really cemented the new relationship between the united states and the new egyptian president, mahmoud morsi. "the new york times" is reporting that morsi and the president spoke three times in one day, six times over a couple days. and the president told aides he was impressed with the leader's pragmatic confidence. so do you think, andy, this relationship can make a difference in the region? >> without a doubt. egypt is a linchpin for trying to achieve some kind of lasting peace in the middle east. when president mahmoud morsi was elected in june, coming out of the muslim brotherhood party, there were a lot of concerns in the u.s. about the direction of egypt as an ally, whether they would be a reliable partner in the kinds of negotiations that we just saw this past week. morsi seems to have walked a very fine line, but so far succeeded. on the one hand he acted as a proxy for hamas in the peace talks with the united states, and on the other hand. he -- egypt and morsi stood by their 30-year peace agreement with israel, and it's a balancing account for president morsi. and president obama

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 nothing has been signed. they don't mind having a short-term truce. so long as egypt will guarantee the fundamental issues of the bigger problems of gaza are addressed and not kicked down the road. i think that's something that martin suggested. there are a lot of fund mental issues that need to be resolved. no indication all of those have been addressed in the short-term cessation of h

she landed in tel aviv and met with benjamin netanyahu, and later she will meet with mahmoud abbas and president morsi in israel. what are you hearing about the talks with netanyahu? >> they met about two hours with netanyahu, the defense minister, foreign minister, national security team. they spent two hours going over what's being released. the state department says she was briefed on the israeli position on all these issues. she wants to see a deescalation of what's going on, she uses the word a calm. they are avoiding the word cease-fire for right now but throughout the day, there is speculation coming from hamas and egyptian officials that they were close to a cease-fire. israelis downplaying the possibility. saying they weren't there until they actually had an agreement. there's no agreement, and if anything, there's an intensification of the shelling of southern israel today by hamas and the intensification of the israeli attacks in gaza. witnessed on what you have seen over the last hour or two in gaza city, the negotiations will continue tomorrow. the negotiations will continue tomorrow, hil

broker a cease-fire with all the fighting in the middle east. >>> egyptian president mohamed morsi and mahmoudn to try to negotiate a cease-fire. >>> we are just learning of a bus blast in tel aviv. multiple casualties. welcome back to "early start" here on this wednesday. bottom of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin in for zoraida. >> i'm christine roman in for john berman. it is exactly half past the hour. >>> all right. breaking news this morning. a bus explosion in tel aviv to tell you about. we have been telling you all night about rising tensions and more fighting in the area, but now here in tel aviv israeli police officials tell us there's a bus explosion. we know there are injuries. there are ten injured. you're looking at pictures here of the scene. these are live pictures, actually, of the scene where this bus has now -- it is in the street. we know there are ten injured. breaking the calm, clearly, of a very tense tel aviv over the past few days. i want to get quickly to fred flankin in israel. what can you tell us about the most recent explosion? >> reporter: yeah, christine, we are sti

. >> secretary clinton sits down with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas and with egyptian president mohammed morsi tomorrow. i want to bring in cnn's wolf blitzer, who is live for us in jerusalem tonight, and anderson cooper and ben wedeman, both in gaza city. wolf, let me start with you if i may. a very tense day with claim and counterclaim coming almost on an hourly basis. there was going to be a cease-fire, then no cease-fire. both sides trading sort of insults and then offering fig leaves. what do you make of it all? as we talk now in the middle of a night there, what do you make of where we really are with this? >> well, throughout most of the day, i thought they were very close to reaching a cease-fire agreement. all the signs looked rather positive. then all of a sudden, on this day, it was getting increasingly more tense in the southern part of israel and what we've been seeing in gaza, very, very bloody as well. you wouldn't know that they are apparently rather close to some sort of a deal, that the egyptian government, the new president, mohammed morsi, seemed to be brokering. they may s

. >> reporter: secretary clinton met with palestinian leader mahmoud abbas this morning and will lead are egyptian president mohamed morsi later today. >> the goal is to promote regional stability and advance the security and legitimate aspirations of israelis and palestinians alike. >> reporter: egyptian president mohamed morsi is seen as critical to any peace deal. his muslim brotherhood is hamas' parent organization but egypt also has close ties to america and relies heavily on u.s. aid. susan mcginnis, cbs news, washington. >>> and some journalists have been incredibly close to the action. this is what cbs reporter charlie d'agata saw from his gaza city hotel room this morning as israeli military launched dozens of air strikes. he tweeted huge explosions in gaza, blew out the window of my room. we're all okay. it's getting very close. >>> the man who shot and killed two people at the richmond bridge found he wants the jury wants him to die. nathan burris murdered his girlfriend and her friend on the toll plaza. yesterday he turned to them in court, and yelled, i blew your brother's brains out, nothing you can do abou

morsi yet. we did get a read out on her talks with mahmoud abbas.s of any kind of progress or breakthrough, but just appreciation for the effort. the move towards the cease-fire very much come phra ka*eulted by thcomplicated by a terrorist attack on a bus. the white house condemned the attack in the strongest language. these attacks against israeli civilians are outrageous. the united states will stand with our israeli allies and identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this attack. that statement very much in line with a number of administration statements in recent days that seem to be aligning themselves very closely with the israeli position. the comments from secretary of state clinton earlier today that you played moments ago in a sound byte that the u.s. commitment to israel security is quote, rock solid and unwafrg, very much in line with what the u.s. position seems to be, heather. heather: what are we learning about the talks with morsi right now. >> reporter: no read out on the talks with morsi. it's a very, very difficult situat

mahmoud abbas. when that meeting is done, she goes to egypt to meet with the man at the center, mohamed morsi.wo men who shaped foreign policy, jamie reuben, director of public affairs and nick burns, political affairs and ambassador to nato. the two perfect people to answer the question. jamie, let me ask you, what kind of leverage does secretary of state hillary clinton have and what does it mean that the united states decided to have her get involved in this now when egypt was, you know, supposedly going to be the one able to broker a deal? >> well, i think they probably felt that the involvement of the united states was the only player that could talk to the israelis in a unique way. none of the other players involved, egypt, turkey, any of the europeans weren't involved. so nobody had any ability to talk directly to the israelis. and other than the egyptians. and i suspect the israelis are finding the new egypt very different than the old egypt. the old egypt did not see hamas as a brother in arms. they saw hamas as really a very different sort of arab cause. that's president mubarak. and

later on she will meet with mahmoud abbas, then go to israel, to cairo, to meet with mohammed morsi. what are you hearing about what's come out of her talks with netanyahu? >> well, they met for about two hours, and it wasn't just with the prime minister, but the defense minister of israel, the foreign minister, the national security team. they spent two hours going over what's going on. the statement released by the state department says she was briefed on the israeli position on all these issues. she's making it clear she wants to see a deescalation of what's going on. she uses the word a calm. they are avoiding the word cease-fire for right now but throughout the day, as you know, there was speculation coming from hamas and egyptian officials that they were close to a cease-fire agreement. the israelis downplaying that possibility, saying they weren't there until they actually had an agreement. there's no agreement and if anything, it looks like there was an intensification of the shelling in southern israel today by hamas and an intensification of israeli attacks in gaza witnesse

but egyptians like alid mahmoud, a field medic who lost his friend in the uprising feels cheated by morsi and the islamist. they got his vote, but he says they got nothing but a new regime. do you think there will be another revolution like the one before? >> actually, the next revolution started yesterday. so i think that is the second revolution. >> reporter: across town, this man couldn't disagree more, abdul is a financial manager and member of morsi's muslim brotherhood. he thinks the president is a hero and a democrat, not a dictator. his controversial decrees the right decision to keep the revolution alive. "personally i've benefited from the uprising" he says, "the economy is starting to move and life is getting better." but if he ventured into tahrir square today, he'd see this, entry into muslim brotherhood forbidden. this is a muslim brotherhood free zone? >> it's not their revolution. >> reporter: battle lines being drawn across a divided nation with signs of more trouble ahead. today egyptian judges called for a nationwide strike and protest while both pro and anti-morsi fact

tomorrow she will meet with mahmoud ahmadinejad and sit down with egyptian president with mohammed morsi. as the international community pushes for a cease-fire we saw some of the most intense fire yet as hamas continued to launch rockets and israeli forces slammed targets in gaza. they publicly executed six men they accused of being spies for israeli. they were forced to lay on the ground and then they were murdered. one of those bodies were tied to back of motorcycle and dragged through the streets. david lee miller is live in southern israel. >> cease-fire, what cease-fire? in fact if anything is taking place it's been an escalation. today alone militants in gaza fired at least 130 rockets towards israel. one of them landed in a tel aviv suburb. it hit an apartment building but no serious injuries. this was the farthest into israel. also today, there were sirens in jerusalem as it turns out. a rocket there landed outside that city. ironically a palestinian village. throughout the day there was barrage after barrage in southern israel. i talked to one man a volunteer ambulance driver.

morsi. hillary clinton having arier met with the palestinian authority mahmoud abbas, two separate meetingsisraeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. earl yes today i spoke about the efforts to try to chief a cease-fire with the israeli president simon shimon peres. >> will there be a cease-fire? >> this time the expectations are really a little bit over the horizon, but we are waiting and trying. the situation is very change. both sides wouldn't like to see a ground operation. so a cease-fire is really preferred by both sides, but the continues south of the boot -- the conditions that hamas is asking israel to accept? >> yes. >> what do they want? >> they want that israel will do nothing. we should not fly over. we should not guard the border, many other conditions. the conditions of israel is basically security conditions. and their conditions are bakley political ones, and this is a contradiction. >>> my full interview with shimon is peres will air at 4:00 p.m. eastern. i spent time with a family who went through hell when a rocket came in from gaza. the hamas rockets came toward beershe

. >> reporter: secretary clinton met with palestinian leader mahmoud abbas this morning and will meet with egyptian president mohamed morsi later today. >> the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advance the security and legitimate aspirations of israelis and palestinians alike. >> reporter: egyptian president mohamed morsi is seen as critical to any peace deal. his muslim brotherhood is hamas' parent organization but egypt also has close ties to america and relies heavily on u.s. aid. susan mcginnis, cbs news, washington. >>> many journalists covering the conflict are caught in the middle. this is what cbs reporter charlie d'agata saw from his gaza city hotel early this morning. the israeli military launched dozens of air strikes. he tweeted that he and his colleagues are okay. >>> 5:09. the man who shot and killed two people at the richmond/san rafael bridge toll plaza laughed while receiving his death sentence in court yesterday. a contra costa county jury contributed for two days before determining that nathan burris should receive the death penalty. during the trial he frequently mocke

mahmoud abbas. before flying out to cairo to consult with egyptian president mohammed morsi at the center of the effortsg durable cease-fire. the violence in gaza was jeff shadowing president obama's trip to asia, which was supposed to be a calm swan song enabling the outgoing secretary of state to bask over her work in countrys like burma. instead, both spent much of their time in asia intensively dialing up mideast leaders. the president speaking with morsi three times in 24 hours. including aboard air force one on the way home to america. the president tan secretary both been on the phone, nonstop with regional leaders for a number of days. the purpose of her trip is to continue and intensify that engagement now face to face. >> the stakes for the president are enormous on the eaves of a second term. with analysts warping it may be the beginning of a much wider conflict between israel and iran. >> there is rise of al-qaeda and radical islam in the middle east that have taken advantage of the re-lutionnary change sweeping through the region. in the shadows here is the number one national security chal

mahmoud abbas in the west bank. and now she is sitting down with the egyptian president, mohamed morsi, who is trying to broker a peace bus attack in tel aviv, how bigative shadow does it cast on this peace process? >> reporter: i think it puts enormous pressure on the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. if he were inclined to go ahead toward a cease fire -- there were ind kags they were moving toward that, though it's not a deal that that was completely wrapped up. the citizens are outraged. it's been pretty quiet as far as terrorist attacks inside israel are concerned over these past several years. and now this -- no one yet no an authoritative position has claimed responsibility. various groups, including hamas, have expressed, and praised the attack, if you will, even if they haven't claimed responsibility for it. it just complicates what already was a very difficult situation, carol, to begin w i don't know how it's going to play out. i do know that the secretary of state, hillary clinton, would really like to wrap up this cease fire agreement. president mohamed morsi has been working very hard behind the scenes.

morsi we're dealing with. >> what about the palestinian situation where you have mahmoud abbas on one side, and hamas on the. you basically have two governments working there. is it possible to even get to a serious discussion about a two-state solution if you don't really know which government is calling the shots? >> it is hard, isn't it? because you don't know who you're negotiating with, in the case of hamas. and the related groups that are part of this, because some of them are loosely affiliated with hamas. you do have a wing of hamas that is extremely violent. extremely dangerous, as you see from the scenes that we saw, the body being dragged through the streets and people being killed. on the other hand, fatah doesn't seem to have enough control over the people. you would hope we can get them to work together so that they can have a common purpose. i don't think you can finally get to a solution here until the two of them are working together. >> briefly, rudy, we talked about the republican party. what about chris christie who is getting flak from the senior members who think he was disloyal becaus

mahmoud abbas this morning. her last stop will be cairo. because the u.s. has no diplomatic relationship with hamas they are relying on egyptian president mohamed morsi to broker a deal. a test that could impact our relationship with egypt. >> he either decides he's going to try to control hamas or he's not. if he doesn't, well, then, we can pull the plug on assistant. >> reporter: at least 100 palestinians and 5 israelis killed as a result of this rocket fire. both sides ready for a truce. in washington, i'm danielle lee, nbc news. >>> new this morning, an oakland man found dead after an hour long search and rescue effort. this all happened at the old rock quarry in oakland behind the rock ridge shopping mall. the man's roommate called 911 after he had been gone for more than an hour. the quarry is about 100 feet down below. the roommate says the man went out looking for his cat but never cape bame back. divers from the sheriff's office searched until finding that man's body this morning. the fire department is not releasing the man's name. >>> 4:38 this morning. a marine shot and killed by palm springs police officers will be laid to rest. family and friends

morsi's plans. >>> as the truce holds between hamas and israel for if fourth day, president mahmoud abbas is confidentfactions are supporting the effort but the others are opposing it. >>> finally lotto fever. lottery officials say there were no winners in last night's power lottery pushing this week's jackpot to under $425 million. that's the largest jackpot ever for the game. those are your top stories. now back to "fareed zakaria gps." >>> we live in a borderless world, right, where globalization, inper dependence, and economics are reshaping the way companies and countries cooperate. not quite, says robert kaplan. he's written a book called "the revenge of geography: what the map tells us about coming conflicts and the battle of flight." >> he joins me now. you have this terrific book out. explain what the premise is. mine i tried to very briefly do it. >> yeah, the premise is that in all the journals of opinion, all the op-ed pages, it's all about what we can do. we can intervene here. we can change interest rates there. there's lieu ma ee's human agen. there's nothing human beings can't overcomf

morsi. >> even though hillary clinton met with mahmoud abbas, who is a leader of a different faction of palestinianscome the palestinian authority, the fattah group in the west bank, obviously did not meet with hamas, the u.s. does not recognize hamas, but most observers say hamas came out of the stronger and mahmoud abbas seems weakened in all of this. we'll see how that plays out in the days and months ahead. jill, appreciate the reporting. we'll check back with you as the story develops. the fragile cease-fire, we continue to show you on the right-hand side of your screen, the skies over gaza city, critical over the next minutes and hours to see if this cease-fire holds. will it mean a stop to the rocket barrages which have bloodied the region for the last week? we'll talk coming up to mark kimmitt and ben wedeman in gaza, talking about the military situation in terms of the weapons both sides have been using. we'll be right back. ♪two of a kind ♪for your information ♪we're two of a kind ♪two of a kind ♪it's my observation ♪we're two of a kind ♪like peas in a pod ♪and birds of a feather ♪alone or

she's going to meet with mahmoud abbas in the morning and then goes to egypt to meet with mohamed morsiges in some shuttle diplomacy. sara, thanks for all your excellent work. we really, really appreciate pit. >>> we're also keeping a close eye not only on the violence in gaza, but syria as well. government forces there aren't letting up on their attacks on rebel forces who today got a major international boost. stand by. [ female announcer ] e-trade technology can help make you a better investor. our e-trade 360 investing dashboard shows you where your money is, live. e-trade pro is so usable you'll actually use it. and our apps are the ultimate in mobile investing. become a better investor at e-trade. is what drives us to broadcast the world's biggest events in 3d, or live to your seat high above the atlantic ocean. it's what drives us to create eco-friendly race tracks, batteries that power tomorrow's cars, nearly indestructible laptops, and the sustainable smart towns of the future. at panasonic, we're driven to make what matters most better. just another way we're engineering a bet

mahmoud abbas looks like he's losing. if he stays irrelevant, this may be the beginning of the end of abbas. >> there's also a story this new egypt story for president morsy, clearly the forefront of brokering this deal. what is america's role now dealing with morsy in this is conversation of keeping the peace was israel and hamas? >> i think the united states has realized for a long time that it can't dictate to morsy and that there's going to have to be new u.s./egyptian relationship. what's very unclear is how much we're going to be working with the egyptians, how much we're going to be working to try to limit a potentially negative egyptian role in regional fairs. i think morsy at this point is not sure where his presidency is going to go. certainly a lot of people in washington who had been feeling reassured a couple of days ago woke up yesterday and said what is this about. this can't be good. >> let's talk more about that because -- and i want to get back to what's happening at the border of gaza and israel. but you brought up what's going on in egypt. we got this statement from the spokesperson for the secretary, secretary clinton says what happen

but you mentioned the fact that morsi fell emboldened after brokering the deal between gaza and israel. as we speak of middle east peace, president mahmoudas met in new york with the deputy secretary of state william burns ahead of tomorrow's historic u.n. general assembly vote on palestinian statehood. the resolution, though, would upgrade the palestinian authority's u.n. status from observer to a nonmember observer state. it is expected to be approved. israel strongly opposes the bid. the person representing the u.s. will be ambassador susan rice who currently is facing a lot of heat over the statements she made about the benghazi attack. will the fire she's facing in washington impact her role in this delicate diplomatic dance at the u.n.? >> i don't think so. these are two different issues. she reps the united states at the u.n., i don't think anybody questions the fact she reps the united states when she's up there. she serves as the president's envoy up there. her standing there is not affected by what's going on here at all. i think what is -- what you see is questions that still exist about benghazi and libya, and i think those w

crucial, crucial decisions because morsi obviously feels like who he needs to deal with, especially with gaza, is hamas and he doesn't necessarily need to deal with mahmoud abbas. >> a colleague at "time" mass written about this in the future of the conflict. in this piece going on to say in the lull that follows each cycle of fighting as rebring as spring follows winter, may escape the cycle. perhaps to plant a new idea before the soil is exhausted. so again, it's about planting these seeds for future generations to come to break the cycle of hatred, violence and just perpetuates on itself. israel is not agree to lift the blockade on gaza. they'll consider it. again, only time will tell and that's kind of the leverage that they have to kind of keep them in check. >> right. exactly. i mean, there's a long way to go here. i mean, we need to make sure first that the cease-fire holds and then after that, we need to make sure that morsi is successful in bringing hamas along in to being a more responsible actor because israel is never going to agree to anything if rockets are lobbed in to israeli soil. and so, i think that's the thing to keep an eye out for,

tomorrow, to ramallah on the west bank to meet with mahmoud abbas and then to cairo to meet with the new egyptian president mohamed morsilved in all of this. i do think that the u.s. and the israelis to a certain degree have been impressed by the role that egypt has played as a facilitator. egypt has good relations with hamas right now. and the egyptians played a very significant role. if, in fact, a cease-fire is announced within the next hour or two, and there is good reason to believe some sort of announcement will be made, it could be made by the prime minister with the secretary of state at their joint event coming up soon, then i think the egyptians will have played a very significant role in making that happen. here is a question, though, that i think we'll have to answer. what was the u.s. role in helping to a certain degree to make this possible, u.s. assurances provided to the egyptians? u.s. assurances provided to the israelis? i don't know if there were financial, additional economic or military assistance along those lines? these are some of the questions, anderson, i suspect we're going to be pondering in

morsi on tuesday, dana. >> thank you very much. >>> as the truth holds -- the truce holds, rather, between hamas and israel for the fourth day, palestinian president mahmoudbbas says he is confident ahead of a bid thursday at the united nations seeking status as a non-member observer state. now, all of the palestinian factions, hamas and fatah, are supporting the effort. the u.s. and israel oppose the bid arguing it would complicate my further peace negotiations. >>> lottery officials say nobody has won the powerball jackpot yet. it's pushed the prize up to $425 million. that's the largest jackpot ever for the game. powerball is held in 42 states. the u.s. virgin islands and the district of columbia wednesday is the next drawing. >>> and when we return, disregard for congress may be as traditional as pumpkin pie. ike . sure. oh my gosh i won!!! i won!!! [ male announcer ] get a $100 walmart gift card when you buy any android or windows 8 smartphone. through december 1st. from america's gift headquarters. walmart. side by side so you get the same coverage, often for less. that's one smart board. what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] [ laughs ]

with mahmoud abbas, president of the palestinian authority, before returning to jerusalem with additional talks with netanyahu. secretary clinton is in cairo where she met with president mohamed morsi of egypt who's mediating the discussions. as secretary clinton carries the official white house message there is new attention being paid to the president's strategic options in the region. "the washington post" writes president obama's decision to send his top diplomat on an emergency middle east peace making mission tuesday marked an administration shift to a more active vist role in the region's affairs and offered clues to how he may use the political elbow room afforded by a second term. beyond a cease-fire agreement, the president could try to throw his political clout behind a larger, long-term solution here. so far, no deal has materialized between israel and gaza. also, a bus bombing in tel aviv could push both sides further apart. 19 people were injured, three critically, in what was the first terror attack in israel in four years. police say, however, the incident was not a suicide bombing. joining me now, former assistant secretary of state, p.j. crowley and from tel aviv,

morsi tomorrow. later this week he will travel to israel to meet with prime minister netanyahu and also to the west bank to meet the palestinian president mahmoud abbas. the trouble with these negotiations as so often in these cases is who stops firing first. in the word of u.s. officials that is clearly up to hamas to do. listen. >> we have been very clear that israel has a right of self-defense. we have been very clear that rockets continue to be fired and land on israel. we have been very clear that we are working to try to get this conflict deescalated. we have been very clear about our concern for civilians and innocence on both sides. >> important to note that while diplomacy has not yet succeeded, neither, shep, has it failed. shep? >> shepard: jonathan hunt at the united nations for us. well, it was a huge day on wall street. as stocks soared to the best trading session since the presidential election since nearly two weeks ago. if you have been afraid to peek at your 401(k) it might not be a bad idea now. the dow up 207 points. nasdaq up 63. s&p up to 27. apple had biggest single day gain since way back in april. a jump in stock value

mahmoud base. and then in cairo she will be meeting the man at the forefront of the talks, egyptian president morsir him, what he can achieve. and if he can be a major player in the region, especially when it comes to the israeli/palestinian issues, the u.s. is looking for the key and cement with the egyptian president. so it's a very tense situation at the moment. we believe that both sides are trying to reach a deal, but at the moment there is no cease-fire that has been announced. >> lama hasan live in jerusalem. lama, thank you so much for the live report. >>> and back here at home, tens of millions of americans are venturing out for the thanksgiving holiday on what is likely the busiest travel day of the year. and i decided to travel today. >> have fun. >> mm-hmm. 90% are driving. that means lots of jammed highway as cross the country. aaa says the best time to get behind the wheel is 7:00 a.m. the worst is the evening rush. be sure to dial 511 for the latest travel and road closures in your state. i did not know that. >> good tip for sure. >> mm-hmm. >>> and millions of people also will be ri

authority president, mahmoud abbas in the west bank, israeli prime minister in jerusalem and now will head to cairo where she'll have face-to-face meetings with egyptian president mohamed morsihe goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of israelis and palestinians alike. >> want to begin with reza sayah, live for us in cairo. she mentioned in her comments that she is on her way to have meetings with the egyptian president, morsi, at the same time, offering any assistance that israel might need. tell me a little bit about the positioning and navigating she has to do in her meeting with mr. morsi. >> soledad, we can report to you that, according to the u.s. embassy here, secretary clinton has arrived here in cairo and she's going to be meeting with egyptian president mohamed morsi very soon. with the violence escalating, the spotlight, the pressure is on secretary clinton and washington. the u.s. seems to be broadening its role. the key role the u.s. is going to play here is with its sway over israel. obviously, israel and washington are best friends. washington has a lot of influence with israel. but

mahmoud abbas. the u.s. as you know does not speak to hamas which regards as a terrorist organization. the next day she heads to egypt to me with president morsiptians to work influence with hamas. u.s. officials make it clear they believe the only us in is on hamas to take the first steps towards a truce. >> bottom line remains that hamas has to stop the rocket fire. they're the ones who are going to have to be a part of a solution that ends the type of terror that israeli citizens have faced over so many months with this barrage of rockets coming into israeli territory. >> reporter: the same u.s. official said the president believes israel has the right to choose how it will defend itself. but also made clear, he believes there are high costs to israel with the ground invasion. the goal is a diplomatic solution. so for clinton the goal would be a temporary cease-fire creating the time to find a negotiated long-term peace agreement. that would be good for the region but also on a more personal note, for clinton who said she would leave at the end of the first term a nice way to wrap up her tenure as secretary of state. >>> to jerusalem. this