>> ayman mohyeldin above tahrir square for us tonight, ayman, thanks. >>> also in the middle east today, they took an extraordinary step to investigate an old rumor. they dug up the body of yasser arafat to see if he had been poisoned, and they're conducting tissue samples all over the world now to find out. we get our report from our veteran middle eastern correspondent martin fletcher in ramallah. >> reporter: a grim day in ramallah, yasser arafat was reburied today after scientists took samples from his remains, seeking an answer to the mystery that began with his death eight years ago. was he murdered? palestinians may soon have an answer. labs in russia, france and switzerland will conduct separate tests of bone samples taken today. muslim clerics gave permission to open his grave. it was a delicate process kept out of sight. >> it was important for the palestinians to emphasize that no foreign hands touched the remains of yasser arafat, only the palestinians touched him. a matter of honor. the last time arafat was seen in public he flew to a paris hospital age 75 and sick. three w

. >>> martin fletcher, we want to go back to gaza now, nbc's ayman mohyeldin has been reporting from all over the arab world for most of the last ten years. has more tonight on how the old conflict is playing out, against the recent backdrop. ayman mohyeldin, i know we're fighting the satellite delay , but how has it changed from what we're seeing right now? >> reporter: well, brian, a few years ago it would have been unheard of for any egyptian official or any arab leader to come into gaza while the fighting happened first, egypt's foreign minister, others, the youth activists who came to deliver supplies, much-needed goods and to show political support to the palestinians in their fight. now, that has made the united states and israel worry that perhaps a ground invasion could inflame some of the protests we've seen in the capitols perhaps they're holding off precisely because of that new reality here. and of course, the talks taking place in egypt, that is a very big test for morsi. if he succeeds in working with the truce, it could show that egypt is once again playing a role in

nbc's ayman moyheldin joins us with the latest. ayman, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. authorities are bracing for what could be the fifth day of violent clashes erupting between those who oppose president morsi and those who support him. now, over the past several days, we've seen some intense clashes. many of those protesters targeting the offices of the freedom and justice party, the organization that president mohamed morsi is politically affiliated with. now, the anger stems from the decree that president morsi issued. that degree gave him the ability to legislate powers without any type of judicial review. the president says you have to take those measures because egypt's judiciary is full of remnants of the old regime and pro-mubarak-appointed judges. that's why according to him there's a slow transition to democracy. the other opponents of this decree are saying that president morsi is doing nothing than simply grabbing more power and reverting the country to dictatorship. human rights organizations have exp

our report from nbc's ayman mohyeldin in cairo. >> reporter: a day of mourning across egypt, in cairo, thousands paid respects to a protester killed by police. and in alexandria, a funeral for the member of the muslim brotherhood, just fifteen years old. both were victims of the riots that broke out after president morsy gave himself sweeping new powers. it ignited a wave of protests among them, and loyal supporters fighting in the streets. the muslim brotherhood were to blame, we elected them, thought they would lift us up, but they threw us to the ground. i will never vote for them again in my life, this woman says, many believe that morsy over-reached, and he moved quickly to oversee the damage, meeting tonight with egypt's judicial council, claiming tonight he would limit the scope of his powers. morsy supporters say he had to act to reign in egypt's powerful judges. >> every time we approached the shore of the transition, somebody would sink the boat. that somebody, thus far has been the court of egypt, and hosni mubarak led and politically managed courts. >> reporter: egypt's ju

nbc's ayman mohyeldin has been able to make his way into gaza city tonight. he was able to file this report a short time ago as this conflict you're about to see took on much more of the appearance of a shooting war. >> reporter: well, you can hear the sounds of the explosions behind me, brian. it is an indication that the israeli operation is continuing well into the night. and that really is what has th people here very much anxious, very much nervous. it has been like this for the past several hours. there is no indication it will let up. in fact, they're bracing for the possibility of a ground invasion in the coming days. it has sent shock waves throughout the people, as the people try to prepare for what could be a very dangerous period for the people here. ayman mohyeldin, inside gaza city on another dicey night there, thank you >>> back in this country, back to the story we have been covering for days, general david petraeus, he is talking about the scandal that forced him to quit his job as cia director. and now, the startling news is the cia is inves

. >>> we have reporters on both sides of the conflict and we begin with nbc news' ayman my yell d mohyeldin. >> reporter: palestinian factions and medical sources are not making any doubt as to who is responsible for this violation of the ceasefire. the israeli military says it may not have confirmed it killed anyone but no doubt after speaking to the family of the victim as well as the sources here on the ground there has been one person killed as a result of that attack. now according to palestinians, this was in their eyes their right to go to the territory which is a no go zone between israel and the gaza border, an area that is a popular farm area. a lot of people have farmlands in the area. for them they normally go out there. israel has impose that had no go zone where they don't allow palestinians to enter. there was some misunderstanding from the perspective of palestinians who thought that after the truce they would be allowed to go back there in an area considered gaza territory. as they approached the fence, the israeli military opened fire on them and that's what led to the kil

we want to get more from nbc correspondent, ayman mohyeldin, who joins me from gaza. you reached out to the egyptian authorities about what's taking place, when this deal will be announced. what are you hearing about the possibility of that happening this hour? >> well, right now what we're hearing from egyptian officials is that they're still working to finalize that agreement. there are some areas where the gap between the two sides has been narrowed, but there are still some very important issues that have not been addressed. you know, we are talking about trying to solve one of the most complex issues here in gaza. that has to be do with the blockade. there's no indication that israel will try to do that any time soon. they want to try to divide or break up the truce into different stages. first, an immediate cessation of violence on both sides. that could pave the way for talking about some of the more complex issues that both sides want to address. right now, it doesn't seem they're going to go for all of those issues. egyptian officials indicate they're working

i'm not sure that ayman can hear us. we have a satellite delay. can we talk about the diplomacy from the standpoint of hamas and the muslim brotherhood? >> yeah. andrea, these talks have been now under the auspices of the egyptian government but more specifically under the au spis sis of intelligence officials. they can meet with israel and the palestinian factions. it's unlikely that president m mahmoud morsi was going to sit down with any envoys. he will be heading back to cairo tomorrow to meet with hillary clinton. egyptian officials involved or familiar with them have been telling nbc news this is unlikely to be a long-term truce. this is more likely to be a cessation of hostilities in the short term to pave the way for longer discussions about the fundamental issues as to why this persistent problem keeps coming up, the siege on gaza, rockets into southern israel and outstanding issues. what we can say so far is that all indications suggest that there will be a truce at some point. palestinian factions here say they are open to it. they say

ayman mohyeldin thank you for your reporting from gaza. stay safe. >>> after the break, loopholes, brackets, increased revenue. are democrats and republicans ready to come to the table and make a deal? we will talk to luke russert and martin bashir about getting a piece of the tax pie, next on "now." ♪ [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. medicare open enrollment. time to compare plans and costs. you don't have to make changes. but it never hurts to see if you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive benefits you get after the health care law. ♪ open enrollment ends december 7th. so now's the time. visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-medicare. za. >>> could you see yourself supporting a plan for raising tax rates? >> i'm not for raising tax rates. >> i don't want to get into negotiating with the media but i do not support raising tax rates. >> period? >> i've been saying that my entire career. >> that's the man tapped to be the gop's point person to work out a fiscal cliff deal with democrats and

nbc's ayman mohyeldin has more tonight. in gaza >> reporter: good evening, brian, 48 hours after it went into effect, a fragile cease-fire is being put into effect. on friday, israeli troops shot and killed a palestinian man, injuring close to 20 others ,the men were protesting along the palestinian side of the gaza-israeli border. the government prohibits them to approach the fence. they are currently investigating what happened. but the zone eats up the palestinian land, critical for the farmers who for years have been unable to work their fields because of israel's restrictions. despite what the palestinians say is a violation of the cease-fire they don't intend to retaliate or escalate the situation. and they are still committed to the success of the truce they will, however, file a complaint with the egyptian government that brokered it, brian? >> ayman mohyeldin, in gaza for us. >>> and back in this country, late news we're following. they were in the middle of evacuating part of downtown springfield, massachusetts to

ayman, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. egypt's stock market opened for a second straight day, and it plunged already by 4%. now, that's already a day after it lost 10%, and officials there had to stop trading just to prevent it from declining any further. that's the economic turmoil this country finds itself in. there are tons of other political and social unrest unfolding across the egyptian capital, cairo. a short while from now, mourners are going to be praying for one of the victims, and they'll be burying him as well as another one that died in clashes overnight. as a result, egypt's president says he's going to hold meetings today with some of the country's top officials, including the judges who, over the past few days, have called for nationwide strikes. right now they and several other important unions including journalists and revolutionary group movements have been angered by the president's decision to assume more power including legislative powers and the ability for him to not be under any type of judicial re

as ayman said this is the 300 yard no go area israel declared several years ago when israel was worried militants were putting land mines in that area. that's why it's a no go area in that place. so the israelis say they fired warning shots to scare the palestinians away. they fired three times in the air. when that didn't work they -- there was more shooting. the israelis have not confirmed they killed anybody. and they're saying this is no the a cease-fire violation. it's one of the events that have been occurring up and down the border for a long time and they don't see it as part of the cease-fire situation. rather, an attempt to control an unruly palestinian crowd. that's what the israelis are saying. craig? >> nbc's martin fletcher from tel aviv for us this afternoon, thank you much, sir. appreciate that. >>> back here the obama administration continues to try to bring peace to the region. hostilities broke out, president obama dispatched his top diplomat hillary clinton, to calm tensions on wednesday in cairo. she, of course announced that cease-fire standing alongside her egypti

>> thanks, ayman. let's bring in our experts to talk more about this. the managing director of the washington institute and former senior director for middle east affairs at the national security council, jeffrey goldberg and robin wright is a senior fellow and distinguished scholar at the wilson center, and she just returned from the region. i would add robin is a former kol he colleague of mine at the "washington post." i'm thrilled the three of you are here. three people who can tell us the meat of what's going on. robin, you were just there. both chuck and ayman indicated signs are moving in a direction of a ceasefire, but both were also cautious to say, look, you know, nothing is declared until everything is declared in that regard. does that jive with what you know coming out of there? >> i think everybody wants to see an end to the hostilities. the real problem is does this open the way for significant diplomacy? no ceasefire will last unless both sides deal with the realities. the palestinians have lived under conditions they think are unaccepta

ayman mohyeldin has the latest. is this calming down at all, ayman?concessions so there was a thought, perhaps, from morsi supporters that the protesters would begin to back down. doesn't seem so. >> well, you know, when we've been speaking to the people here in tahrir square and it boils down to an issue of trust. everyone here behind me will tell you they don't trust president mohamed morsi and the muslim brotherhood. they've experienced their rule in parliament and as a president and don't trust the words of the president. that's what we saw last night, president mohamed morsi coming out with a decree or statement following the decree controversial on thursday, came out after meeting with some of the judges saying he was going to use his new powers narrowly. the people think this is an attempt by the president and muslim brotherhood to take control of not only the presidency but all institutions of the country and circumvent the judiciary. that's why people behind me have gathered in the tens of thousands, still protesting. the numbers are still in

nbc's richard engel, stephanie gosk and ayman mohyeldin are in the region reporting the latest from gaza to tel aviv. first richard engel in gaza, what is the latest from your vantage point and on the cease-fire negotiations? >> we are hearing that there are serious cease-fire negotiations going on right now. when you're on the ground here in gaza it doesn't exactly feel that way. there have been many air strikes today, a media building was killed. israel is sort of -- [ inaudible ] on hamas leader or one palestinian militant at a time. sources who are involved in the israeli/palestinian negotiations working toward a cease-fire, these talks taking place in cairo have told nbc news they are serious, that they are making progress and that this is how the negotiations stand right at this moment. the israelis want a two-part deal, a two-stage deal. the first part would be an immediate hostility, immediate cessation of violence, both sides stop attacking each other. that would be unconditional. then israel would want to move to a second stage where the two sides, israel and the palestinians,

for the latest nbc's stephanie gosk joins us and ayman mohyeldin. a report of a tel aviv bus explosion. is there any indication that the israelis now are looking at possibly having a short-term truce or want to hold out long er for a longer deal? >> reporter: well, we don't have a truce. there's a lot of talk yesterday that there would be one, and then this morning, today around lunch time this bus attack. and what we know about it so far is that they're saying it's a terrorist attack, it's not a suicide attack. we were down there earlier today and the security officials were very nervous. they were pushing us back. they thought maybe there were more explosives on the bus. it turned out there weren't. this tactic will be very familiar to people in this city and around israel. it was used about a decade ago frequently all over the kcountr during the second intefadeh but they haven't had an attack like this in israel since 2004 and there hasn't been a terrorist attack on the ground here in tel aviv since 2006. all of this happens amongst all the fever

ayman, you and i spoke about 30, 40 minutes ago.action right now from the gaza strip and hamas of the buildup of troops on the other side, on the israeli side. what's been the reaction so far? >> reporter: late last evening, hamas' military wing held a press conference in which they highlighted some of the achievements, as they called them, from the past several days of fighting, in terms of shooting down an israeli drone and attacking soldiers on the border. unable for us to really very if i them. you can probably hear the sound in the background. you'll hear the thumping sound in a second. >> yeah. >> reporter: that's the sound -- there's another round. that's the sound of the israeli navy firing into gaza city, where we are. those loud crashing sounds are the shells as they hit the actual city. back to your question about hamas and what they say. they've been saying that they're prepared for a ground war. they don't want a ground war, but they say if, indeed, israel invades the gaza strip, they're prepared to defend themselves an

. >> ayman, thank you, reporting from gaza. martin fletcher is standing by now in tel aviv. what's the feeling there today 20 hours after the cease-fire? are people feeling good about this? describe that. >> reporter: to be honest, alex, i don't think people are feeling too bad about it. i think they are very, very glad that the ground invasion did not take place for 30,000 army reservists. another 45,000 ready to be caught up, if necessary. they are very happy to avoid the invasion and the loss of life. and there is a sense here that we wouldn't have achieved much because the only way is this solution to israel's point of view is through peace or through a mighty knockout blow against the islamic militant organization in gaza. that is not going to happen neither will the former. so it is a stalemate situation on both sides and the short-term solution now, the band-aid of a temporary cease-fire, is seeing the sight that cannot be enforced in the long-term. we are waiting for something else to happen in the near future. alex? >> some of the reservists, we know they are being

>> how are the hospitals holding up, ayman?had a chance to visit some hospitals, gaza's infrastructure, its health infrastructure, it's facilities are poorly run. despite the best of their abilities. their doctors haven't been able to travel in recent years because of the siege. getting medicine in is at the discretion of the military. there are international organizations that are operating here, but no doubt that overall condition of gaza's infrastructure has been under strain over the last several years. the problem is with an intensification of violence, possibly even a ground invasion there's going to be an influx of casualties and what we've heard from health officials in the past is gaza's hospitals and clinics are not equipped to deal with the numbers they've seen in previous incursions. >> ayman. >>> now a spokesperson for the palestine liberation organization. thank you for being with us today. i want to start with this question for you. what do you believe it will take for hamas to stop the missile attacks into south

i want to ask ayman mohyeldin to brief us on what's happening in gaza. they had a terrible night in terms of the effect on the people, people who had already been moved into centers close in on the city so a lot of displaced people, don't know if they're returning to their homes, as well as the fact that we did see gazaens celebrating that tel aviv bus bombing? >> well, there's no doubt about that. there's going to be a sigh of relief here among many people who over the past several days, not only have had to deal with the tremendous amount of hardship, but also were very much afraid of a possible ground invasion and what that could mean for them, their communities, their livelihoods. there was no doubt earlier today with that explosion in tel aviv and more importantly the claiming of and the celebration by hamas and other palestinian factions that people here were really nervous that was going to be a triggering mechanism for that ground invasion. so there was a sense of apprehension throughout the day that this deal was slipping by the hour. there's no

>> all right, ayman, many thanks from that. to gaza to israel and tel aviv. special correspondent martin fletcher is joining us. martin, with a good friday to you. let's talk about what israeli forces have done having announced they've made several arrests in wednesday's bus bombing there in tel aviv. what's the latest you're hearing on that? >> reporter: yeah, alex, there was a great deal of concern when the bomb went off ruining 11 people. the fear was that this could have been the beginning of a new round of terrorist attacks but that doesn't seem to be the case. the israelis announcing the arrest of one person, an israeli arab, from the town of taiba. they say he put the bomb on the bus and then got off the bus and then, being part of a unit, he call his commander and said the bomb is on the bus. this is all information israelis released after init ter gating him. he then called his commander and said the bomb is on the bus. the commander using his cell phone dialed a number and the bomb went off. that may be one reason why so few were hurt, it was done b

policy in the middle east. >> ayman, we'll be checking in with you all day, i imagine.hanks very much. >>> moving back to the domestic side of politics, senate republicans have elected their leaders for the 113th congress. and, boy, do the faces look familiar because they are. out of the six top leaders, five leaders, and the chair of the senate campaign committee, there's just one new face. john cornyn has been promoted to replace retiring senator conless. and elected wednesday as vice chair of the republican conference, he's also a member of the senate committee. senator, good morning. >> good morning. >> let me ask you, around the leadership front, you've been around this house a long time. and you around the republicans when they got ais shellacking i 2006. should leadership have taken on more water, if you will? should there be fresher faces brought in to respond to what was a messaging campaign that didn't work? >> well, i think most of our leadership is relatively new. i've been in the leadership a year. the two job above me have only held those junes for a year.

you heard ayman refer to that happening today alone. many rockets fired into israel have been intercepted by the country's missile defense system. it is known as the iron dome. nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk joins me from tel aviv. this missile defense that we talk so much about, stephanie, is significant in many ways. it kept down the loss of life, which certainly would have escalated this crisis far faster than what we're seeing. >> reporter: yeah. it gives them some breathing room. if there was a rocket that landed here in tel aviv that killed a number of people or killed even more people down south besides the three that were killed in one attack, you'd be in a different situation. there would be more public pressure. right now you have tens of thousands troops waiting for the order to go in, and israel's in a position where they could call that order, depending on public pressure and where they see this offensive going. the difficulty going into gaza as apresident obama talked about over the weekend would be an increase in c

. >>> from there we head to gaza where we find ayman mull had a dean.oes it threaten to stabilize the delicate questionable cease fire that he's supposed to help oversee? >> reporter: well, in the short term, not necessarily. you will see and hear from people that would make the argument that egypt's stability in having tranquil domestic stability inside egypt is paramount for egypt to play the role that it can play in the region. when we saw in the past week egypt rise to the forefront of mediating between israel and the palestinian factions, it was because egypt at that particular point was not -- president morrissey's hand to put leverage on them. it's a political organization from which mohammed morsi comes from. stability will have long term and regional implications for all of the issues. but in terms of immediate truce, right now it is about what's happening on the ground be in gaza and right now that is not necessarily directly linked. >> all right, everyone. we were listening there to nbc's ayman and we're taking satellite hits. this conflict i

nbc's ayman is in gaza with the latest. over to you. >> reporter: well, good afternoon.ld probably have heard that sound 45 seconds ago of a loud israeli explosion. there's no truce going into effect tonight. that's not only a reality here on the ground with drones flying above and fighter jets pounding the gaza strip for a seventh consecutive night. hamas officials have also confirmed there will be no signing of a truce this evening. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton is in israel. she's meeting with israeli officials. people are hoping a truce that was reached tentatively could be announced publicly on wednesday. as of right now, though, it's going to be another long night of bombardments and palestinian rocket fire into southern israel. people are bracing themselves for what could be another deadly night here in the gaza strip. >> all right, ayman. thank you so much. the world watching how the events unfold in israel. bank of israel governor stan fischer is with me now with reaction. good to have you on the program. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, maria. >>

joining me now ayman and stephanie gosk. what's the latest from there, aym ayman?> reporter: right now we'll start with the diplomatic front, if you will. right now there are negotiations taking place in cairo between egypt, egyptian intelligence officials, including senior leaders of the palestinian faction. they are trying to come up with a loose plan. they are still some sticking points whether or not that would be agreed upon but there are positive signs as it has been described by egypt's prime minister in an interview he gave to news agency in cairo. meanwhile, here inside gaza, operations are still ongoing. the israeli air force has carried out dozens of strikes across the gaza strip. palestinian rockets have gone off from gaza into southern israel. there is that incident you referred to yesterday on sunday there was an israeli air strike that targeted one residential building in which 12 people were inside. ten of those from a single family including four children. israel says that house belonged to a leading member of hamas and the campaign over the past s

nbc's ayman joins us now. instead of the leader whose letter begins with 346 but it's not mubarak we're talking about, it's morsi. what's going on today? >> reporter: well, you're right. that's what the people here in tahrir square have been telling us, that they've replaced one dictator for another and, in fact, you can't really emphasize this enough. it's all about a domino effect here in egypt. let's start with the most developing news and that is a cairo court has agreed to hear a lawsuit by 60 lawyers for that decree he issued on thursday. this is precisely the problem morsi says he is facing day in and day out. every time he tries to take a decision, it gets bogged down in a jew dish ary he says is corrupted and full of remnants of the old regime. that's what led him to issue this decree and why his supporters are saying this is good for the revolution. the problem is for a country of 80 million people coming out of 30 years of the mubarak dicta dictatorship, they don't trust anyone telling them, trust m

ayman al zawahiri who replaced bin laden after killed by the navy seals to capitalize on the death ofweakness in the region. they were defeated in iraq and they are withdrawing from afghanistan, they said. their ambassador in benghazi was killed and the flags of their embassies were lowered in cairo and. that's a reference flags being torn down and banners black flags. the black banner is a symbol of more than al qaeda but a broader political ambition to establish an islamic state. >> various countries, in to your knowledge, in libya, in egypt and also in yemen they perceive the attack in benghazi not just as a victory for them. a successful one and a mullah for -- model for future attacks. >> analysts say it takes six weeks for the leader to respond to make news events. this is put down to his news security. he knows bin laden's undoing was a courier who relayed these audio and video messages to the web; >> shepard: catherine herridge in washington tonight. attack in benghazi, fox news has learned the house intelligence committee is planning to hold a hearing next week but that heari

i want to say to what ayman was saying about the declaration of victory in gaza. the path for victory for hamas is very, very low, and the path for victory for israel is very, very high. israel has much higher demands, a complete stop to all rockets firing. >> interesting in the balance you point out there. let me ask you quickly, martin, with regard to getting those rockets, i mean, this iron dome, that did a heck of a job intercepting the rockets that were launched, didn't it? >> it really did. rafael industries who made it, it's actually an israeli built weapon with american money. they say they knocked out to 90% of the rockets fired in the urban centers. it calculates where the rocket is going to land and it just ignores it. if it's going to hit somebody, it knocks it out. 54 rockets did get through. they knocked out 420. and landed harmless, most landed harmlessly. a tremendous success. but it's a defensive weapon, it's a band-aid. it doesn't solve any problems. it just defends the israeli lives, which is, of course, a big deal right there. >> absolutely. le

ayman thank you for that. let's get some perspective on the crisis. to do that i'm joined by colonel jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst. and colonel, with reports of israeli troops amassing along the border there, they can move within an hour's notice, is there a danger this is going to turn into a ground assault? >> oh, sure. we only have to remember when israel invaded lebanon, southern lebanon not long ago and that turned out to be a big mess, because it was a poor-planned, even more poorly executed. this is much more difficult. people's vision of gaza is that it's this desert and so on. no. as ayman said it's 1.5 million people, all packed into an urban area. extremely difficult ter plain which to maneuver. very, very hard to fight in. and if israel goes in there it's liable to be quite a mess. so i think although it's always possible this could turn into a wider conflict on the ground, israel is probably going to think about restraining. >> okay. we have positioned the warship "iwo jima" somewhere nearby. what extent would the united states get

nbc's ayman mulhedian has the report. >> reporter: tens of thousands of egyptians are expected to pourto the tahrir square on thursday demanding president morsi rescind a decree that gave him sweeping new powers, particularly the ability to legislate without any judicial review. outside the u.s. embassy, r rioters clashed. now president morsi has defended his decision saying he had to take the measure because of judicial interference. he said the egypt judicial is full of remnants of the old regime and not allowing him to get anything done in the country. organizations have been concerned that morsi and his muslim brotherhood are trying to usurp power in the country. it has left hundreds of people injured and a few deaths. officials in cairo are concerned about growing confrontations. arriva reporting for nbc news, cairo. >>> meantime in the west bank, scientists are studying the remains of yasser arafat. looking for more clues on the actual cause of his death. arafat died in 2004 after suddenly becoming ill on what was initially caused by a stroke. the investigation was sparked over f

ayman mohyeldin, gaza. >>> back here at home tributes are pouring in for an icon of american television for decades. larry hagman achieved worldwide fame playing the villainous oil baron j.r. ewing on the prime time soap "dallas." he died yesterday in dallas surrounded by family and friends and nbc's kristen dahlgren takes a look back at his life and career. >> reporter: for a time he was the most famous actor in the world, the subject of the biggest cliffhanger ever. [ gunshot ] the question, who shot j.r. catapulted larry hagman into tv history. for more than a decade hagman was the character audiences couldn't get enough of, the wicked, scheming j.r. ewing. the 81-year-old was reprising his role as j.r. in the tnt reboot of "dallas." you're not a kinder, gentler version of yourself? >> hardly. >> reporter: along with family his co-stars were at his side when hagman died in a dallas hospital friday, finally succumbing to the throat cancer he had been battling. in a statement, nbc co-star linda gray said "larry hagman was my best friend for 35 years. he was a pied piper of life and bro

. >> ayman mohyeldin, thank you very much. >>> we want to go to the mayor of jerusalem. he joins us live from jerusalem over the phone. we want to thank you for the time joining us. we just mentioned the secretary of stated spending there with prime minister netanyahu in jerusalem yet, working to broker some kind of a deal, a cease-fire. how confident are you that this can even happen? >> it's very clear that it's short-term since the leadership of the hamas believes, like osama bin laden and al qaeda in death and destruction and their charter is to destroy israel. it's difficult to broker a deal with somebody that wants to kill you and they're not changing their charter. the challenge here is how do we make sure the hamas leadership understands that their motivation should be zero, very negative motivation to try and shoot indiscriminate fire on israeli civilians. >> so how far are you prepared to go? if you're saying a cease-fire can't be agreed on if their motivation is anything but zero, how far are you prepared to go and are you prepared for the repercussions based

joining us now, nbc's eamon ayman in gaza. >> reporter: according to israeli military, more than 100 hit the gaza strip. this morning palestinian officials say the death toll from the past seven days has now reached 115 palestinians. nearly a third of them children. earlier this morning, four killed, two brothers and a father killed in an incident that pushed that death toll up to 115. all of this happening against a back drop of continuing violence. palestinian factions were still able to fire at least 50 rockets into israel in the past 14 hours. an indication their capacity to fight back has not necessarily been diminished by the nonstop aerial bombardment over the past seven days. all of this coming against the back drop of diplomatic activity in the region, as you mentioned. the big test here is going to be not only about bringing the two sides together, but who is going to guarantee the success of this? one big issue israel wants is it wants mohamed morsi to personally vouch for the success of this deal, to personally vouch for hamas. at the same time hamas is asking for united

dividing communities or is a perfectly fair free speech to discuss this and more it was joined by ayman al sayyid co-founder of existence is resistance i began by asking his thoughts on the ads calling their campaign islam a real islam. i think that's for trying to justify does research again it is considered a misnomer for big extremely racist divisive trying to instigate hatred of muslim americans and muslims around the world and it's really disturbing that they're back up again you know she may have a right to free speech and the put them up but we have to acknowledge that it's hate speech now how do you think that the ads target extremists because that's what pamela gallagher has sad. interviews in the past or do you think they target muslims as a whole i think they're targeting muslims as a whole. anybody you may even look like they're from the middle east who aren't because racists. start hitting on a group of people they're going to target you based on your how you look just like they do with the sikh community that was shot by this racist pages when the shot of the sikh temple s

ayman, has hamas taken action since condemning the man's death? >> reporter: they've publicly condemned it and what we understand from palestinian factions, they plan on sending a written complaint to the egyptian government in cairo. tgs the egyptian government that brokered that truce. they do feel a sense of responsibility to preserve it. so hamas and others feel it is the government of egypt's responsibility to relay this violation as they describe it to the israeli government and let it be noted that it was israel who violated the cease fire first. they are saying there are no plans to escalate the situation but are asking the egyptian government to make note of the deadly attack and -- why israel should not be trusted when it comes to any type of peace negotiations, for their part the family of the man killed today and palestinian -- protest took place on the palestinian side of the fence and it was on that area that palestinian farmland that many families have tried to access over the last several years and didn't access in the past because

palestinians are bracing for another round of israeli air strikes, as nbc's ayman reports last-minute efforts for peace have failed. >> reporter: egypt's prime minister has wrapped up a visit to the gaza strip that many people had hoped would bring a lull to the violence that has plagued the gaza strip since wednesday. there were people here and in israel perhaps that were hoping the president would broker a troop. that did not happen. shortly after he left there was an intensification of rocket fire, followed by rket fire from the israeli air force. and that certainly has exacerbated the situation here on the ground. meanwhile, palestinians are bracing themselves for yet another night of what is expected to be severe israeli bombardme bombardment. one thing we've been seeing time and time again is gaza is densely populated. even when israel tries to carry out precision strikes as it claims, it ends up affecting the civilian population who bears a bankrupt of the air strikes. so people are very much concerned that in the coming days, the situation could worsen. they say that the fact

he has close ties to al-qaeda leader ayman al-zawahiri. >> i think we are going to find out that jamalmuch more active internationally across, not just in libya and egypt but elsewhere. network is involved in really exploring terrorism throughout the middle east. >> u.s. officials believe jamal established training camps in libya and in the camps that some of the fighters linked to the attack were trained. >> there are dozens of suspects. this flies in the face of what the administration told us, a mob and video that got out of control. >> with three congressional hearings scheduled next week, this letter from the house foreign affairs committee to secretary clinton underscoring growing complaints from lawmakers that "we are receiving more information from the press than from the administration." >> i just know it's been very difficult to get any information out of them at all. ever since september 11. >> asked about a specific report that classified cables available for two days this week while most senators are out of town, state department spokeswoman insist they're trying to comply

. >> a ayman, thank you so much. appreciate it. from the middle east to back home. let's take a look at what is happening this hour. the president will land in new york city within the next 30 minutes, where he will tour the damage done by superstorm sandy. he will be greeted by andrew cuomo and governor bloomberg. and there are two closed door meetings on the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. one is taking place with the house intelligence committee and the the other with the house foreign affairs committee. there are new developments on the david petraeus front. testimony from members of congress will be happening. the general is set to brief the house intelligence committee tomorrow and likely the senate intelligence committee as well. now the defense secretary leon panetta came out ordering an investigation of legal and ethical issues among military leaders. the president giving his first remarks yesterday on the scandal that prompted the president to resign. >> we're safer because of the work that dpaifd petraeus has done, and my main hope right

. >> now joining me is ayman javers. you have two comments. saying they don't know any rich republican who wouldn't be willing to put more money on the table. i have to ask you about the president's strategy brifg in business leaders. this is a smart strategy and getting some of those people that many aassume would support romney and maybe donated to him, wall street fellows, who could be helpful to the president now. >> there's a big movement among some business leaders to push for any deal on the fiscal cliff between now and the end of the year. although they worry about the prospect of increased taxes, they're worried about the prospect over the fiscal cliff and the damage to the u.s. economy. there are business groups raising money to run tv ads, for example, pushing for congress to come to a deal here. so the president has an ally there in some business folks that he maybe didn't have on the campaign trail now that attention is turning to this fight. it's simply good politics for the president to meet with the progressive folks and the ce

he has close ties to al qaeda's leader ayman al zir i had. >> i think we are going to find out that jamaljust libya and egypt but also elsewhere and his network is involved in exporting terrorism all throughout the middle east. >> u.s. officials tell fox jamal established training camps in libya. some of these camps that linked the attack were trained. administration critics say the pool of suspects from libya, to your knowledge, egypt and even one from al qaeda and iraq is more evidence of premeditation and not a flash mob, shep. >> catherine herridge in washington. president obama said to become the first sitting u.s. president to visit the southeast asian president of burma. confirmed the historic trip. comes after civilian government took power in burma last year ending five decades of military rule. the white house says president obama will meet with the burmese president and opposition leader and that president obama hopes the visit will encourage burma's ongoing democratic transition. some human rights activists say that country's military is still a pressing ethnic and religious m

it does seem to be what ayman said which is people testing the limits of what has happened. a cease fire certainly raises a possibility that things have changed. it may have been smarter for the police to keep the people away from the border because from israel's point of view it's a sensitive, volatile moment. they don't want more firing across the fence. they want to keep things as they are. each side's investment at the moment, hamas and the israeli's, is to keep the cease fire working. they want it to work. i don't think there's any sense that anybody wants to instigate a breakdown of the cease fire. >> gentlemen, thank you so much. >>> well, despite what we've been hearing, there are few in the region expecting the cease fire to last very long. who exactly is in charge of enforcing the truce and what qualifies as a violation of that truce? joining me is jim frederick and yousef manera. hello, guys. thank you so much for being here. i want to ask you, jim, first, what is it that constitutes a violation of the cease fire? >> well, firing constitutes a violation of cease f

nbc's stephanie gosk in tel aviv, ayman mohyeldin in gaza, am bass tore to the united states, michaeln, former ambassador to israel and james zogby founder of the arab-american institute. >> moments ago in cairo, secretary of state hillary clinton and egypt's foreign minister announced a cease-fire which will begin they say at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. >> the people of this region deserve the chance to live free from fear and violence and today's agree

nbc news foreign correspondent ayman is gaza. it was thought both jerusalem and tel aviv were out of range for gaza rockets, so how does this change things? >> reporter: well, it definitely has a lot of significant implications on the ground for these developments. one, it really raises questions about the ongoing military operation. early on the israelis said that they had destroyed a significant portion of hamas's ability to fire long-range rockets and more importantly they said with the assassination or killing of the topham mass comma-- top hamas a fired rockets into israel hitting two of the most sensitive places of israel. essentially a game changer, and it's recharging the cal lags, if you will, for israeli officials who have deployed thousands of troops along the border. some anticipate this could be the precise moment there could be a ground invasion to suppress that rocket fire. more importantly, it's going to have a humanitarian toll on the he people of gaza. it's densely populated. when it invades gaza, civilians have