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Are downplaying this. They are not at this point pointing the finger at israel. They are not at this point promising revenge. We are expecting to hear the iranians speaking fairly shortly. This is preplanned speech. Its not specifically in response to this strike, so well be closely monitoring that. In terms of israel, they are not officially claiming responsibility one way or another there are no plans of address from netanyahu and no official comment from the Israeli Government and israeli military. And that, too, is really telling. It feels like the israelis are trying to give iran space to not escalate this further. Theyre not trying to rub irans face in this. Theyre not crowing, not claiming victory. So you have this kind of war of words playing out on top of the actual strike itself, so at this moment despite those iranian threats weve been hearing all week that any iisraeli attack would be met with massive retaliation, it does not look like iran is trying to escalate, and here inside the idf is not giving new instructions to the civilian population. It is not canceling large gatherings or anything like that, which is not the case last weekend when there were severe, severe restrictions on people inside israel. That another indication possibly ali, israel right now at least is not bracing for retaliation. The conversation here in the u. S. Has been u. S. Officials including the president urging the israelis to use restraint in this. It seems at least from these initial reports that were getting overnight, that thats exactly what happened. Now, my understanding from my colleagues at the Pentagon Department is that they were given, the u. S. Was given a sort of heads up by the israelis on this. I mean tease out what the israeliu. S. Conversations have been and any impact on those on what we ultimately saw play out in just the last few hours. Yeah. So lets rewind the week, right . At that point it was israel bracing for an iranian attack. The conversations between the u. S. And israel were that the United States would be there to help protect israel in those chaotic hours. And in the skies in jordan and iraq taking down a lot of these incoming drones. President biden spoke to Prime Minister netanyahu shortly after the iranian attack on Saturday Night. And he told them, quote, take the win. Israel succeeded in this unbelievably complex operation. They hit an air base in southern israel, and the israelis were being told not to escalate further. All week the israelis have been getting that message from the United States, from germany, from the u. K. And other countries. And while they have chosen to respond, it does appear they have responded in a limited way. They have left both military and diplomatic space for iran to potentially choose not to retaliate. And i think as long as israel does not claim credit, it is possible for the iranians to kind of wave this away, to keep talking it down in front of their own people, but we will see in the coming hours what path they take. Yeah, to keep talking it down and hopefully not continue seeing it escalate in this region. Nbcs raf sanchez live from tel aviv, thanks so much. I want to bring in now former fbi agent clint watts. Can i get your reaction to this news, and what are you going to be watching for in the coming hours here. I think the first thing were going to be looking is is there any evidence at all we can discern. These are locations youre not going to have a lot of media and access. I think a key point is what do we know about the attack . Youll see both sides posturing trying to scale these things down. At the same time, they did have to do something. The israelis felt for their government they had to do something to respond, so really trying to parse out what was the actual damage of an attack, how severe was it, what was the scale of it. Were they trying to was the Israeli Government trying to retaliate and hit a target important to them, that being the natanz facility, for example. A key point everyone is trying to understand is whats the level they can push for. Iran was trying to push towards their own domestic audience about their retaliation even though it was not successful ipany way. Israel also seeing an opportunity here to maybe go after a Nuclear Facility that they very much worry about. But at the same time also having to meet some sort of response internally and domestically after suffering what was really the largest attack on their country ever. I think the other thing i think about here, clint, is the role that mis and disinformation can play in a situation that is so delicate and that were watching at least according to what is on the ground right now. Both countries seem to get to a point to deescalate, but whats the role of disinformation, whats the role that could play here . Last night when i was looking at Telegram Channels in both directions and both languages trying to discern what was going on, it was difficult to know both in iranian media and israeli state media. Its just almost impossible to discern what the actual part of it is. Some of it is acting or posturing to show the other side doesnt have capability or successful. At the same time its very difficult to get to the truth, so you can imagine the confusion about whats going on. I would say obviously the israeli media very different from the iranian media. They will get to the bottom of it. Theres a lot of vices and competition. But anything coming out of iran is very much one way. Its all Iranian State media. Amost of the programming in farcei, for example, or arabic languages is going to be other what the Intelligence Community might tell us we probably dont have a good handle on the scale, sophistication and success from an israeli perspective of this operation. Im glad you bring up the u. S. Response about this, because if we track back to the initial moment those strikes initially that spurred irans retaliation, the u. S. Government made clear or tried to iran, hey, we didnt know this was going to happen, we didnt get a heads up on this from the israelis. Of course now we know the israelis did give the u. S. Some kind of acknowledgement that a response was going to be coming from them. But as you look at this landscape now in light of this latest round of attacks, what is the thing you think could draw the Biden Administrations gaze on this, the thing that could maybe make them perk up and say, hey thats a red line for us . Yeah, its really curious what the stance is going to be generally in negotiations or public statements, countries dont take options off the table, and they basically did that in the early hours and were criticized by it particularly by people like john bolten. They quickly wanted to signal to iran they were not going to be the ones to escalate, and it seems like theyre reinforcing that message again here. So their big goal from the u. S. Perspective is not to see regional escalation or rolling out of this war in multiple theaters. Behind the scenes, though, its already been happening. If you look at houthis in the red sea, Iraqi Militia and shia in iraq and syria that did the tower 22 attack, theres been a broadbased proxy war between iran, israel, iran and the United States boiling for many months. So i know theyre trying to make sure and assure people theyre not escalating, theyre not tipping off a larger regional war. A very delicate line to cross. I think any sort of attack or Direct Action against u. S. Military personnel again in the region or u. S. Civilians would be a red line for the u. S. Where they would have to move up escalating and i would also note theres the irgc, the Iranian Revolutionary guard corp and hezbollah in the past have directed Terrorist Attacks towards foreign targets, so that would be Something Else to watch out for if the iranians would want to escalate. I dont see any reason to believe that right now or any indication of that, but that would be a major indication that would tip it off im sure into a much wider regional war. I think thats important to point out as we continue to track what the Biden Administrations response is going to be. Clint watts, thank you for bringing us your expertise. Weve got a busy morning and still got more ahead because Jury Selection in Donald Trumps Hush Money Trial is now almost complete. Well take a look what happened in court yesterday and have some legal analysis. Plus on capitol hill democrats on the Rules Committee advance speaker Mike Johnsons foreign aid package finally. What the hes saying across the aisle. Those stories plus a check on the weather when we come right back. N the weather when we come right back sup . Who are you . Im your inner child. Get in. Listen, what you really need in life is some freakin torque. What . Horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going. What happened to my inner child craving love and acceptance . How about you love and accept this . Pppppowershot when can i drive . You already are the dodge hornet r t. The totally torquedout crossover. psst psst ahhh with flonase, allergies dont have to be scary. Spraying Flonase Daily gives you long lasting nondrowsy relief. Flonase all good. Also, try our Allergy Headache and nighttime pills. Ah, these bills are crazy. She has no idea shes sitting on a goldmine. Well she doesnt know that if she owns a Life Insurance policy of 100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. Even a term policy. Even a term policy . Even a term policy find out if youre sitting on a goldmine. Call Coventry Direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect. Com. Norman, bad news. I never graduated from med school. What . But the good news is. Xfinity mobile just got even better now, you can automatically connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go. Plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. I gotta get this deal. Thats like 20 a month per unlimited line. I dont want to miss that. Thats amazing doc. Mobile savings are calling. Visit xfinitymobile. Com to learn more. Doc . Jury selection in trump Pfs Hush Money Criminal Trial is almost complete. The process resumes this morning. The jurors made up of 7 men and five women, one alternate was also chosen, but five more alternates are still needed. The process appears to move faster than expected yesterday after two jurors seated on tuesday were excused at the start of the proceedings. One said she was not sure she could remain impartial after identifying information about her was made public. Another was excused following concerns from prosecutors that one of his answers during questioning wasnt accurate. If none of the jurors are excused Jury Selection should wrap up as soon as today. Judge juan merchan sez hes hopeful opening arguments will begin monday. A former u. S. Attorney for the district of columbia. Thanks for waking up early. Your reaction to the speed at which these jurors and alternate jurors were selected yesterday i think i thought and many of us would have thought this was going to go a little more slowly. Pretty surprising, ali. And i think its a tribute to something judge merchan did really unorthodox, in fact, unprecedented in my experience. When we pick injuries we generally dont start by having the judge say if theres anybody here who thinks they cant be fair and impartial, raise their hand. About 50 of the first batch of 196 jurors raised their hand, and they were summarily dismissed. I can tell you thats not the way Jury Selection is ordinarily conducted. Usually if a juror says they dont think they can be fair, we ask a bunch of probing questions to really test whether they can be fair or not. But in this case, judge merchan basically decided to let those jurors who feel like they would have a hard time being fair sitting in judgment of donald trump just opt out. They could summarily leave. And i think that is one of the reasons we saw Jury Selection progress really rapidly. 12 jurors in the box in less than three days of Jury Selection is pretty impressive. But it speaks to the sensitivity around this case, right, and the fact that although Jury Selection doesnt go like this, usually jurors are not sitting there in front of a former president of the United States whos facing criminal charges. It was striking two previously seated jurors were dismissed. Whats the chance that we see more seated jurors excused during the Selection Process today or Going Forward prior to monday . It wouldnt surprise me at all. Its not that unusual for jurors to be selected and then overnight think about the implications of jury service and come in the following day and say, judge, i slept on it and i have some concerns. Now, these jurors seem to have real concerns because donald trump is forever trying to inject fear and intimidation into a process, and thats a real perversion of the administration of justice. I can tell you, ali, the last thing anybody wants is for jurors to feel like they have a personal stake in the outcome of the case theyre about to decide. Caseerize to be decided exclusively on the facts, the evidence presented during the course of the trial and the legal instructions the judge gives to jurors, but weve already seen donald trump posting about jurors. That injects fear into the process. And what i can tell you ive had to contend with this over the years as a prosecutor when a defendant or a defendants criminal associates injects fear into that jury box, it generally does not to the benefit. So donald trump for selfpreservation reasons might want to ratchet back what hes saying and posting about jurors. Maybe, glenn, jurors were also presented with seven new instances of former President Trump violating his gag order. Prosecutors pointed to trumps social media attacking the credibility of his former personal attorney and expected witness in this trial, michael cohen. Prosecutors want trump to be held in Criminal Contempt for violating the gag order, filing a formal motion late yesterday. One of trumps attorneys argued the posts not violations and that the situation brings to light, quote, some of the ambiguities of the gag order. Hearing on the matter and whether trumps social media posts qualifies for violations is set for tuesday. As much as you say trump might want to continue dialing it back, it doesnt seem like hes going to, and it feels like hes trying tot up that pressure, so what are the chances that the judge finds that trump did violate the gag order . And does this kind of keep growing throughout the trial . Yeah, chances are high that judge mer hp chan is going to find that donald trump violated the gag order. Seven alleged violations in just the first three days of trial is pretty impressive in a really bad way. When what ive seen judges do, ali, when ive seen defendants insist on violating court orders is the first time they violate a court order they give a stern talking to, the second time theyll impose sanctions probably in this case money, penalty and fines, but ill tell you that that second violation judges will say three strikes and youre in a jail cell, do it one more time and i will impose the up to 30 days of incarceration that the law allows me to impose, in the event you continue to violate court orders. I would bet the buck on donald trump ending up inside a jail cell because we all know that he cant help himself. He will continue to post things and say things that are likely to violate judge merchans gag order. Glenn, that would put us obviously in such uncharted territory. That is of course where we are in all these proceedings, but i think it would ratchet up the reality of whats happening here. If it were ever to come to that, well be listening to what the judge says in regards to his violation. Thank you for coming on with us. And still ahead well continue to bring you updates out of The Middle East following israels strike on iran overnight. As the price of oil is rising this morning. Well get more insight on that from our friends at cnbc. And well hear from House Speaker mike johnson who was pretty candid last night about the rebellion happening in his own party over his foreign aid bills. Way too early is coming right back. Id bills. Way too early is coming right back smile you found it. The feeling of Finding Psoriasis cant filter out the real you. 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So, heres to now. Boost. Can neuriva support your brain health . Mary, janet, hey thinking eddie, no frasier, frank. Frank . fred how are you . fred. Fuel up to 7 brain health indicators, including your memory. Join the Neuriva Brain Health challenge. We continue to follow Breaking News overseas. Israel carried out a limited strike against iran overnight. A source tells nbc news israeli officials had notified initials a response was coming but the u. S. Was not involved in the strike. So far both the u. S. And israel appear to be playing down the significance of the strike. Well have more on this developing story throughout the morning. First lets go for a check on the weather. Angie lassman, a meteorologist and my friend, please tell us whats going on in the world. Good morning, my friend. Weve got some rain, no surprise. Weve got this next system thats been working across the eastern half of the country. Its bringing potential for rain, some folks are waking up to it. Detroit, columbia, lexington, all waking up to that rain this morning. And folks even down through the southeast could see showers and thunderstorms on the table through the day today. And then as we transition into the weekend, its kind of a soggy one for the Southern Tier of the country. Weve got some showers that will develop over parts of texas, louisiana, oklahoma, arkansas. Thats where well see some of the heaviest of rain the last cup oldays, but parts of the southeast through sunday periods of heavy rainfall and gusty winds associated with this, and this will leave us with potential of Flood Concerns and were expecting upwards of 1, maybe 2 inches. And places like texas, oklahoma, arkansas, louisiana, stretching into mississippi. Some isolated spots wouldnt surprise me if we received up to 4 inches in a few of those. Meanwhile, temperatures what a difference your location makes especially today. Weve got 50s on tap for kansas city, 40s on tap for minneapolis. Running more than 15 degrees below normal this time of year. Feels like summer across parts of the south. Specifically florida, youre going to see potential for records today. Well see temperatures well into the 90s for some folks, tomorrow even jacksonville hangs onto those 90s, but the Cooler Air Strarts to spread further to the east and south and parts of the north east, and spring kind of returns here as we get back into our next workweek, columbus mids 60s on monday to the upper 60s on tuesday. Andali, well see boston hang out in the 60s. Washington, d. C. , though, 70s by tuesday. Hey, ill take that. Angie lassman, thanks for the good news. Still ahead much more on israels air strikes on iran and the impact on the turmoil. Were back in a moment with more. E turmoil. Were back in a moment with more power e trades awardwinning trading app makes trading easier. 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Giving millions of fans, like my dad and me, new ways of catching up on their favorite sport. Welcome back to Way Too Early. Its 5 30 on the east coast, 2 30 out west. Israel carried out a strike against iran overnight and the scope of the attack remains unclear right now. A person familiar with the situation tells nbc news officials are currently assessing the damage. Iranian state media reports explosions were heard in two cities, one of them near the site of the Largest Nuclear research complex. But the National Atomic Energy Research Agency Confirms theres been no damage to any nuclear facilities. A source familiar with the situation tells nbc news the u. S. Was not involved in the strike. Meanwhile, some countries in The Middle East are weighing in on israels actions. Egypts Foreign Minister put out a statement a short time ago saying the country is deeply concerned about an escalation between israel and iran and warned about the consequences of expanding the conflict and instability in the region. Meanwhile, the u. S. Has imposed a new round of sanctions in iran in response to its attack in israel last weekend. The Treasury Department announced yesterday the Biden Administrations actions will degrade and disrupt irans drone program. The sanctions also target exports by the countrys steel industry, which generates billions in annual revenue. Officials say the u. S. Has imposed sanctions on more than 600 iranian related entities over the past three years. Joining us once again former fbi Special Agent and National Security analyst for nbc news and msnbc, clint watts. Clint, were expecting to hear from secretary Antony Blinken in the next hour or so. Hes in italy this morning meeting with Foreign Ministers from the g7. What are you going to be watching for in his remarks in light of these latest attacks overnight . I think the key thing well all be looking for is have they communicated with Prime Minister netanyahu and israel. Just to get a sort of scale and understanding of what the israeli response is, remember they just sent a warning nearly overnight for us in the u. S. They would do some sort of response within 24 to 48 hours and absolutely did that. So just looking at the scale of response is there any subsequent actions, do we think well see any followup up attacks and what is the overall strategy and plan to deal with iran, that would be the question because it seems everyone in the region you just notice there from egypt as well wanting to make sure theres no sort of escalation or further attacks by iran and response to the new israeli attack. All indications at least are this morning theres no intention at least by iranians downplaying the attack thats successful, but what well want to know is what the u. S. Posture is on this or what it is to make sure it doesnt expand to aer regional war. When you see other countries like egypt saying thats their concern, who else do we need to hear from in the region that would make you think everyone is in agreement that this cannot get any worse or anymore urgent . Obviously both the iranians and israelis said we wont be looking to them this morning, but then there are other regional countries that can weigh in here. One would be turkey, for example. They were allegedly notified by the iranians there was going to be an itack on israel. Egypt has already weighed ip. You might listen to jordan and some of the others in the region to see what their take is on it. The separate part of this is are there any iranian proxies that start to speak up this morning and talk about retaliations. Id be looking to the houthis and in yemen, any of the iranian backed militias in syria and iraq as well. Those would be key voices to listen to today, to get some sort of idea would we see some sort of asymmetric attack, regional attack on a u. S. Or israeli target. The last one not to be overlooked is hezbollah. There has been some back and Forth Exchange of air strikes and rocket fire between israel and hezbollah the last few days right after that iranian barrage last weekend. That would be a key voice to listen to. Clint, not a neighbor in this region but certainly someone with ties to it. Whats the role of russia here especially given the ways iran has backed them in ukraine. Could we expect any role from the russians in this . The russians likely will speak up, and they see it as part and parcel, you know, of a larger strategy of teaming up with iran, so the iranians would supply drones that theyve been using in ukraine. You may see them trying to divert some attention to it or use it for their own strategic play just because this is larger regional issue and they have a large state theyre always playing particularly in syria and you might remember they worked with the assad regime trying to repel what was essentially syrian domestic uprisings. The military was the one that came in, so you might look to them to see hoy they posture as Well Visa Vi Iran and syria both being allies of the russian government. Clint, thank you so much for coming on with us again this morning. Still ahead weve got u. S. Futures that are in the red this morning as conflict reignites between israel and iran. Well go live to cnbc for an early look at the reaction from wall street. Way too early is coming right back. Street. Way too early is coming right back [coughing] copd isnt pretty. Im out of breath, and often out of the picture. But this is my story. and with oncedaily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. 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And dont forget to try some delicious, creamy lactaid ice cream. Whats that mabel . mooo wow, smart cow Global Markets are reacting to the latest turmoil overseas after israel struck iran overnight. For more on that lets bring in silvia amaro live from london. How are stock futures reacting to these developments . So at this Stage Futures suggest it will be a negative start to the Trading Session on wall street. Whats happening in the markets at this stage. We saw investors searching for safer assets such as gold in the initial moments after those announcements that israel had gone ahead with a limited strike on iran. The fact this was a limited strike has since then led to some of these fears dissipating in the markets. And so what were seeing at this stage is a muted response to some extent to all these developments when it comes to geopolitical tensions. Looking at europe, thats also what were tracking at this stage. We are seeing european equities moving lower as well. But the point here is that there are other themes playing out in the markets. Investors are concerned about higher rates state side. Theyre also tracking the earnings season, so its not just about geopolitics. Its not just the main theme for the markets at this stage. So its worth reiterating in the initial moments we did see investors searching for those safer assets. But at this stage those initial fears have dissipated and that is translating to global equities. Thats interesting context you bring there, but what about the impact on oil prices, too . So oil prices they jump off the back. We saw brent reaching 90s per barrel at one point. The fears i was telling you have also disappeared when the comes to the oil market. Now brent is basically trading at about 87. Annalist told me early this morning if we see significant escalation in The Middle East, we could see oil prices reaching 100 a barrel. Of course this significant escalation is not what were seeing at this stage, and therefore thats also not the base case at this stage. Naturally, however, its important to monitor whats happening in The Middle East and what is the reaction in the oil price. Because if we see significant moves in oil, that could also become a headache for the fed because Higher Oil Prices mean higher inflation, and then it basically could push back expectations of a rate cut from the fed. Also when it comes to the oil price, those initial fears have dispainted, have come off. However, worth continuing to monitor it also to understand not just what happens when it comes to the oil price but also how the fed reacts to it later on this year as well. Cnbcs silvia amaro live from london, thank you for urging us to take a bit of a pause and look at the larger landscape. Still ahead as israel fights on yet another Front Congress is set to consider new foreign aid bills including one to israel. Well have more when Way Too Early returns. Israel. Well have more when Way Too Early returns hey asthmas got you going through it . Grab nucala for fewer asthma attacks. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Ask an Asthma Specialist if nucala is right for you. You ready . Ugh nope try my old spice. You can use it on your pits, chest and even your. Toes . Thats not your toes. Oh thats fresh old spice mnemonic my name is oluseyi and some of my favorite moments throughout my life are watching sports with my dad. Now, i work at comcast as part of the team that created our ai highlights technology, which uses ai to detect the major plays in a sports game. Giving millions of fans, like my dad and me, new ways of catching up on their favorite sport. Just hours before israel struck iran, House Democrats last night saved the package of foreign aid bills proposed by speaker mike johnson. In a rare move all four democrats on the House Rules Committee joined five republicans in passing a procedural vote which allowed the bills to advance to the house floor. Usually its the Majority Party alone who passes these rules in committee and on the floor. So a stunning fashion in which this happened. The democratic votes were needed, though, because three republicans on the committee voted against the bills in protest against the aid for ukraine not paired with Border Security measures. In an interview Last Night Speaker Johnson acknowledged the rebellion in his own party and admitted hell need these democrats to get the aid package passed. Joining us once more is nbc news Correspondent Raf Sanchez and joining us senior politics reporter eugene scott. It seems like a fair assumption this thing is going to pass, but its going to look a little strange in terms of whos voting for it. Its going to be bipartisan. Democrats have been clear they want see aid move forward for ukraine. And theyve made it aware to johnson that he cannot rely on his own party for support, which he already knows, but he can rely on them. And one of the reasons we know when we talk to voters, the swing voter project, theyve been very disappointed with that lack of legislation that has come from congress, and this will be something that democrats will be able to campaign on heading into november while criticizing republicans. I think thats right especially given the conversations ive had with democrats who say they even would take the politics out of this and just look at the National Security implications of it. Raf, weve been talking about israels ability to fight as this domestic front is happening over the policy, israel is fighting in gaza, on the border with lebanon, and now on iran or with iran. How critical is this american aid coming . Absolutely critical, ali. And one of the key, key components are the missiles for those Israeli Air Defense systems. We dont know exactly how many interceptors israel fired on Saturday Night as it was stopping that incoming barrage of iranian drones and rockets, but given it was 350 missiles and drones altogether, you can bet it was a lot of interceptors and those are expensive. Theyre around 100 thousand each, so israel will be looking to the u. S. , to congress to help replenish those funds. The major, major concern as well as obviously a fullscale war with iran is that this back and forth between israel and iran would draw in hezbollah, the powerful lebanese militant group, which has been firing into Northern Israel since october 7th. Israel has been firing back. In the last couple of days israelis say theyve killed two senior commanders and there were 14 soldiers wounded by a hezbollah drone attack. Now, at this point as i was saying at the beginning of the hour, there are no new restrictions on israeli civilians, not here in tel aviv and not up in the north. And that seems to indicate that the israelis are fairly confident at least for now that there is not major retaliation coming. I can tell you here in central tel aviv its quiet, its calm, were heading into shabbat, the jewish day of rest. Youre not seeing the sense of alarm you did last saturday when absolutely everybody in this country glued to their phones, glued to their tvs waiting for news of that iranian attack. Certainly thats important to keep in mind as were tracking what retaliation from iran could look like if it comes to that. But, eugene, ill turn back to the debate were having in congress which is republican hard liners even as theyre continuing to consider this aid, theyre threatening to oust the speaker from his job. Yesterday it got really tense as republican conservatives were telling him do not do this. It would be a really bad move. Talk about the personal politics for the speaker. Its gnat surprising when you realize what Hard Line Republicans cant hang on, and one of them is, you know, not providing more aid to Many International crises. Its very trumpian. Very trumpian because thats where the base is. So these people have to go back to their districts. They do go back to their districts, and they want to be able to say we stood up to johnson. Whether theyre going to be able to keep doing that and end up to his removal, that doesnt seem to be as clear as it was when mccarthy was in the situation, but it could get there and get there soon and we might see democrats leaning on johnson. I think in my view as i was talking to folks yesterday is, cool, maybe youre disappointed in the speaker maybe his role is diminished in your eyes. But who has the right answer . Thats been the issue before. If they get rid of him, who are some of the replacements . That could just find us in a new situation looking for a new speaker, which no one likes on the hill or outside of washington. On the hill or outside of washington, and ill speak for the press corp. Nbcs raf sanchez from tel aviv, thank you. And Senior Reporter for axios, eugene scott, thank you as well. Up next well talk about the weight of President Bidens influence on israel as the country ignores white house warnings against retaliation. That after overnight strikes on iran. And coming up on morning joe, live reporting from israel throughout the morning as details about the scope of the attack emerge plus a panel of military and Foreign Policy experts is analysis amid growing fears of a wider conflict in the region. Morning joe is just moments away. Youd like to be. Like here. And here. Not so much here. Farxiga reduces the risk of Kidney Failure which can lead to dialysis. Farxiga farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, Urinary Tract or genital Yeast Infections and low blood sugar. A rare, lifethreatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. Stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. 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Austedo xr may cause irregular or fast heartbeat, or abnormal movements. Seek help for fever, stiff muscles, problems thinking, or sweating. Common side effects include inflammation of the nose and throat, insomnia and sleepiness. As you go with austedo ask your doctor for austedo xr. Austedo xr youll love this Centrum Silver is clinically proven to support memory in older adults. So you can keep saying, you mastered it you fixed it you nailed it you did it with Centrum Silver, clinically proven to support memory in older adults. Israel strikes on iran overnight, raising questions on the level of influence the Biden Administration can exert on the jewish state. President biden urged Prime Minister netanyahu to refrain from striking back after an International Coalition successfully fended off a barrage of iranian missiles and armed drones over the weekend. Biden also made clear that the United States would not participate in any offensive israeli response against iran. The two leaders have known each other for decades. While President Biden is a steadfast supporter of israel, he has grown increasingly at odds with netanyahus approach to the operation in gaza. Joining us now, former white house Director Of Communications to president obama, jennifer palmieri. As a person familiar with the white house during these kinds of highpressure situations, how do you think the Biden Administration might respond to israels retaliation against the advice of the president . Just take us inside what you think those conversations are like right now. Well, i look to see clues in recent statements that the administration has made. Obviously, the United States, you know, is speaking with iran. The United States also has very good intelligence sources. I would expect to understand that this attack was going to happen. The cia director, bill burns, was in dallas at the george w. Bush library. He didnt say israel should not strike. He talked about continuing on the path of deescalation. I think that whether this is what the United States expected or intended, but thats what youre going to see the white house do, is try to keep this on a path of deescalation. I know that the iranians have not reacted yet. I know the hope is that they also see this as a limited strike. That the banner in which their attack went down was seen as not something that was going to cause another escalation, and that that is how both sides here treat this attack. But the next few hours are very dicey, and that will determine whether or not how the iranians react to it. Next is the most, you know, important indicator, but i think that the white house will try to keep it, make this all seem as if it is a part of the path of deescalation. If you make it seem like that, you know, you have to operate as if thats whats happening, and thatll probably be the most important thing they can do to make that happen. Jen, i think youre right. Especially since the word of the week, it felt like, in conversations between President Biden and netanyahu, was restraint. It seems like thats potentially what they got in this strike here. Of course portrayed as such, i think, right . You can portray it as such. As you noted, the u. S. Was quick to note, saying, we are not part of it. The u. S. Is trying to make it as comfortable as possible for iran to treat this as if it is part of a path of deescalation. Tough when youve just been attacked, i know. Yeah, i think thats exactly right. It is a delicate situation there. It is also delicate when you translate this International Moment to a domestic politics stage. There is such divide, especially among young voters, over this ongoing issue between israel and gaza. How does this latest overture factor into that . It does feel like as long as President Biden is talking about it, there will be pressure at the roots. Gaza is a problem. The white house is aware of the political threat it poses for them in november. I think, for now, they are right to not be looking through a political lens, but what is the best policy . I happen to think it is also the best politics, which is deescalation, to get netanyahu to back off, to make sure everyone knows thats what he is trying to do, to get more aid to gaza, to, you know, just for the israelis to deescalate in general on that side of this conflict. But, you know, chaos in the world is also not great for a sitting president usually. I think that you keep this off the Campaign Trail for now. When you do need to draw a contrast, there is a strong contrast to be made with trump at a time when the world is particularly volatile. You need seasoned leadership that you have with President Biden, and you see that with his ability to bring nato together. I suspect the israeli Gaza Conflict will be a problem for the president until election day, but, for now, the best thing you can do is be a strong president and keep the politics of this off the Campaign Trail for now. Ultimately, youll have to do that. While youre talking about the ways that this administration engages with its allies on the world stage, were currently waiting for Secretary Of State Antony Blinken to speak at the g7. Thats something coming in the next hour or so. Whats the message that youre looking for for him to deliver here, and what will it tell you about the way the u. S. And the Biden Administration are viewing this latest round of strikes . I think that he will i suspect the secretary will do what he can to make this be a path to deescalation. I dont know if it was planned, that this is when blinken would be out, but it is fortuitous he will have an opportunity to speak publicly at this moment and not have to address i dont think the white house will want to address this strike proactively. If there is something built in, which you can do it, you know, that can help with the u. S. Being able to be heard and do it in a manner that can be seen as part of deescalation. I suspect hell want to talk about the foreign aid bill that is coming, that the house is debaing as discussed earlier. Normally, democrats weighing in to get republicans to vote for a foreign aid bill is not a great way to get that done, but it seems this is going to be a bipartisan effort. I think hell talk about that, too. Definitely a bipartisan effort on the hill. Well certainly be listening to what the Secretary Of State has to say overseas. Jennifer palmieri, thank you for getting up with us. Thank you for getting up Way Too Early on this friday morning. Morning joe starts right now. It is just before the top of the hour. Good morning and welcome to morning joe. It is friday, april 19th. Lets get right to the Breaking News out of The Middle East. Israel has carried out a limited strike against iran. Thats according to a person familiar with the situation who tells nbc news officials are now assessing the damage caused. The attack was carried out overnight. Iranian state media reports explosions were heard in one city near the site of the countrys Largest Nuclear research complex. The int