether to reapprove a package with unconditioned aid for Israel.

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(WASHINGTON) — More than 400 lawmakers, activists, civil rights leaders, musicians and actors have written a joint letter to President Joe Biden calling on him to support a list of Congressional bills on racial equity and reparative justice through executive actions and orders.

The letter, shared exclusively with ABC News, is the third such letter activists and lawmakers have sent to the White House this year. Signatories include NAACP President Derrick Johnson, attorney Ben Crump, National Action Network President Al Sharpton, stylist Law Roach, music executive Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, actress Erika Alexander and talk show host Tavis Smiley as well as Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.

This latest effort Thursday comes after several months of unsuccessful attempts to secure a meeting with the White House. In the open letter, leaders desperately urged Biden that “the state of our Union depends upon” these bills.

Marcus Anthony Hunter, a UCLA professor of sociology and African American studies, who coined the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” is leading the effort. He told ABC News the letter is an accountability measure after months of work behind closed doors in Washington, D.C., and across the country.

“President Biden is actively delivering for Black Americans by executing his Day One commitment to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities,” White House spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite told ABC News in a statement. “Since taking office, the president’s agenda has secured record-low Black unemployment, a 60% increase in Black net worth since the pandemic, achieved the fastest creation rate of Black-owned small businesses in over 25 years, and expanded access to homeownership and protections against housing discrimination.”

In the letter, leaders wrote: “As we face another election year, this conversation regarding urgent executive action on reparations is not just about policy — it is about the people of the United States of America, the fate of our democracy, national unity and national security.”

“We call upon you to meet with the Congressional members and advocates, as soon as possible, to tackle and attend to the unfinished work of advancing comprehensive equity through executive orders and actions,” they added.

On President’s Day this year, Feb. 19, lawmakers, activists and civil rights leaders sent two separate letters to the White House expressing a unified effort urging the Biden administration to work on racial equity.

Some lawmakers have worked diligently in the House and the Senate to bring attention to a list of wide-ranging bills focused on racial equity and reparative justice.

“Each of the pieces of legislation laid out would be a step towards repairing the harms of America’s original sin and centuries of discrimination, redlining and institutionalized oppression. We must be honest with ourselves and tell the truth about our history and how it impacts our communities today, so that together we can build a better future,” Bowman told ABC News.

“I would say behind the scenes, there have been some people who are open to the conversation about it, which is why I think about how the president can be a conversation starter so that we can actually see where people are,” Hunter told ABC news.

Over the past four years, lawmakers and advocates have been able to have conversations with Republican staffers in both chambers of Congress, Hunter said, adding that many Congressional Republicans have been inquisitive and have sought additional information on the bills.

Meanwhile, in Congress, some lawmakers have been working on the bills behind the scenes to bring attention to reparative justice.

In 2023, Bush made history by introducing a first-of-its-kind 23-page resolution that explores the extensive history of the enslavement of Africans, post-Jim Crow discrimination and other racially charged subjects.

Lee reintroduced a bill that called for the creation of the United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation. Her bill seeks to examine the effects of slavery, institutional racism and discrimination against people of color, as well as how history impacts laws and policies.

Bush and Lee’s bills aim to be companions to H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. That bill was named for a promise made shortly after the end of the Civil War wherein Union leaders promised formerly enslaved families “40 acres and a mule” — a promise that was never fulfilled. H.R. 40 had been introduced in every legislative session since 1989. The bill languished in Congress for more than three decades until H.R. 40 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee in 2021. It has since failed to come to a vote in either the House or Senate.

“Clearly, we are at a tipping point that requires the reckoning of H.R. 40 to help restore national balance and unity,” Jackson Lee told ABC News. “Tragically, we continue to witness abhorrent attacks in Congress and across the country on diversity, equity and inclusion, rolling back decades of progress to eliminate division and intolerance — shocking efforts that echo back to the darkest periods of our nation’s history.”

During the 2023 State of the Union, Biden urged Congress to “come together to finish the job on police reform. Do something.” However, a year later, and with a new speaker of the House, Congress has not made much progress on police reform, or any reparative justice or racial equity programs.

“Until they do right by George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, nobody else is gonna get anything because that’s how they got into office,” Hunter said.

He noted that Biden has not been vocal on the issue of reparations, despite the numerous efforts across the U.S. on the issue. The issue of reparations is being taken up in states such as California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina.

The letter’s timing on April 4 coincides with the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in an attempt to underscore the historic significance of his death to the struggle for equity and justice, Hunter said.

Lee told ABC News, “We’re going to keep pushing the Biden administration to take urgent action on restorative justice and reparations for our communities. As we enter yet another crucial election year, we risk turning back the clock even further on our progress toward truth and racial healing.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is now speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a source familiar with the call told ABC News, their first conversation since seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Biden had strongly condemned the incident, saying he was “outraged.” He was expected to further express his anger and concerns about Monday’s strike as part of a broader call with Netanyahu, who called the situation “tragic” and unintentional.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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