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coverage. "america reports" thank you for joining us. i'm sandra smith in new york. >> john: i'm john roberts. "the story" starts right now with martha picking up the coverage. martha? >> martha: thanks very much. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum. we're going to go live to tel aviv in just a moment with israeli prime minister netanyahu to get new information on this developing scene. you can see the pictures that have just come in from gaza city and the city where they believe an israeli air strike struck a hospital. there's a lot of questions about how all of this happened. the israeli military says hospitals are highly sensitive buildings and are not idf targets. general petraeus who commanded our troops in iraq and afghanistan will be with us in moments. first, we go to senior correspondent mike tobin live in israel with the very latest. hi, mike. >> martha, this development at the hospital in gaza city is taking all the attention right now. the palestinian health ministry says the civilian casualties are in the hundreds as a result of this strike. the palestinian side, they claim it was an israeli air strike that resulted in these casualties. we're hearing from a number of sources, none good sources, saying that the strike was caused by an errant palestinian rocket that was intended to come out of the gaza strip. we have a statement from the idf. let me read it word for word. the statement is a hospital is a highly sensitive building and is not an idf target. the idf is investigating the source of the explosion and like always is prioritizing accuracy and reliability. we urge everyone to proceed with caution when reporting on the unverified claims of a terrorist organization. very serious consequences for the victims of whatever caused this explosion. but you can see right now, a lot of anger, galvanizing surrounding israel. this is the kind of thing that can take a lot of momentum out of the intended offensive in to the gaza strip. while you have the delicate situation of 199 at least hostages inside of the gaza strip. hamas claims there's more than 199 hostages. martha? >> martha: thanks, mike. we'll keep going back live to get more updates on the situation at this hospital in again -- gaza city. thanks for joining us, mr. ragiff. the first question is what you can tell us about this strike on this hospital in gaza city. what do you know, sir? >> the truth is we're investigating. we're looking into the information we have and what happened. we we can say is the following. number 1, israel doesn't target hospitals. they're not a target for us. we won't have deliberately hit a hospital. number 2, we know that at the time of this tragedy that hamas was firing a barrage of rockets at tel aviv. the center of the country. i myself went to the bomb shelter here because we were under attack. in the past, there has been a pattern of behavior that we've seen up to a third of rockets fired from gaza fall inside the gaza strip because they malfunction. it's possible, we don't know the facts and that's why people should be careful here, but it's possible that this was one of those rockets that malfunctioned. i spoke to a senior idf officer before coming on this program. he said to me that actually hamas made a statement saying they were sending a rocket to hipha. we know a rocket didn't reach hipha? is it possible there's a malfunction here? there's a pattern of munitions by hamas falling short. we had something in the previous round of fighting with hamas where a missile did fall short and that was documented. so this stage, we don't know what happened. hamas, of course, the hamas-controlled ministry of health in gaza will be saying it's all israel's fault. it's part of their narrative. i urge people to wait and see what happened. let's look at the facts as they develop. israel does not target hospitals. we have to get to the bottom of what actually happened. it will take a little bit more time. >> martha: how much time do you think it will take to determine whether or not this was an idf missile? >> so in the past, we've had to do it quickly. there was a similar circumstance a few years ago where there was a family that was killed by o ordinants. hamas said israel. we should show a video that showed hamas might have fired a rocket. we saw it fall short in to gaza. that took all of the oxygen out of the hamas balloon. we have to wait to so, once again, this just happened and we're still investigating. except to say that the idf does not deliberately target places like hospitals, which is obvious. we have to wait and see. >> martha: what is the impact of this on israel's plans in terms of your ground offensive, which a lot of people that have observed this situation expected that to have begun already, sir. >> so we have been hitting hamas and hitting them hard. our goal remains the same. we will destroy hamas's military machine. we'll break up, dismantle its political structure as well. we want a future without hamas. we've had this neighbor, this terrorist neighbor on our southern border for too long. it's brought a living hell to the people of southern israel. as we saw in the massacre of october 7, the reality of having hamas as a neighbor is unsustainable. we will change that. we don't target the civilian population of gaza. we only target the hamas terrorists. that's why this incident is so out of character. i can't believe that anyone in israel deliberately targeted a hospital. it's impossible from our point of view. >> martha: so iran has said the process has begun for their victory, they believe, and they will be launching preemptive attacks ahead of an israeli offensive on the ground in gaza city. have you seen any sign of that? do you believe them when they tell you that's what they plan to do? >> i have no doubt that the iranians are playing a very dangerous role here. not just behind the scenes but of other scenes. they're encouraging their proxy hezbollah in lebanon, the hezbollah terrorist group, which is prescribed by the arab league. they consider hezbollah a terrorist group. they are the twin of hamas. iranians are probably putting pressure on hezbollah to open a second front in the north. i think for them they'd like to see this situation escalate. we have no interest in an escalation. we have no interest in widening this war. if they force us in to a two-front war, i can say this to them. we won't be surprised. we're ready. if you force us to fight, we will fight and we will be victorious. it's an important point. >> martha: so president biden is on the way or will be soon to israel. we understand that mahmoud abbas has pulled out of the discussions expected to take place between benjamin netanyahu and also the president in egypt. what is the impact of that and also what is your reaction to the fact that the white house is reluctant to say that iran had any operational awareness of this attack a week ago saturday? >> so if we talk about iran, it's clear that they fund hamas, that they arm hamas, they train hamas, they give logistic support to hamas, they give other political support to hamas. in other words, people including across the world, including the united states, people are making the comparison between isis and hamas. in many ways, hamas is more dangerous than isis was because hamas has a state sponsor. no country supported isis. but iran supports hamas. that has made them so dangerous. we will defeat hamas. in doing so, we'll push back iranian influence in our part of the world. there's a lot of good news from the middle east the last couple years. we've had peace between israel and arab states, peace treaties with morocco, with bahrain. before that, we had peace with jordan and egypt. for most people on this planet, arab israeli peace is a good thing. we embrace it. ending a conflict. learning to live together. cooperation. everybody sees it as positive. not iran, not hezbollah and not hamas. >> martha: increasingly isolated by all of those agreement that you just mentioned. thanks very much. good to have you with us. we hope you let us know when you get more information at the hospital. thanks. we hope to speak with you soon. >> thanks for having me. >> martha: the pentagon also addressing this attack at the hospital in gaza moments ago. rich edson has that for us and also the possible u.s. troop deployment to israel that we heard about late yesterday. rich? >> good afternoon, martha. yeah, they're talking about it right now. sabrina singh is talking to reporters across the hall. she can't verify the reports. she says she has nothing to offer specifically on the reports on the explosion at the hospital. the pentagon has said the law of war is upheld and she's confident in her conversations that democracies like israel should and will continue to follow the rules of law. also commenting on that news that 2,000 troops have basically or will basically be given the order to stand by perhaps be ready if given the order to go on 24 hours notice to the region. she says right now the department of defense is going through specifically which units might be affected by that, who should be notified, who should be given the order to say hey, in 24 hours, you may need to get moving. on top of that, the pentagon is discussing this balancing act trying to get munitions to israel. >> during yesterday's call, the secretary reiterated that america's support for israel's security remains iron clad and emphasized the support for safety for the citizens. we'll adhere to the rule of law and the law of war under which civilians may not be deliberately targeted. >> in an unannounced trips, eric carillo met with the arab defense minister. u.s. central command says carillo wants to make sure israel has what they need to defend themselves and particularly focused on avoiding other parties expanding this conflict. the pentagon is positioning two carrier strike groups. the ford group is there, the eisenhower group will be arriving in the next several days. >> martha: thanks. we bring in retired general petraeus and is former head of u.s. central command and former director of the cia. his new book "conflict, the econclusion of warfare" is out now. it's a road map that goes beyond this as we look at the current conflict going on. it's a weighty book. a lot between 1945 and ukraine. now we're in the middle of writing future history that applies well. thanks for being with us today, general. i want your reaction to this breaking news that we just heard about from mike tobin about the hospital. what is your reaction? >> first of all, it underscores the challenges of war in amongst people in densely populated urban areas. there inevitably will be innocent civilian casualties. there will be more of those. israel reasserted it expressed very clearly, they do not target such locations. they're investigating it. we'll just have to see what was it. they generally are very good. they will lay out what happened once they have determined -- >> martha: is the idea that it could have been a misfired hamas missile? does that make sense to you or not? >> it's very possible. again, these have happened in the past as the adviser to the prime minister noted. there's numerous occasions where the rockets are launched from gaza and don't make it. we have to wait for the investigation results to see what took place. >> martha: what is your advice to president biden headed to the region? >> well, what i thought was really interesting about that piece that you just did with prime minister netanyahu's adviser is that he restated the commitment to destroy hamas. that's the military organization, extremist group that carried out these attacks on the innocent israeli civilians on a holy day. he also said that they want to dismantle the hamas political structure. now, i think the real question here is then what? the military can destroy hamas. it will be very costly. it will be very challenging. there will be casualties, significant number for the israelis and hamas and the innocent civilians. terrible damage and destruction. it's inevitable. this is the most difficult set of circumstances that you can possibly imagine. if you take that out and you also take out the political structure, all of which i agree with, but noting that this is hugely challenging. the question is what replaces that. that is the big question. the reason i go through that is i have -- i'm sure that the israeli military commanders are laying this out to the prime minister. saying, you know, remember the americans had a great plan to take baghdad, take down the saddam hussein region and that post conflict planning proved to be inadequate. let's make sure that that is not the case for us. of course, we recount that in the book, that whole episode. it's a lesson learned the hard way. what are the possibilities here? again, if israel doesn't want to reoccupy, they left in 20005 for a reason. president biden has cautioned them against reoccupying gaza. who could take over? is there an interim international authority that could be cobbled together, other arab states, some with resources and forces. they'll have to conduct a counter insurgency campaign. that will be remnants of hamas. they will fight to retake control. so this is again, a hugely challenging -- you ask what should be the discussion? it's then what? i'm confident that the israeli military can destroy hamas, renter them incapable of accomplishing their mission without reconstitution. the question is who takes over. >> martha: we take a look at president biden. they ask the question, can he handle u.s. support -- we're the major supporter of ukraine in europe. that's one front that the united states is involved in. and also being the major supporter of israel in another front essentially in the middle east. is the u.s. military up to that task. we see stories about munitions being moved around. we used some of them from israel to move them around and move the chess pieces. what do you say to americans that say no, i don't think the united states should be involved in both of these situations? >> i'd say it is very much in our national security interest to do both of these and that they're not mutually exclusive. what we have provided to ukraine is an extraordinary amount. $44 billion. i think we have led that effort, nato and the western world quite effectively. i'd like to seen decisions made more rapidly as we discussed in the past. $44 billion out of $850 billion over two years, we're at the 20-month mark now, that's certainly very capable. we can do that. and if congress will authorize and appropriate funding for israel, we can do that as well. we can throw in funding for the southern border security, for fema. this is possible. we're america. we're the world's super power, this is not beyond our means. >> you think president biden is up to these tasks? >> i do. he has a solid team around him. you can question certain other things. i've questioned the decision to withdraw from afghanistan, the pace of decisions on ukraine. no, they have the right approach here. what they're doing together now with the israeli partners or allies and with the other countries in the region, secretary state blinken has traveled in recent days is trying to answer that question that i think i posed here a moment ago, which is then what? what do you do after your soldiers will take huge losses. you'll do huge damage. who will rebuild gaza? who will do the phase 4 of the post conflict phase here? what is the vision for that? shouldn't there be a vision for the palestinian people in gaza, the innocent civilians now trapped in here? frankly for the palestinian people and the west bank. by the way, i do think that the u.s. can keep many, many plates spinning simultaneously. we have to. >> martha: just looking at some of the things that we have crossing in this breaking news story. one is that israel has asked the u.s. for $10 billion in emergency aid. citing sources that cbs at reuters is reporting that the former hamas chief calling on supporters to protest this hospital attack. so we'll continue to get more headlines on this as we move throughout this story. general, thanks very much. good to have you with us today. the book is called "conflict, the evolution of warfare from 1945 to ukraine." thank you, sir. good to have you. so republican senators are demanding a guarantee from president biden that iran will not gain access to the $6 billion as reports suggested the regime may have helped hamas plot terror in israel for many months despite what the white house has said about that. >> even as we're speaking, we haven't seen any specific tangible intelligence that leads us to the conclusion that the regime in tehran was a resourced participant in these specific attacks. >> martha: republican senator john kennedy after this. suv when... crack! safelite came right to us, and we could see exactly when they'd arrive with a replacement we could trust. that's service the way we want it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪ if you're on medicare, remember, the annual enrollment period is here. the time to choose your coverage begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so call unitedhealthcare and see how you can get more of what matters, with our broad range of plans including an aarp medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. it can combine your hospital and doctor coverage with part d prescription drug coverage, and more, all in one simple plan. these plans are made to support your whole health with $0 annual physical exams, $0 lab tests and $0 preventive care like mammograms and colonoscopies. and you'll get more for your medicare dollar with $0 copays on most covered dental services a $0 eye exam and an allowance for eyewear plus $0 copays on hundreds of prescriptions, at the pharmacy or by mail. now's the time to look at unitedhealthcare's variety of plans. so give us a call to learn more about coverage options in your area. with our right plan promise, you have our commitment to helping you find the right plan for your needs. and to help make life with medicare simpler, you'll get the all-in-one member ucard. only from unitedhealthcare, the ucard is your unitedhealthcare member id and much more. show your ucard when you visit your primary care provider, dentist or eye doctor, or fill a prescription at the pharmacy. and use it to access medicare advantage's largest national network of providers. you can count on unitedhealthcare to help you get the care you need, when you need it. enrollment ends december 7th. now's the time to learn more about america's most chosen medicare advantage plans and how they can open doors to a simpler healthcare experience with the all-in-one ucard. call unitedhealthcare today about the only medicare advantage plans with the aarp name and get more of what matters to you. (music ends) our future will demand more energy than ever. and with innovations in natural gas and oil, america can deliver. but washington keeps pushing extreme policies that limit america's energy. their plan? restrict oil and natural gas produced in america. government mandates for how we fuel our cars and cook our food. a future where energy could be less reliable and more expensive. tell washington - stop the extreme policies and let american energy deliver. >> republican nsenators calling on the white house to freeze the oil money from iran in order to get back prisoners in a prisoner swap. the fox business has confirmed that the u.s. and qatar have agreed not to transfer any of that money for now after the devastating hamas attacks on israel. the white house not confirming that and says that they have no direct evidence tying iran to these attacks. "the new york times" backing up what the "wall street journal" first reported. general petraeus and i talked about this. very specific reporting from both of those papers outlining involvement that iranians were involved. the leader of hezbollah held an hour's long online meeting in march with an elite group of strategists from all the iran backed malitias and told them to get ready for a war with israel with a scope including a ground invasion that would mark a new era according to participants from iran and syria. so with that, let's bring in louisiana senator john kennedy who is part of the judiciary and appropriations budget and banking committees. good to have you with us very much for being here. the breaking news that we're following right now is what has happened to a hospital in gaza city. hamas is blaming the idf for that bomb. they are saying that they do not target hospitals and they're looking in to whether or not it might have been a hamas misfire. your thoughts on what this could mean for what comes next in this conflict, senator. >> i reject the proposition that hamas is free to intentionally target israeli children and women. but israel somehow morally is not entitled to defend itself and go after hamas. yes, there's casualties. they're unintended casualties because hamas is refusing to allow many of the palestinians to leave. i think we need to ask ourselves, martha, why are we here. we have to be honest with ourselves. america has a president who is not a defense hawk. america has a president whose administration is frankly more interested in discussing whether a man can breast feed than it is talking about national security. put yourself in the shoes of our enemies, russia, iran and china. what do they see? they see an american that is president, cut and run from afghanistan. our enemies see an america whose president refuses to give ukraine the weapons that it needs to win. our enemies see an america whose president refuses to enforce the sanctions on iranian oil and has tried to give the iranians over not $6 billion, but $10 billion. i could continue. the point is our enemies have included that american has a president who is a bit of a wienie on national defense. she and putin and the ayatollah think they can roll over him like thunder on a summer night. that's why we're here. peace through weakness never works. these are hard men. they interpret being a nice guy quoting soccrates to them, they interpret that as weakness. that's what we've done, quoting socrates to our enemy while in a bar fight. that's the way i see it. >> martha: let me ask you about a piece of senate business or issue before the senate. that is the senator menendez situation. it's relevant to what we're discussing right now. he's been accused of conspiracy with egypt essentially accepting gifts from egyptians and there's a lot of discussion about arms in those weapons, in part of those deals and bribery and all of that acting as a foreign agent for egypt is in the basket of what's being discussed here. john fetterman, the senator from pennsylvania, sent this out today on social media saying would it be awkward to attend a classified briefing on israel when you been accused of being a foreign agent for let's say a country like egypt? asking for a friend, he says. what do you say to that? >> well, my understanding is that senator menendez has stepped down from his role in the -- on the foreign relations committee. in light of the recent amendment to his diamond -- indictment, it be allowed if he can attend secure briefings. >> martha: does he need to step down or are you confident -- >> i think everybody is innocent until proven guilty. if i were in his shoes, i would probably step down. but that's a decision he's got to make. >> martha: senator kennedy from louisiana, thanks very much, sir. good to have you with us. >> you bet. >> martha: so democrat congress woman rasheeda talib hammering president biden today for failing to "deescalate" the situation in gaza following this attack at a hospital where hundreds are feared dead. we're live with the very latest on this breaking story in tel aviv next. she runs and plays like a puppy again. his #2s are perfect! he's a brand new dog, all in less than a year. when people switch their dog's food from kibble to the farmer's dog, they often say that it feels like magic. but there's no magic involved. (dog bark) it's simply fresh meat and vegetables, with all the nutrients dogs need— instead of dried pellets. just food made for the health of dogs. delivered in packs portioned for your dog. it's amazing what real food can do. >> martha: breaking right now, reports that the meeting that was to happen between president biden and palestinian president mahmoud abbas, abbas has backed out of that meeting with the president who is leaving shortly for the region. that has happened following this attack at a hospital in gaza that reportedly killed hundreds of people. this is the latest video that we have coming in. you can see the sirens surrounding this area. this is in gaza city. we've seen them taking bodies out of this area as well, a lot of discussion about exactly what happened here. the answers that we don't know exactly who is responsible for this. so let's go to lucas tomlinson who is on the ground in israel in tel aviv. hi, lucas. >> hi, martha. the palestinian health ministry is blaming an israeli air strike that killed the hundreds of people. there's unconfirmed reports that it was a rocket launch that fell short. palestinian house representative talib saying that we remember where you stood. last night hamas released their first hostage video showing a 21-year-old. here's reaction of that video today on the streets of tel aviv. >> i have nothing to say. i just -- i pray for her to come back very soon. it's like they rain our soul again and again and again. every day. we're strong. i know we will be okay. we will win this. >> the carmel market in tel aviv is normally packed with people 11 days after the worst terrorist attack in israel's history. not many shoppers today. this mother and her daughter describe the massacre. >> it's the second holocaust. that's what i feel when i heard about the terrorist that came inside our home and killed and murder. >> i heard about some girl that i'm learning with that kidnapped. i can't imagine what he's going through. >> now president biden will arrive here in israel tomorrow. one of the key questions is what will it take for the united states to get involved. we asked a cashier at that today. >> would you like to see the united states and forces here in israel? >> of course. we want you to help us. >> has the united states done enough? >> i think yes. they bring two ships to here. i think they're doing enough for now. >> one of those ships the young man was talking about is the u.s.s. gerald ford, the largest warship in the world making her maiden deployment. the pentagon said that that warship will be extended in the mediterranean. >> martha: thanks, lucas, in tel aviv. we bring in jahmile jaffer from the national security institute and former associate white house counsel to president george w. bush. thanks for being here. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: i'd like to get your reaction to mahmoud abbas cancelling his meeting with president biden. president biden is leaving this evening for israel expected to sit down with the region's world leaders, this decision by abbas is based in this attack that has happened at the hospital which hamas claims was from the idf, from an idf missile. what is your take on it? >> it's obviously premature for abbas to be cancelling meetings with the president of the united states particularly given we don't know the facts. we don't know if it was a hamas rocket that went off course, whether it was an idf strike that was misaimed. nobody is intending to strike a hospital and killing innocent civilians. that's not what israel does. it may not be what hamas wants to do for its own people. i would note hamas is telling palestinians to stay in northern gaza at the very time that we know israel is about to make a ground incursion. that does suggest some amount of lack of respect for their own palestinian civilians lives on the part of hamas. as they showed for israeli lives when they killed 1,400 civilians in a single day. >> martha: what do you think the president's goal is to going to the region right now? >> the president wants to make clear that we support our allies and demonstrate the concern the united states has for the people of israel and the casualties that they suffered in this terrorist attack. at the same time, he also wants to demonstrate the u.s. is there, we're present and we won't accept any other bad actors, including iran's proxy in hezbollah and see if they can do anything about what is likely to be a serious humanitarian crisis on the israeli side and palestinian side when israel comes across the border in particular because hamas has told their own people, stick around, city here. we want to see you die so we can blame israel. >> martha: what do you think iran i next move is? >> iran is in the heart of this conflict already. they're the primary funders of hamas. they have killed hundreds of americans on the ground in iraq but supporting hezbollah. they're in this fight already. if they make any moves forward, they need to understand and the u.s. needs to be serious about coming after them if they do this. the problem is that it's not clear that they will be intimidated by the two aircraft carriers in the mediterranean. we don't stand by our red lines. we didn't do so in syria and don't support our allies in afghanistan. there's a record of the last three presidents not making our adversaries afraid. that's a real concern when we talk about iran and their tendency to push us around. >> neil: thanks, jahmile. great to have you with us today. thanks very much. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: i want to bring everyone avenatti tension to what you saw. let's bring that video back up, this is the breaking story we're covering right now. let's take that video back of the attack that we're watching outside the hospitaled in gaza city. this is brand new video that we are getting in. you can see the ambulances moving about. we have seen people moving from place to place in this area. sirens all around. we've seen people carrying what looked like bodies, maybe patients from this hospital from one spot to the next. so we continue to get in brand new pictures of the attack on a hospital in gaza under determined who is responsible for this. this is -- you're watching the latest video that we have coming in from gaza city. unique images that we're just starting to get a look at after this enormous attack where hundreds of people reportedly are dead in a hospital in gaza. also breaking right now, calls for protests in front of israeli embassies across the world as a result of this attack at the hospital in gaza. let's check in with greg palkot who joins us live in israel at the lebanon border in the northern part of israel. hi, greg. >> martha, we are pouring over these reports about the possible hospital hit as you are now. palestinian health officials as well as hamas officials claim that the israeli defense force air strike hit a hospital in gaza city. they are claiming as many as 500 people were killed in this incident. if they are correct, it would be one of the deadliest single incidents of violence in this trip. israeli defense force officials are not saying that they are part of it. they say they're investigating, looking at it. they don't necessarily target hospitals. so they wouldn't be a part of it. as you note, march that we are seeing images of bodies and injured individuals being carried out of that hospital. i just saw a video which according to "the washington post," they have shown a strike on the hospital, which they said coordinates with exactly where the hospital is. again, we don't have folks on the ground there. we don't have independent sources. we do have the world health organization associated with the u.n. they have been calling this an act of extreme cruelty to those civilians on the ground. you're right. it's having repercussions around the region. various countries like qatar criticizing on the bases of these reports that this act was done and you're right, there was the planned meeting in jordan between president biden and the president of the palestinian authority, the president of egypt and also the president of jordan the palestinian authority. the palestinian authority president says he will not attend because of this. others are saying it's too soon for him to be pulling out. other possibilities that have been ventured by journalists on the ground that in fact it could be a hamas rocket that misfired or fell short. we don't have that hard confirmation. what we do have is the potential for a very serious humanitarian crisis and the timing couldn't be worse with president biden coming tomorrow and he's got to deal with these reports, figure out what is right and what is wrong. serious stuff, martha. back to you. >> martha: indeed, greg. thank you very much. there is some social media reports that are crossing. this report saying that idf is saying that a rocket barrage toward israel passed near the hospital in gaza city when the hospital was hit adding that they believe that palestinians jihad is responsible. that coming in in one report. that is a tributed to idf. so, you know, i'd urge caution as we wait to get more information on this. you know, each side is saying the palestinians are saying israel was responsible for the attacks on the hospital and israel is suggesting that it may have been a palestinian islamic jihad. we'll continue to give you every update as they look for evidence of whose rocket that was. no doubt in any case, a tragic outcome at a hospital in gaza city where they say they're recovering hunts of bodies. we'll keep you posted as we get more this afternoon. meantime, there is quite a bit going on on capitol hill this afternoon as well. trey gowdy weighed in on the battle for the gavel that is playing out in the house as we wait for the next round of voting. we'll be right back. right, you have to do it yourself. in 2015, my dad had the idea to revitalize american textile 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might to have another vote later tonight. they say this will get better for jim jordan. jim jordan would like to have a vote tonight. that is the plan. they get one jordan supporter back tonight, a republican of florida that was out earlier today. he will be back tonight. i spoke with another source that said this could get worse for jim jordan. some republicans voted no. they may start to drive a movement here. there may be others that would vote against jim jordan on a second ballot. they were willing to give him a chance on a first ballot but could be worse on a second ball lot. we don't know. it all depends on the timing. i speak with former house speaker kevin mccarthy a few minutes ago after the vote failed for jordan. >> you threw your support for him. do you feel bad for him? >> no, look, don't overread in to this. this is about the same vote i had on my first vote-out. i think we'll sit down and talk to people. there's a lot going on. we had a vote on the floor. didn't get to the whole point. we'll take a break, talk to people and solve it. >> that's the vote right now. he got 200 votes. he was well short of the 2017 he needed to have on the floor to be elected house speaker. a number of protest vote there's. one was carlos jimenez, a republican from florida. he voted for kevin mccarthy. listen. >> do you see anyway you'd change your position, change your vote? >> in the future? yeah. but right now i'm not changing my position. i think jim jordan's tactics of pressure and intimidation and misinformation, i'm not saying he did it but his supporter has not helped jim jordan. >> that's why there's some republicans now that realize that might be very challenging get a speaker of the house elected today or tomorrow. there's some republicans that say maybe this jim jordan ship has already sailed. that's why they want to move on. martha, this is why there's conversations about perhaps trying to pass a resolution to empower the speaker pro tem patrick mchenry. they're starting to get worried the house is paralyzed and can't address the middle east and also cannot fund the government in four weeks. >> martha: that's the least powerful job in washington at the moment. maybe he needs the power temporarily. thanks, chad. chad pergram on capitol hill. joining me by phone, former south carolina congressman trey gowdy. great to have you with us. you hear what's going on on the house floor right now. what do you make of it? >> i think congressman jimenez put his finger on it. it's not jim jordan. jim jordan was pretty well loved five years ago. he's much better loved now. i don't think this is about jimmy. it is about his supporters. that is what i am consistently hearing up to and including in the last hour. it's not jim jordan. it's the fact that kevin mccarthy was the victim of a drive-by shooting orchestrated by a small group of people and stevie scalise got one crack at it. what they said to stevie, you had your chance. you couldn't get to 217 and 218. now it's not your chance anymore. look, politics is always fractured, martha. but what they're doing in the room right now is really -- they're trying couples counselling for people that want to kill each other. having a marriage in family counselor for this level of division and these fishers, i cannot overstate how angry some republican members are with jordan supporters. not jordan. his supporters. >> dig in to that a little bit for us. you may not want to name names. chad has given us the same indication. the amount of vitriol and anger is so intense. peel it back in terms of what they're saying, what they're so upset about at this stage, trey. >> well, i mean, it's -- it's personal. it was personal with kevin. i can't tell you why. i can't tell you whether it was an ethics investigation. one person moved to get rid of kevin mccarthy. >> matt gaetz. guess who nominated kevin? guess who defended him until the very end? jimmy jordan. guess whose vote report is almost indistinguishable from kevin mccarthy? so people are thinking, you took him out solely because you could, you dethroned someone only because you could. so it is really hard for people that love kevin mccarthy and you can insert stevie scalise's name in there. steve scalise -- surviving cancer right now, survived an attempt to kill him in a congressional baseball practice and said you get one shot at being speaker? you have poured your heart and soul in being majority leader and you get one vote? we're already talking about a second vote for jimmy. that is more than scalise got. >> martha: it looks pretty crazy to most people watching this situation. you know, i don't know what these folks want in terms of solutions at this point. it looks increase. >> i think you'll see patrick mchenry through january and then they'll have to have a reckoning about whether or not you'll let a small group of instagram influencers rule out. >> martha: if you're going to make someone the speaker pro tem, you have to delineate how you let him function in that job. if you're in the job temporarily, you have to have a certain amount of power in order to facilitate the wheels of progress in the house. so we're going to watch that closely. trey, thanks so much. always great to have you with us. >> congrats on beating southern cal. >> martha: thanks very much. good game for notre dame. all right. let's go back to our top story. this just in from the idf saying in part, intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicate that islamic jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in gaza. trey yingst joining us now in southern israel with what he is learning on all of this. hi, trey. >> martha, good afternoon. earlier tonight, there was an explosion at the hospital in gaza city. reports indicate more than 500 people were killed. immediately hamas came out with a statement blaming israel. but we understand according to an israeli investigation tonight, they believe an islamic jihad rocket misfired during a barrage targeting central inreese, went up in the air and landed in this hospital yard, killing hundreds of palestinians inside gaza. this is a significant development regardless due to the fact that palestinians are reportedly rioting in the west bank and also in jordan outside of the israeli embassy there. we understand the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas has cancelled his meeting with president biden tomorrow. gives you a sense of how tense things are. the information flow of what has been taking place. the latest information we can confirm according to the israeli military, a jihad rocket was fired towards israel, fell short inside the gaza strip landing in the hospital yard and killing hundreds of palestinians. that is according to the israelis. hamas blaming israel for the explosion. >> martha: we're seeing stunning scenes from there. everybody is watching this video. you can see cars that have smoke coming out of them. people moving, bodies around in this complete chaos that is unfolding right now in gaza. we spoke earlier to mark, a closed a vicar to prime minister netanyahu. he said it would not be a target for the idf. it would have been a misfire if indeed it were theirs. he wanted to know if this was a misfire on the part of hamas or as you're reporting islamic jihad, which now appears to be the case. it's very quick turn around. so i'm curious how they identified that this missile had come from islamic jihad. do you have anything on that yet, trey? >> so the israelis have a variety of intelligence inside the gaza strip and above the gaza strip when they're gathering using drones and other pieces of sensitive equipment. just to give you a sense of how often rockets misfire inside gaza, it's about 30% of the time. one time we were in gaza city in 2019. islamic jihad fired rockets at israel. one slammed in to the building next to ours in gaza city. immediately hamas came out and blamed israel. but upon further investigation by our team, with us clear this was a misfire. so this is certainly applausable explanation. more information will come out in the hours ahead. we do expect to learn more about what exactly took place and what type of evidence the israelis have. >> martha: trey, thank you. it's been a very long day and we appreciate you joining us again on this breaking news of this attack on the hospital. we'll see if there's an impact on the next plans for israel in terms of their offensive. thanks, trey. that is "the story" for today. we continue to watch the breaking news out of the israeli war against gaza. we watch it unfold. see you here tomorrow with more on "the story" tomorrow.