mostly also in afghanistan. this is tough. and there is no way they're going to go in there and be able to save those hostages and kill hamas terrorists and not encounter a lot of ambushes, return fire, as well as just surprises that hamas i think has in store. so i think general glen is going to provide the israelis with whatever insight and experience he can share with them that will help them in this very impossible, impossible challenge of trying to carry out their objectives and not kill or injure any more civilians. >> john brennan, former cia director, thanks as always. that does it for us, for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us on social media at mitchell reports. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at our headquarters in new york city.

what started as a field of seven is now down to just one. republicans in congress nominating minnesota's tom emmer as their third speaker designate in the past two weeks. but can he succeed where steve scalise and jim jordan failed and get the votes to become speaker? plus, one by one, members of donald trump's inner circle are flipping on their former boss. today, a fourth trump co-defendant, jenna ellis, pleading guilty to charges in georgia. but the biggest gut punch may be yet to come. just moments ago, trump's former fixer, michael cohen, took the stand in new york and very soon we'll get our first view from inside the courthouse because they're on break right now. and as israel ratchets up the pressure on hamas and pounds targets inside gaza, secretary of state blinken warns the u.n. that the world stands at a crossroads. his plea for peace and a two-state solution. but are other countries, notably israel and iran, willing to

listen? but we begin on capitol hill, where right now believe it or not there actually is a speaker designate. their third in three weeks. it took five rounds of voting behind closed doors with house majority whip tom emmer winning the vote. now the question is whether he can get to the finish line with a floor vote that could come later today. we'll have to wait to see. but after 21 days without a speaker, fair to say frustration is building. >> i'm just wondering if we get to see punxsutawney phil or seven more weeks of winter. >> we don't want any more. >> it is no different today than last week or the week before, that would be a foolish idea. we need to do our job, get a speaker and get to work. >> joining us on capitol hill is correspondent ali vitali. peter baker, "new york times" chief white house correspondent will be with us in a moment. and former republican congressman carlos curbelo of

florida, also an msnbc analyst, is here on set with me. okay, ali. what do we know? how close with the vote? is there anything to indicate that tom emmer is actually going to be the speaker of the house? >> reporter: no. i want to disabuse you of the notion early if you thought maybe a weekend away would bring back any kind of efficiency or maybe functionality to this house republican conference. but they are the same as they have ever been. because even though emmer is the speaker-elect behind closed doors, my conversations with members just in the last few minutes is that as they did a roll call vote in the room, which was effectively just asking members will you or will you not vote for tom emmer, there are anywhere between 20 and 30 people who say at this point that they're opposed to him. this is just the reality of this conference. it is why people say no one can get to the magic number of 217. and it is because every new coalition that forms against a would be speaker is always some

new disparate group of individuals. we don't know the key people inside the room just yet. those names have not come to us. not all members have left the room, but my understanding, chris, is that right now they're still behind closed doors for yet another hour of this, and they're talking amongst themselves. we also have seen them be in this phase before, where they're always talking, trying to figure out what the path forward is, my understanding is that tom emmer wants very much to have a vote today and certainly there are a lot of members who want that too. but this is still where they stand again, where the majority might want something, but a small percentage of the conference can still hold it up. and that's where we are right now. >> that's where we are. and it is where we have been, frankly, carlos. so congressman, you've been in those rooms, what is that conversation like right now, do you imagine? >> well, chris, there is just so much frustration and anger in the house republican conference, some members have told me that if emmer cannot make it through, cannot get the 217, there is a

group of them who are prepared to move to empower patrick mchenry and that is going to require some democratic support, but, house republicans are getting to the point where they understand that this is hurting them politically, where they understand that the house has to reopen, the house has to function -- >> americans are fed up. they don't think -- they don't think their electeds are doing anything for them right now. >> they're saying, if we do this, it is going to result in a civil war, but it is getting time where some of them are saying, well, let's go ahead and have the civil war. we cannot -- >> is that not where they have been? >> they're kind of in the midst of it. some of them don't want to accept it, but certainly i think if emmer cannot make it, we're going to see some dramatic action in the u.s. house of representatives. >> well, i mean, there has got to be some drama. let me bring in monica alba, one of our white house correspondents. look, there is real stuff that needs to get done here, not the least of which is fulfilling president biden's request for urgent funding for israel and

ukraine. how worried is the white house about where this is going? >> the white house is concerned, chris, and would like to see some action and they would like to see it fast. they have been following this along with the rest of us and know that none of that is insured at this point, that that is what they'll continue to call for. that supplemental request amounts to something like $105 billion, much of it going to new funding for the war in ukraine, that, remember, was supposed to be a part of the spending package that kept the government open, but instead was left out in the short-term measure to be discussed later and now that we're heading towards that deadline, that is why the need is ever more urgent. and the words of the white house, they can't have a single day lapse here in terms of what would happen for some of the critical weapons and ammunition that goes to ukraine if there is an issue in the weeks to come. we know right now they have

enough for the moment. but that is something that they for weeks before the israel-hamas war started had been saying they were very, very worried about and wanted to make sure that was done. so, linking that to this aid for israel was a way to ideally try to get both priorities done and across the finish line, but there is no guarantee that this package as it stands right now, which we should mention, it also includes things like border funding, it has also for the indo-pacific and taiwan some money there that had been a request of some bipartisan lawmakers, so the hope is they can get enough lawmaker support behind it, but they know that there is nothing they can do in a completely rudderless house as they wait to see if a speaker can emerge. the white house said over the course of these last few weeks that they're not going to get themselves involved in it. they just want to seeing some happen quickly because of all of this, and because they know there is this looming deadline just a couple of weeks away.

>> just the use of the word hope reminds me of when i was a little kid and taught the phrase, if wishes were fishes, the sea would be full, right? come on. punch bowl has a significant warning, and this is -- even if somebody gets elected, right, if somebody, anybody, wins the speaker's gavel over the next few days, thisill likely be the least seasoned speaker in the post civil war era. none of the eight candidates for the house's top job has extensive time in a senior leadership role or been a major committee chair. they go on to say, that if you look at the combined experience of biden, schumer, mcconnell and jeffries, it is 140 years. you wonder, do republicans want to have any voice, any operational significance in this leadership? >> well, chris, this is evidence and everything you just said speaks to the vacuum of power that is at the center of the

house republican conference. tom emmer, he's a talented man, he's respected, inside the house republican conference, but he just -- >> i'm sorry, let me go to ali vitali. you have kevin mccarthy with you. >> same opposition you faced, the same people who ousted you that are -- >> no, i only had eight against me. >> is this the beauty of the conference, any number of people can come together to form an opposition? it feels that way. >> should he wait until he has 217 votes to go to the floor? >> i would. i would have that discussion here. that's what he's doing now. >> what if that doesn't happen today. >> you're in a very bad place. why do you think you're in a bad place? >> we have been three weeks without a speaker, we let eight people work with every single democrat to put us in here to go directly against what our conference riles say, that if you do a motion to vacate, you need 50% of the conference, now we're in a situation where remove the speaker, remove jim jordan from being speaker, every single person that has won and

we have got through a battle with elections of nine people, one won and now we have a roll call vote, to get to 217. >> have you heard from anyone thinking -- >> what is the option now? 26 members who are against tom emmer. >> he has it -- >> what is the option for you guys? >> let's not be so negative. >> you've been three weeks without a speaker. >> but i won 15 rounds. he had the first round. he's answering whatever questions somebody has. and i think some of the questions people have, they haven't given tom the opportunity yet to even ask them and have him answer that. i think this is the best way to go about doing it. let whoever has that opinion come to the microphone, go to tom and ask him the direct and tom can anser. >> they're venting this in real time in the room in front of everyone? >> do you think this moves the needle at all having this discussion face to face. >> i hope so. i've been wrong on the last two. >> how long will that take, though, airing of grievances,

getting people on board, that sounds like a long process if there is 20 plus people opposed. >> i don't think it is that much. i think he's making movement now. i'm not the best judge. i don't know exactly. >> are these jordan members who are going to get tired of this and might go and start working with democrats to get a republican speaker at this point? >> that very well could happen. every member is tired of this. every member is tired of those eight who work with every single democrat. if your question are we worried that some members might go work with democrats, that's already happened. the eight members worked with every single democrat to put us in this place. we're tired of that. of why we're here now by those eight who worked with every single democrat. that is why we're where we are. >> what is your option if this doesn't work? >> i don't have the option. i don't control it. tom emmer can decide what he's going to do. but he's listening to everybody and that's what should happen. >> this is really just playing out like publicly in that room, people are at the mics, talking about their issues, are they policy issues, personal issues?

>> combination. listen, we're all individuals, and they work through -- i had a motion to vacate because of a personal issue because someone had an ethics complaint put against them in a different congress and i'm not going to change that. i had a motion because i kept government open so our troops would get paid and now every other person who goes up to be speaker says their answers to do a continuing resolution, which i did. >> are these freedom caucus members, jordan supporters, how would you characterize the opposition? >> more than the eight. there is others. >> i didn't pay attention to how people voted, so i -- >> does it overlap with the eight? >> some of the eight voted for him. >> isn't there a problem, you can solve for the policy -- >> there is a big problem. >> i would agree with you. you can solve for the policy. you can't solve for the personal, right? doesn't that leave emmer at the same impasse as everyone else? >> i don't think so. i think people are tired of all this. i really go to the core. if you don't deal with the

consequences of the eight who worked with all the democrats to put it in here, putting a new person up each time we'll be in the same place we were before. and you got to fix that to start out. the question earlier, are we afraid we're at such a broken point now that some republicans may go work with democrats? that's already taken place. that is what put us in this place. that is why eight people, 4% of our conference, worked with every single democrat to create the problem we're in now. thank you, all, very much. >> chris, as we let the former speaker head down the hallway, we're working in close quarters here, but it is notable what he said there, i think, that this really is a mix within this conference of you can always find people who are going to stand in opposition. and i think that's the reality when people say, oh, no one can get 217, chris, that's what they're talking about. i think it is so striking to hear mccarthy say that the same problems that plagued him on the personal front will plague whoever comes next. i don't know if he means that

emmer can solve the personal problems in a way that someone else can't, certainly there is not as much vitriol around tom emmer yet, but that's not to say he's not without his enemies and i already talked to some of them, so i think that was really one of the most stark views that we have seen of the house republican landscape and it comes from the man who in many ways was at the center of all of this from the very moment that this congress started. mccarthy is responsible for keeping the majority and now also responsible for all the different members that make it up, including the ones who voted to oust him and trigger this entire process. chris? >> you may have heard it differently, but here's what i heard, feel free to disagree with me, ali. he says every member is tired of this. pushing back on the idea that emmer is in exactly the same place as everybody else and you asked i thought the key question, is it policy, is it personal, and he said both. but if tom emmer gets elected, just because everybody is tired

of this, what does that say about the republican conference? >> reporter: nothing good. and i do think that as much as we're all working toward the finish line, we're covering it, they're working toward it actively in the room, of electing someone speaker, that is nothing to say of actually having to do the job. when mccarthy points out that he got ousted for doing a continuing resolution to keep the government open, that was the policy piece of what ultimately felled his speakership. we're halfway through that 40 some odd day cr that mccarthy helped to put in place. that's what most of the people who want to be speaker are saying they would do if they find themselves in a similar time crunch where they can't fund the government just a few days before thanksgiving. so we could very much end up at the same odds with a different speaker as we saw with speaker mccarthy. but, again, i just can't stress enough the ways that when he talks about the eight, we know who the antimccarthy eight

republicans were, and i think it is slightly disingenuous that mccarthy continues to say that it was democrats doing this to him, because the call was very much coming from inside the house, it was gaetz triggering the motion to vacate and republicans have told democrats that they agree, they never would have saved nancy pelosi if the situation were in reverse. so i think that's just a spinning talking point at this point. but i think the reality stands that this is a conference that can really pull themselves apart and come back together in different permutations of opposition to whoever is in leadership. and that is the problem. >> all right, ali, come back to us if we get anything else. particularly about whether or not there is going to be a vote today. let me ask you to kind of wrap this up, you know the players, i wonder how you heard what you heard, congressman, from kevin mccarthy. he didn't seem unhappy not to be the person making the decisions anymore, given the chaos that just keeps amping up there. >> i'm not going to say that kevin mccarthy is enjoying this,

but you can hear in everything he is saying the words, see, i told you so. and you can really get a sense for the contempt, the disdain that exists in the house republican conference. the resentment that mccarthy has towards these eight. he has mentioned them every single day and every interview since this happened. and i think there is a world where mccarthy thinks that he can become speaker again. i'm not sure republicans can go through this horrible wilderness and emerge on the other side to see that -- >> do you think that's realistic? >> i think mccarthy might have a chance to come back or i think you're going to see a group of house republicans join democrats to empower patrick mchenry and allow the chamber to open. at some point, these house republicans are going to say what do we have to lose? we haven't been able to elect a leader for three weeks. with all the things you mentioned that are going on in the world, something has got to

give at some point. and i think these members are going to have the courage to move forward and do that, if tom emmer can't make it. >> you and i will be talking again. so good to have you in studio. thank you so much for that. well, face to face for the first time in five years. we're back in 60 seconds with the courtroom showdown between donald trump and his former fixer michael cohen and we have got someone who has been inside the room, watching it all unfold. we'll be right back. the room, watching it all unfold we'll be right back. and we could see exactly when they'd arrive with a replacement we could trust. that's service the way we want it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ugh, i'll deal with this tomorrow. you won't. it's ripe in here. my eyes are watering. look how crusty this is. ugh, it's just too much. not with this. good advice. when stains and odors pile up, it's got to be tide. this is spring semester at fairfield-suisun unified. they switched to google tools for education

because there's never been a reported ransomware attack on a chromebook. now they're focused on learning knowing that their data is secure. ( ♪♪ ) (sean) i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro! knowing (jason)eir data isean!ure. do you mean this one - the one with titanium? switch to verizon, and get iphone 15 pro on them. (sean) wow! (vo) get iphone15 pro, apple tv 4k and 6 months of apple one. all three on us. only on verizon. in two different cities, two lawyers who once represented donald trump have now turned on him in court. in new york city, it is michael cohen, the former fixer, who once said he would take a bullet for donald trump. today, he's the star witness against his old boss in the civil fraud trial that threatens to up end trump's real estate empire. >> this is not about donald

trump versus michael cohen or michael cohen versus donald trump. this is about accountability, plain and simple and we leave it up to the judge to make all the determinations on that. >> in atlanta, former trump lawyer jenna ellis with a surprise guilty plea to charges in the georgia election interference case. she is now the fourth co-defendant there to take a plea deal instead of going to trial. >> i believe in and value election integrity. if i knew then what i know now i would have declined to represent donald trump in these post election challenges. i look back on this whole experience with deep remorse. >> nbc's blayne alexander is at the georgeia courthouse for us. paul butler is a former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. you just came out from inside that courthouse. tell us what it was like in there, what did you hear, what did you see?

>> we're about 45 minutes into michael cohen's testimony earlier today we heard more from bill kelly, the general counsel. and there were some fireworks in his testimony. but the most important thing we heard today literally happened right before the break. that's when michael cohen on the stand, i'll read to you, i tried to take it down verbatim, i was asked by mr. trump to increase the total assets based on a number he arbitrarily elected and my responsibility with allen weisselberg was to reverse engineer the asset classes, increase those assets in order to achieve the number that mr. trump asked us to. that's michael cohen on the stand, essentially saying trump had a number in mind for his total net worth, and it was his job along with allen weisselberg to work backward from there to create a statement of financial condition that could support that total overall number that trump had in his head and derive from god knows where. that's when we broke for lunch.

when we come back, cohen will return to the stand to talk about the statements of financial condition and his role within them, a role that allen weisselberg denied that cohen had. >> anything between cohen and trump in that courtroom? >> i am sitting in the courtroom and in a way where i can only see trump's head. so far, he's maintained decorum. he doesn't seem to be demonstrably or visibly agitated by cohen but the reverse is also true. cohen is testifying as if trump is not there. speaking slowly, methodically, as if he knows his audience isn't just the judge, the ultimate decisionmaker here, put people like me and the rest of the media assembled to see what he has to say. he's been plain spoken, loud, clear, and slow, and he is focused on delivering that testimony without regard to who is sitting on the other side of the room from him. >> paul, the judge has already ruled donald trump fraudulently

misvalued his properties. the goal of this trial is to see if he has to pay the hefty penalty, whether his conduct violated other laws. so, we want to talk about the drama, right, of this first face to face meeting in five years. but is the central question here, can trump's lawyers convince the judge that cohen has a credibility problem and how much does attorney general letitia james' case depend on michael cohen? >> great questions, chris. trump's defense has been to blame accountants and appraisers for any mistakes in how the properties were valued. cohen could testify that trump was very involved in preparing financial statements he knew were fraudulent. yes, cohen has a lot of baggage, he's a convicted felon. and he and donald trump now absolutely detest each other. that makes it not the most credible witness, but you know what, lawyers are used to dealing with witnesses like

that, letitia james, her office is mainly prosecuting this case with documents, things like real estate and accounting and insurance papers. prosecutors will say that those are receipts that corroborate everything that michael cohen testifies to. letitia james probably thinks she doesn't need cohen to win this case. she already is doing really well. but it is hard to pass up a witness who was this inside the alleged crime. a live witness in the courtroom can tell a story that documents cannot. >> let's get over to atlanta. blayne, you're at the courthouse. what more can you tell us about jenna ellis' guilty plea? what did she plead guilty to, and what are the conditions? >> we know he's the fourth defendant to plead guilty here in fulton county. most notably the third trump attorney or former trump attorney to do so. so, the terms of her plea deal were similar to what we have seen before. we're talking about five years

probation, $5,000 restitution, community service, has to write a letter of apology and most notably she has to cooperate with the prosecution and testify truthfully in all future proceedings. what was notable, though, chris, what we saw today in the courtroom that we haven't seen in any of these previous plea deals is that jenna ellis made a statement. she said she wanted to get up, wanted to address the court. the judge reminded her she is under no obligation to do so. in the emotional statement, she said that she was relying on more experienced attorneys. she said she wishes she had done her due diligence in trying to make sure the claims were true, and most notably she says if she had known then what she knows now, she never would have represented donald trump in the first place. so, the d.a.'s office tells me they're not commenting on all of this. that's been their posture all along. this is significant when you talk about their case and what it looks like going forward because now that there is this jenna ellis guilty plea, this represents another aspect or another facet of this alleged

wling scheme here in fulton county. jenna ellis was charged with making false statements, along side rud giuliani making false statements or espouing lies about the georgia election before lawmakers in december of 2020. that's one aspect. sidney powell is swrofld those coffee county voting machine data breaches and then ken chesebro, so this is another valuable tool in the d.a.'s toolbox going forward. >> help us understand what the tools are exactly now that prosecutors have so we showed that lineup of the accused. 19 of them. four now said yes, i'm guilty, made a deal. where does this leave us? >> they made a really good deal. if any of these four had been convicted of racketeering, they were looking at a minimum sentence of five to 20 years in georgia state prison.

but, all four getting off probation, fani willis probably thinks that these cooperating witnesses could deliver the biggest fish. rudy giuliani and donald trump. so today in court, ellis specifically stated in papers she aided and abetted giuliani in making false statements to the georgia senate. last week, ken chesebro and his guilty plea implicated giuliani in the fake electors scheme. so, a guilty plea from rudy giuliani is clearly on fani willis' wish list, and that's going to be -- would be a really interesting lead negotiation. >> so much intrigue to come. and the obviously the consequences very significant. paul butler, blayne alexander,

thank you, both, so much. with the fate of more than 200 hostages hanging in the balance, the secretary of state makes a major diplomatic push with israeli attacks on gaza intensifying. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. nsifying you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc a cowboy or a gangster. and a gangster's outta style. i got back to my roots... we come from a long line of cowboys. my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my aunt even rode horses. when i see all of us out here on this ranch, i see how far our legacy can go. (♪♪) febreze! your bathroom... needs febreze small spaces... the always-on, odor-fighting air freshener you set and forget. so your bathroom stays continuously fresh for 45 days. that's the power of febreze small spaces. after switching to the farmer's dog we noticed so many improvements in remi's health. his allergies were going away and he just had amazing energy.

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but so are israeli air strikes as well as the desperation and the devastation on the ground in gaza. over the past 48 hours alone, israel has stepped up its bombardment in gaza. air strikes now averaging one every three to four minutes. in gaza, the health ministry, which is run by hamas, claims that more than 700 people were killed overnight, which, if true, would be the highest single day total since the start of the war. among the structures hit is a four-story residential building in the south. >> there were hosting our leaders from gaza and we thought our area would be the safest, but it is not safe. there is no safe in gaza. we are bombing everywhere. >> in the white house briefing room to address this john kirby. let's take a listen. >> netanyahu yesterday again

continuation of the dialogue and conversation he had with the prime ministers, things unfold there, and we still have ambassador satterfield on the ground continuing to work to get humanitarian aid in and to get safe passage for people out. i don't have a lot of progress on either front to speak to today. unfortunately no more trucks that got in and we haven't again secured passage for folks out. we're working that very, very hard as well as the hostage piece. not a lot to update you on there. just a real quick note on the state visit. i'm certain i'm going to get asked. we expect the situation in the middle east to come up in the conversations with president albanese tomorrow. i just want to quickly go blow through if i could highlighting some of the key initiatives that we're going to be announcing. the leaders will have more details tomorrow. so i will probably not be able to go into more detail than what i'm going here with you today.

i think the theme, the current running through this visit is really going to be on innovation. so, they're going to be announcing new advanced technology cooperation, particularly on artificial intelligence. you may have seen the prime minister inking a deal with microsoft for a.i. we welcome that. this tech innovation piece will also be highlighting a new space agreement that will allow u.s. companies to launch into space from australia. so pretty exciting there. we're going to be committing to clean energy by building resilient sustainable and secure critical mineral supply chains. secretary of commerce was over at the embassy today, talking about that, and getting us closer to finishing that critical minerals piece. tackling the climate crisis including by mobilizing funding for businesses across the region to transition to clean energy. advancing connectivity across the pacific with maritime infrastructure and enhancing our

defense cooperation between us to include trilateral cooperation with japan and, again, continuing to work on this ocus implementation, the trilateral agreement between great britain, the united states and australia to provide for australia a nuclear power but conventionally armed submarine capability. and then, of course, other deliverables as well, i won't belabor my time here. but very exciting visit. the president and the first lady are looking forward to it. lots to discuss. lots going on in the world and we're excited about it. >> thank you, admiral. french president emmanuel macron called today for hamas to be added to the targets of the u.s.-led coalition fighting the islamic state group. is that something that the white house would support? >> we're just aware of these reports coming out from the lsa. i would say, first and foremost, we're focused on helping israel

go after hamas right now, making sure they got the capabilities, security assistance to go after hamas. and we're certainly in discussions with our allies and partners as you know, president macron was on the call. two calls that the president has had with european leaders in just the last several days. we'll continue those consultations. >> thank you. i have two questions. they found evidence that israeli used phosphorous in gaza. any confirmation on this? >> i cannot confirm that. >> okay. and just now as you know the u.n. security council had a meeting, arab groups condemn killing civilians. also said that we should support a peaceful existence for -- do you envisage a scenario whereby hostages are released, hamas will be disarmed and some kind of international conference will take place soon? >> i couldn't begin to speculate

on that. that's -- those are potential steps that haven't happened yet and may not happen. all i can tell you is we're going to continue to make sure israel has the tools and the capabilities that they need to defend themselves. going to continue to try to get the humanitarian assistance in, continue to try to get hostages and people out of gaza appropriately. and as i think you heard us say, a cease-fire right now really only benefits hamas. that's where we are right now. and i understand the question, but i'm just not going to get ahead of where things are. >> there is no other scenario of averting -- >> there is already a combat between israel and hamas. if what you're saying to avert a ground incursion, that is a question for the israeli defense forces. they get to make the decisions about what operations they're going to conduct or not. we don't believe that a cease-fire right now is -- a

cease-fire right now is only going to benefit hamas. >> there is some reporting overnight that the u.s. is planning for mass evacuations of americans if the war were to spread. can you give context of how likely you guys are viewing that scenario and whether this is very top level planning or there is some sort of granular detail that you guys are going into on this? >> i won't go into granular detail on operational planning one way or another. but it would be imprudent and irresponsible if we didn't have folks thinking through a broad range of contingencies and possibilities. there is not a place in the world where the pentagon doesn't have contingency plans on the shelf, they need updating, but have them on the shelf to help with the evacuation of american citizens. and given what is going on in

the middle east right now, i think it is perfectly reasonable. i think it would be imprudent and irresponsible if we weren't doing some kind of contingency thinking. we're not a point of execution right now. and there are still plenty of opportunities, even in israel, for people to get out. we're still doing contract charter flights and there is still commercial flights going in and out of ben gurion and the demand signal for our contract charter flights hasn't been very high. we're still going, but they're not all filled. and the same could be said for places like lebanon. but each country is different. and threats and challenges in each will change over time. and we're doing all the right prudent thinking you would expect us to. >> i know that you thanked qatar for its role in the secured release of the hostages so far. i wonder if the u.s. believes that qatar should expel the hamas leaders in the country right now? >> i don't think -- i'll say we're having conversations with

partners across the region. and we know qatar has an open line of communication with hamas. and as you saw, we thanked qatar for their support and helping them get the two americans out. i would just tell you those discussions and those conversations are ongoing and critically important. and i think i need to leave it at that. >> thank you, admiral. former president obama shared some of his views about the conflict yesterday. one of the things he said is that the israelis haven't done enough to avoid killing or injuring civilians that they seek to take out hamas in gaza. does president biden share that view? >> president biden has since the very beginning of this conversation been talking to the prime minister and we have been talking to israelis at various levels at the cabinet level and below about the -- what separates us from hamas as two democracies and that's respect for human life.

that's abiding by the law of war. that's by doing everything you can to try to prevent civilian casualties and collateral decision. that's an active discussion we have with them. >> urging them to be more respectful of human life? what is the message they're conveying? >> i think i just conveyed it. >> the other thing that said, it has the potential to erode global support for israel. i wonder if president biden agrees with that as well? >> he's been talking to prime minister netanyahu and speaking to the israelis again. since the very early hours of this, two weeks ago, that respect for human life, respect for civilian population in gaza, making sure that they can continue to get access to food, water, medicine and electrical power, remains critical. it is important, and that's why he works so hard on this last trip last week to do exactly that, by getting the israelis and egyptians to agree for humanitarian assistance to get

in. >> making sure we're using the right numbers, 33 americans dead, how many unaccounted exactly? >> 10. >> 10 total. okay. let me ask you, the president when departed was asked by a reporter if enough is being done, to let aid out, he said it is not going fast enough. who is the obstacle right now? what is the primary obstacle, the ability for that aid to arrive at the pace the president would be satisfied by? >> it would be tempting to just pin the tail on the donkey here. but there is a lot of factors at play here. and if it was easy, there would be hundreds of trucks flowing in every day. it is a combat zone, a war zone. and that greatly complicates the ability to move safely and to the right recipients, the customers, that kind of humanitarian aid. there is lots of players involved there. hamas is a player. israel is a player. egypt is a player. the u.n. is a player. and ambassador satterfield is

working this as hard as he can. unfortunately, today, we haven't seen any trucks go in. we'll see what the hours to come bring. >> one quick follow-up, we know the israeli war cabinet has been meeting with the prime minister, the president and others have spoken to members of that cabinet often. is the president confident that the israeli war cabinet led by the prime minister netanyahu will do the right thing as he views it in carrying out this war? >> he's confident that we are going to keep doing what we need to do to get israel the capabilities that it needs. the war cabinet can speak for themselves. but prime minister netanyahu can speak for his government. >> i'm not hearing you saying he has confidence in netanyahu and that war cabinet to lead this war effort to the u.s.' liking. >> it is not our place to decide the competency of the unity government that prime minister netanyahu put in place. that's for him to speak to and his cabinet officials. the president left tel aviv confident he had the opportunity

to be candid and forth right with prime minister netanyahu privately and with the war cabinet writ large, and that he had the opportunity to ask them the hard questions that he wants them to be asking themselves before they start some sort of major ground offensive. >> thank you. >> thank you. i wanted to get a sense, there has been a spate of attacks on u.s. forces in the region and can you characterize the threat that the u.s. faces in the region right now as israel poises itself to invade gaza? >> we remain deeply concerned by the potential of future attacks on our troops. we have seen -- i'm guest mating, about a dozen over the last several days and as a result, one u.s. contractor died as a result of a heart attack from sheltering. it is a dangerous environment and we're taking it very, very seriously.

our commanders on the ground have the right to defend themselves and their troops and can take the appropriate and are taking the appropriate force protection measures, and as you know, the president has added additional military force to the region and one of those strike groups will go on through to the gulf region to make sure that we send a strong signal, not only deterrence, but our willingness to protect and defend ourselves and our national interests. >> sir, as you have the australian prime minister coming tomorrow and then in the midst of all of the activity around the middle east, can you give us a sense from the president's perspective how is he balancing these two foreign policy objectives and longer term foreign policy objectives that the prime minister's visit embodies? >> well, he's balancing it well. he's doing -- if you want to give him a report card, a-plus.

he's commander in chief. that never stops. and the duties and responsibilities are literally global. we are one nation that has truly global responsibilities and he's managing it all. it would be really helpful if he could get the support of congress on capitol hill, for this supplemental funding. it would be immensely simpler and easier for the president to manage all the multiple crisis if we can get that funding for ukraine and down at the border. >> you're seeing things are being delayed. >> what is being delayed? >> presumably the president is going to have a number of calls he has to make tomorrow that he would wouldn't have otherwise had to make if it had not been the choices of the middle east and are you going to keep the

prime minister of australia waiting, while netanyahu is on the phone, how is that going to work? >> i don't anticipate keeping the prime minister waiting on anything tomorrow. they got a pretty full agenda and as i said at the top, the president is looking forward to that. being president of the united states means balancing a lot of priorities and challenges, whether they're domestic or foreign. and oftentimes the line between those gets blurred pretty quickly. as karine was talking about, the president is managing it really well because he has long experience in government, the wisdom he brings to the job, the relationships that he has, look, prime minister netanyahu, they have known each other for decades. since the prime minister was working in the embassy here in d.c., as the deputy chief of mission. all that comes into the way he executes the job and he's on top of it all. >> thank you. can you tell us specifically what the u.s. government is

doing right mao to get palestinian-americans out of gaza? there is some logistical issues, but we talked to people who are stuck at rafah and want to leave and so what is the government doing right now? >> again, this is something that ambassador satterfield is working really hard on. obviously a prime focus is several hundred americans that we know are there and i don't know exactly how many are down at rafah, we know there are many american citizens down at rafah that want to get out and he's working that very hard. we also believe and he's also talking to partners, particularly egypt, about the possibility of others getting out through rafah. innocent civilians, many different nationalities, palestinians that want to leave and should be allowed to leave an active war zone for their safety and the safety of their families. i wish i could tell you we have the recipe cooked here and they're all going to get out at a certain time and place. i just don't have that right now. but i can assure you and all of them that we're working on this very hard in real time.

>> so gaza health ministry run by hamas said about 700 people were killed in an israeli air strike today. is that a figure the u.s. government can verify? >> no. and right by you saying the ministry of health is run by hamas and that needs to be factored into thinking they put out publicly. >> and belated to that question, setting aside whether or not that figure is correct or not, i'm wondering if the administration is having concerns that the israeli response has been disproportionate in response to the horrific attack that we have seen? >> we're going to avoid trying to react to every single event on the battlefield. we all saw last inaccurate. so for our part we're not going to jump to conclusions every time there is a report of something, we're not going to react in realtime certainly to a conflict to which we are not a part in terms of being a presence on the ground. all i can do is say what i've

said before, that we have and will continue to talk to our israeli counterparts about the importance of avoiding and minimizing civilian casualties and respecting innocent life and trying to prevent collateral damage as they go after legitimate hamas targets. i said this the other day, and i think your question prompts me to say it again because i think it's an important notion. this is war. it is combat. it is bloody. it is ugly and it's going to be messy. innocent civilians are going to be hurt going forward. i wish i could tell you something different. i wish that that wasn't going to happen, but it is -- it is going to happen. that doesn't make it right, it doesn't make it dismissible, it doesn't mean that we aren't going to still express concerns about that and do everything we can to help the israelis do everything they can to minimize it, but that's unfortunately the

nature of conflict. >> thank you, admiral. so going off your earlier exchange with peter, to be clear, the u.s. cannot say if they are confident that israel has a clear and achievable military plan? >> that is a question for the israeli defense forces. >> you've said you've asked them tough questions, but has the u.s. said or discussed any possible red lines? >> no. >> and following on that, secretary of state antony blinken had just said humanitarian pauses must be considered to protect civilians in gaza. can you expand on that? >> can i expand on -- i'm sorry. >> secretary of state antony blinken said humanitarian pauses must be considered to proo text civilians in gaza. >> as i said from the beginning we want to see all measure of protection for civilians and pauses in operation is a tool and tactic can do that for temporary periods of time. that is not the same as saying a ceasefire. again, right now we believe a ceasefire benefits hamas, a general ceasefire. >> and just to follow up on that, so could you clarify just

a little bit how you would define the difference between humanitarian pauses -- >> it's a question of duration and scope and size and that kind of thing. >> got it. okay. and then you said yesterday when asked about kind of what the future of gaza might look like that that's something that the israelis are going to need to figure out subsequently. >> and i think that they are. they're exploring those questions about what governance in gaza looks like long term. i just don't think understandably their focus is much more on the here and now and the operationes. >> does the u.s. have a view about the legality of a reoccupation of gaza by israel and whether that's a temporary or more permanent thing. >> i don't believe we've taken a position on that. >> thank you. do you believe that the current level of bombardment allows for the extraction or transfer of hostages? >> difficult to answer the question given that we're not completely sure about the location of each and every

hostage, and we're working to get more granularity on that and we have seen now just yesterday another two got out, obviously that's just a tiny fraction of the pool that we think hamas is holding, but we think the effort to continue to negotiate for the release of additional hostages is worth the effort. obviously we've got four now families who are going to get reunited, that's a good thing, and we think that work needs to continue. >> if a pause rather than a ceasefire is necessary how long do you think it's reasonable to expect some of that information to be obtained? >> i couldn't begin to answer that question right now. >> israeli officials have told cnn that they do not support any transfer of fuel into gaza which hamas has said is required for any sort of deal to release hostages. does the u.s. support that position? >> separate and distinct from the hostage situation and what we're doing to try to get them out. i want to be careful that i'm

not talking about the specifics of the conversations that are going into getting these people out, lest i say something that makes it harder to do that in the future. put that aside for a second. we have said, continue to say, that fuel is an important commodity for life and sustainment in gaza, for the palestinian people that are still there, and we know that fuel is a precious commodity that's running out. you need it for generators in hospitals, you need it to run the desal nation pumps so that you can drink fresh water and not sea water. all of that is important. so we're going to continue to work with partners in the region, we're going to continue to push for fuel to get in. now, look, that said, i said this again yesterday, we certainly understand israeli concerns about the possibility for hamas to abscond with fuel and use it for their own purposes and not allow it to be used in hospitals and desalination plants. we understand that, that is a legitimate concern, no question about it, which is why, again,

ambassador satterfield is on the ground working this so hard. this is a balance that has to be achieved. obviously we haven't achieved it yet, but we still believe just in general that fuel needs to be able to get into the people of gaza. >> thanks. of the ten that are presumed, you know, missing or hostages, can you tell us whether or not all ten are presumed to be hostages or are some still missing? what's the percentage? >> we don't know. they are not accounted for. some could be hostages, some could unfortunately be dead, we just -- we don't know. that's why they're still in the unaccounted category. >> and then just to pivot back because minds get blurred on everything, the australian prime minister has a meeting with president xi of china scheduled for next month, so i'm just wondering how much is countering china expected to come up tomorrow and also just what is the position on having such an important ally that needs to do business as we also do with china? >> i think we fully support and

understand that the prime minister wants to meet with president xi and travel to beijing. we have traveled to beijing, three cabinet secretaries and special envoy terry, of course, dick sullivan will have will be -- and the secretary of state is going to be having meetings later this week with the foreign minister. so conversations with the chinese and keeping the lines of communication open is really important. the president has said that many, many times. and of course australia -- their relationship with china is incredibly important to them as well to manage that. now, to your first question, there is no question in my mind that the challenges and the opportunities in relations with the prc will be on the agenda tomorrow. no question about that. >> thank you. >> john, does the administration agree with the u.n. secretary general's statement today that the hamas attacks, quote, did not happen in a vacuum?

>> i don't know what he meant by that, so i'm not -- >> i can read you the full -- >> i'm not sure -- i didn't see the comments and i'm not sure what the context is. >> he said that it's important to recognize the attacks by hamas did not happen in a vacuum. the palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation, they've seen their lands steadily devoured by settlements, plagued by violence, it goes on. that statement infuriated a lot of israelis. i want to know if the administration disagrees with what he said. >> the president has spoken very clearly and i think very forcefully on who is to blame here for october 7th, it's hamas. it's not the israelis, it's not the innocent israeli people that were slaughtered going to a music festival. it's hamas. they planned this thing for many months, even maybe a year. hamas is to blame. hamas is to blame. >> is the assessment still the same that iran did not directly

play a role in this attack because we had senator blumenthal saying over the weekend -- >> i never said that iran did not play a role. what we've said and there's been no change, what we've said, jackie, is iran is certainly complicit here. without them there is no hamas. without them there is no hezbollah. without them there is no militia groups firing rockets at our troops in iraq and syria. as i said yesterday up here, we recognize iran is monitoring all of these events and in some cases they are encouraging some of these attacks. no question about it. now -- >> [ inaudible ]. >> are you talking about october 7th? we still haven't seen any direct specific intelligence that says they were participating or directing the attacks of october 7th, but as i said, broadly complicit, no question about that. and i'm sure that our israeli counterparts will in due time take a harder look at the

intelligence picture and what might have been missed, what gaps there were, but i will let them speak to that. >> can you just speak to the shift in language, we heard yesterday out of the pentagon, you know, last week no one would confirm on the record that these attacks were coming from iranian proxy groups, but then brigadier general pat riding said the u.s. holds iran responsible. >> we see that they are backing these groups, no question about that. we have sent a strong signal of deterrents. there's no indication right now that any other nation, state or actor is -- is preparing or imminently to escalate this conflict, but we're watching this very, very closely. and, again, i want to be clear here, nobody is turning a blind eye to iran's complicity. their support for these militia groups in iraq and syria, their support for terrorists