Continue to prepare for road Ground Offensive. And former Trump Attorney sydney powell pleads guilty in georgia. What happened in court today and what it means for the case against the former president. And the stalemate in Congress Goes on. It has been over two weeks since the house had a speaker, and republicans are still scrambling to find leadership. What happens now, as the 11th hour gets underway on this thursday night. Good evening, once again, im Stephanie Ruhle live from Msnbc Headquarters at 30 rock center. We begin this evening with President Bidens very clear message to the nation about wars and both israel and ukraine. And why he believes support for both countries right now is essential. This evening, President Biden spoke from the oval office less than 24 hours after returning from tel aviv. He made the case for American Military and moral support, describing both conflicts as battles for survival as well as freedom. Hamas and putin represent different threats, but they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy, completely annihilated. When terrorists dont pay a price for their terror, when dictators dont pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going. And the cost and the threats to america in the world keep rising. President bidens message comes as israel continues its air campaign against hamas amid concerns about a wider war. We get more from Nbcs Richard Engel on the ground. There are new signs israels long anticipated ground operation into gaza could be coming. But israels Defense Minister telling troops they would soon seek gaza from the inside. And the United States is making sure israel is ready for it, sending a new shipment of armored vehicles. For now, israel is only attacking gaza from afar. Retaliation against hamas for its massive Terror Attack that killed 1400 israelis. This is not merely our battle. Its the battle of the entire civilized world. A Ground Invasion could spark a wider war across the middle east and drawn in the United States. Its already happening. With hezbollah intensifying attacks on Israeli Forces from lebanon, syrian militias yesterday targeting american troops in iraq and syria. And late today, the pentagon saying the uss carney shot down three Cruise Missiles and drones launched by Houthi Rebels in yemen, potentially headed towards israel. All the militias on the attack now have one thing in common, they are backed by iran. In gaza, the humanitarian crisis for the 2. 3 Million People is growing. Israeli airstrikes have flattened entire neighborhoods. With so many injured, gazis hospitals are inundated and running out of fuel and bandages, facing power outages, some operations are done using the light of cell phones. In southern gaza, multiple witnesses and survivors tell us and israeli strike in khan yunis Hit A Three Story Home where dozens of palestinians were taking shelter. The wounded, more than 50 were taken to a nearby hospital, including many children. A girl is carried in motionless, but shes alive and given era. A boy screams for his daddy. A girl cries for her mom. These pictures were taken by our crew in gaza today. They are not propaganda for hamas or anyone else. This man told us the strike killed his wife, children, sister in law, and her children. They said the south was safe, he says. [crowd chanting] anger in the muslim world is building against israel and the United States. The u. S. State department issuing a Worldwide Travel alert to americans, advising u. S. Citizens overseas to exercise increased caution. As israel prepares for a possible invasion of gaza, families of the hostages are fearing their loved ones will be an even more danger. Nbcs lester holt has that. Today, the Israeli Military upped the number of those believed held hostage by hamas in gaza to 203. That number does not include Aunt Carmella and the granddaughter annoy a, who kidnapped by hamas terrorists, have now been confirmed dead. Their bodies found inside gaza. Three other Family Members are still missing, including 12 year old eras, captured on Video Being Led away during the attacks. We dont want any other family to have their heart shattered the way that hours are. We dont want any more suffering. We know right now that hamas is worse than i. S. I. S. Carmelo was 80, granddaughter was 12. Thats noise mom singing to her post to just last month. Tell me about her. She had autism. She was sensitive to light and sound and noise. And she loved harry potter. She dressed up like harry potter. She and her grandmother were deeply connected and i think, if there is any solace right now, its to know that they are together. I think we all need a deep breath after that one. So lets get right to it and bring in my colleague alison barber, who is in tel aviv right now. Alison, again, thank you for being there. It is just after six a. M. You have been working around the clock for over a week you have been there. And every day, ive asked the same question. How much closer are we to this possible Ground Offensive into gaza . At this point, is it a when, or is it enough . Its still seems to be a matter of when. Look, we have spent the majority of our time here, almost two weeks now, at the Israel Gaza Border. We were there this morning, we were there last night and the night before. What we have seen for days and days is this massive Military Buildup along the border. There are no civilians really in the areas where we have been along the Israel Gaza Border anymore on the israeli side. Theyve all left. But there are a lot of troops, there are a lot of military tanks, a lot of military aircraft, military helicopters, drones, all of it at the border in a position to move in as soon as the green light is given. Weve been talking about the Ground Offensive been imminent because thats what israeli officials and military leaders have been saying for so long. They have said repeatedly weve been very clear about our next plan and some of them have even argued that they have done this when most states they say would not have advertised what theyre going to do next because theyre trying to give people in gaza chance to evacuate south. Then, a couple of days ago, we heard them back away from some of that language with the idf, who said [inaudible] it might be different than what you expect. But fast forward to today and we saw a Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu visiting with troops along the Israel Gaza Border. We also saw israels Defense Minister go and meet with Infantry Troops along the border, and his language today, incredibly strong. He told those troops that they need to annihilate hamas. He told them to be prepared that this is going to be a long effort, and he told them, you have seen gaza from the outside. Soon, you will see it from the inside. It feels like i know we have been saying that is eminent for days, because that is the language that we have been hearing from Israeli Forces. Its what everything on the ground suggests. But we havent seen it happen just yet. And eminent, i think were realizing in war could be minutes, it could be hours, it could be war but the language we heard today at the border, telling israeli Infantry Troops that they will soon see gaza from the inside. It does seem, stephanie, that it is just a question of when. And the equipment, the people, the forces, its all certainly in place to launch that aggressive Ground Assault into Northern Gaza when the greenlight is given. Stephanie . Alison, thank you so much, i appreciate you joining us. With that, lets bring in our lead off panel tonight. Peter baker is here, chief White House Correspondent for the new york times. Michael or, and former israel ambassador to the u. S. And my colleague engulf friend Martin Fletcher, former nbc correspondent. He spent over 30 years reporting for nbc. He has won almost every single television award, including five emmys. Michael, i want to start with the president speech. What was your thought . And how do you thinks remarks will go over in israel . They went over very well, stephanie. As they were with his initial speech a week ago. His visit to israel, a day from yesterday, all of his words were deeply appreciated here and highly regarded. Tonight was interesting because, for the first time, he made a very direct connection between russias invasion of ukraine and hamas attack on israel. And he stressed the connection between them, not just the fact that ukraine and israel our fellow democracys been invaded by totalitarian and often in human forces. But also, both the connection between iran and ukraine and israel is the iranian connection. Iran is back in the russian invasion. Its helping to arm the russian army with drones and missiles. And iran, of course, the principal backer of hamas, and it is the owner, literally, of palestine islamic jihad. Martin, what stuck out to you in the president s remarks and michael gave us how its going to be received in israel. What do you think about the rest of the middle east . What struck me, stephanie, i mediately, was among the opening words of President Biden, when he called this an Inflection Point in history. And i think it really is. This is really on the edge of the abyss. The question of whether the conflict can spillover, as richard was mentioning his report, its already spilling over in a minor way, relatively minor way. The potential for a spreading disaster, its huge. President biden speech well received, as mike pointed out in israel, will be fairly poorly received in the rest of the middle east. Weve been seeing demonstrations all over the place in beirut capitals all over. Thats going to get worse. Thats going to get worse. Peter, you said that the speech was unlike any other Oval Office Speech you can remember because of all the ground he covered. What were your big takeaways . I think we just talked about him linking to seemingly disparate foreign crises and trying to find the through line. Obviously, russias invasion of ukraine, and hamass attack on israel have very different contexts, very different details in the specifics. But he is making the argument that they are of the same sort of qualities. Hes using his own axis of evil, if you will, even though he doesnt use the phrase that george w. Bush popularized. Iran is not the only connection, in his view. Dictatorship and terrorism, hes saying, are essential very similar forces in the world today, both at odds with democracies like the United States and israel. And both forces to be confronted, as hes arguing to the american people. His challenge at home, which is different than his challenge in the region, is to convince the American Public that its very tired of for an engagement after 20 some years following 9 11 in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. Hes making the case that its worth the investment of money, saying its not going to put american troops in harms way, but hes going to continue to fund and pay for the ukrainians and israelis fighting these forces against them. Its a selling job he needs to make, particularly his own party in some ways, but also with some on the hard right and the other party. Peter, you think of that aid hes asking for gets approved . Well, i think theyve come up with what seems to be an Elegances Lucian around a political mess, right . Ukraine aid that he had asked for earlier in the summer of god in the house, because a number of concern republicans refused to go along with. Then of course, there is no House Speaker right now. Without a House Speaker. The way around it is by 20 nip with this money for israel, which has a great deal of support on both sides of the aisle. And of adding Border Protection money, which is what a lot of hard or concerns have been asking for. As well as money for taiwan. This should, in theory, be enough to bring enough majorities to both parties and both houses along. Its a lot of money. 105 Billion Dollars hes asking the american taxpayers for. But there for a number of priorities that appeal to a lot of different sections of congress. If they can get a speaker, they can get a house thats working again, in theory, you ought to be able to see bipartisan support both of these measures. Ambassador, i want to talk on about what martin brought up, the anger across the region outside of israel. What is your assessment of it, because it only seems to be getting worse . It certainly getting worse. But you have to distinguish, stephanie, between popular opinion and government opinion. After more than a decade of american withdrawal from conflicts, not just in the middle east, but around the world, america is back. And allied countries, allied governments in the world, not just in the middle east, we can say governments like germany, south korea, japan, will be very happy to hear the speech. And so well pro american, pro western governments in the middle east. They may be facing rising domestic opposition to the United States, but their rulers, not democracies, their rulers will be welcoming a return of america. And i think one of the great distinctions between ukraine situation and what is transpiring here in israel and the middle east is that the United States has been very cautious not to be involved directly militarily in ukraine, and the United States is directly involved militarily here, not just by the presence of those two large naval groups, but by the firing of anti missile battery a destroyer In The Red Sea that took down three rockets fired by the Houthi Rebels in yemen backed by iran. America is already engaged here, and the United States has put very, very large assets. These are two aircraft carriers. Each one has about 75 planes on it. As well as other advanced systems like Tomahawk Missiles and anti rocket systems. Theyre already here. And i think theyre here not just for demonstration. Theyre here in case the war between israel and hamas expands between one in israel, hezbollah, and iran. , lets talk about the thats the people. Politics, the border. I want to talk with the i want to talk about hostages, martin the politics. We we were airing a bit are airing a little earlier and earlier Lester Holt Lester Holt who we spoke to last week six Family Members held hostage. She learned in the last few days Senior Citizen carmella and a young girl, 12 years old, not a died. How are they even getting that information about hostages, right, if theyre in gaza, if theyve been captured, how are they getting updates . Who is it from . Im not sure. The bottom line is theyre using it for psychological warfare. And its working. And its working. The whole country is involved, and let me just say this, which are only found out today. We talk about six degrees of separation. Israels a tiny country with one or two degrees of separation. So i just found out today that two of my wifes family are among the hostages. Im so sorry. So, we know that we found out about them. As they were told to kill the and to use the rest as human shields. So this is the very personal thing. That by the, way the americans battle. Sorry to bring this on you but i just found out that they ran out with evidence to annoy them. Theyre americans. They were visiting their grandmother for their 85th birthday. And they were last seen with their hands ties. Being dragged away by the hamas terrorists. So its personal. It is real. And nobody is really confident if its possible to get them back alive, of course everyone is hoping that the United States is doing everything they can with intelligence resources, whatever other resources they can bring to bear. Israel says its hard to be the number one priority. But actually, the bottom line is that theyre the number two priority. The number one priority is to go into gaza as Prime Minister netanyahu said to kill the mass leadership, and to destroy hamas. But the hostages are in the way. So this is really, rather a once intuition. Then, when hamas says things like were treating these hostages like our guest, and martin tells us the messages, we kill the ones that are difficult, those are two, very very different messages. How are these families getting this information . Where are they learning it from if these people are being held captive . First of all, peter i