and in the air. a humanitarian crisis getting worse by the hour. also following breaking news out of florida. chaos after a shooting at a halloween event. at least two people are now dead, one of them a teenager. we are getting some troubling information about warning signs missed involving the main mass shooter. we are also following major political news this hour. the fallout from the biggest drop out so far from the 2024 presidential race, former vice president mike pence finding out that refusing to overturn an election is an unforgivable sin in today's republican party. plus, as house speaker mike johnson gets ready to get to work this week, we are taking a special look at some of the extreme views he holds on the 2020 election, abortion, lgbtq rights, and more. views even those who voted for him may not have fully realized. all that plus fans around the world in mourning today after the death of friends star matthew perry. >> oh, come on. don't be mad. we both said something. we didn't mean, but that doesn't mean we don't still love each other. [laughter] you know, i feel like i've lost her. >> such an incredible talent. what we are learning about his apparent drowning at home and a look back at the laps he brought to so many millions of people. that's coming up as. well we want to begin this hour, though, with the air and ground assault on gaza, as israel is continuing what it calls the next stage in its war with hamas. the idea of saying fighter jets have struck more than 450 hamas targets in the past. a meanwhile, palestinian health officials saying more than 1000 people have now died in gaza since the war began. doctors have called the relentless -- an atrocity, saying northern gaza is being raised to the ground and calling on the international community to step in. pope francis today joined the calls for a cease-fire and the release of hostages, along with humanitarian aid. meanwhile, some internet connectivity in gaza has resumed and additional aid trucks, ten of them, have crossed into the region from egypt today. that's, however, just a fraction of the 200 trucks that used to cross into gaza. daily israel exchanging with fire with iran-backed hezbollah, causing a u.n. peacekeepers to be injured after a basin lebanon was attacked by -- a second aircraft carrier group has been moved into the mediterranean as it sails towards the middle east amidst rising tensions. a lot going then on there as to start us off, jay greg joining me from tel aviv, also mark, former cia officer and msnbc national security analyst. if you will, jay, start us off. what are you hearing in this new stage, this next stage of this war? and any updates on possible negotiations happening when it comes to the hostages? >> yeah, let's start with what is going on on the ground right now, the idf saying they are carrying out and i'm quoting here large-scale significant strikes. we know 450 targets according to the idf have been hit. and within the last hour we have been told by the idf that they have hit terrorists, their words, coming out of a bunker, one of the tunnels in gaza near the israeli border, and then take it out to areas where they were preparing, staging areas. they are focusing on those types of targets as well as operational, communications, and of course the tunnels continue to be a primary target as well. we also have been told that they've made in advance to the point where they are in control at least of a small portion of a northern part of gaza. that continues in earnest right now. not only on the ground but from the air and from the sea as. well let's talk about the humanitarian aid. we know that some of the internet functions are back there. some of the cell phone service as well. they've restored some of that. we've been told by the idf that there will be a much more significant flow of humanitarian aid into gaza, perhaps beginning as early as tomorrow. one agency is saying they believe they can get 40 trucks, in the most we've seen to this point, half of that, and that's not nearly enough. we know that food, water is running so short that actually some of those trapped in gaza broke into u.n. warehouse to take the basic necessities they need to survive there. we are also being told several of the ambulance companies and gaza simply have no fuel left. they can't transport any of the injured anymore to hospitals that are already at this point overwhelmed, jasmine. >> jay gray for, us i appreciate. mark, i want to dig into some of this with you if we can on this next phase of this war. i want to read for folks something that you wrote about israel's objectives here in eradicating hamas as they put it. israel must degrade hamas into a negligible threat, fully eradicate is the wrong term, that's impossible -- similar in a sense to what we did to a cue, meaning al-qaeda, coupled with some type of future entity that can take over social welfare and government and gaza. my question to you is this, to full. what kind of future entity are we talking about and when you think about the efforts and that it took two of advocate the weekend al-qaeda, many civilian lives were lost in the, wake arguably hundreds of thousands of civilians of life lost in the wake of that, and many years, it took many years to fully eradicate and or weaken al-qaeda to the point that it was no longer able to carry out terror attacks they were engaging in. is that the runway we are looking at here with hamas? >> yasmin, i think the israelis and frankly the united states as, well everyone is dancing through the raindrops on this. there is no doubt after october 7th that israel would have to conduct these airstrikes, obviously there is some terrible tragedy in terms of the civilian death and casualties. they will have to go in with boots on the ground as well. there is no one in my old world of counterterrorism thinks there's any other option on that. there is some degree of debate on how much is an incursion, is it an invasion? i think the united states is certainly putting pressure on israel. you raise a really good point as to what happens the day after. israel does not want to re-occupy gaza. i think when the united states is giving this advice to israel, that is really what we are putting forward. there's going to be some type of international entities that come in. have, course that is enormously complicated. and the -- has not been the one to step up on this either. >> or have the appetite for it it seems, even egypt, look how long it took for egypt to allow those borders, the rafah border to open. and the argument that each was making, or has been, making it's not their responsibility. this is on israel, as they put it. >> you look at other conflicts around the world, and other countries do take in refugees. the arab states have not. i think the notion is that they don't want this kind of move of palestinians outside gaza to be permanent. but this is really complicated, and this is where diplomacy is really going to play the biggest part here. is what happens the day after. i don't have the solution. i think a lot of people are certainly talking about this. whether it is the united nations, whether it is the other arab states as well, and of course, one key part of this is hamas, while it is a terrorist entity, is also essentially the government there. they run the social services. someone has to step in after this at some point ends. >> it's an ideology, mark, as well, that you know well. at what point, and i know you've also written about the fact that a cease-fire is a nonstarter for israel. then, at what point do you raise the flag and say it is enough and you pull out? at what point do you see israel say, we have been successful in our operation on the ground? at what point do they feel as if or do they understand hamas has been weakened to the point where they can then pull out, considering it's not just about hamas fighters, it's not just about the government that has been elected to run gaza. it is also being seen and known as a movement and an ideology. >> yasmin, that is. right when you hear the israelis, they do this for their own public when they say we have to eradicate hamas. that's not entirely accurate, of course. they will have their kind of targeting list, whether it's high value targets or mid level commanders or the rank and file fighters. but at some, point they will have come to the conclusion that hamas does not pose -- this is what they believe now -- is an existential threat to israel. that is in essence when this will stop. one thing that is interesting, in previous rounds of fighting in gaza, the united states gave israel a bit of a runway. but at some point, there was pressure for cease-fires. i don't see this happening right now. that's what i've written. cease-fire is the wrong term. i think there will be a humanitarian pause. but cease-fire usually lasts days are not longer. for operational reasons, israel is not going to agree to that. i would say that we will see some kind of humanitarian pause in the near future. that is something i think the u.s. is certainly pushing. that would be accessible to israel as well. >> marc polymeropoulos, as always, thank you, sir. appreciate it. later on today, everybody, house republicans expected to gather for a conference call with one of the top israel aides. two gop lawmakers telling nbc news about. that is going to mark the house his first meeting with a new speaker in place, mike johnson. it's coming as they prepare for a vote on a stand-alone israel funding bill this. week this morning, speaker johnson weighed in on this vote. >> we believe that that is a pressing and urgent need. what's happening israel takes the immediate attention. i think we've got to separate that and get it through. i believe there will be bipartisan support for that. i will push very hard for it. >> meantime, we are learning that president biden, israel premised or netanyahu spoke today amidst the next phase of this war. i want to go to nbc's karen gilchrist who's outside the white house to talk more about this. i've got to hear for, you erin. this phone call between israel prime minister along with the president. what do we know about, that have we gotten a readout from that phone call, what was talked about when it comes to the war and also the anticipation of this vote for israel and also ukraine aid and what we are hearing from the president and the white house on that? >> no readout quite yet, yasmin. we do know we've got confirmation from both the white house and the prime minister's office that president biden and prime minister netanyahu did speak on the phone again today. by our, count it was their tenth phone call. this was the first call between the two leaders since israel started this expanded ground operation we've been talking about in gaza, since friday afternoon, roughly. and we know from the national security adviser, jake sullivan, as he was on several programs this morning talking about the administration's position since israel has expanded this operation. we know from him today there is been an expression of continued support for israel in its military operation to take out hamas, in particular. he did say, when asked about this expanded operation, and that he wasn't going to offer an assessment of what these rallies are doing right now in their bombardments of gaza from ground positions and aerial and sea positions as well. he did say the administration continues to talk to his peers. he is talking to his peers, secretary of state, secretary of defense as, well and on down the line as the president is talking to the prime minister, trying to get to understand the military objectives the israelis have set, out as well as the methods they are using to execute those objective. we also know he talked about the civilian issue that's been happening, obviously, as so many civilians have died since the ground assault began in gaza and the national security adviser wanting to reiterate to the israelis the position that the u.s. has on that. israelis thein particular, sullo our jen psaki earlier on msnbc today about some of the issues in terms of the and a result of the israeli operation. we want you to hear some of his response. >> it's hard for me to characterize what exactly israel has in mind as we look out over the long term. what i can do is characterize what the united states has in mind. i think president biden spoke very eloquently to this. he said we can't go back to october 6th. that means hamas can no longer threaten israel from gaza, but it also means that we need a political horizon for the palestinian people, where they have rights, security, and dignity in a state of their own, to states for two peoples. >> yasmin, i think one other issue sullivan addressed today as he was doing interviews was the issues of american citizens and other foreign nationals stuck in gaza at that rafah crossing waiting to get into israel. he says the u.s., egypt, and getting into egypt, the u.s., israel, and egypt have an agreement about those people being allowed to get out of gaza and into egypt. he says hamas has been preventing that movement and has given a series of demands as a result. he did say, yasmin, negotiations are ongoing and they hope to be able to get americans and others out of gaza safely soon. >> aaron gilchrist, thank you, erin. appreciate it. we are back in just 60 seconds with a first big drop out from the big 2024 presidential campaign. former vice president mike pence. also, ahead the shocking death of friends star matthew perry and an apparent drowning at his home. we will be right back. be right back. >> welcome back, everybody. we are looking at a slightly different republican presidential race with the news that former vice president mike pence has officially called it quits. other candidates including former president trump are already reacting. i want to bring in rick wilson, from that lincoln project -- former gop strategist to talk about. is rick, as always, great to talk to you. what a background you've got going on over. they're making as jealous. on a rainy sunday in new york city. let's talk about some of the. you and i have spoken about this earlier, especially as we've gotten to the beginnings, they're early beginnings of this primary race. the bigger the field, became the more entered this, race the more advantageous it seemed former president trump running for reelection. as we begin to see people drop, out the first of them being his former vice president mike pence, will this give advantage to maybe another republican hopeful for folks to coalesce around them against former president trump? >> i can say this is a former republican, i can say -- i wish, but they won't. all the other campaigns are basically scrambling over about 20% of the republican base vote. trump has 55 plus percent, depending on the early state you are looking at locked up. none of them are really making any full moves. they are basically, they are eating out of each other's plates. nikki haley will go up and desantis will go down. pence leaves, that won't divide out to anyone in particular. it will divide out across the field. and there is no real predicate right now for any of these folks because the party has largely decided it wants donald trump another time, no matter how damaged, he is no matter how much criminal exposure he has. so pence leaving is a pebble dropped in a pawn that creates no ripple. >> basically, from what i'm hearing from, you are all but assured at this point that donald trump is going to get the nomination. we >> live in the hands of a cruel and angry, god so yes. [laughter] >> speaking of, trump he's hoping that his former vice president will endorse him now that he has dropped out of the race. i want you to listen to that sound and then we will talk about that. >> i chose him, made him vice president, but people in politics can be very disloyal. i've never seen anything like it. they asked me a question, they asked me -- but he could've done what he could've done, right? there is no question. >> you think at this point there is any -- it's interesting, who did i have on the area sorry when this news was breaking? david jolly. he said to me mike pence obviously is not going to come out and endorsed donald trump. the question is, who is he going to endorse? honestly, will it make a difference? can we be so shore, though? can we be so sure that he will endorse him? >> i've observed republicans essentially have a weird humiliation kink with donald trump. even though donald trump tried to get mike pence killed, there is a non zero possibility that mike pence comes out and says, well, the choices between joe biden and world communism, or whatever other fantasy he has in his head and donald trump will endorse donald trump again. even though i will certainly say he was a bad boy a couple times. i just can't imagine fuka didn't gauge and such an act of personal humiliation. but mike pence might be that guy. >> rick wilson with his zingers there, i will say. getting energy from that porch on this beautiful fall day for him. thanks, rick. appreciate it. still ahead, everybody, multiple deadly shootings across this country this weekend, as new reporting claims maine police were alerted weeks ahead about the gunman that killed 18 people. plus a live report from lebanon, as hezbollah weighs its options in the ongoing conflict with israel. up first, though. >> someone asked me the media, they said, it's curious, people are curious, what is mike johnson think about any issue under this? and i said, well, he will pick up a bible off your shelf and read it. that is my worldview. that's what i believe. >> we are going to take a deeper look at newly elected speaker mike johnson's views and how they can play into this new role. that's coming up next. 's coming up next. oh, hello! hi! do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as $300? really? and your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. downy protects fibers, doing more than detergent alone. see? this one looks brand new. saves me money? i'm starting to like downy. downy saves loads. >> welcome. back after weeks without -- the house finally has a speaker. mike johnson, a low ranking far-right republican from louisiana taking on the role just three weeks out from a potential government shut down and unexpected vote on funding for the wars in israel and ukraine. even top senators, like susan collins, mitt romney, and senate minority whip john through, found themselves asking, who is mike johnson? we wanted to give them some answers. he's best known for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election. johnson served on donald trump's impeachment defense team and emailed gop congressman has been upsetting this, quote, president trump called me this morning to express his great appreciation for our effort to file an amicus brief in the texas case on behalf of concerned members of congress. he specifically asked me to contact all republican members of the house and senate today and request that all joint onto our brief. he said he will be anxiously awaiting the finalists to review. the constitutional lawyer has a far-right voting history from his short time in office, and he has more extreme views than some of the most conservative lawmakers in congress. johnson not only compared abortion to the holocaust, but also claimed it led to school shootings. back in 2000, five for the shreveport times, he wrote, this is the prevailing judicial philosophy is no different than hitler's. it is a holocaust that has been repeated every day for 32 years since 1973's roe v. wade. in 2016, he showed his antiabortion stance had not changed, claiming that, quote, when you tell a generation of people that life has no value, no meaning, that it is expendable, then you do wind