it is about the essential ethical view of a candidate, of a ticket, about the viability and importance of american democracy as opposed to a will to power at any cost. and that's what you're going to see. >> all right, presidential historian john meacham, and the professor at vanderbilt's most popular lecture, john meacham, you're the greatest, john, thanks so much. talk to you soon. >> that does it for us this morning. ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. we have breaking news as we get under way this hour. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. the u.s. has indications that iran is preparing an imminent ballistic missile attack against israel. this news just after israel began launching what they're calling a limited localized and targeted ground raid against lebanon aimed at pushing

hezbollah back from israel's border. joining us now, nbc's matt bradley in beirut, former u.s. ambassador to morocco and former presidential middle east adviser mike ginsburg, u.s. retired army colonel jack jacobs as well. i want to bring with nbc's white house correspondent monica alba with us by phone. you have this breaking news reporting. what have you learned about this potential iranian attack against israel? >> well, ana, this is coming from a senior white house official and a department of defense official who confirmed to myself and to our pentagon correspondent courtney kube this indication that the united states has, which is typically a reflection of intelligence and information that they have gleaned from other countries, who would potentially be affected by this, that iran is indeed preparing to launch that ballistic missile attack against israel. now, to put this into context, this is something that has happened before, it happened earlier this year as we may

remember. and the u.s. was actively involved in helping israel defend itself that time around. and i'm told by a senior white house official that that is the case in this scenario as well. the u.s. says they're actively supporting defensive preparations to help defend israel against this attack and the u.s. is warning as they have before and in the past that a direct military attack from iran against israel will, quote, carry severe consequences for iran. now, it is important, again, to note that this is something that administration officials had been bracing for, they had been anticipating a response from iran. we knew that certainly with all of the turmoil in the last couple of weeks that this was something that there was going to be a big moment and of anticipation, that should not surprise anybody, that's where this next step could go. the biggest questions now are about when exactly this could happen and the fact that the united states is trying to get out and say that this could happen imminently is of its own

significance, but also u.s. officials have been telling us essentially that the u.s. had not seen any movement of assets or equipment in iran to indicate that something was going to be happening so quickly, but at the same time they had warned that iran, if it wanted to move quickly, could be postured to do so. so, we know overall when it comes to what the president has said many times and his top officials, iran has signaled to the u.s. at least recently that it does not want and does not seek a wider war and certainly when the president has been asked about his own message to iran in terms of contemplating something like this, normally the president's response is just one word and it is don't. and that warning will likely be escalated and amplified today, but the fact that the white house and the pentagon are relying that this is something that could happen very quickly, it does -- it is important to mention that back in april, when this occurred, there was a large

number of these ballistic missiles that were launched and intercepted and this was something where essentially when this took place, israel was able to really claim victory in how well its defense systems operated. as we may remember, and so the question now is whether this will look like that or something different. but those are the early indications from the white house and we know that the president and his national security team will be monitoring this very closely as they have been. >> colonel jacobs, u.s. officials are telling us that iran has been postured to move quickly if it wants. how concerning is this new development? >> well, it is very concerning. if as monica says the counterattack iran launches is -- looks pretty much like it did last time, one and done, and to demonstrate that they really don't want a wider war, all they wanted to do was to demonstrate that they have the capability

and to gain face from what has happened in southern lebanon to their ally, then there probably won't be a wider war. but to the extent that it continues past that, and if the iron dome of israel can't cope with a very large number of missiles that get launched from iran, then there will be a wider war. it is interesting to note that we recently moved a fair number of additional assets into the region. we have now got about 40,000 americans stationed in and around the region, and the majority of those are involved in the kinds of assets that the united states could use to assist israel including sea-launched cruise missiles, air-launched cruise missiles and so on. we have people on the ground, but they're mostly in advisory roles and will not be involved in any kind of assistance, but if there is an expansion of the attacks into israel from iran,

then you can expect the united states to assist with both air and -- air and sea assets, ana. >> ambassador ginsburg, this sounds like quite an escalation. what is your reaction? >> well, it is not unexpected, ana, as colonel jacobs indicated. the iranians have threatened retaliation against israel ever since the israelis assassinated the leader of hamas on the day of the inauguration of iranian president. and yet at the same time, what is iran's strategy? standing by, watching its proxies, most important proxy in the middle east, hezbollah's capabilities, military capabilities being decimated. and at the same time, the united states is providing israel the cover it needs militarily in order to proceed with this limited incursion below the litani river to try to cleanse southern lebanon of hezbollah

fighters in order to enable israel's 60,000 evacuated citizens to return to their communities in the northern border. the real threat here when we toss the word escalation around is that the united states would somehow be placed in a direct confrontation with israel -- with iran and/or israel launches a massive retaliatory attack against iran's military and nuclear installations and then what? >> and then what? and that's what i think the world fears, right? this is just going to continue to escalate and, matt, of course, this is coming as israel has just launched a ground offensive inside lebanon, what is the latest there and just talk to us about the tension right now in lebanon and the broader region. >> reporter: yeah, well, just adding to what has already been said by the two gentlemen, this is -- iran thinks it has an open

account with the israelis because in in addition to the killing of the head of hezbollah, they also killed an irgc commander, islamic revolutionary guard corps, in the same huge bombing that the israelis claim killed 20 other hezbollah leaders in addition to the leader of hezbollah, that was over the shoulder here, where we continue to see attacks in just the last hour. so the israelis are continuing to strike, not only beirut, but as you mentioned the big news today and overnight is that ground incursion that the israelis launched into southern lebanon. one confusing thing about this, it doesn't sound like that was necessarily all that significant. we kept hearing terms from the israeli government talking about how limited it was, hezbollah even came out and said they had seen no evidence of it, they said it was all zionist propaganda, so as far as we can tell, so far, this was a similar incursion of the kind we have seen or heard about the israelis having done regularly for the past year.

and just today as well, the israelis came out and declassified some information about some several other ground incursions that they have been launching in which they said they had had no fire fights, no confrontations with hezbollah, these were essentially reconnaissance missions and now they're doing the same thing. while this is a big incremental step and israelis are presenting this as a siege change in the way they conduct the war against hezbollah, we have seen no evidence this represents anything other than what has been done several times before. now, when we see iran entering the picture, it is unclear if what is going to happen is going to be significantly different or if this is the kind of symbolic attack we saw all the way back in april that we have already been talking about a lot. iran has this imperative to try to exact vengeance on israel, to throw red meat essentially to its base. the iranians have sacrificed so much, or the regime of iran has,

trying to demonstrate to the world that they are the leaders of the resistance. one of the reasons why we have been seeing so much protests inside iran, so much instability is because at the same time that the iranians are saying they are this religious government, they need to be able to demonstrate that they're doing something with that. that they're confronting israel in a way that other regimes throughout the middle east are not. the ayatollahs have the tenacity and have the strength to confront israel where as the saudis and sunni-backed regimes are not doing that. hezbollah and these other proxy groups throughout the middle east are a big part of that. they need to be able to show they can exact revenge against the death of this irgc commander who was killed on friday, in the same huge bombing that killed hassan nasrallah, the head of hezbollah, and they're going to need to show they can confront israel in a way that all these

other arab governments have not. >> i want to bring in courtney kube. you're on the reporting team with this new information about the potential imminent attack coming from iran, launching potentially a ballistic missile against israel, again, all of this hasn't happened yet, it is our reporting. but what do we know about how the u.s. is communicating with israel and so forth and what we are prepared for, the u.s. is prepared for in this moment? >> yeah, you hit the nail on the head here. so the big question right now is, yes, we have officials telling us this is imminent, but hasn't actually begun. think back to april, you'll remember that iran and proxy groups started firing off projectiles like lording munitions or drones, several hours before they actually started impacting or really threatening israel. in the case of april, there was really a wave of launches that really culminated with the ballistic missile launches and

the cruise missiles we were just hearing about. so, the u.s. has been expecting for some time because of exactly all the provocations that we have heard about so eloquently from matt over the last few minutes, the assassination of haniyeh in july, nasrallah's death last week by the israeli military, there has been an expectation and iran has threatened to respond. so, what we keep looking back is how did they respond in april? the expectation here at the pentagon is that we will seeing some that could go a little bit beyond april, but we shouldn't just look at numbers. so, as far as how it could escalate. in april, remember, there were 300 different projectiles. but they were all the different ones that we heard about. officials are talking more specifically this time about ballistic missiles. now, there were more than 100 missiles launched in april. but it feels as if what we're looking at here is the potential for even more ballistic missiles specifically this time. now, why that is concerning,

they move faster. they tend to have a much bigger payload, they have the possibility of simply a bigger impact on the ground there. now, the u.s. has ever since all of these provocations, and escalations started in july, and culminating with over the weekend after the death of nasrallah, the military has continually said the u.s. military that they have a robust presence in the region, more frankly than they had during those april attacks from iran. and they are confident that they can help israel defend itself. now, they even are sending the -- some more assets. so far moving some more into the region. but they already felt pretty confident they could defend. here is another thing that is different from april, ana, number one, then you'll recall it was a huge regional response, defensive response to iran. allies helped with some air defenses, they allowed overflight of u.s. assets, u.s. jets and things over their countries to help with this

defense. it is not clear right now where that stands. and that could be a big change from this time. another thing officials still feel pretty confident that like in april, the targets would not be largely civilian in nature, inside israel. the expectation is that if and when iran does carry out this attack, they will go largely after israeli military assets and even government assets as opposed to targeting civilians. now, remember, that doesn't mean that there won't be civilians nearby. i'm not saying that that decreases the potential threat here. but the expectation is that they would go more after military and government targets as opposed to civilian officials. so, that's where we stand right now. the -- again, the u.s. military who has pledged that they will help israel defend themselves against any possible attack has more assets there now than they did in april and we are hearing

a lot of confidence that they will have the ability to -- an expectation they'll be able to defend against any kind of attack. at this point again, the u.s. -- the officials i'm speaking with do not have confirmation that anything has begun. but we could see as in april more of like a rolling response here. >> and so, colonel jacobs, israel has a lot of fighting already going on, right? their resources are spread out to some degree. they have this ground invasion they have now begun in lebanon. they have the fighting and ongoing war against hamas in gaza. what kind of defense capabilities are we looking at in terms of israel preparing for something that could be more ballistic missiles that are coming from iran? >> first, it revolves around israel's ability to deflect ballistic missile attacks. we heard from courtney that the united states is prepared to assist.

but as an aside, we do have mutual defense arrangements with israel in this regard, which will come into play. the second thing -- the second point you raised is worth remembering, and that is the capability of israel to project itself on the ground. in order to do what it is doing now, it had to call up the reserves which is deleterious to its economy among other things. and has pulled resources from down in gaza up to the region in the north on the border with lebanon. we saw -- we expected that whatever incursion into lebanon that would take place would take place with a larger force than actually went in. something on the neighborhood of a division, which in israel is between eight and 11,000 people and its support. principally because the objectives were limited on the

ground. that is that the -- that the israelis wanted to press into lebanon, just far enough to clear an area maybe ten kilometers or maybe even less north of the border to prevent hezbollah from attacking israel directly on the ground. there are a couple of things about this, the first is that the terrain is extremely difficult. cross compartmented, high ground has to be taken and held in order for ground forces to move farther north. and, secondly, once that terrain is seized, you have to hold on to it. and it takes more troops on the ground to hold on to terrain than it does to take it in the first place. while we expected a larger incursion on the ground, on the order of let's say two divisions, we can expect over time there will be at least two divisions of the idf inside lebanon because they have to hold on to the terrain once they

take it, which might take some time. this -- one thing we have to remember here about this whole business and that is that netanyahu and the government is under -- has been under intense pressure to relieve northern israel of the threat of hezbollah which is on the other side of the border, so that israeli citizens can move back to where they had been living. but this is going to take quite some time and many more resources than anybody anticipated in the first place, ana. >> everybody stay with me. i want to bring into the conversation gabe gutierrez who is there at the white house. any word from the biden administration, gabe, officially after learning this news that iran could be planning to launch ballistic missiles toward israel? >> reporter: no, as you just heard from monica and courtney, we're learning this response may be limited. but i want to point out this has been a very difficult political

moment for the biden administration, president biden yesterday was asked whether he was aware of, you know, any potential ground incursion by israel into iran and he did tell reporters that he was more aware than we might think. and but that he was also comfortable with israel stopping. i asked the white house press secretary karine jean-pierre if that meant he was uncomfortable with israel continuing an she wouldn't get into that. we understand from the administration officials that they are anticipating some sort of response from iran. the question right now is how much will this escalate. we have seen in prior times earlier this year where there was an iranian response and thankfully the biden administration says that didn't escalate into a wider war. but president biden and administration officials, that's what they have been trying to avoid here. but as this conflict has been escalating, and now as we await

another potential response from iran, there are a lot of questions about what happens next and whether this does escalate into that wider conflict that this administration have been trying to avoid, really since the start of the israel-hamas war. >> and, ambassador, all the messaing recently has been about de-escalation, all the information from the white house, from secretary of blinken from the secretary of defense, from the president himself, what levers does president biden have left to really cool things off, to bring down the temperature and ease some of these tensions? >> well, very little. it seems that the prime minister, netanyahu, from the moment he rejected the first cease-fire proposal by president biden to bring about a three-stage cease-fire in gaza, and then just a few days ago as the united states was preparing a new post for de-escalation and a 21-day cease-fire proposal which the administration had

prematurely declared that the israelis had accepted the very next day, on the way to new york to the u.n. general assembly, netanyahu himself stated that the united states -- that israel will not accept any cease-fire. i think this only goes to show you how little leverage the administration has over israeli actions, and how emboldened mr. netanyahu is as a result that he has political support in israel across the political spectrum, from the far left to the far right to undertake this engagement into lebanon to confront hezbollah and try to neutralize it. why? unlike gaza, where the netanyahu government is held liable for the calamities that have occurred there, the israeli people want to see some sanitation of that northern border area so that hezbollah would not be able to inflict on

israel. now here we are coming up to the anniversary of the october 7th attack, a similar october 7th attack. and let me add with respect to what may be the retaliation, we have yet to see how much -- how much hezbollah remains in its missile firing capacity against israel. it was a missile that was fired today that landed on a highway in tel aviv from lebanon. hezbollah has an enormous arsenal of ballistic missiles and guided missiles that it has not yet fired at israel, whether it has the command and control structure to do that remains to be seen, and then the second part of this equation is putting aside the houthi rebel missile capacity against israel is what is iran's proxies in iraq and syria going to do if and when iran launches this so-called ballistic missile attack. israel's defenses could be overwhelmed, which is precisely one of the things -- one of the

objectives that iran wants to show that in the end, iran can punch harder than israel. >> colonel jack, do you believe that iran would be coordinating with its proxies in the region, with hezbollah, with hamas, with the houthis, to try to have a multipronged attack in this moment if iran were to go forward with launching ballistic missiles. and the other question being, do the proxy groups have real strength left given the number of senior leaders within their organizations being recently killed? >> well, to echo ambassador ginsburg, yes, they have the physical capability to do so. and we have to remember secondly that iran has its revolutionary guard corps detachments in each of the places we have been talking about. up until now there has been relatively little coordination iran has provided men, materiel,

ammunition, guidance, training and so on, but it is not directly dictated actions by its proxies. but this raises a significant question about whether or not now iran decides that instead of attacking in very large force from iran into israel themselves, that they would instead coordinate as best they can with their proxies to conduct as you suggest a coordinated response on israel that might tend to overwhelm israel's capability to defend itself. iran can try to do that, whether or not it will be able to do that remains to be seen, ana? >> everyone, thank you, please stay close. we'll continue to monitor these developments in the middle east and we'll bring any updates as we get them to you at home. but, first, a long road to recovery after hurricane helene's devastation. i'll be joined by dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas to talk about

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welcome back. now to the growing devastation in the wake of helene, now one of the deadliest storms in u.s. history. this morning the death toll stands at 125, but officials warn that number is still likely to rise with hundreds of people still unaccounted for. in hard-hit asheville, north carolina, firefighters are asking for patience as crews race to reach mountainous communities. the roads have been turned into rubble there. images from asheville showing trucks turned on their sides, abandoned cars sitting as flooded street corners are still there, businesses turned to piles of debris. george solis is on the ground in hard hit asheville, north carolina, for us. george, we see the rescue crews, the cleanup crews there behind you. where do these efforts stand this morning? >> reporter: hey, good morning,

ana. despair, desperation is one of the best ways to characterize what we have been seeing here on the ground here and a necessity being met. this is a water distribution site here in the city of asheville. residents telling me that's among their biggest needs now. people are able to come here and fill up five gallons at a time with this 6,000 gallon tanker here. this line was around the corner, people have been coming and going here at this hour, if you don't have a container, they have little gallons that you can take home. we have been asking about the federal response here, we did speak with the fema administrator yesterday who said they're here, they have 1200 personnel on the ground, dispersed through this region, they're trying to get to everyone as fast as they can. the administrator telling me they're not sure, they know this is a heavy lift here in this community, i asked her point blank if her commitment was to reach to every one of the impacted areas and she said yes. i pressed her where the resources are, that's the one complaint we have heard from so

many residents, where are they, where are they? she told me, we really need people to tell us where this need is, and we will go there. of course, when we asked residents about that and tell them about that, they say, look, part of our problem is our cell phone communications which have been spotty at best, that has been improving. so we have seen at least a little bit of change in that direction. water is also starting to recede, which is obviously a positive. but when you look at the destruction here left behind, it is possibly so much more here than anyone could have imagined with this system. but, again, you are starting to see those pockets of help and relief and, again, fema's commitment, they are here on the ground, trying to get aid to the people as quickly as possible. >> i can only imagine the anguish so many people who live there are feeling right now, the desperation that you have described in terms of people's mental state of being. what is your sense on how folks are holding up? >> reporter: yeah, well, a lot of people are just still in shock and disbelief. we were in the river arts

district yesterday, which is a central point of tourism here. that has been completely wiped out. we talked to a number of business owners who got there for first time and one woman on the verge of tears, she tried to reach out to her insurance company, that was the only thing she could think to do and all they could do is get their information. they're dealing with people trying to loot some of the businesses that have been ravaged, so they're dealing with that as well. luckily there has been a lot of local and state response here as well from outside agencies coming in to protect and do everything they can to make sure people stay out of harm's way as well. so we can't really not include that in our reporting here. so, again, the situation is still very dire here. this is a crisis here on the ground that is seeming to get worse before it gets better. but pockets of hope and lots of resiliency. people coming together to share resources, wherever they can get them to help one another out in this community. >> george solis, thank you. send our best, our thoughts, our prayers with those folks there. joining us now, department of

homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. the death toll stands at 125 from helene. but hundreds of people are still unaccounted for. where do your efforts stand to reach those communities that are still cut off? >> ana, you and george captured so poignantly the level of anguish that helene has caused. our prayers are with those who are struggling, those who are lost loved ones. our focus right now is on search and rescue. we have more than 1200 personnl at all levels of government focused on search and rescue operations. we're also undertaking debris removal where we can, where the terrain allows us to do so. we have 4500 federal personnel alone, approximately 6,000 national guard. this is an extraordinary effort on the part of first responders to save lives, rescue

individuals, to really respond to the immediate aftermath of such a devastating and historically devastating hurricane. and then we will turn to rebuilding, but we are not there right now. >> so you're still in that search and rescue mode, it sounds like. some residents into these impacted communities are telling us they feel like local and federal government was caught flat-footed. i want to get your reaction to some of what we're hearing. >> they don't care about us. you know what i mean, they care more about the election and all that stuff than they care about these people we lost. >> you feel the people here feel abandoned? >> i don't know. probably. >> anyone acting like this is a surprise has not been here long enough and is not from the mountains and does not understand how water works. >> mr. secretary, how do you respond to that? should the federal government have been better prepared to get to these isolated areas?

>> well, our first priority is the well-being of people. that is absolutely critical and we are executing on that accordingly. we have been speaking about the fact that the frequency and gravity of extreme weather events have only been increasing. this hurricane helene is unprecedented in the amount of terrain it has devastated and we are responding accordingly. and people should be -- should rest assure that we will be there for them. as george mentioned, the administrator of fema is on the ground in north carolina. we're not forgetting about anyone. >> i hear your reacting. but in terms of being practive, was the federal government adequately prepared for this? >> we were. the extent of devastation is very, very difficult to predict. no one expected hurricane helene to actually traverse the amount

of land it has indeed covered. but we're responding accordingly. we have been speaking about the need to prepare for extreme weather events for years now. >> what kinds of resources are available right now, especially for these areas that don't have power, some don't have running water or don't have clean water for drinking, for bathing, they don't have cell service still. >> so, we are dealing with some very remote areas, which we are reaching. we have improved communications. we have deployed, i think, approximately 50 starling satellite systems to improve responder communications. we have distributed 1.9 million ready to eat meals. we have distributed 1 million liters of water. when i say we, the federal government. but we also are working with our state and local partners, the

national guard, world central kitchen is coming to assistance, this is an all of society effort to deal with what is clearly an all of society level of devastation. >> i'm sure you heard former president trump has been criticizing president biden's response to the storm, including falsely claiming the president hadn't spoken with georgia's governor. here is some of what we heard. >> the governor needs to -- he's been trying to get them and i'm sure they're going to come through, but he's been calling. you know they're being treated very badly in the republican areas. >> he's lying. and the governor told him he was lying. i don't care what he says about me. i care what he communicates to the people in need. he implies we're not doing everything possible. we are. we are. >> we should note governor kemp says he spoke with the president and he said that even before trump made those comments we played, but mr. secretary, what do you see as the impact of

politicizing this? >> ana, i won't speak about a candidate's remarks. we are focused on the well-being of people. we are focused on addressing the needs of individuals who have been devastated by hurricane helene at a time of tragedy. it requires national unity, not the politization of tragedy. >> secretary alejandro mayorkas, thank you for being with us and sharing your administration's efforts to help the folks who are really hurting right now from helene. thank you. >> thank you, ana. up next, we're going to turn back to the middle east, where tensions are high as the u.s. alerts israel to an imminent iranian missile threat. stay close. an imminent iranian missile threat stay close what does a robot know about love? it takes a human to translate that leap in our hearts into something we can see and hold. etsy.

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back to our top story, the u.s. has indications that iran is preparing an imminent

ballistic missile attack against israel. this as israel has begun this ground invasion into southern lebanon to try and push hezbollah away from the northern border. back with us now, matt bradley in lebanon with ambassador mark ginsburg joining us and colonel jack jacobs standing by as well. matt, what is the latest where you are there in beirut? >> reporter: yeah, well, we're continuing to see and hear bombardments, right behind me. this is, you know, part of israel's continuing and expanded attacks against hezbollah that has now been going on for the past two weeks. so this is something that we're starting to see in terms of this ground invasion. the problem with the information we have about this ground invasion, despite all of the broad announcements we have been hearing from the israelis overnight is that there is no real indication so far that this is any different from any of the incursions that we have been seeing in the past. in really the past year. the israelis have just said on the same day today that they

announced this ground invasion that they actually have been taking soldiers across the border into lebanon on a regular basis for much of the past year, doing reconnaissance missions. during those missions, they didn't confront any hezbollah commandos. they didn't do anything that would have gotten attention to them. and that's why hezbollah today just said they didn't confront any israeli soldiers, they didn't have any fire fights, and they said this was all israeli propaganda. now, the fact of the matter is we have heard this from the israelis, this was a big announcement, they're acting as though this was as we heard from yoav gallant yesterday a new phase of israel's war with hezbollah, but so far, despite what a big deal this has been turning into, we have no indication yet that anything is new, that anything has been done that is different from before. now, we heard from the israelis saying this is going to be a very limited engagement, but so far according to reuters, they haven't advanced past walking

distance past the border between lebanon and israel. so, again, this looks extremely limited and there is very little way for us to get any view on this that looks as though this is a big change. >> let me read to you what we now have from israeli army spokesperson daniel hagari who posted, our partners in the united states informed us they are detecting iran's plans to fire missiles at the state of israel in the near future. at this stage, we do not detect an aerial threat launched from iran, and want to repeat this again, we still do not detect an aerial threat launched from iran. at this point, colonel jack jacobs, is it too late for iran not to launch this attack, given all the reporting that is out there? could this be something that actually prevents them from taking action? >> well, they have waited before. i mean, there is an old adage that says if there is going to be retribution, it needs to be swift to be meaningful. in the past, iran has taken some

time to decide to do anything in response to what they perceive to be israeli provocation. so, it may be some time before we see anything from iran, but we also have to remember that as we discussed earlier, that there are proxies of iran in the region and if there is a coordinated attack, coordinated by iran through hezbollah, hamas says it still stands now, but also houthis and iranian assets in syria and iraq, if that happens, it is liable to overwhelm israel's capability to defend, which is one reason why the united states has moved additional assets, mostly air and sea, into the region to assist israel. the longer iran waits to conduct any kind of retribution, the less meaningful it will be and we have to remember that iran has lost a great deal of face

and has to -- through the israeli elimination of hezbollah's leadership and feels that it has to respond at some time, ana. >> ambassador ginsburg, how serious is this threat if the u.s. is now directing government employees there at the embassy and their family members to shelter in place until further notice? >> this is the first alert that i have seen that the u.s. embassy has issued since the united states issued a similar directive to all employees in israel on the eve of the last iranian attack. it is quite clear that the united states government believes that an attack by iran and/or its proxies is imminent, likely in the dark, sometime within the next 12 hours. i don't think the u.s. embassy would have issued such a directive unless the united states believed that it had sufficient intelligence to justify this directive.

already israelis are hearing that the u.s. embassy has issued that directive. the question is iran's leaders have said that whatever retaliation it would be, ana, would not be similar to the type of attack that iran launched in april. so, what are they going to do here? and you have to be somewhat innovative in thinking what iranians may do. are they going to attack, for example, government or try to attack government offices in west jerusalem, in israel's capital? will they also try to attack israeli troops in the north that are launching this attack? will they launch missiles directed in a much more dispersed capacity toward israel military installations. and iranians are basically thrown the gauntlet down here and said whatever they're going to do, it is going to be different than last april? i mention they're taing into

consideration any response to what they do which could involve the u.s. and other allies of israel. ambassador mark ginsburg, colonel jack jacobs, thank you for staying with us throughout the developments this morning. stay close to us if you will. matt bradley in lebanon. american voters will watch one of the most high stakes vice presidential debates in u.s. history. jd vance and tim walz will face off in new york tonight in primetime in what may be the final major event of the 2024 race. much like we have seen with vice president harris and donald trump at the top of the ticket, the two vp nominees have played out their contrasting styles and messages and like the previous debate between harris and trump, 24 will be the first face to face meeting between walz and vance. kelly o'donnell is in the spin room in new york for us. kelly what is on the agenda for these two in these final hours of prep?

>> reporter: well, certainly this is a day of some nerves and some planning and high expectations for both campaigns. senator vance is already in new york, governor walz will be flying in from michigan. i'm told that he presented a birthday cake to one of his team members on the plane already this morning. and so, this is about trying to set the agenda for this final stretch. clearly the top of the ticket, former president trump, vice president harris, they are the focus of this election. but their running mates do perform an important function here. obviously there is a constitutional duty, but there is a political one tonight. can they articulate the differing visions? will they go at each other? will they try to define some new terms of this next debate. and by that, i mean, debates are one of the few big events that can change some momentum. typically people don't vote based on the running mate, but it can provide a sense of

reassurance, offer some insight, it can give voters another way to look at the candidates on the top of the ticket. so from governor walz's preparation, expect he will definitely be talking about kamala harris and her leadership and her ability to step in and be the next president of the united states. jd vance as a sitting senator has had lots of debate experience, and has been working out on the campaign trail some questions from reporters in front of his audiences as a way to run through some of the hot topics. competing styles, differing agendas, and certainly different backgrounds from these two candidates tonight. and it is expected there will be a big audience and obviously major news of the moment from iran and israel to the events of helene could be a factor as well in some of what they talk about tonight. >> kelly o'donnell, thanks for setting the table for us. also joining us now, former democratic senator and co-host of msnbc's "how to win 2024"

podcast claire mccaskill and msnbc host and former harris senior adviser symone sanders townsend. so good to have you here. >> you said democratic senator, i thought, oh, claire, that's you. >> host, both are hosts and have so many hats that you wear and have worn in the past. let me start with you, senator. given how tight the polling overall has been, given this could be the last debate of this election season, what are the stakes tonight and who do you think has more pressure? >> well, they both have a lot of pressure. and, listen, this is a country that still doesn't know these two guys very well. i think they still have to do some work in terms of introducing themselves. but the contrast is significant. you have a yale hedge fund guy that got to the senate on the back of a billionaire writing a check for -- i don't know what it was, 15 or $30 million to put

him in the senate, versus a high school teachera, a coach, and somebody who is very comfortable talking about changing the oil on his truck. it's a contrast of style and tone, i think. j.d. vance always talks down to everybody like he's the smartest guy in the room whereas tim walz is relatable, and i think it's wise for walz to focus on that tone, and to make sure he's relatable and, yes, that ugly word, likeable, around debate. i think the country needs to be comfortable with the candidates. >> how much will be about re-introducing themselves into tonight's debate versus carrying on the attack dog role? >> usually the debate is do no

harm and stick to the top of the ticket's message and contrast, contrast, contrast, and you are going in as the running mate to bolster the presidential candidate to say always mentioning their name and it's less about the person in that seat, those two on the stage there versus the folks at the top of the ticket. this is different. there's a famous line saying, ain't nobody coming to see you, otis. this is a lot about the two men sitting or standing on that stage tonight. j.d. vance has been at the forefront of some of the most inflammatory and i would argue fascist and problematic controversies in the election cycle, specifically about what he said about his own constituents in springfield that

are haitian. that's something he will have to account for. people try and paint tim walz as a progressive that puts on a flannel every day and trying to distort the record he has as governor. i think you will see attacks but at the end of the day because this could potentially be the last debate they will have to hammer home a policy of the candidates, and -- >> all the focus groups and all these different surveys we have seen have shown. you talk about likability, senator, and this recent nbc poll shows j.d. vance is one of the least liked candidates in decades. we just -- i'm just learning from a phone call with donald

trump just now with nbc news, he said vance doesn't needed a vice tonight. your thoughts on that? >> i think j.d. vance has a problem with women. i think the things he's said before the spotlight was on him to the extent it is now, are really revealing about how he views women. i think it's interesting about he lectured women about staying in marriages even if they are violent while he runs with a guy who changes wives like changing a shirt. meanwhile, j.d. vance wants to lecture women to stay in marriages that are violent. that's quite a contrast. it's tone deaf when it comes to america and i think his comments he will have to live with tonight. i bet tim walz has a way to bring them up with a smile on

his face and twinkle in hissize. >> what do you see as the biggest vulnerability as walz is? >> i don't think the answer he gave about his military record was great, and he has a great answer and it was not delivered well in that interview but he has not done an interview since, and in the last 24 to 48 hours has done a plane-side press with the folks traveling with him, and i think that's important. if the trump campaign attacks walz, it could be on his military record. i don't think his record as governor is vulnerable at all because what he has done as governor, make sure children have food to eat at school so they could learn and protect

women's autonomy, and provide tampons for young girls in schools so they can focus on learning. top in business, so sounds good to me. what is viewed as a vulnerability is a strength there. he will have to ensure at the end of the day you are talking about vice president kamala harris, okay. you want to walk out of a vp debate, and last time harris when she was senator, she said we want to get that phone call saying we hit all the marks. >> thank you so much, senator and symone sanders. up next, we will bring you

much more from the middle east and the u.s.'s alert to israel and the potential iranian missile threat. don't go anywhere. hey, everybody. w. kamau bell here. they say that america is the land of the free.

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