israel. prime minister netanyahu declares israel is at war after hamas militants launched a surprise attack from gaza. hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded. israeli soldiers and civilians have been taken as hostages.

>> if the united states stands with israel we will not ever fail to have her back. this is not a moment for any party hostile to israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. >> how should the u.s. respond to the crisis? my guest this morning secretary of state antony blinken and republican presidential candidate nikki haley. plus, republican rebellion. >> the office of speaker of the house of the united states house of representatives is hereby declared vacant. >> the house moves to remove kevin mccarthy as speaker leaving the house without a speaker for the first time in history? nobody trusts kevin mccarthy. >> i don't regret standing up for choosing governing over grievance. >> will republicans be able to unite to get a new speaker. >> i'll talk to matt gaetz of florida who led the move to oust

mccarthy. joining me for insight and analysis are chief washington correspondent andrea mitchell, senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake and wall street journal columnist peggy noonan and kimberly atkins stohr for the boston globe. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press". >> from nbc news in washington, the longest running show on television history, this "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning. israel is at war after hamas launcheded a surprise multi-front attack from gaza which israel says has killed more than 300 and wounded at least 1500. the timing adding to the devastation. it is the largest attack on the state israel since the 1973 arab-israeli war almost exactly 50 years ago. the bombardment began with thousands of rockets launched

into israel. hamas gunmen used, policives to breach the border fence crossing with motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders and boats. israel's military confirms civilians and soldiers have been abductioned, taken as hostages into gaza. more than 300 people have been killed in gaza in retaliatory strikes and nearly 2,000 wounded. this morning the war threatens to expand as israel exchanged strikes with hezbollah in the north. the attack comes at a time of deep divisions and political instability in israel and as the u.s., israel and saudi arabia have been negotiating what would be a historic, diplomatic agreement opposed by iran everyone was caught off guard in a stunning intelligence failure from israel to washington with one senior military official saying we were not tracking this. on saturday a flurry of urgent calls, president biden speaking with prime minister netanyahu.

>> the united states stands with israel. we will not ever fail to have their back. we will make sure they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves. >> my colleague raf sanchez is on the ground in israel and raf, we see the disturbing images behind you. what is the very latest there? >> yeah, kristen. i am standing in front of all that remains of an israeli police station that was overrun by hamas gunmen yesterday. this was the scene of a 20-hour, very intense gun battle as israeli forces tried to regain control and if my colleague dave copeland just swings the camera around here, you can see, kristen, all over this scene, we are seeing cars like these in ruins. there is a boot from what may be a member of the israeli security forces and back there in the rubble, kristen, all morning we have been watching as they have been pulling bodies out of the

debris. under our feet are the shell casings, a sign of how intense the fighting was and overhead we are hearing israeli fighter jets carrying out a punishing round of air strikes inside of gaza, but more than 24 hours on from this surprise attack israeli forces are still not fully in control on the ground. there are reports of continued fighting with pockets of palestinian militants and as we drive the highways of southern israel, we are seeing all evidence pointing to a large-scale israeli ground incursion in the works. we are seeing tanks and artillery being moved in into position. that would be a complex military operation, but on top of that, it is a hostage rescue operation unlike anything perhaps the world has ever seen. the israeli military have confirmed there are israeli soldiers and civilians being held captive by hamas, by

palestinian islamic jihad inside of gaza. some of the videos we have seen on social media are absolutely harrowing. a young woman who was attending a dance party in the fields near gaza being carried away on the back of a motorcycle. videos then showing her inside gaza, but this morning her fate is unknown along with the israeli captives and israeli hostages and that is weighing heavy on the minds of decision makers from ben jat innetanyahu on down as they try to figure oat what is the best course of action to get these people back safe and to exact what prime minister netanyahu says be massive retaliation for this surprise attack. kristen? >> those images just devastating, raf sanchez, please do continue to stay safe. joining me now is secretary of

state antony blinken. mr. secretary, welcome back to "meet the press." >> good morning, kristen. >> so the big question on everyone's mind, mr. secretary, how did israel -- how did the united states miss what hamas was planning? >> well, first, put this in perspective and you heard this from your correspondents, this is the worst attack from 1973 almost exactly 50 years ago, but there was a big difference. that was a state on state conflict, army against army with clear front lines. this is a massive terrorist attack targeting israeli civilians, gunning people down in the streets of their towns, gunning them down in their homes, dragging israelis, men, women and children across the border with gaza. a holocaust survivor in a wheelchair. women and children all being taken hostage. so you can imagine the impact this is having in israel and it should be revolting to people

around the world. there will be plenty time to figure out whether the intelligence should have done something different to see this coming. right now the entire focus is on supporting israel and making sure it has what it needs as president biden needs to pledge to prime minister benjamin netanyahu has what it needs to deal with the attack from hamas, to control its own territory and take the necessary steps to make sure there's accountability and to make sure this doesn't happen again. we've been on the phones constantly since yesterday morning, the president, myself, everyone throughout our government working around the world both to build up that support and to get countries to use the influence they may have with hamas to get it to cease-and-desist. >> mr. secretary, do you acknowledge that both israeli intelligence officials and u.s. intelligence officials were caught off guard here? >> this is an attack that i

don't think anyone saw coming in the immediate. >> so was it an intelligence failure, mr. secretary? >> do you acknowledge -- >> the israelis will have plenty of time to look into that. all of us will have time to look into that. the focus now is to make sure that israel has what it needs to deal with this attack and to make sure its citizens are safe and secure. that's the entire focus. more broadly, we have been intensely concerned about the possibility of violence in the region. we have been working intensely with israelis and palestinians in other countries to try to make sure that that was avoided. the challenge is this, we brought israelis and palestinians together in sharm el-sheikh to make sure neither took steps that would lead to conflict and that was an ongoing effort, but hamas was not

involved because hamas is a terrorist organization and the difference maker here is you have a terrorist group that's undertaken these actions. >> mr. secretary, does the administration know at this point if u.s. citizens were among the dead or those taken hostage? >> so we have reports that several americans may be among the dead. we are very actively working to verify those reports. similarly, we've seen reports about hostages and there again we are actively trying to verify them and nail that down. >> meaning there could be some u.s. citizens that have been taken hostage as well, mr. secretary? >> that's correct. >> and does the united states have a role given that and more broadly speaking in securing the release of the hostageses that have been taken both israeli hostages, u.s. hostages and any other nationalities? >> first, i'm not going to get ahead of the facts. we need to establish the facts.

second, any american anywhere who is being detained hostage that will be a priority for this government, for this administration and for me, but i don't want to get ahead of where we are. we have reports and we need to verify them. >> did iran play a role in this? what has the administration assessed in that regard? >> so, kristen, iran and hamas have a long relationship. hamas wouldn't be hamas without the support its had for many years from iran. in this moment we don't have anything that shows us that iran was directly involved in this attack and planning it or carrying it out, but that's something we're looking at very carefully and we have to see where the facts lead, but we do know that iran's had a long relationship with hamas. it's one of the reasons that we have been working aggressively to counter iran. more than 400 iranians precisely for the support it's provided to

hamas. >> we are learning that two israeli tourists and their egyptian guide were killed in egypt. this comes as they're enhancing security in synagogues and other related institutions. how concerned should americans be about a potential attack here, mr. secretary? >> well, we haven't -- we haven't seen indications of that, but of course, we are on guard around the world. we are on guard wherever american citizens may be and could be endangered and we are always on guard in the united states. when it comes to the region as a whole, look, i was on the phone yesterday with my counterparts from egypt, saudi arabia, from qatar, from the united arab emirates, from turkey, from european countries and a big part of that was trying to make sure that everyone was doing everything they can to ensure security, ensure safety and to use whatever influence they have to get hamas to back down and

also to make sure that others don't try to take advantage of the situation. you heard the president speak to this very clearly. he issued a pretty stark warning that no one anywhere should try to take advantage of what's happening in israel. >> speaking of saudi arabia, this comes on the backdrop of israel, saudi arabia, having a potential deal that would normalize relations that would further isolate iran. what further role would those talks have and does this mean that those talks are now dead? >> it's no surprise that those who are opposeded to the talks and those opposed to israel normalizing relations with its neighbors and the region are hamas, hezbollah and iran. . so it's entirely possible that one of the motivations is to try to advance normalization. something that is very hard and there are challenging issues to work through and we're in the process of trying to do that,

but the result would be if we were able to get there a much different path for the region and the future. a path of future stability and greater integration of people to better their lives. that's in stark contrast to the path offered by hamas. i path of violence, killing, terror, a path that offers nothing to the palestinian people. in fact, what it offers is more suffering, not less. so it's a pretty stark choice and the fact that hamas, hezbollah and iran are lined up against that vision i think speaks volumes. at the same time as we are pursuing normalization, it's imperative that it not be a substitute for israelis and palestinians resolving the differences between them. on the contrary, it needs to be something that advances that prospect and supports it, but right now in the immediate the focus is on helping israel deal with hamas. >> mr. secretary, as you know, republican candidates have been

criticizing the administration for the deal that you just struck with iran to release five american detainees in exchange for some iranian detainees as well as releasing $6 billion. officials said iran has not seen a sent of that money, but how do you respond to republican critics who say that that deal funded the attacks on israel? >> well, it's very unfortunate that some are playing politics at a time when so many lives have been lost and israel remains under attacks. the facts is these are not taxpayer dollars and these were iranian resources that were stuck in a bank in south korea. from day one, in our sanctions it's always had the right to use the funs for humanitarian purposes, for food, medicine and equipment, and the funds were moved, but under the close

supervision of the u.s. treasury -- >> mr. secretary -- >> no it's important to get these facts right because here's what's going on. again, not a single cent has been spent from that account, it can only be used for medical supplies, for food and medicine and those who are saying otherwise are misinformed and misinforming and it's wrong either way. >> what do you say about the fact that money is fungible. iran may have known this money is coming and may have used other funds to help fund this attack that happened. >> iran has, unfortunately, always used and focused its funds on supporting terrorism, on supporting groups like hamas and it's done that when there have been sanctions and it's done that when there haven't been sanctions and again i come back to the proposition that these funds have been used by iran. the trump administration set up a similar mechanism to enable iran to use these kinds of

assets for humanitarian purposes. we've done the same thing. >> mr. secretary, very quickly, before we go, as you know there is currently no speaker of the house. congress is in a state of paralysis, is congress able to respond should israel ask for more aid from the united states? what's your message there? >> so, kristen, there's a tremendous amount of aid in the pipeline back from president obama. we signed a memorandum of understanding with $3.8 billion a year in defense assistance and much of that ongoing. the contracts are moving forward. we do a lot of co-production with them and a lot is in the pipeline. at the same time, israel has come to us to ask for additional specific assistance and you'll probably hear more about that later today and we have the ability to respond to that and as a general proposition it would be very important to make sure that we have both houses of congress on a bipartisan basis in a place where they can clearly show and express their

support for israel especially in this hour of need and so that's something we want to see and we hope that happens quickly. >> okay. secretary blinken, thank you very much for joining us. we will look for that announcement about more aid later today. we appreciate it. when we come back, republican presidential candidate nikki haley, the former trump u.n. ambassador weighs in as the gop is seeing growi (all) ♪ toooo youuuuu! ♪ (sean) i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro! (jason) sean! do you mean this one - the one with titanium? (sean) no way i can trade this busted up thing for one. (jason) maybe stealing wishes from the birthday boy is not your best plan -- switch to verizon and trade in any iphone and get the new iphone 15 pro on them. (sean) what!? (jason) yup, and on an amazing network (sean) and i don't have to ruin anymore birthday parties! (jason) yeah, that ship has sailed... let's go get you the iphone. here we go, come on hon. (vo) trade in any iphone in any condition for a new iphone 15 pro on us. only on verizon.

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biden administration's weak policies. >> this is what happens when you have a president like joe biden. i also believe when you have leaders in the republican party that are signaling retreat on the world stage. >> joining me now is mr. trump's former united nations ambassador republican presidential candidate nikki haley. ambassador hailey, welcome back to "meet the press". >> thanks so much, kristen. >> i want to start off, ambassador, by getting your reaction to the horrific events that unfolded in israel yesterday. to what extent do you see this as a major intelligence failure? >> well, i think that there will be a time and place to deal with who it was an intelligence failure. what i want american people to know is imagine the israeli people woke up to see their own citizens dragged in the streets, the elderly, children, women taken as hostages, whole families murdered and so now

today the israeli people in the country are having to face the fact that their loved ones are being deployed, that they are having to go to the front lines to defend their country, that businesses are having to be shuttered because their workers are leaving to go defend the country and because they've had a massive terrorist attack and so i think that one prays for determination and strength for the israeli people, but what i want the american people to know is what happened when they were dragging those people in the streets? what happened when they were murdering innocent israelis? hamas and the backers who support them, the iranian regime were chanting death to israel, death to america. that's what we have to remember. we are united with israel because we are united because both hamas, hezbollah, the houthis and the iranian backers, they hate us and we have to remember what happened in israel can happen here in america, and

i hope we all unite and stand with israel because they really need us right now. >> quick follow up there, ambassador, does that mean that you are concerned about potential attacks on the home front in the wake of what we saw in israel. >> i have been concerned. i have been terribly worried about the fact that iran has said the easiest way to get into america is through the southern border. we have an open border. people are coming through. they're not being vetted. we don't need to wait for another 9/11. you also look at the fact that, kristen, america is incredibly distracted and incredibly divided and the world is less safe and look at what happened in israel. they waited for them to be distracted and that's when your enemies move in. america needs to wake up. we need to put this negativity and division behind us and we need to focus on national security for ourselves and for our friends and start thinking about what it's going to take to get america strong again. >> i want to drill down yesterday. yesterday almost all of your

republican rivals blamed the biden administration as we discussed with the secretary citing the deal they made with i rain. you just saw the secretary of state effectively say there is no link between that deal and the horrific attacks that unfolded yesterday. do you think it was irresponsible of your rivals to level that allegation without any evidence or proof? >> i actually think it was irresponsible for secretary blinken to say that the $6 billion doesn't weigh in here. be honest with the american people and understand that hamas knows and iran knows they're moving money around as we speak because they know $6 billion will be released. that's the reality. when i was at the united nations you saw when those planes sent by obama to irani went to the atomic energy agency, i met with them and those funds were sent to hezbollah and lebanon.

they were sent to gaza and the houthis and yemen. they spread terrorism every time they get a dollar. it doesn't go to the iranian people and it does go to terrorist attacks and secretary blinken is not to imply it isn't moved as we speak to -- >> it was hours after the immediate attack. is it irresponsible to level that charge when you really don't have any evidence of that at this point in time? >> the evidence is look at what the iranian people have done to freedom-loving people around the world. look at what the iranian people, the iranian regime has done to threaten israel over the years, to think that they're not moving money around is irresponsible to say that to the american people. they are moving money around to threaten those they hate. they hate israel. they hate america. they are going to continue to use this. it was wrong to release the $6 billion, but let me tell you what else was wrong. it was wrong to have that

debacle in afghanistan. it was wrong to waive sanctions on iran to give them more money. money has been flowing to iran and that is a problem because when iran gets money they use it for hate. >> the secretary of state said categorically they have not seen a link. let me move on to your record on israel. under the trump administration the u.s. embassy moved to jerusalem. as you know that enraged many palestinians. settlements expanded in violation of international law and there was no progress made to a two-state solution. you were u.n. ambassador at the time. could you and should you have done more to address the interests of the palestinian people? >> well, i actually went to the west bank. i actually met with the palestinians multiple times. i actually went and saw what was situation was at hand and let me tell you what else i saw. i saw tunnels underneath israel and underneath schools. what they would do in those tunnels is they would store

arms. they would store ammunition and store things so they could go take that ammunition to hurt people across the border. they put these tunnels underneath schools because they knew that israelis valued life. they knew that israelis would not go and hurt innocent people. that's what we're dealing with. so i've been in those tunnels. i've seen what has happened. i've seen the graffiti all over those buildings that have tried to say that they want to kill as many israelis and jews as they can. i saw the hate up close. >> could you have done more to move toward a two-state solution while you had the chance to do so? >> i called out the truth. i called out the truth that what was happening was that you had the entire world condemning a freedom-loving country that is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood, and the other truth i'll tell you, kristen is americans need to remember it's not that israel needs america. america needs israel. israel is the front line of defense for the iranian regime and terrorists that want to hurt us and want to hurt our friends

and we need to be honest with the american people about that. >> ambassador haley, i want to turn to former president trump's comments suggesting that outgoing joint chiefs chairman mark milley should be executed for treason. do you believe those comments in and of themselves mark a threat to the united states national security? are they disqualifying? >> i just think it's irresponsible. you don't need to say things like that. any man or woman that has served our country deserves the highest respect. my husband is a combat veteran. he is deployed right now. they sacrifice a lot. their families sacrifice a lot and they should be honored every chance we get. >> you do not have a speaker of the house in a state paralysis. do you worry that make the u.s. look weak on the world stage. >> i would remind republicans that, you know, don't chase democrat chaos with republican chaos. we need to come together. we need to focus on national

security. we need to focus on the fact that, you know, 60% of americans are living paycheck to paycheck, that crime is at unprecedented levels, that our children are lacking in reading and math and we have an open border and that china is preparing for war with us. we need to get united and focused on the issues facing us and there is no time to waste. >> ambassador nikki haley, thank you so much for joining us this morning. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. go to nickihaley.com and join our fight. >> all right. when we come back, republican congressman matt gaetz joins me. he led the ousting of speaker he led the ousting of speaker kevin

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(other money manager) so when do you make more money, only when your clients make more money? (fisher investments) yep. we do better when our clients do better. at fisher investments, we're clearly different. welcome back. after just nine months, kevin mccarthy became the first house speaker in history to be vote out of the job. here's how members of congress are describing the chaos on capitol hill, quote, one has to wonder whether the house is governable at all. another called it a vote for chaos. others called themselves a shamed and embarrassed. a handful of house members just

want to blow up the institutions and themselves in the process. sad. and that's what republicans are saying. with the government shutdown 41 days away and looking more like members of congress have left washington, the fight for the job could drag on for weeks. i am joined now by republican congressman matt gaetz of florida. congressmangate, welcome to "meet the press". >> thanks so much for having me, kristen. >> i want to start off with recent comments by the now ousted speaker of the house kevin mccarthy who said just yesterday the fact that the house of representatives is leaderless at this point moment he says, quote, why would you ever remove a speaker during a term and, quote, raise a doubt around the world? did your actions this week to remove the speaker undermine u.s. national security and safety? >> well, i don't think that other countries think about kevin mccarthy's speakership

quite as much as kevin mccarthy does. we'll have a new speaker next week and we'll do our work. he made contradictory promises that couldn't be reconciled. the democrats didn't trust him. house republicans didn't trust him and we made a decision choose someone new, we have jim jordan and steve scalise. i reject the premise that this is going to drag on for weeks. my colleague kevin hearn was contemplating a run and i received a message from him that he won't be mounting that campaign because in a two-man race it's pretty clear who will get the most votes. i do want to say what is happening in israel it is horrifying and we stand with the people of israel and israel has the right to defend itself. i get the sense that israel will be larger, not smaller at the end of this conflict. you have to take note, whether it's gaza or judea, and samaria,

life has gotten worse for the people living in those places and the actions of israel are justified and we certainly hope the carnage and death comes to an end as soon as possible. >> you stand with israel and yet you're completely incapable because you've brought congress to a standstill, a state of paralysis, have you not? >> you just heard the secretary of state reject that premise. we have a ten-year ongoing memorandum of understanding -- >> he didn't reject it, congressman. he called congress to get back to work. >> let me get a word in here, kristen. yeah, but what he said is there was no need in israel that we're not going to be able to meet based on the funding that we've already approved for israel and the reason we have this multibillion-dollar commitment each and every year to israel is because we want israel to have a qualitative military edge over everyone in the region. they have that edge. israel has air superiority now. we are seeing their armored vehicles in the north.

i am very concerned about what hezbollah might do, what lebanon might do to create more instability, but there is no ask from israel that we are unable to meet because it's going to take us a few days to pick a new speaker. i was very critical of the pro tems decision to send us home for a week. i thought upon mccarthy's ouster, if he would not have made a decision, he made one that was regrettable and that will be on track quite soon. >> that takes me to my next question because you led this effort to oust speaker mccarthy without a clear replacement in place. was that irresponsible on your part? >> not only do we have a clear replacement, we have two. we have two men -- >> you don't have a choice and it's not clear either of them have enough votes. >> well, i think that in a two-man race it's a lot easier to get someone to 50% plus one

that in a race where you have three, four, five, seven people. so the fact that -- you are watching the plan play out and by the way, if we have a speaker jim jordan, or a speaker steve scalise at the end of the coming week, there won't be a single republican sans kevin mccarthy who doesn't believe we have upgraded the position. this is about ensuring long term stability financially from the country and with either steve scalise or jim jordan we will undeniably have an upgrade and i'm looking forward to it. >> congressman gaetz when then speaker paul ryan announced he wouldn't seek re-election to congress here's what you said about moving to relace him early. >> if we take paul ryan off the field right now instead of being able to finish strong in the 115th congress we will shatter into a bunch of factions fighting for power and we have enough of that already. >> where was that concern for party unity on tuesday? >> unfortunately, we are in a

very different position today than we were back then. also, i don't know that that was 2008. i think it was 2018, you may have misseded a decade. >> it was 2018, absolutely. if i misspoke, 2018. >> no problem. we've caught up, but now that we have the circumstances we're faced with, we had a leader who had made multiple contradictory promises that nobody could trust. so there was no way to move forward. paul ryan was in a quite different position in 2018 and you are not seeing factions divide. as a matter of fact, you saw brian fitzpatrick, someone who doesn't hold my view on a lot of things and a moderate republican endorse jim jordan, my hero and mentor and judiciary chairman. so i think we're actually going to come together quite soon. i think we've got two great choices and i think that you're going to really see an invigorated republican party. we were in the doldrums with kevin mccarthy. we had no budget and we've not had a budget in this country for

decades. it's time we follow the law and work with the senate and the president and divided government to meet our priorities. >> there's no guarantee that either of the two candidates running for speaker that they'll get a new budget, given that you are dealing with a divided congress and that you don't have the number, quite frankly, congressman. >> we have the numbers to pass appropriations bills to fund 70% of the government and for the criticism that i'm knowa agent of chaos, i voted for those appropriations bills, for our military, our veterans, our department of agriculture and our department of homeland security and the border. the question is whether or not we believe in the budget. the question is what is the responsible budgeting process. omni bus bills and continuing resolutions and have one up or down vote on the entire government all at once. i believe the manner of budgeting is best served in divided government or not with

single-subject bills individually negotiated to have a programattic -- and we can do it in divided government. the last time it happened was divided government. >> i've been speaking to some of your republican colleagues and you know there are discussions about potentially kicking you out of congress. how concerned are you about that? that you may lose your job over this? >> well, the voters of florida's first congressional district sent me here with 70% of the vote. i think anyone trying to kick me out of congress because they didn't like me would have a bone to pick with them. think about what we're saying. i'm the guy saying we need a budget, that we need to follow the budget control act of 1974 and because merely i wanted to hold kevin mccarthy to his own word that he would follow the law -- >> if you lose your job is it worth it? if you lose your job will it be worth it? >> absolutely. i am here to fight for my constituents and i am here to

ensure that america is not on a path to financial ruin. your average american family is spending $700 more each and every month for the same household, goods and services. we are about to refinance $8 trillion in debt from low interest rates to high interest rates and that will mean the apr on every american credit card will go up and people are about to be crushed and debt and inflation is going to continue. we're spending $7 trillion a year and only taking in five. to me people willing to drive $2 trillion are the agents of chaos. the people of budgets are people of order. >> you voted for the tax cuts under the trump administration which helped create that $8 trillion deficit that you're talking about right there. did you not? is this not as some of your critics would say hypocritical with that? >> no. i voted against 10 -- >> you voted for the tax cuts. >> i actually voted against the budget that created the platform

for the reconciliation of the tax cuts because it didn't balance. i agreed with senator rand paul at the time that we should do the tax cuts with offsets and balanced budgets and there is say key distinction, the wages was growing, capital was coming back to our country and gdp was growing at a far faster rate than it is now and it's different when the economy is growing and now there's more debt, more inflation and no plan and people are doing worse and that's why i think we need a better track. >> just to put a fine point on it. jordan or scalise, who will get your vote this week? >> want to hear both specific plans on spending -- >> will you vote for whoever has the most support? >> yes. >> okay. >> yes. if either of those men get the most support in the conference i'm eager to vote for them on the floor. >> congressman matt gaetz, thank you. appreciate it. when we come back, voters in when we come back, voters in the key battle ground state tell this is american infrastructure megawatts of power,

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issues that matter to them, the developing presidential race and the dysfunction we saw on capitol hill this week. >> there's just so much going on that it's not -- it's very unstable. >> i'll give you the one word my emotion, depression. >> watching it go down in real time was wildly entertaining, but also to al's point it was depressing and i don't see a way that they're going to strike a compromise on key items like budget, continuing resolution. >> do you feel like there's a leadership vacuum right now? >> absolutely. i do. >> across the board. >> across the board. >> if we look at the current polling right now it seems like it is very possible there will be a rematch between president biden and former president trump. how many of you and just raise your hands, are excited by a rematch between president biden and former president trump. no hands. no one's excited by that -- >> depress side a better word. >> depressed why? >> i think biden is approaching

sen ility, if not already in the middle of senility and running the greatest country is not a job for an old person and trump is forgive me french, is an [ bleep ]. we don't need a person like that running this country. >> how many of you are undecided? >> i am undecided. >> why are you undecided. >> i did vote republican. i didn't love -- it was a lot of chaos. you know, i'm someone who preaches kindness and maybe it was hypocritical for me to vote trump in the last election to have both of them going back up against each other, i don't know if my moral compass could choose one of them. >> do you know who you would vote for if there were a rematch between president biden and former president trump. >> i am confident they know.

>> like al mentioned, it would not be a happy or proud vote. it would be the lesser of the two evils. >> if it were by then versus trump i would vote for biden. >> would you do so with enthusiasm? >> no. al's concerns about age is still a pack. he's still capable and seems to have the vitality to continue to do the job well, but at 88 years old, just the inherent rick. i just feel that trump has disqualified himself from office because of his behavior from the elections and january 6th and i wouldn't vote for him. >> is there a chance that some of you would sit home on election day? >> yes. if it's biden versus trump, i don't know that there's anything that could make me come out and vote that day which i know is really -- it's upsetting because it's something that, you know, is a privilege for me to have.

>> al, is there any chance that you would stay home on election day? >> no. i love american democracy too much that biden and trump if it's a biden and trump race and i would vote for biden even if he was dead. >> no chance i'd stay home. >> i'm a republican. >> powerful comments there. you can see more of my conversation with voters at meet the pre.com. ssth (vo) it's another ultimate endless shrimp flavor drop with new tequila lime shrimp one of seven endless choices right now, only at red lobster welcome to fun dining this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪

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welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news chief washington correspondent and foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake. kimberly atkins stohr, senior opinion writer at "the boston globe" and wall street journal columnist peggy noonan. thank you for all of you for being here on a very busy sunday. andrea, i want to start with you to sort of set the table here and take us behind the scenes of how these horrific attacks unfolded. i mean, there is a backdrop to all of this that you have been reporting on for quite some time. >> absolutely. first of all, the news that the

secretary of state made with you just this morning which is that they are looking into reportses that americans could be among the hostages and among the dead killed in this horrific attack, surprise attack and the surprise factor. the intelligence failure, clear, potentially because of its domestic problems and the divisions for a year, the protests which affected the intelligence community as well. it's a big distraction. the distractions here in the u.s., and they were focused a lot on reshaping the middle east, a potential deal with saudi arabia which would isolate iran further and saudi arabia recognizing israel and it would change the map and going back to 1948, but not really focused enough -- the president did, but the other players did not. not focused enough on the

palestinians. their grievances which have been exacerbated under netanyahu's right-wing coalition so there was violence on both sides escalating in the last year. >> as i was discussing with ambassador nikki haley, that housing has expanded. >> talk about those protests in israel over the proposed judicial reforms by prime minister netanyahu, we are seeing instability right now. i was just talking to congressman matt gaetz and asking what can congress do if israel asks for more aid? is congress in a position to deal with this congress both in terms of intelligence briefings and providing any more aid if asked? >> not immediately. they'll get the briefings that they need and that can happen quickly. members have started to get some unclassified briefings and even the speaker pro them could get

the information available to the speaker if the administration wants to make that happen. the white house's intelligence can make it available to who they see fit. whether to pass a supplemental appropriations bill to get more money to israel. that's not going to happen until you have a speaker. we don't have a senate confirmed ambassador to the race and the senate hasn't held a hearing on that yet. there's plenty of work for congress if they wanted to jump into the space more actively. they have ceded to the white house national authority, and there's room for them if they can get their act together this week. >> such an important point, not even an ambassador confirmed and these tensions go back decades, years. >> oh, god, yes. it all takes place within the context what's happening now of what we are discussing, real sense of civic instability in israel. the -- the controversialness of

prime minister netanyahu, his decisions, the whole sense that that country is going at itself, it was vulnerable, they went at it, and in return, in the united states there's a sense -- you look to the u.s., what are we thinking and there was, unfortunately, this week that awful chaos on the house where one of our great parties, we have only two, looked like it was being taken over by flakes and eccentrics and it didn't look too stable either, so a difficult time which adds to this difficult moment. >> and not to -- not withstanding what garrett said that the most of the national security and foreign relations a ball has been ceded to the white house. it has not gone unnoticed in the world what the instability in the house is doing. this is supposed to be the leader. we're supposed to be the leader of the world and we have a party

that cannot even seem to govern itself, barely be able to pass a budget. that certainly has led to the instability abroad and the concern among our allies that it's maybe giving our adversaries an advantage. >> we have less than a minute for all of you. final thought. you heard the frustration among those voters there that i interviewed. andrea, we are discussing this in a moment of deep frustration at home. >> deep frustration. this is not good for president biden and the administration if any context because it's an unexpected event. jake sullivan only a week ago was saying that the middle east is quieter unless something else happens. something else did happen. >> sure did. >> the republicans this week can get their act together and get a speaker and matt gaetz saying he would support jim jordan or steve scalise makes me more opportunistic they may. >> the biggest thing the third party has to do is prove that in this stasis they could actually

do something and get better. >> yes or no, speaker this week? >> i don't know. >> we'll see. that's all for today. thank you for watching because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

breaking this morning, israel at war. prime minister benjamin netanyahu promises mighty vengeance as weekend fighting between israel and hamas leaves more than a thousand dead. we'll have a full report on the latest o