Transcripts For MSNBCW Alex 20240703

Terrorist assault on israel this weekend has climbed to at least 22, and that number may rise on top of that, tragic news. The white house announced today another 17 americans remain unaccounted for. And the white house expects the number of known american hostages taken by hamas to we know that a number of those americans are being held hostage right now by hamas. I think we all need to steel ourselves for the very distinct possibility that these numbers will keep increasing and that we may, in fact, find out that more americans are part of the hostage ctpool. Hamas is believed to have taken around 150 hostages, and the group is threatening to execute those hostages one by one in retaliation for israeli air strikes that hit gazans in their homes. The scale and the brutality of this crisis is without modern precedent. Today m as israeli troops clear the sites of hamas attacks near gaza, the scope of this weekends violence became clear. Soliers were seen recovering scores s of bodies. 260 People Killed dancing at a Music Festival. Families killed in safe rooms or at bus stops just going about their daily lives. Today the u. S. Sent the highest serving diplomat to israel in a showis of support. President biden publicly addressed the war for the third time. Today netanyahu and his top political rival formed a unity government in the israeli parliament. Its something that would have been unthinkable just a week ago. But today with hisus former political rivals at his side, netanyahu gave a speech vowing every hamas member is a dead man and that israel would crush and destroy hamas. To that end, last night the first plane carrying american ammunition arrived in israel against the backdrop of the Israeli Military amassing tanks and troops near the gaza border ahead of an expected Ground Invasion. Here is nbc news chief Foreign Correspondent Richard F Engel o those front lines earlier today. Reporter israels Defense Minister promises whats coming next will remain gaza forever. We will reach all places, he says. Hamas wanted to change the situation, it will change back 180 degrees, and they will regretee this moment. As the Military Buildup picks up pace, israel has declared the entire area around gaza a military zone. Israel has brought in enough tanks and armor for a fullscale ground war and is now mobilizing the more than 360,000 reservists called up for national service. A new phase of this conflict is about to begin, and therell be many casualties. Today hamas launched rockets past israels iron dome Defense System hitting the coastal city of ashkelon. At least 1,200 israelis have been killed since this weekends aing tacks, 2,700 more injured. In gaza the death toll is at least 1,100 people with more than 5,300 injured. That number includes multiple medics and at least nine United Nations employees. The toll of this war on civilians will almost certainly almost get worse. Mo israel is blocking food, fuel, and water from entering gazas densely populated region, while egypt has shut its Border Blocking Theut only Evacuation Route fornl civilians to escape gaza. That means all 2 mill anyone people that live in gaza are under siege, which makes the task of fighting hamas while avoiding civilian casualties nearly impossible. Asne david ignaceous writes in the washington post, Israeli Forces will be counter attacking through aou maze of tall buildis laced with hidden garrisons and booby trapped passageways. A former official told the post,to hamas must have anticipated that israel would attack gaza in revenge for the attack. What defenses did they prepare . Hamas dont wear uniforms, they hide among civilians and now hostages. And hamas may be planning for this stage of attack for quite some time. Me after shattering israels sense of security, hamas is declaring it has won, and it may continue toit declare victory No Matter What comes to pass. From the New York Times today, it remains unclear whether the high cost to u civilians will bw back on hamas. Even when hamas attacks first, gazans tend to blame izal for their misery, and many have been throughen so many wars fatalism prevails. Every war no matter how many palestinians die, hamas will come after it and say we are victorious. Joining me nowre is my friend a velshi reporting live from tel aviv ande israel. Ali, itssr great to see you. I know we have a site delay, so let me get to it. Just the staggering, deeply distressing and scarring videos were seeing of this attack, the aftermath of Israeli Security forces clearing bodies, recovering the lost who died in the course of this Terrorist Attack. How is that Shaping Public Sentiment in this moment . We know this was bad. The extent of the brutality seems to increase exponentially every day. Its incredible. How would yous think after we first saw on saturday it would be worse on sunday and on monday and on tuesday and wednesday, but it actually is. And it is Hardening Sentiment in thisha country. In fact, for many of the israelis with whom ive spoken, its not a matter of defeating hamas, its a matter of flattening gaza. Its a matter of doing this in a way it never comes back. I spokey to a man today who Wa Around Gaza who said i want them all gone. I want theman to go to their friends in iran and in egypt. This is our land, we want it to be done that way. I have spoken to other people, though, who have spoken to the military. Military service is compulsory in this country who have said a war, a Ground Invasion of gaza is going to be treacherous for Israeli Soldiers. However, the israeli population is united around this. The government is even theyve got a unity government they formed today between the left and the right. The division here is whether or not the effort to go into the Ground Offensive which richard was talking about earlier, or it should all go to rescuing the 100 to 150 hostages that israel believes are being held by gaza. The families of those hostages want the Hostage Release to be priority number one, and thats part of the issue here. They dont want this war to begin with. Because theyre quite convinced theres a war already, t but once the Ground Invasion begins their loved ones will be human shields. Their lovedma ones may be kille and m videotaped and filmed and sent out as propaganda. Thats what the division is. Thered nobody who thinks hamas shouldnt be dealt with or there shouldnt be a war. Its about this hostage situation. You and i talked about it last night. The only thing thats evolved here is those troops are amassing around that military zone around the border, and the situation in gaza has become much, much worse because of the lack of food and fuel there. Their electricity is now 100 gone. Ali, i understand the desire on the part of those families of those taken hostage to prioritize those men, women and children. Of course i know you havent spoken to every person in israel, but Givey Me A Sense H Well Israelis recognize the irreconcilable nature of hostage rescue. Have people i dont want to use the term made peace but do they accept one cannot go hand in hand with the other . Reporter yeah, again, this is a country in which everybody serves in the military. So theyre all trained. They all understand this. Since 1973, israel has seen wars in between, but it hasnt seen this degree of catastrophe, nor has it seen what is likely to come. Theyres all conscious of it. Theyre all aware of it. Its a little bit different than the Split Sentiment in america during the afghanistan and iraq wars where a a lot of people didnt have connection to a o soldier or an american dying over there. Thats not the case here. Everyone is in this one way or another. You choose to live in israel or come to israel knowing full well youll serve in the military. No one is under the misconception if israel goes into gaza and does that Street Battle in between those Apartment Buildings and those Perhapsng Booby Trapped Buildin Thatob many, many Israeli Soldis would die. And in fact as you know you put the death toll of civilians, people realize if theres a Groundea Offensive the death to offf soldiers will be very high. Thats a very sort of thats something Israelis Internalize when their soldiers are killed because it feels like a national effort. Yeah, theyna know if this Groun War Ensues lots and lots of or at least many Israeli Soldiers will die in it. Theyre still prepared to undertake it. Just incalculable loss all around forwards and backwards. Ali velshi, great reporting. Please come back and talk to us what youre seeing and hearing. Joining me now is eamon mohyeldin. Hes extensively covered gaza. Great to see you. Ive been wanting to talk to you since this war began. The idea of defeating hamas, it seemss, at once quite obvious a yet unbelievably elusive because at this point hamas seems to be as much as organization as it is an ideology and one that apparently if you read the New York Times will claimu victor No Matter What. I think if the goal is to destroy the organization itselfi there are certainly tactical ways israel has tried to do that in the past. If you look what israel has done repeatedly in 2016, even before that, it has gone after hamas very aggressively. And we should be very clear about that because Israeli Military officials, certainly retired ones have been clear aboutd that. Theyve killed the spiritual leader of hamas. Theyve killed senior Military Commanders within hamas militaryn wings. Theyve killed financiers that tried to raisein money for hama bomb makers, drone makers. And theyve gone inside into gaza in 2014. This wouldza be the fifth war i the spanh of 15 years in which israel has gone into gaza and tried to destroy it using air power, everything it has. And every time hamas has shown itself to be resilient and in some a cases come back, bounced back with stronger capabilities as weve just seen now. This is the deadliest. To your point there is an argument to be made if you go in this time to reoccupy gaza, you could perhaps destroy the structure of the organization. If you study palestinian history and look at the militant groups over the years you would see an evolution in which one organization is defeated or destroyed, another oneat evolve in its place. That is the fundamental issue here. Because hamas ise an ideology that builds itself on a central tenant of claiming to be a Resistance Movement to israels occupation, there is always going to be an ability to recruit from palestinians and get support from countries like iran who buy into that and are able to take it to the next level or next organization or next generation of fighters. Regardless whether they call Themselveshe Hamas or something else. Exactly. You are one of the very few people i o know at least on tv thats actually resided in gaza. You understand the architecture of that region. There is the sort of ideological battle against hamas, the tactical battle against hamas. And it seems i wonder if you could explain a bit more what Israeli Security w forces, defed forces are facing as they try to round out hamas fighters from such a densely populated area. Yeah, theres two layers to the challenge. And i was based as a correspondent in gaza from 2008 to 2010. I covered the operation and subsequently wed go back for variousd operations that happed there. In the t 2008 war israels challenge was to essentially cut gaza in half, to try to separate the northern part of gaza which is densely populate from the southern part of gaza, which was more farmland but also had refugeesad and densely populate areas. In Addition Toed moving around these densely Populated Areas with tanks, armored personnel carriers, airre power, over the last several years hamas has been able to develop a complicated and d sofist waited network of tunnels underground. And in that capacity, it was able to penetrate israel, cross borders, lay booby traps for them as theyps moved in, certaiy in the northern part of gaza like the Refugee Camps and elsewhere. And it made it very difficult for the israelis to not only take gaza but take and move within gaza. In the operation back in 2008 andk 2009, they did successful control the entire territory. They divided the territory in half with their tanks and armored personnel carriers, but once they were in there, they stayed out the urban centers. So it was easy for hamas at that time to withstand the pressure. Obviously if they go in this time theyrey not going to rept that. They want to go into the urban areas to weed hamas out. Thats where hamas wants the fight to be tactically, and thats where the danger is going to be for Israeli Soldiers and the civilians who have not gone out. And hostages. And hostages. Its important to remember the thing Aboutme Palestinians Who Y want to leave and may not want to leave and i heard an earlier guest on the show say this, that 60 of palestinians that live in gaza are descendants of two generations of palestinians either expelled from their homes or removed from their homes between 1968 and 1987. So as a result palestinians who may want to leave, maybe a large part ofle it, but there will be palestinians who say this is our homeland and we know what happened toho us in 67, we kno what happened in 1948 when we left our homeland as refugees, we were never allowed to return. Let me askto you a question. Theres a lot of talk whether or not egypt will open up a humanitarian corridor for those gazans who wish to live. Given the lackis of resources, e electricity, the water, the bombing of hospitals and so forth, thats theres probably still a sizable population that very much wants to get out. Absolutely. And we saw that previously. Are you at bullish, optimistic egypt will be convinced to open up the humanitarian corridor here . C im not convinced. And theyve not done in previous wars. And the object egypt provides previously egypt has taken the position if they opened the corridor for palestinians to leave, they would become responsible for the refugees. And they have learned from neighboring countries what has happened when other countries havepp taken refugees i are abandoned by the international community. He egypts position has been well not absolve israels responsibilities for the people of gaza by accepting them into egypt and a ultimately being th only party responsible for themf there are no guarantees if the Spal Stinnians Leave Gaza to go to egypt theyll be allowed to return to their homes. As a result of that egypt has taken the position the only way to deal with this crisis is through ay multiparty agreeme ive been watching the language of american officials, jake sullivan, admiral kirby, even secretary blinken today before he head today the region was very clear were trying to work on something. What that w looks like i think will be very telling, but i dont see the Egyptian Government now unilaterally changing a fundamental principle it has held onto in four previous wars. They may offer w relief, certai amounts of people to come through, but theyve never opened the border to allow hundreds of thousands if not a Million People to come and reside in the peninsula. You are a wealth of informationre and such valuable perspective in this moment. Thank you, mye friend, for joining me on set tonight. When we return were going to speak to one of The W Survivorsf the Terrorist Attack on a Music Festival in Southern Israel near the gaza border. Well have more on one womans harrowing journey. That is next. Journey. That is next there is a better way to manage diabetes. The dexcom g7 continuous Glucose Monitoring system eliminates painful finger sticks, helps lower a1c, and its covered by medicare. Before using the dexcom g7, i was really frustrated. All of that Finger Pricking and all that pain, my a1c was still stuck. Before dexcom g7, i couldnt enjoy a single meal. I was always trying to outguess my glucose, and it was awful. 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Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. It has been five days since hamas launched a Terrorist Attack on Israeli Citizens near the border with gaza. Journalists have finally begun to access the communities that were first attacked, and horrific details are now emerging about the atrocities that took place. Nbc news Foreign Correspondent raf sanchez got a glimpse of the devastation near the border. Reporter terrorist arrived at the gates just before 6 00 a. M. On saturday. Unable to get through they lay and wait for israeli civilians to arrive. Today we walked through those same gates. This is the main entrance. Following a trail of horror spread across this small israeli farming commune. The scenes of destruction here are stagger. The Israeli Military says 40 hostages were held in this house. Six soldiers were killed trying to liberate them. And ultimately you can see the house completely burned out. That harrowing scene resembles the site of an outdoor Music Festival in Southern Israel where Hamas Terrorists killed at least 260 attendees and kidnapped several others. All that remains are a few tents and burned out cars in a place where thousands of young people like mila gathered to celebrate the jewish holiday. Early saturday morning she and her friends were among the Festival Goers who fled the event, running through a nearby field as Hamas Terrorists closed in on them from all sides. They called police for help but they were told they were on their own as they hid in the bushes. Six hours later she and her fellow survivors were found by a stranger who was rescuing people in his car. Joining me now is mila who survived the attack. Mila, thank you so much for being here. I am sorry to have to ask you to account what happened to you. But i think for the purposes of understanding what you and many people in israel have been through, i really appreciate it if you could talk to me about how you first realized you were under Terrorist Attack. Yeah, thank you for having me. Its really important for us to let the world know what is going on right here right now. And so we went to a party, probably 6 30 we start hearing we have to either run or lay down on the ground. It took us it took us a few minutes to understand that its more dangerous situation than usual because we do have a lot of rockets flying towards us. Its not really unusual for us. And after a few minutes we realize we have to get out of there. I got to the car, my friend started driving like crazy. Everyone was really wasted and helpless and confused. Its a Music Festival. Its not a situation when somebody obviously never you never expect this might mare to happen. And we started driving, but one way we had rockets shooting and the other way more terrorists shooting at us. We realize we have to get out of the car, started running towards the fields. The rockets never stopped. The shooting was from everywhere. No matter where we run to, we saw other people screaming, coming to us saying theyre shooting at us. They were on cars and motor bikes, and they just they never stopped shooting. It was insane. I saw a lot of people falling down. We understood we had to after two hours of running everywhere, we couldnt run anymore. And the shooting was on us, above us. We could hear the whistles and the screaming in arabic, and so we hid in that place im showing right now, in the bushes. Yeah, we tried to reach the police. They did want to help us, but they just they told us that were going to level with you, you dont understand whats going on in israel right now. So many people are being kidnapped and so many villages are being taken over by terrorists, and so youre on your own. A lot of friends around us we could hear them screaming. We just thought im sorry to interrupt you. But that moment when the police said you dont understand whats happening in israel, this is violence thats happening All Over The Place and youre on your own, what went through your mind when you heard that . I was really scared and sad. Honestly, i understood the police. I wasnt mad, but but, yeah, helpless. How did you make it i mean you were effectively on your own for six hours, and i wonder what those six hours were like with you and your friends in the sight of just devastation and murder. We stayed silent. We held hands. We prayed. Every now and then we started crying, but we realize we have to stop because we dont want them to hear us. You could hear them around us. We didnt know if its i dont know if 5 feet away or 10 or 20. We had to stay still. We realize we have to find a way to get out of this, so we send messages to our family and friends with our location, but at the same time we told them that we loved them, and told them i was happy with the life i had. We didnt think we were going to make it. May the memory of those you lost in this be a blessing. Thank you so much for joining us and telling our country what it was like to witness and survive a brutal, brutal attack. We are Thinking Of You and everyone who has been affected by this. Thanks for your time. Thank you. When we come back, among the victims of this weekends Terror Attack in israel are a number of americans. Their stories are next. Americans. Their stories are next whenever heartburn strikes. Get fast relief with tums. Its time to love food back. Also available tums sleep support. We planned well for retirement, but i wish we had more cash. You think those two have any idea . That they can sell their Life Insurance policy for cash . 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I want my daughter and my granddaughter back. I beg of every official there think of them as if they are your daughter and your granddaughter. 17yearold natalie and her mother judith have been missing since saturday afternoon, shortly after hamas launched its attack on israel. The two women are more from the suburbs of chicago and were visiting relatives for the recent jewish holiday. Now their family and Community Fear the two may have been kidnapped or worse. A 19yearold dual citizen serving in the israeli army has also been missing since saturday. His father has urged President Biden to, quote, take an active role as much as possible. According to the white house at least 17 americans in israel are currently missing or unaccounted for, and so far 22 americans have been killed. Americans including Debra Mattias in her last moments shieldled her teenage son with her own body in order to protect him. Mattias was on the phone with her father as they were gunned down. A 27yearold soldier grew up in both israel and the u. S. His funeral was held this morning in central israel. His aunt back in connecticut told usa today she felt shattered and hopeless. Killed by hamas near southern gaza. He was a peace activist, someone committed to building a more peaceful future for both israelis and palestinians. His Doctoral Dissertation at the University Of Washington was dedicated to, quote, all life forms that exist between the jordan river and the mediterranean sea. Today speaking at a gathering of Jewish Community leaders, President Biden warned the dead and says hes not given up hope on finding those who are still missing. What are you doing to get these folks home . If i told you, i wouldnt be able to get them home. Folks, theres a lot were doing. A lot were doing. I have given up hope. Coming up ahead this hour Steve Scalise could be the new Speaker Of The House maybe. As of now House Republicans dont seem to be in any particular rush to figure that one out or address the unfolding crisis in israel and gaza. Were going to have more on that right after the break. Were going to have more on that right after the break. man mm, hey, honey. Looks like my todo list grew. Paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get Life Insurance, hm. I have a few minutes. I can do that now. Oh, that fast . Remember that Colonial Penn ad . I called and i got information. They sent the simple form i need to apply. All i do is fill it out and send it back. Well, that sounds too easy man give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. They dont ask about your health . man no health questions. Physical exam . Dont need one. Its Colonial Penn guaranteed acceptance whole Life Insurance. If youre between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if youre not in the best health. Options start at 9. 95 a month, 35 cents a day. Once insured, your rate will never increase. A Lifetime Rate Lock guarantees it. Keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. As long as you pay your premiums, its yours to keep. Call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. Theres no obligation, and youll receive a free Beneficiary Planner just for calling. Its really, really important this house get back to work and select a speaker get to 218, and get the houseworking again. The first order is going to be a strong solution expressing support for israel. Amid the ongoing war between israel and hamas, the United States congress is still without a Speaker Of The House. Today republicans held an anonymous closed door vote to decide who should be the next candidate to lead their conference. House majority leader Steve Scalise of louisiana won that Secret Ballot defeating congressman jim jordan by a vote of 11399. It is not the 217 that scalise needs to secure the speakers gavel, but there are indications some holdouts are ready to line up behind him. Congressman jim jordan has said hell personally nominate scalise to be the speaker. And rightwing congressman matt gaetz who led the effort to oust the previous speaker, a man named Kevin Mccarthy, has indicated hell also support scalise. But again absent any democratic support, the next republican leader can only afford to lose four republican votes. And already some republican members have said theyll not vote to make Steve Scalise the next Speaker Of The House. Joining me now is former Obama Campaign manager and msnbc political analyst David Plouffe in the flesh. And former u. S. Senator, also an msnbc analyst the great claire mccaskill. Is there any chance democrats do anything to help republicans get out of a mess of their own making here . This is the republicans problem to solve. And what a message with whats going on in the middle east, another Government Shutdown looming, urgent questions about how government needs to handle a. I. , and these folks cant even nominate a speaker. And given whats happening right now, the promises im sure scalise is going to have to make to secure the votes should scare us all. Yeah, claire, i wonder what you make of the backdrop of the israelhamas war and the republican is the right Word Ineptitude dates getting their act together and figure out a how to lead their conference, and b, assist in something that is of great importance. I think this shows this is ineptitude because typically when theres a Crisis Parties set aside some of their differences and come together to unify around causes that are more important, frankly, than, you know, whos the next speaker, do they have 217 or 218 votes. Theyre not doing that. I mean lets count the ways the Republican Party is not uniting right now with democrats in support of israel and against the atrocious Terrorist Attack of beheading toddlers by an extremist group. First, we have a republican senator who will not allow the confirmation of our most important military leaders. Next, we have a Republican House that cant come together long enough to even pick a leader to allow support for israel to pass through that legislative body. And then tonight we have the remember former president , republican president , criticizing israel behind a podium at a political speech. So it is frankly amazing to me that anybody in the Republican Party would be critical at all of the democrats and their support for israel and the president and his support for israel when this is going on in wide open view of the entire world. Yeah, lets talk about the trump of this all for a minute, david. Trump endorsed jim jordan who only got 45 of their republican conferences vote in this closed door session. It was a Secret Ballot. And i find this quote from the gop Consult Wantitant in the post sort of ironic. Having outsiders meddle in Insider Elections never goes well. What have yall been doing for the last eight years . Do you read anything into the fact that trumps pick effectively did not win, went nowhere . Is there more to read into that other than, oh, well a Secret Ballot is useful in finding out how republicans feel. It continues his losing streak. Since the 2016 election hes kind of lost everything. He lost to joe biden in 20. A lot of his Senate Candidates he lost in primaries across the senate. So the losing continues. I think what it shows is, you know, theyre kind of like jello in public. Maybe behind the scenes they dont march entirely to his drum, so its really pathetic actually. So it shows maybe a little bit of inclination, but obviously hes heading to be the republican nominee absent some surprise, which could happen. Still time for some surprise. As claire remembers back in 07 really in october barack obama was given up for dead by most republican observers. I think to claires point when you listen to that parade of horribles, there are going to be voters out there who may be unhappy with joe biden. And when you see the republican around, completely so dysfunctional and so irresponsible, i dont think its helpful to him at all. You think this satrue reflection point how voters cast their ballot. I dont know. A lot could happen. We have 17 political lifetimes between now and when votes start being cast between this time and next fall. Its not helpful. What of Steve Scalise as a potential Speaker Of The House . Hes certainly on paper more radical than Kevin Mccarthy even though hes positioned in contrast to jim jordan as someone more moderate. Its interesting to me they were going to try to rush a vote today, and all of a sudden Steve Scalise hit a pothole, and it is unclear to me hes going to get the votes he needs. Im not sure this will be resolved tomorrow or even the next day. Its not going to shock me if we end up having another third party candidate. And all of this dysfunction in the Republican Party really hurts them and hurts the republican nominee for president. But i would also say i want to underscore the point david made. I came to the u. S. Senate because a president was very unpopular over the iraq war. So depending how these hot spots play out both ukraine and now israel, that really remains to be seen. And joe biden cant escape one thing. He is the president right now. And to any extent these wars devolve into long, painful exercises that may involve American Life before its all over, i think its way too early to decide whats going to happen next november. Yeah, david, could you elaborate what youre feeling in terms of the war . We know there are american casualties, likely american hostage. Were sending over military support. This is not going to be a war without any american fingerprints on it. And how risky is that for joe biden . Well, its risky, but i think you just have to do the right thing. In speaking every day, he probably should continue to do that and inform people about what were doing to help with the situation generally, with these american hostages specifically. So you just to stay on it. And the politics i think you almost have to set aside, having worked in the white house its the last thing on your mind. You know, theyre working 24 hours a day, theyre feeling the pressure. Lives are at stake, and if you do the right things and take it seriously and again this is the thing about trump, he doesnt take the pandemic seriously or anything seriously. As tricky as the situation is, it doesnt guarantee at all a positive outcome. You know theyre going to make good decision and do everything they can to try to get as positive a result as possible. As positive as, i think thats the key part of that phrase. Claire, david, thank you so much for your wise words and assessment of this insane situation. I appreciate your time. We have one more story for you tonight. Republicans as we said cannot seem to coalesce around a house speaker, but they have settled on at least one response to hamas brutal attack and it involves blaming President Biden. Were going to have more on that coming up next. Biden. Were going to have more on that coming up next goli, taste your goals. Today the Biden Administration gave a classified briefing to members of congress about the ongoing israelhamas war. That briefing was intended to keep members updated about the ongoing crisis. And joining me now is someone who was in the room, connecticut democratic congressman jim himes, also the Ranking Member of the house intelligence committee. Congressman, thanks for being here. I know theres not a ton you can divulge about that meeting, but republicans walked out of it suggesting the president is in denial about irans role in the israelhamas war. Can you shed any light about any assessment or intelligence we have about irans potential involvement here . Yeah, i mean i think i can because i was in that meeting. And i can tell you that the very first republican who stood up to ask a question of the most serious people in our National Security establishment, the people looking at photographs of murdered and decapitated israelis, the people contemplating Hostage Situations and what happens if theres a larger regional war, the very first question from my republican colleague and im not going to divulge who it was is how can we how can my constituents get more tactical here to the israelis . How can my folks get vests and guns to the israelis . Thats where that meeting went. And of course there is a legitimate amount of ambiguity about precisely what irans role was in the last couple of months. By the way, larger question this is really obvious, right . For decades iran has been training and providing weapons and money to hamas. So nobodys arguing about that, but you see the focus on joe biden and the use of the word denial shows you where they are when in a local crisis. Which is at all costs, we have some legitimate cross currents, information not clear where were hearing one thing from one person and other things from other people about exactly what iran knew. But my deeply unserious republican colleagues decided what really matters here is attacking joe biden over something around theres a great deal of ambiguity. Yeah, theres no shortage of republican criticism being launched at President Biden. Ive got to ask, though, in terms of your assessment how the Biden Administration is focused, do you get their top priority is freeing american hostages . Where do hostages rank on the list of priorities here as the white house engages with Prime Minister netanyahu . Alex, thats not the way the world works. The world doesnt work where we say were going to make our hostages the fifth priority. The reason these people so rudely treated by republican colleagues today are ozexhausted as they are theyre trying to do a whole bunch of things at once. There are multiple number one objectives including making sure iran has the munitions sorry, that israel has the munitions and support they need at a very perilous moment. Yes, a top priority is trying to identify where all the hostages are including most importantly the american hostages which is profoundly serious and difficult undertaking. Hamas is not stupid. They showed it through this attack. These hostages are almost certainly dispersed and wellhidden and stuff. This is moment in which very serious people are doing very serious things, and it just stuns me in a political body like i am in right now that my republican colleagues would have the hootspa to attack the president and the president s people. At a time they cant even elect a speaker so the house of representative cans be functional. It just defies the imagination. When we talk about republican behavior inside that meeting, theres multiple reports about republican Derek Van Orden from wisconsin acting belligerent and yelling at Biden Administration officials during that meeting. Can you elaborate on that . Look, i dont want to spend a lot of time on that. I told you the story about how we can get more Tactical Gear to the israelis. But, yes, the representative stood up and absolutely obliterated all these people who had taken two hours and probably hadnt slept in five days and it was just you know, look, i understand people are people. Youve got internal emotions. You need to find someplace to vent those emotions. When were in National Crisis is not the moment to take up very serious peoples time with the venting of your own emotions. Well, the strategy defies logic if it is even a strategy. Congressman jim himes, thank you for your time tonight. Appreciate it. Thank you, alex. That is our show for this evening. Way too early with Jonathan Lemire is coming up next. This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty. Not just hate, pure cruelty against the jewish peop