>> we're continuing to follow the breaking ns in the middle east, where the israel-hamas war is poised to enter a new phase. just one week after hamas executed that horrific and seismic terrorist attack on southern israel, 1400 people have been killed in israel so far. and more than 2300 in gaza. 29 americans were also killed, and 15 remain missing, according to the state department. today, the prime minister conveyed his emergency israeli cabinet, and said that hamas thought we'd be demolished. it's we who will demolish hamas. that's after three senior israeli military officers were telling the new york times that israeli forces are preparing to invade the gaza strip in the coming days. their ultimate goal, according to the reporting, is to capture gaza city. destroy the enclaves current leadership, and wipe out the top political and military hierarchy of hamas. the risks are high here, for israeli troops, as they face the challenge of urban warfare and a narrow and tightly packed gaza. they are also -- roughly 150 innocent people being held hostage, who will likely be moved through a maze of tunnels, high-rises, rubble, and bunkers. the situation is increasingly dire in gaza. just in the last hour, national security adviser jake sullivan says he's been informed by his israeli counterpart that they have turned the water pipes back on the southern gaza area. that's good news, but the humanitarian crisis is still spiraling out of control, and will only get worse in the hours and days ahead. ahead of -- become a mass shelter, with 35,000 people seeking refuge inside. israel urged the entire population of northern gaza, which is more than 1 million people, to evacuate to the south. but the united nations called this order impossible, and displaced gazans are described the conditions of inhumane. >> -- without food, and even without toilets. he added, my dream is to stay safe with my family. my kids every day say, dad, we want to go back home. the united states is working to also gets to 600 americans who are in gaza out. secretary of state antony blinken is in kabul right now, where he's working to get egypt to open up the rafah crossing, to let americans and other foreign nationals leave. if he delivers remarks this hour, we will bring those to you immediately live. secretary blinken's visit to egypt comes on the heels of his meeting this morning with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman. these meetings are part of a world wind trip for secretary blinken across the region, as he and you other officials -- and do everything in their power to contain this conflict. over the course of the next two hours, we will be covering all aspects of this war, from what is happening today to what might come the day after. joining me now is ben rhodes, who's a former deputy national security adviser to president obama. he's also an msnbc contributor. ben, thank you so much for being here with us this morning. i want to start with some of this new reporting, because according to the new york times and three israeli officials,we w ow a little more about israel's war plans. knowing the land of gaza, the tunnel system, the hostages and civilians. as you read that, what does that look like once israeli troops go in? >> it's a pretty maximalist option, jen. i mean, there have been in the past considerations of more limited incursions into gaza, they might try to target certain leadership or try to rescue hostages. the complete destruction, essentially, of hamas as an organization. both its military and political leadership. that is going to be deeply embedded in the civilian population. that is going to require essentially taking that city street by street, and this really is -- i think what a lot of people anticipated, it is a full scale ground invasion of gaza. >> part of their objective is to wipe out the military hierarchy of hamas. to wipe out hamas. there were some strong words prime minister netanyahu said on that this morning. is that even possible, to wipe them out militarily? it's an ideology, in any case. >> yeah, it's an objective that is -- you can try to decapitate, essentially, the military wing. they can say we know who the several dozen senior commanders are, we can charge who might be an active militant in hamas. but essentially, it would be hard to say where that ends. how is it going to be defined? is it a sympathizer to hamas, somebody that might be targeted? will israel need to do some process of detention, need -- around military -- there are lots of ways to -- just you might be included in this. and i think that speaks to the risks involved. obviously the risk for israeli troops going in, i'm sure people in hamas have been prepared for a ground invasion for a very long time right now. and obviously there's just tremendous risks that you spoke about of sleeping on the sidewalk, no access to supplies, that's before the ground invasion. so this is about to really escalate in ways that are going to be quite challenging for all the human beings involved, on either side of this conflict. and i think given that objective, it means it's going to go on for at least several weeks, if not in two months, jen. because the complete destruction of hamas is something that's going to take a long time for israel and gaza. >> secretary blinken is on a bit of a whirlwind trip right now. he is in cairo, will take his remarks live when they start. you plant a lot of these trips, i've been on a lot of these trips as well. what are these objectives behind the scenes, as he's meeting with the saudis, the egyptians, going back to israel tomorrow? >> well, i think if you take egypt, first of, all he is clearly focused on those american citizens that they want to get out of gaza, that seemed to have had trouble at that rafah border crossing. again, i can only imagine how chaotic this scene is at that border crossing, but that's part of it. then i think he's also going to be discussing, i hope, how to get humanitarian support into people in southern gaza. remember, the israeli govern hrn or encourage palestis to move to the south. that requires -- that's going to create even greater humanitarian needs there. because you're already dealing with massive surges of food, of water, if you can get humanitarian quarters to get through into southern gaza, that has to come to that border crossing. but then i also think anticipating what maybe this very large ground invasion, there may inevitably be significant numbers of palestinians displaced into egypt. and now and that creates requirements and needs for the egyptian government that may find itself hosting a large refugee population that it doesn't want to host. i think it also creates complications for the palestinians, because they don't want to leave gaza. because they fear that if they leave gaza, they won't be able to return home again. like what happened to palestinians in lebanon and jordan, a permanent refugee status that is shut out the palestinian identity. so all of these short term issues around americans and relief are on the table, but so is this long term question of what happens if there is a significant displacement of palestinians there, and what does the future of this entire conflict look like? >> which is one of the big questions here. you immediately mentioned the water being turned back on, we're facing a humanitarian crisis as you mentioned with the people of gaza. beyond the water being turned back on, what are the other things, even as the united states is very supportive of israel and their response here, what are the other things they can push them to do privately, that would help ease the humanitarian crisis in some capacity? is there anything they can do? >> well, i think that's if you hear the u.s. messaging, and look, it's all started of a place of understanding the profound trauma and anger that israelis feel after the horrific attack by hamas. we always have to start from that baseline. i think the things that are being counseled in terms of alleviating the humanitarian situation, you do want to allow water in. you do want to allow food in. you do want to really try to get humanitarian support in, potential quarters in egypt. but ultimately, it depends on the conduct of the war, and you've heard president biden say repeatedly that we want israel to act in line with the laws of war. and that's basically a reference to not engaging in collective punishment on the people of gaza. the vast majority of whom are not hamas. that's what that reference means. you want to see the conduct of potentially this ground invasion and the continued air strike to take maximally into account the civilian harms. and that's, i'm sure, an ongoing conversation between the united states and israel. there is a way to do this where israel goes in and flattens a lot of the city. without regard for civilians, or there is a weight, a difficult way militarily and tactically, to try to take a more incremental approach, even throughout a ground invasion. and so these are, i'm sure, discussions that will be taken place. general lloyd austin was there recently, the secretary of defense, i'm sure these are all conversations but it really matters. there are different ways that this could look in the days ahead, and the choices made in gaza are going to affect how it escalates. it's going to affect the -- in the region. it's going to affect whether the west bank explodes. it's going to affect potentially whether hezbollah gets into this. so it's important for humanitarian reasons, but it's also important for that regional conflict that the united states really doesn't want, and i don't think israel wants either. >> one of the ways this could explode is of course the engagement of iran, which obviously could happen through hezbollah, which is a proxy for iran. iran's foreign went minister warned that they will not remain a spectator if israel proceeds. there are engagements with china who has some leverage over iran, what are the points of leverage the united states has to prevent this conflict from exploding beyond the conflict it currently is? >> well, i think that the biggest point of leverage are those two aircraft carrier groups that were sent to the region. that's unmistakably a message to iran. now, what people have to understand is that there are different ways that iran might get involved. it provides obviously support for both hamas, but also i think more significantly, to hezbollah in the north. hezbollah in many ways is the stronger iranian proxy for us here. and so a husband's own decision-making it is, i'm, sure guided in part by dialogue that they're having with iran. they may make their own choices, but they're close with the iranians. we've seen reports, jen, in the last 24 hours or so, of potential israeli strikes in syria at airports and places like aleppo. that's maybe trying to disrupt iranian shipments into hezbollah. but in the past, israel's taken military action to try to disrupt the resupply of hezbollah. and so that is a form of leverage. that's a warning, potentially, we see what's happening. do not think about escalating your support at this time. and i think there is also probably messaging taking place. the united states, this conflict is truly global. and there are countries like china and others that iran may listen to. secretary blinken listened to saudi arabia. mohammed bin salman did a phone call with the president of iran just a couple days ago. that's a very, very unusual occurrence. so i think it's not just the united states messaging to try to keep this from escalating, it's probably other regional and global leaders. >> ben rhodes, you've been in all of these rooms. there's so much to discuss, thank you for being with us this morning. we're keeping a close eye on the cairo airport what we're expecting remarks from anthony blinken. we'll bring those reports live for you as soon as they began. for you as soon as they began. this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ listen, your deodorant just has to work. i use secret aluminum free. just swipe and it lasts all day. secret helps eliminate odor, instead of just masking it. and hours later, i still smell fresh. secret works! ohhh yesss. ♪♪ new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. the power goes out and we still have wifi whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. 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. >> iran has warned israel that home of the xfinity 10g network. -- cannot remain a specter. i was just talking with ben rhodes about this, as israel prepares its ground offensive into gaza. over the past week, israel has been exchanging proxy with hezbollah -- is in cairo. we're waiting for some possible remarks from him. we'll bring that to you live when it happens. he met with egyptian president abdel fattah al-sissi earlier today, and before that he wasn't -- meeting with the saudi crown prince muhammad bin salman. the state department said that blinken focused on halting terrorist attacks by hamas, securing the release of hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading. secretary blinken heads back to israel tomorrow for his second visit since the start of the war. -- joins me now, she's a reporter from over 80 countries, including the camp david o -- we've been on a lot of foreign trips together as well. so, at least, we'll bring secretary blinken's remarks to everyone as soon as they start, but i just want to start with this ground offensive, which we're all preparing for. and part of the objective that is been stated by israeli officials is they want to destroy hamas. but, you've been covering the middle east so long, is that even possible militarily? how should we be thinking about this? >> they can destroy what hamas has in gaza, and they can destroy the leadership, and the military capability. but we've seen, they've gone in and we've been talking about this. 2009, 2014, and now when you see the brutality of the attacks, they're kind of -- to quote the biden administration, build back better. and so they're coming in more brutal, and these people are growing up in the shadow of this situation in gaza. and so i think not only are you going to have to look at what's going on in gaza, but you -- there has to be, and everyone's been saying this and i think the israelis also recognize that there's going to have to be a parallel track where, whether it's an international trusteeship that takes over gaza for a while, some peacekeeping forces, you also have to look at what's going on in the west bank, because israelis now we're going to see -- are they going to get on a bus and worry about a suicide bomber? are they going to sit in a café? the conflict is not limited to gaza. so they can take care of the situation on the ground there, but you also have to think about what they're going to create in its wake. >> there's a real fear that exists across the region right now. i know you've been talking to a lot of your sources in the middle east, and one of the big questions here, even as we wait for this ground offensive, is what does the day after looked like? and what is the impact of this, both in terms of an expansion beyond the borders, and what the reactions could be. what are you hearing from your sources about that? >> people are talking about let's stop the conflict that starting. they're not confident, the u.s. is not confident it, the israelis aren't confident that it won't spread. if you see the warnings from iran, the warnings from hezbollah, we don't want to escalate. but if this goes on very long and we see what's going on in gaza, we will. and so if that becomes a hot front on the north, and then you have the hoodies in yemen that are dying to launch missiles are against the israelis, then you have a regional war. you could see the border with saudi arabia and yemen spreading out, and it's going to really bring in all of the region. and the u.s. says it doesn't want to get its troops involved, but the biden administration is sending to carriers to the mediterranean. they're not just going to sit there, if there's a regional war. >> the regional proxies are so important for people to understand, i think. because in addition to hezbollah, you did mention the houthis. some of these groups want justification for getting engaged here. they want validation, justification, we told them that we wouldn't get involved unless they proceeded. which seems like, what, these ronny and sourcing. is that how you are hearing this as well? they're waiting for their moment, or what is going to hold them back? >> i think what's waiting for them is what iran is going to tell them to do. they're all proxies of iran. hamas is not a proxy of iran, but certainly they're taking some cues. they're funded, they're trained, they're supported -- >> wouldn't exist without them. >> i think what everyone is telling israel right now, and this is what secretary blinken is hearing across the region, as you said, you and i have been on enough of these missions to know that they're saying things very strongly and in public. but they're just a strong in private. they're saying that israel needs to be very careful about how they execute this war. listen, nobody in the gulf, nobody in the arab world likes hamas. and they're saying, we understand that there needs to be a new dynamic where hamas is not as strong. they don't like the muslim brotherhood who -- those are the origins of hamas. they want to get rid of that group. but how many terrorists are you going to create in your wake when you do this? the day after, i think, is really what they're thinking about. and the humanitarian situation in gaza, the way the -- you heard van talk about. this can you be more strategic? can you be more targeted? can you think about where you want to end up at the end, where does this end up? i think that's really what the u.s. is saying. even beyond let's pay attention to international law, let's let humanitarian aid in. thinking about the war, where does this end up? >> you and i have been a part of a lot of conversations with the state department. it doesn't stay everything, and the u.s. didn't say everything that's happening privately. >> you've been on the end of -- >> i've been on all ends of this as well. and i'm curious, from covering this as long as you have, what do you think? how different or these conversations privately, from what you're seeing in the readouts? what's the level of detail, or the additional warning? you've touched on a little bit of this, or advice that tony blinken and others are giving during these conversations? >> first, i think what he's hearing from the gulf, and we've been hearing about this saudi normalization deal. is it on, is it off? >> what do you think? >> i think it's on. you heard lindsey graham just say that he's going out to saudi arabia. he told -- he's going out to saudi arabia. he's been a real champion of this deal. he used to hate the saudis, then he said a saudi israel deal could be the best thing that happened to the region since sliced bread. so he's being very careful about what the saudis are saying, and paying close attention to that. but he is going over there. that deal is very much at play, but again, and i spoke to arab officials in the region and they say what happened, this shocking change in the region, this new dynamic, shows that piece is more important than ever. the saudis do you want this deal, but it is going to be very important how israel, not only undertakes this, but whether they allow the palestinians -- saudis want this. so the question is, take yes for an answer and keep that in mind when you're doing this operation. >> we are still watching this, the cairo airport, were going to listen right now. >> we came here with four key objectives. to make clear that the united states stands with israel, to prevent the conflict from spreading to other places, to work on securing the release of hostages, including american citizens, and to address the humanitarian crisis that exists in gaza. we started, as you know, in israel. and it was important to make it very clear that the united states has israel's back. we will stand with it today, tomorrow, and every day. and we're doing that inward and also in deed. i talked with prime minister netanyahu to go through the needs that israel might have to make sure that it's going to effectively defend itself. and you've already seen a lot of that assistance moving forward. and that's a conversation that will continue. is real has the right, indeed it has the obligation to defend itself against these attacks from hamas. and, to try to do it it can to make sure that this never happens again. as i said in tel aviv, as president biden has said, the way that israel does this matters. he needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have. or even life, and human dignity. taking every possible caution to avoid harming civilians. after we left israel, we went now to about six countries in the region. jordan, bahrain, qatar, the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, now here in egypt. and the purpose of seeing all of our partners was first and foremost to listen to that. to hear how they're seeing this crisis, and to look at what we can do it together to deal with many of the concerns that it's raised. i've heard from virtually every partner was a determination of shared views. >> what just happened? at least, we heard secretary of state tony blinken speaking there at the cairo airport. i heard him say and reiterate what we've heard from president biden. there were standing behind israel, we're standing behind israel. i think the question is, for how long? i want to know what -- we have your back. but now that language about paying attention to humanitarian concerns, do this with international law, that part of the message is getting a little clearer and a little louder. and so when you say we have your back, what does that mean? success of administrations have tried to let israel know that we do have your back. part of being an ally and part of being a friend is to tell you what you really need to hear, and you've heard about how the u.s. has learned a his lessons. there is a lot ofthere is a >> we need to think about what we're doing, and do it in a way that keeps everybody -- >> elise, thank you for sharing your expertise. you have a great piece in the political, i encourage everyone to check it out. we'll discuss all of the factors at play when it comes to the u.s. role in this war. what we just heard from secretary of state tony blinken, also as the house of representatives enters another week without a speaker, we'll talk about that too. we're back after this. talk about that too. we're back after this. we're back after this. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. - [narrator] power outages are unpredictable, inconvenient, and disruptive to your life. posing a real threat to your comfort and safety. when the power goes out, you have no lights, no refrigeration, no heating or air conditioning. your well or sump pump won't work. your modern daily electronics are rendered useless. and what if the power's out for days or weeks? 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( ♪♪ ) my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. the biden administration's strong response to the surprise attack on israel has won praise from around the globe this week, including from some of the presidents toughest republican critics. the i've been on all of these trips before, and it's showcasing how the administration is doing the best they can to do this in realtime. in contrast, the u.s. house of representatives remains effectively shut down, thanks to the -- >> of the republican majority. despite nominating jim jordan, there are no closer to electing the speaker than they were last week. susan glasser wrote on the new yorker this week, the chaos party it appears is going to keep on casing for a while. this unseemly spectacle of eternal republican disarray could hardly have come out of more embarrassing moment for the party. i'm joined now by adrian mitchell, she is foreign affairs correspondent for nbc news, and susan -- a staff writer at the new yorker. before we get to the dysfunction here, i did want to start by asking you both about secretary blinken's remarks. i want to start with you, susan, because they're walking a very tricky tightrope. you've been on these trips, i've been on these trips, the objectives they're laying out, standing by is real, worrying about the hostages, preventing this from spreading, dealing with the humanitarian crisis, those can be conflicting about. tell us a little bit about what you thought about his remarks, and what is trickiest there? >> well, first of all, this is a moment in time and a part of the world where it matters. and i was really struck by the fact that secretary blinken is doing what has become expected of a secretary of state in the middle east, which is to show up. he's been, as you pointed now, to six countries. i believe he's going to go back to israel to meet once again with prime minister but netanyahu. is this an intensive type of diplomacy that we haven't seen in recent years. and it's a reminder, by the way, that no matter how much you want to pivot to asia or somewhere else, that the middle east tends to get -- american presidencies into their consuming dysfunction. i think the trick for the secretary and for president biden is, how do you hug israel close while at the same time being able to serve as a kind of honest intermediary with what you're hearing from the gulf ally and partner? it's going to be tested this week with whatever military response we see. >> that's very tricky. andrea, we've been on a number of these soft trips together and you've covered the region for many years. the secretary in egypt today, i want you to start their own what you think his objectives are there, and ask you about israel because he's going there tomorrow. what are you hearing from your sources? >> in egypt, it's get that rapla crossing open. he was promised and announced yesterday that that was going to open, and the american citizens could leave and others could leave. and egypt never delivered. what we're hearing is also that hamas is blocking some of it. but egypt clearly wants better guarantees that there aren't going to be terrorists coming through, embedded with the others. they want more guarantees. they probably want more money, they're looking for that from the u.s., from the saudis perhaps. but they're looking for a better deal for them, by saying that the road is in rubble and they can't get out. it could be fixed by now, so the fact is egypt's not on board yet. so that has to be done. maybe it was done during these meetings. you go back to jordan, and on to israel tomorrow. the important thing is also to get the border started. jake sullivan was saying today is that the water's going to be delivered. what people in europe and around the world are seeing is the administration in th >> the savagery of hamas's attack becomes a fading memory to populations in europe that are -- just constitutionally anti israeli to start with. there was a great deal of empathy and sympathy for israeli citizens. the dual message, we're standing with israel, israel has a complication, they have need, we have to take out hamas. they can't have hamas, which is now equivalent to ices living next door. but, and the big but they're saying privately, it's very important, i'm sure he's going to say tomorrow in israel to netanyahu. he sing it all over the region. they have to do this according to the rules of law. and that means not collective punishment for what are the innocent palestinians who were not all, by every experts account, not all palestinians are aligned with hamas. there hasn't been an election since 2006. it's a whole generation that has grown up and grown up with hostilities, and they may be more militant that other populations. but they're not buying into the hamas leadership that triggered this. >> many of them are refugees from past wars. even as secretary blinken is walking this tricky tightrope, there's a lot of dysfunction here in washington. and the house is coming back this week, there is a bipartisan support for additional assistance to israel. but they're kind of stalls. can you explain, because he wrote an article about this. continue chaos, -ing is the quote from it. what is the impact of this? what kind of assistance might be stalled that israel really needs, or humanitarian assistance for others who are suffering? >> it really is an irony here. republicans in recent years have literally sort of stumbled over each other in an effort to be the most pro israel party, and to be the most vocal defender within that party. and yet they're sort of hamstrung. they can't even pass token resolutions to support israel, because they literally can't function right now in the house of representatives after they allowed a small faction of eight members of the party to take out the republican speaker. they've been unable, it's going to be almost two weeks, since they did that. they've been unable to come up with a replacement. now we're in a situation that i just find absolutely remarkable, which is that there was an election inside the house republican conference this week. steve scalise, the number two republican won that election. he won a majority of his colleagues, but what he couldn't do was win over the entirety of this very divided republican faction. so now what's happening, the guy who lost that election has now emerged as the candidates. and so he's saying that his colleagues, jim jordan is saying that his colleagues should fall in line behind him. talk about the sore loser caucus. i just find it remarkable. so first of all, of course, jim jordan was a key proponents of donald trump's lies about the 2020 election. here he is, the sore loser, basically saying i deserve the right to become speaker now, even though the guy who beat me in the election, he -- it's a remarkable turn of events. >> what they may have to do is short term, get the -- two agreed to empower patrick mchenry. empower him to be a speaker pro term and get something to the floor to do a big ukraine and israel supplemental, to get some things done to a discharge position. to get that moving, because this is critical and i think you'll find democratic and republican support to pull that together and get past the 2:17. >> and meanwhile, we're just all waiting to see what additional aid is needed, and it's things that are stalled here that could have an impact, including assistance to ukraine. so it certainly is a lot to watch. it's such a pleasure having you both here and sharing your expertise with us, thank you so much. we have so much more breaking news coverage of the war between israel and moscow coming up, stay with us. el and mosco coming up, stay with us. coming up, stay with us. ugh, this guy again... pops! ay son! ya got a little somethin' on yuh face. needed a quick shave. quick shave? 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[music playing] >> will we still do not know the specifics of israel's planned large-scale offensive into gaza, its leaders have been unequivocal about the operations particles. on friday, after meeting with the u.s. defense secretary, the israeli defense minister stated plainly we will destroy the rule of hamas. we will eliminate the military capabilities of hamas, we will make sure this threat does not exist on our borders. it will be lengthy, it will be lethal, it will be powerful, and it will be forever. earlier today, prime minister netanyahu echoed that sentiment during the first meeting of the emergency israeli cabinet. during the meeting, he vowed to demolish hamas. the outstanding question is what will an operation like this entail? and more importantly, if it's successful, how can the region build piece out of the destruction of hamas? joining me now is -- he's an american diplomat who's worked in multiple presidential administrations, including the u.s. special envoy for under bill clinton, and special assistant to president barack obama. there's been so much focus on the ground operation, understandably, because we're all waiting for it. you spent so much time working in israel, working in the region. i wanted to ask you the larger question about what the goal of his really leadership and the israeli government should be at this point? >> i think the key is to understand that is real not only experience is unbelievable, unprecedented shock, but that requires them to sort of change in their own mind what the policy has been since 2009. since 2009, the policy has been we know who hamas is, we know what their ideology is, but we can live every couple of years with having a conflict that is manageable, because in relative terms, that costs us less than going back into gaza. they got out of gaza, they don't want to go back in. but what they discovered is they had their own 9/11, only worse. because they lost the equivalent of 30,000 here, and it's still ongoing. so there's a sense, and the quotes from the defense minister and from netanyahu reflect a sense that we can't live with us anymore. we have ices next door to us. you have the secretary defense saying what you saw, that it's worse than ices. so their attitude is, we can't live with ices next door. and that's -- what does it mean in practice? it means decapitating hamas, trying to disarm, it demilitarizing gaza, and then that's going to require, if they've succeeded in removing hamas, then it's going to require some sort of international -- an interim administration, which in my mind needs to include maybe the egyptians, maybe the uae, maybe some countries from europe. you're going to have to have a reconstruction plan, it has to be tied to demilitarization, you have to be able to monitor all of the materials coming in. you should plan an election in 6 to 9 months, so you actually produce something very different in gaza. it's interesting, there was a video called whispers in gaza, which was quite impressive, because it was -- you had an animation, and the voice is disguised, but you had people living in gaza who described what it's like to live in gaza under hamas. and the stories are, as you might not be surprised, they're horrific. and so if you are afraid of hamas, and that remains to be seen, but if you're free of hamas, then there's a potential for something a little different. but you have to help them make sure that you don't just -- we know what it is to change regime and leave the vacuum. so you really have to be planning for the day after the day after. even if i understand clearly, you don't telegraph all of this now. because you're sending a signal to hamas, and that's that you don't want to be doing that at this stage. but you really do have to be doing the planning right now and thinking ahead about who could play this role, how do you do it, what are the mechanisms you need to monitor everything coming in. and then how do you ensure that -- i'm >> in the planning for the day, after i know we just heard secretary of state tony blinken speak about his objectives on this whirlwind trip that he's in in the middle east. you've been part of a lot of these conversations in the past as well. even though it's not being stated publicly, there are so many private conversations happening. what did those sound and looked like, as the united states is trying to prevent hezbollah from expanding they're incursions, the houthis in yemen, i was just discussing that with elise. other proxy groups, iran, what do those look like? how do we possibly contain an explosion in the middle east? >> so, you're obviously operating at several different levels. you have an immediate concern. the immediate concern is the people you're talking to, the leaders you're talking to, they're going to say here's what worries us. how can you address it? right now, obviously, they're saying we need to ensure that there is some humanitarian corridors for palestinians so that the pressure on palestinians, a public bid, as i was just saying, they had little use for hamas. how do you ensure that you minimize the death and destruction there? and it's going to be hard, given the nature of what gaza looks like. and i've spent a lot of time in gaza. this is not a place where fighting is easy or you can easily ensure that civilians aren't going to be the victims of this. but that's one level of concern. the second level of concern, especially for the civilians will be that were concerned about that, but we also can't a hamas. when -- that means that ideology of rejection also winds. that puts all of us on the defensive. so there's that conversation as well. >> i was just going to ask you, before i let you go, because there was some news this morning and that is real, they have turned the back. -- we there's still more than 2 million people who are looking to be displaced, who have nowhere to go, power, generators, what else would you like to see israel do in this case? >> israel identified several areas in gaza where they wanted people. and then they have revised that by saying move to the south. there can be areas in the south where quarters can be built so that humanitarian assistance can be brought in to those areas. if you're encouraging people to go to those areas, then also facilitate the delivery of humaniri the same time. it is in israel's interest to be able to demonstrate that were fighting hamas. we are not trying to punish the palestinian people. it's a very hard balance to strike. as i said, we still have to put this in context. this is i.c.e.'s next door. and it's not like when we acted in mosel, it's not like we were preoccupied with the humanitarian side of that. so you can understand the israelis are going to -- the whole world is watching. this is what's happening in gaza, and it's more visible than what happened in mosel. >> the whole world is watching, which is going to have a big impact on the days and weeks ahead. thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. so many pieces of writing people should explore and read that you put out over the last week as well. rachel goldberg is a mother of three children, who lives in israel. her oldest child and only son is named -- he is 23 years old. he was one of hundreds of people at a music festival near israel's border with gaza when hamas terrorist attack. -- he managed to escape by a car, until it came under fire. they were forced to stop to take cover in a roadside bomb shelter, which was also attacked by hamas. it's believed that part of his arm was blown off before he was put in a pick up truck and driven towards the gaza border. it's now been a week since he and many other hostages have been heard from. rael has been writing op-eds and speaking out in hopes of her sonreturning to her. one particular passage from her new york times of that really stuck out to me. the op-ed is titled i hope someone somewhere is being kind to my boy. quote, if he's still alive, how much longer can he rvive? his wounds are grievous, i hope someone somewhere is being kind to him. caring for him, attending to him. rachel goldberg joins me now. >> rachel, i know -- thank you for being here. and your op-ed was incredibly powerful. as a mother myself, i can't imagine how you're feeling right now. i know you are in the car right now, meeting with a group of u.s. senators who are in israel right now. what can you tell us about that meeting, and was there any hope or information they were able to provide to you? >> well, the meeting itself was really wonderful and validating. because all of us, all of the families of hostages, american hostages being held, have felt that the administration and congress has been outstanding. very available, very moved. we know we're standing with them and their standing with us. and what they want to tell us is that they've been meeting with israeli counterparts and a lot of the meeting people who they can't tell us about. and we respect that. we understand that obviously when you're dealing with a very delicate crisis situations, you can't share with everyone what you are doing. and we respect that process. but we're also all completely traumatized, completely sleep deprived, completely in an unimaginable place. everyone keeps saying i can't imagine what you're going through. i keep saying i can't imagine what i'm going through. so, of course you can't imagine what i'm going through. we are living near -- the families of hostages are living in a hell. you can see us and we can see you, but we don't live in the universe that you're in any more. and it's a really tough and painful place. >> i appreciate you telling your story. it requires an enormous amount of strength for you to be out here. so, thank you. i know that hurst texted you before he disappeared, saying i love you and i'm sorry. and police told you that the last location of his phone was on the gaza border on saturday afternoon. -- have you heard anything from u.s. officials, from police since then, or anything from israeli officials? >> our israeli officials have let us know that he is listed among those who are abducted and are being held hostage. that that's based on the fact that the remains of so many, so many people that they have found, his remains have not been identified among those remains. and due to the three eyewitnesses who are in the bomb shelter with him, when hamas came to the doorway and through these grenades and sprayed the room with machine gun fire, they saw her's and these two other young men get up and be marched out and put on this pick up truck. he, as you mentioned, has a critically grave wound, having had his arm blown off. his left arm. he is left-handed, by the way. and we have no idea. we have no idea if he's alive, we have no idea where he is. we have no information at all. not beyond knowing that he was taken. >> we've been seeing pictures as we've been talking with you here, but tell us in our last moments here about your son. what do you want people to know about him, and how special he is? >> well, i think every mother feels that their only son is special. but for me, he is a gentle, kind, thoughtful, really curious, curious about the world, a voracious reader, a soccer fan, a respectful person. the perfect sun for me, and i pray every night and every morning for his return to be. >> rachel, we're praying for you and your son and your whole family as well. thank you so much for speaking with us today. for your courage, for your outspoken words on behalf of your son. we have another full hour of breaking news coverage straight ahead. stay with us. . whenahead. stay with us when this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ are you guys watching? this is my favorite part. you watching? are you watching? hank, shh! okay, time to get your own bed, hank. chewy has great prices. spoiler, his father's half man, half cyborg. hank! i'm just happy we're watching a movie instead of a baking show. shh! hope you like plaid. i do. who wants popcorn? 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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 >> it has been just seven days when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. since hamas carried out the worst terrorist attack on israeli soil in 15 years. brutally killing women, children, resulting in the most devastating loss of life -- as of today,