Supply. Today is saturday, november 17th, 2012. From nbc news, this is today. With lester holt and erica hill. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a saturday morning. Im lester holt. And im erica hill. Many of you may be in mourning this morning for the twinkie. Or the snowball. Or the ding dong or the hoho. You know, they overlook snowball. That was your snack of choice . And . And, its good. Its like sugarized rubber. The point is it was fun. You havent had these recently until this morning . Not since i was 11. The memory was better. I didnt realize this was chocolate on the inside, actually. The company that made them is going iowa way. It is. A lot of people understandably very upset about that. Not sure whether all the twinkie jokes will have to go away as well. I think they can stay. Later, theres a lot of hard news to cover this morning, including whats happening in the middle east. Rockets are flying between gaza and israel, with israel expa expanding its air assaults targeting gazas infrastructure. Hamas is firing back with new longer range weapons, reaching jerusalem for the first time. Weve got reporters standing by live in tel aviv and gaza. Then well introduce you to a pretty incredible 9yearold girl that was left paralyzed by a car accident caused by a drunk driver. She wanted him to understand just how his actions impacted her life. She wrote a very emotional letter that was read at his sentencing. And its been a year since Michelle Parker was last seen. She disappeared the same day she appeared on an episode of the Peoples Court. Well get an update on where that investigation stands. Cheer leading a fun part of many sports in high school, college and pros, but it can be incredibly dangerous as well and that has a lot of parents worried. Coming up, the consequences when things go wrong. A bit later, Lauren Scruggs is going to stop by. Its been nearly a year since she was injured by a spinning propeller. Shes doing amazingly well, but its been a tough road. Shell join us in an exclusive interview. We want to begin this halfhour with rising tensions in the middle east. We have two reports this morning from Martin Fletcher in tel aviv and Richard Engel in gaza. Martin, tell us the latest. Reporter lester, good morning. Theres been an incredible ramping up of violence this morning. The israelis have already had 200 separate air strikes against palestinian targets in gaza. Theyve changed the kind of targets theyre attacking, not just the rocket infrastructure theyve seen in the last few days, but attacking hamas sim bols of power. They attacked the Prime Ministers Office this morning, flattened it completely. Thats the building where the Prime Minister met the egyptian foreign minister yesterday. That building now flattened. They also attacked the police headquarters, which is a huge building in the center of gaza. There was a huge blaze there. Windows were smashed in buildings nearby. Both attacks happened early in the morning, so the israelis at least say nobody was inside the buildings. Other buildings were also attacked, police buildings, smuggling tunnels, and the palestinians have said this morning that ten palestinians were killed in these raids. That brings the number up to at least 40 palestinians killed over the last several days with violence. And at the same time, the palestinians have been firing rockets into israeli, 30 this morning, three soldiers have been said to be lightly injured, but thats the state of play at the moment and it just looks as if its going to get worse all day. Martin fletcher, thanks. Richard engel is in gaza. At first glance, you feel like weve seen this before. You were there in gaza four years ago. How has the view on the ground changed . How different are the players at how this particular conflict is playing out . Reporter we have seen tit for tat violence between the palestinians here in gaza and the israelis before, many times before. But this time it feels very different. Hamas officials are talking about it in very different terms because of the arab spring, because there are new leaders in tunisia and in egypt. In tunisia, the foreign minister was here in gaza today. Hamas is an offshoot of the muslim brotherhood. The egyptian president is now from the muslim brotherhood. The Prime Minister is from the muslim brotherhood. Hamas is counting on this arab solidarity, this new Playing Field to significantly change the balance of power between the hamas militants, who clearly dont have the kind of weapons that israel has, but they think now that they will have broader political support, not from just the new arab governments, but also from the newly empowered arab street. How nervous is this making the United States, though . Given the arab spring, given that tenuous support for pease by the muslim brotherhood, is israel being encouraged to show restraint in this case . Reporter i think the United States is asking all parties to show restraint. The president , according to reports, has spoken with mohamed morsi. Hes spoken to the israelis. Its in israels interest. Its in egypts interest. Its in the United States interest to tamp this down. It is not, however, in hamass interest. Hamass entire strategy is to inspire the same kind of revolutionary spirit that brought down mubarak, that threatens to bring down other leaders, particularly in the gulf states, and to use that energy and rage and channel it against israel. It is the kind of unpredictable situation that egypt will have a tough time dealing with right now and it leaves the United States in a very difficult position. You remember, president obama said in that interview with telemundo that he wasnt sure egypt was really even a steadfast ally right now, he said its not quite an enemy. Right now when you have egyptian officials expressing such solidarity with hamas, its clear to see why the United States had those doubts. Richard engel in gaza, thanks very much. We are learning more today about septembers deadly consulate attack in benghazi, libya. Former cia director David Petraeus still reeling from the revelation of his affair, testified on capitol hill behind closed doors. Kristin welker is in our Washington Bureau with more. Good morning. Reporter general petraeus snuck in and out of the capital on friday, but his testimony is still making waves with lawmakers. Some say it only raises more questions about the way the administration landled the benghazi attack. Due to the firestorm surrounding his life, reporters were blocked to spare him embarrassment. Lawmakers say petraeus testified that the cia immediately believed that terrorists were involved in the september 11 benghazi assault. That is a stark contrast to the account u. N. Ambassador susan rice offered in the days after the incident when she said that what happened in benghazi was a spontaneous attack. Some Lawmakers Said the discrepancy was the result of evolving intelligence, while others noted the cias initial assessment of terrorism was classified and therefore not included in the talking points rice was given. Critics of the administration are demanding more answers while others are defending ambassador rice. The original talking points were much more specific about al qaeda involvements, and yet final ones just said indications of extremists. I dont think she should be pilloried for this. She did what i would have done or anything else would have done. Reporter now those who were in the room said petraeus testified that his resignation had nothing to do with the consulate attacks, saying it was solely due to the fallout from his admitted extramarital affair. He also apologized for his behavior. A key figure in the resignation of cia director David Petraeus is tampa socialite jill kelley. Kelleys connections reach outside florida social circles all the way up to the white house. Reporter jill kelley and her twin sister lunched twice at the white house, and with their families toured the white house on november 4th, two days before general james clapper, the director of national intelligence, was even told about the petraeus scandal. Kelley mentioned the visit in an email to tampas mayor bob buckhorn, a friend, saying ps, i was at the white house with my friends in the administration this weekend. It was surreal. White house Officials Say the kelley sisters were invited to meet a mid level counsel. Kelley was bipartisan in her outreach. She and her sister dropped in on a small fundraiser from marco rubio two years ago. The organizer tells nbc news the kelley sisters did not pay, just arrived, posed for the picture and soon left. In another message to tampas mayor last march, kelley wrote she was trying to stop a local shock jock known as bubba the love sponge from carrying out his threat to deep fat fry the koran, emailing, i have petraeus and allen both emailing me about getting this dealt with. Records show Paula Broadwell also visited the white house complex at least twice, for meetings on afghanistan in the executive office building. I belve that Paula Broadwell was at one white house meeting that i also attended, but i think and ive always maintained that shes been a serious analyst on this problem. Reporter David Petraeus apologized to Congress Members for his behavior. He was very sorry that this occurred and anything that occurred with respect to his personal situation had nothing to do with the way he handled benghazi. Reporter in other emails released by the city of tampa, jill kelley told the mayor this week her family has been put through the ringer, that her kids are scared and need their home back. For today, andrea mitchell, nbc news washington. John harwood is cnbcs chief correspondent. As we look at this hearing, two parties, two very different takes on that testimony yesterday. Is anyone going to be satisfied here . I dont think so. I think this is what were seeing in the petraeus scandal and the benghazi issue being prolonged is an extension of some of the conflict and bitterness that we had during the election campaign. Im not sure what the resolution of that is going to be. I think ultimately that energy is going to get spent and lawmakers are going to turn to the real crisis that is looming over the american economy, which is the fiscal cliff and the potential that we could go back into recession. There did seem to be positive sentiments out of those meetings with the president and congressional leaders. If were sticking with the positivity theme here, any sense of a timeline here on something getting done . Yes. The leaders were and i agree with you, that was as positive an aftermath of a meeting as you could have hoped for, if you were president obama or anyone in the congress. All four leaders, both parties came out and spoke very encouragingly. Theyre talking about a twostep process. The first step is to outline a framework for tax changes and entitlement changes, spending cuts, and then youre going to have a process in early 2013 where congress fills in the blanks of that framework. Leaders also said they hoped to do it, erica, not at the last minute you know, congress has the tendency to go right to the brink. Theyre talking about trying not to go to december 31st and get it resolved sometime fairly soon after thanksgiving. Well see if they can do it. Its one thing to have a positive meeting. Its another thing to have a framework that the rank and file and both parties can follow. Is there a sense that the rank and file in both parties are willing to take a cue from the leaders and work towards this to get it done before the end of the year . Reporter its always difficult to find followshershi in the congress, but theres a greater sense of that before the election that. Is why president obama campaigned on these issues during the last 12 months, to try to get some sense of a verdict from the american people. Now you can see that hes feeling greater confidence that hes got more leverage, and republicans are a bis chat chac by the outcome. So john boehner and Mitch Mcconnell have somewhat more control over their flocks than they did before the election. Lets get a check of the mornings other top stories. Jenna wolf is standing by at the news desk. The coast guard is searching for two workers who are missing after a fire on an oil rig in the gulf of mexico. Nine workers were hurt, four of them critically with burns over much of their bodies. The fire broke out friday, was quickly put out. The coast guard says no oil is coming from the well. A National Tragedy is still playing out in the plains of west texas. Federal investigators are still trying to determine whether a small parade to honor wounded veterans had been given enough warning to clear some train tracks they were trying to cross. A Freight Train slam spood sboo the tractortrailer, killing four decorated veterans and injuring 16 people. Theres been another terrible train crash, this one in southern egypt. It appears a Railroad Crossing was not closed when a speeding train collided with a bus today as it was taking kindergarteners to school. 47 children and two adults were killed in the accident. A missouri man is charged with planning Mass Shootings in public places. Bolivar police said he bought 20 rounds of ammunition. He changed his target to walmart where he could get additional ammo. He is being held on 500,000 bond. Investigators are looking for the cause of a raging fire at a Chemical Plant in texas. Witnesses say they heard several explosions. There have been no reports of anyone hurt. Hall of Famer Mike Ditka is recovering today from what doctors are calling a very minor stroke. The former Chicago Bears head coach was hospitalized friday. Ditka, who is 73, was playing cards at a country club when he noticed his hands were quite working right and that he had a problem speaking. He says he now feels fine but he wont appear on espns nfl shows this weekend. Also, he will lay off the cards for just a little bit. Finally, our thanks to the person who invented dash cam video. And dvr. But mainly dash cam video. Check this out. A car hitting a Police Cruiser headon in wisconsin. The officers near brush with death started with a routine traffic stop. Seconds later, his patrol car was hit headon. The officer was hurt. The other driver was not. Investigators believe fatigue could have caused the crash. Said dash cam video afterwards, youre welcome. Thats the news. Now back to lester and erica. Thanks, jenna. Youre going to hear about that one for a while. Dylan, youre here with a check of the forecast. She tried to throw it in there. It could catch on. We are talking about pretty nice good saturday morning everybody. Im storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. Were off to a nice, clear start on your saturday morning. It is going to be a great day to be outside today. Off to a cool start though. Temperatures around the metro area middle and upper 30s for most. A few cool spots. Manassas and bristow at 27 this morning. Its 42 at the naval academy. Your saturday planner a chilly start but plenty of sunshine for your afternoon. Highs today up into the upper 40s and low 50s. A little bit more clouds tomorrow. And that is your latest forecast. Lesters . Now to the case of a missing florida mother weve been telling you about. Michelle parker was last seen a year ago today, the same day she and the father of her children appeared on an episode of the Peoples Court. Now her families is reflecting on the year since shes disappeared. Nbcs mark potter has the story. Reporter another search this month for orlando mom Michelle Parker. Missing for a year now with no approvable explanation for her disappearance, no trace of her whereabouts. Parker vanished the day her pretaped appearance on the Peoples Court tv show aired publicly. She was on the show arguing with her exfiance dale smith over the cost of a missing engagement ring. Smith is the father of two of parkers children and is the last known person to have seen her alive after she dropped off the kids at his house. This devastates her mother. I describe it as being at a funeral every single day. Every hour of every day. And it never goes away. You cant get away from it, as hard as you try. Reporter parkers family became concerned when she failed to show up for work at a restaurant in nearby sanford, florida. The next day her hummer was found at a parking lot in southeast orlando, and three weeks later her iphone was recovered at an orlando lake. A spokesman for the Orlando PoliceDepartment Says the lead suspect in the case is still dale smith, the exfiance. Although no charges have been filed. And smith denies any involvement in parkers disappearance. Police say currently there are no updates in the case, but also say the investigatoion is still active and that the department will continue to support the family in search efforts in hopes of locating michelle. Lauren erickson is parkers sister and keeps her room filled with her sisters belongings. Shell never get dressed up and go out and be with her friends and family which she loved to do. Nothing will ever make it right. Nothing will ever make it easier. Reporter for the family, the hardest part is having to explain the disappearance to her children. Now 20 minutes past the hour. Heres erica. Its been nearly three weeks since Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast making landfall along the new jersey coastline. The jersey shore some of the worst damage. Many people are living there are just seeing that destruction for the first time. Stephanie gosk was there. Reporter vision beach on the jersey shore. Three neighbors, their houses are totally gone. My grandfather has had his house for 63 years. And it was our future. But i