Transcripts For MSNBC Alex Witt Reports 20240929 : compareme

Transcripts For MSNBC Alex Witt Reports 20240929

Israeli officials are bracing for reaction. The idf says it intercepted a missile over central israel that have been launched from yemen. Israel continues to pound targets Inside Lebanon, large plumes of smoke can be seen all day rising over the south. Ri in iran, antiisrael protesters took to the streets of the Capital City and that countrys Supreme Leader declared five days of mourning, urging his people to stand with hezbollah. In the u. S. , President Biden said he has directed secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to further enhance the Defense Posture of Military Forces in The Middle East to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war. We have reporters and analysts in place around the World Right in with all these new developments first. First, Matt Bradley joined us again from beirut. Matt, give us a sense of how tense it is in Lebanons Capital this evening. Reporter tense, and oni hav to say, alex, mournful, People Y are crying in the streets, wailing out. This was a largerthanlife character, a hero for many years, not just for hezbollah, n although many in lebanon who will privately be please they ri made a longer c has belows heavyhanded on lebanese politics. He was a leader of the resistance against israel, just not just among these people but for muslim, arab people and people throughout the world to saw israel as a colonizing is force. He, of course, cut a stature and this was a man who had risen above just this conflict between arabs and israelis, between Lebanon And Israel and really came to symbolize something so much more for people far beyond just The Middle East. Now he leaves behind him, he leaves behind a real crater of instability. This is a country that doesnt really have a government. He doesnt really have a system be on this sort of Portioned Out Secretary And System that is so tightly choreographed and so many people had actually tried to get rid of in the past, protesters on the street, particularly young people, but there is so much stasis among the sectarian system here it is hard to dismantle. Hassan nasrallah was very much part of that. The fact he is gone now means there will be a secession crisis. That does scene, for those who oppose hezbollah, that is a good thing but the fact is, hezbollah was the strongest military force, one of the strongest political forces here and underwrote a lot of the political system. While those who see them as terrorists, like united states and some other countries aroundo the world, they are already expressing concern for what could be a reaction of hasbro against Israels Valley and they are worried about the welfare of this country which e is now in the fifth year of a crippling financial crisis and has long been without a real, functioning government. This means there will be a Leadership Vacuum and while hezbollah and the other political leaders here who align with them are the devil we know, it is unclear who will step into the void to fill it. You know, this is a situation that could see other actors, others come in. While Hassan Nasrallah is an identified, listed terrorist by the united states and israel, un we dont know what will be coming next. Matt, based on your reporting last hour, when you in reported other strikes, seeing plumes of smoke up and down the coast in lebanon, what is israel likely targeting right now after killing the leader of Hezbollah Yesterday . Reporter in a word, dismal. They are continuing to target re hezbollah. We have heard that from nuthe israeli leadership. They are not finished yet. They are not satisfied. They have killed other hezbollah leaders. This is, you know, we look at the history of radical groups, i terrorist groups, just killing the leader is not going to do it. You know, it comes to israels actions in gaza with s hamas, their inactions in iraq, syria , al qaeda, just cutting off the head of the snake doesnt always ensure it wont grow back. It seems like israel wants to make this one a decisive one. Matt bradley, thank you so much for your reporting on all of this. Lets go right now to aaron mclaughlin, joining us from telg aviv. How are israelis responding to the death of Hassan Nasrallah . Reporter alex, israelis are on high alert. There is the potential, israeli officials say, for retaliatory strikes in response to the assassination, retaliatory strikes, not just from lebanon but other countries in The Middle East. Hours ago, sirens sounded here in tel aviv, according to the israeli military. A missile was fired from yemen toward central israel in tel c aviv. We could hear explosions as israeli Defense Systems intercepted that missile. Israeli officials are extremely conflict concerned about the potential for more retaliatory strikes. This as we are ialearning more about the Intelligence Operation behind this assassination. You know, following the news, as israeli military this morning confirmed they killed le Hassan Nasrallah in that airstrike, they also released audio , the exchange between the Fighter Pilot that carried out the strike and the commander and in that audio, it is clear they both knew of a potential significance of that particular strike in that neighborhood. I want you to take a listen to that exchange. [ speaking in a global language ] [ speaking in a global in language ] [ speaking in a global language ] reporter now, with the confirmation from both hezbollah and the israeli military that nasrallah was, in fact, assassination assassinated, What Happens Next . Andrea mitchell was told israel intends to capitalize on the momentum saying, quote, there is something called momentum. You take advantage when your opponent is down, you keep moving and that is exactly what we have seen play out today, continued israeli military strikes in southern beirut, as well as southern lebanon. The israeli military announcing they have taken out yet another key figure today, a key has below figure. Hezbollah, for its part, continues rocket strikes, Rocket Attacks on northern israel. Sirens have been heard there throughout the day. We are now hearing from the prime Ministers Office that the israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, having cut his trip to New York short, is back in israel and we expect to hear from the prime minister shortly, alex. Let me ask you quickly, erin, the transcription of the soundbite you play between the commander in the pilot, the message of the hostages, is there prevailing wisdom that somehow this act, as they say, decapitating the head of hezbollah, will somehow help to bring the hostages back to israel . Reporter well, essentially what you are hearing from the Fighter Pilot is stating the now mission, the stated in israel, it is twopronged, first, to see the freeing of the hostages, the israeli hostages in gaza and also to see the return of 60,000 israeli civilians to their homes in the north. At the same time, what we are hearing from an israeli official is that this is an attempt to decouple what is going on in gaza with what is going on there in lebanon. That is why you according to one israeli official telling Raff Sanchez they carried out the strike that nasrallah refused to decouple the two conflicts and continuing to tie what happened there in lebanon to the conflict in n gaza. According to this israeli official, that is why Israeli Al officials made the drastic decision to assassinate him. Thank you so much. Nk we will check back in with you. Joining me now is ambassador david hale, former under Secretary Of State and former me ambassador to lebanon and jordan. Ambassador, thank you to you. You heard from Matt Bradley talk about what is going on, there are people crying, they ar are mourning the death of Hassan Nasrallah. Is that something you would expect, given that his prolonged , fiery Rhetoric And Leadership of hezbollah over 30 years is what helped to invite the rockets to land in lebanon and take out neighborhoods and kill innocent people . Was this a popular figure for he himself and who he was . Thank you very much. I think the reporting is quite accurate, although i would say it is important to emphasize that the view Inside Lebanon depends on who you ask. S it is a deeply divided country along sectarian lines as Well Se as iranian versus prowestern alliances. The attitudes fall along those fault lines. I suspect he has dominated the Shiiteed Community since he fir came to power when his T Predecessor was assassinated in 1992. He has offered them an inspiration to a community that has never been really welcomed e into the lebanese context. So that is what is happening there. On the christian and muslim, certainly the muslim side, a nl different set of reactions. There are people who in lebanon are scratching their head. Why is it that hezbollah has been conducting this war on behalf of Gaza And Iran and had no lebanese interest. Can you answer that C Question . Why was hezbollah doing that . Well, they have been answering to iran since day one. People forget, this organization, hezbollah, was founded by the irg see, the iranian Revolutionary Guard in 1979 as a reaction to the israeli occupation in the early 1980s. This is a longstanding leg. I there are other things, too. There are lebanese political, social and religious organization but in part, they a respond to what iran wants him to do. Are you concerned this will be a Tipping Point for a ng broader war in The Middle East . Obviously, i would not io exclude any contingency. The iranian scum at this in a very direct way, i would estimate not. After all, based on what we have seen, the attack in damascus early this summer, late spring, they lost many commanders and reacted with a De Barrage of missiles on Israel Ag which israel, its neighbors and the united states successfully ferried and intercepted. I think they will step back because they prefer to see their proxies rather than iranians themselves taking on the fight. I am sure you will see more attempts by hezbollah to penetrate israeli defenses but so far, they have been unsuccessful. Now they have decapitated deep ranks of their leadership and assassinated Hassan Nasrallah and others have gone underground. Ambassador, israels playbook has been escalated to deescalate. Andrea mitchell reported at an israeli briefing, an official was asked if there would be a ceasefire and the officials said, no, when you have momentum against the enemy, you dont stop at what is Israels Plane . I am not a fan of the phrase escalate to deescalate. On a number of things, one, r after October 7, there is an entirely new mindset in israel,y a never again mentality, never again do they want their people to live in the shadow of terrorism and violence, they never want to wake up what they did on October 7 and see that. Before October 7, that strategy failed them. Theyre not looking for new national Security Strategy and they have been preparing for a long time but this is a new approach. They dont care about opinion outside israel, it cares about results. Third, they need to make a decision at some point on whether or not they can return 60,000 israeli civilians who have been displaced in the doore to return to their homes. No cabinet, no coalition, no prime minister of israel will make that decision so long as there is a Possibility Fighting may resume in the weeks and months after that. The only alternative is for the states to create a path for Security And Stability and thaty has not been forthcoming so far from washington. To that end, at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, the u. S. And allies said they believed they s had a deal for the 21 Days Ceasefire but that was rejected by israel. What can the u. S. Do diplomatically if they cant get their strategic ally on board with any attempts, not to mention the other side of negotiations, hezbollah now is a vacuum at the top of the leadership. Well hezbollah may have a Ol Vacuum to the top of there is no vacuum in iran. It is the iranians that are the problem. The answer never was in beirut. The address is tehran. The united states has simply so far has had difficulty proving relevance to the problems of the moment. These are new realities and e this is based on old things, stale ideas of the past. Id why should they accept a pause in the fighting when momentum is on their side based on the promise an administration might be able to or might not be able to launch negotiations . Of course the israelis are looking at this and saying they will have to take matters into their own hands. The united states can offer ideas based on new realities but they have to reflect that never again mentality. It is similar to 9 11. They have to take advantage of the fact finally we are seeing the reestablishment of the terms against israeli proxies. Do you see where the united states gets drawn into the war in some fashion . The u. S. Is sending more troops to the region to help stabilize things. The announcements i saw fromc the administration reflect the prudent thing to do in order to make sure embassies are well protected and defended and Military Personnel deployed to help israel protect itself are also fully protective. Of course, i am government now but they will not be offensive in nature. I would not expect the united states to conduct offensive operations of any nature, particularly in lebanon. We tried that four , years ago and we were not successful. Instead, an Air Defense of israel and continue to supply Ra Weapons and technology to israel to protect its people. Former ambassador david hill, i very much appreciate your insight. Hope you will join me again. Thank you. We will turn to Politics L next and talk about the shift in priorities for the kamala in Harris Campaign but is it the right move . We have answers to that when we come back in a short 90 seconds. 0 seconds. Have you seen it, by t . Happy birthday, grandma really . Look how the brushstrokes follow the line of the gas tank. Hey hey brought my plusone. Jamie . Its started. Its. The side hug. Tween milestones like this may start at age 9. Hpv vaccination a type of Cancer Prevention against certain hpvrelated cancers, can start then too. For most, hpv clears on its own. But for others, it can cause certain cancers later in life. Youre welcome now, as the dad cab, its my cue to help protect them. Embrace this phase. Help protect them in the next. Ask their Doctor Today about hpv vaccination. Meet the jennifers. Each planning their future through the chase mobile app. Hellooo new apartment. One bank for now. For later. For life. Chase. Make more of whats yours. New poll Numbers Today show an ever tightening race for the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris holding the slightest of leads in michigan and wisconsin all within the margin of error. Donald trump in michigan Last Night defended his economic policies, insisting his plan to tax foreign goods will lower prices at home. Purposely, over a period of years, they have given it a bad thing. Actually, i consider it one of the more beautiful things i have ever seen, the word tariff, i love it, i think it is beautiful. Well, meanwhile, harris visited the u. S. Mexico border to call for more stringent Asylum Rules and announced unlawful Border Crossings are at the lowest level in four years and slammed trump for spreading false rumors about immigrants. We cannot accept Donald Trumps failure to lead. We should not permit scapegoating. Instead of solutions. And lets see whats happening. Lets not permit scapegoating instead of solutions. Or rhetoric. Instead of results. Wev

© 2025 Vimarsana