of evidence, of wrongdoing. the white house is calling it an illegitimate and unjustified move from republicans. plus, hill harper is on the ballot in michigan. we will talk to the good doctor after about why he decided to run for the u.s. senate in this critical battleground state. i am symone sanders-townsend, and i have something to say. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ after a weeklong truce, the fighting has intensified again in the israel-hamas war. more than 700 people have been killed in the gaza strip, according to the hamas-run health ministry, since that truce with israel fell apart on friday. that israel defense forces or idf has shifted its military operations to southern gaza, in order civilians to evacuate. if you remember, just weeks earlier, israel urged gaza residents to evacuate to southern gaza from the north overnight the idf says it targeted weapons stores, command centers, and hamas naval assets. and the -- destroyed 500 tunnel shafts in civilian areas it says were used by hamas. as the war continues to escalate, vice president kamala harris and offensively terry lloyd austin emphasized the u.s. administration's support for israel, while urging it to follow international law and protect civilian life. >> we support israel's legitimate military objectives to eliminating the threat of hamas. as israel defends itself, it matters how. the united states is unequivocal, international humanitarian law must be respected. too many innocent palestinians have been killed. >> for the lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians, the lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. you, see this kind of a fight, in the center of gravity is the civilian population. if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat. the israeli government is also facing scrutiny for a recent new york times report, citing emaimes, and interviews, the report alleges that isbtained hamas's battle plans for the october 7th attack more than a year before that attack occurred. other reports say hamas's plan, quote, circulated widely among these really military and intelligence leaders, but experts determined and sack of that scale and ambition was beyond hamas capabilities, according to documents and officials. i should note nbc news has not yet seen the document, and it is unclear at this time whether its actually passed all the y up to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. this is what an idf spokesperson says in a statement. quote, the idf is currently focused on eliminating the threats when the terrorist organization hamas. questions of this kind will be looked into at a later stage. on meet the press, today my colleague kristen welker asked john kirby, the national security council strategic communications coordinator, whether the united states was aware of the document in the times report. take a listen. >> the intelligence community has indicated that they did not have access to this document. >> should they have, given how closely u.s. and israeli intelligence officials coordinate, are supposed to coordinate? >> intelligence is a mosaic. sometimes you can fashion things together and get a pretty good print. other times, there is pieces of the puzzle that are missing. >> as civilians in gaza scramble for safety while mourning their dead, and devastated israeli families of hamas held hostage's demand action, there are far more questions than answers in a war with no end in sight. joining me now on the ground in tel aviv, israel, is nbc news correspondent david noriega. david, welcome. what is the latest on the ground? >> reporter: symone, hi. and the idf is hitting many, many targets in southern gaza. the expectation is that this new phase in the military campaign is laying the groundwork, these airstrikes are laying the groundwork for a ground incursion, following more or less the same pattern we saw in the north. hamas authorities in the gaza strip say that in just the last 24 hours, more than 300 people have died. they say those are the ones that have been able to identify. many more, they say, are still trapped in the rubble. they say the majority of them are women and children. the idf says it's not targeting women and children, it's only targeting hamas militants and infrastructure. it blames the civilian casualties on hamas. either way, people on the ground in gaza describe a situation of almost catastrophic humanitarian -- and almost catastrophic humanitarian situation. -- you have to remember a lot of people in the south where these are happening, we're already displaced from the north. they were living in refugee camps in crowded conditions with very little access to clean water, food, shelter. the head of the world health organization just yesterday said that, actually today said that yesterday some of his personal visited a hospital in the south where they saw people treating civilians on the ground, screaming. the hospital was at three times capacity. this is a situation that was already bad and is getting worse, simone. >> and david, the united states has been putting pressure on israel to protect civilians. what has been the israeli governments response to that? i understand they know they are not intentionally targeting civilians, but no one can deny the fallout of these civilian casualties. >> right. israeli authorities have acknowledged that they are getting that pressure from the united states. u.s. authorities themselves, actually, have said the israelis have been receptive to this pressure. in that same interview with national spokesman john kirby that you played a clip from earlier, he said that the israelis understand what the americans are telling them. he even said that -- he says we've seen these rallies go in with, quote, less force. it's not clear to me, symone, if, given what kirby, said the u.s. is now satisfied with the kind of response it's receiving from israel. because based on the reports that we are hearing from people on the ground, it's not clear whether there has been a change to the way that israel is carrying on this military campaign. that is one of the main things we will be looking for in the days to come, to what extent is this u.s. pressure actually translating materially to a change in the way that israel is operating on the ground, particularly if there is a ground incursion. last thing i will say is the pressure from the u.s. is not only on protecting civilians. there are -- one of these main questions we've been talking about is this question of displacement, people being told to evacuate. in many cases, people who are already made to move several times. come lyricist or day said that under no circumstances will the united states permit the forced relocation of palestinians from gaza. >> nbc's david noriega live for us in tel aviv. thank you very much. it was nice to see you. even after the collapse of the temporary truce, loved ones and supporters of hostages held by hamas continue to gather in israel. you see it on your screen right now. this is as they did yesterday in tel aviv. they are demanding the government to do more to bring those hostages home. the future of the remaining hostages seems even more uncertain. joining me now is the president of the u.s. middle east project and former israeli peace negotiator daniel -- welcome to you, sir. i want to start with more of what the national security council's strategic communication coordinator john kirby had to say about the status of negotiations surrounding a temporary truce. i want to play this for you and we will discuss on the other side. >> there are no official negotiations going on right now. that's because of hamas. hamas failed to come up with yet another list of women and children that could be released. and we know they are holding additional women and children. not combatants, not female idf soldiers, but innocent civilians, women and children that they have and could put on a lesson turn that. and unfortunately, the negotiations have stopped. that said, what hasn't stopped is our own involvement trying to get those back on track. >> what's stuck out to me there is what no official negotiations underway, but we take that to mean there are potentially unofficial negotiations happening? >> i think there are channels all the time, symone. it is true that the israelis have withdrawn the mossad representatives in doha talking to the qataris. i think it would be really helpful for the american public if there were officials like john kirby who were more transparent and honest, both in terms of the nature of this military operation, but also what you heard from him there. because perhaps there were additional israelis being held in gaza who could've extended the pause another day, another two days. what we've actually moved into, if there were going to be serious negotiations is a new phase where there are new categories, different categories for those who we saw at least already will require a different kind of package, who does israel release in exchange for what? is it just for a temporary pause or is this about bringing this entire operation to an end? and those are the dynamics around which, if and when negotiations seriously resume, they will have to deal with those things. we're not going to have, i don't think, a similar formula to what we had during those seven days. >> and for folks at home watching us right now, daniel, i think it is important they understand the types of people, the hostages that were released by hamas in this initial truce, they were women, they were children. they were the elderly. there were no young men who would've been a fighting age, was not able to be released. there is an 18 year old we know that is currently held captive. but because he is 18, he could not be released. the negotiations are not happening, but if they do, those are the kind of conversations they will have to have. how do the parties get back to the table? is it president biden putting pressure on prime minister netanyahu? how does this jump start again? >> it's a really important question. as you have helped explain to us, so, the women, children unwell, those -- there may be people who additionally fall into that category. but that's essentially a category that hamas understood from the beginning we're ready to do the kind of deal we eventually saw. there is an israeli claim with only the israeli ground operation and the intensification of its military mission meant to that deal going through. everything that we know and has been reported suggests that was not the case. that deal was available. it took internal as well as some external pressure on netanyahu for that deal to be agreed. now what is left in terms of those being held in gaza? it is soldiers, soldiers who were captured, and it's, as you say, fighting age males, but also elderly men. the way this is being approached, i'm not justifying, and i'm just explaining it to your audience, these are either reservists who have served in the military. i think what needs to happen for a negotiation to be re-engaged with is two or three things. first of all, is there a formula? i believe there is a formula. i believe that qatari mediators have been very effective thus far. you have egypt, you have the u.s., and of course the israelis not negotiating directly with hamas, but the israeli and hamas sides are respectively talking to the media. is there a formula? i think we can take that box. not easy, but we can. what else you need? you need an israeli and a hamas decision. i think given the situation, the hamas decision is easier to assume will be there at the right price, of course. the israeli decision bumps up against the competing goals of what israel set itself out to do. what is increasingly clear is you can get the hostages out alive or you can continue what i would consider a non realize-able mission of destroying, eradicating hamas, but you can't have both. in order for israel to prioritize the release of the hostages and to end this military action, which is having appalling consequences to the civilians of gaza, you probably need two things, symone. you probably need internal pressure, and there is still remarkable coverage -- courage being shown by the families of those being, held i'm watching people on television making the case for why they should prioritize getting these rallies out. you need that internal pressure which helped us get over that hump for that -- and you need the external american pressure. we are not there yet. the americans -- the americans are saying there is pressure. we are not seeing america push to end this military mission yet. >> not yet, not publicly they say they're confessing them privately. all note for folks at home, every person in israel once they turn 18 it's mandatory to serve in the military. every young man or elderly man being held captive had to serve. daniel levy, thank you for breaking this out and making a claim for us on a tough subject. i appreciate your thoughts. >> thank you so much, symone. >> coming up, we'll take a turn and talk about the house, they could vote to launch an impeachment inquiry into president biden as early as this week. i know what you're thinking, can we have this conversation already? mike johnson says he thinks they have the votes now, democrats say they don't have any evidence, i say how bout we govern for a change. plus, liz cheney warns the united states is sleepwalking into dictatorship. we will dig into the dangers of reelecting donald trump with my political panel, next. but first richard lui is here with other top news stories. richard, so much happening in the world, what is going? on symone, when, afternoon will start wet -- shot down drones that attacked multiple commercial ships toda in the red sea. two defense officials tell nbc news that the u.s. has -- two drones deployed by a rebel group in yemen. one official says that the carney observed one ballistic missile fire at one of the ships. they say the ship responded to distress calls from the vessel. los angeles police say the suspect is in custody for the killings of three homeless men last week. in a separate killing, jared powell was already arrested in beverly hills on thursday. officials then say police were able to match his car to all the killings along with a handgun inside of. it some of the nation's biggest icons are front and center at the 46 admiral kennedy center honors. tonight's honorees are billy crystal, rene filly, barry gibbs, queen latifah, and dion warwick. symone sat down with yesterday ahead of the festivities. previous honoree, readout moreno will hold the ceremony, it airs on december 20. seventh more symone after this break. is break. blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. after advil. feeling better? 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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 house speaker mike johnson when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. says that republicans now have the votes to authorize an impeachment inquiry of president biden. the motion could come to the floor as early as this week. there's still questions about the substance of the inquiry. republican-led oversight committee has been investigating the president and s family for 11 months. remember they clai have documents that quote, she'll members of the biden family had established over 20 shell companies, that were set up during joe biden's time as vice president. those companies, the panel alleges, or part of an effort to cover up payments from foign adversaries. i don't see any evidence, the white house writing that said, despite receiving the significant volume of material, house repugnance -- wrongdoing by president biden. but plenty of evidence debunking their claims. which is frankly true, democratic congressman jami congressman, ranking member of the oversight committee said publicans were impeaching joe biden because they had no policy agenda saying, quote, i like to teach them of the constitution does not define impeachment as an opportunity to explain policy disagreements. impeachment is for high crimes and misdemeanors against the union. we're dealing with people who are literally constitutional idiots. i know that jamie raskin is a constitutional lawyer. we have some experts here, michael hardaway, has served on staff for hakeem jeffries, and dick durbin, and we amy tarkanian, former nevada republican party chair. michael, let's start with you to very quickly explain for the people as i was looking at this today i asked my team, what is the difference between what mike johnson is doing now and what speaker mccarthy did a couple weeks ago? a couple weeks ago mccarthy directed an impeachment inquiry and johnson is now saying they'll vote on one. make it make sense for me? >> it makes no sense. the truth of the matter is that this speaker seems to be on a witch hunt against president biden. for the first time he may have the votes for something when he didn't half for the latter cr. what they're saying here is that joe biden -- engaged in. which is having a family business and benefiting financially while in office, that's exactly what donald trump did, there's no evidence that joe biden did that. i think ultimately, this goes to the senate bill in the house you may have a situation where they me forward with an inquiry. >> amy, congressman comer has been spearheading the oversight committee and it hasn't necessarily gone well. i distinctly remember the hearing that they did were all the republican w