back-to-back releases. hamas and the arab negotiators who are trying to act as intermediaries, particularly qatar, are saying that what israel needs to do is pause. it needs to pause these strikes in order to allow the hostages to come out, and israel and the united states say they haven't agreed to that at least publicly, they say that hamas must unilaterally release the hostages and then they can discuss other issues. there are -- those channels are continuing, and there are some moments of optimism with you hear reports that israel might be willing to free some women and children, palestinian prisoners, but so far we haven't had any developments since those four initially were freed in two batches, all women. >> richard engel, thank you so much right near the gaza border and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports". remember, follow us on social media @mitchellreports. "chris jansing reports" starts

right now. good afternoon, i'm chris jansing live from msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it has been 42 hours since 911 in maine got a call that shots were fired inside a local bowling alley, but if police are making any real progress today to find the killer of 18 people, they're not saying. what they did reveal at a press conference is the plan for divers to get in the river around the boat launch where they think the suspect, robbed card ditched his car. >> then there's going to be some screening and some divers that are actually in the water that may start on this side by the boat launch. they could be dragging a diver behind them literally while that diver is checking for evidence, checking for potential bodies. >> we'll have more on the search and what those divers might be able to find later this hour as the race to find the suspect enters a second full day.

and with cart on the loose a lockdown continues so the communityt gather to mourn the victims. the youngest we know right now 14-year-old aaron young, just out bowling with his dad who was also murdered. nbc spoke to his cousin. >> they're just innocent people, just innocent people out for a night of bowling. this was a children's event, you know. who expects a shooter to go into a children's event, but you know, this is a crazy world that we live in today. >> the tragedy turning one named congressman with an a plus rating from a maine gun rights group to have a sudden change of heart apologizing for opposing an assault weapons ban. we'll be talking to his colleague, congresswoman shelly pin agree who represents a district that neighbors lewiston in just a moment. but let's begin on the ground in lewiston where investigators say they'll continue to be tight-lipped in order to protect their search and protect the officers leading

it. the community clearly is on edge as the search for robert card enters a second day. one reporter asked if investigators are concerned that their trail could be running cold. >> every minute that this goes on we're more and more concerned. you know, because what's the next thing that's going to happen, and we understand that, and that's why we're working 24/7. there's no question in my mind we will b this individual into custody one way or another. >> with answers slow to come, the pain in the tight-knit community is palpable. trisha says her mom was shot trying to call 911. >> i'm coming to maine the minute we find out when her body will be released from the morgue. i want to hold my baby one more time. i don't care. i want to put her in my arms. >> police are scouring every inch of just in time recreation bowling alley where trisha and six others were killed.

eight more people died at schemengees bar and grill, that we now know was hosting a corn holernament for the deaf community. the rtnd press herald report this is heartbreaking note, quote, pastor aaron davis of cava chapel lewiston of auburn said his stepbrother who is deaf was playing corn hole with some of his friends, he never heard the shot that killed two of the men at his side and put another in the hospital. i want to bring in antonia hylton on the ground in lewiston, msnbc legal analyst, joyce vance, nbc news investigative correspondent, tom winter is here, and former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi and an msnbc national security analyst frank figliuzzi. what do we know at this hour? >> i think they're looking at a couple of different things, first off trying to determine if there's any sort of body that they can find that's next to that car that you referenced.

that's the last known location he was at. i think they're also going to look at any sort of cell phone history to try to determine where he was traveling after the attack. one of the concerns here is that from a cell site tower issue in new york city, for instance, you could be extremely precise because there's so many cell phone towers to try to determine where somebody's located is much easier. the more rural you get in an area, that can be a little bit more of a challenge. they continue to search along the river to make sure it's a national geographic barrier. you try to make sure the individuals not along the river. we know from our press conference, they're going to be out today searching for additional residences. what are the residences he knows, what are the residences he's been at, so family residences. they came back and searched them again. they're going to continue those searches today, and there's a whole host of things they can do technically to do that. column b is the investigation. they're going to look at the thing we first reported yesterday, which is the existence of this note. what does that note say? what can it actually tell them?

we've had a number of folks that we've spoken to that say the note isn't quite clear as far as what any of the next steps might have been for card. that's something we're going to continue to report on. that's something they're going to continue to look into it, and then is there any other additional information that they can glean put against this incredibly rural backdrop, somebody that knows the area well, presumably, and so i think they have their work cut out for them, and i think they've admitted as much in the course of their press conferences and discussions with us. >> nobody's saying we're going to lift this lockdown order, nobody is saying we've got some great leads here. they're talking about the number of people who have called in, but the last i heard from officials was that none of them have turned out to actually lead them anywhere. what did you hear in that press conference? >> what i heard was almost importantly what was not said, which is as you've referenced, there was nothing substantive about we've got a focus now, we

really don't, and that tells me that certain usual investigative techniques aren't quite panning out right now. thermal imaging from the air, for example, must be negative. k-9s tracking scents must right now be negative and other things. the other takeaway i heard in the press conference was the commissioner referenced the danger of simply conducting the searches. he did it in the context of the dive team, and he referenced an apprehensions team, and tactical teams that are standing by to protect, as i took it, the searchers. so that's a unique factor here. what's taking so long with the search? well, it's not just getting in the water and diving. it's getting in the water and realizing he could be out there aiming a sniper rifle at the search team. you've got to plan tactically, and you've got to think about apprehension so that the average patrol officer isn't going to encounter him accidentally turning the corner. >> i think exactly to that point, we have some sound from someone who served with him in

the reserves, and i want to play that for you. >> and with what we did meeting him, and the way that he showed us how to use a weapon. the man's smart. he's really smart. he knows warfare, he understands it. i think they need soldiers to be honest with you, to be here. i really do. >> well, i mean, that's an interesting position here burks but the truth of the matter is this is a guy who knows weapons and had a plan. >> he clearly is adept with his weapon and knows how to use it. i already hear, you know, in the back of my head the military spokesperson who reminded us, hey, this guy was in petroleum supply. he's a gas guy, and he was in the reserves. >> they also said he did not train for the army. >> this firearm instructor label is something he did on his own. it was not associated with the military. >> yeah. >> and the idea also of bringing the army, look, we've reported for days the fbi, boston field office has its s.w.a.t. team

there, the maine state police has their own version of the same. there are a number of teams that are there up there. these folks train all day long. i don't know why i'm talking about it, frank can talk about it probably even better. he was in the fbi. but when you look at this and the type of people they have up there, these are people that know how to look for this, and then the other thing is folks around here have asked me, well, what if he was to make it to the canadian border. folks might remember the prison escape where the u.s. customs and border patrol tactical team there were the ones that found the second prisoner that escaped and shot and killed that person. it's not as if there aren't qualified people in law enforcement that could be deployed along that border as well. so this is a situation where you've got 350 approximately people on the ground on top of it, and you also have people that are highly trained and to frank's point, probably much more trained on this issue when it comes to, you know, tactical expertise. >> so antonia, we are getting more information coming in about the 18 lives that were lost on

wednesday. what more can you tell us? >> well, nbc has confirmed almost all of these people who have passed away and i actually just spent time just a little while ago with a person who was friends with many of them. he was part of a crew that would meet up at the bowling alley, and the only reason he wasn't there that night was because he had to take care of his own two kids who were under the age of 4. if he had had child care, he says he would have been there with all of his friends, and right now he's experiencing some survivors guilt and you know, i share that with you because this isn't actually a unique story. that's what we've heard from residents the last two days that people here are extremely, you know, tight-knit and they know each other. they grew up here. their kids are going to the same schools and areas and hangouts that they went to when they were kids. people's cousins work here and there. there's that level of closeness added to the heartbreak and compounds what you mentioned which is that because of the shelter in place order, which

officials made clear this morning is very much still going to be in place so long as they feel that there's an active threat, you know, people can't come together in the ways that they traditionally would. take a listen to my conversation with this resident. he's a business owner, a friend of many of the victims, and his name is walter dunphy. >> i haven't slept in three days, and i have a 3 and a 4-year-old, so that doesn't help when they wake up at 5:45. >> do they know what's going on? >> absolutely not. >> you're shielding them from this? >> yes. they are -- no, they're not going to -- no. i cannot figure out how i would tell them about this. >> reporter: and he has been waiting around here in front of the central medical center waiting to find out some information because one of his friends is in critical care, and he's waiting to find out if he can actually go inside and visit that friend, if they're going to be able to get out today, and so, you know, while there's this shelter in place, we've seen some residents actually come and

drive around, talk to media, check in with some of us to see if we have more information to share with them. there's this eagerness and i think some of what frank and tom just touched on there, the fact that, you know, we learned just as much from what they didn't say as what they did actually share with us today has added to this anxiety, this fear that perhaps this is going to be like what we just saw transpire in pennsylvania where there was the manhunt for two weeks. the idea of being out of school for two weeks with small kids, of not being able to go to work to get your income for two weeks, that's very frightening to a lot of people, and they're very eager to get their lives back in order, of course, but also to be able to start attending the funerals, start having the vigils, really have that communal support. the major outlet they have is that officials have made clear there is a digital tip line. people are trying to share, contribute to that about 530 tips. but you know, right now it seems like they haven't found any clear leads that have really narrowed this search down, and so that's just -- their grief is in limbo, chris.

that's the best wayky describe it. >> the isolation can be horrible. it really does seem to make a difference to the community when they can come together, grieve together, speak together. let's talk about what else is happening in an affirmative way, joyce. they did say yesterday at a press conference that every time they get some sort of key piece of information they are handing it over to prosecutors. so talk about the case that they're building against robert card right now, even though they don't know where he is? >> well, that's absolutely right, chris. there's very likely in place already a task force consisting of state, local, and federal law enforcement, both officers and prosecutors. they're working together, and while their primary job is to apprehend the suspect and make the community safe to ensure that there is no, for instance, he doesn't have an ammunition locker at some place that they would need to go ahead and take into their possession, but on

that same track, they have to prepare for a prosecution event in that they recover someone who can stand prosecution, and that means that they're very careful. we saw that yesterday when they executed search warrants on a home, it received a lot of media attention. they have to go to a judge first and demonstrate probable cause and get that search warrant to move on with those sort of measures, all in this incredibly difficult to cover maine terrain. i know frank remembers the hunt for eric rudolph who bombed an abortion clinic in birmingham and killed a police officer, bombed three locations including olympic park in atlanta, and then managed to escape and made it up into the north carolina woods where there were dense thickets, other terrain that made it very difficult to find him. this is a similar problem. >> joyce vance, antonia hylton, tom winter and frank figliuzzi, thank all of you very much. new explosions in gaza just moments ago. we're going to go live to israel in just 60 seconds. in just 60 seconds

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we have breaking news in the israel-hamas war. new explosions in gaza just moments ago. nbc's richard engel is reporting from the israel gaza border. what are you seeing, and what does it mean, richard? >> reporter: well, we're seeing an uptick in attacks and we've been seeing and hearing this over the last couple of hours. it comes and goes in waves. there will be a few moments with intense tank and artillery fire into the northern gaza strip. there are also israeli jets overhead. we can hear them tearing through the sky, and most of this seems to be focused on the areas in the very north of the gaza strip, and you can see some of those areas behind the buildings in the background, and despite all of this, hamas has still managed to find some salvos of

rockets from this very same area that's under attack toward northern -- toward israel. so the question is, is this the start of something more? is this a softening campaign? there's no indication this is the launch of any major ground offensive, that this is something different. it's what we're hearing is a more intense bombardment that we have in the last several days. i think if you listen, you can hear one of the israeli jets right now heading over toward gaza. we've also heard quite consistent israeli artillery and tank fire. in these positions along the gaza border hidden and they're hiding themselves on purpose and they've also been emitting some smoke screens to disguise their positions even better. they have been firing into gaza with what sounds like at times rolling thunder, just one strike after another after another. the people in gaza are describing this as some of the most intense bombardments they've seen from the beginning. we're having difficulty reaching

our teams inside gaza, so it seems that the internet and communications are also being disrupted during these bombardments, and this comes just after israel launched over the last 24 hours two relatively brief incursions with tanks and troops into the gaza strip following another incursion yesterday, so the momentum does seem to be picking up with artillery, tank fire, aircraft, drones and limited incursions all going into gaza over the last 24 hours and intensifying in these last several hours. >> and of course you have to measure that, richard, and you and i have talked about this, against what is happening in a diplomatic realm and the concern by the united states, by many other countries about the hostages, about this becoming an even broader war. so if you look at this, and if it's not an immediate precursor to a more fulsome ground invasion, is this an escalating warning? how do you read this?

>> very hard to know if this is a precursor. the israelis keep saying they will do a larger ground offensive when they choose, when the time is right, but it hasn't happened yet, so i think this is more of the same, but we're seeing new tactics added to the israeli assault, and one of the things that is also a big factor aside from the diplomacy, aside from the -- is the precursor for a larger push, could that trigger a regional war, what about the hostages is also the fate of the 2.3 million people inside gaza who are living under these strikes. people who cannot leave. the israeli military has said repeatedly that the people in northern georgia should head south, but there are air strikes being carried out in the south as well, and the united nations has said quite clearly numerous times today and yesterday, there is really no safe place in gaza. is this the precursor to a

larger invasion? we don't know. we're seeing more attacks, more attacks that israel says are targeting hamas, targeting its tunnels, and it is -- it is a nightmare for the people who are inside gaza. >> and you also mentioed that you've not been able to get to people in gaza right now. i want you know that we have just gotten information that the palestinian telecom provider says internet service in the gaza strip, richard, has been cut off by the israeli bombardment following a heavy round of those israeli air strikes. the palestinian red crescent, which is the major emergency service in gaza, said it has been cut off from its operations room in the strip because of the internet blackout. talk about the implications of that. >> reporter: the implications are profound, if you're under attack and gaza is under attack, and you can't communicate, you can't communicate with friends,

you can't communicate with loved ones. you can't tell people where you are. that just increases the level of panic. it also has a major impact or has a potential major impact on how the rest of the world sees what's happening in gaza. there are still some very brave journalists working inside gaza, working to -- working at incredibly difficult circumstances under attack to film what is happening there, and then in addition to working under fire, they are -- they have been trying to get us and other journalists or other news organizations the images and get them out on the limited band width that is available. if that is blacked out, it will be very difficult to know what is happening inside gaza. hamas has such a credibility problem. when hamas puts out its videos, the world justifiably has to try and verify them, double check them. there's always suspicion that can't be taken at face value, but when internationally

recognized teams are in the gaza strip taking footage and sending it to people who they trust, receiving by people who are trusted, it changes the -- how do i call it information ward, it changes the world's perception of what is happening, and if there is an information blackout in gaza, i think it would be even more complicated and even more trying, and even more difficult for the people who are living there and who already feel that the world is ignoring them while they're under attack. >> richard engel, thank you so much. i want to bring in a general barry mccaffrey who is an msnbc military analyst, so just to sort of reset if i can, general, what we just heard from richard engel, this breaking news, there has been an uptick in these attacks particularly in the northern part of gaza. hamas has fired salvos in response. notably, and i've just gotten a second bulletin on this, there's

great concern, urgent concern because of the lack of internet they have hit the major internet provider there, particularly concern by the palestine red crescent society. what do you make of what we're watching right now? >> excellent report by richard engel. it's impossible to know. the israelis may well be putting hamas leadership under intense pressure with a view to accelerating some form of dialogue over the couple hundred hostages. they're clearly trying to unsettle them, keep them on their toes, confuse them, blank out their own internal communications. they're now going after not just major command and control political and military in gaza, they're going after firing unit commanders. so the intensification of the idf attack on hamas has gone up manifold, they're also coming in from the sea with their idf

naval warfare group. they're running raids into gaza with tank armor units. it may not be yes within a week of a ground invasion. this may be just the hard power to accelerate hostage negotiations to get him out! but as you say. if as you say the idea is to unsettle the leadership of hamas, to provide potentially an opening, to get those hostages released including many americans, is it possible to unsettle hamas? >> oh, yeah, no yes. this is a bad situation. hamas is a suicidal organization, maybe 30,000 fighters, but they also have families there. the 2 million people live in the gaza strip, and by the way, moving out of the northern gaza and into southern gaza does increase the safety of the

palestinian people. there's no question. because if there's a major ground fight, tunnels, high-rise apartments, surface streets in northern gaza, which is likely to happen, that's where you'd see a real catastrophic loss of civilians. so i think hamas is in trouble. they're desperate, that's why they're going to start dribbling out hostages. they desperately need a cease fire. they need to extend this and release four or five hostages a week. the israelis would be unwise to get involved in that, starting it up again is a huge political burden. so i think what we're on the verge of seeing a ground intervention, particularly if hamas does wholesale release hostages. >> the united states and president biden specifically has been very clear to say, general, that he is not telling israel

what to do. having said that, there has been great international pressure for this not to escalate into a broader war, to prioritize in many ways the release of these hostages. do you suspect israel is listening? >> oh, yeah, no question. by the way, there's two things going on. not only is president biden and his team trying to prevent a regional war, a horizontal escalation of this conflict, and in particular trying to tell the iranians do not support a hezbollah attack from the north on israel with 100,000 fighters. but i also think it's very likely that the u.s. wants time to bring in country a little over a thousand troops involved in patriot missile batteries, bad air defense system batteries so we're trying to make sure we're in a position to protect

u.s. forces now deployed principally in iraq, 2,500 troops, syria around 900, but also forces in other locations. so i think the u.s. asked them for time also. >> we also got a statement from a spokesperson for the idf, and i just want to read it because it was literally just handed to me, general. they say they are what we have seen and what richard has reported increasing the bombing in gaza this evening. they say we will continue, and i call gaza residents in the north to move south. we're increasing the ground operation. then talking about the iron dome, it's not hermetic. i call on citizens to adhere to instructions. again, this is the idf spokesperson, and finally, we will bring more info on how hamas uses its own citizens as human shields. this is the polar opposite of a surprise attack, what they are saying clearly is we are increasing our ground operations.

we are increasing our attacks, and you need to listen to what we're telling you to do. >> yeah, no question. i think they can and will. the idf will make every attempt to minimize casualties in gaza, and by the way, they're also concerned about israeli casualties, a very interesting analysis going on now about overwhelming iron dome, which is possible that is not a foolproof system. i don't know where their missile supply status is right now, but 15,000 some odd hamas missiles, this is going to be a real touch and go situation for the israelis. so the tragedy of war is not just the loss of military combatants, but the other miseries it brings the civilian population, both in gaza and in israel. >> we're at a point where according to hamas officials, only 80 trucks relief trucks have gotten over the border into

gaza. i think the official number from the u.n. was somewhere around 80, so they're in the same ballpark. that is only a small fraction, as you well know, general, of what officials say, what relief organizations say is needed to avoid a catastrophic situation in gaza. how close are we to that, and when you see an uptick in these kinds of attacks, does it make it less and less likely that the aid that's needed is going to get there? >> well, there's probably some opportunity to relieve some level of suffering in southern gaza. could certainly get food and medical supplies. i think the water situation is probably over stated in importance as is the fuel, but clearly you got to get more humanitarian aid in there. having a task to distribute it

further north in the midst of what potential will be intense ground combat seems highly improbable. by the way, this argues in a sense for the idf to go in sooner rather than later and hope that they can overwhelm the street level fighting and then just deal with the tunnels over the space of weeks and relieve the suffering of the population, but this is a huge tragedy shaping up in the middle east, entirely generated by hamas with its brutal murder of 1,400 some odd israeli civilians on 7 october. >> so general, let me ask you about the potential of a ground invasion, and again, as richard has said, this is not necessarily an indication that anything is imminent. having said that, what are the considerations that are going on within the idf on how and when to do this, to prosecute this? >> well, for starters, no one in

the idf is enthusiastic about conducting ground combat operations in gaza city. it's going to -- you know, if i was in charge of the idf, i'd be saying we're going to have significant losses. it could be 10,000 killed and wounded in the coming ten days of the ground operation, and they're going to -- i think the idf will do extremely well grabbing the surface area fairly quickly, maybe miraculously in 72 hours, and then it will be weeks of trying to sort out how do we find the hostages who are still alive, and how do we rescue them while sitting on a gaza population giving them humanitarian relief? so this is going to be a very tough operation, but my guess is the idf and the political leadership that's included, there's no other option. they're not going to get 220 or more hostages back in the space of months.

if they go in and grab it on the ground, my guess is using rewards and intelligence and special operations they'll get more hostages back. so that's also driving them, but i think the nation of israel has said we're not going back to 6 october. so they need to knock hamas out of the ball game, hopefully have some international presence governing gaza. they're trying to stop this madness that occurs at least once a decade. >> i also want to bring in nbc's dan de luce who covers national security. while all this is playing out, i understand that today there was another attack on u.s. troops, and it's not connected to israel-hamas, that is what we keep -- what keeps being reported, but it does indeed show how tense things are in the region. how significant do you see this as being?

>> chris, this just illustrates what a delicate and dangerous moment this is in the middle east, and this drone came at u.s. forces in el assad air force base a few kilometers away. another one-way drone suspected to be launched by these iranian-backed militias that operate in iraq and syria, and it was shot down without incident. this was the 20th attack in about ten days either drones or rockets coming at u.s. forces that are based in syria and iraq. so the biden administration is trying to balance all of this. on the one hand trying to send a clear message that it won't tolerate any threats to u.s. forces. but also not wanting to trigger some kind of regional war and direct clash with iran. there were air strikes, as we know, last night, u.s. f-16s hit some targets in syria connected

to these militias to try to push back against all of these incidents, but i think this illustrates, again, just how precarious this moment is and everything the u.s. administration is trying to balance. >> dan de luce, thank you for that. i want to bring in msnbc military analyst retired colonel jack jacobs who joins me by phone. dan, of course, is absolutely right. the united states did respond late yesterday. they hit some targets in syria, two locations known to be populated by the iranian national guard as well as some affiliated oups. one of the things that was made clear by the sources who talked to our correspondents was that what the united states doesn't want to do is get into a tit for tat, but talk about what we just heard from dan de luce, which is the precariousness not just of the situation in the region overall, but just this limited situation? >> yeah, it's going to be

extremely difficult to try to parse the two things, the conflict that's taken place in and around gaza and the continued harassment of american forces by iran and iranian proxies. the iranians will continue to push the envelope. iran's objective is to demonstrate that it is the strongest power in the region, that it is the leader among muslims, and that it is an economic power and to the extent that they can demonstrate that they can give the united states a difficult time, they're advancing their longer term objectives. i don't think that they have a short-term objective of doing anything in particular except to demonstrate that they are on top of the heap, and they will continue to do exactly what they're doing now, and they have some confidence that it will not expand into a wider regional war

because their perception is that the united states is not going to do anything that will directly be disadvantageous to iran itself, that's why it uses proxies, and it will continue doing what it's been doing for a long time and will continue to engender counterstrikes by the united states, chris. >> having said that, it was very clear in a statement that came out from u.s. officials that they're not going to let any attack on americans and particularly on u.s. troops go unanswered, but for these strikes today, we know from the pentagon that 21 americans had been injured, a contractor had suffered a cardiac event. so how do you deescalate in a situation like this, jack? >> you don't. you have to rely on the other side to make sure it doesn't spiral out of control. the perception is that because iran has longer term regional objectives and does not want to get involved in the -- in a war

in the middle east at any time, that it will not spiral out of control. it's interesting to note that president xi met with the iranians recently, i think as recently as yesterday, the day before yesterday, and one of the messages was don't do anything stupid. the reason as far as china's concerned is that iran is a major source of energy for china and does not want any -- there to be any -- an increase in volatility that will disrupt that flow of energy to china. so there are lots of things weighing on iran. iran itself does not want to be engaged in a war with the west, and further more, doesn't even want hezbollah to be attacked directly by the united states. so though it's always possible that cooler heads will not prevail, it's less likely that it will spiral out of control

with american -- with american combat against iran taking place. but it's bad enough already as it is, and it's always possible that other actors, not iran will make life extremely difficult and things will become more difficult over time, chris. >> let me go back to originally what we were talking about with this breaking news and get your take on it again, jack, the uptick in the attacks for hours, richard engel reports that they have been coming in waves, israeli jets, we could even hear them overhead as well, particularly in the northern part of the strip. hamas has fired salvos in response. what do you think is going on here? >> there are two things to keep in mind about strikes of the type we've been seeing. the first is that precision-guided munitions to attack communications nodes, command and control of hamas, locations where we have a high degree of confidence that hamas

is located, that disrupt their capability, mount a defense, a coordinated defense. that's one use for these attacks. the other one is when you're preparing to mount a ground assault, you have a rolling series of attacks on targets directly to the front of your advancing troops. now, though the intensity of the attacks has increased, it's not entirely clear that these attacks in gaza are against a wide front that would be just in front of advancing idf troops, so it's not clear exactly when a ground assault might occur. but it doesn't seem necessarily that it's going to curb very, very soon. part of the problem here is that very few people are convinced that the idf has an idea

about -- or agrees with the national command authority about what the objectives are inside gaza. what happens if they are successful, and now they've got it. they've been there before and they didn't like it very much. in the end, there might have to be a negotiated settlement that includes all of the or most of the arabic nations in the region to administer what's left of gaza. but for israel to just go in there, even just destroy hamas and leave, the problem is not solved, and so there's no doubt about the fact that the united states and other allies are currently spending a lot of time negotiating what happens on day two, even if the idf manages to destroy hamas. that's the real question, chris. >> i also want to bring in nbc's josh lederman in tel aviv, and

josh, we have heard the reports obviously from richard engel about this uptick. we had gotten a very brief statement from an idf spokesman basically affirming that they have been increasing the bombing in gaza, but i understand that just moments ago you got some more specifics about their ground operations in gaza. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: that's right, chris, we've seen this uptick in air strikes now confirmed by the israeli military, but just in the last few minute, the israeli military spokesman has said that ground forces are also preparing to expand their ground operations into the gaza strip this evening, and so this would build on the ground raids that we've seen over the last 48 hours from the israeli military, going briefly into the gaza strip to carry out attacks on hamas infrastructure, on their terrorist tunnels as well as on their command centers and antitank positions. these are what military experts refer to as shaping operations.

they are trying to essentially soften the ground for when israel eventually goes in with this long promised ground incursion, but this is the first signal that we've got from israel's military that this is not limited to an uptick in air strikes. they are planning more operations on the ground. and i just spoke with an idf spokesman who also talked about the key challenge that is being posed by that tunnel system that gaza, that the hamas organization has built underneath the gaza strip. that appears to be part of what they are targeting as they go in tonight both by air and on the ground with this spokesman saying that this is both an advantage for hamas and that they can hide in those tunnels, but it also can be a weakness because it can become a death trap for hamas when israel's military goes in. the official saying that israel has a very solid idea right now about the network of tunnels that they're going to have to deal with as they go in on the ground. this is going to be a big waiting game throughout the evening as people who are in the

gaza strip are waiting for the possibility of additional ground raids by the israeli military into the gaza strip throughout the night, chris. >> all right, thank you so much. josh lederman, colonel jack jacobs, general barry mccaffrey, we appreciate it. those new explosions in gaza just moments ago. we'll continue our coverage right after this.

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as the maine manhunt continues, shelter in place orders have been expanded to

include not only the city of lewiston but all of androscoggin county. more than 100,000 people are now locked down with schools, colleges, businesses closed for a second straight day. early this morning, i spoke with a local news anchor who recounted what he has learned about the horrifying scene inside the bowling alley, incluing the story of one man who died a hero. >> he was shot and killed by the suspect and he died trying to save the lives of the children who were in there in that bowling alley. the children he brought into the bowling alley he organized this, and he was trying to save their lives. >> let's bring in maine congresswoman chellie pingree. it is heartbreaking to listen to those stories, and i know that you representing that area and from that area understand it and are living it. i know you've also been a

representative since 2008, and i wonder what your thoughts are today and what has stood out to you as you've watched this unfold over more than 48 hours now. >> well, thank you so much. it's certainly -- our state is grieving, and people are also feeling a tremendous amount of fear. when you have a killer on the loose, who we don't know if he's alive or dead, but he could easily be in the woods. he could have gone anywhere. there's just a lot of fear out there. to have this much lockdown, as you said, the communities where the shooting occurred are locked down, but i represent portland, and south portland. these schools are not in session today. you can't buy a cup of coffee on commercial street in portland or it's hard to find, and that's just very unusual. this is a lively city. there's usually a lot of activity. for the last couple of days, it's felt like a ghost town. l.l. bean's is closed and they basically don't close 24 hours a day. it gives you a sense of how horrific this is. now that the names are coming out, people are identifying with

the people who died. if you don't know somebody there, you live in a similar town where you could go bowling any night of the week or have friends who you meet up with at the restaurant whether it's to play corn hole or have a beer, we're all so close in maine. to see the victims, to hear the families' story, it's just tragic. it was deaf night at the corn hole tournament, so there was a very well-known deaf interpreter who always worked with dr. shaw during our covid briefings. you know, we just have so many reasons to identify, most importantly, people thought this would never happen in maine. we're the most safe state in the nation. we had 29 homicides last year. it's about to be the beginning of hunting season where everyone goes out hunting or owns a rifle. people are used to being a safe gun state. people just didn't think it would happen here. >> officials have said that this lockdown gives them a safe space

to operate, and i'm sure everyone wants that for the people who are working so hard to find this killer. on the other hand, i talked to another reporter whose grade school child cried themselves to sleep because they're afraid. they don't know why they're not able to go to school. businesses are not operating. people are not going to their jobs, and i think perhaps most pointedly in the many communities where i have been coming together is a key part of healing if a community ever can fully heal from a tragedy like this. funerals are going to be held, memorials that would normally be held in a situation like that cannot be. how much longer can a lockdown last, do you think? >> you know, it's a very good question, and i know the public safety people in our state and the mayor of lewiston, everyone who is working on this is trying to figure this out, and obviously we have, i think, over 300,000 law enforcement officers, you know, dragging the river, searching the woods all over our state and sometimes

looking in other states, so there is a serious man hunt going on. but you're right, at some point, people need to get together. it's such a common part of these horrific shootings is there will be a vigil that families can gather that funerals start to happen and as tragic as that is, people need to share their stories with each other, to hug each other. to come together for a meal. i'm hoping, of course, that we will find the killer soon. i'm reminded that someone was on the loose for two weeks after the jailbreak in pennsylvania. these things are not easy and finding someone in the woods is not easy at all. >> congresswoman, i hope you'll come back and update us on how your community is doing. thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you for your concern. the land and air search is expanding to water as well. take a look, you can see the maps that officers brought out for the morning press conference. this daunting search for a

single person in a very large, largely rural area. and the very real possibility robert card may notav escaped by land at all. today we learned how they are making the divers' search of the river a little bit easier. >> the river runs at 8,500 cubic feet per second and when they tighten the dam tools down, they actually lower that down to like 5,500 cubic feet. what it means to us is that current, if we can slow that current down, we can lower the amount of water in the river, it's certainly easier for us to work. it's easier for our diverse to see in clear water than muddier water. if it's a foot lower than it was before, it's easier for us to work. >> joining us now from lisbon, maine, is george solis.

also adam scott, police are searching by the river. what else do you know about this search and how law enforcement is approaching it? >> reporter: yeah, good afternoon, chris. you have had exactly right right now. authorities are in the water. they have teams on boats and diverse in the water, as you heard there from officials. they have slowed down the current here. they're still keeping the media a safe distance away. they don't want us showing the work they're doing. that's because robert card has not been found at this time. that's why those lock downs are still in place here. there is a heavy presence of media alongside police here. authorities giving updates as often as they can about what they're doing. we have also seen helicopters flying close to the water right now. that's because we understand they are using thermal imaging as well, to see if they find traces of the suspect. some of our crews have been able to see boats here on the water as they are searching this river which at this point, again, we know at this point doesn't lead to any major body of water, at least in this immediate area. these dams and how they reduce

the flow of water, so crucial, as these teams are in there. as you mentioned, right now, this community is paralyzed, life on pause here, essentially. a lot of people want to grieve. they want to come together through the vigils and they simply can't because the man hunt is ongoing. at this point, a lot of people are wondering if the suspect is still alive or dead or still within the state. obviously a lot of questions remain to be answered here, but as this search continues, these crews are sail they are not going to give up. this is a 24/7 operation. more than 500 tips have come in, and authorities say they are going to basically look at every single one of those. hoping they can get an answer to where robert card might be. chris? >> thank you so much for that, george. so, adam, i was able to confirm via tom winter, speak to go people on the ground, that there are divers in the water. having said that, let's ask you about some of the other technology that's being used. most of those 350 officers are being used on the ground. starting with infrared, how could it aid in this search. >> infrared is a technology that allows law enforcement to see

heat. we normally can't see heat, but infrared cameras are able to see heat and transform it into a visual length that we can see. we're going to be mounting it on helicopters, drones, police officers could have hand held units. these units would be able to see things that we can't see, such as warm river side beds or a warm body that might be covered by water. now, of course everything gets to room temperature after a while outside, but thermal vision is certainly something that they're going to be using in order to help locate him. >> on land and in water, they use that. >> yeah, so thermal vision, it's not going to be able to see through water well. it will be able to see on the banks and see things that are floating that are different temperatures. >> one of the things we have all become very familiar with is cell triangulation, right. would you suspect if they don't have any idea where he is, he's dumped his phone? >> they're going to be looking

for it. cell phone triangulation, trying to figure out what kind of electronic devices he might have on him is a high priority for law enforcement. >> does every kind of technology carry with it some kind of gio location. >> most of the location things we carry today transmit geo location. think about your cell phones, apple watches, fitbits, so much of the equipment we love and carry that makes our lives convenient also tells the network or carrier where we are, and law enforcement will be looking at that to try to figure out if they have any information that will allow them to narrow in on where he is. >> we are pretty much out of time. if you had to quantify the degree of difficulty of this search, how would you rank it? >> being that it's outside, and he might not have electronic devices, it's a difficult search to do but i have no doubt that we have really good law enforcement officers doing it. >> adam wong, we appreciate you coming in. we're live with

around-the-clock efforts to catch this suspect in the maine mass shooting. and we learned there will be a news conference at 3:00 p.m. eastern, and we'll have that for you live just about an hour from now. r from now. 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. travis, did you know you can get this season's covid-19 shot when you get your flu shot? huh. two things at once. two things at once! ♪ two things at once. i'll have the... ...two things at once, please. now back to two things at once. ♪ two things at once. that's not two things at once. moooom! travis? ask about getting this season's covid-19 shot when getting your flu shot. ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists.

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hello, i'm chris jansing, welcomck