all of us know the suffering that is taking place as we speak. all of us are determined to see it end. but all of us know the imperative of standing up with our allies and partners when their security, when their democracies are threatened. >> that's secretary of state antony blinken laying out the difficult balance of standing with israel in its war against terrorists while also supporting the protection of innocent pal palestinians in gaza. it comes as an israeli rocket strike hit the largest refugee camp killing dozensens of people. we'll have the latest out of the middle east in just a moment. plus, the director of the fbi is warning that the hamas terror attacks could inspire extremists here at home, calling it the greatest threat to the united states since the height of isis. and also ahead, the white house is rejecting an israel-only aid plan from house republicans. we'll take a look at where that funding fight could be headed. good morning, and welcome to "way too early" on this wednesday, november 1st. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin this morning with israel intensifying attacks against lumaus. yesterday at least six air strikes hit gaza's largest refugee camp, reducing buildings to rubble and causing widespread damage in a densely populated neighborhood. palestinian health authorities say hundreds our kill or injured. israel has yet to confirm the number of civilians casualties but did confirm the strike itself and called the deaths a, quote, tragedy of war. israeli defense forces took responsibility for the attack saying they were targeting hamas infrastructure. as a result israel says dozens of terrorists had been killed including a commander they say was the architect of the october 7th terror attacks. meanwhile, elsewhere on the ground, there are reports of israeli troops clashing with hamas terrorists. this comes as israel continues to push deeper and deeper into the territory. gaza residents are also experiencing their second internet and communication blackout since israel's ground invasion began. that's according to gaza's largest telecommunication provider. now, it's not clear at this moment what is causing the current disruption. all this comes as gaza's hospital system is now on the verge of collapse. the united nations has been making pleas for more aid to be allowed into the area as supplies are running dangerously low. yesterday over 60 trucks carrying aid entered the gaza strip, marking one of the most productive days delivering relief since the conflict began. that's according to white house national security spokesperson john kirby who added this latest round of assistance is still just a fraction of what is needed inside the territory. that includes fuel, which has yet to be allowed for fear of it being misused by hamas territory. hospitals inside gaza are struggling to stay open as the amount of injured grows by the day. now, a short while ago just in the last couple of hours the raffa crossing between gaza and egypt appears to have partially opened with people in cars beginning to move through on the palestinian side. a limited evacuation of foreign nationals and those injured is expected as part of an agreement brokered by qatar. it's unclear how long the crossing will remain open. we're look at live pictures of it there. and joining us live from tel aviv is nbc news senior national correspondent jay gray. jay, let's start there with the crossing. what are we learning? >> reporter: this is a major development, something that has been worked on since the war began and basically we've seen dozens of ambulances at that border crossing preparing to gather some of those severely injured in gaza and pull them out, those that need surgery. and they'll be taken to a field hospital just across the border not tar that far from where they'll be leaving from, but these are people who desperately need surgery that can't be performed in gaza right now. so that humanitarian effort is something they have been working on for weeks here trying to see that unfold, and this is the first of what many hope will be many more trips involving those who need lifesaving surgeries. as you talked about, it does appear that we're going to see a group of foreign nationals be allowed to leave the area as well. as you know, hundreds of american foreign nationals are inside of gaza right now and have been gathering at that gate day after day looking for a way out. we don't have any idea if the americans will be among those allowed to leave today, but it is something that the state department has been working very diligently toward. they say they've been attempting to get these people out on an hourly basis day by day. this is a bit of a shift at the rafah border crossing. >> what's the very latest as to how deep they've gotten? >> reporter: well, there's no question they are expanding and advancing on the ground, and this is coming with these joint teams they say, joint combat teams that include aerial support as well as support from off the coast by the israeli navy, and they do continue just to move in increments. so they'll move a bit, setup a defensive line, and then explore and move forward. and it appears that they have gained some ground, though. it's still not clear exactly how far into gaza they may be. we know some of the strikes overnight were intended for central gaza, which would indicate that may be an area that they are moving toward. but still right now just making those as i said incremental changes in their moves. we also have been told overnight of the first casualties of idf soldiers. 11 soldiers with the israeli defense forces died during combat yesterday. again, these are the first casualties they've reported, and those soldiers between the ages of 18 and 22. so a loss for israeli forces on the ground as well. >> nbc news soon yr national correspondent jay gray, thank you for that update. we'll talk to you again soon. meanwhile here at home fbi director christopher wray testified at a senate homeland security meeting yesterday that the hamas terror attacks in israel could inspire other terror attacks including by violent extremists in the u.s. testifying alongside homeland security secretary mayorkas ray said they're already investigating from extremists including a man in houston who was studying how to build bombs and posted online about killing jewish people. >> in just the past few weeks multiple foreign terrorist organizations have called for attacks against americans and the west. al-qaeda issued its most specific call to attack the united states in the last five years. isis urged its followers to target jewish communities in the united states and europe. here in the united states our most immediate concern is that violent extremists, individuals or small groups, will draw inspiration from the events in the middle east to carry out attacks against americans going about their daily lives. that includes not just homegrown violent extremists inspired by a foreign terrorist organization but also domestic violence extremists targeting jewish or muslim communities. >> joining us now the director of research, collin clark. his research focuses on domestic and transnational terrorism, international security in geopolitics. collin, thank you very much for being here this morning. let's start with the israeli strike on that refugee camp. this is not like the hospital explosion a few weeks ago. israel had said they indeed were responsible for this strike and said they were targeting hamas terrorists who were there. it appears at least dozens or maybe hundreds depending on the numbers people have been killed in this strike. what is your reaction and how it will play in the arab world? >> yeah, well, it's going to play terribly. whatever it gains tactically the israelis get from such a strike, they're losing in the information environment. and 2023 that's where most of the conflict is fought in the information environment. so the israelis know this. athey weigh the costs and benefits of such a strike. but in my opinion, you know, highly counter productive when you look at where this conflict is heading, and i think pushing more aggressively towards escalation. >> you authored a piece in "the new york times" in recent days detailing what might happen if hezbollah decides to open a second front fighting in the north and so far skirmishes. but if this becomes real violence what do you think occurs? >> look, hezbollah is the real wild card in all of this. in my opinion that's one of the reasons why you've seen such a muscular response moving military hardware and multiple strike group news into the region and trying to back channel and pass messages into iran not to escalate. you've seen the capabilities of hamas and makes hamas look like child's play. this would be a severe escalation and could go a long way into tipping into war. >> i want to get your reaction from what we heard from fbi director wray there suggesting the u.s. is more vulnerable now than a threat level higher now, what is your fear or expectation as to what we can see? >> i concur with director wray's assessment now. the communities have been talking about this since the conflict kicked off. this is major threat to the united states, and it's on both sides, right? we see people that are both in support of and against palestinians, the israelis. everybody is fired up. there's the possibility of what we call reciprocal radicalization. each side engaging the other. and so i think we're in a bad place, very real threat of violence extremists and lone actors, and we have to rely on our counter terrorism services. we have to rely on federal and locals, so we're -- we're in a bad place in the united states, and it's not going to get better anytime soon, unfortunately. >> insightful and ominous analysis from the director, collin clark. thank you for joining us this morning. still ahead here on "way too early," the first member of the trump family will take the stand today in the trump organization's $250 million civil fraud trial here in new york. we'll tell you who is expected to testify and when the former president himself plans to take the stand. plus, the white house is battling house republicans over their plan to send aid to israel. we'll explain why the biden administration opposes the gop proposal. but before we go to break, we want to express our condolences to a key member of the "way too early" family, our executive producer daniel rick lost his father earlier this week. he passed away on monday. he was a proud dad and loyal viewer and supporter of his son's work here on "way too early" and "morning joe." dan is the engine that makes this show go. our thoughts are with him and his family. we'll be right back. d his family we'll be right back. rsv is out there. for those 60 years and older protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? 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[ting] ♪♪ live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. welcome back. later today the first member of the trump family will take the stand in the new york state $250 million civil fraud trial. donald trump jr. is scheduled to testify today. eric trump will take the stand tomorrow. ivanka trump and former trump will both testify next week. now the former president has continued to rant against the case online including this truth social post where he called out new york attorney general letitia james and posted her picture in court. there is a limited gag order on the case but does not cover speaking about the attorney general or the judge. now, the former president reportedly visited a skiff or comparted information facility yesterday. cameras caught trump leaving a courthouse in miami. court security did confirm to nbc news that former president trump was present. abc news is reporting that his visit was his first known review of evidence against him in the special counsel classified documents case. nbc news has not confirmed that piece of reporting. the visit comes as the judge in the case prepares to hold a hearing today on the trump team's request to extend various deadlinesch the former president has been charged with mishandling classified documents for the end of his term in the white house. a sweep by the fbi turned up boxes of sensitive material in his mar-a-lago country club resort there at palm beach. trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case. and we should note is a scif is where classified documents should be held. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer is bringing us the footage. >> jesus. we got to go. >> reporter: the heart pounding video captures the scramble to escape the flames and the race to save lives as wildfires tore through lahaina, maui police rescued 15 people trapped inside a coffee shop on famed front street while thick smoke choked the air and the inferno closed in. the harrowing scene unfolding august 8th, this our first perspective from police who selected the 16 minutes of video from 20 hours of footage. >> to say the police department did not do do their due diligence to save lives is false. >> first facing flames at 6:00 in the morning. >> there's a fire. is there anybody else in here? >> police scrambled to break open locked gates on dirt roads to create escape routes and rushed to evacuate residents. as the blaze erupted through the night, one officer loads a burn victim into his car realizing he's badly in need of help. with 99 believed dead and 2,000 structures destroyed, the 16-minutes of hell are for many a lifetime of pain. >> truly terrifying footage and what heroic work by those first responders. that was nbc's miguel almaguer reporting. still ahead here on "way too early," we'll turn to sports in a wild game four of the world series with 18 total run scoring. we'll tell you who ended up on top. plus big changes for radar nation. we'll tell you who is leading las vegas. that's just ahead when we come right back. d when we come right back honey... honey... nyquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu relief with a dreamy honey taste. nyquil honey, the nighttime, sniffing, sneezing, couging, aching, fever, honey-licious, best sleep with a cold, medicine. 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