from nbc, here in los angeles.

welcome,, everyone dallas or ports. you see the, banner we begin with the breaking news from the deadly hamas attack on israel. this, new video, showing israeli security forces rescuing their citizens who've been taking hostage in a pretty fierce gun battle with militants. fighting has continued inside of israel across several cities. here's nbc's raf sanchez. >> it is to rod. it is a massive crime scene. there are police cars riddled with bullets as you walk, your feet crunch on the shell casings from the thousands of rounds fired. surround itself was quiet when we were there. this spokesperson did come from that and areas along the border, they're still fighting going on.

>> well injustice lost, our u.s. president biden spoke by phone with president netanyahu. biden is now seeking additional support following this unprecedented attack. the support comes after new requests for israel. anthony blinken has the report. >> there is a tremendous amount of aid in assistance in the pipeline, under president obama. we signed a so-called memorandum of understanding that provides about a billion dollars a year in defense assistance. much of that is ongoing. at the same, time israel has come to us and asked for some specific additional assistance. in a new exclusive report from >> nbc news, the u.s. military is planning to move naval ships and military aircraft closer to israel. this isn't a show of support. according to two u.s. officials familiar with the plan in, the latest numbers from a defense spokesperson with whom i spoke in the last hour.

the death toll in israel is at 700, more than 1800 in george. in gaza, 370 confirmed dead with many more injured. the fighting and retaliatory strikes are ongoing. our team of reporters and analysts are standing by. there are developments and all this breaking news. we have you covered from israel to washington and lee on. we're going to get to the very latest right now in the round of israel and more from raf sanchez. raf, tell us what's happening. >> israel security cabinet has now officially declared a state of war. the first time it has done so since yom kippur war 1973. 50 years ago. the state of war declared in response to the security cabinet is calling a murderous terrorist assaults. we now know this has left more than 600 israelis dead. a staggering toll in a small country like this. people are comparing what happened here to the september

11th attacks in the united states. there is a portion of the population, a loss of life here as far, far greater than what america suffered back in 2001. the israeli military is trying to regain the initiative after being caught so badly off-guard in the early hours of yesterday morning. his really aircraft have carried out hundreds of strikes against what they say are hamas tunnels and command centers inside the gaza strip. we have heard israeli aircraft overhead. even as those strikes continue, there are still gone battles being fought inside of israel, as israeli forces try to flush out the remaining palestinian militants who are still inside of his really communities on the gaza border. as well as the possibility that israel will launch a longer scale ground division of gaza.

israeli forces are trying to plan what may be one of the most complex hostage rescue operations that the world has ever seen. this country is absolutely frozen at the prospects that dozens of israeli citizens are being held hostage by hamas, by palestinian islamic jihad, inside of gaza. we're in be'er sheva here because we just wrapped up an interview with the father of a 25-year-old woman named noah he was being held prisoner. she is the only child of her father, and in his, eyes you can see the universal agony of a parents who knows that his child is in harm's way. he almost couldn't breathe. when i asked him what he would say to the people who are holding his daughter hostage, he said, please, please, i beg, you don't hurt her. we also spoke to some of noah's friends who were out the family

house trying to offer what comfort they can. i want you to take a listen to a little of what they had to say. >> her voice. the horror, look of or on her face. this is why the video caught so much attention from around the world. you can see the horror. gsa, i don't want to die. this is a person who really, you can see the end of her life right now. for me, i see this is one of my friends. i couldn't believe. i have shivers, i'm getting shivers right now thinking about it. >> there are fears that the violence that started here in the holy land may soon spread across the region. earlier today, we saw militants and lebanon, alliance with hamas firing rockets towards an israeli military position. the egyptian foreign ministry has now confirmed that two israeli duress for murder today in the egyptian city of alexandria. this is raising fears in this

country, and across the middle east that what has started as a war here could spread to become a much bigger regional conflict. back to you. >> okay. raf, thank you so much for that report. joining us now from washington, nbc -- 's for a welcome back. what more can you tell us about u.s. military boots in the middle east? are they confirmed? are they underway? are they still yet to -- >> we now have a little bit more detail about what exactly is moving into the region. it's a pretty big show of support, alex. it shows an entire carrier strike group. this is a u.s. -- and the ships associated with that strike. we're talking about a cruiser, a couple of destroyers, and the aircraft carrier itself. in addition to, that that's thousands of u.s. navy sailors on those ships. in addition to that, there is also the associated aircraft that are on those ships. when you're talking specifically about an aircraft carrier, are talking double fixed when jackson, talking

about helicopters. a number of diffent assets. in addition to this, what's going to be in the eastern mediterranean, the u.s. military will also, what they're, saying augment some air squadrons in the region. that means adding additional forces, airman, aircraft, including f-35s, f-15s, f-16s. and a ten. this is all attack aircraft. f-35s are very significant surveillance capabilities as well. i should point, out the u.s. has provided f-35s to the israelis. they can work with them in conjunction. that been sad, there still is no indication, we are looking at the u.s. officials who we spoke to about, this is the start of yesterday morning, there is no indication that u.s. military groups will be on the ground in israel anytime soon. this is all, as they say, it's a show of support. moving assets to the region should they be needed for any reason, alex. >> let me ask you a question about this surveillance aircraft that you mentioned. the mentioned that they are there on the aircraft carriers.

how unusual is that for the united states? descends surveillance aircraft. is this something that is done outside of the parameters of the situation, the war that's happening right now? >> it's not unusual, actually. and, fact i was in israel just a few months ago, and i saw some of the f-35s that the u.s. had provided israel. i think they're on their third sort of group of f-35s that have got to the israeli military. they fly them as well. the israelis have been using it for surveillance for several years now, actually. that is not unusual. i know that it is a completely different conflict, but when there are problems in this income area, not too far, specifically, over hormuz, and in the gulf, one of the things that the u.s. did was search surveillance aircraft, which fighter aircraft, but have sophisticated intelligence capabilities. frankly, things that we don't even know about. there's sophisticated. this classified.

they served some of those to the region as. well so it's not uncommon that when you have some sort of a threat, when you have some sort of a need, that f-35s will be brought in. the f-16s, and the a 10s, and others, those are a more specific fighter aircraft. they can provide munitions, air to ground munitions if necessary. again, i really want to stress that all of this is to show support to israel, and at this, point there is still no discussion, no real discussion about sending u.s. troops in to actually fight here on the ground. >> all, right courtney, thank you for getting us those details. again, that last point is very important to give to our audience specifically. we appreciate that. one of the questions that is central to this massive intelligence failure is what, if anything, interfered with israel's extensive surveillance system. joining me now, nbc's dan de luz. dan, as i welcome you, big news from yesterday. we appreciate your time as we do now. are u.s. or israeli officials, are they seen anything yet

about what happened to the surveillance technology, the kind of stuff i was talking about with courtney a moment ago? >> you know, the officials in government now, the current officials in washington and israel, they are not talking about what went wrong there. so many levels. with this attack. but, many of their former colleagues recently retired intelligence officials that we have spoken to, military officers. they say that they have a suspicion that part of the problem was that hamas was able to jam, or disable all of the surveillance cameras, and ground motion sensors that are positioned all along that southern border with gaza. then this would explain how the hamas militants were able to move inside israel like that, movie night detected, and getting an element of surprise. that border looked pretty secure to an outsider, right? there were fences, there was

cameras, they were regular patrols. the sensors are supposed to give israelis advanced warning. they just seem to not have that in this case. the question is, did hamas manage to disable those cameras and sensors? then, did iran help them? >> okay. you bring up a very interesting point that i have not yet heard. do you have any idea, dan, how difficult it would be to disable those things? i, mean are they fairly basic? are they -- on the israeli side, wouldn't they know if those cameras had been turned off, or they weren't getting any sort of a seismic sense, if you will, with rumblings of movement? >> that is yet another question, right? if the cameras were disabled, wouldn't that have been some kind of a trigger, some kind of concern, you know, switched on. that there is something wrong,

here is why these cameras don't seem to be operating normally. where the sensor seemed to be frozen. i think that it is not a huge feat to disable and jam those, necessarily. you know, keep in mind, iran has quite a capable cyber packing of its own. it has managed to hack into all sorts of government sites in the west. it is possible that they could have had the know-how to hamas. of, course iran is known to pass on it's no hard to its proxies in other areas, like lawmaking. and so. one they have flight rockets, and simple drones. so it would stand to reason that they would be ahead of this. we don't know that. that is where a lot of officials are wondering, and ask, even speculating. that is a distinct possibility. >> given where we were yesterday, you may still be there in georgia where our cia george wilson -- is supposed to be speaking. that was counseled, obviously,

in the wake of this attack. how concerned are international diplomats, international representatives of the intelligence community, how to concern are they about what's happening right now, and the potential for escalation? >> they are very concerned. it's very hard to overstate. i think we speak to any of these former current officials there, they're saying that this is the most perilous situation israel has faced in a generation. the implications for the region, the, world are really massive. they're very worrisome. there is a possibility of -- because israel and iran are kind of at odds here. that hamas is a proxy of iran. will there be a conflict between iran and israel? that is the kind of worst-case scenario that the u.s., and many governments, they're worried about right now. >> you just anticipated this

question, i want you to elaborate on that. >> when it comes to a wider proxy war, in terms of their capabilities to attack one another, the potential is devastating, right? >> yeah. it's almost terrifying to even talk about it. iran has the most sophisticated arsenal in the middle east. israel has a tremendously powerful military, conventional military, as we all know. it's a really awful scenario to contemplate. as it is, we're into the second day of this. you are just citing the casualties, and the death toll already is just in the second day. clearly there is no end in sight to this. people here, at this conference, they are also anticipating this war to continue. that there is no short term off ramp at all on the horizon. >> yeah. i'll say to reiterate those numbers, come from 700 israelis

dead. come from 320 palestinians, dead and thousands on both. thank you so much for your reporting. can diplomacy stop with the fighting, or will the war spillover and other countries in the region or beyond? as we were just discussing. a former ambassador joins me next. we're back in 60 seconds. 60 seconds after advil dual action back pain: yo. who. haha. [dog barks] what? my back feels better. [rewind sound] before advil: [grunts] oh. advil dual action back pain fights back pain two ways. for 8 hours of relief. >> tech: cracked windshield on your new car? fights back pain two ways. you don't have to take it to the dealer. bring it to safelite. we do more replacements and recalibrations than anyone else. >> customer: thank you so much.

>> tech vo: schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ >> new today, secretary of state antony blinken says the u.s. is working to verify reports that american citizens may be among the dead or have been taken hostage. the u.s. is also looking at possible evacuation of americans from israel. right now joining me is ambassador mark ginsburg. he was deputy senior adviser to president carter for middle east policy as well as being in the u.s. ambassador to morocco under president clinton and a good friend to us. it's good to see you again, mark. as you hear that there could be american casualties or hostages,

how does that impact the potential for u.s. engagement in this conflict? >> clearly, the number one issue for the united states is to protect american citizens abroad. there are not only israelis who have dual citizenship but also palestinians. the fact that americans are being held hostage by hamas like secretary blinken mentioned earlier today takes something that american administration is calculating but i think if i were back in the white house and sitting in the situation room i would be leaving that to the state department. my number one concern at this point in time is the wider conflict and the potential preemptive strike by hezbollah against israel while it is occupying the south. that is my number one concern. hezbollah represents a next essential threat which is why i believe the administration is

moving military assets to the eastern mediterranean. >> let's say the u.s. does decide, marc, to help evacuate americans in israel or those that have been taken hostage inside of gaza. what kind of calculations with the u.s. need to take? what would the process be like for getting them out? >> well, in terms of any ambassador worth their salt, they would have a certain list of americans in the country. alex, there are tens of thousands of americans who are dual citizens of israel. i suspect that while many of them at this point in time might be tourists who are eager to leave because flights are being canceled israel, you question how to get them out of any harm's way because of potential ongoing missile attacks on tel aviv and the threat to jerusalem. the united states does not maintain a huge list of americans. these americans would have to

contact the embassy in jerusalem or the consulate in tel aviv to let them know that they need help to get out. >> you know, mister ambassador, i will use your former title there as well. you have worked on middle east pieced for decades. you grew up in israel and the idea of a spokesperson with whom i spoke in the last hour tells me 700 people have died. justice, our house officials increased the death toll there now to 413. what are you hearing from your sources in that part of the world? >> this is a particularly personal conflict because i have my immediate family deployed, my three nephews as well as their cousins. i have lots of friends whose children have been called a. i've been on the phone nonstop while i am here in morocco calling everyone that i know including my family that lives up on the northernmost kid boots on the lebanese border.

they have all been put on high alert. this means a great deal to me and the fact that so many israelis have been killed in just the first two days, and i know from my experience that any ground incursion into gaza represents a tremendous danger for israeli defense forces because you can be certain that hamas has booby trap virtually every building and urban warfare conflict will take that enormous number of his really lives. >> let me ask you about the family members that you say live near the border with lebanon. how much is their daily life concerned with security? relative to this particular incident, we've already seen hezbollah launch a limited attack from lebanon into the golan heights. what do they live with every day? can i ask you how concerned you might be about this escalating beyond israel and gaza specifically from that part of

the region? >> well, first of all, my brother was killed in the 2006 war. he was the head of security for the northern part of israel. my mother's home was blown up by a katyusha rocket in the 2006 war. i have spent nights and nights infrared watching hezbollah maneuver around. that area has seen an increased amount of tension. the real difference here, alex, is that hamas fired several thousand missiles into israel but think about the fact that hezbollah has accumulated over 150,000 missiles. israel has no adequate air defense system that could withstand the type of attack should hezbollah be triggered by iran to enter this conflict. >> marc, are you including the iron dome, saying they don't have proper defense, that it

could not withstand that kind of an assault? >> absolutely. their a's no adequate israeli defense, whether it be david slaying, iron dome. the only possible defense is a preemptive attack on southern lebanon. that is something that prime minister netanyahu has refused to do while hezbollah has accumulated this enormous arsenal courtesy of iran. i mean, these are missiles unlike the 2000 64. these are guided systems which could hit jerusalem, tel aviv, and virtually every air force base in israel. >> let me ask you about the u.s. currently without an ambassador in israel. jack lieu has been nominated, that much we know, but is awaiting confirmation. how does that concern you? how does that complicate things? and curious what kind of role an ambassador could even play in the current conflict. >> i am very sorry that we don't have an ambassador.

the previous ambassador left a few months ago. jack has been nominated. jack is a terrific man. he's going to be a great ambassador. at the same time, we have a chargé. when it comes down to crises like this, there is nothing that substitute for a person who has the personal relationship with the president of the united states who can pick up the phone, call the president, not go through the bureaucracy of the state department. tony blinken, my friend, he's obviously very busy, but nothing like having someone on the ground who the israelis cannot trust and count on knowing that they have the pipeline directly to the national security adviser and the president. >> okay, my friend, ambassador marc ginsberg, i'm sorry for the stories you have shared about the loss of your family personally over the years. i am grateful for your insights. thank you so much. at this hour, we heard one of the most definitive explanations about why the chaos and the gop and the house pose a serious problem for the

u.s. during the latest middle east conflict. we are going to want to hear that. it's coming to you next. o want to hear that it's coming to you next.

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on mobile and desktop today. to share. u.s. senator cory booker and his staff have safely departed israel. they were in jerusalem when hamas attacked. they sheltered in place for their safety. let's go now to julie tsirkin joining us again from capitol hill. the eruption of violence in the middle east has many u.s. lawmakers concerned. the question is, how much can they act without a speaker? >> alex, they can't. the house is effectively frozen. half of congress, the building i am standing in, cannot operate without a speaker in place because of how the house ruled post 9/11 for the continuity of the government was designed. this is a completely untested situation. multiple scholars and experts i spoke to say that effectively there is nothing in the rules which gives patrick mchenry, the speaker pro tem, the

interim speaker while the house republicans figure out who will be their next leader, any power to pass so much as a resolution expressing support for israel, even holding a moment of silence on the floor, just completely powerless. when you talk about the chaos that is happening in the house, it's very real. members have proposed legislation, for example, to fund and replenish the iron dome and send additional aid to israel. none of that can happen unless the house is functioning. the senate is on a break out for recess today, not set to come back early. we heard earlier from congressman jason crow. he's a member of the armed services committee. he's a veteran himself, having served overseas in afghanistan and iraq, clearly familiar with the complexity of the region. here's what he had to say about the chaos. >> it shows the challenge that we face right now. i mean, the world is an unstable place. there's a lot of conflict going on. we have to continue to stand by ukraine. we have to make sure we are responding to these attacks on

israel through our partner and through our allies. the house of representatives is in recess. republicans have been unable to spot a speaker. we're not getting the briefings. we can't have the debates. we can't start the process of putting together aid packages to ukraine and into israel and others to respond to these crises. >> congressman jim jordan is one of the two men running for speaker. he just posted on x a few moments ago saying how important it is for the house to come together around somebody, to elect somebody as speaker so they can pass the critical legislation for ukraine, for israel, excuse me, if needed. crow brings up an interesting point talking about ukraine here. we heard a number of republicans who are for continuing aid to that country sort of compare the two situations. they say it is important for allies for the u.s. government to continue funding and aiding

ukraine and israel in the face of such brutal attacks on both of those fronts. jordan himself has said he's not in favor of putting an aid package together on the floor. it will be interesting to see if any of those calculations change as the house returns tomorrow night for the closed door meetings about electing their next speaker. >> 100%. that's going to be the first thing they will be looking for. thank you very much, julie tsirkin. the alarming word about what might have happened to some americans in israel. we will have the latest on that next. will have the latest on tha next next tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. >> 34 past. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪

the idea spokesperson tells me the death toll is at 700 israelis and climbing. also, we're getting word from officials on what the role the u.s. -- let's go to allie roth joining us from the white house once again. what are you hearing from the biden administration today on this? >> we don't expect to see or hear from the president publicly. they are telling us a little bit about what is going on behind the scenes on day two of this unraveling situation in israel. in the just a last hour, we've gotten readouts of calls to vice president harris has said with israeli president herzog as well as a second call since this attack began between

president biden and prime minister netanyahu and notably on that call, alex, the president told netanyahu that additional assistance for israeli defense forces is on its way to israel and the president said more will follow over the coming days. that tracks with our colleague courtney kube's exclusive reporting which has now that confirmed by the white house and the secretary lloyd austin who put out a statement a short time ago confirming that the u.s. military has moved aircraft and ship closer to israel as a show of support. it's important to note the backdrop here. israel is the number one recipient of u.s. aid out of all of the countries that the u.s. provides a two. the white house says that since the attack we gain yesterday israel made two specific requests to u.s. officials for more of the aid. that is something that

secretary of state antony blinken talked about with our colleague kristen welker on meet the press this morning. let's listen to that. >> israel has come to us and asked for specific additional assistance. i'm sure you will hear more about that today. we are responding to that. we have the ability to do the. as a general proposition, it will be very important to make sure that we have both houses of congress on a bipartisan basis in a place where they can express their support for israel especially in this hour of need. that's something we want to see. we hope that happens quickly. >> you heard him talk about congress there, how potentially a lack of a speaker in the house could potentially hamstring this process. that's something that u.s. officials are watching. the president can only do so much unilaterally as we have learned from these aid packages going to ukraine. congress needs to approve the broader assistance, alex. >> yes, 100%. they right now are without a speaker. thank you so much, ali roth,

for that. joining me now from jerusalem is the editor in chief of the jerusalem post. welcome back. we had a long conversation yesterday. let's talk about the reporting you have just heard from the white house. what is the prevailing sentiment in israel right now about the biden administration's response? >> look, israelis are tremendously grateful to the president and his administration for the support that they have shown both in terms of the public rhetoric but also in terms of the offer of military aid. that's something that is absolutely critical as israel prepares to engage in a campaign in gaza aimed at freeing it's abducted citizens who are still there, including elderly people, children, mothers, families, and so on. they will need the means to go in and do exactly that. any aid will be very much appreciated. i'm sure the logistics are being worked out between the two militaries at this time. it's an important and very much appreciated expression of

support as russell encounters one of the darkest periods in its history. >> i can imagine. right now, the fact is people in israel have a lot on their minds. you're probably not paying super close attention to the chaos that has erupted internally with domestic politics. the fact that we don't have a house speaker in place means that everything pretty much stays frozen. approval cannot be given. is that something you have heard any inkling of and concerns about, that there may be a holdup in what the united states can provide in terms of assistance? >> look, i follow american politics so i certainly have heard that. i don't know if the same could be said of all israelis. at the same time, i think what's unique about the u.s. and israel's relationship is that it's really partisan in a way that very few issues are today. both democrats and republicans are staunchly supportive of the u.s. relationship, staunchly supportive of american aid to israel, including military aid, and i think a mechanism ought to be and can be found to

enable the united states to provide critical assistance at a critical time. >> i appreciate your following. i would not suspect anything less from, you avi, following united states poli let me get to your news outlet which supports that civilians are being asked to help identify the missing and adam israel. what we don't know is we stand a 6000 miles away is about what is happening on the ground in israel right now. what can you tell us about the? >> look, the figure that is currently being confirmed, 700 dead, it is an unfathomably large number for israel. you have to understand that israel has under 10 million citizens. this is the equivalent of seven at 9/11's given israel's population. that is simply unimaginable. that's what we are contending with today. yes, israelis are being called to various centers to see if they can identify the bodies of loved ones. there are others who have received indications that their loved ones have been abducted and are currently in the gaza strip.

there have been horrific stories of videos circulating of hamas militants abusing israelis in the gaza strip including elderly women and mothers and children and family members of those individuals have identified them from those videos and are extremely concerned at this time for the fate of their family members. that's the situation we are in. there's a great deal of uncertainty. there are people who do not know whether their loved ones are alive or dead. the reason for that is that many of the areas which had been infiltrated by hamas were still held by them until just a short while ago. authorities are only just now going into these places and discovering the actual scope of the carnage. in one place, one key putts, the terrorist one house to house and south amman fire. as families fled burning homes, they shot them. that is what we are contending with today. there are certain communities which essentially have been wiped out by the hamas invasion yesterday. that's the brutality that we are contending with, the massacre of israeli civilians,

and i believe the full scope of this is only likely to become clearer in the days and weeks ahead. >> oh, god. let me ask you about u.s. secretary of state antony blinken. he was interviewed this morning on meet the president. here is what he said about the possibility of american victims. take a listen. >> we have reports that several americans might be among the ten. we're very actively working to verify those reports. similarly, we've seen reports about hostages. we are very actively trying to verify them and nail that down. >> do you and your colleagues at the jerusalem post have any light to shed on that for us? >> we have heard indications that american citizens are among the dead and the abducted. i cannot confirm any particular names at this time. i can tell you that i've seen those names myself. i've actually connected to some of them. some of them are relatives of people i know.

you have to understand that many israelis hold american citizenship and there are a lot of american to live in israel who moved here or are spending time in the country. some of them live in the area. some are participating in an all night dance party that was also attacked by the hamas operatives who entered israel. it's not unlikely that we will discover that americans are among the dead and the abducted in this horrific attack. >> yeah, it's terrific. avi mayer, thank you so much. we appreciate you. the 2024 gop candidates have some unique perspectives on the war in israel. you're going to hear what they are saying and why it might not be received so well. that is next. might no be received so well. that is next that is next this is spring semester at over 13,000 us school districts,

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this hour, fighting escalates in some areas. new word from several gop 2024 presidential candidates on the campaign trail about this

surprise hamas attack. joining me now, we have nbc's jonathan allen and alec hernandez joining us from des moines, iowa. thank you for joining us. i'm going to start with you. you're on the campaign trail. let me play some of what republicans are saying about the attacks. here it is. >> in addition to the billions of dollars given to hamas, joe biden stored hundreds of millions of dollars to the very corrupt palestinian entities. he gave them hundreds of millions of dollars. many people didn't even know it. i wonder what deal he made. joe biden betrayed israel. he betrayed our country. >> i actually think it was irresponsible for secretary blinken to say the six billion dollars doesn't weigh in here. be honest with the american people and understand that hamas knows and iran knows they are moving money around as we speak. they know six billion is going to be released. that's the reality. >> i'm hearing people say the

six billion -- money is fungible. i'm sure those exact dollars, we knew that was coming. it frees up other money. their funding hamas and hezbollah and big ways. >> if this can happen in israel, an incursion of what we assumed was a well protected border with strong intelligence resources preventing an attack like this, a terrorist attack like this, if it can happen, there it can happen here. >> what are you hearing today? what is your sense of how the conflict is going to play into the race? >> these candidates certainly all have plenty of differences of opinion when it comes to policy. one thing that really has united the republican feel over the last 24 hours has been their steadfast aboard for israel and their belief that the biden administration is in part responsible for these attacks. we are out here in iowa where we saw several gop contenders on the campaign trail including

former president donald trump and florida governor ron desantis. we heard them react yesterday in realtime to the news coming out of the middle east. they were all essentially singing the same tune. the responsibilities of these attacks lie in the lap of president biden. you heard some of the candidates in the soundbites reference a six billion dollar figure. that is referencing six billion dollars in sanction funds that the biden administration released to tehran as part of a prisoner exchange just last month. a key component to the exchange was that those funds were earmarked for humanitarian purposes. the iranians always saw those funds as fungible. they were using them for whatever they wanted to. the biden ministration, in their eyes, at least, was irresponsible in sending that money to iran. it is important to note that we are just 99 days out from the

all-important iowa caucuses. if candidates are trying to build momentum to win the first contest, it doesn't promises a price that we see them hitting a democratic administration as they try to run over the republican electorate. >> here is a question for you, john. the fact that these republican candidates are all saying, look, we standing i to israel and there has not been any break in that front, but the timing of their criticism, criticizing the president of the united states at a time when being shoulder to shoulder, you for that phrase so many times, standing shoulder to shoulder in support of israel, is that going to come back to harm them, these candidates who are criticizing the president at this time, a critical time? >> i certainly don't think it's going to come back to harm them in terms of politics of the republican primary or even in the general election. the vast majority of americans are with varying views on it.

i don't think that is going to be problematic for them. what you heard in that clip, you had president trump saying joe biden betrayed israel and said that he was not just responsible but basically was asking about payoffs and things like that. it should be important to note here that when benjamin netanyahu in israel needed someone to reach out to, he reached out to joe biden. there are reports are that the biden administration is going to respond with aid immediately without needing to go to the powers of the executive branch to move money around they are going to respond by aiding israel. we heard immediately in the aftermath of this from republicans not just in what they explicitly said but sort of in the tenor of their remarks that they see this as a political opportunity to score points against joe biden. they are still counting the dead from this murder of civilians.

we have candidates out on the trail pointing fingers. we >> yeah, absolutely. we will see how it all plays out on the campaign trail. i think you both, alec and jonathan. thanks, guys. a personal story directly from someone in the middle of the attack on israel, it's harrowing. it's also difficult to hear. a first person account is for you next. ear. a first personcc aount is fo you next you next vp rewards earns you points when you order. -superbowl mvps really do get all the perks? i'm talking about subway mvp. it's a way bigger deal. do you get a trophy for that? i wish. get rewarded like an mvp. join now and get 50% any footlong. (all) ♪ toooo youuuuu! ♪ ge(sean)rded like an mvp. 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...

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breaking news this hour, israeli health officials say 50,000 people have been taken to hospitals since the fighting broke out. we're bringing you a view from the ground as we go to rachael casner, an american israeli citizen living in tel aviv. i want to have you talk about your experience. i heard you earlier. it was so compelling. you have lived there for, as i understand it, about four years, having first lived in new york city. when the unimaginable happened for you yesterday, where were you and what did you think was happening? >> thank, you alex. thank you for having me and forgiving me the opportunity to share as an american. i am so motivated that the

american viewership should hear from the americans on the ground. i was in my bed in tel aviv yesterday at 6:30 a.m.. my husband and i woke up to the sound of sirens which indicated that there are missiles which are aiming for tel aviv. i live in an old building in tel aviv. new buildings in israel are mandated to have a bomb shelter inside, generally one bedroom will be a bomb shelter. our apartment is an old apartment so we use the staircase. we ran up to the staircase. we were there with our elderly neighbors, a single mom with a child. she explained it as a game. we went up and down the stairs. there were rockets until about 7:15, i think. when we came to the couch, i have to tell you, alex, i'm an observant jew. i don't use my phone or electricity on shabbat. yesterday was the sabbath.

it was also a holiday, the holiday of sue coat. we turned on the television because we had to find out what was happening. that's when we understood that this was unlike anything we've ever seen. i have lived in israel for four years now. i've been through several bombings. they are terrifying every time. as a native new yorker, i'm not used to this kind of violence. as soon as we turn on the news, we understood that this was of a different magnitude. >> do you have a sense of the security presence trying to keep you safe in and near that apartment building? have you seen israeli military? >> no. i have to tell you that yesterday for hours because this was a surprise attack, we don't know how this was so surprising. it was so surprising to the army and the government. that is to be determined in the

coming weeks. we know that it took hours and hours for the army to get to where people were. on the news, all we could hear was just people calling in saying, help us, help us, we are with our kids in the bomb shelter. we hear the terrorists outside. what we understood was happening was terrorists were going from house to house inside of israel and murdering entire families and we were listening as they were helpless. today is a different situation. many of my friends, mine and my husband's friends are being called to the military reserves. they said goodbye to us and their loved ones. they packed their bags. i hear helicopters and military planes over our heads. we know we are being protected and that they are going to try our feet to find our people and bring them home. i have to tell you, what is happening online is the most traumatizing piece of this all, seeing what hamas is doing to

the people and the bodies and the people that they have taken alive, not only israelis, all kinds of people, what they are doing to them. when you really see it -- and they are posting it and celebrating it all over the world, including in new york city and in times square right now. that is what is so traumatizing here. it's so helpful to know that there are people donating, a listening, writing from all over the world. thank you, thank you, thank you. we have to understand that this event that happened yesterday is unprecedented. i'm the grandchild of holocaust survivors. i have this photo with my grandpa at my wedding last year. three of my grandparents were holocaust survivors. they went through the trauma of being murdered, taken to auschwitz, to take into ghettos, taken hostages. what's happening today is on the internet for everyone to see. i just hope that we are all able to learn a lesson from it and that we are able to bring

justice, bring our people home, bring peace to the region for both sides, everyone, and that is really where i'm at right now. >> yeah, it's hard to hear. let me ask you a couple more questions. first of all, do you know anybody who is missing that you are concerned about? >> i have many friends who are missing, loved ones. i just spoke to a friend whose cousin was kidnapped, is taken hostage, is in gaza. i have friends, my brothers friends were at the festival. there was a music festival happening in the desert with hundreds and hundreds of young teenagers and twentysomethings. they are in costumes. they just found 240 bodies in the desert. they murdered them and took many of them. we know two people who were able to escape. we heard stories of other people who were able to escape. we will t