Transcripts For MSNBCW The 20240703

Killing 700 israelis, many of whom were attending an outdoor concert and abducting dozens of people, including children. Israel says it reestablished control of the territory on its side of the gaza border 48 hours after the attack. Although the fighting and the bombings continue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the country saying the military would intensify its operations against hamas and its attacks on gaza are just the beginning. Israel has ordered a full siege of gaza, pounding the area with air strikes and gathering 300,000 troops ahead of what could become a group operation. More than 1,000 people have been killed so far in the fighting. At least 700 people have died in israel, according to its military. More than 680 people have died in gaza, according to the Palestinian Health ministry. 11 americans have been killed in the conflict, and more may be missing. Amid the hamas attack, more than 100 people have been kidnapped and are being held hostage. Captives include children, teenagers, and the elderly. Those captives are now facing a terrifying ordeal. Hamas today threatened to start executing hostages if israel bombs civilian houses in gaza without warning. Israelis are speaking out, sharing the harrowing moment when they realized their loved ones had been abducted. About ten minutes later, i could hear people speaking in arabic outside their door. And they broke in and the last thing i heard was the youngest who is 12 saying to them, im too young. Dont take me. That was it. That was the last time i heard from them. You never imagine your girls and your wife would fall down to hamas hands when theyre visiting their grandmother. If there was some way that you could take their place, they could be free and you could go to gaza where do i sign . You would do it . No question. Where do i sign . Im willing to get killed right now for their lives. Anything to bring them home. They can take me for as long as they want. In the wake of the attack, conditions for civilians in gaza are expected to dramatically worsen, cut off from electricity, food, water, and fuel. There are roughly 2 million civilians trapped there. The Israeli Government has told them to get out. But without a Clear Pathway by land, sea, or air, its not clear where they could go. Take a look at this map. Gaza is that narrow strip of land wedged between israel and egypt on the mediterranean sea. It forms the smaller of the two palestinian territories, the other being the west bank. Gaza is a crowded coastal territory that is already under a 16year blockade by israel and egypt. Israel prohibits palestinians from entering or leaving the area except in rare cases. Its one of the poorest places in the world. Its conditions have been described as an open air prison. And even worse, in 2021, the United Nations described its conditions for children as hell on earth. Lets bring in msnbcs senior correspondent, ali velshi who is in tel aviv, and retired Army Lieutenant general steph twitty, military analyst and former Deputy Commander of u. S. European command. Thank you both for being here. Ali, i want to start with you. From what my understanding and just reading all day and watching our coverage, is that the general feeling in israel is shock and outrage and rage, and real anger. Talk about the conditions there and whats to come. Reporter yeah, those words are all right. Dismay, remarkable fear, israelis have often said theyre not fearful of much given the way this country was born and what they had to endure. Theyre scared now. Im in tel aviv. Its 2 00 in the morning but typically this would be a place that would be buzzing into the late hours of the night. It wasnt. People are not out. Theyre very fearful. We have been listening to fighter jets for much of the evening. We had eight instances of an iron dome interception, incoming rockets from gaza, and israel is conducting air strikes in gaza. Last night, they conducted 500 of them. They claim their the Israeli Defense forces claim their hamas installations or operations, the problem is as you describe, gaza is 2. 2 Million People in a very, very small area. Its one of the most dense places on earth. So you cant hit something without hitting something else. And innocent people, noncombatants are dying there. A terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred on friday and saturday is now becoming a substantially worse tragedy. Israel has said theyre going to cut off, as you said, fuel, water, and food to gaza. You cant import anything into gaza, so that means gaza is going to run out of diesel fuel in about three days. Thats important. You see the pictures, no lights in most of them. The electrical Power Generation is done with diesel fuel. Its about to become a humanitarian catastrophe in gaza as well for a whole lot of people who had nothing to do with what happened in israel. Hamas continues to hold those hostages. Thats complicating the efforts to do what israel wants to do because they cant go into gaza while these hostages are not freed. It is a terrible, terrible situation and its getting worse. In a way, you might say hamas has 2 million additional hostages, the people in gaza as well. Let me ask you the last piece of what you mentioned. They cant get out. So israel has told gazans to leave. Given the fact they have egypt, put the map back up again, egypt is in one direction, the sea in one direction, and israel the other direction, where can they go . Yeah, we need to see where egypt is going to stand on this, but there are 135,000 gazans now without a home. Theyre displaced internally. There are probably many more than that who would like to leave. Egypt closes that border as well. Israel is on two sides of gaza. The sea, as you mentioned, theyre not free to use the sea. Theres a limit, a very short limit about where they can go out and fish. Theres no port, no airport, no control over their skies or anything like that. So Benjamin Netanyahu Warning Gazans to leave because he said what theyre going to do to gaza is going to echo through the generations, is a remarkably disingenuous comment. Gazans are trapped. As horrible as the situation is for gazans, its about as horrible as anywhere on earth and its about to get worse. Lieutenant general twitty, welcome to the show, thank you for being here. Lets talk about these two Hostage Situations i guess you could call it. Israel is saying all out war. Theyre going to use aerial attacks on gaza, but there are Israeli Citizens somewhere inside of there. Talk about how this works as a military operation, this ground incursion. These hostages would seem to be in Double Jeopardy then. What i will tell you is this is the worst situation you could be in as a Military Person and having to conduct this military operation. So youre spot on because many of these hostages can be used as human shields. And hamas will probably decentralizing many of these hostages and move them around quite often so its going to be hard for the israelis to figure out where they are. And you also mentioned the fact that theres 2 Million People, 140 square miles. Extremely dense. So where do you really start with a ground operation, where you dont really know where the folks are to be able to retrieve them . And you have to worry about the amount of population that youre going to have to deal with going in and fighting in an urban battle at the same time. This is going to be a very complex operation. If they go in by ground, there are going to be many casualties on both sides. Particularly palestinians. Tare going to have to worry about the israeli tunnel warfare. We know the gazans have tunnels that make their way into israel. And the hostages may be in tunnels as well. So very complex operation. And to be quite honest with you, in my 40 years of service, i have not witnessed anything thats about to happen here. All right, we do all remember the iraq war, when the u. S. Went into iraq and that was not a cake walk by any means because when the military comes, people tend to fight back. Lets talk about go ahead. Just so you know, i led that operation as a battalion commander, so i was part of that in baghdad. I know what type of Urban Warfare theyre getting ready to deal with. I want to talk to you about sort of the shock factor of this. You know, it seems, and i have seen people use the term suicidal for hamas, which has a political wing which runs gaza, operates gaza to the extent you can given the fact its under complete blockcade, but for them to choose to do this at this time, did that surprise you, and that they were able to pull it off, given how constricted gazans are and how constricted the movements are . Are you surprised they did it, that they tried it, and that they pulled it off . Im not surprised they tried it. This has been i characterize this as a pot of water on a stove thats going to boil over. As we all know, theres been so many issues. There have been issues of oppression and there has been an uptick in violence over this past year. So the water boiled over here with this particular operation that was carried out. What i am surprised is the sophistication in which this occurred. Land, sea, and air. Im also surprised when you take a look at the advancement in hamas missiles. Traditionally, they have been crude, homemade missiles. These are missiles now that can fire pretty accurately and pretty deep into israel now. So you can tell that theres outside influence, both training and military hardware given to hamas. Let me go back to you, ali. Lets talk a little bit about the conditions leading up to this. This is a very rightwing government in israel that seems to have been very provocative toward palestinians, particularly this year, with settlements really just expanding in a really aggressive way. Can you talk about the leadup to this . Was there any sign things had deteriorated to the level Something Like this could happen . Not Something Like this, because as you just mentioned, there are a lot of people, as the general said, who Thought Hamas might want to do this sort of thing. They wouldnt have thought they had the capability of doing, but youre right, the last ten months has been horrible in the west bank. Now, a different operation, a different government there. The Palestinian Authority versus hamas. But a lot of palestinians, including in the Palestinian Authority, do not believe that the Palestinian Authority is all that effective. Many palestinians refer to the Palestinian Authority as the security arm of the Israeli Government. So theres been a lot of unrest there and this government, this Israeli Government is the most rightwing government in history. So theres been a lot of tension on the west bank. Israel had called up reserves just to try to subdue the situation in the west bank. Its been months and months of something being ready to boil over. When gaza launched this attack, hamas said it was about what was going on in the west bank. In addition to other things. So they are connected. And that west bank energy that has been spilling over for the last ten months has spilled over again tonight. The brigade, which is where a lot of the tension has been in the last several months, has instigated attacks at several Border Crossings and checkpoints in israel. Thats boiling over. And in the north of israel, hezbollah is threatening to get involved as well. Israel has called up 300,000 reservists, never before in their history have they done that. Theyre sending flights to bring more reservists back to israel to be able to serve. So that israel is looking at a threepronged fight right now. Thats why people are so worried about this. Absolutely. Ill read you this joint statement issued. Expressing steadfast united support for the state of israel and our unequivocal condemnation of hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism. We recognize the Palestinian People and support equal measures of justice and freedom for israelis and palestinns but hamas does not represent those aspirations and offers nothing for the Palestinian People other than terror and bloodshed. Let me play a former soldier who did an interview with lester holt, talking about his own family and what theyre facing. Take a listen. A text message from my son, amir, which basically said, dad, there are terrorists in the neighborhood. And this immediately light my intention. It awakened the soldier in you . No, the father and the grandfather. Because this is my family. I have my son, amir. My daughterinlaw, and my two grandkids, which is 3 1 2 years old and 1 1 2 years old. You were a grandfather on a mission. Exactly. Exactly. Hamas, Lieutenant General twitty, has threatened to start executing hostages if theres bombs dropped in gaza without warning. Militarily, how would a country respond to Something Like this, given their own people are among the palestinians who are soon to be without food, water, and electricity . Yeah, so this is where the intelligence both human, will have to come into play to start to understand where the hostages are and where the Ammunition Caches. One of the things when you strike an Ammunition Cache is just not that israeli bomb going off. It is the secondhand explosion by all the caches. And that right there can do more damage than the actual bomb that israel fires. So they have to be careful about the secondhand explosions thats going to kill many civilians as well. So unless you get the intelligence going, both signet and human, its going to be hard to discern where you fire in order to insure that you did not create a casualty situation. And we have just discovered Israeli Intelligence which i think people thought was pretty darn good, does have its flaws because they did not see this coming. Thank you, ali, stay safe. Steph twitty, thank you. Up next, more on the devastating war in israel and the Historical Context behind it. Context is important. As our Breaking Coverage continues. Your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel nothing beats it. 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The fighting in israel and gaza is the latest bloody chapter in a seemingly never ending conflict that has centered around three areas over the last seven decades. The first, jerusalems compound, one of the most revered sites in izrom and judaism. Muslims, christians, and jews. Its been under a Status Quo Agreement Tensely overseen by israel and jordan. Nonmuslims may visit the site but are not allowed to pray. Into that tenuously held agreement came israels current far rightwing government and hard right Security Minister who advocated ending the status quo and has engaged in open provocation. His visit to the holy site in january drew condemnation from palestinians and from israels international allies, and in a second visit in may, he declared israel was in charge. In july, he led a group of more than 1,000 Israeli Settlers to the compound. He has done that in the context of a government that just imploded its own Supreme Court and pushed expansion of settlements on Palestinian Pland land in the west bank, and amid increased settler attacks on palestinians including a Revenge Rampage in february after two settlers were killed after which he vowed to crush enemies. The finally contested area in this one is Thene Under Complete Siege by israeli forces, the gaza strip, controlled by hamas, which borders the areas in southern israel that hamas attacked over the weekend. More than 2 million palestinians, half of them under 19 years of age, live within a narrow strip of roughly 140 square miles, wedged against the mediterranean sea. Israel withdrew its military and settlers from gaza in 2005. A year later amid dire Economic Conditions the refugees there elected hamas to govern the territory. That triggered a 16year israeli blockade, the blockade also supported by egypt, which has driven the economy in gaza to near collapse, with more than 65 of the population living below the poverty line, according to the u. N. Creating the conditions that Human Rights Watch has called an open air prison. And it is into that already dire situation that hamas attack on Israeli Citizens took place, and that is now also a hostage crisis. And also israels complete siege on gaza, it will now take place in those conditions, cutting off electricity, food, fuel, and water. Joining me is peter, editor at large of jewish currents, and ayman mohyeldin. He previously covered the conflict as a foreign correspondent. I want to go to you first, amen because you have reported from gaza, you have been on those beaches. I want you to paint a picture for us of where this war now is going to be taking place. What do those communities look like, feel like . What are israeli troops going to be bombing . Reporter its a great question, joy. And its important i think for our viewers to understand what gaza is and what it is not. It is not an open sovereign territory where people have the freedom to leave, as you were discussing earlier. Its a people that have been besieged and blockaded, primarily by israel and also by egypt for 15 years and People Living under the draconian rule of hamas. It is against that backdrop that were about to see the fifth operation, if you will, in the span of 15 years. And to kind of put that in context for our viewers, i want them to think about this for a moment. If youre a 15yearold palestinian child born in about 2006, 2005, you will have survived four major israeli operations, and youre now living through your fifth one. The amount of mental and post Traumatic Stress disorder that a generation of palestinians have been living through cannot even be fathomed, cannot even be described. Thats the generation that is living that is 15 years old. Were not talking about the generation of palestinians who have survived several incursions, air raids, wars, the 1973 war, the 1967 war, the 1948 war. Generations of refugees that have been compounded year after year into the gaza strip or generation after generation into the gaza strip. As you describe, impoverished, theres no place for the palestinians in gaza to go, and the honest truth of it is, everybody who is living in gaza right now is simply being portrayed as a hamas sympathizer or somehow as a hamas accomplice, and that makes it very difficult for the civilian population there to escape either the realities or the israeli bombardment. You know, and peter, thank you for coming on. It seems to me just my Amateur Reading of this, is that the election of hamas, which is an extreme group, which has a political wing but there have been protests in gaza against them, against the sort of draconian nature of their governance and their rule. Theres been disenchantment even in gaza with them, and yet they took this incredibly some people say suicidal step of drawing a full war into gaza. Does that surprise you, because i think whats not surprising is the way that the Israeli Government is responding . Yeah, i was surprised. And i was also just horrified. Its hard to describe how sick i and everyone i know has felt since so many of us in the Jewish Community have so many people that we love in israel. I think the challenge is to hold these two truths. The one is that what hamas did was horrifying. Absolutely horrifying and gutwrenching. The other is that doing what ayman was describing, Holding Millions of people in an open air prison, ultimately does not keep israeli jews safe. If it did, what happened on saturday wouldnt have happened. That happened after israel had been holding gaza under blockade for 16 years, after bombing after bombing after bombing, it doesnt work because even though israel can kill members of hamas, and even though it can destroy these weapons depots, the level of trauma that it inflicts on people produces hatred that leads to new people who want to go and attack israel, and they find new weapons, because these people are inextricably linked together in this tiny territory. What palestinians are saying is that if they cant live decent safe lives, then its not likely that israeli jews will forever be able to do that either. It is a mess, and it seems that it was it is solvable in a sense. The west created this idea that there was going to be two states. The british had a deckilation and said byebye and left it to beam there to try to figure it out. The obvious answer has seemed for there to be a Palestinian State and israeli state and then you could have peace, but no one has gone for that easily seemingly, not easy, but that answer. What do you make of the fact that this happened at a time when you have the saudis and we can talk about how disingenuous or honest they are, were attempting to put together this peace agreement, which the Biden Administration is yi they should attempt to keep going, but it doesnt seem likely. All these states are coming to the defense of the Palestinian People, but that accord of getting them to agree to land for peace, does it seem to you that would be feasible . Its hard for me to imagine it is feasible for a few reasons. One, the fundamental equation of what oslo tried to set up, which is land for peace, was always from the very beginning flawed. The palestinians were not seeking land. They were seeking freedom and self determination. The israelis were saking peace and they wanted assurances. The fundamental nature of that equation suggest palestinians only had to offer violence to israel. If they could stop the violence, the israelis were willing to relinquish their land. It wasnt about giving the palestinians self determination. What happened year after year after israel became more extreme, more right, the Palestinian Authority became more corrupt, more inept, incapable of Making Decisions and weakened year after year. Was that you ended up in a situation where the west bank now is no longer viable as a Palestinian State. Right wing ministers in this current Israeli Government are calling for the full annexation of the west bank and thats not even talking about whats happening in places like east jerusalem. The equation set in motion as a result of oslo was never really destined to succeed. We can sit here and parse exactly why it didnt work, but the reality of it is, as this new current government came into power in israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not only did he want to shelf that process, he wanted to do something a lot of people said would be disastrous, the idea of going to the arab world and making peace with arab regimes, regimes that are not necessarily reflective of their peoplory will and ignoring the palestinian issue was always going to end in disaster. The idea that somehow the fundamental core issue of israels security was saudi arabia or was morocco or was sudan was not the honest truth of what the biggest threat to israel was, which is the occupation of millions of palestinians living in despair with nothing to do but to turn their anger towards israel. And the problem is not just simply that israel did it. Its that the west let israel get away with it without any serious or International Mechanism to say to the izzys what youre doing is wrong, what youre doing is going to come back and hurt you and we have to find a way to bring this solution to the forefront of your conscience. You can build walls, imprison palestinians, hide behind the reality, but it doesnt change the fact you have 6 million, 5 million palestinians living across your territories that are not going to give up on their fundamental right to have control over their lives and have self determination. And to that point then, peter, you know, the Editorial Board is blaming netanyahu directly, and hes been in a lot of issues. He has multiple legal cases against him, which doesnt seem many people are going to focus on that now. He obviously had this attempt to take over the Supreme Court that drew, you know, recordsetting protests against him in israel. There was a lot of dissatisfaction with him leading into this. Now it seems he will be able to rally people behind him. To what extent do you think that people who are now terrified for their families lives, people who are now hostages, people who have lost loved ones, might think that guy might be to blame. He might his policies might be the cause, or do you think theres going to be a complete rallying behind netanyahu at this point . Maybe a rallying in the short term, but i thing over the longer term there will be a Commission Of Inquiry in israel that i think its finding will be extremely harsh, and netanyahus reputation in israel was of someone who was very good on security, who really knew what he was doing. I think that will be irreparably damaged and this could produce the kind of political earthquake, the Yom Kippur War was the beginning of the end of the dominance of the labor party. Its possible this will be the beginning of the end of netanyahu and his partys dominance. What we dont know is what will replace it, because there isnt really in israel today a group of people offering an alternative for how to deal with the palestinians. And that is the conundrum eternally it seems. Peter and ayman, thank you. You were two of the people i really wanted to talk to tonight. Thank you for taking the time. Up next, Breaking Coverage of the war in israel continues with a look at the stunning Intelligence Failure we talked about for a moment that blindsided israel. Well be back. Medicare supplemet Insurance Plan thats smart now. Im 65. And really smart later im 70ish. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan from unitedhealthcare. With this type of plan, youll know upfront about how much your care costs. Which makes planning your financial future easier. So call unitedhealthcare today to learn more about the only plans of their kind with the aarp name. And set yourself and your future self up with an aarp Medicare Supplement plan from unitedhealthcare. Ive struggled with generalized Myasthenia Gravis. But the picture started changing when i started on vyvgart. Vyvgart is for adults with generalized Myasthenia Gravis who are antiachr antibody positive. In a clinical trial, vyvgart significantly improved most participants ability to do daily activities when added to their current gmg treatment. Most participants taking vyvgart also had less muscle weakness. And your Vyvgart Treatment Schedule is designed just for you. In a clinical study, the most common side effects included urinary and respiratory tract infections, and headache. Vyvgart may increase the risk of infection. Tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or symptoms of an infection. Vyvgart can cause allergic reactions. Available as vyvgart for iv infusion and now as Vyvgart Hytrulo for subcutaneous injection. Additional side effects for Vyvgart Hytrulo may include injection site reactions. Talk to your neurologist about vyvgart. your ancestry is so much more than names and dates. cmon its the story of your family then and now. A story that made your name mean something. A story youre still writing. So discover your heritage. Preserve your traditions. Represent all that makes you, you. this coordinated Surprise Assault from gaza comes 50 years and one day after the start of the Yom Kippur War when israel was famously caught off guard from invading forces from egypt and syria. Since that failure, israel has substantially strengthened its defensive and intelligence capabilities. It is arguably the most militarily powerful country the middle east and a nuclear power. Its intelligenceervices are the envy of the world, yit, as the New York Times reports, none of is Intelligence Services had specificnings that hamas was preparing a sophisticated attack that required coordinated land, air, and sea strikes according to an Israeli Defense official and american officials. So how was it that israeli mained in the dark as hamas militants prepared for this level of attack . Joining me is a former cia chief of operations for yooper and eurasia and National Security analyst. Great to see you. This is my question, the first thing i thought when i heard about the Intelligence Failure was Condoleezza Rice testifying before congress that the understanding among the administration was al qaeda determined to attack inside the United States, and yet they did nothing pre9 11. This is being described as israels 9 11. How would you as an intelligence professional explain this Intelligence Failure . So joy, i spent a lot of my career in the middle east. I worked with the israeli services, the jordanians, the egypians, the palestinians. I know their capabilcapabilitie. Israel had a blanket over the gaza strip. The Israeli Military service had an Extensive Network of human assets, spies, Communication Intercept equipment to listen to conversations, drones, it was blanketed over a small area with 25 miles by 4 miles. And the fact that this wasnt picked up was dumbfounding to me, as someone who has been on the ground and worked with these services. At first i was thinking it was an Intelligence Failure by the israelis but its a regional Intelligence Failure. Where were the egyptians, the jordanians, all the other services that watch this area . Its something to me that i still cannot comprehend the magnitude of 1,000 operatives and a multidomain attack, air, sea, and land, and no one picked it up. Quite incredible. Could it be, you know, there is some thinking that netanyahu has been a little distracted. Hes got multiple indictments hes dealing with. Hes on a Settlement Expansion crusade, particularly in the west bank and grabbing territory. His member of his cabinet of doing provocative, you know, statements and showing up to provoke palestinians and this crisis of trying to take over their Supreme Court, which these massive protests which stimulated massive protests. Is this just a situation of a government that is distracted by its own interests and just not paying attention . The Yom Kippur War, this is almost the anniversary and they didnt have any idea the things they were doing were provoking hamas . This was the anniversary of, the 50year anniversary. I dont think thats a coincidence. I think theres going to be a commission after the fact, obviously, Israeli Intelligence and the military are busy now, but theres going to be a serious accountability review. Israel has done this before, after 73, they did the same thing, because this is something that has gone so wrong and kind of to break this aura of invincibility. The intelligence capability is the nations first line of defense, and they failed. You brought up a really good point about the distraction. There was amazing political dysfunction within israel and in fact, netanyahu was in a sense in great conflict with the heads of his Security Services. He actually called The Heads Of Shin Bet and the military, the deep state, if that sounds familiar to you. So hopefully i think theres a lot thats going to come after the fact. The Israeli Intelligence community has to rise up right now. They have real important things to do in terms of finding targets. They have to find the hostages in gaza. They have to determine the level of iranian culpability. And its not going to be pretty for the Israeli Gimpt as well because i think that dysfunction may have had something to do with this. Let me read you a little bit of this Editorial Board oped and its title is netanyahu bears responsibility for this israeli gaza war. The Prime Minister who prided himself on his vast experience and wisdom failed to identify th dangers he was consciously leading israel into in establishing a government of nexation and dispossession when appointing to key positions. Both are extreme rht wing leaders, while embracing a Foreign Policy that ignored the existence and rights of palestinians. Going forward, just as an intelligence matter, this same Security Services and this same Prime Minister has to figure out how theyre going to do a 300,000 Troop Incursion into a tiny area packed with 2 Million People while their own citizens are held hostage somewhere in there. Is that something that to you presents a maybe insurmountable intelligence challenge given the failures leading in . Its a pretty big challenge. Again, i think the Israeli Security establishment is certainly going to try to rally. But were talking about Urban Warfare in a tiny area. That is extraordinarily difficult. The Israeli Defense forces have not had Great Success in gaza in the past. Theres a lot of talk of israel going in, and its understandable why they believe they need to do this, let me make that clear, but its not going to be easy and theyre going to see not only extraordinary casualties on the palestinian side, there will be casualties on the Israeli Defense forces side as well. One thing israel has always had is a strong National Security establishment but they also tell the truth. I think theres going to be a lot of members of the Israeli Security team who certainly are saying this is going to be tough. This is going to be bloody. They have to do it, but were in for really tough times ahead. Yeah. Like you said, using this trumpian language, odd they would use the language of a former president who when he first spilled intelligence secrets that he was want supposed to, it was about israels National Security and he handed it to the russians. Strange world. Mark, thank you very much. Much appreciated. Up next, republicans are being republicans again. Ah, yes. Rushing to score political points off the attack by hamas, including blaming it, wait for it, on joe biden. Stay with us as our Breaking Coverage of the war in israel continues. Best thing ive ever done. Thats what freddie told me. It was the best thing ive ever done, and really . Yes, without a doubt i dont have any anxiety about money anymore. Great people. Different people, thats for sure, and all of them had Different Reasons for getting a Reverse Mortgage, but you know what, they all felt the same about two things they all loved their home, and they all wanted to stay in that home. [announcer] if youre 62 or older and own your home, you could access your equity to improve your lifestyle. A reverse Mortgage Loan eliminates your monthly Mortgage Payments and puts taxfree cash in your pocket. Call the number on your screen. Why dont you call aag. And find out what a Reverse Mortgage can mean for you . [announcer] call right now to receive your free noobligation info kit. Call the number on your screen. I think this is a great opportunity for to contrast where republicans have stood with israel time and time again. Those grotesque words, were staying on fox, of course. Ronna mcdaniel, the chair of the Republican National committee, just hours after the Stomach Churning Violence in israel and gaza began. Meanwhile, it is her party that meets this crisis without a leader in the House Of Representatives at this critical time. And one of the house party senators, tommy tuberville, still refuses to lift his hold on at least 300 military nominees, including top officers who would command forces at the least. And then, senator paul, who has been blocking all State Department Nominees since june, demanding that the Department First release Additional Information about the origins of covid, something the State Department does not have. As a result, roughly 38 countries are without u. S. Ambassadors, including Key Countries in the region, like israel, egypt, kuwait, and oman. That list does not include the threeyear vacancy over usaid for the top official in the middle east, or the fact that the State Department has had no coordinator for counterterrorism in two years. Joining me now is joel reuben, former Deputy Assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs during the obama administration. Mr. Reuben, thank you for being here. I cant think of anything more growths than a political percentage, like ronna romney mcdaniel, saying that an attack on civilians and that left a lot of people dead, hundreds, and hundreds of people also dead in gaza, and the bombardment of gaza, and the Hostage Situation is a great opportunity. I dont know, have you ever heard anything like that before. I would just like to give you an opportunity to respond. Yeah, joy. You know, this kind of Ambulance Chasing for political power is grotesque. One has to ask why do they hate joe biden more than they love israel, for example . Why is it that they cant come together in a bipartisan basis, and support our commanderinchief when our closest allies in the middle east needs our help . You know, this is not the way it has always been. And i know you know the history. But back after 9 11, democrats came together and supported george w. Bush. He had won a controversial election. Why . For the good of the nation. John mccain supported president obama, then candidate obama, during 2008. They walked together when there was the financial crisis. So, this version of republicans, there is no bottom. There is no hollow for them, no low for them. They will keep on going lower. This new years come. Its a very dangerous moment for israel, and this only makes it more dangerous. I will note that democrats were so supportive of george w. Bush. They walked handinhand into the iraqi war. They accepted his administrations lies on that. Lets talk about the vacancies. You know this world. Egypt, vacant. We have no nominee there for ambassadors. Israel, none to kuwait, none to oman. I could go on. And these are literally because republic republicans have decided that they want to hurt the Biden Administration oversight issues like covid and abortion. What does it mean to have no ambassadors on in place, and also no speaker, meaning all the house could do would be a nice resolution . But even if they wanted to send money, they couldnt, because there is no speaker. Joy, it is devastating for diplomacy. It is devastating for the ability to actually have the authority of the representative of the president of the United States meeting with the Heads Of State of egypt and jordan, and these countries who we rely on for their support right now. Think about it. Whats happening in the middle east requires a regional engagement, strategy that works. And we are kneecap. So our diplomacy is undercut. So they are attacking joe biden with false claims and charges, but they are undercutting his ability to execute a Foreign Policy that advances our interests. We are really fortunate to have a president who knows what hes doing. But when you look at what is in the field right now, the republicans, to add to your point about the speaker, this is an acting speaker. He never had National Security experience before. He has never been briefed on the intelligence issues in a serious way. And now, he cant move legislation as supplemental for israel and ukraine as well. It is devastating. It is dysfunction that harms our ability to respond right now in a crisis. And america, american lives have been lost. Its worth pointing that nine americans have been killed. And more may be in harms way as well. And this is devastating to that. And by the way, their leader is out there on his pretend twitter, saying that this is an issue about the border, and screaming about, maybe, hamas is at the border or something. I wont even put the post up because its really not worth your time. We cant listen anymore to this you really cant. Some people do, unfortunately. Joel rubin, thank you very much. Appreciate your time, man. Thanks, joy. Cheers. Well be right back. Be right back. Youre replacing me . Customize and save with liberty bibberty. He doesnt even have a mustache. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. 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Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. Reidout. Stay with msnbc throughout the night for the latest development of the war in israel. Tonight at nine eastern, Rachel Maddow will be joined by congressman dan goldman of new york, who was in israel with his family at the time of the attack. But, first, National Security Council Spokesperson john kirby joins jen psaki to discuss how the United States is supporting israel, following the unprecedented attacks from hamas. Inside with jen psaki starts right now. Starts right now. Its been less than 72 hours since saturdays Surprise Assault on israel. Hamas claims they have now taken over 150 hostages. And President Biden said today that americans may be among them. Also today, hamas said they will execute one civilian hostage