Israel, and over gaza city. Joining us now, nbcs senior White House Correspondent gabe gutierrez, nbc Foreign Correspondent raf sanchez in israel, david friedman, former u. S. Ambassador to israel in the trump administration, former Obama Deputy National Security adviser ben rhodes, and former Israeli Foreign minister sidney libny. Gabe, first to you, the white house apparently has been on an extended call with Prime Minister netanyahu. Talk to us about the speech, it could be one of the most important speeches of his term. What do we expect . Thats right, andrea. Theyre the second on camera remarks since the fighting in israel in gaza began over the weekend. And as you said, a very long call this morning, the president and the Vice President meeting with interNational Security team and also as of just a few moments ago, still on the phone with israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. The president is expected to offer his support for israel, reiterate his support for israel. Yesterday, releasing a Statement Calling what is happening in israel and Gaza Unfathomable and calling on americans to stand shoulder to shoulder with israel. Now, certainly the president has sent a Carrier Strike group to the eastern mediterranean, a show of power and also potentially to act as a deterrent. As you know, with the president reiterated in every written statement or on camera remarks so far is this idea that other actors in the region, enemies of israel should not take advantage of the situation in order to mount some sort of attack against israel. So we expect to hear that from the president and also potentially to hear more information about those 11 americans who were killed, it is possible the death toll could go up. The National Security team here expects it to. And also we could hear more about potentially word of any american hostages being taken by hamas. Again, those remarks expected to get started with the next few minutes. At last check, the president and the Vice President still on the phone with Prime Minister netanyahu, andrea. Thanks so much, gabe. I know youll be standing by. Ben rhodes, do you expect the president to have any new policies to announce, especially on the subject of iran . There has been combined statements from the u. S. And israel from officials that they have no, quote, smoking gun about iran. But iran is certainly been arming and Training Hamas for decades and as they say, there would be no hamas without iran. So, what is the implication of iran being stated as behind this . Well, look, i think, first of all, what the president is going to do is detail the types of support hes providing to israel, and the types of support that may be necessary going forward. And that likely includes a substantial amount of military capabilities, including the capacity to say replenish the iron dome system, which is so important to protecting israelis from rocket fire. But i also think, you know, that Aircraft Carrier is very much a message not to both iran, but also to hezbollah, and lebanon to stay out of this, and to not escalate. And to indicate that the United States military is at the ready, should this escalate into a broader regional war, should other actors probably principally hezbollah choose to get involved. I think hell want to issue a warning to iran and its proxies to stay out of this. And in terms of the support for hamas that has been ongoing from iran, clearly what the israeli objective here is going to be is to dismantle hamas. The u. S. Is going to have a role to play from an intelligence sharing capacity, in that effort. But, again, i think that what the administration would likely prefer is that this not escalate into a broader regional war. That ultimately is not in anyones interest here. And so therefore i think his remarks will be more focused on the immediate military and intelligence support to israel, the concern for hostages including americans who are being held presumably in gaza, but then a warning across the region to not see this further escalate. And one quick point that senator murphy, who as you know is on Foreign Relations was saying on morning joe this morning is that they cannot Resupply Iron Dome with american equipment, that it is israeli made equipment, they need an appropriation, a supplemental, they need money to do that and that cannot be done without having a Speaker Of The House. Thats just another example of the paralysis in washington that will affect not only more money toward ukraine, but now what could be a ukraineisraeli supplemental. Nothing can be passed until the Speaker Stalemate is resolved, right, ben . Yeah, thats right. I mean, you have a Financing Issue that always comes into play with iron dome and every gaza war, i think, ive lived through a couple of them myself, there is an emergency supplemental to finance the replenishment of iron dome. So, and this one is has the makings of being the biggest one yet. And so, that is going to be necessary, and that cant be done. It is also the case, andrea, that a lot of senior military positions are not filled with confirmed people because thats held up. It is also the case that our ambassador to israel, jack lew, is awaiting a hearing. So are other key ambassador positions across the region. So i hope that this shakes congress out of its the House Republican caucus out of its complacency here. There is also an outstanding Funding Request for ukraine, and as well. So a lot of National Security issues are stuck up on capitol hill. And i did just want to say on the Iran Intelligence piece, i think that i would not expect him to be assigning responsibility. This is going to take time to figure out how we missed this. And who was responsible and just who was involved in the planning. So that, i think, is a longer term process. As a former foreign minister, we heard from the Israeli Embassy here in washington that the Israeli Death toll has now passed 1,000 people. And, of course, there is the dire hostage situation. The response to hamas has to proceed by air, didnt say by ground, but the response, the retaliation has to proceed whether or not there are hostages there. Yes. It is not only about retaliating and it is not only the huge number of those that the are in this massacre, really horrific pictures and stories that we are hearing and you cannot take it off your mind. But it is not only retaliation. There is a good question how the future of israel look like and also what the future of palestinians in gaza will look like. And for many years we have we are trying to act against gaza, but what they did in the last two or three days is something that is it is not acceptable. It is terrorism in the most in most vicious manner against families and children and babies. Those that were taken and those that were murdered. And there is no hope for peace in the region, but hamas in control in gaza, there is no hope for the palestinian and we cannot take it anymore. I was a member of the Israeli Cabinet against hamas and really enough is enough. And we need to change the realities on the ground. They shouldnt control gaza anymore and we need the support of International Community while doing so. So we are truly grateful for the position of President Biden and u. S. Administration. It is very important. And it is important also to remember that, i mean, we left gaza strip. We put out forces. We gave at the time hopefully a Better Future to those living in gaza and when hamas took over, theyre not willing to accept the right of theyre not representing any palestinian cause for freedom or state. It is about mere existence of israel, they represent a religious conflict, religious conflict is unsolvable and this is similar to hezbollah in lebanon. Shia and suni, but both represent religious ideology that is not representing of hamas doesnt represent the palestinian cause and lebanon, hezbollah is not representing the lebanese interest. It is about ideology, control, especially of hezbollah by iran. We need to stop this and to free gaza from hamas. It is so interesting to hear you say that to our american audiences. We have talked in the last couple of months about the protests against the netanyahu coalition. You were very much against those policies. I am. So to hear you united with the government right now, totally united in terms of basically their goal is to decapitate hamas once and for all, it is not to be tolerated. Yes. This was my position for many years. And this is needed. It is the interest of israel right now is about our security, life of our citizens, and therefore we need to cooperate and talk together. I know that you have to go. But it is very good of you to take the time for us today. And i want to go next to raf sanchez, back to raf, we talked to you an hour ago. Youve seen a lot in the last 30 minutes since we checked in with you. It is good to see you outside, not in a bunker. Tell us whats going on. Reporter well, andrea, it has been quiet for the last 20 minutes or so, which has been a rare thing in the southern israeli city of ashkelon over the last couple of hours. As you and i discussed last hour, it is now 8 10 p. M. Here. Hamas said early in the day that they were giving the residents of ashkelon, the israeli civilians here until 5 00 p. M. To evacuate the city. No one really knew if this was rhetoric or if they truly had something in mind. But at the stroke of 5 00 p. M. , this seemingly unrelenting Rocket Barrage began. It is by far the most intense barrage of rockets that i have been through since the start of in war four days ago and it underscores that despite the intensity of israeli air strikes in gaza, hamas retains the ability to fire rockets in great volume at cities all across the south of this country. Now ben mentioned earlier one of the practical things that israel is looking for from the United States as you said, andrea, is money, to pay for these iron dome missile interceptors. They cost Tens Of Thousands of dollars each. Theyre shooting down these largely improvised hamas rockets that cost perhaps a couple hundred dollars each, it is a very, very expensive proposition to defend your country from thousands and thousands of rockets. So israel will be looking to the u. S. For supplemental aid on that front. I think one of the other slightly more intangible things that many israelis political leaders, Security Leaders will be looking for from President Biden is a commitment to hold the diplomatic line as it were. Israel is fully aware that in this moment it is enjoying, if thats the right word, a widespread global sympathy. There is shock all across the planet. Even people who are often critical of israel are stunned at the scenes of carnage in the south of this country. But if as we expect israel moves ahead with a Ground Offensive inside of gaza, one of the most densely populated places in earth, there is going to be potentially severe civilian casualties on the palestinian side and pretty quickly the pressure will grow on israel to call off that offensive and one of the things israel will be hoping the United States will do is hold the line diplomatically, give them the political and diplomatic cover as they try to achieve their goals on the battlefield. It is worth saying that we still dont really know that those goals are. We have not yet heard from Prime Minister netanyahu if the plan is truly an allout Ground Invasion with the view of regime change inside of gaza, toppling hamas, it is not at all clear, andrea, what would replace it. Many people might look to the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized palestinian leadership, which is in the occupied west bank. But you remember, andrea, that the Palestinian Authority were in charge of gaza briefly after the israelis left in 2005 and their control there did not last very long. They were overthrown pretty quickly by hamas. So, politically militarily, diplomatically, it is just not at all clear what the path forward for israel is in gaza. Indeed. An election that the u. S. Agreed to, Green Lighted and hamas was elected. Raf, thank you. Stay safe. Ambassador david friedman, want to talk to you about your perspective. Do you think the u. S. , the president of the United States has been Strong Enough in his support for israel . I think the last couple of days have been encouraging. And, you know, ive been a critic of the Biden Administration almost since but the last couple of days have been important moving the gerald ford into the region. Warning iran, thats important. And i applaud the president for doing that. The real question is how do we get here . And one of the primary ways we got here was empowering iran. If you look at how many barrels of oil iran is selling today, compared to three years ago, it is massively it is a much Richer Country. We can debate whether 6 billion was used or not used or held in escrow. Iran has become a much Richer Country under the Biden Administrations watch and that money has been used to help finance hamas, used to help finance hezbollah, in addition the Biden Administration has been funding the Palestinian Authority, which pays incentives to terrorists to kill jews. The more they kill, the more money they get. We turned on the funding, the Biden Administration turned on the funding to unrwa, which helps these schools produce plays where half the kids dress up as terrorists and half the kids dress up as jews and terrorists kill the jews and the parents applaude. There is too much lubrication into the Terrorist System for this to happen. This was such a sophisticated attack, planned for so long. It doesnt just happen by hamas on their own. They needed and obtained the help of iran. They were in a position to help. They were no longer suffering under the sanctions in place during the trump administration. We got here, i think, by reason of many mistakes by the Biden Administration, but it is not the time to look backwards. We got to look forward, win this war, have to obliterate hamas and anything that the United States can do now toward that end will be appreciated by israel and by someone like me who has been a great critic in the past. I want to bring back ben rhodes. Ben, we have been told, you know, very authoritatively that that 6 billion has not been spent and what john kirby said this morning was that they are considering refreezing it. So they are responding to that criticism. But, you know just on this specific issue of the 6 billion, not a single dollar of that money was spent. Thats the first point. I know people have said, well, money is fungible and if they knew there was 6 billion, maybe somebody in the iranian system therefore spent some extra money on hamas. The reality is that this attack was clearly planned for many, many, months and this deal that involved this 6 billion in irans own oil revenue was only agreed a few weeks ago. I just think this is a total false attack that makes no sense. The idea that, you know, months and months ago, when hamas began to fund this attack, they somehow envisioned a scenario in which iran was going to get some of its own oil revenue as part of hostages this is not the issue. There is an issue, obviously with iran providing support for hamas and hezbollah. They did Tune Der The Bush administration, they did it under the obama administration, they did it under the trump administration, they did it under the Biden Administration. The Iranian Revolutionary guard core has a Black Market Economy that finances a lot of the activity across the region, that is immune from sanctions. Sanctions were imposed, a lot of them in the obama years by the way. Look, i think right now the focus has to be on warning against further escalation from iran, keeping hezbollah out of this, and you see the Israeli Defense forces are trying to do that, delivering warning shots along that border. And then trying to determine how do you really go after the military wing of hamas that carried this out, and dismantled that organization, while trying to recover these hostages. And, of course, being mindful that there are 2 Million People including a million children living in gaza. This is extraordinarily complicated and i dont think, you know, trying to fix, blame to a separate diplomatic deal that brought some people back from the United States, i dont think it does anything to contribute to that effort. Were going to have to leave it there for now. Gabe gutierrez, ambassador friedman, ben rhodes, thanks for starting us off. And coming up, President Biden expected to address the war in israel soon from the white house. Well bring you all the comments live as soon as they begin. But next, covering the attacks in israel from inside the country, ill speak to the editor in chief of the jerusalem post, new details were learning about the gruesome attack. Thats next. About the gruesome attack. Thats next. all toooo youuuuu sean i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro jason sean do you mean this one the one with titanium . sean no way i can trade this busted up thing for one. jason maybe stealing wishes from the birthday boy is not your best plan switch to verizon and trade in any iphone and get the new iphone 15 pro on them. sean what . jason yup, and on an Amazing Network sean and i dont have to ruin anymore Birthday Parties jason yeah, that ship has sailed. Lets go get you the iphone. Here we go, come on hon. vo its your last chance to trade in any iphone for a new iphone 15 pro on us. Only on verizon. Unnecessary action hero missing punches . Unnecessary check reversals . Unnecessary time sheet corrections . Unnecessary unentered sick time . Unnecessary go unnecessary go unnecessary when you can take this phone, youll be ready. Make the unnecessary, unnecessary. Let your employees do their own payroll. Israeli troops reportedly working through booby traps as they go house to house retrieving bodies of murdered civilians. The atrociies committed by hamas are just unthinkable, including the murder of 40 babies. Some of them beheaded. That horrible development being reported by Israeli Media including i24. Joining me now is aby mayor, editor in chief of the jerusalem post. You called this war a massacre without parallel. Tell us what is the latest from your reporters. A lot have been called up, theyre in the reserves, as it all israelis under a certain age other than the orthodox. Youre operating under war conditions. But i know youve got a lot of reporting to share. Andrea, i mean, i remember September 11th attack, i was a High School Senior at the time in the d. C. Area. I remember the confusion, the fog, not knowing whether people were alive or dead, that is very much what were feeling in israel today. But orders of magnitude worse. If you take israels population into consideration, 900 people murdered would be the equivalent of nine September 11th attacks. So there is not a single home in israel that hasnt been affected in some way. No one who doesnt know at least someone who has lost someone in this attack, i can tell you i have several friends who lost loved ones, including siblings, and nephews and children or who have gone missing. And that, of course, includes our staff. We have as you said several members of staff who have either gone out on reserve duty or whose children have done so. There is not a Single Family in israel that hasnt been affected in some way and this feeling here is extremely, extremely difficult at this time. Definitely the most traumatic event in israels history and very much felt on the street. And, by the way, the Israeli Embassy is saying the death toll of israelis is now more than a thousand. We have a photo of you editing todays paper from inside a bomb shelter. So youre dealing with air raid sirens, sustained cybertacks, taking the post offline. Talk what it is like to be a journalist in the middle of this war. As you said, there is concerted effort to prevent israeli journalists from getting the reality on the ground out to the world. We have been under sustained cyberattacks since the early hours of saturday morning as the hamas invasion took place. It has at times knocked us offline. Today we were offline for a few hours. We wont let that deter us. We continue to be active on all social media channels. We consider it our duty to tell the story of this part of the world and of the people who live here to others across the globe and well continue to do so across social media and certainly once were able to get our newspaper back up and running. Quick question about something mark regev told me, he said that the priority has to be decapitating, dealing with hamas once and for all. When i asked him about waiting until the attempt to pinpoint the location and rescue the hostages, is that the feeling of israelis . Because some of the parents and siblings we have talked to, relatives, they say deal with the hostages first, the rest can wait. Look, this is obviously a very complex and fluid situation. But i think it is important to realize hamas we saw on display on saturday is not the hamas we knew in the past. This is an isislike organization and engaged in ice isislike tactics. This is a horrific situation and so, yes, obviously the Family Members of those who have gone missing, who were held cap theist in gaza strip want nothing more than to have their loved ones come back alive and certainly all israelis share that sentiment. This is a murderous genocidal organization that will stop nothing in its quest to murder jews and draw israel off the map. Israel will do whatever it must. Its leadership will do whatever it must to target hamas leadership, prevent it from ever doing anything like this ever again and doing whatever it can to bring the hostages back home safely. Avi mayer, our best to you, thank you for taking the moment to be with us. I know how challenging your work is. I cant even imagine. But thank you. Thank you, andrea. And coming up, congressional urgency . The war in Israel Ratcheting Up Pressure on republicans, House Republicans in washington to select a speaker. What can we expect in the coming days . Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc is it possible my network could take my business to the next level . It is with comcast business. Powering all your devices with gigspeed wifi. And you get fast downloads and uploads. Pick it up pick it up oh we got this because its powered by The Next Generation 10g network. More speed for your business . Its not just possible. Its happening. Get started for 59. 99 a month for 12 months. Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. To finally lose 80 pounds and keep it off with golo is amazing. Ive been maintaining. The weight is gone and its never coming back. With golo, ive not only kept off the weight but im happier, im healthier, and i have a new lease on life. Golo is the only thing that will let you lose weight and keep it off. Who loses 138 pounds in nine months . I did golos a Lifestyle Change and you make the change and it stays off. soft music the attacks on israel adding new urgency to the Leadership Vacuum in congress with no Speaker Of The House. Today House Intelligence Committee members are receiving a classified briefing on the situation. Theyre back in town, so they can. It comes ahead of the first of a series of key meetings over the next two days in which House Republicans aim to try to find a new leader. Foreign Affairs Committee chair Michael Mccall stressing the importance of speeding it up. When you get a speaker, by wednesday, and the first bill on the floor will be my resolution condemning hamas for these Terrorist Attacks in israel. If we dont have a speaker, he can we cant put anything on the floor and were paralyzed. Thats a strong message that regardless of your differences, we need to come together and nominate and elect a speaker so we can move forward as a country at a very dangerous time. And joining me now is nbc capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. And brendan buck, former aide to house speakers paul ryan and jim boehner. What are you hearing . You had an interview with Kevin Mccarthy last night and he made a lot of news. Reporter he did, andrea. Effectively not taking him out of the possibility of returning as Speaker Of The House. That does seem like a pretty unlikely proposition. But i pressed mccarthy on whether or not he would put himself into the ring in this conversation as to who would replace himself as Speaker Of The House and listen to how he responded. Are you a candidate in that conversation . No, im not a candidate. Whoever the conference picks, im going to support. If the conference chooses you a number of moderate republicans who have come out and said they think you should attempt to reclaim the speakership. If that were to happen, would you accept the position. 96 let the conference decide that. Reporter let the conference decide that. Thats not a no. Yet multiple opportunities in our interview to officially rule himself out of this conversation. But, andrea, the math for Kevin Mccarthy hasnt changed that much. It may be more difficult than it was when he was removed from the speakership. The real problem for republicans right now is that they have to find someone who can get to 217 votes and right now Steve Scalise, the Judiciary Chairman, and the current Majority Leader, im sorry, jim jordan, the Judiciary Chairman and Steve Scalise the current Majority Leader are the two leading candidates right now. They are both Coalescing Support to try to get to that point where they can at least have the majority of the conference. Whether or not you can convince all 217 votes on the house floor, if it were to come on wednesday, thats still an open question. And something the conference is going to have to figure out tonight in that closed door meeting. Brendan, as you have seen closed door meetings before, what is it the likelihood they avoid a stalemate and come up with someone by tomorrow with so many critical issues, especially what is happening in israel, but also ukraine, other issues pending, and they cant do anything about a speaker . Thats right. And ryan hit on the key question. It is not so much who can win the closed door meeting to get a simple majority, thats easy. There is two candidates, somebody is going to get a simple majority. The question is are all of those people that go into vote for somebody on the house floor and thats what theyre grappling with. Kevin mccarthy went through an embarrassing 15 rounds on the floor before he got the vote. Especially following what just happened with matt gaetz removing him, there is a desire to remove the possibility that when the speaker gets to the floor, that they come up short again. So there is this conversation about do we have to prove Behind Closed Doors that whoever wins that nomination has the full support. Unclear if thats going to be able to happen. I think that could invite a lot of game playing Behind Closed Doors. But the good thing for both of these men is that no one has come up to my knowledge and said they wont vote under any circumstances for jim jordan or Steve Scalise. So you may have a situation where tomorrow night they have a meeting Behind Closed Doors, someone gets a simple majority, and then goes straight to the floor and dares any of those more conservative members to vote against the choice of the conference. So, unclear whether theyre going to risk that, gamble it, go to the floor or try to get some kind of near unanimous consent within the conference before they do that. Were in a territory like we have never had before in a speakers race, there is a lost uncertainty going into it still. Ryan nobles and brendan buck, thank you. And coming up, on the offensive. Hundreds of thousands of israeli reservists gearing up for what could be a potential allout invasion of gaza. Well dig into just how that invasion could play out militarily. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports. This is msnbc. Ure watching anl reports. This is msnbc. Did you know most dish soaps dont remove all the grease, even with scrubbing . Whaaat . I just cleaned those. Try dawn platinum. It removes 99 of grease and food residue. Thats why dawn is trusted to save wildlife affected by oil. Dawn platinum cleans to the squeak. This is american infrastructure. Megawatts of power, rails and open road, and essential services of every kind. All running on countless invisible networks, making it a prime target for cyberattacks. But the same aipowered security that protects all of google also defends the systems running americas infrastructure. For these services. For the 336 million of us living here. vo you were diagnosed with Thyroid Eye Disease a long time ago. For the 336 million of us living here. And year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. But even after all this time your Thyroid Eye Disease could still change. Restoration is still possible. Learn how you could give your eyes a fresh start at tedhelp. Com. He hits his mark center stage and is crushed by a baby grand piano. Youre replacing me . Customize and save with liberty bibberty. He doesnt even have a mustache. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Israeli military is claiming that they have killed two senior officials in Hamas Political Bureau in gaza. The military says that they targeted these two men for their alleged involvement in the attacks against israel on saturday. This as were learning new information about u. S. And israeli communications. White house official confirming to nbc news President Biden and Vice President harris have been speaking by phone with israeli Prime Minister netanyahu for quite some time today. National security spokesperson john kirby said today the first wave of u. S. Assistance is on its way to israel and u. S. Is focused on making sure israel has the munitions, the weapons and tools that it needs. Joining us now is former Supreme Allied Commander of nato and msnbc chief International Analyst admiral james stavridis, and retired Four Star General and msnbc political analyst barry mccaffrey. So, admiral, first to you, i spoke with ambassador mark regev, Senior Adviser to benjamin netanyahu, past and president. Would you put a pause on ending it, whatever that turns out to be, until you find the hostages . Well, if we were to do so, that would give hamas a guarantee that they dont face a counterstrike. And that would be a mistake. So, admiral what do you think of what he said . I think hes facing the very hard reality that Prime Minister netanyahu will face very shortly, which is the decision to go in anyway. What they will do is send in special forces, theyre very well trained, they have mapped out the gaza, theyll try to find and fix those hostages, theyll try, perhaps, to extract them. But at the end of the day, the horrific nature of the events that have occurred, andrea, simply demands Forward Movement here. Theyre not going to sit around and come up with a deal. Theyre not going to negotiate with hamas at this point. My view, nor should they. Were seeing reports of women, raped, videos posted, babies beheaded, this is the behavior that demands swift military action. I wish the hostages well. I know the israelis will do everything they can to try and secure them, but i think that the Demand Signal to go in is overkwhem overwhelming at this point. General mccaffrey, do you agree . Yeah. Very much so. Normally these Hostage Rescue Situations involve very careful target folders, intelligence collection, weeks of rehearsals and finding the execution of a strike. Thats not the case here. 150 some odd hostages spread throughout underground, the idf has to go in on the street, flood the zone, 50 to 100,000 troops and then put special option intelligence, a lot of hostages of hamas, political and military leaders, as Trading Material and theyll try to get back the hostages. This is a grim situation, the idf will take significant casualties. Theyll try and minimize collateral damage, but remember, u. S. Army fought in germany in world war ii, you know, in seoul, korea, in the korean war, and in vietnam. We have a lot of experience on urban combat. It is bloody business. But the israelis have no option. They cannot deal diplomatically with hamas. This is a terrorist organization out for their destruction. And, general what is that allout Ground Invasion look like. It is an urban dense area. You know that. Yeah. I dont think you can special option is not able to operate successfully inside gaza alone. The reconnaissance element, intelligence is in there now, the spies, the human sources. At some point they have to put up a bunch of armor in there with infantry, theyll bring down houses in their entirety, from which theyre facing opposition, and then the tough part will be once you dominate the surface, now you got to go underground with tunnel rats, with special operations forces, with tear gas, you name it, to try and stun and extract the hostages. This is a perilous situation for state of israel. I believe for the first time in our history, you know, i go into israel, theyre one big family. When three soldiers get killed, the nation mourns. So this catastrophic loss will mean their primary target is hamas, not just the recovery of their hostages. And, admiral, as a navy man what is the presence of the uss gerald ford strike force mean in terms of trying to deter hezbollah from engaging and what happens if they do in a big way. Yeah, just to put it in context for listeners, this is an american Aircraft Carrier, it can move a thousand miles a day, it is seven acres of sovereign soil, 80 combat aircraft, 5,000 sailors and marines, surrounded by destroyers and cruisers, each of them an exquisite air defense platform, a land attack platform. It is a Formidable Force at sea. It is there for two reasons. One is to show support for israel and there is some things we can do with intelligence, surveillance, integration, logistics, that can flow from that carrier battle group. Point two, it is there to deter iran, to say to iran dont even think about trying to take advantage of this moment and above all, iran restrain your creature hezbollah with their 130,000 missiles to the north. If those start raining down on israel, i think youre going to see jets whistling off the deck of gerald r. Ford. And, by the way, it is the maiden deployment of the ship named for president ford. It is going to be one to remember. Final thought here, to pick up on general mccaffrey, a mentor and long, long term friend, agree with him completely, i do want to make a point about the power of morale in a situation like this as those idf forces go into this very difficult terrain. They are motivated. They have seen what has been done to their innocent civilians, their wives, their children, their elders. They will go in high and hard. And they called up almost 400,000 reservists. Thats an extraordinary force. We have been showing pictures of them and the tanks poised there along the border with gaza. And admiral stavridis, thank you so much. President ford would be very proud of the service of the carrier named for him, a navy man, of course. And general barry mccaffrey, as always, thank you. And up next, growing fears, concerns over loved ones that have been kidnapped, some shown on video as hamas vows revenge over continued air strikes by israel. Well have more on that coming up. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports. This is msnbc. Ure watching anl reports. This is msnbc. all toooo youuuuu sean i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro jason sean do you mean this one the one with titanium . sean no way i can trade this busted up thing for one. jason maybe stealing wishes from the birthday boy is not your best plan switch to verizon and trade in any iphone and get the new iphone 15 pro on them. sean what . jason yup, and on an Amazing Network sean and i dont have to ruin anymore Birthday Parties jason yeah, that ship has sailed. Lets go get you the iphone. Here we go, come on hon. vo its your last chance to trade in any iphone for a new iphone 15 pro on us. Only on verizon. Hi, my name is damion clark. If you have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that youll definitely want to hear. Depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana Medicare Advantage dualeligible Special Needs plan. All of these plans include a Healthy Options allowance, a monthly allowance to help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent, and overthecounter items. The Healthy Options allowance is loaded onto a prepaid card each month. And whatever you dont spend, carries over from each month. Other benefits on these plans include free rides to and from your medical appointments. And our Large Networks of doctors, hospitals and pharmacies. So, call the number on your screen now and ask about a humana Medicare Advantage dualeligible Special Needs plan. Humana. A more human way to healthcare. Best thing ive ever done. Thats what freddie told me. It was the best thing ive ever done, and really . Yes, without a doubt i dont have any anxiety about money anymore. Great people. Different people, thats for sure, and all of them had Different Reasons for getting a Reverse Mortgage, but you know what, they all felt the same about two things they all loved their home, and they all wanted to stay in that home. [announcer] if youre 62 or older and own your home, you could access your equity to improve your lifestyle. A reverse Mortgage Loan eliminates your monthly Mortgage Payments and puts taxfree cash in your pocket. Call the number on your screen. Why dont you call aag. And find out what a Reverse Mortgage can mean for you . [announcer] call right now to receive your free noobligation info kit. Call the number on your screen. The families and loved ones of hamas hostages are speaking out today. Theyre desperate for any new information. Nightly news anchor lester holt speaking with the son of 66yearold adrian neta, a grandmother and former nurse on the phone with phone with her family when the terrorists barged into her home. My brother called me again on the group call and i heard my sister screaming and crying on the phone. And my brother told me that they both heard Hamas Terrorists barge into the shelter in my moms home. And that was when the conversation was disconnected. Notably no shots heard. No shots heard. Mr. So you take some hope in that . Of course, yeah. My mom, she is a tough lady. And you can watch more tonight on nightly news at 6 30 on most of your nbc stations. Coming up, increased airstrikes. Rockets exploding near the gaza strip in the last hour. A look at the conditions inside gaza coming next. Gaza coming next my dry eyes made me a burning, stinging, 5timesaday,. Makeup smearing drops user. I want another option thats not another drop. Tyrvaya. Its not another drop. Its the first and only nasal spray for dry eye. Tyrvaya treats the signs and symptoms of Dry Eye Disease fast by helping your body produce its own real tears. Common side effects include sneezing, cough, and throat and nose irritation. Relying only on drops . Not me. My own real tears are my relief. Ask your eye doctor about tyrvaya. Have you ever considered getting a walkin tub . Well, look no further. Safe steps best offer just got better now, when you purchase your brandnew safe step walkin tub, youll receive a free Shower Package. Yes a free Shower Package. And if you call today youll also receive 1,500 off your entire order now you can enjoy the best of both worlds with the therapeutic benefits of a warm soothing bath, that can help increase mobility, relieve pain, boost energy and even improve sleep or if you prefer, you can take a refreshing shower. Allinone product call now to receive a free Shower Package plus 1,500 off your brandnew safe step walkin tub call now theres never been a better time some people just know what road to take. Those are the people who know to choose allstate. The service road is faster. Gps turn left. Not happening. He knows better than any gps. And hed point you in allstates direction. Go all the way down the road, past the big gray warehouse. Gps take the next exit. Youre not from around here, so you dont know the back roads. I dont want to be late for the party. Im gonna save us five minutes. Some people just know what road to take. Gps youre on the fastest route. Those are the people who know safe drivers save 40 with allstate. The power goes out and we still have wifi those are the people who know sto do our homework. and thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. This is what people woke up to in gaza today after a night of nonstop shelling. Israel says it is just the beginning of their response to the brutal attack and killing now more than 1,000. And whil some facilities are used by hamas, they are also part of others. And already hospitals on the strip say they are overwhelmed and running out of supplies. Im joined now by eamon. And youve been this gaza repeatedly. You know how densely populated it is and how difficult it is for the residents there. Palestinians who have nothing to do with hamas. I want to play for you what raf sanchez found when they started going into one of the kibbutz, what they found when they walked through. Reporter every one of the small houses in this kibbutz is a scene of horror. As you walk here into the living room, there are Bullet Casings all over the floor. There is just the carnage, the chaos of the people who lived here. Bullet holes in the tv, bullet holes in the wall. Hard to believe this is a place someone once called home. And that is on the israeli side of course. Kibbutz a small settlement near the border. You also talk to people who are in gaza where the civilian population is getting hammered. And where israel says that it is warning people where they can go is a whole other question, but warning people before an airstrike. And this is what is making this right now so heartwrenching. Youre watching those images of the kibbutz and the shear bar bar rim of the attacks. And well be able to get more reports on the towns that have been horrifying and distressing for anyone watching this. The situation in gaza as you described is himself at this hour extremely heartwrenching because the 2. 2 Million People there, the population of gaza, half of which or 60 of which is under the age of 19, trapped, videos that are starting to emerge on social media sites as well as accounts being provided by other journalists there on the ground inside gaza, it is absolutely one of shear devastation and destruction. Ive been speaking to journalists who have lived in gaza for years and covered many of the conflicts going back to 2008. And they say that this war is different. There is a ferocity to it and discrimination in the way that targets are being selected. The civilian population is unable to decipher. There are no frontlines, no places where the civilians can go. Even the civilians who categorically reject everything that hamas may have done, they simply have nowhere to go. This morning there were a lot of questions being put on the Egyptian Government as to whether it would opened border. And as they were contemplating that, there was an airstrike by israel on the main road that leads out of rafa which is the last city before heading into egypt, rendering that road inoperable to be away to deliver food or even medical supplies. Certainly deterring anyone from trying to leave. So you can imagine those on the ground there are describing what has already been a humanitarian disaster and humanitarian catastrophe just becoming worse and worse by the hour. And we only have about a minute left, but historically the Palestinian Authority has gotten weaker as hamas has gained strength because the Palestinian Authority is weakened by the netanyahu government Settlement Expansion and by showing that it has not much authority. Yeah, and this is the dilemma of the palestinians that for the last better part of 10, 15 years they have been completely divided between the territories and factions. But that has also been by israels design which has not wanted to have an election carried out between the two territories. It has shifted its attention now to the west bank. Palestinian authority is viewed by palestinians highly incorrect if i have and corrupt and completely out of it up with reality. A lot have been calling for the Panhandle Authority to be dissolved. But that is in the west bank. Inside the gaza strip, hamas has been controlling gaza since 2006 and in very draconian ways. There is no room for opposition. So the people of gaza find themselves torn between the occupation on one hand and living under hamas rule living through what is now the fifth war that has taken place inside gaza. And as you mentioned, the Political Climate has been divided for the better part of the last 15 years. And as a result of that, there is no cohesion in the palestinian voices in being able to negotiate with israel and the International Community. And that