and i can tell you, andrea, we have also, we also feel further away from the prospects of a cease fire. you have heard president biden repeating over and over again he wants to see a cease fire between israel and hezbollah. here on israel's northern border but frankly, he has wanted to see a cease fire between israel and hamas for many, many months now. that's another loud, outgoing israeli artillery round just punctuating how far we are from a cease fire at this point. the reality is at this point, you have a lame duck american president who is calling for a cease fire and you have a region that feels like it's spiraling out of control. andrea. >> thank you so much, raf. i'm just thinking on this 100th birthday of jimmy carter, my first assignment for nbc news was all those years ago during camp david and the signing of the first peace agreement

between israel and an arab neighbor. katy tur picks up our breaking news coverage right now. good to be with you. i'm katy tur in for chris jansing. we are watching israel and waiting for a damage assessment after iran sent dozens, perhaps more, of ballistic missiles at the country, including tel aviv. this is what it looked like and sounded like add it was happening. [ sirens ] in a statement, iran says the missiles were in honor of hezbollah leader nasrallah where the israelis killed with a 2,000 pound bunker busting bomb in beirut last friday. if israel responds, iran says it

will face crushing attacks. so will israel respond? they're already indicating, yes, they will. the u.s. and allies have been trying to convince all the parties involved to work toward a cease fire worried the continued escalation of attacks between hezbollah and israel and now iran could lead to all out war. meanwhile, as the iron dome was trying to intercept these missiles, israeli news outlets were reporting a shooting attack in jaffa in tel aviv. a u.s. official tells nbc news eight individuals were killed and nine wounded. the attack involved at least one shooter who got off of the mass transit line and started firing a semiautomatic rifle. erin mcloughlin is in jerusalem. matt bradley is in beirut. keir simmons is in doha and also with me is ambassador pinkus. erin, i'm going to start with you. jerusalem. what was it like there?

what is it like now? >> reporter: an uneasy calm has settled over the city but as 6:30, it was uneasy. 6:30 local time. that is when the first sirens sounded. in fact, i was standing right here reporting on that terror attack you mentioned that unfolded in jaffa. as we were getting in those details, that's when we heard the sirens and then suddenly, we saw streaking across the night sky, the lights from the iron dome's intercepter missiles. that quickly followed by a series of explosions. our team estimates that they saw dozens of intercepter missiles. most of those missiles moving in the direction of tel aviv. and people were out in the streets cheering and honking their horns, celebrating in a way, the response of the iron dome defense system. but now an easy calm has

settled. again, as i said, over the city. as the israeli officials are conducting damage assessments. we heard from an israeli military spokesperson say that there will be a response to this missile attack. we are waiting word on the nature of that attack in a full again damage, of that response and a full again damage assessment, but again, no one was injured. so far that we have heard in the attack from iran. >> so is the feeling right now, is the word right now, erin, that this is all over? that this was the only missile firing that iran was going to make this evening? that there is now going to be calm? >> reporter: well, you know, all we know is what we heard from the israeli military spokesperson. he said for now, they have seen no signs of further launches and

they are assessing damage and vowing a response. that's all we know, but as we know here in the middle east, anything could happen. and this region is bracing for the potential of further escalation. >> all right. matt bradley, this is all in part because of the killing of nasrallah in beirut. also in iran, one of the leaders of hamas. what is it like in beirut and has there been any reaction from hezbollah? >> reporter: yeah, it was the killing of those two months before but also one of the names that was mentioned by the iranian was the killing of nashon. a senior commander of the irgc. not a household name like nasrallah but he was an iranian national who was killed in that same bunker, as you mentioned the bunker blasting bombs dove

into the ground into the meeting of senior hezbollah officials. according to the israelis, about 20 of them were killed at that time. all of that in the neighborhood right off my right shoulder here. this was another point of vengeance that the iranian took care of tonight with this broad and really unprecedented direct fire. we saw this back in april, but this was quantitatively so much bigger than what we saw several months ago. the extreme fired back in april and i was in israel for that. that was really felt more symbolic. it felt like the iranian were trying to show that they were doing something to the iranian public. that they were confronting the israelis and the israelis had their own symbolic retaliation. i think we're well beyond that at this point. the fact is that you know, this sort of fight between these two nations, we see the actual fighting in the proxies. here with hezbollah fighting against israel on the ground as we just saw last night when the israelis had you know, had an

invasion essentially into lebanon. we don't know what that looked like. we have no real eyes on the ground to see that. we can only trust from what we heard from the israelis that it was limited. that they really didn't go further than walking distance from the lebanese israeli border. the fact is this is something like the cold war where there's an actual exchange of fire between the two that are fighting each other. in this case, iran and israel. it's almost always fight and the dying is almost always down by proxy groups and that's what we're seeing here in lebanon. and that's why these sort of situations over this lebanese israeli border are such a flash point in this broader, region wide war that we're seeing in its stages. they have long styled themselves as leaders of the resistance so when we talk about the kind of tactical fight between them,

it's less tactical and more symbolic. that's why we're hearing words like revenge and vengeance. nobody's trying to necessarily capture a hill and hold it or take a city. it's a different kind of fighting. it's about pride. displaying the turns. that in a way makes it so much more dangerous and unpredictable, but at the same time, it makes it manageable with diplomacy and that's what a lot of people in washington, united nations, they're going to be trying to figure out how to appease these two sides anned keep it from escalating. so far, we've heard from the israelis tonight. the main spokesman, he's a rear admiral, saying there were no injuries on the ground. well, if that stays the case then it's possible that we could see both sides kind of stepping back. but if that isn't the case as i said before, this is fundamentally a proxy war despite the fireworks and the spectacular display of ballistic

missiles tonight. the main fighting and the main dying going on are in places here in lebanon where there are civilian casualties in the thousands. where there are huge exoduses of people moving from southern lebanon up north because of the ceaseless now israeli attacks on southern lebanon and now in this neighborhood in the past two weeks. again, right off my right shoulder. so the people who are going to pay the price are probably not going to be in these two nations. it's going to be in the other places where iran-backed groups like hezbollah, the so-called axis of resistance, are expected to take a stand against the israelis and those are where we're going to see a lot of the casualties as we see this region wide war which we've been fearing and really just dreading. everybody in the region for the better part of the past year. as we're now seeing that erupt. >> i will add this. there would be a lot more casualties in israel if there was not the iron dome. given the number of missiles

that are, have been fired on that country and have been you know, launched at them. especially in the past year after october 7th but obviously before that as well. i want to bring in keir simmons in doha. keir, you're in doha. the iranian president, brand-new iranian president, is expected to be there for another conference. what's he going there for? are his plans going to change? >> reporter: the stunning thing is that he's still coming, we are told, by officials with knowledge of the visit. that's right. he's expected here in doha tomorrow morning. so within 24 hours of iran launching an attack on israel, the iranian president is expected to arrive here he was at the united nations just days ago and trying ostensibly to talk about wanting negotiations. there will be many cynical about that ambitious described by the iranian president and whether

the iranian really mean it, but shortly after the kinds of things he was saying, you then saw the assassination of nasrallah by the israelis and there was criticism in iran of what he had said at the united nations. so there are internal stresses to say the least in iran. which is just across the water from qatar. those missiles flying in and being intercepted in this region fired from iran itself as matt was suggesting. that is what is truly significant about all of this. then there is the messaging that we are hearing from the iranian significantly from the revolutionary guard which is the armed section of the iranian establishment. if you want to call it that. and then the iran mission to the united nations. two things to pick out from that

statement from the iran mission at the u.n. it begins by talking about iran's legal, rational, and legitimate response to the terrorist agents of the zionist regime. so iran trying to say in its words that it believes what it has done tonight is proportionate. at the end of that statement, should the zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue. that's what we heard from the revolutionary guard a short time before that statement was released by the iran mission to the u.n. it tells us that the iranian believe they haven't thrown everything at this. if you want to put it like that. it also tells us that the risk of escalation is very real tonight. the israelis saying they will respond. the iranian saying if you respond, our next attack will be

crushing. now, i think just a pause there, katy, back in april, the israelis responded by attacking iran and they fired on isfan and what they hit was a surface to air missile battery. so that attack by the israelis got through any air defenses iran might have and hit a surface to air missile battery. that i think was a message from the israelis to say to the iranian we have the capability to take out your missile capability. we can go toe to toe with you and why that is significant is because when you hear the iranian say we're going to escalate if the israelis respond, keep in mind that iranian at the same time will be very aware of the capability that israel has combined with the u.s. and other allies and they will be calculating exactly what the consequences of their next move will be while feeling

like they are shouting diplomatically. one other aspect of this, it's not clear to us here where we are just how many missiles have been fired by the iranian. one agency reporting tens, another quoting a jordanian official saying that hundreds of iranian missiles were fired toward israel. andrea mitchell confirming with the jordanians that they were involved in intercepting this barrage from iran. >> "the new york times" reports according to an israeli official that they believe their initial assessment was 200. so those numbers are in flux right now. i will also mention this. part of the calculation is that without the iran nuclear deal, it's about a week before iran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb. enough enriched uranium. let me ask you about the qataris.

they've been chief mediators between israel and are the ones still talking to iran. we officially are not. what's the qatari response been to this? >> reporter: i speak to them, you know for example that the hamas has a political office here in doha. part of that so-called axis of resistance responsible for the october 7th attacks. so about the fact the iranian president is going to be here within a few hours. the qataris do have a very close relationship with the u.s. and actually, a relationship that just in recent weeks has

appeared to get closer. they have a relationship with both sides and they say there's value in that and they say there's value in that and this is what the qataris would tell you. they say there's value in that because they are part of a group of diplomats who would be able to deescalate and you mentioned the iranian nuclear program. i think one of the questions on the minds of some will be whether part of this escalation might be the israelis focused on that nuclear program of the iranian. whether the israelis might see an opportunity to try to target that. that is a long way down the track and at this stage, but you can see how escalating attacks by both sides. we've now had a sect attack by iranian on israel. we've had an attack by israelis on iran and they say they're

going to do that again. you can see why there are some who say maybe that's something that we should be factoring into the conversation as we look ahead. what would that mean. that kind of escalation. how dangerous would that be. >> the military will call that mission. let's bring in richard engel. our chief international correspondent whose in lebanon. richard, where does hezbollah stand now without nasrallah, without so many of their leaders below him. so many mid level players. a number of the ever day soldiers injured. where does hezbollah stand? >> reporter: well, hezbollah has been weakened significantly over the last two weeks. in a way that many in the region find shocking.

even within hezbollah. i'm in southern lebanon right now, an area considered a hezbollah stronghold. you can just see by what happened today that hezbollah is not the same organization that it was a few weeks ago. a few months ago. its leadership is in a state of disarray. israel crossed the border and israel and hezbollah didn't engage in the fight. it held back. a few hundred israeli troops crossed into lebanon. they stayed close to the israeli border and it seemed like a come on. the israelis were talking about crossing in yesterday. they were making it quite obviously they intended to cross the border. they did in fact cross the border and hezbollah hung back. in fact, on hezbollah television today and statements from hezbollah, they were saying the israelis didn't even cross in. this is a show. so it seems at this stage for now this could change. we're only really on day one of this ground war that hezbollah is choosing not to engage

directly with the israelis at this point. it could be because their communications are in such disarray. the israelis using sabotage blew up first their pager then walkie talkies. by the way, hezbollah used these low tech devices to avoid smartphones. nasrallah was saying don't use smartphones because the israelis and americans get into them and can use them to monitor your activities so they were using much lower tech devices. instead, the israelis put bombs inside and turned them into booby traps. they killed nasrallah himself bombing his bunker in south beirut. now crossing in, it seems like israel wants to eliminate the fighting force of hezbollah and at this stage, hezbollah isn't interested in that fight is holding back and partly it's

politics. trying to show to the rest of the iranian regime, that it is strong. that it will not allow its proxies to be dismantled but it didn't show a lot of strength because what we saw overhead were not hundreds of ballistic missiles exploding inside of israel but we saw hundreds of ballistic missiles blowing up in the sky before they got to their targets. >> that's just a good point. i'm glad, richard, you brought it up as well. the reason we're not seeing the death and destruction within israel like we're seeing in gaza or we saw with lebanon is because of that iron dome. it's not like they're not people out there, groups out there, that are desperately trying to kill israelis. there's better technology that's been aided to keep the country safe. what's your current assessment of things? of what happens next?

what are you worried about? >> i'm worried about that this will spiral out of control. >> do you think that netanyahu wants it to? >> yes. but that i was going to leave that as the last point. this sort of caters to mr. netanyahu's narrative that this was not a savage terror attack in 2023 but part of a bigger civilization war. this is and the epicenter is iran. after the iron dome, you're right. by the way, israelis, not mr. netanyahu because he can't bring himself to do that, but israelis should thank president obama for

funding, extra funding the iron dome when israel needed it badly. second, you mentioned it and you're right, the u.s.'s involvement. nbc's correspondents mentioned the jordanians were involved. i wouldn't be surprised to find in the next few days that other countries were involved. maybe britain. saudi arabia. maybe the emirates. maybe qatar. we don't know. >> is that because the region doesn't want there to be instability? the region wants normalization with israel. the region wants things to cool down. >> absolutely. qatar, for example, they need to cohabitate somehow. take the chinese. we haven't spoken about china. the chinese, 60% of china's exports to europe go through the suez canal via the red sea.

when, it raises products if we live in amsterdam or rome. >> by the way, the price of oil is up because of this. >> well, obviously. because of the uncertainty and unpredictability. no one knows and this is where we started. no one knows about the escalation. you asked me what do i fear most. what i fear most is the miscalculation that is almost inevitably connected to these kind of scenarios when escalation cannot be controlled. that the iranian retaliated. we don't know by the way how far this is going to go because there's a point to be made that iran sees hezbollah now as an increasingly burden rather than an asset, but if israel

retaliates against iran because of this, then iran will feel that it needs to retaliate and before you know it, a bunch of guys are in a, excuse the expression, a pissing match. >> iran is in an interesting position now because they have technically speaking, new leadership. even though the ultimate leader is the ayatollah. the supreme leader. but there's a new president and he was here at the u.n., that he wanted there to be more normalization. maybe a renewed relationship with the west. i heard it spoken about by by a senior official within the region that maybe the best way to go forward after all this settles, maybe sooner than that, to change the posture toward iran. that what iran really wants is to be recognized. they just want a little flattery. they want to feel like they're the player and changing the posture toward iran might make iran less likely to and you can tell me if you disagree.

might change their desire to fund the houthis and hezbollah and hamas in the way that it's doing now. >> i don't disagree. i think the iranian are going through a process of recalibration now because they seem to have lost at least in terms of potency, their prized asset, which is hezbollah. it's still there and it has a formidable missile capability but they lost control over what hezbollah does. look, iran is still a threat. it is still a theocracy with dreams of exporting the revolution and what have you, but iran is now looking at three things. sanctions relief. sanctions relief. secondly, a renewed jcpoa. >> they want another iran deal? >> i think so. they were hesitant and they are impeding it at the beginning of the biden administration when president biden tried to renew

it and then concluded that they're not interested. and the third thing i think that they're being and i may be wrong here, i think they're being mitigated and mellowed and restrainted by the chinese who have a vested interest in the economy. they have a strategic cooperation agreement. iran is not going to turn into a sweetener. a girl scouts operation selling cookies around the region. that said, i think that our view of iran and this is where i totally agree with your assessment and the way you presented it, perhaps the posture should be looked at and re-examined. even before it's changed. >> if you could get into netanyahu's ear, what would you tell him? >> oh, we haven't spoken in 15 years. >> if you could. >> you have a chance here.

an opportunity here. the combination of gaza and lebanon and iran allows you to take to be an integral part, maybe a central part in a recon fig rated middle east. all you need to do is to subscribe to or engage the biden administration although it's nearing its end but who knows. i think both kamala harris and donald trump would agree to this. whomever is elected. you can forge a new axis. it need not be defined as an anti iranian axis, but a stability axis. israel, jordan, qatar, the emirates. the problem with mr. netanyahu is that not him or his right wing coalition are willing to entertain any ideas about the palestinian, about the israeli

palestinian peace process and there in lies the problem. >> and the israeli public is not ready to talk about a palestinian state either. all right. let's bring in courtney at the pentagon for us. so how is the pentagon watching this? i will note we are waiting on a number of briefings including a pentagon briefing, a white house briefing and a state department briefing. we're going to go to them live once they begin, but what can you tell us about the pentagon? >> right now, everyone is trying to figure out exactly how many missiles the u.s. believes were launched from iran at israel this evening and then who was involved in shooting them down. now, it's clear the iron dome was involved in shooting some of these down but there are, the numbers are still kind of trickling in of how many dozens of missiles were fired and defense officials were saying the u.s. was involved in that effort. so the question is were they shot down by the u.s. by what u.s. assets and where?

you'll remember back in april the last time that iran fired hundreds of projectiles toward israel, the u.s. was involved in shooting down a number of those projectiles with various assets. the u.s. has aircraft in the air that can do an air to air shootdown of drones. the u.s. also has ballistic missile defense capabilities in the form of ships in the area. they also have some ground based air defense systems like the patriots. so there's any number of ways the u.s. could have been involved in this. and at what scale. those are the questions we're trying to figure out here. but also from april, remember that not all of those projectiles even reached israeli air space before they were shot down by the u.s. and other allies. those are all the questions we're trying to figure out here. and i think the big question now is what could come next. how could israel respond? we aren't getting any sense of that, but again looking back to april, which seems to be our

best guide for how this could, has unfolded and could continue to unfold, israel did conduct some limited strikes inside iran after iran fired those projectiles toward israel. so it just remains to be seen if israel will do something similar this time or not. those are all the questions that we're asking here and that we hope to ask at all of these briefings. >> we got some news from the idf. they say that approximately 180 missiles were fired toward israel from iranian territory. and courtney once again, these were not the same weaponry used in april, right? that stuff, the projectiles they shot over in april moved much slower. it took them longer to get there. this was a 12-minute flight time. were they intercontinental, ballistic missiles?

>> we believe many were but we don't have an exact breakdown of if it's possible there were others. we believe that many if not most of them were fired from iran as well but we're also working on that. so when you look at the scale of what happened in april versus what we know about today, more than 300 projectiles in april but more were drones, munitions. while the number here appears to be significantly less in the total number of projectiles fired today, the potential for damage or the significance you could argue may be more tonight or today. and that is because the majority were ballistic missiles. as you said, they simply fly faster. they have the potential to carry a much higher payload. they are precision guided.

as you were mentioning some of these slower drones, they're not that difficult to intercept. a ballistic missile, think of it as the word ballistic. it's like hitting a bullet with a bullet. that's how you intercept them. it's a science. it's not always perfect. as we saw on the screen as we were watching this unfold, many of them were intercepted. presumably iron dome played a large role in that, but it is not, it's not as easy as it may look as it is still a science. >> hopefully we'll get answers. also the state department and white house. so we've got a lot of people to ask. hopefully we'll get answers out of them. joining me now is msnbc military analyst, retired lieutenant general twitty. a former deputy commander of the united states european command. thank you very much for joining us. what are you specifically watching for right now? >> i'm watching the couple of

things as you've been talking as the cruise missiles, correction, the ballistic missiles have been coming in, whether or not this is the end of it or not. i'm taking note whether or not hezbollah or the houthis or even hamas participated. didn't look like they did. but as you take a look at this particular fact, there's one thing of note. the iranian felt compelled to respond here. and here's why. number one, if you take a look at hamas, they have been decimated. they still exist as a terrorist group. they can still fight and bring harm to you but they've been decimated by the israelis. if you take a look at hezbollah, the communications at the top tier has been decimated throughout couple of days and weeks previously.

and so the israelis have had the momentum while the iranian have sat back and done nothing. they had to come in this in order to show strength and credibility. so that's why i think we see the attack today. >> do you see this as a way to safety and stability for israel? >> absolutely not. i've been listening to your show here. in my view, the way to safety and stability goes back to the two-state solution. and we don't talk about that enough but go back to the reason why hezbollah said that they're going to stand in solidarity with hamas. is because of the two-state solution. and the israelis are fighting and obviously they have a right to defend themselves. no doubt about that. the israelis have a right to defend themselves. it's the same reason why the

houthis continue to fire at ships in the red sea and in the mediterranean. and it's the same reason why you have hezbollah and others proxies that are fighting this war. so i think it all goes back to the two state solution and there needs to be more talk dialogue and move in that regard. i think that will bring stability to the region. >> let me ask you about this. the two-state solution is talked about so much by allies, the united states. saudi arabia wants it. qatar, et cetera. the israelis don't want it. the israeli public doesn't want a two-state solution. netanyahu is not an extremist in that regard. there's very much where the israeli sentiment is at. palestinians according to what we've been hearing don't really want it either right now. there's no trust. there's a, i don't believe that this side is out for, is going

to be good to me. i don't believe the other side is going to be good to me. there is no trust between the israelis and the palestinians right now. there's been so much bloodshed. so much anger. how do you get back to a conversation even about a two-state solution? >> it's difficult. i'm not saying it isn't, but general twitty's right. the question is okay, if not the two-state solution, if it is not feasible, if it is not viable. if people have mistrust. if it can't be done and it's not realistic given political leaderships given their willingness and capabilities, what then? because the palestinians are on the verge of saying you have us, one state, in which we ask for one guiding principle. one man, one vote. >> and the palestinians will outnumber the israelis. >> by one. between the jordan river on the east and mediterranean sea on the west.

okay. let's be practical. you take the two-state model. from the clinton parameters that none of our viewers remember vividly. i'm not going to bore them to death with it. but the clinton parameters were published in december 2000 then in january of 2000 and they summed up what went on, what transpired at camp david which was the farthest israel and the palestinians ever went in terms of the two-state solution. you take that, but change the modalities, the sequencing. there are a lot of ideas out there. it may not necessarily be a palestinian state at the outset. it could be a confederated structure. it could be fed rated with jordan. there could be a nato protect rat like the one in kosovo in the late '90s. it could be a u.n. trusteeship like in rwanda. all i'm saying is there are ways

around that because when mr. netanyahu who you called not an extremist, but he is, he's -- >> i said that was not an extremist position. >> you're right about that. but here's the thing. he's good with diagnosis but when you ask for the prognosis, he's at a loss. >> when you're looking at the trajectory of the israeli public opinion, you've got to take into consideration the birthrate and right now among the ultra orthodox, it's higher than modern israelis. right now, netanyahu is allied with the more extremist wings of the party. he's allied with people who think settlers are doing fine and are going to tolerate or even encourage the violence they're imposing on the west bank. so what is the future of israel? i've heard people really genuinely worry that on the path it's on now, it's going to

become an israel iran. >> you're asking me an end of times question. >> i'm asking a question for people concerned about the future. >> the most worrying development in what you described and i think you described it perfectly and accurately. is the enmeshing, the political enmeshing of the ultra orthodox and the ultranationalists who are the settlers. if they ever comprise a majority then israel is no longer a liberal democracy. in which case, you won't have an iron dome. and you won't have a unit eight 200, which is the equivalent of the -- >> why? >> because there's going to be a brain drain. because no one who's a liberal democrat, you could be conservative but be a generally liberal democrat, this is not the same terminology you use in domestic american politics. a liberal democrat is someone who accepting the liberal democratic model and rules and supremacy of the law.

once, look what the mr. netanyahu did in 2023. he launched and instigated a constitutional coup that took israel away from the democratic model. >> judicial reform. >> what he calls a judicial reform. it's like calling a bank robbery a financial rearrangement. it's not false. but it's not exactly true. my point is what you saw in the last few days in israel's war against hezbollah is the product of israel's cutting edge, scientific, innovating, creative, high-tech minds. they are not going to stay if that is the case. i hope i'm wrong. and i hope we'll never get to that and i believe we won't. i believe we won't. i still have a lot of faith and a lot of confidence in the, in the israeli psyche and the israeli will to succeed here and will to prosper.

palestinian, look, what happens if the palestinian authority tomorrow says we're no longer interested. we're disbanding voluntarily. here with the keys. you own us. you run the shop. what do we do? do we enfranchise them? if we do, we're a minority. if we disenfranchise them, people will say we're an apartheid state. i hate to be in that solution. >> you're saying the only solution is a two-state solution. >> in the long run. it's not the same model that existed 20, 15 years ago. we need to make adjustments. there needs to be an international force. arab force. there needs to be -- >> there also needs to be two people who are willing to compromise and right now, you don't have that with netanyahu and you certainly don't with sinwar, who is in a bunker somewhere and said to be willing to sacrifice all of gaza. >> we don't have that with the palestinian authority. >> let's bring in ambassador

ross, counselor at the washington institute. he was a former special assistant to president obama and the point man for middle east peace for president h.w. bush. by the way, we're also waiting on those briefings. when they begin, we're going to go into which ever one starts first. ambassador, talk to me. we've been having this conversation about the future of israel, what the next steps are. what do you want to weigh in with? >> i guess there are several points i would make. one, i want to be clear. hamas and hezbollah and iran are not in favor of the two-state solution. the value of pursuing two states is that it could be a way to attract the rest of the region around something that they all believe in that you have to address the palestinian problem but we shouldn't confuse ourselves that hamas or hezbollah or iran have any interest in a two-state solution or outcome.

that's point one. point two, having been the principle author of the clint parameters, i think they still offer an outcome. he's right. we probably need a different pathway. and you were also right that we're dealing with two publics that are traumatized. the israel public still is living for them, it's still october 7th. because of the hostages, because of no accountability over october 7th. because there's a fear that when you talk about a palestinian state, it would be led by hamas. palestinians because of the consequences of what happened in gaza are also traumatized and can't imagine if the israelis actually suffered something, too. so we have two traumatized publics who are not capable now of negotiating an outcome. the critical challenge is how do you create a different set of circumstances. you start i think by having both a top down approach, meaning you offer a general vision but you also have to have a bottom up approach where you begin on

functional issues. health, water, environment. begin to show that israelis and palestinians could actually cooperate again. if you do only top down without any substance of concrete realities between the two peoples, no one's going to believe in these broad extractions. if you do broad extractions without anything happening on the ground, no one's going to believe that's the case. there needs to be an approach where both sides have rights and a set of responsibilities. if you tried to create a palestinian state today, it would be a failed state. so you have to deal with what's required there in terms of reform. you have to deal there in terms of what's required of palestinians as it relates to the nature of their identity and narrative. are they about coexistence or resistance? on the israeli side, you have to deal with the nationalists who want to make it impossible to have a palestinian state. it has to be very clear. if you're focused on palestinian

responsibilities, there also need to be israeli responsibilities. we need to take, you asked what can be done. the first thing that has to happen is we have to find a way to end the war. there's very little that can be done until you end the war. the fact that netanyahu would like to have a saudi deal pretty clear by the speech he made at the u.n. is also something that creates a possible lever. >> the saudis got more involved and who knows what conversations are happening on the sidelines. i'm not privy to that. but if the saudis and jordanians, egyptians maybe, and said we'll help you prop up a palestinian, if not a state, then a palestinian structure. in order to get there to be a path for peace. would that help. let's hold that and go to secretary of state blinken. >> with the active support of the united states and other partners, effectively defeated this attack.

we demonstrated our commitment to israel's defense. we remain in contact with the region in the hours and days ahead. on a happier note, let me say what a pleasure it is to welcome my friend. here, i think we've seen just in recent weeks once again the incredible vibrancy, strength, behind the partnership that joins the united states and india. we had prime minister modi here. >> this is an event he had previously scheduled with the indian foreign minister. we're going to cut away but he said that israel has effectively defeated this attack from iran. we believe the white house briefing will be starting in just a couple of minutes. dennis, i will go back to you. ambassador, thank you for sticking by. i'll go back to my question. is saudis, jordanians, egyptians

getting more involved. would that help? >> look, i think the critical issue here is that those arab states that have made peace with israel or states like saudi arabia that might be prepared to make peace with israel especially because they want a defense treaty with the united states, they can in a sense create some leverage. they create a sense of interest for israel. if the prime minister of israel is talking about these two different futures for the region and is a focal of that is a saudi israel deal, it means there is an interest that he has. certainly one of the challenges for netanyahu is their extraordinary military achievements but there are no political outcomes. and one thing that has to happen is how do you take advantage of that hamas is no longer the threat because you've largely removed that. how do you take advantage that you have largely decimated hezbollah as something that has

an organization that will operate and be able to recoup over time, but maybe there's a moment now to establish lebanese sovereignty so hezbollah loses the weight it has. what iran has done is carry out an attack with 181 ballistic missiles. much more than 115 required on the night of april 13th. what you heard secretary blinken say is that we joined with the israelis and basically blunted this. that once again, you have iran trying to demonstrate its power but being ineffectual in doing so. that will add with what's happening with hezbollah. to a saudi stance and others and leaders in the region that they don't need to be as concerned about iranian threats as it might have been. so there is i believe an opening. especially for the united states and others to try to begin to translate changing the reality in lebanon, focusing again on trying to get an end to the war so that if you get an end to the

war, you can produce a saudi israeli deal. >> ambassador, sorry. here is national security adviser jake sullivan. >> against israel that occurred earlier today. i can take just a few questions because this is an ongoing situation and i need to get back to my desk. today, iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards targets in israel. the united states military coordinated closely with the israeli defense forces to help defend israel against this attack. u.s. naval destroyers joined israeli air defense units in firing intercepters to shoot down inbound missiles. president biden and vice president harris monitored the attack and the response from the white house situation room joined in person and remotely by their national security team. we are still working with the idf and the authorities in israel to assess the impact of the attack. but at this time and i stress at this time, we do not know of any deaths in israel.

we are tracking the reported death of a palestinian civilian in jericho in the west bank. we do not know of any damage to aircraft or strategic military assets in israel. in short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated ineffective. the result of the professionalism of the idf but in no small part because of the skilled work of the u.s. military and meticulous joint planning in anticipation of the attack. we are also aware of reports of a terrorist attack in jaffa that took the live of a number of israeli civilians and wounded several others today. our condolences go out to the families of the victims and to the family of the palestinian civilian in jericho. obviously, my update here is based on early reports and we reserve the right to amend and adjust as necessary as we gather more information. the word fog of war was invented for a situation like this. this is a fluid situation.

we will consult with the israelis on next steps. in terms of the response and how to deal with what iran has just done and we will continue to monitor for further threats and attacks from iran and its proxies. we are particularly focused on protecting u.s. service members in the region. with that, i'll take just a few questions. >> thanks, jake. is the administration making any preparations to evacuate u.s. citizens from lebanon or elsewhere in the region? >> we have been very clear for some time now that u.s. citizens should have avail themselves of commercial means to depart lebanon given everything that's going on. we have said that from this podium, from multiple podiums, but we have not begun triggering a non combatant emergency evacuation and do not have an intention to do so at this time. if that changes, we'll let you know, but we'll continue to reenforce the point american citizens in lebanon should follow the guidance from the

state department which is to find civilian commercial means to depart because in extremist, we may not be able to get them out safely. yes. >> thanks, jake. what is the u.s. view on whether israel should retaliate and what is your concern about this lead to be a wider escalation of war in the region? >> we've had some initial discussions with the israelis in the aftermath of this. at the military level and also at the white house prime minister's office level. we'll continue those conversations in the hours ahead. i'm not going to prejudge or get ahead of anything. we want to have some deep consul ation with the israelis and i'll report more after discussions. obviously this is a significant escalation by iran. a significant event and it is equally significant that we were able to step up with israel and create a situation which no one was killed so far as we know at this time. we are now going to look at what

the appropriate next steps are to secure first and foremost american interests and then to promote stability to the maximum extent possible. >> back in april, the president's message to israel was to take the win when they were able to interceps the barrage of missiles. is he recommending a similar response this time? >> i will not from this podium share the president's recommendations. we're going to have ongoing consultations with the israelis this afternoon and this evening. it's too early for me to tell you anything publicly in terms of our assessment or in terms of our expectations of the israelis. >> will he will speaking to prime minister netanyahu today? >> i don't have anything to announce, but i can tell you he is tracking this minute by minute. we are very much deeply in touch with the israelis and in so far as we have calls to read out, we'll read them out to you. last question. >> in april after iran struck israel, the u.s. issued a number

of sanctions as a consequence. this morning, the president said there will be severe consequences if iran carried out this attack. what are those consequences and are they more severe than sanctions? >> totally legitimate question and that answer will come based on the consultations we have with our israeli counterparts. it's too soon for me to give you an answer. what i can tell you is this. we are proud of the actions we've taken alongside israel to protect and defend israel. we have made clear there will be severe consequences for this attack and we will work with israel to make that the case. thank you very much. >> thank you, jake. >> on to the rest of the programming here. this morning, president biden was briefed by his homeland security adviser on the latest impacts of helene. >> jake sullivan national security adviser saying that

they are in close contact with the israelis on what they might do next. when the idf and israeli leaders are looking at the options in front of him for what they could do in retaliation to save face at the least, what are those options? >> to begin with, there's no reason to retaliate because the iranian attack -- >> is already a retaliation. >> for what israel did, which is a retaliation. this is exactly the spiral of escalation that is endless and is prone to miscalculation or amenable to a miscalculations. >> israel can fire missiles, too. israel can bombard. there are two things that are escalatory. iran's nuclear program and iran's oil terminals.

i doubt israel is seriously considering attacking either of those because that would inevitably involve the u.s. and i don't think israel has an interest and certainly the u.s. does not have an interest in that. so if i were israel now, i would say no harm done. we proved that we can intercept those. iran should be careful in the future. because they know what we can do, but we choose not to exercise that option right now. but that's laboratory conditions. politicians don't -- >> it's like after april when the u.s. said to the israelis consider it a win. you got all the projectiles. consider it a win. we're going to short break and be back with you at the top of the hour. don't go anywhere. p of the hour don't go anywhere. cordless outdoor power, brings you the ego power+ blower. reaching an incredible 765 cfm, it's more powerful than gas.

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