barred. his lawyer argues it was all free speech, and in fact in the lawyers' words, it wasn't like trump carried a pitch fork to capitol hill. but is that the legal bar? and a $100 billion battle escalating on capitol hill. the aid to israel and ukraine is, in the words of our top diplomat, all part of one fight. but a lot of house republicans, including the new speaker, are trying to split that money into two bills. democratic senator bob casey of the intelligence committee joins me on the controversy and the possible consequences in just a minute. but we start in gaza, where the u.n. says an immediate humanitarian cease-fire has become a matter of life and death for millions. and there are now reports coming in of explosions in a refugee camp, right on the fringes of gaza city. in the words of that chief u.n. official, quote, the scale of the horror they're experiencing in gaza is hard to convey. he said people are becoming more desperate by the hour. at least four u.n. warehouses have been looted now, and they have been knocked out of action. clean water is running out. one man told the bbc he waited in line for six hours to receive five pieces of bread to feed his family. and it is not just the people who live in gaza who are suffering, new details indicate some of the 240 hostages are at increasing risk the longer they're held. one grouped arow cating for their release says he life threatening condions. three boys, a 5-year-old, including a 5-year-old are autistic and need special care. a 60-yeaol man has ms. an 85-year-old woman has heart failure and several others have breast cancer. their families worry the relentless push by israeli troops deep into gaza could threaten their chances of being rescued alive. overnight, new word that israel is closing in on gaza city from three sides, sparking large urban battles, and now that report of an explosion in a refugee camp. i want to bring in nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. what can you tell us about that refugee camp and what is happening on the ground right now? >> reporter: so, we just spoke with a hospital official from the indonesian hospital, which is one of the main hospitals there, and they are putting some clarity on the numbers. medical officials there talking about dozens of dead, hundreds injured. the ministry of health, which is run by hamas, is putting the death toll much higher and the higher death toll and higher casualty count are being reported on arab news stations across the region. so, a significant event and one that is getting -- being described all across the arab world, if you watch the arab stations as a massacre. it has the ability already and is already enflaming tensions. to set the scene of what happened, you mentioned the refugee camp. gaza city is the largest city in northern gaza strip. had a population of about 800,000 before the war. jabalia was separate from the camp, it is a refugee camp. but you think of refugee camp, don't imagine tents. this is a refugee camp that has been there since 1948, a built up area, built to house palestinians who are originally in israel, and who were forced to leave when the war -- israel's war of independence happened in 1948. some of those people from areas like where i am right now in southern israel moved into gaza, they set up this refugee camp, the jabalia refugee camp, the largest of all the refugee camps, 100,000 people in one square mile. very densely populated area, one of the most densely populated areas in the world. several hours ago, there were several large air strikes. we saw three craters, i could see from the video i've seen, from multiple angles, what seemed to be three very deep craters. we're talking 50 feet deep at least. the kind of craters left by a bunker buster type bomb. and the buildings around this crater are shattered. and there is -- that is -- it seems where most of the death and injuries were caused. the numbers have been in dispute, but, again, the latest numbers that we have, that we haven't been able to independently confirm, but they come from the medical official at the nearby hospital is talking about dozens killed and hundreds injured. >> is there any way, richard, that the death count would not be significant, given the number of people as you say who live in such a small area, have refugees there have not been able to leave, right? so if there were 100,000 people there, chances are there were at least close to that when this hit. >> reporter: well, dozens injured is -- dozens killed is a high death count. i mean, we're talking did dozens of people who -- who died and the hundreds injured. right now the medical system in gaza has effectively collapsed. the hospitals that are working or barely working, the little fuel that is left in gaza right now is being directed to the hospitals. but most people in gaza don't have any fuel or electricity at all. they're using solar panels, which generally work during the day. some people have generators and have been rationing the last little bits that they have. but generally there is no -- not much power, very little fuel in gaza at all. so, the medical care at those hundreds of injured would be receiving is good to be insufficient or subpar, certainly less than it would be under normal circumstances. this is a mass casualty event. it is not isolated. there are attacks in civilian builtup areas throughout the gaza strip. and we have been talking to our teams and this was -- this is not an isolated incident. there have been many attacks on buildings and built up areas in gaza, since the -- over the last several days, in particular since this ground phase of the israel campaign has begun. israel says the reason it is attacking in gaza is to defeat hamas and accuses hamas of using the people who still live in gaza as human shields. and that it deliberately puts its tunnels and military infrastructure under apartment buildings, under hospitals, under schools in order to protect their fighters and says the more graphic images there are, the more the arab world is enflamed, the more it helps hamas. this is a mass casualty event, which our teams inside say is not isolated. >> devastating for sure. richard engel, thank you. as this humanitarian crisis deepens, the u.n. is pushing israel to open a second border crossing with gaza to get more aid in, more quickly. and nbc's raf sanchez is in ashdod, israel. how much of an impact would another border crossing for aid make? do we have a sense of that? >> reporter: so, chris, as you know, what little aid has trickled into gaza has come over the egyptian border through the rafah crossing and what the u.n. is suggesting is that israel opens up a second crossing on its own border into gaza. this would be at a place called karem sa loam, near the egyptian border. it is during peace time one of the main transfer points for goods to flow into gaza from israel. the israelis are saying there is two problems with this suggestion. one, the crossing was severely damaged during the october 7th attack by hamas. and, two, israel's leaders from benjamin netanyahu on downwards said no humanitarian aid is going to go from israel into gaza as long as the hostages are still being held. israel is saying, aid can go from egypt, but they will not allow aid to go from israel. now, since those statements have been made by the israelis, they have come under massive pressure from the biden administration to allow more aid in, we heard secretary blinken up on the hill earlier today talking about how the amount of aid that is coming through right now is inadequate. the israeli position seems to have softened somewhat, they seem to accept they are going to have to allow more aid in, especially given we're now looking at what looks like it is going to be a very, very long israeli ground offensive inside gaza. more of a siege of the northern half of the gaza strip than a kind of lightning all-out assault. the big question, chris, even if all of these objections could be cleared, the second crossing could be open, are the israelis going to allow fuel into gaza? palestinian officials, u.n. officials, humanitarian groups are all saying, fuel is the life blood in this situation. the lights are going to go out in the hospitals if they do not get diesel for power generators. if they do not have fuel, they cannot distribute the aid that gets through the rafah crossing that could potentially come to the karem shalom crossing. no fuel is going into gaza because they say it will end up in the hands of hamas, it will be used as part of hamas' war effort. so, what we are hearing from humanitarian officials from palestinians on the ground, the key issue right now is the fuel. and unless that gets in, nothing else matters. >> raf sanchez, thank you so much. i want to bring in jack jacobs, vietnam veteran and recipient of the congressional medal of honor and msnbc military analyst. jack, let me start with whatever happened as we tried to get the details of exactly what happened at the jabalia refugee camp. what do you make of richard engel's assessment of the type of bomb used and also you to think there is a legitimate concern this is going to even further enflame pro-palestinian forces worldwide? >> well, pro-palestinian forces don't need any excuse to be enflamed as we have seen around the world and even in the united states. with respect to the bomb damage assessment, it certainly -- those holes could certainly have been -- craters could have been created by the kind of munitions that have delay fuses on them that penetrate buildings and explode down in the base of the building. but they also could have been the result of munitions stored under the building and exploded. it is impossible to tell from the video whether it was one or it was the other. the other thing to keep in mind that is that it is extremely difficult in this -- in a war of any kind let alone a war like this to be as surgical as people expect them to be as they have seen in movies and their expectations are unrealistic. as we said many times before, the good guys have guns, the bad guys have guns, the civilians are caught in the middle. every single war has been exactly like this. and there hasn't been a war in which innocent civilians haven't been killed and wounded and this is no exception, chris. >> and the question is what next. we're getting video of the israeli troops inside urban areas. explain about the dangers involved there, the tactics israel will employ and any advantages you think hamas may have. >> the advantage always goes to the defender in any tactical environment and the rule generally is that the attacker needs a three to one majority in order to overcome or least have a chance of overcoming an enemy in an entrenched position. this is far worse. and there are two reasons why it is more difficult for the advancing force to prevail. one is that the -- it is in a builtup area. it is not wide open terrain and so you need a bigger offensive majority. and, second, as you can see, all of gaza is rubble in the north, north of the wadi. that is positive for the defense as well. as a result, the idf is almost undoubtedly using the kind of tactics in which they isolate areas, hoping to get hostages out, and/or eliminate hamas, before moving on to other areas. this is extremely labor intensive. and time intensive. we heard from everybody that this is going to take a long time. no matter what happens. and it is also casualty intensive. this is the kind of environment which -- in which there are going to be a lot of casualties. but most significantly it is going to take a lot of time and we heard how difficult it is for noncombatants, lack of food, fuel, water and so on, it just makes it even more difficult. but on the other hand, israel has committed to eliminating hamas and there is no gain saying their ability to and the requirement for them to do exactly that, chris. >> the u.s. now, jack, is reporting that more of the u.s. military bases are coming under attack. the number we just got roughly two dozen, only in the last couple of weeks. defense secretary austin talked about that, just a short time ago. here is what he said. >> we have been clear. president has been clear and i have been clear that if that -- if this doesn't stop, then we will respond. and so we remain -- we maintain the right to respond, we have a capability to do that. and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing. >> so what does the u.s. do now? >> well, the american forces already have targets set up. they know exactly where they want to attack, where there are concentrations of terrorists and iranian-backed militias. they know their locations. when they move, we can pick them up again through a wide variety of intelligence means. and it is just a question of when the united states actually wants to respond. probably the independent variable is not another attack because they have been plenty of them, two dozen, three dozen. there have been many dozens of attacks. the independent variable will be the death of one or more americans. if that happens in an attack, then there will be an escalation and the united states will respond by attacking a variety of targets in a variety of places that will link to iran. chris? >> colonel jack jacobs, good to see you, my friend, thank you so much. up next, history playing out in a colorado courtroom today. e argument colorado lawyers are using to try to keep donald trump off the ballot for 2024. and how his lawyers are responding. we're back in just 60 seconds. responding we're back in just 60 seconds. whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪ my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. what did we do before viasat satellite internet? well... we borrowed. we borrowed the internet. but that was before viasat came out with all their new plans. yup. lots of internet now. plenty for everyone. learn more about our plans at viasat.com testimony continues today in a dramatic and historic hearing in colorado that could determine whether donald trump's name is even allowed to appear on a state ballot next year. lawyers representing a group of colorado voters argue that trump fomented an insurrection and because of that, the 14th amendment to the constitution bars him from running again. the former president's lawyers assert that voters, rather than judges, should be the ones to decide whether he gets a second term. here are those arguments. >> this was an insurrection that trump led. as we have seen, he summoned and organized the mob. he gave the mob a common purpose, disrupt mike pence's certification of the election. >> frankly, president trump didn't engage, he didn't carry a pitch fork to the capitol grounds, he didn't lead a charge, he didn't get in a fistfight with legislators, he didn't goad president biden to going out back and having a fight. he gave a speech, in which he asked people to peacefully and patriotically going to capital to protest. >> carol lenning is an investigative reporter for "the washington post," barbara mcquaid, former u.s. attorney, both msnbc contributors. great to have you here. the key question isheth trump -- it prohibits those who swore an oath touphold the constitution and engaged in an insurrection against it from holding higher office. no person having previously taken an oath support the tuti of the united states shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or give aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. so, what will the judge be looking at, barbara, to determine whether or not he aided in an insurrection? >> well, there are a lot of unanswered legal questions at issue here, chris. it applies to officers of the united states. does that include the president of the united states? what does it mean to engage in insurrection or rebellion? what does it mean to provide aid and comfort to the enemies? is it enough for 187 minutes the president who has the power to disband the mob fails to do so? all of those legal issues will be in front of the judge. they're also factual issues. she has to make findings of fact about what the president actually did to see whether this is true. and another important thing is, i think many people might agree it is better to let the voters decide in a democracy, this is a constitutional provision that doesn't really offer any discretion to the judge. upon a finding that these factors are met, it says the person is disqualified from office. so, a lot of really important legal issues here before this judge. >> well, at the trial, and just the last hour, we asked how a word would be received and i'm talking about the fact, let me go back to my notes here, he had argued that trump used the word fight 20 times in this speech to supporters on the ellipse. here was the answer to that back and forth with olson. >> how would extremists understood trump's repeated calls to in thatspeech? >> a call to violence. >> why? >> it is within far right extremist culture, fighting is meant to be taken literally. >> so, carol, that's one particular question on that one particular word, but you know the days leading up to january 6th extraordinarily well. you reported on them extensively. what do we know from your reporting to congressional testimony that might support an argument that donald trump was engaged in an insurrection? >> well, to the more narrow point of what did donald trump do to incite the ultimate riot, i agree with barbara the word insurrection, the phrase give comfort to a rebellion, these are legal issues that i will not settle. but i would say that in terms of inciting a riot, there were a number of things that donald trump did to encourage the violence on that day. one example that i found the most striking was that he had planned for some time to join an illegal march on the capitol, for weeks before the certification fight, essentially, that turned into an attack on the capitol, like one we have never seen, he was planning to join folks who did not have a permit, his supporters, in walking up to the capitol. when he learned he was going to basically be told that he should not do that, he was furious. absolutely furious that he could not join and essentially lead them there. so his intentions, his motives were to help lead a group up to the capitol who eventually broke down the doors and attacked police. and another really important piece of information in this context, chris, and you know it well, is that when donald trump was warned and briefed the day of january 6th that many of his supporters trying to get into or staying just outside the ellipse were carrying weapons, firearms, batons, bulletproof vests, canisters of tear gas, and other sort of rough fashioned spears, if you will, when he was notified of this, he said, so what. he said let them into the ellipse, let them come to my rally, i want to lead them to the capitol. the fact that the president of the united states has called people on december 19th to washington to be wild, and to stop the steal, essentially, to interrupt the certification, is then a drive that they are armed to the teeth and wants to still take the capitol, certainly builds a narrative and a picture of someone who kind of knows what is going to go down. >> i want to go to something else that we have learned, that the u.s. attorney in georgia has indicted a man for threatening fulton county d.a. fani willis. there was a voice mail message and the man warns, i would be very afraid if i were you becaus