>> look, he is. i mean, he is a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different than ours. >> president biden's last answer there might have been a bit awkward but true after what was otherwise a productive meeting yesterday with chinese president xi jinping. we'll have more from their first face-to-face talks in a year. >> i will say, mika. >> yeah? >> i know i don't interrupt, but i will in this case. that clip is burying the lead. >> what do we got? oh, well yeah. >> we had a meeting that i thought went extraordinarily well. fortunately, we have the wise man here who can tell us and the wise woman who can tell us what they think. >> oh, good. >> i, for one, loved hearing what was said there, and i love the fact that they understand that the united states and china, whether either side likes it or not, is -- we're going to be, in effect, running a large part of the planet over the next half century, as far as the economy, the environment, you name it. yesterday, it sure was good seeing the two leaders of those countries get together and say what they said. again, we have wise people here. >> joe, hold on, i just think it's great he could say the truth right there in front of him and continue also to try to work together. it's a two things can be true thing. doesn't need to placate him. >> i agree with you, mika. what else do we have today? the latest out of gaza following the israeli raid of a hospital which hits on top of a command center for hamas. the idf releasing this video of weapons it says were inside the facility. also ahead, the honeymoon period for mike johnson might be over, as some hard line conservatives are now putting pressure on the new speaker. they've given him a lot of space, though, compared to kevin mccarthy. along with joe, willie, and me, we have former aide to the george w. bush state departments, elise jordan. former president emeritus of foreign relations, richard haass. and retired four star navy admiral james stavridis. chief international analyst for nbc news. let's get to our top story. willie, take it away. >> let's begin with the high stakes meeting between president biden, chinese leader xi jinping, held in woodside, california, 35 miles south of san francisco, marking their first meeting in just over a year. xi was quoted through a translator as telling president biden, it is not an option for either country to turn its back on the other. also said, there is room enough to co-exist and both be successful. one country's success is an opportunity for the other. president biden said he secured agreements on three major issues, including an effort to reduce the direct shipment of fentanyl in all forms from china to the united states. president biden, importantly, also announced the two militaries will resume direct contact and communication, and that both nations will coordinate on risk and safety issues surrounding artificial intelligence. the president spoke afterward about the relationship with china. >> determine what is useful and what's not, what is dangerous and what is acceptable. the united states will continue to compete vigorously with the prc, but we'll manage that competition responsibly so it doesn't veer into conflict or accidental conflict. and where it's possible, where our interests coincide, we're going to work together, like we did on fentanyl. that's what the world expects of us. the rest of the world expects, not just people in china and the united states. the rest of the world expects that of us, and that's what the united states is going to be doing. >> richard, let's go big picture first, just the optics of the two men taking that walk through the garden, and then the deliverables on the other hand, which is the military communications, which is the admiral can speak to in a most, as well. how important was this meeting? how important was even the statement from president xi, that the world is wide enough, in effect, for both of us to succeed? >> look, all things being equal, it's a good day. it's not sexy. it's day-to-day diplomacy. the word you used is exactly the right word, willie, management. things are not solved. the so-called deliverables or agreements, we'll see whether or not they're implemented. a lot of life is implementation, whether anything changes with fentanyl. if and when there is a crisis, the military to military channels, whether there's any change, with climate. the fact they're meeting high level, they get a better sense of each other. you come away with a slightly better feel for things. i think that's healthy. is it a turning point? is it transformational? no. all things being equal, is this sort of thing positive? is this constructive? the answer is absolutely. >> admiral, considering how bad relations have gotten. >> yeah. >> considering the fact we could not get chinese military leaders on the phone. considering everything that was going on, and i will say, the fear of a regional war in the mideast, the fear of a regional war in europe, the fear of china using that chaos and a stretched united states military to go into taiwan, all great fears. this quote, i mean, this is -- you and i have spoken about this before, and xi sort of has echo what had a lot of foreign policy people have said when he said, "turning our backs on each other is not an option." i realize i'm a nerd, but that is a sexy video right there, baby. i want the leaders of the two most powerful nations who have been at odds, whose military have not been in communication over the last year or so, doing this. >> yeah. >> it's a starting point, and i understand that's all it is, but at least we're at the starting point of rebuilding this relationship. >> yeah, 100%. you know, so much of life, joe, is compared to what. and compared to a year ago, when visits of cabinet officials were being canceled, when spy balloons were circling the united states, when ships and planes were bumping in the night, this is a much, much better day. by the way, i wouldn't understate particularly one of the deliverables, this military to military contact. >> critical. >> what really ought to worry us is the idea of a miscalculation, either around taiwan or in the south china sea, which china claims in its entirety as a territorial body of water. so you worry not so much about tony blinken and lloyd austin and joe biden and their counterparts. you worry about goose and maverick flying around in those jets up there. i'll close with this. i think too much is being made of the dictator comment. >> right. >> you know, sort of saying he is a dictator is like saying that jim stavridis is a short guy. i am. it's a reality. >> i would say jim stavridis is a learned, learned, respected voice, a giant of a man in foreign policy. but go ahead. >> maybe i have picked up a few things along the road in life. >> maybe. >> but i am a short guy. so at the end of it all, i think i'm with richard haass, it's a good day's work. i think it is probably quite positive, if not a turning point. final thought, i think there's a little bit of chemistry going on here, and that's okay. >> yeah. >> think back to reagan and gorbachev, and how did that turn out? eventually, we stopped the cold war. >> right. >> could we look back at this moment? i don't know. let's hope so. >> elise, three words stuck out to me yesterday. when xi called joe biden "my old friend." you look at what's happening in israel, and biden may have to move another one of his old friends off the stage, work with israelis. you know, i've said this for quite some time, i'm so sick and tired of people talking about, oh, we want an outsider to run the most important country in the world and the most complicated governmental bure bureaucracy. we want rock. we want trump. we want people who have no idea. no, no. if i'm getting brain surgery, i don't want a guy who is good in action movies. i want a guy who is the best brain surgeon and who has done it a thousand times. this is where we see, as far as foreign policy goes, there's so many flash points that are happening right now. thank god joe biden is in there. i'm just saying that, thank god he's in there. we saw when trump left, nato was about to be blown apart. it is stronger now than it's ever been. 600 new miles along the russian border. it's just extraordinary, the transformation. all that is, that's working relationships, using u.s. power, leveraging it for good. again, experience. who would have ever thought it actually leads to good things? >> xi jinping, in particular, 70 years old, he and biden have had a few spins at the wheel and have experience. there's some shared experience there. i actually love that he just was honest and said, "he's a dictator." i think it is good for him politically in america. the american people know he is a dictator. china is a politically contentious issue. there are few foreign policy issues that actually matter to the electorate, but on both sides, there are americans who are infuriated by what they see as china taking advantage of us through trade. i think that, at the same time, biden can have the relationship. we need to be talking. he needs to present to the american public, yes, he is still going to be tough and is doing this through a reality-based lens. >> richard, what about taiwan? they said they discussed taiwan. to what extent, we don't know. talked about israel and ukraine. what's your stance of where things stand between the two men? >> 40, 50 years, this has been the central issue of the u.s. and china relationship. particularly from china's point of view, this is a flash point. this is brilliant diplomacy by the united states and china for half a century. we've learned to agree to disagree. we finessed it, haven't solved it. we talk in code, but the bottom line is, we have different views of where things should go. most important, though, we keep saying, we do not want you, china, to resolve this coercively. to use a middle eastern phrase, final status has to be determined by the mainland. we agree to disagree in the meantime. xi jinping talks about it as essential unification for what he calls the rejuvenation of china. it is central to his legacy. we can't change china dreams here. what we can do is influence their behavior and continue to signal to them, any use of force, any coercion against taiwan would end the u.s. and chinese relationship as we know it. it'd end trade. anything with the chinese officials the last 40 years, it's like everybody talks in shorthand. you go through it. it has to be said, but the bottom line, nothing was changed. that's okay. we're not looking for change. >> admiral, i mean, it's been this way since 1979, since mika served caviar and spilled it on deng xiaoping's pants, i'll say. >> that's not appropriate. >> who among us hasn't? >> yeah. >> then tried to wipe it off afterwards. >> come on, joe. >> perhaps one of the great -- >> this is -- >> this was confirmed by jimmy carter, who said, you know mika spilled caviar on deng xiaoping's crotch? people who don't know why she was in that position as a 10-year-old girl, they opened relations at mika's house, you know? we had the dixie youth baseball, you know, banquet over at a church. >> you also spilled, what was it, barbecue sauce? >> barbecue sauce. >> it -- >> back to 1979, there's been a creative fiction. one china policy. china, you say what you say. we say what we say. we shake hands. we do this delicate dance. basically, we keep the ball in the middle of the table. >> yeah. >> it appears that -- and, by the way, world peace may depend on that ball staying in the middle of that table and this creative fiction, but it looks like we got a little more stabilization on that front yesterday. >> yeah, i think that's right. i'll add to richard's excellent points a moment ago. put yourself in xi jinping's shoes in beijing, as he watches this debacle unfold in ukraine. if you're xi jinping, you're kind of asking yourself three questions. one is, i wonder if my generals are as bad as those russian generals appear to be? that's a good question. you don't know. your generals haven't been in combat forever. >> i was going to say, none of those generals have ever had a shot fired at them, and that's one of the important things that we've seen, is it not, out of the ukraine war? xi saw russian generals getting gunned down and has seen the horrific -- i know everybody talks about, oh, russia is doing well. no. this has been devastating for russia. it set their military back 30 years. it's exposed them as extraordinarily weak. you're right, xi carried that message in yesterday, as well. >> absolutely. let's face it, again, it's an enormous uncertainty for xi, having watched this russian military break on ukraine. secondly, if you're xi, you're thinking, i wonder if the taiwanese are going to fight like hell the way the russians have. answer, he doesn't know. he has never been to taiwan. i have. i met with madame tsai. i know the military well, and i think they'll fight. that's uncertainty for xi. thirdly, your point, sanctions. the sanctions on russia are not perfect, they're a slow-moving train, but we looks at mirror and says, "my economy is too big to sanction, right?" we'll see. >> yeah. >> that's a ton of uncertainty for a man who doesn't like uncertainty. >> five years ago, that economy was doing much better than it's doing right now. there's been a series of missteps by the leaders there that have actually put it in a position where, again, not negotiating from the position of strength they would have five years ago. i want to hold up the official paper of record for "morning joe," "the new york post." on the first page, graphic illustration of war crimes. war crimes committed, of course, by hamas. war crimes that won't be discussed on college campuses today. war crimes that won't be discussed by haters of israel today. war crimes that won't be discussed by haters of jews today, by anti-semites, about how hamas knew when they launched the attacks against the israelis, the terrorist attacks, they knew where they were going to hide. that was underneath hospitals, inside of hospitals, all around. any soft spot where civilians are at their most vulnerable, hamas, the terror group, is going to hide there. a war crime, a war crime you won't hear about on college campuses today, but a war crime we will discuss when we come back in 60 seconds. in the u.s. we see millions of cyber threats each year. that rate is increasing as more and more businesses move to the cloud. - so, the question is... - cyber attack! as cyber criminals expand their toolkit, we must expand as well. we need to rethink... next level moments, need the next level network. [speaker continues in the background] the network with 24/7 built-in security. chip? at&t business. welcome back to "morning joe." israel is solidifing its hold on gaza. claims of hamas building a command center under the hospital building. a spokesperson says troops found rifles, ammunition, and other military equipment. nbc news has not independently confirmed what's shown in the video. the white house is depending israel's raid. officials say u.s. intelligence supports the claim that hamas is hiding beneath the building. here's what president biden said last night. >> here's the situation. you have a circumstance where the first war crimes being committed by hamas by having their headquarters, their military hidden under a hospital. that's a fact. that's what happened. israel didn't go in with a large number of troops, did not raid, did not rush everything down. they've gone in and gone in with their soldiers carrying weapons, their guns. they were told -- let me be precise. we discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful. >> richard, the photograph that joe showed on the cover of "the new york post," the confirmation from the nsc a couple days ago, it's really just evidence of what everyone knows. this is what hamas does. they hide between civilians. it's what we talked about yesterday. they hide behind civilians instead of standing in front of them to protect them. this is the case that israel has been making. there have been civilian casualties in gaza, and they're trying to avoid them. that's a terrible thing, and nobody wants to see infants taken off life support machines. but this is what hamas does. it hides under hospitals and schools, and it hinds behind civilians to create the scenes we're seeing. >> by the way, willie, those infants that, you know, they're talking about needing fuel, guess who has fuel? >> hamas has plenty of fuel. >> plenty of fuel. >> this is exactly what israel is up against. every single military operation, the israelis need to plan. you have to deal with this dilemma. how do you get hamas without causing all sorts of collateral damage with civilian casualties? the fact that what we're seeing, by the way, is more israeli forces on the ground rather than using large bombs from the air, this is a good thing. >> by the way, it was so critical, was it not, last week when they -- maybe two weeks ago -- they actually cut gaza in half, thereby putting themselves in a position where they didn't have to have the aerial bombardments as much. >> correct. >> again, going street by street, house by house, room by room, searching for hamas and their weapons. most importantly, the hostages. >> yes, it is more dangerous for the israeli soldiers, let's be honest, but they are willing to take that risk. they paid a cost, you know, the number of israeli soldiers wounded and killed has gone up. this is, in some ways, to deal with international pressure, that they do this as granularly, as discreetly as they can. there are still big issues. the mega, strategic issues israel hasn't addressed, hand off to what, two-state solution, and we can talk about that, but this is educational. going back to what joe said, this ought to be part of the conversation. this underscores what israel is up against, the nature of hamas. this is not a bug. this is the feature. this is what hamas does and how they do it. it's what makes the military operation against them so difficult. every single minute you are faced with dilemmas about how to fight a war against this type of unconventional -- >> against terrorists. again, hamas did this -- not hamas -- isis did this in mosul. amazingly, the entire international community condemned isis. you have hamas, who started this war with war crimes, unspeakable war crimes. they commit war crimes every single day. they hide behind civilians. and the international community condemns israel? this is surreal. >> well, you have the leadership of hamas hanging out at the ritz-carlton or some fine hotel in doha, and they're hanging out and calling the shots. they've planned this. they knew what was going to happen when they unleashed this horrific terrorist attack. what was going to happen to the civilians in gaza? they were going to have to seek medical care after israel rained hell on them. how then would the israelis be able to clear this hospital? can you just talk about the sheer impossibility of literally routing hamas from the largest hospital? >> yeah. let's start with the center of gravity militarily here. it's like that old movie, "the graduate," when he gets advice in one word in the movie. it's plastics. in this scenario, the one word military advice is tunnels. tunnels. 300 miles of these tunnels. israel cannot avoid shutting that down. otherwise, they cannot -- >> admiral, if you were in charge. >> yeah. >> let's just say this. if you're in charge there, you don't leave gaza -- >> no. >> -- until the 300-mile tunnel network is destroyed. >> 100%. >> filled in, finished. >> correct. >> all the terrorists driven aboveground and arrested or killed. >> correct. and it's a mega task, but the right answer is boots o