Too early on this friday morning and all week long. Morning joe starts right now. Good morning. Welcome to morning joe. It is friday, october 13th. We are following fastmoving developments out of israel. The countrys military is telling us more than a Million People telling more than a Million People to leave their homes this morning as it prepares a potential fullscale Ground Invasion in the wake of the Terror Attacks by hamas. Well have a live report for the very latest on the ground there. Plus, an update on the Biden Administrations efforts to prevent further escalation in the region with top officials on the ground this morning in israel and jordan. Also ahead, the republicanled chaos on capitol hill reached yet another level last night when the partys nominee for speaker just dropped out of the race. Well talk about how that impacts the country and world events. Along with joe, willie, and me, we have the host of way too early, White House Bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. And president emeritus of the council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass is with us here in new york, as well. Nearly a week into the war, the atrocities carried out by hamas are still coming to light. On social media yesterday, the Israeli Defense forces released photos showing the burnt and decapitated bodies of babies. Due to their graphic nature, were not going to show the images here this morning. Among the many israelis missing, ten members of a family who descended from a Holocaust Escapee Who, himself, passed away just last year. Speaking in telaviv yesterday, u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken described some of the horrors he had been shown in photos. Its hard to find the right words. Its beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and, god forbid, experience. A baby, an infant, riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars or in their hidaway rooms. I could go on, but its simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. Meanwhile, in its ongoing response to the terrorist ambush and ahead of a potential Ground Invasion of gaza, israels military has called for the entire population of the northern half of gaza to move to Southern Gaza within the next 24 hours. That area home to just over one Million People, accounts for about half the territorys population. The United Nations warning such a move would be impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. The u. N. Has asked for the order to be rescinded to avoid transforming, quote, what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Hamas has told palestinians not to comply with israeli demands, calling it, quote, psychological warfare. Joining us now from the israel israelgaza border, chief Foreign Correspondent richard engel. Thank you for being with us again this morning. What more can you tell us about the practicality of what israel has requested, which is that the northern half of gaza move to the southern half of gaza in the next 24 hours . Reporter and it is asking people to do that while they are under attack, while they are sealed off, and while the power, electricity, gas, all supplies have been cut off. So people are it is not an organized evacuation in any way. People have just been told, leave by any means possible. You can see behind me right now, that is the northern gaza strip. That is gaza city. That is the most populated part of gaza. As you said, there are just over 2 Million People in the gaza strip. It is broken up into roughly two heavily populated areas. The north with gaza city and then in the south. What israel has done, what israel has said, everyone should leave the north, evacuate gaza city, evacuate an entire city of a Million People, and get in their cars, get in donkey carts, and there are still donkey carts in use in gaza, and move south, move below the wadi gaza valley. People in gaza are trying to do it. Hamas has told them not to leave, not to obey the order, but people are listening. They are packing whatever they can, taking a little food, taking some supplies, if they have any batteries, any gasoline, theyre taking that with them, and they are trying to move south. Overnight, we heard some of the most intense bombardments so far. We were here all night, and the incoming was intense, one of the other of another with israeli tanks, fire. We are now hearing drones above. This offensive is continuing. We will see today if the attacks do lessen to a degree as people move south. That remains unknown. Hospital officials inside gaza also tell us theyre overwhelmed. There are thousands of dead and injured, and theyre running out of supplies. People are being treated on the floor. Hospitals are enormously crowded. Now, under attack, cut off, people are taking what they can and trying to get out of that city right now and move to what could be a safer area before what is anticipated to be an israeli onslaught into gaza. Now, it seems quite clear the onslaught will focus on the north, on gaza city. Richard, let me ask you about that anticipated onslaught. As you said, israel has been responding from the air over the last week or so. What could a Ground Assault, a Ground Invasion by the israeli militant look like here . Reporter well, one of the reasons that israel says that it wants people to leave is it is expecting a massive fight. It is expecting that hamas is dug in. When you expect to fight against an entrenched enemy, you are going to bring a lot of force to bear. Israel has broughtartillery, an they move the tanks into the tight streets of gaza looking for hamas, concerned about booby traps, trying to destroy them, they will be firing a great deal. So this area could soon become an open fire zone, and i think thats why israel is trying to tell people, leave the area right now. Itll be dangerous for the israelis because hamas is dug in. Itll be dangerous for hamas, clearly, but it will be very dangerous for any palestinians who stay behind and are caught up in what will soon be perhaps some of the most intense urban fighting weve seen anywhere in the world in years. Richard, could you explain to our viewers in america why egypt seals its border with gaza and why they sealed the border soon after the attack . Reporter i dropped off. Sorry, i cant hear you if you are asking. Okay, very good. Thank you, richard engel. Well be asking Richard Haass that question. Richard engel, thank you so much. Please do everything you can to be safe. Richard haass, well ask you that same question. Egypt, obviously, no friends of hamas. Egypt who, of course, struck a peace deal with israel in the late 1970s. Talk about why egypt has sealed off the border with hamas, because that obviously would allow a lot of palestinians to escape. Egypt used to administer the gaza strip, and did until the 1967 sixday war. They know it all too well. There has been infiltration over the years into egypt of people committing Terrorist Attacks in egypt, among other things, so they just shut down the border as part of their larger effort to maintain internal security. Its about that simple. That really explains a larger point, that americans who are just now tuning into this, the atrocities that have happened, hearing about israel and hamas, and, of course, the ongoing Palestinian Question. I had noticed over the past 10, 15 years, im sure youve noticed it even longer because youve been so involved in this region for so long, but a growing animosity toward the palestinian cause because of hamas, because of the Palestinian Authority, from arab governments. It used to be the arab league would get together and unanimously vote against israel. They would vote for causes that were near and dear to hamas heart. That is no more. Thats no longer. In fact, most of the Sunni Arab World has turned against hamas and, by extension, the palestinians living in the gaza strip, which is an ongoing tragedy. Why . Lots of reasons. One is the principal backer of hamas who puts a lot of the sunni arab governments, shall we say, on notice. When Saddam Hussein invaded and occupied kuwait, who was cheering for Saddam Hussein . The palestinians. A lot of the sunni arab governments have a long memory. They have no illusions about that. Hamas, again, their involvement doesnt make people comfortable. The one thing the arab governments, joe, have to be careful of, and we see it in the toing and froing with saudi policy here, is the palestinians still enjoy considerable popular support. In some ways, the governments are in different places in the arab world than the quote, unquote, arab street. The governments have to be a little careful not to get too far out in front of their population. If you have, for example, al jazeera, you see palestinians getting hurt, itll be the thing that will make governments careful. They face a situation then where sympathy for hamas, sympathy for the palestinians will grow. Well, theres already, of course, a humanitarian crisis that is growing right now in gaza. Those images are coming out of children, of elderly people being hurt by the attacks. Many have died. Richard, the question is, because, obviously, hamas knew this would happen. Hamas just being blunt about it, if an israeli dies, thats a victory for hamas. If a palestinian dies while israeli is trying to go after Hamas Terrorists, it is also seen as a victory for hamas. They dont care if their people die. In fact, they said, anybody that tries to make peace with israel will be shot. So the question is, richard, with the United Nations warning of a coming humanitarian crisis that many would say is already there, what do the israelis do . What is their best move . They cannot allow gaza to remain run by these terrorists who have run it without an election since 2007. They have to go in, and they have to root out i was going to say isis. Might as well be isis hamas. But how do they do it and avoid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis . Ill be controversial here. There is a difference between what israel will do or likely to do and what it should do. What i fear it will do is go in en masse. Itll be extraordinarily costly for Israeli Armed forces. Several will be killed and captured. I think it increases the odds dramatically, if there is a massive Israeli Campaign in gaza, the war will widen. Thats the sort of thing i fear could bring hezbollah and others into the war. You will get the Global International response. Again, israel will lose some of the high ground. Most of all, joe, i do not believe it will succeed if success is defined as eliminating hamas. I fear it could work the other way. I also think israel has better options. I would suggest two things. I would say, go after hamas in a discreet way, not a mass way. Do targeted attacks, whether from the air or from the ground, when you have really high value, quote, unquote, actionable intelligence. Go after hamas. Second of all, shore up Israeli Defenses facing gaza. That was what started this or allowed this to happen. The weakness of Israeli Defense readiness against gaza. Make it impossible for hamas ever to do Something Like this ever again, and go after individual or units of hamas whenever you have a chance. But i would really be careful. I really have questions about reoccupation of gaza. Weve seen this movie before. Israel got out in 2005 for the very reason that this could not be sustained. When they got out, it created a vacuum which hamas has filled. I dont want a rerun here. Of course, willie, hamas knew that with its barbaric actions, that it would pull israel in to gaza, almost setting a trap. Richard put a lot of options out. The option i would start with is turning the screws on iran and irans oil revenue as tightly as possible. All of hamas funding at the end of the day, or most of it, like hezbollahs, like the rebels, like islamic jihad, it comes from iran. When iran doesnt have oil money, they cant fund hamas. Yeah, and were hearing now that call from republicans and democrats alike about the 6 billion that weve been discussing and everything else. You have to turn the screws. Richard, i wanted to ask you, as were talk about the relationship between arab governments and hamas, about a name we havent talked about much in the last week or so, and thats qatar, which hosts in lavish living quarters the leadership of hamas. Theyre not on the ground in gaza. Theyre in hamas calling for International Jihad this week wednesday. What is the role of qatar in all of this . Might they be able to help get some of the hostages out . You even have some former Foreign Policy officials in america saying, america should take or israel should take Military Action to take out the leadership of hamas inside qatar. Seems unlikely. The point is, the people running the Operation Sit comfortably in a different arab nation that has been welcomed into the world, hosted the world cup last year and all the else. They are the Principal Financial backers. If iran is the principal strategic backer, i guess youd call it, qatar hinds behind the area theyre only giving humanitarian money. Money is fungible, so it doesnt bear scrutiny. The United States should put much more pressure on qatar. After 9 11, u. S. Policy changed, and we declared we no longer drew a distinction between terrorists and those governments that supported terrorism. I actually think we ought to have a very rough conversation with qatar. Whats holding us back, in part, is the United States is so dependent on them for its own Military Presence in this part of the world. You know, its important home to a lot of u. S. Military forces. Its not an easy conversation. But, you know, what we might want to do is talk about the parameters or put certain limits on the help they give to hamas. One other thing, i do think if there is an exchange of hostages for hamas prisoners being held in israeli prisons, qatar will be at the center of it, possibly egypt, as well, but certainly qatar will play a significant role here. Weve got multiple considerations here. Its just very hard to say, well, were going to come down on qatar like a ton of bricks, because other things weigh against that. Jonathan lemire, President Biden positioning this country fully partnered side by side with israel. Lots of strength and moral clarity in his words. Secretary blinken backing him up there. But he is also running a government that has some parallels with israel right now in terms of the chaos in the Republican Party and no speaker of the house. Yeah, no speaker of the house which well dive into later in the morning. Steve scalise dropping out last night. President bide season a fullthroated endorsement of israel. Also some warnings about what could come next, like try to avoid Civilian Casualties. Be concerned about this humanitarian crisis. We heard it explicitly from Secretary Of State blinken while he was in israel this week, telling Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, hey, tap the brakes as to what will happen next in gaza. Richard, want to talk about the fate of the hostages. Ive seen reporting this morning looking into why the white house is not sending Boots On The Ground there, in part, in deference to israel, but also because they dont know where the hostages are. They suspect theyre spread out. They suspect theyre hidden amongst civilian a targets. They also feel israels intelligence isnt as good as it used to be, leading to the attack last week. If israel goes in this week, what do you think happens to the 100 odd hostages, including americans . Obviously, theyre in greater jeopardy than they are. Hamas took the hostages for two reasons. One was to arrange some kind of swap to get their own people out. The other was to put a brake on Israeli Military action. If that brake doesnt work, and if there is widespread Military Action, then, i dont mean to sound callous, but what worries me is the quote, unquote, value of the innocent people to hamas goes down. I fear that it puts them at greater risk. Can i make a larger point . You put your finger on something really big. For the u. S. Right now, for the Biden Administration, which has been incredibly supportive of israel, i thought the president s speech the other day was powerful and magnificent. But, privately, clearly, theres growing disagreement with what israel wants to do. The administration is trying to thread the needle. It is trying to be as supportive as you can of israels right to retaliate, but privately saying, just because you might have the right to do certain things, is it really smart . Will it leave you better off . Trying to work this out so we are supportive of israel, yet, in some ways, try to pull them back, is threading the needle. Thats exactly what the administration is doing. Quite honestly, we all better hope, i actually think we all better hope they succeed. I worry about where this