into gaza. breaking news at home, the house back in session in just two hours, are they prepared to vote a third time for speaker? >> how jim jordan's uphill climb is getting even steeper and the alternative that's gaining support on capitol hill. >> good morning, and thank you for joining us. it is 10:00 eastern, i'm ana cabrera reporting alongside my colleague josé diaz-balart for our special coverage and president biden back in washington at this hour preparing a prime time address to the nation this evening on his way back from israel overnight, he announced a deal to get humanitarian aid into gaza. >> israel has resumed its intense bombardment of gaza, video captured in gaza this morning showing civilians digging through the rubble of what was a home to rescue children. >> joining us now, nbc's richard engel in jerusalem, nbc's kelly cobiella is east of gaza at kibbutz in southern israel, and k we'll be checking in with our correspondent there in just a bit. let's start with richard and our reporters on the ground in israel. the exchange of fire between israel and hamas resumed after president biden's departure, are we also back in a moment of anticipation for expanded assault into gaza? >> we are at the -- yes is the short answer. we don't know exactly when israel might carry out that ground offensive. what we're seeing right now is, yes, israel is continuing its air strikes into gaza. it is continuing, it seems to go after hamas to soften the gaza strip ahead of a potential ground assault. the people in gaza are still cut off. they were supposed to get some aid coming in through the egyptian border, about 20 trucks. those trucks last word is that they are still on the egyptian side of the border. the people in gaza say they desperately need the air strikes to stop it, but they also need supplies. in particular, they're running low on fuel, and the fuel prices are going through the roof, people we've just spoken to in gaza say that gasoline costs about $35 a gallon if you're able to find it. on a regional level, there are very deep concerns that this could escalate not just into an expanded war, but into a war that changes the map of the middle east, a war on the level of 1948 or 1967, a boundary changing conflict, and there are efforts, diplomatic efforts underway to try and contain that, prevent another massive conflict here that has historical connotations, and a lot of the diplomatic effort right now is focused on a summit in egypt to be held on sunday. the jordanian king was in egypt today ahead of that summit. we've just got a readout of their meeting. they issued a statement saying that both egypt and jordan condemned the attacks on the gaza strip, and they don't believe that a solution to this crisis is to have the palestinians transferred to egyptian territory or jordanian territory. they want to see a diplomatic solution that perhaps sees a renewal of the peace process, recognizes arab and muslim rights to the city of jerusalem where i am now, and to try and slow things down before this gets even further out of control. so shuttle diplomacy ahead of a major summit in the new egyptian capital, the still unnamed new egyptian capital being built in the desert outside of egypt. according to a readout, so far those leaders who have agreed to attend are from qatar, turkey, greece, palestine, so the palestinian leader here, mahmoud abbas, saudi arabia, iraq, italy, cypress, the secretary general of the united nations. a major international event is being planned for egypt over the weekend to try and prevent this not just from becoming a regional war but from reshaping the map of the middle east. >> richard, you were just in the west bank yesterday 24 hours ago. we were talking with you, and there were scenes of clashes happening behind you, fires, smoke, violence, frankly. have things calmed down at all? what's your sense today? >> reporter: oh, not at all. there were more violent clashes in another west bank city further north about a two-hour drive from here north of ver mull la. latest officials, numbers from palestinian officials, not hamas officials. the west bank is run by the palestinian authority. ten people were killed in those clashes. tomorrow, friday, we're expecting demonstrations which could become clashes all over the west bank. there's a feeling that a new palestinian uprising or an enta fa da is brewing, if you look at the map of israel, israel's fighting from the air and potentially soon on the ground into gaza, israel's fighting in the north with hezbollah along its lebanese border. there's clashes growing internally in the west bank, and i think that's why we're seeing all of this diplomatic activity. this is already a multifront war. it just hasn't escalated to the level where it can't be dialed back. >> richard, thank you so very much for being with us this morning. and kelly, we're showing these live pictures right at gaza city, 5:06 p.m. local time, and there is a pretty substantial explosion that has occurred right in the middle of your screen, a huge gray and black smoke coming out from something that was hit very directly. i'm just wondering, kelly, richard was talking about these 20 trucks that are yet to be allowed in to cross -- to gaza from egypt, egypt and jordan have been very clear that they are not going to be taking in any palestinians that may want to leave gaza. why the continued struggle over opening that border crossing that is so critical? jose theref issues involved. israel has said all along they will not deliver any aid to gaza until the hostages are freed. that closes off a huge land border across gaza. the only border that can even be in question anymore is that border in the south from egypt into gaza. that's one issue. another issue, israel is afraid that that aid will get into the hands of hamas. president biden was very clear yesterday, he said if there is any sign of that, the delivery of humanitarian aid will stop another issue because of explosions close to the border, frankly the infrastructure is badly damaged. the road in on the gaza side is damaged, the crossing is damaged. and the man in charge of that crossing on the gaza side was killed in an air strike a few days back. we've been asking what is the timing of this, of these 20 trucks. really just a drop in the ocean in terms of what gazans need, what is the timing of those trucks to get in? it's still unclear quite frankly. white house national security council spokesman john kirby said we're looking at one or two days, as soon as that road is repaired. but even then, you know, people inside gaza, people in the south who have evacuated there say that it is a major undertaking just finding food and drinking water every single day. 20 trucks a day won't cut it. they desperately need more. that is what the united nations has been saying. it's not clear when that will happen. one more thing, i know richard mentioned the issue of fuel. that is not something that the israelis were willing to agree upon. this deal includes transport of food, water, and medicine, not fuel. jose, ana. >> kelly cobiella, thank you so very much. we continue to monitor those images in gaza where it appears the air strikes are underway this morning. obviously it's the afternoon there. we see more smoke coming from big buildings right there in gaza city. let's head to the white house now because president biden has since returned from his trip to israel. peter, what can we expect to hear from president biden's address tonight? >> reporter: this is actually only the second oval office address that president biden will have delivered in his time in office here, and i'm told by officials with the white house that the president is expected to make an appeal directly to the american people on the need, the significance of continuing to support both ukraine and israel facing the war first in ukraine from russia's invasion, and then in israel following the deadly assault by hamas, only a matter of weeks ago. the president is also going to be pushing congress. i think we'll hear the formal ask happening tomorrow, asking congress for an additional $100 billion we were told by multiple officials in what he describes as an unprecedented aid package that would help provide more military and humanitarian assistance to ukraine, to israel, but not just those two countries. also in the indo-pacific to taiwan facing real threats from china right now, and separately to help fund needs for border security here in the united states, an effort to try to tie these things together in hopes that that will be able to garner the necessary support in congress. speaking of congress right now, it's unclear when any of this could be passed given the stalemate, the paralysis we're witnessing right now with house republicans still having yet to pick a house speaker. that means they can't pass anything. they can't even bring to the floor any idea like this. i wouldn't be surprise ed if you heard the president push on this as well. the american public opinion polls demonstrate that the u.s. support of continued aid to ukraine has begun to weigh in over the course of the last couple years of the war there. right now americans according to recent polling strongly support u.s. standing beside israel, but there are real divisions, and right now the polling is unclear how much americans agree what that aid should look like and whether the u.s. should continue to fund israel, $4 billion sent annually. this could be a ton of additional money to help israel right now in this time of crisis. >> peter, how is the white house reading the president's trip? it was expected to be not only a trip showing complete solidarity to israel and the israeli people, but also some talk with egyptians and with jordanians, and that was dropped, you know, almost as the president was getting on air force one. how does the white house see the trip? >> yeah, you're exactly right, jose and ana. the president as he was on the tarmac, before he departed for the middle east, that's when we heard the palestinian authority president would no longer be willing to meet, would not be meeting with president biden in ayman, jordan, where it was supposed to happen. i'm told by senior officials that it was a mutual decision that ultimately the president would not go there. frankly, in conversations i'm having with those here at the white house, they feel very good about the way he has handled last several days in spite of the sort of difficult complications and difficult put it is very mildly, the awful tragedy we witnessed with that strike that took place at the hospital in gaza where hundreds of palestinians are believed to have been died. the u.s., of course, their intelligence backs up the assessment by the israelis that it was not an israeli strike but one by a separate palestinian militant group. they do feel that the president has been able to effectively deliver the message that the u.s. stands with israel, and they feel that he was able to do it most powerfully by saying those words that the u.s. stands with israel in israel. so they do feel good about that. but they have real concerns about what the day ahead will look like. that's why the president indicated the u.s. sought justice, got justice after 9/11 but also indicated there were mistakes the u.s. made, urging israelis not to follow that path, urging caution and restraint. >> so what's next when it comes to israel's battle against hamas? joining us now is retired major john spencer of the u.s. army, an expert in urban warfare. major, nice to see you. you wrote the other day, quote, if israel launches a ground campaign into gaza, israeli forces can expect to face a wide range of challenges. first of all, do you think a ground incursion is coming? >> absolutely. i don't see how israel can accomplish its mission to remove hamas military capability unlike it ever has before and prevent another 9/11 worse type of attack that we saw on october 7 without going in on the ground. you can't bomb your way to that mission. >> major, yesterday the senators on capitol hill had a classified briefing on the israel-hamas war. marco rubio said a ground incursion would not be sifrping -- simple. how do you see things going forward. >> >> absolutely it wouldn't be simple. it would be very destructive, it would take months in my estimation. there are things you can do to make it go faster like getting as many civilians out of the combat areas as possible, but in order to search every house, this would be a block by block house by house tunnel by tunnel fight to get hamas leadership, fighters, rockets, tunnels all destroyed. that takes a considerable amount of time, and it's not a fast operation. >> major john spencer, thank you so very much to your time. let's take you to atlanta where moments ago sidney powell one of the 19 co-defendants in the trump election case in fulton county pleaded guilty. this is one day before jury selection was set to begin in her trial. i want to bring in our senior legal correspondent laura jarrett as well as msnbc legal analyst lisa rubin. laura, this is big news. what do we know? >> this is enormously significant. sidney powell, one of trump's former attorneys has agreed to plead guilty just moments ago there in georgia. i'm not sure if we have the video yet. remember, she is part of the group that was alleged to have participated in this conspiracy to subvert the election, specifically as it relates to overturning the election results in georgia. she had been facing a number of different felony counts. you can see there she's -- that's her on the screen there. she viously one of the top people who were sort of in and around conversations along with several other attorneys. you can see some other facts, other ways that she was ting to subvert the election. now, we don't have exactly what she's decided to plead guilty. we'll obviously work to get that. as part of this deal, the most significant thing, guys s that she has actually agreed to testify against other people, which is obviously devastating news to the former president and the other co-defendants. >> so she could plead guilty to one or all of the counts, we don't know. >> but she could. >> in most cases like thrks you -- this you agree to plead guilty to lesser included offenses. we need to see the actual papers so i can see what she's agreed to plead guilty to. this is really significant. this is a person who knows a lot and has a very big story to tell. >> she was one of those along with rudy giuliani who had been going around really throughout the country after the election talking about what was unsubstantiated fraud, and they filed multiple things in multiple courts that were all essentially dismissed bause of lack of evidence, and so i think that's where a lot of people will remember seeing her as we were discussing what happened right after the election. let's get lisa rubin in here. i want to get your first quick thoughts about this big development, lisa. >> i agree with lawyer rarks -- laura, this is absolutely huge. i did have an opportunity to watch over youtube some of the plea allocution hearing before judge scott mcafee. what it looks like is that sidney powell has now pled guilty to six counts of conspiracy to commit interference with the performance of election duties. you'll remember that the fulton county indictment largely charges sidney powell in respect of her role to overturn results in coffee county, georgia, including by dismantling the voting machines in that county, both leading up to january 6th, but as importantly after january 6th, in part because there were folks in and around former president trump who believed that if they could just get into the voting machines, they could give that information to folks in other counties and other states around the country and continue to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 election, even after the transfer of power. we knew that there was a possibility that sidney powell would plead guilty after we had the first plea in this case from scott hall. he is a dnt or was a defendant in this case against whom the charges were entirely overlapping with respect to those against sidney powell. at the time laura and i and others said, hey, now that scott hall has pled out, look for sidney powell to be the next domino that falls. the value of sidney powell is her testimony against others, and that includes not only rudy giuliani, but former president trump himself. that will largely be her utility here, and she has confirmed on the record that she will testify truthfully and accurately to anything that the fulton county district attorney's office asks of her, ana and jose. >> lisa, this is huge, the issue of her testifying against, you know, possibly even the former president. where would that whole argument of attorney/client privilege and all of that fall in once she agrees to testify? >> well, that's an interesting question. yesterday judge scott mcafee in moving through a variety of different pretrial motions that have been put before him, ruled, for example, that ken cheese cheeseboro, who is the other defendant whose trial is supposed to start monday, was not able to claim privilege over a variety of memos and emails. even if he could establish that he had an attorney/client relationship with the trump campaign, what's called the crime-fraud exception applies. he could not claim privilege over those documents because those communications were arguably used to commit a crime or a fraud. i expect that if and when sidney powell is asked for testimony in respect of her communications with former president trump, the fulton county d.a. may have to make a similar showing and have to move for application of that crime-fraud exception, but they've proven they're able to do so previously, and in particular, jose, one thing i would note is that yesterday judge mcafee note instead a footnote that the fulton county d.a. had made a sealed submission to demonstrate why the crime-fraud exception applied to ken chesebro. if and when that issue arises with sidney powell. >> i can't help but wonder if this is going to be like the first domino. how typical is that? >> this is exactly what the district attorney's office wanted when she charged 19 people. a lot of people said it's too many, it's too smalling. it's unwielding and all of that might be true, but it might also be true that you charged 19 people because you're expecting so people are going to plead guilty. so far she doesn't have everybody that you see on that screen there. but she now has a top person. powell is a major player in this alleged conspiracy, and so it might be the case that this puts -- amps up the pressure, certainly on chesebro who's supposed to go on trial on monday. >> we are going to continue to follow this story. we will come back. this is breaking in this moment, laura jarrett, lisa rubin, thank you, both. >> breaking news on capitol hill, the house back in session at noon eastern, likely to hold a third vote for house speaker. >> or do lawmakers already have a plan other than jim jordan. we'll go inside the talks so tense, by the way, one lawmaker says she has received death threats. says she has received death threats. pneumococcal pneumonia? i help others. but i need to help protect myself. honestly? i couldn't afford to get sick. i want to be there for this one. i can't if i'm sick. pneumococcal pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease. you may be at risk if you're 19 to 64 with certain chronic conditions. or if you're 65 or older. don't pause a moment longer. ask your doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia today. jim jordan saying house republicans will meet in the next hour to discuss a path forward as he continues his bid for speaker after two failed votes. >> got a conference at 11:00 to talk with our -- visit with our colleague there is. >> what is the message going to be at that meeting? >> there will be a vote is later. >> so jordan actually lost support from round one to round two, instead openly debate ways to empower the acting speaker, patrick mchenry. joining us now is ali vitali and brendan buck. so ali, what's going on this morning? >> reporter: looks like it's all coming together in realtime now, jose, because on his way in to the office, jim jordan, currently the man vying for the speakership said he would meet with his conference around 11:00 a.m. it's not clear what this meeting will accomplish. we have seen them go behind closed doors leaving their phones at the exit and try and talk among themselves. it's sort of become an open joke among republican law makers. it feels like they are past the point of airing grievances. they are at a point where frustration is at a fever pitch. there are active conversations about figuring out a way maybe to go around electing another speaker immediately and instead empowering the current speaker pro tem, patrick mchenry. that would require a few things. the vote itself would look different if they were to put forward a resolution like that. it's one thing i plan to ask congressman jordan about. in terms of what happens next, they are expected to go to the floor sometime after this 11:00 a.m. meeting. democrats are holding their own caucus session where they're going to talk through where their caucus is at. there's an openness there according to my conversations with democratic members yesterday and last night for republicans to come to them with some kind of a plan. democrats are not under the illusion that they're going to get a democratic speaker. they know that's not how this works. but they are open to someone who's not jim jordan and who they see as more moderate and potentially bipartisan to be the speaker, at least on a temporary basis. they're open to that, but my conversations that i've had with democrats show that those conversations are just that at this point, conversations with no tangible action ready behind them yet, but this is a building, and this is a moment, jose, and ana where things move fast. it feels like everything is coming together on the fly. our sources are sort of learning things in realtime as the principal players say them. the overarching theme to this morning is lawmakers saying where do we go next. >> jordan prides himself as a fighter right? you call him a grand stander and write i"the new york times" today, no bill he has introduced in his almost 17 years in congress has ever become law, though he has had no shortage of opinions and complaints about how speakers have legislated. where is this line between being a fighter and embarrassment for someone like jordan? >> there's already been a lot of embarrassment. i think the question that jim jordan has now, there's an opportunity for him. patrick mchenry is clearly the next step if jim jordan fails. jim jordan has an opportunity to embrace that path and be a part of the leadership and demonstrate to perhaps some of his colleagues that he can be trusted or he can revert to the old jim jordan, which is to break things, tear things down. what he does at this point is going to not only decide how well this congress functions but whether or not there actually is a durable coalition within the republican party to govern, and i think jim jordan, that's really in his hands. his ability to become speaker right now is -- i think that's gone. his choice is he going to help congress get back open and working or is he going to sabotage patrick mchenry again and again? >> what does it tell you once you look backwards, 2015, the freedom caucus and what impacted speak boehner, it helps understand what maybe the future could look like. is there any possibility you see of the republicans there not being essentially held to what the desire of five or six or 22 members want or don't want. >> it's a lot easier to stop things. that's what jim jordan has always been about. the new dynamic that really hasn't existed before is the centrists who have finally stood up for themselves and said we're not going to let you break things anymore without consequences. he's getting a little bit of his own medicine here where a relatively small number is saying you can't have this. you sabotaged steve scalise, you basically have hijacked this entire conference. the power dynamic between conference are going to shift. the reality is nobody is in charge. there's a vacuum. everybody is trying to figure out where they can sit. i think jim jordan is going to figure out what role he wants to play. >> the american people really suffer because nothing is happening, and the legislative process has come to a halt, and so ali, you talk about this idea of the current speaker pro tempore getting additional powers at least temporarily. we're talking about patrick mchenry, does he want more responsibility right now? >> reporter: i don't know that he even wants to be in the position he's in right now. we were asking him a few days ago what this moment has felt like for him. what it feels like to be in the speaker's chair right now, and i joked with him, is it the joy of a lifetime? and i swear that man basically stared through my soul and laughed. it's clear he's not enjoying himself. i don't know many people in this building on the republican side that actually are right now. so there is the first question that has to be asked, which is would mchenry even want to be empowered? the second question here is a little wonky and maybe a little nerdy and i don't know if brendan has an opinion on it too, but because we're sort of in uncharted territory, there are some in this building including kevin mccarthy who say, okay, mchenry interpreted the rules of the pro tem speakership as not being able to bring things like resolutions or legislation to the floor, fine. but what if he tested that theory? some say he already has those powers and they'd like to see him do something like after the senate passes an israel reresolution, what if mchenry present that had on the floor and figured out or saw if someone stopped him. would the parliamentarian say, hey, you can't actually do that . that's one of the questions that people are sort of playing right now, but it's actually a practical question for people who are in this body all the time, do you even have to empower the speaker pro tem. for those who say that they do, and if we saw them move on, that that's a different looking kind of vote though. >> there are no noerddy questions, just stop right there as a basic principle. >> i'm going to give ali a pass for not having read my op-ed -- >> she was channelling what you wrote. >> exactly. >> i was teeing you up for it, brendan. >> there is a path where mchenry could just say i have authority to recognize people to bring up bills, and i'm going to recognize people to bring up a resolution condemning hamas and dared the body to challenge it. it would get challenged, someone would say you don't have the authority to do that. they would have to rule. the house can do what they want if 218 members say they can do that. patrick mchenry does not want this. he's resisting. i don't want anybody to have the idea this is easy. whatever authority he gets is going to be very difficult to manage. the distrust that will exist within his own conference, having to work with democrats. the basic idea. kevin mccarthy got fired for doing a 45-day spending bill. that was what triggered him being fired. now we have to deal with ukraine, israel, funding the government in the long-term. all of these things are going to be very difficult to do. he's going to have very limited legitimacy. he does not want this power, and maybe that's the best way to have it. somebody who actually doesn't want to be speaker is the person who needs the job. >> brendan buck and ali vitali, thank you very much. and i'm sure ali read your piece. >> she will now. >> i did. >> i knew you did. >> oh, my. there are so many unknowns. so it will be fun to see how it unfolds. appreciate you guys. up next, we're going to stay on top of the breaking news coming out of an atlanta courthouse right now, sidney powell pleads guilty in the fulton county district attorney's election interference case. we'll have the latest after a short break. we'll have the latest after a short break. you set and forget. no outlets used, no batteries needed, no effort required. so your bathroom stays continuously fresh for 45 days. that's the power of febreze small spaces. 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(♪♪) the chewy app has everything for pets. hungry pets, itchy pets, scratchy pets, and most importantly, your pet. every day great prices and 35% off your first authorship order. right to your door. download the chewy app. continuing to follow our other breaking news this morning, lawyer sidney powell now pleading guilty in the georgia election case, just one day before jury selection in her trial was scheduled to begin. >> want to bring in nbc news correspondent blayne alexander and former assistant manhattan district attorney catherine christian. blayne, you've covered this trial so closely. did we have any indications that the deal was coming? >> absolutely not, jose, and that's what's so stunning about all of this. you just mentioned jury selection was set to begin really in less than 24 hours for this trial that was set to get underway for sidney powell and ken chesebro. remember, sidney powell had invoked her right to a speedy trial. that's why tomorrow morning we were going to see an extraordinary spectacle of 450 perspective jurors walking into the fulton county courthouse into a courtroom to begin this long process of seating a jury to begin the trial likely in early november. so that is no longer going to happen, at least when it comes to sidney powell. now, of course the big question in all of this is ken chesebro, what happens there. we've reached out to his attorney, one of his legal counsel scott grubman to see if he had any comment on what this means for them tomorrow. he doesn't have any comment right now because he's still trying to process all of this. certainly when you look at the timing of this, it's very stunning. she's not the first person in this kind of sprawling indictment to plead guilty. er, that was scott hall a couple of weeks ago, but it rtaiy is a higher profile person than scott powell. the name sidney powell is a name of someone who is familiar to our viewers, when we talk about the role as the former president's ex-attorney. of course the questions of the data breach in coffee county and the breach of those voting machines down there. so certainly this is something that came as a surprise to a lot of people including the attorney, at least for ken chesebro with whom she was expected to go on trial starting tomorrow. >> so catherine, to that point, she's not the first to have a plea deal after the initial indictment of 19 people, but she is one of the most significant players as we know it, do you expect more plea deals as a result of this? >> definitely, this is what happens for prosecutors who handle multidefendant conspiracy and rico cases, and i'm a former one. we all knew, we were not criticize the d.a., we knew that one by one they'd plead guilty, they'd cooperate and then you're ending up with a single-digit indictment, one defenn trial or five defendants. so we can expect that more people will plead guilty. what we have learned about district attorney willis's office they don't leak stuff they don't want to be leaked so the defense and the prosecutor kept this secret, and we only found out about it today when she was actually pleading guilty. there will be more defendants pleading guilty. >> just the significance of this specific person deciding to cooperate? >> she is one of the most prominent lawyers who advanced the election fraud scheme. she was rudy giuliani and donald trump should be very concerned. she was at press conferences with rudy giuliani in georgia. she was in the white house in december of 2020 discussing seizing voting machines, so she is someone who is very, very important for the prosecution as a prosecution witness, and she's deadly to the higher level defendants because she was there. she was the one who entered into that forensic data contract. she is not certainly going to say i did this all on my own. if she was going to say that, she would not be pleading guilty. this is very important to have someone that high up in the ladder of this rico conspiracy be pleading guilty. >> obviously she's a lawyer herself, so she didn't believe that she could defend herself or have her lawyers, her representatives defend her effectively not to get a guilty plea at trial. why do you think she chose to go this route? >> because this is happening all over the country in courthouses, defendants who are guilty suddenly see oh, my goodness, this is real. and ms. powell certainly did not want to serve time in a georgia state prison. she was offered misdemeanors. she was offered probation. we don't have to say alleged with her because she's pleading guilty. so this was a very smart move on her behalf. >> i guess i just wonder if it's more beneficial for someone to be one of the first to plead guilty than to be one of the last if you choose to down the road. >> yes, because you just get it over with. i'm not saying that, you know, the district attorney will be vindictive to other people because, you know, she would prefer that they all, you know, sort of, you know, acknowledge their guilt, but it is best -- her legal fees of course now end, except when she has to be prepped -- if she has to testify, so she can now sort of go on with her life as someone who has convictions and has to serve probation in georgia. >> so the difference is as a cost benefit analysis for someone who is guilty and is looking at what the future could hold, the cost benefit analysis as far as for example you were just talking about legal fes there's also the real possibility had she gone through and been found guilty to face a whole lot different future. >> yes, felony convictions, which would mean an automatic disbarment, she's not disbarred yet, and worse, a possible prison sentence, so you know, it's -- the difference between probation and misdemeanors and a felony conviction and possible prison sentence in georgia. it was -- if you're guilty and i'm assuming she's guilty, that's why she's pleading guilty. it was an easy choice. >> blayne. >> you know, i have to say that once we saw scott hall plead guilty, we very much suspected those of us covering this for a long time expecthere would be more guilty pleas to come, and for the reason that katherine pointed out, whenou see somebody like scott hall get probation, have to pay a nominal fee and then just kf have to write a letter of apology, certainly more people would look at that and say you know what? maybe that's the route to take. i think it's important to point out exactly what the prosecution recommended when it comes to sidney powell. we're talking about six years probation. we're talking about a $6,000 fine, $2,700 restitution to the georgia secretary of state's office, a letter of apology written to the state of georgia, but then get this, she has to testify truthfully at all future proceedings. that is really the thing that i'm focused on. again, when we talk about future proceedings, we talk about the fact that jury selection is set to get underway in just a matter of hours for one of her co-defendants. up until this very moment, she was going to be that courtroom right alongside ken chesebro tomorrow or monday to begin this process. now this kind of raises the question of what role is she going to play. what role is she going to play in now the ken chesebro trial? what role is she going to play in the future trials? when you talk about somebody like sidney powell, that certainly is something we're going to be watching very closely. >> blayne alexander and catherine christian, thank you, ladies. >> thank you so much. up next, the return to our coverage of the israel hamas war, the new pressure on regional leaders as anger boils over after the gaza hospital blast. and inside president biden's trip to israel, a journalist who traveled with president biden joins us right after the break. joins us right after the break this is american infrastructure. megawatts of power, rails and open road, and essential services of every kind. all running on countless invisible 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reporter: the bodies, the body parts moved from where so many injured and displaced had gathered at the hospital in gaza city and where hundreds have met their deaths. picking through scattered possessions, collecting tiny shoes, the debris of shattered lives. this man lost his brother and his cousin in the blast. his uncle now is in intensive care. this is where he was sitting when it happened. >> translator: people were flying, whole bodies, body parts. there was a guy on fire just here. i was not as upset for my family as i was for that man who was burning in front of me. people were trying to put the flames out. where are the freedom loving people? where are they? >> both israel and the u.s. blamed a blast on a rocket from another militant group called palestinian islamic jihad. >> still anger is boiling over in the region with a second day of protests erupting across the middle east and the presidents of egypt and turkey announcing official days of mourning. >> nbc news foreign correspondent meagan fitzgerald joins us now in jordan. jordan's king returning after a visit to egypt, how much pressure are these regional leaders are large palestinian populations in their countries facing at this moment? >> reporter: ana, it's a great question. i can tell you there's a lot of concern in this region that the israelis are trying to push the palestinians off of their land and into egypt and jordan. now, the israelis have said they're not trying to do that. they're going after and trying to destroy hamas, but some of the concerns the region doesn't want to see the palestinians lose their homeland and, also, to push them into egypt and jordan would significantly impact these countries straining, putting a significant strain on them, on their resources. and keep in mind, these are two countries that already host millions of refugees. we heard from jordan's king abdallah saying it would be a declaration of war. egypt calling it a red line. egypt's president concerned that an influx of palestinians could create a launch pad as a place to attack israel, which in turn would then drag egypt into a conflict. they don't want to see it. so what we saw today was an urgent conversation between king abdallah and president sisi to try and figure out ways to temperature in this region that is certainly rising. >> yeah, and, i mean, just all the overwhelming need for there to be humanitarian assistance to the people of gaza, how much of the leaders of jordan and egypt and maybe anybody else trying to get some way to get that aid in? >> reporter: jose, there is significant effort to do so. for example, we know there is a u.s. special humanitarian envoy, with ambassador satterfield in egypt, who is going to be helping with that humanitarian aid to get it to the people in gaza, who desperately need it. we also know that there is constant communication between the united states and jordan, who are friends. lester had an opportunity to speak with the foreign minister of jordan and i want you to listen to a little bit of what he had to say. >> we should stop this war. we should stop this madness. and start talking and figure out a way that will produce peace and security and for all of us, for israelis, for palestinians. war will not do it. we have been there before. it led us to worse violence every time around. so i think it is emotions are high, but we cannot run the fate of millions of people by emotions. we need reason to come back and we need to all sit down and figure out how we can create a path that will produce peace for all, once and for all, so that palestinians don't have to mourn their children. israeli women don't have to mourn their children, so we all don't have to worry about this war expanding and getting to all of us. >> reporter: so there is this feeling in the area, in the region here that the region could be on the precipice of a larger regional war. they're doing everything they can to try and lower the temperature, jose. >> and, meagan one thing that is significant that i think we have to not been focusing on a lot, richard engel was telling us about it earlier in the hour, is the summit carried out over the weekend in egypt, where a lot of the countries that are in the region, but then some of the countries that are maybe most important and that haven't been in these -- in these negotiations so far, saudi arabia, qatar, there going to be meeting in egypt. the significance of this meeting. >> reporter: yeah, you're absolutely right. so, this was a meeting that was created by president sisi of egypt last sunday. he talked about this after meeting with secretary of state blinken. he's calling on this summit with regional leaders and world leaders to come together to have this serious conversation about how can they avoid this broader conflict. and so this is incredibly important. we will be paying close attention to what comes out of this because it really is this all hands on deck across the world to try and lower the temperature as we keep on saying, but we're seeing these people pouring into the street, there is a lot of anger, there is a lot of frustration as we see the constant bombardment on gaza where the innocent people are losing their lives daily. >> meagan fitzgerald in amman, jordan, thank you so much. now to the fortified rocket interception system protecting israel, the iron dome. israel says it is 90% effective at warding off rockets. >> tom llamas has more. >> reporter: much of the fighting in this war has been in the skies overhead. day and night, where israel has a massive advantage, but hamas has launched thousands of rockets. some say israel's iron dome is the world's best defense against missiles. we were given access to see it up close. that's one of the batteries that makes up this system. this technology was developed by israel, and the way it works is that when a rocket is fired from gaza, that battery right there launches another missile that crashes midair, making sure the people in this country stay safe. the system is a combination of a radar unit monitoring the skies and the direction of the incoming missile, a control center determining if that rocket will strike a population center, and a battery able to launch dozens of missiles that can destroy an enemy rocket launched from up to 43 miles away. >> last ten days hamas launched over 6,500 rockets. >> reporter: 6,500? >> in ten days. we would have thousands of casualties, unbelievable destruction, injuries. we would be living in a very different reality. >> reporter: hamas can't match israel's firepower, but training vides published online show they are stocked with rockets. in 2020, this video shows them digging up pipes to convert them into projectiles. israel says the iron dome is 90% effective, but during the attacks on october 7th, hamas overwhelmed the system. most of the time the iron dome works, but there are rare occasions when rockets fired from gaza are so many that a few get through, like here in ashkelon, where a rocket hit this building with people inside. this couple was home when the rocket hit. what is the rocket barrage been like? they say the missiles come like rain, and they wouldn't be here without the iron dome. tom llamas, nbc news, tel aviv. >> thanks to tom llamas for that reporting. in our next hour, we will speak to the former prime minister of israel, plus the fallout from this plea deal in georgia from sidney powell what it means for the other co-defendants. and we're keeping our eye on capitol hill, where house republicans are set to huddle ahead of another potential speaker vote. so will jim jordan try for a third time? we're back after a short break. third meti we're back after a short break r your chronic migraine - 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more - can be overwhelming. so, ask your doctor about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start. it's the #1 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