you don't hear them very often do. and i think that was intended. it was intended to say, we are with you, there is no daylight between us. but even as he is doing, that i think there is a little bit obviously a different point of view than the israelis have. i think [inaudible] he is kind of whispering in their ear saying, don't take it too far. be careful. and he said in his speech while he was there, we are in the room with him, he said look. he compared to 9/11. and for israel at something like 15 or 20 9/11 if you do the proportion of their population. but the same all consuming rage that you feel, he told the israelis, we felt after 9/11 and it is understandable, but don't get that feeling because we made it mistake. in effect what he's saying is don't make the mistakes that we made. >> yeah, learn from. that listen, we're pushing the top of the hour, and i apologize to my executive producer because i have to ask you about the compelling story about what it was like flying into a war zone with the president of united states. you were handed this emergency no card with the information on what to do if an air raid siren went off or what to do if

there s a hamas right, and you it it was the first time since i started covering the white house in 19 that i can remember such a briefing om reporters on air force one. a sign of just how uncertain the trip could be. but here is the rthat got me. was what to do if air force one had to leave you, peter, behind in the wake of the attack. you right now there are some numbers and small print for you to call for help. i'm like what, go back and get peter. but anyway, what went through your mind during all of this? , know when you talk to the president, you feel a certain degree of security, because obviously there are a lot of very well trained secret service agents around, there but it's always important to remember that they are not for you. they are for him. eventually it will be for her, but not for the reporters, and they're going to leave you behind if they feel they need to. they're going to do whatever they need to protect the president of united states. as they should, that is our mission. and i think it is important to remember that. but you are, right it's sort of as real atmosphere on air force one as you remember. it was put together so quickly. obviously, the airport ben-gurion international airport is within range of

missiles, so much of the international carriers have been flying there right now. the secretary of state had just been forced into a -- the day before with arid sirens. the chancellor of germany was forced off the plane to the senior airport by air raid sirens. the reporters who are traveling with him were told to throw themselves on the tarmac, flat on the ground. so it was definitely a sense that you did not know what the you would be experiencing once we landed there. unlike other wars on trips. iraq, afghanistan when president bush orban goes there, it was not done in secret. it was done, announced an advance, and it was done in live television. there wasn't any sort of protection of clandestine possible clandestine nature of the leak. and so i think that that created an atmosphere on the plane of uncertainty that of course was very striking. >> yeah. i'm so glad to see you just sitting there nice and calmly and your library. it is wonderful. peter baker, always good to see you my friend. thank you so much. we will see you next week and i hope.

>> as i bid you all a bit of a tardy good day from msnbc headquarters, welcome to alex witt reports. just pass one pm eastern, eight pm and gaza and israel, and we begin with breaking news now. two weeks after the hamas attack, new video from unicef shows 28 trucks loading up today before they were allowed to bring that aid from egypt into gaza. international red cross officials say while they support the u.s. brokered deal to allow in trucks for humanitarian aid, gaza needs far more support. >> international aid agencies have become increasingly alarmed, and their language? increasingly strident? u.n. experts calling israel's siege and bombardment unspeakably cruel. and gaza city, a blast from an

israeli air strike destroyed the hall and scott center at a orthodox church. the christian community have been using them as shelters. >> [interpreter] put your hand under him, he said. as parishioners try to extract their friends and loved ones from the rubble, this man had lost his life. >> also notice, our palestinian leader mahmoud abbas telling arab leaders in cairo for peace summit the palestinians will remain on their land regardless of the challenges. meanwhile, israel says it is pushing forward with its planned ground offensive. israeli fenced officials say the 210 hostages are still being held in gaza. two american hostages, mother and daughter, judith raanan and natalie raanan from illinois are now receiving millet -- treatment after being held in hamas. now the search for the

republican speaker of the house now that guy, jim jordan, is out. our clock tells you just how long the house has now been without a speaker. in new today on the legal front, the perils facing donald trump. kenneth chesebro became the second lawyer to plead guilty and agreed to testify in the georgia election conspiracy tapes, and here's what his attorney is saying today. his >> i want to make something clear. he did not implicate anyone else. he implicated himself in that particular charge. someone asked me earlier, if you are donald trump, would you be worried? and i could personally honestly answer you, no. and it is not that mr. chesbrough is trying to protect donald trump or anyone else. i personally do not believe the state will call him to testify on their behalf. >> we are going to begin with the breaking news from israel, nbc's josh lederman is joining us from ashdod. so josh, talk about how the israeli military strategy has changed in light of the hostage release and aid.

is there a palpable difference now? >> well alex, that is been the big question over the last 24 hours is whether these two major developments, the release of those two u.s. hostages and the potential for more hostages to be released and the resumption of aid crossing the border finally into egypt intog. whether that would change israel's calculus about whether to move in a imminent fashion towards that ground corruption that israel has been promising frankly now for more than a week. today we heard from the israeli military saying that they had made recent decisions to actually expand the operations that they have underway, which so far has been mostly sent with airstrikes. and the israeli military also saying that they intend to proceed including with operations on the ground. and so israel's military releasing this footage that they say shows infantry troops from the holbrook age rehearsing for a potential ground operation into the gaza strip. sending a very clear signal to

the world that if anybody thought that israel is going to pump the brakes a little bit and pull back from that ground invasion because of the prospect of getting more hostages out or more aid in that that is not the case. and so they fully intend to go into gaza. now when exactly that is going to happen remains an open question, but it is going to have huge implications for trying to get more humanitarian aid into egypt. today finally we saw those 20 trucks heading over the border into the gaza strip. but it is truly a drop in the bucket, alex. according to a palestinian health official, there was enough water for approximately 22,000 people to have clean drinking water for a day. but remember, there's more than 2 million people in the gaza strip, and while those eight trucks were carrying badly needed supplies like medicine, anesthetics, surgical supplies and sanitary kits, it is only about 3% according to palestinian officials of what used to cross into gaza on any given day of before the war. it's a secretary of state anthony blinken, the united

nations as well as aid groups operating on the ground in gaza, they are issuing a urgent plea today for that aide to continue to flow. for the border over the rafah border crossing from egypt into gaza to be opened on a daily basis, not just this one brief period for a few hours today. as of now, it is unclear alex whether that rafah water crossing is going to reopen tomorrow or when more aid may be able to get into the gaza strip. alex? >> it is not nearly enough. it is getting there. okay, josh, thank you so much for. that back in washington, the search for speaker is back on after house republicans dropped jim rd following his third failed forote. several new candidates and are running with another round of votes expected sometime next week. and so let's go to nbc's julie tsirkin back with us from capitol hill. julie, what can you tell with us about these candidates and what house republicans looking for in the next leader. is there a consensus even on that last part? >> yeah, definitely not. italy depends on who you ask, which faction of the house

republican conference, because they will tell you a different answer. and even when you look at the nearly doesn't candidates either in or considering running for spker, they are all over t political spectrum and the house. includes two members of leadership. current leadership, that includes tom -- who'sheote counted here among republicans no trying to rodthis was a form self. it also includes congressman mike johnson. the vikings -- vice chairman of the republican conference. they both served under former house speaker kevin mccarthy. but let's take a step back here before we take a step forward. yesterday it was really a stunning defeat for jim jordan. not only on the street ballots when's votes kept dropping and dropping, but on that secret ballot held behind closed doors where he lost nearly half of the support of his conference, far more than the numbers that you are seeing on your screen. we heard from mark molinaro of a moderate republican from new york. one of those five or so that one districts that president biden won two years before. take a listen to what he had to

say. and by the way, molinaro voted for jordan to times before switching his vote yesterday. watch this. >> i supported jim because i felt he could unified the congress. we have entrenched opposition and we have people who are experiencing a level of violence and criticism that is just not acceptable in american politics, and therefore i think the best approach is to return to that conference room and coalesce around a conservative candidate who will win. >> alex, after tell you. i spoke to a number of republicans, including florida congressman giménez who told me that it is because of those threats and the president that they felt from jordan and his allies but they decided not to back him, and it sort of put a bad taste and a lot of these members mouth. so looking forward, they have until tomorrow at noon. the ones who are interested in filing for speaker to do so before a closed-door candidate forum monday evening around 6:30 pm where they will presumably hold another round of internal deliberations.

tuesday morning they are prepared to proceed to an election. we will see if they can actually nominate somebody, but remember, as we have already seen with jim jordan, with steve scalise, even with the troubles mccarthy had we held the gavel, it is going to be a steep climb to the magic number of 2:17 on the floor. in part because they already have a four seat majority. and then the other part, they're as fractured, in the words of congressman molinaro, and divided as ever. >> all of your points well taken. thank you so much julie tsirkin. well my next guest wrote about the role election dialism played in jordan's failure, seeing some house republics were uncomfortable with the possibility of having an election denier occupying the most powerful legislative seat. the author, jacqueline alemany, the -- reporter for washington post. jacqui is also an innocent pc news contributor. so welcome my friend. so you say that this is a boiling issue in the gop. to what extent was jim jordan involved and donald trump's effort to overturn the election,

it is that what you think singlehandedly brought him down from pursuing the speakership successfully. >> yeah alex. well jim jordan's annexation denialism which has persisted we continued up into this week when he was asked behind closed doors in a congress meeting on monday as he continued his bid for speaker, when she finally relinquish esther day, has not been a central nor and organizing factor here in the decision-making that has gone on behind the people who have ultimately defected towards jordan, but it has certainly been a topic of conversation amongst -- a private conversation even among members who ultimately supported jordan, who expressed grave concerns to me and a background capacity and said that this was not just a speakers issue but a long term issue in the conference. jim jordan played a pretty key role in terms of being one of the conduits, him along with congressman scott perry from pennsylvania to the white house

in terms of trying to coordinate and facilitate trump's efforts to overturn the results of the election in the lead up to january six, and in terms of just being a very vocal and prolific voice out on the airwaves. cable news, conservative media who propagated these unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. >> and i'm dointhe same thing all over again? the majority of the new gop speaker candidates also objected to the certification of joe biden's 2020 election victory. political courts say that trump says that he is not supporting tom emmer, the only leading candidate who did not try to overturn the election. what are you hearing about this? >> yeah, this is why it is still such a contentious issue. because it is a powerful, galvanizing talking point in the republican party, but it is also deeply divisive, and there is still a faction of people who would rather hear from the person who is going to occupy perhaps the most powerful

legislative seats in the u.s. government just simply say that election fraud it did not happen and we are moving forward, looking to 2024. especially as this conversation is happening going into an election year where this is going to be a more important conversation than ever. and especially on the heels of the 2022 midterm performance, which was really disappointing. amongst the candidates who did propagate election denialism and overwhelmingly lost their races. but as you noted, there's only one candidate for speaker right now who has officially jump into the race whacally voted against the objections against certifying the election, who voted in favor of certifying joe biden's victory, and that is tom emmer, and he is somebody who a lot of trump supporters and people who are allied with former president trump have been rallying and advocating against to become speaker for quite some time now. >> yeah. let's take a listen to a little

bit of what ousted speaker kevin mccarthy had to say on thursday. here is that. >> what history will look at, the crazy eights led by gaetz, the amount of damage that they have done to the stamp -- party and this country is insurmountable. >> i told him to sit down. i think the entire conference screamed at me. listen, the whole country i think would scream at matt gaetz right now. >> what more are you hearing from the crazy eights led by gaetz and what rules are they going to play going forward? >> yeah alex, that's a really good question. i think right now what the jim jordan debate has put into perspective is that there are other factions, there are other lawmakers in different ideologies and belief systems who are finally fighting back. who are trying to minimize the power that these hard-line extreme conservatives have exerted in order to make really

the ruling and most amit force in the house gop conference. you saw appropriators, moderates, centrists. again, a whole slice across the spectrum of ideologically disparate lawmakers who came out against jordan. who came out against tim, out of principle as they. said profound opposition. people who have been opposed to the tactics that he has employed and facilitated since he has become a lawmaker. and since he has really brought up the house freedom caucus. a lot of these governing strategies that many of them have inherited and employed in order to get their way in the house and to be a vocal voice even in the minority. and that is why i could see the speakers race really continuing for quite a bit longer as i think that there was -- the different slices of the conference would fight back in the way that we have seen in the past two weeks, but it is certainly going to make it

extremely challenging going ahead to pick a new speaker. >> yeah, and maybe it was part about the dress code. the guy never wears a jacket. maybe that is irritated some folks. let me just pivot quickly to ask you one more question about the other big story about donald trump today. his former campaign legal advisor ken chesbrough taking a plea bill one deal after sydney powell potentially put e nail in trump's legal coffin. both of them together. if these two lawyers cooperate with the prosecors. but chesbrough's lawyers, you heard, asked of trump should be worried and said, no i don't think. so he did not snitch against anyone. what are you hearing jackie. it's trump world concerned by these two quote unquote flipping? >> yeah. well i think it remains to be seen whether or not they actually are flipping and providing in cooperating with former president trump. but, again there certainly should be cause for concern because of the roles that they both played in being really in part the legal architects in addition to john eastman of the

scheme to overturn the election results that trump tried to execute and implement in the lead up to january six. they were privy to a lot of emails, some of which we have already seen. communications between all of these different french players who trump was able to put together as this half hazard team of outside advisers who were existing him and this effort. they were coming in and out of the white house. they're in a closed-door meetings. they were privy to a lot of things that had not yet been unearthed that now prosecutors probably have access to. so i think whether trump and his advisers are actually concerned, they are still going to continue to put up the facade that their guy and the de facto leader of the republican party is not scared of what they might ultimately be able to tell jack smith and fani willis. >> okay. well at least for now.

jacqueline alemany, it's good to see you my friend. appreciate it. next, how president biden made history this week. plus, whether a delay in the groundwork hurts and helps israel. we are back in 60 seconds. back in 60 seconds. back in 60 seconds. a mystery! jessie loves playing detective. but the real mystery was her irritated skin. so, we switched to tide pods free & gentle. it cleans better, and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free & gentle is epa safer choice certified. it's got to be tide. >> let's go now to some new

developments on what could have motivated hamas to launch its attack on israel. president biden is now saying it is hard to stop israel from normalizing relations with saudi arabia may have played right into hamas's timing. he said last night, quote, one of the reasons why hamas move on to israel's because they knew i was about to sit down with the saudis. joining me here in studio, asha castleberry hernandez. asha is a former senior adviser for the u.s. state department and is a professor of middle east at st. joseph university. asha is also a major in the u.s. army reserves. so have to say thank you so much for your service, we appreciate that. let me ask you what you make of the presidents analysis.

do you think that the potential reproach montessori radio and israel played and significantly into the timing on the attack on october 7th. >> thank you to the question. prior to the attacks, there were some concerns that were expressed by the palestinian authority along with other key officials along with the palestinian committee -- that they would like to be more involved in the abraham accords. in fact, i think initially with the abraham accords that the head of the leadership rejected the accords. prior to, again, there was definitely some concerns that we would be more involved. there are some concessions that were also proposed to the nine states as well as israel and rest of the key players to say that this is how we can be more involved. >> so why would israel and saudi arabia recognizing one another normalizing relationships, why would that

be a good thing for the middle east. who would see that as about? then >> it's not a bad thing. it's actually a great thing in terms of building relationships, finding different ways to invest in the economy, renewable energy, technology, and bring them all together as far as not only to bring peace, but also build on commerce and other key issues or global work. >> and asha, that's how we see it. but how is it that hamas wouldn't see it that? way >> going back to the concern that they were not necessarily, they felt that they were integrated. plus, hamas does not want to see these between the nine states, excuse me, between israel and the arab league because it puts them out of the equation. it also -- >> should they lose power? >> yes. >> isn't that what happens with all these militant groups in the middle east like a potentially not want to see that happen between israel and saudi arabia. is it just about power?

>> it's about power and it's also about undermining the relationship that could be, because if you continue with the wedge between the two, that allows hamas to be able to create more of a division, more security challenges plus then working together, the israelis and the arab community on how can we effectively address secretary -- in the community. >> and so if you have areas in the region that are not supporting any kind of peace, how much does this give credence to the biden administration's concern about a wider regional war. is there a tipping point, asha, that you see that if you think that that is crossed it is like, oh? >>,, -- and yemen. and right about now we need to stay engaged, be able to

counter those activities, but also bring to the table in addressing these issues effectively. i think that that is the tipping point. we don't get iran to stop feeding into those malign activities, it is going to further deteriorate the security in the region. and so we have to stay engaged. >> how about israel. how capable are they from potentially dealing with assaults militarily to some degree from all different angles. >> it would definitely overwhelm the idf. as you can see, it is evident that hamas and hezbollah orchestrating together where the idf continues to try to initiate the counteroffensive. they are going to try to overwhelm the idf on the northern border. and so, yes it would be overwhelming, but i believe in the international community that they will provide assistance to the idf to ensure that they can curtail that overwhelming activities coming from different vines. >> certainly the u.s. intends to do that.

asha castleberry-hernandez, like you so much for time. appreciate that. coming up next, something you have not heard much about. numbers that really matter in israel's war with hamas. 's war with hamas. before you were preventing migraine with qulipta®? remember the pain? cancelled plans? the worry? that was then. and look at me now. you'll never truly forget migraine. but qulipta® reduces attacks, making zero-migraine days possible. it's the only pill of its kind that blocks cgrp - and is approved to prevent migraine of any frequency. to help give you that forget-you-get migraine feeling. don't take if allergic to qulipta®. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and sleepiness. learn how abbvie could help you save. qulipta®. the forget-you-get migraine medicine™. (all) ♪ toooo youuuuu! ♪ qulipta®. (sean) i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro! (jason) sean! do you mean this one - the one with titanium? it's so light. don't touch it. maybe stealing wishes from the birthday boy is not your best plan -- switch to verizon and get 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.

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join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on mobile and desktop today. war as we give you examples of that to your left, you're looking at madrid, spain. where there's a pro palestinian demonstration, to your, right in tel aviv, israel. with a pro israeli demonstration. again, these narratives are being conductive around the

globe. and there's a lot of passions on both sides. meanwhile, new insight into the historic week for the president, from his trip to israel on wednesday, to his thursday night oval office address to the nation. msnbc contributor jonathan alter has covered president biden for 35 years. before became president. he has some opinions, as always, my friend joins me right now. jonathan, as i welcome you, you have described the speech as pitch perfect. then you recently wrote about this moment in particular, we're gonna play that moment. >> when i wasn't israel yesterday, i said that when american experience the hell of 9/11, we felt enraged as well. well we sought and got justice, and made mistakes. so, i caution the government of israel not to be blinded by rage. >> why was it important for the president to say that? >> because israel should be acting out of its own self

interest, not guided by the emotions. totally understandable emotions of the moment. their objective is to destroy hamas. it's not to exact revenge. but even if you believe that revenge is, you know, an okay motive for war, remember the old expression. revenge is a dish best eaten cold. when you're thinking rationally, you're doing better. if they were really looking out for their own self interest right now, they would delay this ground invasion until humanitarian situation has been stabilized in southern gaza. until other alternatives for releasing the hostages have been exhausted. >> do you think the last couple of weeks, we've heard a lot of heated rhetoric about the intention of ground war, and

getting that going. do you think this has bought some cooling off time, if you will? for the revenge to get cold? >> yes. it has. this goes to president biden's spectacular leadership. i don't say that easily. in fact, i can't remember any other occasion. >> you have criticized. i hear you. >> as a commentator, i've use that word to describe a period of leadership. but he has, with what i called his brilliant empathy, we all know it is an empathetic leader. that's good on its own terms. he goes out of his own personal suffering. and has tremendous sincerity behind it. in this case, it also has political and global value. it has bought time for some clearer thinking.

his trip to israel bought time. the ground invasion was not going to be felt. when he was there. his very, very aggressive diplomacy on this, saying both publicly and privately that israel needs to think harder about the way it's reacting, so it doesn't overreact the way we did by attacking iraq after 9/11. that was an extraordinarily dumb thing to do. which biden is candid enough to say, he supported in the senate. i have to admit, i supported it. it was the worst mistake i ever made as a journalist. as a commentator. supporting the u.s. invasion of iraq. for all kinds of obvious reasons. so, when you take these momentous, historic actions,

president biden is saying, make sure that you have really thought clearly about whether this is the right thing to do. now that he's gonna be able to talk them out of a ground invasion, that's going to happen. it's clear. but the timing of it is essential. in the circumstances of it are essential. and the strategy -- >> the scope. >> the strategy is essential, that it be thought through. in a clear minded way. instead of just just reacting out a very understandable rage. >> president biden is saying, got to think of the endgame in all of this. before things will flush out to. we have all heard how perilous any kind of a ground war it's gonna be. considering all the tunnels that hamas is dug in gaza. you've pointed out something very interesting in your latest piece, here it is. i have truck by how little commentary we've heard about the order of battle. hamas has about 40,000

fighters. israel mobilized 360,000, and even if 200,000 are ched for combat on the lebanese border, israel would still have a 4 to 1 man power advantage in gaza. it is the upside to all of this is a shorter war? >> i think it could be. i don't want to get to out front in predicting a short war. i think when the israelis are saying this is going to be a long war, they're playing a bit of an expectations game. they don't think it's gonna take that long to secure gaza city and throw hamas out of power. when they went into lebanon in 1982, that was a 33-day engagement. if you look at house to house fighting that we've seen in recent history, much of it extremely bloody, and this is gonna have heavy losses on both

sides. there's not gonna be anything easy about it. if you look at the duration of these battles, whether it's the battle of -- in vietnam. which was house to house combat. or the battle of fallujah in iraq. these lasted about a month to six weeks, and a time when they're the order of battle was much less favorable. the united states, i believe it was 19,000 troops in the second battle of fallujah, the israelis are gonna have many times that number when they take gaza city. >> yeah, okay. my friend, jonathan alter, thank you very much for weighing, and i love your opinion pieces. substack. old goats. >> thank you. >> what we know about the remaining hostages held by hamas? we're speaking with the idf next. next

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israel-hamas war. humanitarian aid crossed into gaza today for the first time. the world health organization and the red cross say it is not nearly enough. calling for a cease-fire to allow medical workers inside of gaza. two american hostages are now free, the first hamas released since it attacked two weeks ago. the israeli defense forces will expand operations, saying their plan is now approved. i'm joined right now by idf spokesperson lieutenant colonel jonathan conricus. good to have you back again, sir. let me ask about something, i was just handed. we're hearing about leaflets that have been dropped into the northern part of gaza by the israeli army. here's how it's been translated. on those leaflets it reads, to anybody who chose not to evacuate from the northern strip to south of the gaza valley, it's possible they will be considered as a partner to terrorist organizations.

can you talk about that? what does that mean? what message are you sending someone who may pick that up from the ground and reads it? >> thank you for having me again. the short message is, vacate, evacuate northern gaza. no matter where you are. whatever facility urine there's gonna be significant combat, and vacate northern gaza. that message has been translated from hebrew to arabic and then from arabic to english. i think some of it is lost in translation. the essence that we are telling civilians is, you are in a dangerous place, we don't want to label anybody a terrorist. but people who stay in northern gaza are endangering their own lives. therefore, if you want to be safer, go south. do not listen to hamas. don't be upon in their game of

keeping human shields. go south. and be safer. >> all right, thank, you for the colonel for the full interpretation. yes, it has been translated a couple times. i appreciate that. as you know, the last 24 hours, we've seen aid entering gaza. is the idf committed to allowing more aid in, as the situation for civilians and gaza goes worse by the hour? >> yes, the humanitarian situation is of interest. what we are committed to is bringing home our 210 confirmed hostages that have been taken by hamas. and are being held in captivity. most of them civilians, women, children. elderly and babies. that's our number one priority. the second priority, commitment and what really focused on doing, is to dismantle hamas. israel has allowed the cabinet deal allowed the interest of humanitarian aid under the condition that hamas won't try to steal it. that condition is still being examined.

we understand the situation in gaza. our priority is to defeat hamas and get our people back. >> colonel, i'm curious to that end. do you have any updates on those remaining 210? and can you explain, after the release of the first two, israeli american hostages last night, what did hamas gain by that? >> i think that what they tried to gain was a very cheap and obvious attempt. they use the word humanitarian reasons in their press release. which i find a cynical beyond description. for a terrorist organization that butchered more than 1000 civilians, burned people alive, raped, massacred, and performed some of the worst ices like acts in modern israeli history, for them even to use the word humanitarian, i think is absurd. and i hope that people around the world won't be confused by this cheap propaganda.

there are 210, maybe more, israelis being held in gaza. we want all of them back, without any conditions. and we expect to have all of them back. either by them handing them over, or bias going in and taking them back. >> colonel, yesterday defense minister yoav gallant said that israel will remove its responsibility for life in gaza, in the gaza strip. and establish a new security reality for the citizens of israel. can you explain what he meant by that? specifically? >> so, i think that what we need to understand regarding that statement and many others, of what perhaps hasn't been and crossed the atlantic, and perhaps not leave in the mediterranean. is that we are in a new reality. what we woke up to, with israel, collectively, woke up to on the morning of the 7th of october, two weeks ago and half a day. is a different reality that we all understand cannot allow

itself to continue. we cannot end this war without a fundamental change to the security situation. we cannot have other terrorist organizations around our borders see what hamas did. and live another day. and we cannot rebuild communities in the south, which now are devastated, burned, and empty of civilians, before we establish security. there won't be security, and there won't be peace, there won't be stability, there won't be life in israel before hamas 's out. finally out. totally out. not half out, not with a few breaths of air left. out totally. only then can life continue to flourish. >> colonel, last question. how is the idf wing it's concern about fuel, supplying hamas against the need for fuel to deliver administer humanitarian aid? >> so, it appears that the only

thing that the gaza strip isn't running out of, according to reports, is rockets. i think that they have fuel, according to our intelligence. hamas has been hoarding fuel. it is stolen from u.n. facilities. and it still has quite a lot of fuel. it prioritizes that fuel, and water and other humanitarian goods, for its combatants and for its military. it is not prioritizing the civilian population. so, the first thing that needs to be done, is a re-prioritization of assets inside gaza, which hamas control. in distribute. after that, when that runs out, then we'll find a different situation. >> okay, idf spokesman colonel jonathan conricus, i've a feeling this is not the last time we'll be speaking. thank you so much. the view from inside israel, two weeks after everything changed. anged.

new today, there are fresh

worries about security here in the united states, for both jewish and muslim communities. it comes amid reports of anti-semitic and anti-muslim crimes in the wake of the israeli hamas conflict. my colleague nbc's marissa perez joining us from -- florida to talk about this. i know you've been talking with people there, what are you hearing? >> yeah, before we pivot to what's being done, to address these concerns, i do want to start with how committee members are feeling. you can imagine a lot of people are feeling on edge. the last couple of weeks, we have seen violent words online and in-person spilling into violent actions. we have seen a rise in antisemitism and islamophobia reported by the group to monitor those things. we've seen a hoax, bomb threats to synagogues, we've had a report of a woman telling police that she was punched in the face in the new york subway because she was, quote, jewish. we have seen that six-year-old stabbed to death in illinois,

because he's palestinian. when i speak to members of the muslim and arab community, many of them telling me that the current environment is not something they've seen since 9/11. so, again, we spoken to the community, we've spoken to community members, telling us, unfortunately, that would have heard repeatedly is being targeted for how they look or how they pray is not new. it is simply ramped up. i want to take you to the words from committee members themselves. you're gonna hear from south florida local member of the council on american islamic relations, followed by a jewish organization of anti-defamation league, south florida member there. take a listen. >> we get cars, for example. all four tires slashed if they have palestinian flag or a pro palestinian materials on the car. we've had one of those cases. cases of people just walking in a public place and getting verbally assaulted by people. >> the last couple of weeks have been marked by not only a

spike in antisemitic incidents being reported to us on the ground, incidents of assault, vandalism, harassment. but also calls for violence against jewish community and online spaces. >> so, we know dhs and fbi have heightened security and surveillance right now on a local level. what we're seeing, we're seeing on a national level, alex. we've seen an increase in security and police presence outside of places of worship. outside of jewish centers, temples, as well as masks as well. alex, it's not just here. in our area in south florida. but elsewhere in the country as well. >> i was gonna tell you, i was gonna say, i see exactly we describing here in new york city. the presence of police, the flashing red and blue lights. it's far more prevalent than usual. thank you so much, marissa poorer for that. two americans spent their first night free last night's had been kidnapped and held hostage by hamas. -- we are safely transferred to the idf after the u.s. worked

with qatar to strike a deal with hamas. rachel casner joins me now from tel aviv. rachel is a jewish american dual citizenship, and has joined me each of the last couple of weekends, with observations on the hamas attack. and its aftermath. good to see you, my friend. we are friends now given what we've been talking about together. give me your reaction to the first hostage release, how you and your friends and family seeing this? >> thanks for having me again, alex. of course, i am elated for judith and natalie, and their families. the idea of these two being returned to their families, i saw the video of the husband and father waiting for their arrival. so relieved, you could see the relief on their face. that said, the number of hostages confirmed hostages continues to rise, as more bodies are identified, and bodies are not accounted for. the last number that i know of his 210.

and we cannot rest and all 210 innocent hostages are released. i just want to point out, alex, we don't know where these two women were chosen to be released. i don't want to be fooled. hamas is specifically trying to re-brand as a human -- humanitarian organization. they released them for humanitarian reasons. i do not think that it is easy to believe that the other 210 hostages look as well and as healthy as these two women did. it's very reminiscent, to me, when the 90s allowed red cross to come to certain concentration camps and see very specific healthy looking jews. i just want to be fooled, we know what hamas has done. earlier this week, i watched an interview of a hamas official being interviewed on an arab tv station, in which he said, we don't target civilians. the whole world has seen that hamas targeted civilians specifically, we have the plans for the attack, kill as many,

and bring as many hostages as possible. and when the hamas official began to use the word prisoners instead of hostages, that's when we have to be worried. i'm elated that these two have come back, we cannot rest until all 210 or returned safely. >> i think there's a communal support for everything you've said. none of us will, at anytime, soon forget what happened two weeks ago today by hamas militants. many call them terrorists. let me ask you how things have been in the last week since we spoke. how are you doing? >> thanks, alex. i didn't know what -- it felt like. i grew up in new york. i don't think anyone who's sitting in america honestly that hasn't been through a war can really understand it until they're here. i heard about -- a voice had family members here. living through a war is just, it's just an entirely different experience. it affects every moment of your

life. there were days this week, that i just didn't want to wake up. i don't want to get out of bed. because you just don't want to know what's gonna happen next. you're living with the constant fear of the next rocket, sometimes you outside the house, you have to find a random shelter on the street to go into. every, day every night, it's been a day for number of times we've had to go to shelter. today, was only one. that's a relief. i think the constant realization of hamas, when they're sending, rockets it indiscriminate. it's not too idea bases. it's not to military bases. it's just across all countries. that realization that there is a constant urge to kill as many citizens as possible, very unnerving. >> yeah, i can imagine, that's unfortunately a sobering note on which we're gonna have to end. remember last week, i give you a virtual hug. that's what i'm doing once again. my friend. take care of yourself, we'll talk next week, get things underway from what's happening there. in the meantime, that's gonna do it for me on this edition of alex witt reports, i'll see again tomorrow at one pm

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