united states had against cuba and other adversaries as well, so the damage assessment is going on now, but it is going to be very difficult because he left in 2002. >> jim popkin, another extraordinary story, another book for you. thank you for being with us. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show on social media at mitchell reports. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. israel lay siege to one of the largest cities in gaza and was once seen as a safe haven. what happens now to the thousands of palestinians trying to flee through an active war zone? plus, new details that link those gold bars to both senator bob menendez and the businessman accused of bribing him.

do they amount to a proverbial smoking gun? and should he focus solely on donald trump or ignore him and focus on issues like abortion? the contradictory advice from key members of the democratic party to president biden that could be the difference between winning and losing in 2024. we'll talk strategy. but right now, we begin with some of the fiercest fighting of the entire israel-hamas war that is taking place all across gaza. tens of thousands of palestinians are in danger of being caught in the cross fire. in the north, around gaza city, israeli forces say they're engaged in intense urban combat, face to face with the enemy. but nbc news learned the bulk of israeli operations is now focused further south, in the heart of khan younis. in the hospital there, the wounded are stretched out on the floor, surrounded by blood and other debris. according to the u.n., roughly 80% of gaza's population, 1.8

million people, have been displaced. some two, three, even four times they have had to move. and for them, theuation is likely to get worse before it gets better. the u.n.'sumanitarian coordinator for the palestinis says, quote, nowhere is safe in to go.and there is nowhere left the conditions required to deliver aid to the people of gaza do not exist. if possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond. i want to bring in nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. richard, what is the latest on the ground? the last i saw you, adding to the misery, is was pouring rain. >> reporter: it certainly is making this situation even worse that it is raining now here in jerusalem, it is raining in gaza, and there are many people, particularly in the south who have been unable to find shelter. so they are either crammed into

apartments if they can find space or sleeping on the streets, under tarps if they can find those. the situation is one that people feel depressed, they feel abandoned. we spoke to a woman in gaza a short while ago, and she was wondering how can the world be watching this. how can the world be watching this tragedy unfold and do nothing? and just watch as the situation gets worse day after day, and express sympathy and condolences, but take no actions. so, there is a tremendous sense of delusionment, disappointment, and in addition to the suffering. and that's just among the people who are stuck in rafah, waiting for the next phase of this war, which as you mentioned could be even more destructive, even more deadly because this campaign began almost two months ago in northern gaza. and israeli troops are still fighting in northern gaza. some of the most intense ground

fighting where troops are now actually out of their tanks, going into some of the most densely populated alley ways and apartment blocks is happening in the north. and now the new phase of the operation is beginning in the south. so, the israelis are going in heavy like they went in heavy in the north, in the south around khan younis with air strikes, with tanks, not yet on the ground, street to street fighting, though that is expected to follow as it followed in the north. and as the fighting is continuing in khan younis, this heavy initial assault, people are moving south. and the last place they can go, the end of the road, is the city of rafah, right on the egyptian border. this and is the city i was just describing, where people are waiting for what is coming next, they feel that they have been crammed down in this corner of the gaza strip, and they don't know if the israelis will continue the offensive into

rafah. they assume that it will, because that has generally been the pattern. i think that is one of the scenarios that the u.n. is warning about. what happens when the israeli offensive reaches all the way down to the bottom of gaza, what will happen to all the people who are now gathered there? >> and nbc's richard engel, thank you for that. let me bring in michael crowley, diplomatic correspondent for "the new york times" and peter baker, the times chief white house correspondent and msnbc political analyst. peter, it occurs to me as i'm hearing richard engel quote someone saying how can the world watch this and do nothing, that the two things that president biden may be best known for is empathy, and his long experience in foreign affairs and support of israel can almost seem to be at conflict right now. what is the administration's biggest concern about the israeli operations as we see them on the ground and moving forward? >> well, the biden

administration made a point of telling the israelis that if they go to the south as they have now done, they needed to show how they can do it in a way that would minimize civilian casualties and they have taken credit to some extent, we saw some of the things israel has done, providing a map of where safe zones may be during the conflict and so forth. all of that in the end doesn't mean there isn't going to be a very intense conflict, very intense battle in the part of the country, the part of gaza that had been, you know, gazans were told it was the place to go, leave the north because that's where the fighting would be to go to the south. now in the south and the fighting followed them there. for the biden administration, obviously, which doesn't want to do anything to undermine israel, it is still a very big challenge because they don't want, you know, to maximize civilian casualties. they're trying to manage this in a very delicate way, but, you know, probably getting a little bit from both sides. >> michael, do we know in is any movement at all trying to resurrect some form of the

cease-fire? >> well, look, i was just actually in israel and then dubai with secretary blinken last week. and, you know, what u.s. officials will say about that is if they are very determined to get hostages who are still held by hamas released. and that does include americans. and so i think that there is -- there are ongoing conversations to see whether there is some way there can be another break in the fighting, the u.s. also says that continuing humanitarian aid into gaza is an urgent priority. but there is this very tricky balancing act where, you know, the israeli military wants to conduct its offensive, wants to get hamas leaders as quickly as possible, wants to get this over with, but the u.s. as peter noted is trying to see there is some way to make this more humane, also by trying to get these prisoners out, trying to get aid in.

that does necessitate another break in the fighting. so, i would not be at all surprised to see that happen again. but at the moment, i don't think we're on the brink of it. >> so, peter, your paper quotes a couple of experts in the laws of war who say they have not seen significant changes in recent days and how israel is waging its war, that warnings to civilians and you touched on this appear to be ineffective, but matt miller said yesterday it is too soon to judge whether israel has been doing enough to protect civilians in gaza. are the private messages that president biden and the white house is sending to israel different from what we're hearing publicly? >> well, i think it will blunt it, they are calibrating what they say in public, in public you're hearing a kind of -- a little bit of a mixed message. the vice president, kamala harris, defense secretary lloyd austin and secretary blinken

have been pretty strong in the last few days about talking about israel's obligation to avoid civilian casualties. you haven't heard the president say that and jake sullivan, the president's national security adviser came out and was more cautious in his tone and his language in reminding everybody that hamas is the one that started this, that hamas is the one that has been using civilians as shields and israel is, you know, has a right to defend itself even as, of course, it should follow the laws of war. i think you're seeing a mixed message in effect from the administration, maybe good cop, bad cop, and behind the scenes saying it rather bluntly, trying to tell israel that, yes, they should do what they need to do to destroy hamas, but as lloyd austin, the defense secretary said the other day, there is a risk of delegitimizing its international credibility and, you know, further radicalizing

another generation of palestinians depending how they do it. that's a message hard for israel to take. they want and need the united states to be on their side, they don't want to have a break with the united states, but at the same time they view it differently than they do in washington. >> so, to that point, michael, i mean, just a short time ago, israel's president was on with our ana cabrera and she asked him specifically about the growing international concern, the outrage as people see more and more what the impact is on civilians. let me play what he had to say about that. >> first, they told us get out of gaza, get your settlements out of gaza. we did that. within a year they took it over, with an iranian-led platform and turned it into a military base with 10,000 missiles on our hands in the last two decades. what exactly are we supposed to do? sit idly by and be killed.

you may think otherwise. >> is it clear from your time there, from your conversations with folks, michael, whether israel is concerned about how international opinion has turned against their tactics? by the idf's own assessment, for every hamas fighter they have gotten, they have killed two civilians. >> well, chris, you know, opinions in israel are not uniform, even within the government. but i think there is a strong sentiment that amounts to the idea that the world is basically against israel. the world is always going to find a reason to criticize israel. and israel basically has to do what it has to do to defend itself. but, the relationship with the united states stands on its own and is another matter. so, i think that israel can withstand a lot of world condemnation, it expects it, it can tolerate it, and it thinks as long as it has the -- as long as the u.s. has its back, it can

survive it. that's why i'm sure i know israeli leaders are closely watching the nuances in the bider administration that peter described and american public opinion which drives american policy. i think for now, peter the put his finger on it, you're not hearing president biden really break in a significant way with israel. there is increasing pressure coming from the likes of blinken and austin and othothers. the messaging has gotten more sharp. what we have not heard is anything suggesting real consequences. you know, blinken and others laid out all these demands isn't quite the right word, but strong advice or pleas for israel to do a lot more to protect civilians, lower the casualties, get the humanitarian aid in, get the hostages out. but what is the next step if israel doesn't do those things or doesn't seem to be taking america's advice. no one laid that out. there is no stick on the table. strings on american aid, reduction on american aid, now

it may be in the works, i'm sure it is something the white house is talking about, but it is not out there right now and so for now, i think israel feels like they can survive this international condemnation. >> and before we go, michael, i want to ask you about the word we just got from the state department that they're going to be imposing a visa ban on israeli settlers who are believed to be involved in the attacks on the palestinians in the west bank. put that into context for us. >> well, you know, in recent years you have had a real dramatic surge in violence by right wing israeli settlers, often heavily armed, attack palestinians in the west bank with the goal basically of driving them off of their land and these settlers essentially don't, you know, most or many or all of them don't believe there should be a palestinian state. they want that land for israel. and they are attacking, intimidating these palestinians. the u.s. condemned this violence repeatedly. i think there is frustration in a sense that particularly this very conservative netanyahu government in israel is allowing

this to happen with impunity. so, the biden administration is taking the next step here and will be denying visas to dozens of these people, preventing them from enter, the united states. incidentally this action does include palestinians who are believed to have committed acts of violence against israelis. but i think the thrust of it here is against the settlers who the biden administration basically feels are out of control, and the netanyahu government is not doing anything about it and that's making it a lot harder to move things forward, to get some stability in the west bank. some day in gaza, some day maybe have a two-state solution, which is the big picture goal for the biden administration right now. >> michael crowley, peter baker, thank you so much. funding for israel and ukraine continues to defy congress. and today, volodymyr zelenskyy is making a personal plea to u.s. senators, trying to convince them to green light $60 billion in aid for his country. he doesn't have much time do it. nbc's sahil kapur is following that story from capitol hill.

how urgent is the need and what are you hearing about the chances zelenskyy can change minds on this issue and get it moving? >> reporter: it is widely seen as urgent, chris, but as zelenskyy has a very tough challenge ahead of him and that's largely because some of of the republicans who are supportive of additional aid to ukraine have bought into the idea that it must be linked to a major immigration policy piece, specifically restrictions on asylum and parole and those negotiations in the senate have gone badly, even mitt romney and mitch mcconnell, two republicans who are in favor of aid to ukraine, say there won't be any without an immigration agreement. as far as negotiations, on the asylum piece, according to my sources there has been progress there. democrats have been willing to put policy changes on the table, including raising the so-called credible fear standard against the wishes of some immigration advocates. there has not been as much progress on the issue of parole. republicans want sharp limits to presidential powers and granting humanitarian parole. and there is also a kind of a dispute about the parameters of

t the negotiations. let's put up what senator john cornyn, the texas republican told me. said, quote, there is a sunderstanding on the part of senator schumer and some democratic friends. this is not a traditional negotiation where we come up with a bipartisan compromise on the border. this is a price that has to be paid in order to get the supplemental. a lot of democrats have cited that to argue that republicans see this as a hostage negotiation, not a policy discussion. nevertheless, there is likely to be a vote tomorrow in the senate to try to move forward with this $106 billion aid package requested by president biden, that includes assistance to ukraine, to israel, to taiwan, as well as funding for the u.s./mexico border. republicans have made clear they will filibuster it. senator chuck schumer made a plea as he filed for this motion. let's play what he had to say. >> in the coming days, i urge my

colleagues to do the right thing and support moving forward on the supplemental package. we can't ever put a price on defending democracy in its hour of need because if ukraine falls, putin will keep on going. autocrats around the world will be emboldened, democracy, the grand and noble experiment, will enter an era of decline. >> reporter: and just today, as well, house speaker mike johnsonish issjohnson issued a letter to the white house, reiterating the position there has to be strict border policy measures in order to move forward with ukraine aid. the lead democratic negotiator, chris murphy, i asked him what is at stake here. he said nothing less than the fate of the world, chris, in terms of stopping putin and russia's territorial expansion. >> let me ask you really briefly, sahil, we learned about a big retirement, republican patrick mchenry, who served as the temporary house speaker, he's calling it quits. i think now "the new york times"

has more than three dozen members of the house who will not run for re-election. what is going on? >> reporter: this is a real shock to some of mchenry's colleagues. he's only 48 years old. he's the chair of the house financial services committee. he gained national attention when he served as acting speaker pro tem during that three-week drought after republicans removed kevin mccarthy from the position. mchenry is seen as an institutionalist, a solidly conservative voting record, solidly conservative positions, but, you know, he tried to be the voice of reason within the republican party, arguing against aggressive moves like defaulting on the debt, dangerous things like a government shutdown. he was seen as someone for the future of the party, turns out he will be retiring at the end of next year. he said in a statement, quote, i believe there is a season for everything and for me this season has come to an end. this is simply the latest in a long-standing exodus of institutionalists and moderate republicans from the party which began in the era of barack obama, only accelerated in the age of donald trump.

>> and sahil kapur, thank you. coming up, new information on the bribery investigation that is shaking up the senate. the robbery, the gold bars, and the businessman, and what new revelations about all of that could mean for senator bob menendez. that's in 60 seconds. bob menendez that's in 60 seconds we always thought that whatever we did here would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud. (carolers) ♪ iphone 15 pro, your husband deserves it! ♪ (mom) carolers? to tell me you want a new iphone? a better plan is verizon. (dad) no way they'd take this wreck. (carolers) ♪ yes, they will, in any condition. ♪ ♪ get iphone 15 pro and ipad and apple watch - all on them! ♪ (mom) please forgive him. (carolers) ♪ it's all good - just a little awkward. ♪

(soloist) think we'll wrap this up. (vo) for a limited time, turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us. that's up to $1700 in value. only on verizon. more on the legal peril now that is facing new jersey senator bob menendez. nbc news is reporting that gold bars, the fbi says it found in his home, are linked to a businessman accused of bribing the senator. at least four gold bars with unique serial numbers match those that fred divy reported stolen in 2013 in a robbery and were recovered and returned to him by police. this is the latest development in the case against menendez and his wife who are charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for the senator's influence.

nbc's jonathan dienst has been a lead investigator. jonathan, what more can you tell us about these gold bars, how they fit into this investigation overall and i think i butchered the name of the businessman, so help me with that too. >> you got it right. fred davies. look, senator menendez has never explained how he got these gold bars. what is new here is that these gold bars are now linked to a 2013 robbery, fred davies, the man accused of bribing the senator, says he was robbed back in 2013, reported it to police. police went out, they caught the robbers. they returned the gold bars to fred davies. fred davies to get the gold bars back had to sign and certify that each and every one with those serial numbers were in fact his.

the police gave it back to him. fast-forward a decade later, gold bars are found inside the home of senator robert menendez and the serial numbers and the gold bars are one and the same. at least four of them appear to be exact matches. so, that is where the investigation comes and, again, prosecutors say mr. davies gave the bars and gave that money to senator menendez. why? he was under criminal investigation for bank fraud and he was allegedly wanted the senator to interfere to step in with the new jersey u.s. attorney's office to say, hands off, give my guy a break. those are the allegations. of course, they deny any wrongdoing. >> paul, i'm not an expert in this area. i have never prosecuted or defended a case, but this sounds like a pretty strong paper trail to me. how key could these gold bars prove to be for prosecutors' arguments? >> they're very probative, chris. when prosecutors introduce

evidence at trial, they have to establish a chain of custody, how they got that evidence and where it was before. so, the federal indictments said there was a bribery agreement for mr. davies to provide favors to senator menendez and his wife in exchange for cash money and gold bars. so the fbi search found not just gold bars, but more than $500,000 in cash, some of it stuffed in an envelope, he had a chauffeur, the chauffeur's fingerprints were on that envelope. so it is incriminating, but prosecutors still have to prove a quid pro quo. he scratched the senator's back, how did the senator scratch mr. davies' back. >> is there a way you see if you were the defense attorney how do you defend against this? >> you know, it is difficult, senator menendez has an

excellent defense attorney and so far what he said is that these weren't favors that mr. davies that the senator was doing for him, it was just constituent services that the senator would do for anybody. the jury will have to figure that out, but what makes this really difficult for the defense, chris, is that in 2015, doj prosecuted the senator for bribery, fraud and false statements. and those prosecutors got their butts kicked. there was a hung jury and the feds dropped the case. i'm sure they're thinking now they have to win this new case. otherwise it is going to look like the department has a vendetta against senator menendez, which is something that his defense has suggested. >> this was what we were just talking about, jonathan, at the break, that last case. where did this case go now? >> you got to remember, this case has several parts to it. it is not just the allegations that fred provided cash and

gifts to the senator in exchange for help with his own criminal case, but there are two other aspects, a gentleman is accused of providing cash to the senator and a third man is accused of having the senator step in and how to with contracts with the egyptian government and led to allegations that the senator was acting as a foreign agent on behalf of the egyptian government. so, there is a multitude of allegations and charges here. and the evidence and the documents just keep coming as we continue to attempt to peel back the layers, but, again, the senator and these business men all deny any wrongdoing and say they're going to fight the charges. >> jonathan dienst, paul butler, thank you. today, top democrats and conflicting strategies about how president biden should take on donald trump. up next two people who have advised presidential campaigns weigh in. you're watching "chris jansing reports." weigh in you're watching "chris jansing reports.

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for democrats, the urgency of having to beat donald trump is settling in with the intensity of the 2024 campaign arguably matching the level that we might typically see in the closing weeks of a race, not before the first primaries. and democrats are offering plenty of contradictory advice. "the wall street journal" reports that some democrats strongly back the biden strategy

to paint another trump presidency as apocalyptic, arguing his push to promote bidenomics isn't working. but a number of democratic governors want biden to talk about issues, particularly abortion. not make the election a referendum on trump. as kentucky governor andy beshear puts it, you've got to run for something and not against someone. robert gibbs is the former white house press secretary under president obama and msnbc political analyst. stewart stevens was chief strategist for mitt romney's 2012 campaign. great to have both of you. robert, i wonder what you make of this contrasting advice from democrats. i was thinking back in 201 one criticism was of hillary clinton's campaign, they had a somewhat ill defined approach. it was kind of hard to figure out what to do about donald trump. everybody was taken by surprise. there is no surprise now. we know who he is. what does a joe biden do if he

wants to win back -- win another term in the white house? >> yeah. so, it is a great question. look, i don't think it is all that controversial if you basically take a bit of this advice and push it together. every campaign is about the future. and every presidential campaign is about the future. so, is joe biden going to go out and talk about the podzpositive what he would do in the next four years? absolutely. he's got to contrast it with what his opponent wants to do. and, look, i think joe biden is likely to spend more time talking about the next four years and what it could bring if donald trump's elected president, than donald trump is going to spend talking about what he wants to do in the next four years. i think every single day you got to paint the picture of what four more years would look like under biden, but you cannot hesitate and any event and any moment to draw the contrast of what it means if donald trump

assumes the presidency again. every single day you to put that in front of you. >> one of the things we hear, stewart, is you have to run a positive campaign and positive ads and then there is all this research that shows that doesn't really work and that the stuff that catches people's attention is what donald trump has done, right? so while joe biden has had some of his most harsh criticism against trump so far, in the last couple of weeks, as "the new york times" puts it, trump's language has become darker, harsher, more threatening during his third run for the white house and the post points out he's using his federal election interference case to circulate yet a new set of falsehoods that the federal government staged during incited violence at the capitol on january 6th. i wonder if given the stakes it would be political malpractice for biden's campaigns to stop talking about those things as regards to donald trump. >> yeah, i think robert pretty much nailed it here. i don't really -- i think they're setting up a false

choice here. as soon as donald trump is the nominee of the party, we have to stop treating this look a normal election. this has never been an election like this in america where someone who, when he opened his campaign down in waco, at the an versusry of the branch davidians, he basically made it a declaration of war against democracy. this is no secret. all the republicans who say they're going to support him have to bear that burden. so, the choice here, i think, is one of the most stark that certainly we had in my lifetime, maybe since 1860. this is not a normal election. i worked for george bush, we won, i worked for mitt romney, we lost. both times i went to bed at night thinking the country was going to be okay. that's not going to be the case if donald trump is the president of the united states. >> so, robert, i mean, i think a

lot of those things that stuart said are things we have been hearing over the last couple of days from liz cheney who has a new book out. she told "the washington post" she hasn't ruled out a third party run because she says she is going to make a final decision in the next couple of months. i want to play what she said just this morning. >> what we have to do to beat trump is be unified. we have the numbers on our side. we have the numbers in terms of people across the political spectrum who will not support him. but we cannot get into a situation where people think there are other issues that matter more than this one. >> do you think, robert, that launching a third party bid contradicts that advice on staying unified against trump? and what effect might a cheney campaign have on the race? >> well, i don't know that there is a huge pool of cheney voters out there on either side. i think she's been heroic in the things that she said and the actions that she has taken and in the investigation that she

led around january 6th. i think the challenge i would have with what she said is, you know, every vote for a liz cheney, no matter how many there are, is essentially going to be a vote that joe biden should be getting that he wouldn't be getting. and so, the real danger is, in a lot of these places, is you have people that find a comfortable place to sit without picking donald trump or joe biden. that hurts joe biden in almost every sense of the word. >> so, the final debate is tomorrow, stuart. a growing number of republicans are calling for chris christie to drop out, throw his support behind nikki haley, viewing her as the last best chance, albeit still a very long shot, to perhaps displace donald trump, who knows what would happen for his support to drop 30, 40 points. how much of an effectistically have if republicans can settle on one of the four people who will be on the stage tomorrow to

challenge donald trump one on one? >> i think that's terrible advice for chris christie. i think he should stay in the race. for all the criticism that might be levied by nikki haley against donald trump, she hasn't made many, she raised her hand and said she would support donald trump if he was convicted of a felony for basically overthrowing the government of the united states. what do you do with that? she is a trump supporter. and she is going to be up there after she loses this nomination, campaigning with donald trump. i don't think chris christie will. so the only real choice here for republicans is do you reject trump, reject trumpism or do you believe that we made a terrible mistake in the party and you have to have an alternative? and right now chris christie and asa hutchinson are the only people through the who are carrying that message. i think it is critically

important. >> robert gibbs, thank you. stuart, you're going to stick with me. we have breaking news. republican senator tommy tuberville just announced that he is lifting his months long hold on military promotions, three star and below. nbc's sahil kapur is on capitol hill for us. also back is stuart. sahil, what did we learn? he did this off camera, just announcing it. >> reporter: that's right. this just happened moments ago, major piece of breaking news. senator tommy tuberville has finally lifted his hold on hundreds of military promotions. this had been in place, this so-called hold since february, preventing normally routine military promotions which are approved by unanimous consent in the senate from moving forward out of protest for the pentagon's abortion travel policy. he had insisted that the pentagon cannot and should not be fund travel for those service members trying to go out of state to get an abortion. the department of defense

objected to his argument saying that service members have to be treated equally. and they could not create discriminatory treatment when it comes to healthcare for the purpose of a dispute over abortion. this means over 400 promotions, three star and below, can move forward in the senate. tommy tuberville told this to our colleagues in the senate, military promotions four star and above still need votes in the senate. this is not 100% of a backdown from tommy tuberville, but a major retreat from the senator who had insisted he would not back down on this, who insisted despite heavy criticism from the pentagon, many republicans on his own side, that he was going to hold firm on this, this came in the midst of a threat by fellow senators to effectively change the rules for the remainder of this congress and get around him. he knew he had been outnumbered, he knew this would not persist for long. the question for him was would

he force them to hold that vote and suffer that embarrassing defeat on the floor of the senate or would he back down and preempt it? it looks like tommy tuberville has now backed down and these promotions can move forward, the military service members whose families had been in limbo for months and months can move on with their lives. >> yeah, limbo might be a nice way to put it. this was a nightmare for a lot of these families. they had to put their lives on hold, the kids, going to school, all that stuff. what did tommy tuberville accomplish here? >> i don't think he's accomplished anything except disgraced the state of alabama and disgraced the republican party. who do you trust here? a failed football coach, professional people in the military? the party that i joined, i became a republican, was a strong pro military party. now we see him holding up support of ukraine, we had this terrible incident with tuberville who is trying to make a name for himself and raise money off of this. that's all he's trying to do.

he's failed. i can understand why he didn't go on camera to back down here. but it is hopefully the end of really a shameful period that i don't believe the people of alabama support this at all. >> stuart stevens, sahil kapur, thank you for being us for that breaking news. it is one of the biggest climate summits in the world and boy, are things getting interesting. we'll take you to cop 28 where our correspondent is standing by in dubai to explain. where our correspondent is standing by in dubai to explain. plop plop fizz fizz with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief. also try for fizzy fast cough relief. [city ambience sounds] [car screech] [car door slam] [camera shutter sfx] introducing ned's plaque psoriasis. [camera shutter sfx] he thinks his flaky, red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. [ned?] it can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching

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a new analysis today focuses on a sore spot athe international climate negotiations in dubai. a record number of fossi fuel lobbyists are there. a whopping 2,456 of them, oil and gas lobbyists, at the cop 28 summit. quadruple the number last year according to a new analysis from a group called kick big polluters out. these lobbyists know the stakes at a time of increasing concern that we're facing a climate catastrophe. the solutions having them bogged down over tensions over fossil fuels. here is the summit ceo just hours ago. >> this is not a normal cop. this is a cop which there is tremendous public scrutiny about what is happening. >> cnbc's lead climate correspondent diana olick is live from cop 28 in dubai for

cnbc on msnbc. tell us more, diana, about the tension there, especially given the host country's fuel interests. >> reporter: yeah, chris, there was controversy over the location of this cop well before it started. but it really ratcheted up over the weekend, a few days in. and that's when the cop president who also happens to be the head of the uae state owned oil company said in a live event there is no science back the idea that a phaseout of fossil fuels would slow global warming. he says it would not allow sustainable development, quote, unless you want to take the world back into a cave. now, let's say that was not received well, by climate leaders here at the cop. he later said his comments were misinterpreted. the ceo of crescent petroleum, a middle east oil and gas company, jumped into the fray today, telling cnbc's dan murphy that blaming the producers of oil and gas for climate change is like blaming formers for obesity. it is our societal consuption

that is the issue and said we need oil and gas through the transition and there is no scenario that doesn't not include that. 50 weapons including exxonmobil, shell, bp and saudi aramco made a landmark agreement to nearly eliminate methane emissions by 2030, that's much more destructive than co2 in causing global warming. so, no question there is concern that this cop is being held in a major oil producing nation and in an incredibly wealthy city that was essentially built by oil money. and, as you noted, there is this report out today that nearly 2500 fossil fuel lobbyists are estimated to have been granted access to cop 28, that's a major increase from last year. and i spoke with the ceo of msci, a financial services company, here at the cop, and his reaction, he told me that to say we're going -- not going to have the energy industry is part of this process and this

transition and that we're going to defund the energy industry is really going to throw billions of people into poverty and there will be chaos in the world. so, you got to have both sides working in tandem. so, chris, we're now at the halfway mark of cop 28 and the controversy continues, the beat goes on. >> cnbc's diana olick, thank you for that. coming up, a shoplifting attempt in philadelphia turns deadly in the wake of a spike in property theft in the city. what investigators are now saying about what happened. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. ened you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc we always thought that whatever we did here would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud. (caroler husband) hey

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right now in pennsylvania, investigators say a suspect is in custody in connection with a fatal shoplifting attack at the downtown macy's department store. two guards were stabbed. one killed. the other is hospitalized. stephanie gosk is following all this for us. what more do we know? >> for many here in philadelphia, this macy's is a holiday highlight, but today, it is a crime scene after police say a shoplifter stabbed two unarmed security forwards with a knife. the macy's in downtown philadelphia is marked with yellow crime scene tape. police investigating a deadly double stabbing they say happened monday after two unarmed security guards stopped a would be shoplifter. >> backs off, gets the

merchandise back. >> but about ten minutes later, police say the man returned to the store and stabbed one of the guards then the other after he tried to help. the suspect who fled on a subway was later arrested at a station a few stops away. both security guards were taken to the hospital where one died from his injuries. >> started as a retail theft. upgraded obviously to a robbery then led ultimately to a homicide. it's just a tragic situation. >> according to philadelphia police, this store is a hot bed of shoplifting with other 250 thefts this year. in statement to nbc news, macy's says it is heartbroken about the incident adding the safety and well-being of customers and colleagues is always our top priority. the deadly incident comes as retail crimes have been getting a lot of attention nationwide. in a survey, retailers reported a nearly 8% increase in organized retail crime in the last year and 88% said

shoplifters are somewhat more or much more violent than in the past. though there's conflicting data on nationwide shoplifting, it is up in some major cities including new york and los angeles where a flash mob recently stole $12,000 worth of apparel from a nike store. in philadelphia, police say there's been an uptick in property theft this year including shoplifting. now one of the city's most popular department stores has also become the scene of a violent crime. the mayor of philadelphia says he is horrified by the crime committed here and that he's praying for the families of the security guards. their identities as well as the identity of the suspect have not been revealed. back to you. >> thank you. and coming up in the next hour, college students taking a stand on capitol hill today, calling for leaders to do more to fight antisemitism. we'll have more of their impassioned pleas for safety, next. >> it is dangerous. it is going unchecked.

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