for the medical team. we need that communication. we need to communicate with the people on the scene. we are blind. we cannot work at the scene, effectively, without communication. >> protesters, around the world, demanding a cease-fire, condemning the heavy civilian casualties inflicted in gaza. israel's prime minister, ignoring the calls for peace. three weeks after hundreds of hamas terrorists killed more than 1000 civilians, and took 200 more hostage. hamas continues to fire missiles at israeli towns among the gaza border. join me now, and recently see contributor, huma aberdeen, servings an adviser to former secretary of state, hillary clinton. there is reporting in the washington post, and i hope you saw, the u.s. pushing for a humanitarian pause after weeks of championing israel's right to defend itself. what do you understand, in this conversation that happened behind the scenes, and the pivots that are made to say, in public, we are going to say go go go, in private we will say, please, demonstrate some restraint. what are those conversations look like? >> at the end of the day, you look at this region of the world that's been unsustainable for a while. ten seven happened, this is something -- what hamas perpetrated on ten seven, on israeli citizens, is unforgivable. now, what hamas is perpetrating on palestinian civilians is unforgivable. the united states government, and not just the administration, but senators, and members of congress are saying, no one wants to go back into the region in any kind of military conflict after we have learned these precedents in iraq, and afghanistan. no one is saying that publicly, except in the last couple of days, you seen melissa slotkin saying, they served this country overseas, and us going and does not solve the solutions. the military response that netanyahu has stepped up today, and idf forces being on the ground, it is not the solution. everybody knows it's not. the only path forward -- it's one thing to say, we will destroy hamas. hamas is not just a person, it's an ideology. how do you destroy an ideology? you have to propose an alternative to that. >> you are looking at a huge counterterrorism operation, both more targeted, but also, potentially, longer. >> right, but also behind the scenes, conversations are happening -- somebody is in the state department, right now, talking to their counterparts in egypt, in qatar, we've had all of the regional allies of ours helping negotiate the release of the hostages. we know that with the few hostages who have been released. netanyahu says that's his second imperative, to release them. that is only happening through diplomatic channels, in addition to everything else. when the dust settles, which will be in a long time, everyone is preparing for a long, difficult, painful, and frankly, devastating -- there is a generational trauma that we are all witnessing. that our children are witnessing, in a part of the world that will take a long time to recover from. but, going back to diplomacy, as someone who is a 24-year-old at camp david in june of 2000, it is the only way forward for the future. >> we may want to get to the part of the conversation that you teased out about allies in the region, and the conversations that are happening there. first, let's bring in alison barber, who's on the ground for us at the israel gaza border. alison, walk us through these new explosions over gaza we have seen in the past hour. what is it that you are seeing now? >> it has been constant. you can almost hear right now, with the military helicopters over us. what we keep hearing, and seeing, are loud booms of artillery, and then we keep seeing flashes of light inside of gaza. you can hear some of the booms happening right now. this is northern gaza, just behind me. we have heard a host of artillery throughout the night. and, again, seen more explosions inside of gaza than i could begin to count in the last hour, two hour and a half. there has been a clear, you can hear the boom again, escalation since, initially, on friday night, the idf announcing that they were carrying out ground operations inside of gaza. we have heard that continue to increase tonight. i'm keeping an eye on the skyline in case you see anymore flashes here. that has continued tonight since we heard prime minister benjamin netanyahu say, they have entered a new phase of war. for the last two nights, what we have heard along the border, and we have been reporting from this area for three weeks now, is constant bombardments in the area of northern gaza. what we have difficulty knowing is how catastrophic they are inside of gaza, right now. that is because, there is such a communication bullet hole right now. that we are getting very limited information, coming from inside of gaza. there is a new message that is coming from the palestinian red crescent, saying just getting it from their team on the ground. they've had a difficult time establishing any communications with them. in that message, alicia, their operations command center was telling them, three of their ambulances are out of gas. you can likely see the flashes behind us still. they are out of gas. they say they have 27 ambulances that are operational, right now. our msnbc news team, when they could get a message out in the last 30 plus hours, one of their messages, they said, were people inside of gaza who are taking the dead, and injured, on trolleys, and talk tucks, trying to get them some help. i'm sure you can see behind me, as we've been standing here, just the constant bombardment into northern gaza. every time you hear a boom, you need to think of what is on the other side of it. israel has told people to evacuate from northern gaza, and to head south, but this is such a densely populated area, there is not a lot of room, or safe places for people to go. on top of that, israel has consistently bombarded southern gaza as well. i will remind you, when we talk about people living inside of gaza, they do not have an option to leave gaza, even if they wanted to. and, according to unicef, almost half of gaza's population are children. people under the age of 18. in the days leading up to this, i have been in touch with multiple doctors, and hospitals, and northern gaza. the photos, the videos, of children who have been killed, and severely injured in these airstrikes is beyond words. horrific. that was before this latest escalation. alicia? >> alison barber for us, with the israel gaza border. alison, thank you. one thing that is interesting to me, the families of hostages held by hamas. they gathered today to protest the gaza invasion. take a listen. >> we need to engage in negotiations, and we need to do it now. they say, the only solution is to destroy gaza. they never mentioned the hostages, not once. >> we are afraid for our hostages, our families. we want to bring them home, alive. >> to watch that, we're reminded, the hostages, front and center in this crisis. i wonder, as you hear israelis themselves talk about the need to bring the hostages home, the way they are framing this conflict, how they are challenging netanyahu's frame. >> i think part of it, to, is just like everybody else, were surprised to hear that this increased incursion, i should say, i know they are calling it an invasion, has alarmed them in the way it's alarmed everybody else. the reason they are not using the word cease-fire is, and as we all know, why they can't use the word cease-fire, is because there is specific negotiations. we know hamas will say, we will agree to a cease-fire, but if there is an ability to push forward on this truce, i think the foreign minister was saying that yesterday, the prime minister, that at least, if there could be a truce to allow for humanitarian assistance. you just talked about food, water, and fuel. we're talking about this red crescent trunk. are we adding cell phones to that? you need to have a sin card, or an international chip to get through. my friend, who i talked to today with family and gaza says they -- are quite used to dealing with a challenging life, and this is nothing that they could have possibly imagined. the families, and the human stories are that -- it's such a tectonic shift and how everyone is talking. i think for the family of the hostages, if you think about it, their only hope, right now, is the diplomatic channel. i think that is where our government plays a role, where qatar, and the egyptians does. hamas as shown, they are willing -- whatever true stories there are, whatever medication they are providing, but people, so far, hostages have survived. i think every effort should be made to try to get to a resolution. >> beyond the hostage situation, i wonder overall, the role you see for egypt, and for qatar? >> egypt is in a terribly challenging situation. the rafah crossing, that border that everyone talks about >> watching trucks, yes. in normal times, it is challenging for that crossing to run smoothly. now, you have a situation where aid needs to get in, you need egyptians to sign off, israelis to sign off, and hamas to sign off. it is challenging enough as it is, and not enough aid is going in. the egyptians -- -- well, all of the countries, including our own, are thinking about their own, sovereignty, security. so, they do not want to situation where they have a series of refugees coming in. so, they believe that the solution allows people to stay in gaza, and to their point, they have nowhere to go, and it puts the egyptians in a challenging situation, as our other allies in the region. >> there is this moment of crisis that we find ourselves in, and then there are the multiple long tails of this crisis. you mention the international drama that -- trauma that is being inflicted in realtime. you can layer on to that this question of, if israel defeats hamas, which as you said, is not a person, not even specifically just an entity, is an ideology, what then? beyond what then, my question to you is -- what role does the united states -- what role does the international diplomatic community play in gearing the answer to that question? >> it is not even just the u. s.. it's a combination of western, and non-western nations coming together. i think that the gulf nations, it is in their interest to provide funds for reconstruction. you can think of countries like saudi arabia, qatar, the united arab emirates coming together saying, we need to rebuild the infrastructure. it is, ultimately, going to take palestinian leadership, in the end. leaders from the west bank, coming together, and eventually, it will be a long process, but there will be a transition. it isn't everyone's interest to figure out how to, finally, eventually, get to a place of peace. no one is saying this is easy, no one is saying that this will happen quickly, but it is not in the united states interests to get involved more than they need to. we are sort of living in this fantasy of, you go away, you go away, but that won't happen. so, we need to figure out how to get to that place. ultimately, it will need to be the palestinian leadership who steps up, and provides an alternative. the last thing i'll say is, before ten seven, a poll in gaza, and i'm referencing what dennis roth said the other day, more than 62% of gazans wanted the cease-fire to hold. people, ultimately, one piece, and security for their families, but the situation was untenable for a long time, and now we are in catastrophic levels. >> thank you so much, as always for spending some time with us. next, the man hunt in maine is over. moving forward? that is just the beginning. mains chapter of moms demand action, coming with us. angie craig joins us to talk about the election denying republican who is now speaker of the house. first, we talk to you about the other big stories we're tracking this hour. richard? >> alicia, good to talk to you. former vice president, mike pence, suspending his presidential campaign. he made that surprise announcement today, at the annual republican jewish coalition convention in las vegas, nevada. pence telling the crowd, quote, this is not my time. the united auto workers union, expected to announce a tentative agreement with big three automakers, stellantis. uaw leadership, still having to approve this deal. this allows, or rather, it's follow uaw leaders this week striking a deal with forward. days after hurricane otis destroyed parts of acapulco mexico, survivors are searching for the missing. the storm, intensifying from a tropical storm, to a category five hurricane, in just 12 hours. this left residents a little time to prepare. residents say, the death toll stands at 27. more american voices, after this break. >> back to maine, where the unthinkable unfolded this week. following the 18 victims of america's latest mass shooting. it is not foreign authorities discover the government's body, last night. the task for police was piecing together a motive. today, investigators reveal the gunman's mental health rapidly deteriorated before the attack. to the point he began believing police pulls were turning on him. george soliz it is in maine with the latest. george, what more we learning about the suspect's history in the months leading up to the shooting? >> alicia, one of the most notable things the authorities have been saying is that is a mental health did appear to begin deteriorating. his family reported he began hearing voices reports army commanders sent him to receive psychiatric treatment this summer for two weeks. he was going to inpatient according to senior law enforcement officials. one of the officials also noted today during this morning's briefing, officials found no record of card being committed for mental health treatment. that raises questions, or are there are signs that were missed? when you have family raising those concerns about his mental health. this community wondering whether or not he get access to guns, which of course was a question about that states gun laws, those yellow flag laws, that we have been hearing so much about. this is part of the uncommon investigation. it's my question but obviously linked to a motive, at this point there is none. it's very frustrating question for authorities and many people in this community who are still waiting for some type of answer in that response as they begin to hear. there was a vigil here an hour ago, where members of this community could finally begin to heal. two vigils were planned this weekend, of course, many of them not focusing on the shooter, but rather the people that were lost in this killing, the 18 lives lost, and thosthat are injured, and still recovering. and this community knows it's going to be a long road to recovery, alicia. >> about that vigil, what is it your hearing from the members of the community? part of what we heard in the past 24 hours as the sense of, it brings no relief. and brings no solace that the suspected shooter is dead. that they have more questions now than they have answers. they don't know what the road ahead looks like. what is it your hearing as you talk to members of the community? >> keep in mind, this community was a centrally on pause over the last several days. as the man hunt ensued. this was the first time many of his people were able to go on side, say their name is, so their friends, and linked up, hog one another, and share the sorrow that this loss fell to them. it is really just a palpable feeling that you have here in this community. as i mentioned, it's one of two vigils plan here this weekend. for this community. other family members began a funeral arrangements, speaking of family, we've had the opportunity to speak with family members who've lost loved ones. i spoke with ralph brewer, whose younger brother was shot while playing corn hole. he believes his brother may have been one of the first people that saw robert card enter the establishment. his story is absolutely heartbreaking. he told me that his brother was in there, and other friends of his state in there until his last moments. he wasn't alone there in the last moments. he talked about leaving behind his fiancée, his two-year-old daughter, frankly, it was one of the most emotional conversations i've had with one of the victims, one of the family members of the victims here. take a listen to what else he told me. >> she woke up thursday morning and the first thing that she asked mommy was where's daddy? where is daddy? daddy is not here right now. how do you have the conversation? i don't even know, you know? and that's something we are going to have to cross that bridge at some point. >> alicia. absolutely heartbreaking to hear that sentiment. the family beginning the stages, beginning to plant a funeral, looks to other many families. there was another young victim in this tragedy, a 14-year-old. it is senseless, and a lot of these people are trying to make sense of all of it here. again, as this community begins to heal, they know the road to recovery is lengthy. but there are grateful that this man hunt is at least over. business community able to open eidoors again. but as far as how it will take them to recover, it's really anyone's guess. >> nbc's george soliz. george, thank you. we'll bring in alyssa conroy martin, deputy leader of moms demand action in maine. maine is a state where the gun laws are based on yellow flag laws. as you see it, what needs to change? >> first of all, thank you for the opportunity to have this conversation. that's an important for step. i think we have to understand and realize tools are only as strong as they're able to be implemented. that was not the case here. and there's a lot of bureaucracy and limitation to the current laws. what we need to do is make sure we continue to push and fight for common sense gun laws in the state. >> maine congressman dan goldman made a lot of headlines this week. he reversed his stance on a national assault weapons ban. take a listen to what he said. >> i've opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime. the time has now come from a to take responsibility for this failure. which is what i now call on the united states congress to ban assault rifles, like the one used by the sick perpetrator of this mass killing. in my hometown. >> i wonder if that, given you are an organizer and your work specifically organizing the grassroots such that they get members of congress, members of state legislators, to change their positions on gun safety legislation. if that gives you some hope that there is still room for movement here? >> absolutely. and it's huge. and i want to directly thank representative jared golden for his leadership and encourage to realize that the time is now. to change position. that's okay. it's okay to say, things are getting to the point where enough is enough. and we need to make change. so absolutely, i think it's a huge stance and i hope a lot of his colleagues will follow suit. >> i wonder how you are doing. and by that i mean to be so, focused on an issue in the hopes of it never come into your community, of it never come into your state. knowing that it will. because of the country we live in and of reality we live in. to know that the work could not get ahead of this moment? >> i appreciate the question, i think that's part of why i became involved in the first place. recognizing as an individual, a citizen, that by doing nothing is just breeding complacency and starting to normalize what is a public health crisis sweeping our nation. and that we need to stand up. we need to have these conversations. no one enjoys speaking about gun violence and it is certainly not an easy topic to explore. but we all have a responsibility to future generations and to our children. to make sure we're doing absolutely everything we can to pass common sense gun law