Statement visit. There you see the live images from the white house where in just moments the president will greet the Prime Minister of australia. Also in washington, fourth times the charm. The house could vote as early as noon today on their latest speaker designee. Who is mike johnson and can he succeed where three others failed . Thanks so much for joining us. Its 10 00 eastern, im Ana Cabrera Reporting from new york, and we begin with the breaking news at the white house where we are about to see President Biden welcome the Prime Minister of australia, and this is an official state visit with a world leader, and hence, all of this pomp and circumstance, its happening as the tensions build in the middle east right now. You see these live pictures from gaza where we see Smoke Billowing once again from air strikes. The calls growing for a cease fire now in this war between israel and hamas. But lets start with nbc news senior White House CorrespondentGabe Gutierrez whos standing by ahead of this official welcoming ceremony. So this is only the fourth state visit since President Biden took office, gabe. Its coming at a very tense moment for international diplomacy, set the stage for us. Reporter hi there, ana, good morning, the australian Prime Minister is expected at any moment. This comes at an incredible time for the Biden Administration as it faces multiple challenges including the war between israel and hamas and the war in ukraine, and also escalating tensions with china. That is part of the reason for the state visit today as the u. S. Seeks to bolster its partnership with australia and the indopacific region. They expect to announce infrastructure investment. But also to talk about that Partnership Within that indopacific region. So again, were expecting the australian Prime Minister here in just a short time. Theres all the pomp and circumstances here that you would normally see from a state visit, a large crowd gathering here to watch the Prime Minister arrive, and of course the highlight of any state visit is that state dinner expected later tonight, and we should point out, though, that that program for that state dinner has been affected. The first lady announcing yesterday that the b52s were expected to perform. That performance was scrapped because of the war in israel. It didnt seem to the administration decided that because of the sorrow and pain that it wouldnt be appropriate. One other thing to mention on that state dinner, ana, you just heard from a senior white house official. We asked the question, with no House Speaker who got that invitation, that slot to attend the state dinner. Were told by a white house official that Steve Scalise and Patrick Mchenry were invited to attend and both declined. We will continue to watch these images and bounce back when we see the president greeting the Prime Minister of australia. Thank you so much for your reporting. Lets turn back to the urgent plea from the United Nations for a cease fire between israel and hamas. The u. N. Warning it is about to run out of fuel and will be forced to halt its already crippled humanitarian efforts there in gaza. Israel responded with a picture of what they say are fuel tanks with more than 500,000 Leaders Of Gas Inside Gaza and the words ask hamas if you can have some. This comes as israel continues its bombardment of gaza, and theres some new video this morning of the extensive damage caused by an overnight strike. This is in a particular area of gaza, so joining us from Northern Israel now is nbc news Foreign Correspondent kelly cobiella. Kelly, israel is rejecting the calls for a cease fire but does seem to still be holding on a ground invasion. Is there any sense that the International Pressure is having an impact on israels Military Strategy . Reporter it appears that way, ana, but nobody from the government, the top levels of government here in israel have said as much. In fact, the idf chief was Chief Of Staff was on the border with gaza talking to the media last night. He said the Ground Offensive is possibly being delayed for tactical and even strategic reasons but said that the military was poised and ready to go and would be conducting that Ground Offensive as soon as the political the political green light was given. It hasnt been yet as we know, so you know, it sits on the desk of the israeli Prime Minister and his war cabinet, his Defense Minister, and that member of the opposition, former Defense Minister who is joined. It hasnt come yet. There is not only pressure from the international community, but also from families of those who have been kidnapped who have been in new york over the past 24 hours, have been pressing their case at the United Nations, and have been asking for some time to allow those talks over Hostage Negotiations to proceed to allow or to pressure their own government really to focus their attention, focus their priority on releasing the hostages, not necessarily on military actions, ana. Okay, so kelly, on that front, do we know whats happening behind the scenes because we know egypt and qatar played a role in some of the hostage releases that have come already . Yeah, we understand those talks are still ongoing. There were lots of rumors flying around in the past 24 to 48 hours about a large group of hostages potentially being released. Nobody was ready to confirm anything, and that still hasnt happened, but what we have heard today from one top official in the qatari government, he is both the Prime Minister and the foreign minister, and he told the media today that, quote, at any moment of time we will see some breakthrough, hopefully soon. Another official said that to get them out safely, to get the hostages out safely, we need to make sure theyre not caught in the cross fire. We need to ensure safe passage. Potentially this issue of whether or not to have a humanitarian pause, whether or not the israelis will agree to hold off on striking some of those targets, which they say are hamas targets in gaza to allow for a group of hostages to come out, that remains to be seen. Also, you have to wonder and this may be perhaps another sticking point, how do you get a large group of hostages just logistically out of gaza into the hands of aid workers who are also, by the way, focused on a grave humanitarian crisis in gaza. How do you get a large number of potential hostages out of captivity handed over, and then across the border into israel. So those are potentially the problems that theyre still working on, although we havent had direct information from any of the negotiators that those are the sticking points. Again, some positive words anyway from top officials in qatar that hopefully there will be some good news soon. Ana. Meantime, we continue to see all of that smoke from the air strikes that are ongoing and, you know, there have been hundreds of those air strikes in recent days, according to the idf, theyve struck a lot of hamas infrastructure, tunnel shafts, military headquarters, weapons, warehouses, mortar launches, antitank missile launchers, and so thats just some of what they say is happening in these air strikes as this battle continues. Kelly cobiella, thanks for the latest. Joining us is joel rubin, former Deputy Assistant secretary of state, and anthony baa reen, Executive Director at flash point and former Senior Officer at the office of director of national intelligence. We are, i just have to warn you, still monitoring the welcoming ceremony for the Prime Minister of australia, so if we have to jump out of our convo, if i interrupt you, thats why. Lets continue to talk about whats happening in the middle east. The calls for a cease fire are growing louder, but israel and the u. S. Have been pouring cold water on that idea. Take a listen to what the white house had to say about that idea. J we want to see all measure of protection for civilians and pauses in operation is a tool and a tactic that can do that for temporary periods of time. So does that mean its not the same as saying a cease fire. Right now we believe a cease fire benefits hamas. So andrew, do you agree with that, and what is the difference between a temporary pause and a cease fire . We are now moved into a formal Declaration Of War between israel and hamas, which is a recognized terrorist organization. Probably theyve got a policy of what i might call dehamasification. Im not sure if it matters if you call it a cease fire or a pause. Israel has a right to defend itself and frankly to neutralize hamas permanently. Regardless if you call it cease fire or humanitarian pause, clearly innocent civilians in the battle space need to be relieved from suffering. It is for that reason were seeing more fireworks between israel and the United Nations. This is what happened at the Security Council meeting yesterday. Lets listen. It was recognized the attacks by hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian People have been subjected to 56 years of suffocing occupation. Mr. Secretary general, the u. N. Was established to prevent atrocities, to prevent such atrocities like the barbaric atrocities that hamas committed, but the u. N. Is failing. The u. N. Is failing, and you, mr. Secretary general, have lost all morality. In fact, israels now calling for the resignation of the u. N. Secretary general. Joel, whats the danger of this feud between the u. N. And israel continues . Ana, its without a doubt israels experiencing a shrinking now of the diplomatic support for it globally, and that creates a dynamic that we saw yesterday from the secretary general. Now, i agree with the israeli ambassador that those words were out of step. They were essentially saying that the cause of the Terror Attack on october 7th was israels occupation, and thats too simsimplistic, and really undermines the u. N. s credibility. That said, israel does have to Pay Attention to the global diplomatic space and the Global Opinion on this. That is a crucial component of any activity that undertakes in gaza as well as very importantly for the day after. To have legitimacy for its invasion and a day after plan where there is some type of governance in gaza that restores calm in a posthamas environment as andrew was describing, that is going to require international cooperation, and so, you know, throwing out the baby with the bath water so to speak, would be very counterproductive, but israel is right to reject and oppose that kind of language, which does go too far. When it comes to this potential ground invasion, andrew, we have some new reporting on why netanyahu may be holding off on that Ground Incursion right now. The risk of killing hostages, the heavy potential troop losses, the threat of hezbollah attacking and this becoming a twofront war, and theres reportedly no exit plan firmed up as of yet, those seem to be some really big factors here. Absolutely. And i think also in terms of strategy in warfare or strategy in counterterrorism, israel and its allies want to maintain the time and place of their choosing, the initial Terrorist Strike by hamas, and i will add it wasnt just israel. It was 30 plus nations lost innocent civilians, and there remain more than 200 hostages of hamas terrorist organization. The response, we want that to be at the time and choosing, israel and its allies will want to choose that to get their own advantage. We do need to create some mechanism for easing humanitarian suffering and separating the Palestinian People from hamas, the terrorist organization. Thank you so much, andrew borene. Joel, please stay with me. Were looking at these live images as the president of the United States and the first lady greet the Prime Minister of australia at the white house right now, and the Prime Ministers partner there, who is joining him on this visit. And so we are going to see an official Opening Ceremony complete with all the pomp and circumstance with the troops, with the band, with it looks like a photograph. We also anticipate some remarks by both of the leaders here. Joel, as we continue to watch for just a moment these images, talk to us about how this goes over just the juggling act the president of the u. S. Is having holding a state visit with a partner like australia at a time with everything so focused in the world. Of course theres the ukraine conflict as well. Yeah, ana, i think its a great sign quite frankly to have President Biden hosting a Core American ally in the indopacific. Australia and the United States have only grown closer in recent years. Theres a Nuclear Power sub deal that the United States is working with australia and the uk. And that kind of symbolizes the partnership, but it shows President Biden, he is engaging all of our allies in all of these hot spots around the world, as you point out with ukraine, israel and gaza. American leadership is crucial right now at this point in time. The fight against autocrats, the fight against terrorists. This requires leadership and the president by engaging as were seeing right now, it only demonstrates how central the United States is to maintaining these alliances in the face of these threats, and i think its a very strong sign that he can juggle all of this at the same time. Okay, so lets continue to watch these images and bring back our White House CorrespondentGabe Gutierrez who is there right now. Gabe, what are we seeing exactly . Reporter as you can see in these live pictures the president getting ready to greet the australian Prime Minister. There are hundreds of people that have gathered here to watch this state visit. Of course a lot of pomp and circumstance. Weve been hearing the band playing for the last hour or so here as the president gets ready to welcome the australian Prime Minister. This is the Biden Administration reaching out to another ally around the world, and this state visit comes, ana, after the president had to cancel last minute a planned visit to australia earlier this year amid washington dysfunction with congress locked in default negotiations earlier in the year. Now the Prime Minister of australia coming here to the white house just as congress is also paralyzed yet again without a House Speaker at this point. But today, again, the focus for the Biden Administration is on reaching out to this key ally in the indopacific region as the u. S. Faces those escalating tensions with china. So again, we expect remarks here from the president in just a few moments and the National Anthem is about to play here, ana. Thank you so much, gabe. Again, well continue to watch. Well get remarks as soon as the president takes the podium. My thanks to joel rubin as well. So everybody stay close. Well head back when the president speaks. But first, House Republicans preparing for a floor vote as soon as today on their fourth speaker candidate. But does mike johnson have the support to succeed where three others failed . Plus, Donald Trumps legal troubles only multiplying. Could his former lawyers be his downfall in new york and georgia . And could chumps old Chief Of Staff mark meadows be a linchpin for the Special Counsels federal election case . What were learning about reports of an immunity deal. E l, ive got Symptom Relief. Control of my crohns means everything to me. Control is everything to me. 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