tv The Rachel Maddow Show MSNBC October 10, 2023 1:00am-2:01am PDT
1:00 am
the big brother. the younger son is 12. and on saturday morning, at 8:45 a.m. local time, this is just a couple of hours after the hamas terrorist attacks started in southern israel, yeah here got on the phone with his sister in law from the cubs and he told his sister in law that he and his girlfriend or in a shelter inside their house, they were going to try to ride out these bombings that had just started. he said his two sons, his 12-year-old and 16 year old, they were not with them. they were with their mother at a different house on the kibbutz. years said that the plan was that everybody was going to stay put until the bombings
1:01 am
and she texted out an audio message, and it was terrifying. she said there were two terrorists inside the house. they had guns, they were chuting. he said he was trying to hold back the door to the shelter so the terrorists could not get in, and that was end of of it. they lost connection. so his brother tried calling them back. he also tried that thing where you try to locate somebody's fun to figure out where they were located directly. he was not able to find them that way. later in the afternoon he was able to get in contact with the boy's mother. again, she'd been with the two sons. she said she'd been contacted by two kid nappers who made the 16-year-old boy get on the phone and tell his mom that he'd been kidnapped, then he hung up. then the long and short of this is that all four of these
1:02 am
people, he and his two sons and his girlfriend, they've now all been reported missing by his brother. and yanef says the whole family has been missing since midday on saturday. he's not heard from them since. except, there's been additional electronic communication of the worst kind. he says he's been sent a video which appears to show he and his brother's girlfriend being kidnapped on saturday morning. since this tack started saturday morning we've seen the murders of these hostages and otherwise. we've seen them being filmed and put online for strategic aim, to advance the purposes of the people doing the murdering and hostage taking. so when it comes to the footage these people are producing of
1:03 am
their killing and kidnapping people, that puts every social media company on earth, and it puts everybody in the news business of potentially doing their work by showing what they were doing, because they want it to be seen. they want to augment the terrorizing effect of what they are doing to these innocent people. now, on the other hand, the people whose familyvise been victimized in this way are in some cases asking us to please show these videos, to please show this stuff because they believe it should be, "a," known it is happening, and "b," in some cases they believe it could potentially help them get their loved ones home safely. so being in the middle of that, not wanting to advance the cause of people who not only did these things but filmed them for a reason but people who said please show the footage, we believe it could help, that is a
1:04 am
very difficult thing to reckon with. all these decisions are hard ones. i don't think there is a right decision. in this specific case of the two boys, his brother has asked us to show the video which appears to depict his brother and his brother's girlfriend being abducted on saturday. so we're going to play it with no sound. it was up loaded with propaganda-style music. we don't need to hear that. and we also don't need to hear the humans and exclamations of fear. it's 30 seconds. it does have sound but rather we are not playing that sound, but it's 28 seconds. here it goes.
1:05 am
>> this was the video sent to the brother. joining us now from southern israel is his brother who shared the videos. i can't imagine the anguish you and your family are going through. i want to give you the opportunity first to correct me if i said anything wrong there or characterize anything the wrong way around. >> thank you for having me, that's the first. it's a hard situation, very hard
1:06 am
time. you've put most of the things in fact they were, but the mother she was with the kids also attacked, and luckily she and my brother's daughter are safe. all the rest of them are kidnapped, like i said. what we need now -- really need is that the government of israel and everyone who can force or squeeze or do something to make sure that everyone would work to get back our family, back our loved ones, that should be the top priority. nothing else. all the rest will come later. we can talk about a lot of things, but right now we need them back home safe and sound.
1:07 am
we really, really need someone to talk to us, to have a dialogue with us just to have something to grab on. every hour, every minute we get notifications from friends that heard their loved ones were killed or their loved ones are not seen at the moment. it is so hard to -- to even explain how we feel. we are broken. we are terrified with what happened. we didn't imagine in our worst nightmares that this kind of thing could happen, and we didn't imagine in our worst nightmares that someone can react or can behave to human
1:08 am
beings like they do. >> i'm sorry to interrupt you. let me just ask you briefly you mentioned that you needed help to try to create dialogue. have you heard anything from officials or law enforcement or the government about what you should do now about how they -- whether they want you to be speaking publicly about anything strategically in terms of to try to help? >> no. and that's the reason why we as families or the families that have missing persons, gathered together in order to get some help from somewhere. we know that there are a lot of countries that have people who were either casualties or being held by hamas, and i believe
1:09 am
that if the whole world or let's say the president of turkey or saudi arabia, someone that are close and can talk to the hamas, would force them to move or do something to bring our families back. this is what we're trying to do. we're trying to get our loved ones back. that's the main purpose of our gathering because we didn't get any notification or any guidance like you said from anyone. we decided to do it on our own. >> well, thank you for trusting us to show these images and to tell this story. please keep us apprised. i mean i don't -- i wish i could say something more concrete in terms of what we can offer, but please stay in touch with us and let us know, and i hope you hear something soon.
1:10 am
>> thank you so much. thank you for letting us be here and show our pain. i hope this will help eventually. thank you. >> so do we. joining us tonight live from southern israel. tonight, the white house says president biden will give a speech tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern time on the ongoing crisis in israel. we also got two major statements from the white house tonight, both of which were surprising in their own ways and quite substantive. the first was from president biden confirming at least 11 american citizens have been killed in the attacks in israel thus far. the president's statement also said this. it said, quote, while we're still working to confirm it, we believe it is likely american citizens are among those being held by hamas. the president says, quote, i've directed my team to work with israeli counter parts on every aspect of the hostage crisis including sharing intelligence
1:11 am
and deploying experts from across the united states government to consult with and advise and raise israeli counter parts on hostage recovery efforts. the fact there's likely among those being held hostage like mr. yaakov's family is that creates imperatives for our own government. we don't exactly know what form that will take, but we've got an important representative of the u.s. government joining us in just a moment. before we bring him on, i want to draw your attention to one other statement we got from president biden as part of that initial white house release. president biden said, quote, in cities across the country meaning across the united states, police have stepped up security around centers of jewish life and the department of homeland security and other law enforcement partners are closely monitoring for threats in connection with terrorist
1:12 am
attacks from israel. that was followed shortly by a stunning joint statement from president biden along with the leaders of france, germany, italy, and the u.k. it says in part, quote, today we express our steadfast and united support to the state of israel and our unequivocal condemnation of hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism. we make clear the terrorist acts of hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. there's never any identification for terrorism. in recent days the world has watched in horror as hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes, slaughtered over 200 young people enjoying a music festival and kidnapped elderly women, children, and entire families now being held as hostages. our country will support israel in its efforts to defend itself and its people against further atrocities. we further emphasize this is not
1:13 am
a moment for any party hostile to israel to exploit attacks to seek advantage. all of us recognize the legitimate aspiration of the palestinian people and support equal justice and freedom for israelis and palestinians alike. but make mow mistake hamas does not represent those aspirations and offers nothing for the palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed. over the coming days we'll remain coordinated to ensure israel is able to defend itself and ultimately set the conditions for a peaceful and integrated middle east region. again, the white house speaking there in that statement not just for the president of the united states but for the leaders of our closest allies in europe, a five-nation statement from the u.s., u.k., france, italy, and germany, a remarkable thing in itself. joining now is john finer, the deputy national security advisor for the biden administration.
1:14 am
mr. finer, appreciate you being here tonight. i know this is a busy and fraught time. >> thanks very much for having me. >> what does the u.s. government know tonight about americans who are being held hostage by hamas? >> what we know and honestly we are still gathering information. there's a lot of fodder war in the current circumstance, and even today two days after the beginning of these attacks there was still fighting going on inside israel between hamas and israeli defense forces. so we're still gathering information including the whereabouts of americans who we know to be missing and we suspect strongly some of whom are likely to be held in gaza. we do not know with certainty the number of americans held there, but if you just take a step back and think about the fact there are hundreds of thousands of americans, maybe more than half a million americans in israel at any given time.
1:15 am
we celebrate happy occasions together, this was a holiday weekend, after all, but we also suffer together when things go tragically wrong as they did during these barbarous attack. so we strongly suspect there are americans not just among the dead but those held in gaza at this time. >> with the president's unequivocal statement of support for israel, obviously this hostage situation has such incredible practical urgency and moral urgency behind it. we can assume even in the absence of hostages americans would be helping -- the fact there are americans directly in harms way here puts that much more imperative on it in terms of u.s. response. to that end, can you tell us about what resources the u.s. government is able to put towards getting these hostages rescued? what types of agencies? what types of personnel? what types of operational support is the u.s. able to lend israel in this case?
1:16 am
>> so i'll answer your question, but i just want to say in doing so how much i admire the first guest you had at the top of the hour on this program and the composed and eloquent basically decent way in which he went about articulating the situation, the horrendous situation his family is going through. it's an important reminder there are people caught up in tragic situations like this. it's not all about geopolitics and national security but human beings who are caught up amidst these tragedies. in light of that, president biden has ordered significant deployment of resources to assist the israeli government in addressing not just the overall response to the attacks, and we've talked at length about some of the military resources we've devoted to that, but also some of the significant expertise our government can bring to bear when it comes to hostage recovery efforts, and those resources of people from across our governments who are
1:17 am
expert in these topics will be deployed to israel in the coming days to work with israeli counter parts to try to get these people out of what is a terrible situation no one would want to find themselves in. i can't and won't go into the details of exactly what they'll be doing. some of this will involve information sharing, some of this will involve tactical planning and cardination. we are making every asset and resources available to izrallies who will be in the lead on these efforts. >> let me also ask you about -- about gaza and about the response by israel and what the israeli defense minister has said about blocking all fuel, all water getting into gaza. gaza is a city of about 2 million people. we saw the israeli prime minister saying what the israeli response is going to be to those
1:18 am
communities is going to be for generations. given the statement from the israeli government what options do civilians in gaza have for getting out, just the regular people of gaza who just live there, who aren't involved with hamas or any of these attacks? how can they protect themselves and their families from the air strikes, even from this 100 merse blockade of food and water and electricity? people can't survive long without those things. this is a lot of people, 2.5 million people now confronting their own survival because of these actions being posited in response to what hamas has done. what can they do? >> so let me start by saying you're going to hear a lot of
1:19 am
things said during the course of this conflict. and i already and will continue to hear them. it is not going to be our approach to respond directly to each and every assertion. we believe often it's best to provide our guidance in private, and we will do that. we will also speak publicly when we think it's appropriate, but we're going to look more at conduct than we are at rhetoric. that said, i think taking a step back if the united states were subjected to the sort of attack israel has endured over the last 48 hours, our response would be severe. it would be overwhelming. that is why the president has said that we back israel's right to defend itself, full stop. and providing every measure of support that we can for what we know is going to be a long and difficult response. we are also being quite clear, though, as democracies we believe we are stronger, we are more secure, we are better off, frankly, when we operate
1:20 am
according to principles to rule of law, and we are conveying that message in just as direct a way and will continue to do so. in terms of the civilians who inevitably are going to be caught up in this, the position is two fold. one, hamas wear bears ultimate responsibility for their circumstance. they've brought unfortunately this tragic war into the gaza strip by the barbarous actions they've taken. and civilians are not to blame for this. they should be given every opportunity to avoid what could be just as tragic a fate as we've seen on the israeli side, and it is our advice and it is our objective thiswer will be conducted according to principles of international law. >> john finer, deputy national security advisor for the biden administration, thank you for joining us to talk about this tonight. i know this is an incredibly difficult time. >> thanks very much. appreciate it. >> all right, i should mention i
1:21 am
said president netanyahu. of course i meant prime minister benjamin netanyahu in those remarks there. i appreciate the white house making the deputy national security advisor available to us. we're going to be covering this throughout the hour tonight speaking with members of congress -- one member of congress who found himself caught up in this conflict in a very unexpected way. we've got another live report coming up from jerusalem. we've got a lot to get to tonight. i hope you'll stay with us for the hour. we'll be right back. you'll star the hour we'll be right back. we planned well for retirement, but i wish we had more cash. you think those two
1:22 am
have any idea? that they can sell their life insurance policy for cash? so they're basically sitting on a goldmine? i don't think they have a clue. that's crazy! well, not everyone knows coventry's helped thousands of people sell their policies for cash. even term policies. i can't believe they're just sitting up there! sitting on all this cash. if you own a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more, you can sell all or part of it to coventry. even a term policy. for cash, or a combination of cash and coverage, with no future premiums. someone needs to tell them, that they're sitting on a goldmine, and you have no idea! hey, guys! you're sitting on a goldmine! come on, guys! do you hear that? i don't hear anything anymore. find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. there is a better way to manage diabetes. the dexcom g7 continuous glucose monitoring system eliminates painful finger sticks,
1:23 am
helps lower a1c, and it's covered by medicare. before using the dexcom g7, i was really frustrated. all of that finger pricking and all that pain, my a1c was still stuck. before dexcom g7, i couldn't enjoy a single meal. i was always trying to outguess my glucose, and it was awful. before dexcom g7, my diabetes was out of control because i was tired, not having the energy to do the things that i wanted to do. (female announcer) dexcom g7 is a small, easy-to-use wearable that sends your glucose numbers to your phone or dexcom receiver without painful finger sticks. the arrow shows the direction your glucose is heading-- up, down, or steady-- and because dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm, you can make better decisions about food, medication, and activity in the moment. it can even alert you before you go too low or when you're high. oh, the fun is absolutely back. after dexcom g7, i can on the spot figure out what i'm gonna eat and how it's going to affect my glucose!
1:24 am
when a friend calls and says, "hey, let's go to breakfast," i can get excited again. (earl) after using the dexcom g7, my diabetes, it doesn't slow me down at all. i lead line dancing three times a week, i exercise, and i'm just living a great life now. it's so easy to use. it has given me confidence and control, everything i need is right there on my phone. (earl) the dexcom g7 is so small, so easy to use, and it's very discreet. (dr. aaron king) if you have diabetes, getting on dexcom is the single most important thing you can do. (david) within months, my a1c went down, that's 6.9. (donna) at my last checkup, my a1c was 5.9. (female announcer) dexcom is the number one recommended cgm brand and offers 24/7 tech support, so call now to get started. you'll talk to a real person. don't wait, this one short call could change your life. (bright music) c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game?
1:25 am
yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. here's why you should switch from chrome to duckduckgo. duckduckgo is a browser you download to your mobile and desktop devices. unlike chrome, the duckduckgo browser has privacy built-in. it comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesn■t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. and there's no catch. it's free. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you around. join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on mobile and desktop today.
1:26 am
i was jogging behind me in the old city when i got an urgent call from my chief of staff telling me to get back to my hotel as quickly as i could, that israel was under attack. there were thousands of rockets being launched. >> when hamas began this coordinated major terrorist attack on israel early saturday morning, new jersey democratic senator cory booker happen to be in israel. he was in jerusalem for meetings and site visits ahead of an economic summit in tel aviv tomorrow. as you heard him explain there he was out jogging in the morning when he got a call from his chief of staff telling him attacks had begun. senator booker made it back to his hotel. he and his staff took shelter at the hotel as the attacks went on. senator booker was able to leave safely yesterday. a second member of congress was there when attacks began.
1:27 am
he was there with his kids to celebrate a bar mitzvah. they heard sirens and took shelter in the interior stairwell in tel aviv. they say they repeated that scrambling three or four more times saturday morning sheltering in a hotel. they ultimately made it out of tel aviv early yesterday, early sunday and made it back home. congressman goldman, i'm sorry about these circumstances that your family just went through. thanks for being with us here to talk about it. >> thanks for having me, rachel. >> i'm guessing that since you and your wife and three of your kids were there for a family bar mitzvah, this was a big extended gathering in israel. i have to ask how everyone is doing. >> i think pretty much ever everyone is now back in the
1:28 am
states who went over for the bar mitzvah. it certainly ended in a way none of us could have imagined and really brought to life the reality of daily life in israel, which of course pales in palm tirsons to what so many israelys in parts of the country had to deal with on saturday morning. >> you and senator booker as i mentioned were able to quickly and safely get out of the country. what do you understand of the situation in terms of americans who may be seeking consular help and other people who are trying to leave? obviously we just spoke with the deputy national security advisor, mr. finer, about the difficulties that people in gaza have trying to get anywhere, 2.3 million people packed into a narrow 25-mile long strip of land. very, very densely packed area with eno real way to leave ahead of what's now already started as
1:29 am
israeli retaliation. similarly lots of israelis want to get out of the country under very different circumstances, americans among them. what do you understand about freedom of movement, freedom of travel, and what the u.s. government is able to do to support that? >> well, we're in regular communication with both the state department and the administration as well i have numerous constituents, many of whom i went over like i did for the holiday in israel, which savery common time for jews to return to israel. so we're very concerned. right now there are very few flights going in and out. right now it appears the israeli national airlines is just about the only one coming in or out. we're having regular communications with the state department because so many americans want to get out. they should reach out to the state department or local member of congress. on the gaza front, and i heard what mr. finer said, i would add one thing that i think is really
1:30 am
important here. and i just saw a video from the idf that was translated into arabic that said to civilian gazansa there are places for them to go from where hamas has its infrastructure, which are the targets of israel's retaliation. that is of course a courtesy that the 260 concert goers and children and grandparents in southern israel did not get from the hamas terroristsch and i think it's an important distinction to make here. israel is notifying civilians in gaza when they're going to attack particular areas and that is in accordance with international law unlike what hamas terrorists did on saturday. >> israel has had so many conflicts in its 75-year
1:31 am
history, all the way back to 1948 and recently as a couple years ago in gaza. i feel like often times looking at historical analogs and precedents might help us understand what happened in this circumstance. in this circumstance as you're describing the specific situation in which we've got not only these mass coordinated terrorist attacks inside israel but the mass hostage taking, to me it makes it -- i feel like no precedent will help me understand what happens next, and i don't understand what the end game is strategically choosing to take young kids, i don't see how it resolves. i feel like it makes everything here not just more horrific but also more unpredictable in terms of how this can sort out because nothing like this has happened
1:32 am
before. i wanted to ask if you had a take on that or any kind of different understanding on that than i feel. >> well, you're absolutely right. this is unprecedented in israel's history. this is not per petuation of the cycle of violence unfortunately some have become numb to over the last few decades. it's an attack that has not occurred in the 75-year history of israel. what we are seeing and the reason why we as americans must stand with israel against the terrorist organization hamas is a scenario where hamas has control of the gaza strip. this is about a terrorist organization that has exacted horrific war crimes against israel because their sole mission is to eradicate israel
1:33 am
from the face of the earth. and the only way to deal with a terrorist organization like hamas is how the world dealt with terrorist organizations like al-qaeda and isis, because that is exactly what hamas is. hamas needs to be eliminated from gaza. there needs to be a new government that can represent the interests of the palestinian people, which hamas does not do. so the initial mission was be to eliminate and neutralize humus match. >> congressman goldman, if the u.s. government is going to extend the kind of support to israel that you are calling for, can it do so without a functioning congress, without a speaker of the house which seems like such a picky domestic situation considering what's going on here. are we actually hamstring to provide the aid to israel they've asked for and that the president has been talking about
1:34 am
offering? >> we are absolutely hamstring. it is complete chaos and dysfunction in the republican party, and we don't have a house of representatives that can pass a bill. we need republicans to get their act together to figure out a way to elect a speaker so we can pass laws to provide israel with supported needs as our democratic ally in the middle east so we can provide the support ukraine needs as our democratic ally in europe. these are essential, essential things we must do not only for democracy around the world but our own national security. that is something that must happen this week. i really hope my republican colleagues can get their house in ord so that the peoples house where we were all sent to govern can actually do the people's business. >> congressman dan goldman, we're really glad you and your family made it home and are safe. thank you for talking to us tonight, sir. appreciate you being here. >> thanks for having me. we're going to turn now to a
1:35 am
freelance journalist working in jerusalem. she's been reporting on the conflict for a number of outlets including "the washington post." thank you so much for joining us tonight. i know it is the middle of the night where you are. really appreciate it. >> thank you, rachel. >> we've been talking a little bit about the experience of congressman goldman and his family in tel aviv. also we just spoke with someone in southern israel. we've obviously been covering the impact of those coordinated terrorist attacks in southern israel. can you give us a little bit of sense how this is being -- what the impact is in jerusalem, how people are handling this complete shift in the world, in the ground beneath our feet with these massive attacks? >> well, i mean there's a sense of deep, deep shock, almost a sort of cognitive dissonance as if the entire world has shifted since saturday morning. i spoke with a friend of mine
1:36 am
this evening who has two sons around the age of 20 both of whom were serving in the army, one of whom is in one of the units that would be the first to enter gaza if israel does enter via land, and he knows four kids who have vanished, who are unaccounted for. and as i spoke to him, yeah, i realize that he's talking about six people who he's very close to, very young. and the chances of them all being alive in the next ten days is not very good. so it was -- it's just a surreal feeling all around, and there are so many deaths and so many disappeared that in a fairly small country, it feels like a blanket over everything. >> in terms of the numbers of people who have disappeared, the people who are unaccounted for, we spoke to a gentleman at the
1:37 am
top of this hour whose brother and three other relatives are -- are missing and he has been sent the video, which we were able to show a piece of, showing his brother and his girlfriend being abducted, but it's absolutely terrifying. but he also told me that he and his family have received no advice, no guidance, that there's not even any sort of prevailing sense of what family members should do. for people who have friends and loved ones who are believed to have been taken, who may be being held as hostages right now, is there prevailing wisdom? is there advice? is there any information or support for them in terms of how they should handle what they're going through right now? >> these people have been basically forsaken. that's what it feels like right now. last night i saw one of the most painful press conferences or public appearances i've seen in
1:38 am
my life. a group of relatives, mostly parents of people who have simply vanished, who no one has seen any sign of since saturday morning gathered and invited the press and basically sat there and wailed for an hour asking where's the government, where's the police, why isn't anyone speaking to us. the prime minister netanyahu had not appointed a point person to handle hostages or p.o.w.s since he returned to power end of december. and yesterday evening he very hastily did so i assume in connection with this pres conference. but the country is just -- the official part of the country is not able to get into gear yet. and there's a feeling of abandonment, chaos, very, very deep fear. and most of the organization that is happening is basically
1:39 am
spontaneous popular groups joining forces to try and help people who don't know what to do. >> i mean a situation to be sure, but for the people who have been held in custody -- in hamas custody since saturday morning it's not got to feel like it's been decades already. i really appreciate you being up with us, especially the terrible hour it is right now. we'll hopefully stay in touch with you in the next few days. thank you. >> thank you. >> an independent journalist in jerusalem who's been reporting on this conflict for a number of different organizations including "the washington post." all right, our live coverage continues right after this. please stay with us. coverage continues right after this please stay with us.
1:43 am
the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network.
1:44 am
israel and the hamas terrorist group may be the two sides of this war, but the conflict has implications for lots of other entities and lots of other countries including the united states. the u.s., for example, has already sent an aircraft carrier group to the eastern mediterranean which is basically being viewed as a don't you dare to iran or any other state actor that might want to get involved or get further involved in the situation. the level of iran's involvement in the hamas attack on israel remains an open question.
1:45 am
iran obviously supports hamas with both funding and arms and training as a general matter. but the u.s. government has been pretty explicit in saying despite that known support, the government doesn't have direct evidence that iran was directly involved in the planning for this operation. iran is also denying that it had any direct involvement in the planning for this operation despite reporting in "the wall street journal" in particular that they absolutely did. it also remains to be seen how iran's ally, russia, will respond to the violence. the nation of qatar is reportedly trying to play a role in trying to resolve the nightmare of this hostage situation. qatar, according to reuters, is offering to negotiate an exchange of the female hostages held by hamas for female prisoners held in israeli jails. again, reuters reporting that qatar is seeking that kind of a prisoner exchange, prisoners for hostages. meanwhile there's been rocket fire and attack helicopter
1:46 am
military operations on israel's northern border with lebanon. so there's a whole lot of players involved already. the possibility of a broader conflict hangs over every new development on the ground. obviously israeli retaliation against hamas has already begun with air strikes in the gaza strip, the densely populated gaza strip. u.s. officials have privately warned that we should expect the israeli retaliation to include not just air strikes but potentially a large scale full ground invasion of gaza. joining us now is ben rhodes, former white house deputy national security advisor to president obama. thank you so much for being here. i really appreciate you being here on a night like this. >> happy to be hear, rachel. >> you're not accountable for everything happening this hour, but let me ask you in terms of what you've been hearing thus far, if anything strikes you as wrong or missing something
1:47 am
important about the way we should be thinking about this and the kinds of questions we should be asking. >> no, i think what we're hearing obviously is understandably the incredibly raw emotion and trauma that people are feeling because of the horrific nature of these attacks. and i think the main thing we always have to keep in mind, rachel, that i try to remind myself is what is so tragic about this is that it is civilians. the israelis, they were targeted bihamas and the families in gaza who did nothing to be a part of the attacks but who are going to pay a price, it is -- the vast majority of people going to be harmed did nothing wrong. and that to me is the ultimate tragedy of this circumstance is how many innocent people are just caught in this. and hamas bears the blame for
1:48 am
instigating this, no question about that. but it's also hard to look at gaza where there are 2 million people and not feel a tremendous sense of unease and trepidation for what may be about to happen. >> this is -- i should say, ben, i think this is the fourth gaza war that you've lived through. this one is different from all other previous conflicts because of this mass hostage taking strategy. and obviously that -- the cruelty and terrorizing of the individual people who are victimized by this tactic is one outcome. it also has an outcome you see them prioritizing the photographing and filming of both murders and hostage takings, kid nappings to try to spread the terrorizing effect of that. presumably the hostage taking has the strategical impact,
1:49 am
tactical impact of providing some sort of human shield factor for hamas, threatening they'll kill hostages and film it and broadcast it in response to israel destroying many civilian homes in gaza. obviously it's hard to know why exactly they are doing it or how they see it ending, but how does it constrain or prescribe what the american government can do to know that there are dozens, maybe even more hostages taken and that there are americans among them? >> well, first of all there are some practical questions i'm sure are front of mind in the situation room. i can imagine this is an open ended meeting in the situation room. and one of the questions is what intelligence support can we provide to israel to try to identify who the hostages are and what their locations are? another concern of the united states is trying to determine how many of these people are americans. i think the question going forward is hamas wants these
1:50 am
hostages for a number of reasons. perhaps to be human shields against indiscriminate bombardment or ground invasion of gaza. perhaps to exchange those hostages for palestinians who are in prison. i think a big part of the reason why hamas probably did this -- and nobody knows exactly why they did this suddenly -- they want to establish them as a palestinian guardship. they're a kind of corrupt government and hamas wants to demonstrate they can achieve things like the release of palestinian prisoners that the palestinian authority cannot, and that presents a real dilemma for israel, which is do you deal with hamas in some sort of prisoner exchange like the one qatar is apparently offering or do you not? you have no way of assuring the safety of those hostages.
1:51 am
it feel like israel is primed for a ground invasion which would lead to significant dangers there and significant danger for the hostages. even what was announced today the electricity and food cut off to gaza that could cut off power to hospitals, cut off access to water. we have a real variable here we've not seen before. we have one israeli soldier taken hostage by hamas in the past. he ended up being traded for 1,000 prisoners. so that's the length israel's gone to get its people back. i think in this case its desire for retribution, its desire to destroy hamas is actually kind of at odds with the capacity to assure that you can get the hostages back safely. so that's a real dilemma that is facing people in israel and the united states right now. >> yeah, it's a real dilemma that becomes more acute and more
1:52 am
of a catastrophe with literally each passing minute those people are in that situation. ben, thank you so much for your time tonight. really helpful. >> thanks, rachel. >> we'll be right back. stay with us. rachel. >> we'll be right back stay with us coworkers. good for you, shingles doesn't care. because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care but, shingrix protects.
1:55 am
(man) mm, hey, honey. looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast? remember that colonial penn ad? i called and i got information. they sent the simple form i need to apply. all i do is fill it out and send it back. well, that sounds too easy! (man) give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. they don't ask about your health? (man) no health questions. -physical exam? -don't need one. it's colonial penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance. if you're between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if you're not in the best health. options start at $9.95 a month, 35 cents a day.
1:56 am
once insured, your rate will never increase. a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. as long as you pay your premiums, it's yours to keep. call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. there's no obligation, and you'll receive a free beneficiary planner just for calling. president biden said in a statement today, quote, the united states will continue to make sure israel has what it needs to defend itself and its people. at this hour in washington, d.c. the white house itself has lit up with the colors of the israeli flag. but as a technical matter when
1:57 am
it comes to the u.s. giving emergency aid to israel, that would have to come through congress, and right now there's no congress because there's no speaker of the house. congressman kevin mccarthy acted as the sort of de facto speaker today. he held a conference on the crisis in israel, but he really isn't speaker any longer and the house can't technically function without one. when the republicans ousted him from the speakership last week they didn't seem they were going to be in any hurry to pick a new speaker to replace him. and after the crisis emerged this weekend they didn't hold an emergency session over the weekend, nor did they hold one today. and they have a lot to do. obviously they still need to approve aid to ukraine, they need to pass a bill to keep the government running, but now there's big emergency. tomorrow congress is supposed to be back in session. if there's no speaker, there's no additional emergency aid for israel or anything else. it is up to the republican majority in the house to reform the house and allow the legislative branch to function.
1:58 am
time will only tell if and when they're going to get around to that. when they're going to get around to that my entire life. with all the yo-yo dieting i did in the past, i would lose 20, 30, 50 pounds just to gain them over and over again. in one year, i've lost five sizes, and i'm on my way to lose another three. with golo, i can do it. (announcer) change your life at golo.com. that's golo.com. is it possible my network could take my business to the next level? it is with comcast business. powering all your devices with gig-speed wifi. and you get fast downloads and uploads. pick it up! pick it up! oh we got this! because it's powered by the next generation 10g network. more speed for your business? it's not just possible. it's happening. get started for $59.99 a month for 12 months. plus, ask how to get an $800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. comcast business, powering possibilities.
1:59 am
one last thing before we go tonight, we've been discussing this hour this report from reuters that the nation of qatar has been trying to organize a sort of hostages, prisoners swap, trying to arrange some sort of diplomatic initiative to get women, to get female hostages and children being held by the hamas terrorist group exchanged for female prisoners
2:00 am
being held in israeli jails. reuters has actually reported not only is qatar working on that, they're working on it in coordination with the u.s. government. we've been trying to get confirmation the u.s. government is involved in any such effort to arrange that kind of swap. i don't have any answer on that. but i do have this from an nfc spokesman tonight. we're working around the clock to confirm missing whereabouts. if confirmed they are held by hamas, but we will not comment about diplomatic communications. so there you have it. shortly after the news first broke of hamas' attack on israel saturday morning msnbc has been bringing you coverage around the clock 24/7. that full team coverage continues now. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. my mom she was taken and kidnapped right now in gaza, and
105 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC West Television Archive Television Archive News Search Service The Chin Grimes TV News ArchiveUploaded by TV Archive on