state blinken back in israel to deliver president biden's message for humanitarian pause to benjamin netanyahu. >> we believe that each of these efforts would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses. that was an important area of discussion today with israeli leaders. how, when, and where these can be implemented ultimately we believe this can be a critical mechanism for protecting civilians while enabling israel to achieve its objectives of defeating hamas. >> israel's prime minister is still unwilling to give an inch without the release of hostages, instead pressing forward with a massive military operation. and in lebanon, a leader of the iran backed hezbollah defends the actions of hamas and threatens an escalation in their rocket attacks on israel, warning all options are on the table. also an update on americans and other foreign nationals making it safely out of gaza and the efforts to free the 242 remaining hostages. plus, we'll recap another week of trump family legal drama and preview the testimony from the former president and his daughter, ivanka. hello, and welcome. i'm ryan nobles in today for andrea in washington where we're tracking new developments in the israel/hamas war. secretary of state antony blinken today in israel makes the kaz for a humanitarian pause to protect civilians. netanyahu says that pause is impossible until the 242 hostages are freed. to the north of israel, there are new concerns over a widening war after a forceful warning from hezbollah's leader just one day after rocket fire hit an israeli city near the lebanon border. his comments met by strong condemnation by netanyahu. here at home, growing calls from top democratic senators including majority whip dick durbin, former vice presidential nominee tim kaine, and cory booker and elizabeth warren for a short-term pause in the fighting, along with getting more supplies into gaza. joining me now, nbc's josh lederman in israel, and matt bradley in lebanon. josh, let's start with you. what do we know about these discussions between secretary blinken and prime minister netanyahu today? >> reporter: well, ryan, we know the secretary of state came into this meeting today hoping that he was going to be able to persuade israel to do exactly what president biden has been calling for, for days, which is to have some type of humanitarian pause in the fighting that would allow civilians, potentially hostages to get out and more aid to get into the gaza strip. he did not get there. we heard from netanyahu after his meeting with secretary blinken saying he made clear there will be no temporary cease-fire unless hamas releases the hostages, which is exactly the opposite chronology to what the u.s. has been suggesting. a pause so that you can then get the hostages out. netanyahu also coming out of that meeting saying there will be no fuel allowed into the gaza strip, which is another element to that humanitarian crisis that secretary blinken has been hoping to address on this trip. in fact, we heard from secretary blinken in his own news conference here in israel addressing his own emotions when he sees the horrifying images coming out of gaza. take a look. >> i have seen images too of palestinian children, young boys and girls pulled from the wreckage of buildings. when i see that, when i look into their eyes through the tv screen, i see my own children. how can we not? hamas doesn't care one second or one iota for the welfare, for the wellbeing of the palestinian people. >> and ryan, we're seeing the u.s. government really try to walk a careful line right now in its approach to the israeli gimpt. we have reported at nbc news that the biden administration feels the best way to keep this relationship in tact and to be able to get the kind of response from israel that they want is to show steadfast support, and yet, while we haven't seen the biden administration openly criticize israel for its conduct in this war, secretary blinken avoided any overt criticism, we're starting to see some of these differences come out in the open. these two governments at odds about whether there should be pauses in the fighting, whether israel is doing enough to protect civilian lives and it speaks to the level of concern that is growing within the biden administration right now, even as they avoid the kind of outright criticism we're seeing from senator chris murphy and others within the senate. >> all right, matt, to you now in lebanon. today, hezbollah's leader praised some of the brutal actions by hamas, and even threatened an escalation. what should we make of this? >> reporter: well, he did say, you know, hezbollah's actions so far wouldn't be limited to this. so a lot of people in the audience i was at, and it was a very frothy audience, very much supporting hezbollah, but hezbollah's leader, he wasn't speaking in person. he was speaking over video, and this is what he does typically. he doesn't show up at these speeches. he speaks to his ardent admirers by video, and they were very enthusiastic. a lot of those folks really did want to see war, and they might have been a little disappointed because he instead seemed to choose some kind of ambivalent middle ground. he said, again, all the options were on the table. he mentioned that they had been warned against entering this war and insisted repeatedly, they have already been entering the war, that hezbollah entered the war on the second day of the fighting, october 8th, a day after the hamas operation. this was ostensibly in order to valorize all of the so-called martyrs that have died for hezbollah fighting against the israelis so far. there have been more than 50 of them. orders of magnitude more than the number of israelis who have been killed in the same cross border fighting. he was saying these people have already died. hezbollah is already in the fight. and that they can't expand any more. he was leaving all of the options open. one think we have to see here, the enemy he was fighting against, that he's talking about is israel, but it's also the united states. he had as much angry bellicose language reserved for the americans as he did for the israelis and he repeated this over and over again. the crowd before he spoke chanted a familiar phrase i have been hearing for the past several weeks. death to america, death to israel. this was a frothy bunch and a lot that i spoked to said they were ready to fight and ready to die. but ryan, this is a different kind of situation because when we're talking about hezbollah, we're talking about a militant group but also a political party. the leader is still beholden on some level to voters, to the people of lebanon. this is a country on its knees. it's in its fifth year of an economic crisis and suffering so much over the last several generations from fighting ainst israel. it's unclear whether the folks here outside of those hezbollah rallies would want to go to war with israel. >> okay, matt bradley and josh lederman, thanks to both of you. let's talk more about this now with hallie soyfehr, ceo at the jewish democratic council of america, and james stavridis, the former nato supreme allied commander. admiral, do you think a temporary cease-fire is the right decision right now, and if benjamin netanyahu continues to refuse this, is it there some way to change tactics and avoid the horrific scenes we have seen at the palestinian refugee camps? >> i don't think a sweeping in place cease-fire is appropriate from a military perspective. if you're looking at this from the israeli side of events. what is quite possible to do, and this is why the administration has used the words humanitarian pause, not a cease-fire. a cease-fire is everybody stops, you really freeze the frame. that is not what israel is going to do, nor would i recommend it as a military officer. what they should do, my view, is humanitarian pauses, those can be a day, three days. they can be in southern gaza, they can be in gaza city. they're targeted. they're used kind of like precision guided if you will for the maximum humanitarian effect. i think humanitarian causes make sense. a general sweeping cease-fire to my eye does not. >> hallie, are you hearing any concerns among top jewish leaders at home about how prime minister netanyahu is executing this operation, and do you see any potengsed risks to israel in losing global support after the weeks of such a stunning attack by hamas? >> it's clear that no one wants civilian casualties in this conflict other than hamas, which is intentionally using hospitals as military bases, using palestinians as human shields, diverting humanitarian supplies to build tunnels under schools, under mosques, under hospitals where they're likely keeping 240 hostages. this underscores why there can be no moral equivalence between the actions of israel and those of hamas. and as secretary blinken said today, hamas doesn't care one iota for the welfare of the palestinian people. it's why they must be held accountable for the horrific slaughter of over 1400 people, including 31 americans. and a cease-fire at this time would allow hamas to regroup and attack again. this isn't just speculation. it's the stated intent of hamas leaders, as recently as yesterday. there was a cease-fire in place on october 6th. it was the cease-fire that ended the last conflict between israel and hamas in 2021. and hamas used that opportunity for two years to plan the most horrific slaughter of the jewish people since the holocaust. so it's clear that there cannot be a cease-fire at this time. but secretary blinken, president biden are doing everything they can to insure two things, and that is that the hostages get out and humanitarian aid gets in to innocent palestinians. >> so admiral, we just heard from the hezbollah leader. i'm sure you heard matt bradley's report. what should we take from his rhetoric? is this just firing up his base or is there a real concern that hezbollah could extend their operations into israel or perhaps even further south? >> yeah, we can't discount entirely the idea that tehran, and believe me, that speech was essentially written in tehran, and pumped into the lips of the creature of the iranian theocracy. there is no doubt that there is a possibility iran could try and sort of unleash hezbollah. i think it's unlikely. i call it 10%, maybe 15%. that's still uncomfortably high. but i have heard the speech, read it. i see a lot of bluster, but i don't see a declaration of war. i think playing to the base is correct. final thought here, he is very cognizant that 100 miles to the west of southern lebanon are not oneut two american carrier strike groups, 160 combat aircraft. there are five squadrons of air force aircraft now in that region, 2,000 marines afloat. there's a lot of combat power there. we don't intend to use it, we don't want to use it, but the president has made it very clear to the iranians that therefore to the hezbollah that should they unleash a massive attack on israel, we will be game on in this thing. and he doesn't want that. he knows he would be on the losing end of that proposition in my view. therefore, chances, i think, are low but not completely impossible. >> all right, and quickly to you, to wrap up, you have been critical of the stand-alone israel funding bill that passed the house last night. where do you see the opening here? and will republicans and democrats be able to come to some kind of compromise to get funding to israel as soon as possible? >> that stand-alone will was no more than a show by republicans aiming to score cheap political points at israel's expense. as opposed to providing essential immediate and unconditional assistance, and despite democrats' very strong support of israel, the majority didn't vote for it because for the first time, it conditioned aid to israel on cuts to the irs. which were unnecessary, completely unrelated, and expensive. they would increase the deficit. so it also badly needs because republicans knew this bill was dead on arrival. president biden has threatened a veto. it does not have support in the senate from democrats or republicans. so it's delayed this essential $14.3 billion in assistance, which has been pledged by president biden, that we need to deliver immediately. it was a political ploy. >> okay, halie and james, thank you both for being here. we appreciate it. new warnings, hezbollah says it will not back down in its attacks on israel. while speaking with two terror experts next when andrea mitchell reports is back in 60 seconds only on msnbc. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. for everyone who lives here. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. the long-lasting scent of gain flings made it smell like dave was in his happy place... ...the massage chair at the mall. but...he wasn't. gain flings with oxi boost and febreze. following the october 7th attacks in israel, fears over a wider war in the middle east have grown. today, a fiery speech from hezbollah's leader fueled that fear in the region, while here at home, officials are warning about the potential of lone wolf attacks in response to the rhetoric from terror groups. joining me now, former cia officer mark polymoropolis, and mark clark. colin, let me start with you. hezbollah have been an active participant in this war, they fired rockets, but it hasn't escalated to the point where there has been real trouble, but where could things go from here? their leader denounced israel today and said all options are on the table at any time. what could happen next? >> well, i think a lot of things could happen next. frankly, i found the speech to be a bit underwhelming. i was expecting more out of it. it was typically vague and not committing hezbollah to further action. but it wasn't kind of what many people were expecting, which is a declaration of war, of getting hezbollah into the fight. that said, there's so many opportunities for miscalculation with all of the u.s. military hardware in the region, with all of the iranian proxy groups that are attempting to encircle israel that all it takes is mere miscalculation before one thing leads to another and we're looking at a broader regional can flageration. >> mark, one of the big problems when we assess the fallout from this is how little intelligence that u.s. agencies appear to have on hamas after relying so heavily on israel for that information in the last decade or more. what should we take from that? >> so the "wall street journal" yesterday published a very interesting piece and noted because of other priorities in the world, whether it's several years ago, campaigns, counterterrorism campaigns against isis and al qaeda and even our shift to asia, our pivot to focus on china, the united states intelligence community ceded our collection to israel. now, it's understandable why we did that. israel is a very capable partner. but ultimately, and so again, you understand why the decision was made, but there are consequences. and it turns out we were bind in gaza, and ultimately, this led to 1400 israelis killed, 9,000 civilians in gaza, 30 americans killed and 240 hostages. so ultimately, i think we need to do some forensics after this. israel certainly will. the u.s. should too. hezbollah and hamas are two organizations, these are kind of more mature terrorist organizations. hezbollah particularly, not just what's happening in the north with israel, they have a capable overseas terrorist apparatus. i'm sure the u.s. intelligence community with its partners around the world are on heightened alert. there is definitely a risk for retaliation against americans now, no doubt. >> colin, let's talk about iran's role in all this. obviously, they're heavily invested in both hezbollah and hamas. what are their prioritieses as all this unfolds and how can they use these proxies going forward? >> yeah, so this is part of iran's foreign and security policy. it's what we called iran's playbook. they use proxy forces they develop and cultivate with the help of the islamic revolutionary guard and they attempt to essentially push out u.s. influence from the region. they have been attacking iraqi shia militias at the behest of iran, attacking u.s. bases. and iran has kind of become an expert on walking right up to the line where they know where the line is, without going over it and bringing blowback on iranian soil. that might only last for so long. i think a lot of eyes are looking to tehran. they're thinking about october 7th and the iranian role, and you'll notice in the speech, he attempted to distance iran from the actual operation. he called it made in palestine in so many words. i think the iranians are scared, but i would also say this is a time to revisit our prior assumptions. israel totally got hamas' intentions wrong. i would focus less on speeches and more on intelligence collection, as mark alluded to. >> and mark, we have new using unarmed drones to try to get more information about the hostages'whereabouts. that's a huge challenge in trying to rescue them. is there anything more they can do to help get them out and how would the drones help that process? >> well, i was heartened to see this. these drones have advanced sensor packages so there's going to be signals intelligence collection. there's going to be imagery. high powered imagery to see what's on the ground in gaza. this is something where the u.s. really can assist israel. there are also teams on the ground, a lot of reporting on special operations forces, and of course, the intelligence community as well. there's going to be a fusion cell located at our embassy so we're going to do all we can to help support the israelis on this. it's exactly what we have to do. again, there are still american hostages there as well. >> the hostage rescue such a key point in this story that has so many different aspects to it. mark and colin, thank you both for being here. and a growing number of democratic senators are pushing for a pause in the fighting inside gaza to get humanitarian aid in. the chairman of the powerful foreign relations committee, senator ben cardin, joins us next on that and more, only here on andrea mitchell reports on msnbc. when migraine strikes you're faced with a choice. ride it out with the tradeoffs of treating? 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[ cheers ] yeah! woho! running up and down that field looks tough. it's a pitch. get way more into what you're into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. backing president biden's push for a pause in the fighting in gaza by calling for a short term secession ofhostilities. the group leed a statement saying, quote, the failure to adequately protect noncombatant civilians risks dramatic escalation in the region. joining me now is democratic senator ben cardin, he is the chairman of the foreign relations committee. he recently returned from the region as part of a bipartisan delegation. we're so thankful you have joined us. you are not one of the senators who has signed on to this statement. why? and do you think a pause in the hostilities right now is a mistake? >> ryan, good to be with you. i had a chance to speak with secretary blinken yesterday before his arrival in israel to go over our concerns for israel's right to defend itself and the military operations, but also making sure that there is a safe way of delivering humanitarian assistance. we made tremendous progress during the last couple days in developing a safe passage for humanitarian assistance to reach those that are so desperate in gaza, the palestinians trying to escape harm's way. so i think our objectives are all the same, to make sure the humanitarian assistance can get into gaza and make sure there's a reliable way to do that. that's one of the missions secretary blinken is following up on in his visit to israel. >> yesterday, sir, the house passed a $14.3 billion aid package for israel, right now, it does not include any aid for ukraine, and that's different from what you told me you expected when we spoke about a month ago. let's listen to your comments from then. >> i do think ukraine will be part of this. ukraine has an urgent need. we cannot go much longer and provide the type of assistance ukraine needs in order to defend itself. that's critically important to our national security. so we are -- we do believe it will be combined between israel and ukraine. >> do you still feel that way, sir? do you think the senate will ultimately link funding for israel and ukraine? if those two effort are not linked, what could be the result when this legislation goes back to the house? >> well, i still believe that we're going to put ukraine and israel together. the house bill is dead on arrival in the senate. it's not going to pass the senate. senator schumer has made that clear. i think senator mcconnell has made it clear, we also have to deal with ukraine. there's an urgent need to deal with both ukraine and israel. and we're going to keep that together. the message, if we divided it, is that ukraine is not a priority, when it is a priority. we have to help the ukrainians, the front line, the defense of democracy. it's in our interest to make sure russia does not win that war and expand it to other countries in europe. so we are committed to helping israel. we're committed to helping ukraine. >> i want to show you some video, sir, of activity, protests happening in senate office buildings right now. many of your colleagues facing protests from supporters of the palestinian people in that region. you know, i wonder, they're calling for a cease-fire, what many protesters are calling for. nbc news is reporting some biden administration officials are worried that the u.s. could become more isolated on the world stage because of president biden's alignment with israel. is that something that concerns you as well? >> i think we have a common interest here. israel's security depends upon hamas being defeated. hamas is determined to destroy israel and the jews who live there, but they're also committed to making it impossible for the palestinians in gaza to be able to have an economic and secure future. so it's in the interest of the palestinians, it's in the interest of israelis that hamas be defeated. i would hope that we could have unity in that message. i have met with so many of the leaders of arab states in theog no future for a palestinian state. there's no future for the palestinians with hamas. >> and finally, sir, senator bob menendez, the man whose place you took as chair of the senate foreign relations committee, still attending classified briefings despite facing an indictment on federal corruption charges including working as an unregistered agent of egypt. john fetterman has introduced a resolution to bar him from attending those meetings. do you support that resolution and do you believe it's appropriate that he is taking part in these briefings? >> at this moment, i'm focused on chairing the senate foreign relations committee. it has a critical role to play at this moment in the history of conflicts around the world. bob menendez is a member of that committee. i have to make sure that committee can function. it's up to the united states senate as to his status. and that's where it should be, not in the committee itself. >> so at this point, you don't have a position on the resolution or just to be clear? >> i need to work with all of the members of the committee on foreign relations. that's my primary responsibility, to make sure i have a relationship where i can have the committee function as a close margins between democrats and republicans. so it's important for me to make sure we have a functioning committee. bob menendez's status in the united states senate is to be determined by the full senate, not by the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. >> okay, senator ben cardin, we appreciate you being on, covering a number of important topics. thank you, sir. his day in court. donald trump is preparing to testify monday in his new york civil fraud trial. what his sons have already said on the stand, next. that's on andrea mitchell reports, only on msnbc. to scien. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. 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>> this issue is now sort of overshadowing what was pretty significant testimony by eric trump about his involvement in some pretty key aspects of this case. but with the judge, this is just -- this has been a simmering issue with his clerk now for weeks. donald trump's lawyers have zeroed in on her and have been making a number of comments, everything from they don't -- they're saying she rolls her eyes sometimes in court. they have complained about that. but even more importantly, donald trump has gone after her, both in a social media post and then again in another instance. they just keep hammering on her. and this latest incident was over yesterday very late day in court, the clerk and the judge, they sit together in front of the courtroom. and they're often conferring about different things. she's doing her job. it's not unusual, but she passed a note to the judge at one point. and the lead attorney for donald trump made a comment about that and said, do you want me to give you a minute to look at it, and made a remark about maybe it was about sort of a dinner appointment or something, and the judge just lost it. and that spilled over again today, just more discussion about the clerk. and it looks like the judge may now be putting in some sort of order together on this. >> so let's talk about the substance of eric trump's testimony. what are you key takeaways as we look to donald trump's testimony on monday? >> right, eric, it was very -- his testimony today was similar to what he said yesterday, which is that an executive of my level doesn't get involved in the weeds and the attorney general came back and said, you know, and had emails up on the screen and was showing various evidence that shows he was actually intimately involved in a number of appraisals and other things at the heart of this case. so that continued today. eric trump is now done. there is a direct examination of him, there was no cross, but he may come back later in the trial and be cross-examined by his lawyers. but at this point, so far, all the trumps have only had a direct examination. then donald trump is up monday. i expect we'll hear from him both that he, you know, was not involved in the minutia of this, and also he had relied on experts, accountants and lawyers to come up with the appraisals that are in question. and third, that any of his -- any of the financial statements that were put together that the attorney general has taken issue with had disclaimers in them. i am almost certain we're going to hear more on the clerk on monday, and it's going to be interesting. i think everybody is going to be watching to see, he's already been fined twice in this case for violating a gag order, if he crosses the line again on monday. >> so catherine, to you now. what stood out to you from eric and don jr.'s testimony? >> well, they didn't know the attorney general was prepared for all of the idon't recall answers and all of the no answers. with documents, emails phone calls, depositions. that's why the attorney general called them as their witnesses even though they were adverse witnesses. basically, they wanted them to either confirm, yes, that's my signature on that financial statement. yes, i had that conversation. or to deny and clearly not be telling the truth, and quite frankly, their testimony was not the most credible, and they certainly did not help the case for themselves, their father, and the trump organization. >> talk to me about ivanka trump. for some reason she thought she shouldn't have to testify. she lost that bid. they're going to make her testify. she argued she didn't have child care because it was in the middle of the week. why did she think she had any grounds to avoid being called as a witness in this case? >> i think it was a hail mary pass. first, just because she's no longer the defendant, that doesn't mean she doesn't get to testify. she has material and relevant evidence that is important for her to either admit or deny. but she worked there. she was part of the echelon with her brothers before she went to the white house. even when she went to the white house. there's allegations that she also was still involved in deals. so i think it was just she was hoping that the answer would be, no, she doesn't have to testify, but that never was going to happen. it was always a loser argument. >> okay, thank you both. we appreciate it. and fueling concerns, critical shipments of diesel are still not part of the convoys of aid moving into gaza. one of the strip's largest hospitals is now rationing power to the most critical units. we'll hear from the red cross next. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. 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>> you know, we just had this surgical team who was able to enter into gaza a couple days ago. they're in one of the hospitals and operating on people now. it's really painful to hear the stories that are coming from this team. they talk about a majority of their patients are burn victims. and a majority of their patients are children. and then they send images, images that are way too graphic to share, the images you don't want to see because the pain that the child or the patient is going through or the family is going through watching this person try to recover. so i mentioned this because our surgeon has said already, even though they just got there and they went in with a shipment of medical supplies, they're running low on supplies and he knows looking a couple days ahead, when he needs to work on that next burn patient, he's not going to have anesthetic, he might not even have bandages he needs. there's been dozens of trucks that have gone in, but we know it's not enough. there needs to be a continuous flow of humanitarian assistance. i'm talking about medical supplies to alleviate all the suffering. >> and today, president biden was asked about trying to get americans out of gaza. he said, quote, they'll be coming home. i know the red cross has been involved in efforts to try to get hostages safely out of gaza. can you tell us anything about those efforts and is there anything new on that front? >> i wish that there was something new. we probably all remember well that just a couple days ago, a week ago, we did participate in those two operations that saw four hostages taken out of hamas' hands and into the safety of their families. we continue to have conversations with hamas. we continue to ask for access to the hostages, and we continue to insist that they be released because that's the baseline issue here is that they should not be helped. i hope with all my heart there will be more releases in the future. we're continuing to have the conversations. i wouldn't be able to provide any more details about what direction those conversations are moving in. >> you talk about the need for medical supplies. that's just one aspect of the humanitarian need there. the united nations aid chief martin griffith said there's been, quote, some progress in negotiations that would allow fuel into gaza, but the israeli prime minister said today that israel's not going to allow any fuel into the gaza strip. you talked about the huge issues that crop up with the lack of medical supplies. what would it mean if no fuel is allowed into the area? >> the number one thing we're looking at is are hospitals able to operate their machinery, the machinery that keeps people alive, the machinery or even let's say the lights that allow a medical team to go into an operating theater. so that's our interest. we understand why this can be seen as a contentious issue. our baseline position on this is that we can't be in a situation where hospitals completely run out of electricity and energy and run the machines that they need to run to keep people alive and can't open an operating theater to save lives. >> your team doing literally life saving work in gaza. jason, thank you so much for joining us, and we hope everyone involved in your effort can stay safe. thank you for being here. >> thank you, ryan. and backfire, growing concern from the white house about how the israelis are conducting that war as civilian casualties grow inside of gaza. the strategy now emerging from 1600 pennsylvania avenue next here on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. rails and open road, and essential services of every kind. all running on countless invisible networks, making it a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends the systems running america's infrastructure. for these services. for the 336 million of us living here. ♪ right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. 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(announcer) change your life at golo.com. that's golo.com. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. any moment now president biden and the first lady are scheduled to leave the white house and head to maine where they'll meet with survivors and family members of the mass shooting in lewiston. at the same time, top administration officials are concerned the president's continued support for israel amid the rising death toll in gaza will backfire on the world stage. add to that the new threat of escalation from hezbollah's leader today potentially fueling a wider regional conflict. joining me now is nbc news white house correspondent monica alba. how has the administration shifted its messaging on the way after being criticized, and how does this new hezbollah threat change the calculus if at all? >> reporter: it is one that the white house was following very closely, ryan, as you can imagine, and something they've been warning about for weeks since this war started, which is anyone considering widening this conflict shouldn't and the simple message from the president for anyone thinking about it was don't. so that is the continued response here at the white house given some of those hints from that official in hezbollah who earlier today detailed that that was a possibility and hinted it, not as overtly as we had potentially expected, but of course this is something that is still very volatile, so the white house is careful to say that that continues to be their message, and that is why they had such a show of strength in terms of different carrier air strike capability and shifts and other different kinds of pentagon resources and military needs that were sent to the region exactly to continue to send that kind of message the. but your other point here on the administration's evolution of where the president is right now in terms of his continued defense of what israel needs to do to protect itself while walking this finer line over the last few days of urging prime minister netanyahu to consider civilian life, we know of course that secretary blinken on the ground today delivered that message in person and said that he really had discussed some concrete steps in his words on how the israelis could better protect innocent palestinian lives with their air strike, so that is a huge topic of conversation, but something that the white house also is keenly aware of is that the president has called for this humanitarian pauses so that there could be hope of getting some hostages released as we saw earlier on in the war, but that they know that the prime minister has said pretty much the opposite, that there can't be a conversation about a cease fire until all of the hostages are released, so the president and the white house continuing to make this point with some concern from current and former administration officials that this could potentially get worse and suck the u.s. in further making the president appear more isolated on the world stage, ryan. >> and just quickly, monica, the president heading to lewiston, maine, today, the site of the deadliest mass shooting this year. what's his plan while there? >> reporter: exactly, he will be delivering remarks and meeting with some survivors, family members of those who tragically lost loved ones and continuing to call on congress to do more when it comes to assault weapons, ryan. >> okay, monica alba, live for us on the north lawn of the white house, we appreciate it rkts. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports". andrea will be back on monday. remember to follow the show on social media @mitchellreports. for now, though, "chris jansing reports" starts right now. ♪♪ >> good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. up next on the stand, donald trump. but earlier today at the civil fraud trial, courtroom fireworks between