. >>> right now i want to bring in our special guest, tom nides, former u.s. ambassador to israel. he understands the region well. ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. we should disclose that tom is also married to our colleague, executive vice president virginia mosely. sources tell cnn that progress was being made in the negotiations for the hostages, more than 200 being held in gaza by hamas. are you surprised that israel would choose this time to intensify its aerial and ground assault? >> well, i think as you know the president's objectives have been very clear from the get-go on this. one is to eliminate hamas as a threat to the state of israel, which i think we all agree needs to happen. and two is to get these hostages out. and i think it's very important that the united states and israel, which i'm very confident, have had many conversations with many at the white house, they're in constant contact between israel and, obviously, in qatar and all the parties involved, and obviously i know the white house is very much focused on trying to get those hostages out. at t

. >> tom nides, thank you so much. we appreciate it. >>> up next, the looming invasion and lieutenant general mark hartling is here and presidential candidate, tim scott, joins me tonight and why he doesn't support aid going into gaza. >>> we're also getting word a u.s. navy warship has intercepted missiles near yemen that sources believe were heading to israel. stand by for that. >>> we are watching the skies over gaza tonight as israel green lights a ground war against hamas. moments ago president biden made the case for wartime aid to israel and to ukraine. >> american leadership is what holds the world together. american alliances is what keep us, america, safe. american values is what makes us a partner other nations want to work with. to put all that at risk if we walk away from ukraine, we turn our backs on israel it's just not worth it. >> joining me to discuss president biden's oval office address republican presidential candidate, senator tim scott of south carolina. thank you for joining us here. president b

. >> ambassador tom nides, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >>> still to comea journalist inside israel say, some parents writing legs on the names of children in an effort to help identify them. we'll take a deeper look at the humanitarian crisis in gaza when we come back. security checks before they can move into the gaza strip. we're watching that very closely. 20 trucks made their way into gaza yesterday dropping off much-needed supplies including food, water and medicine, but aid groups and palestinian officials say they need a consistent stream of aid. that's the only solution to what they already described as a great humanitarian crisis. cnn's scott mclean is following these developments. scott, is the aid making it into the gaza strip right now enough to meet the needs of the population there? >> reporter: palestinians will tell you, wolf, it's a drop in the bucket compared to what is actually needed. i should tell you as well that those 15 trucks that entered the border crossing earlier were caught up for most of the day in border checks, authorities d

their focus, of course, has been overwhelmingly on the west bank as you were discussing before with tom nides they don't want to let that explode and beyond that is if we determine in the end that iran played a significant role, clearly they've been a supplier to hamas over the years. what do they do about that? how much do they want to expand this? you don't want this to turn into a regional war. so i think the thing to look for in the next few weeks is whether or not you can see whether prime minister netanyahu and president biden stay on the same page here because right now president biden is saying you've got to do what you need to do to protect everyone, but at some point the u.s. is going to be calling for de-escalation and prime minister netanyahu is going to feel like he's got to re-establish deterrence and those are two very different things. >> yeah. i think david is making a very important point, but again, the question is for israel and not for the united states which is a very difficult one which is what is a long-term, sustainable situation unlike in afghanistan or iraq, the uni

joining me now is tom nides, recently back from israel. thank you so much for being with us.et's start with the president's speech. what should he communicate to the international community, to israelis, to jewish americans, to our country? >> first, thank you for having me. i think it's been clear from the get go that the president's commitment to the state of israel and to the jewish people is unbreakable. i remember when he came to visit israel in july of last year when i was ambassador. it was his tenth visit. he told everyone, you do not need to be a jew to be a zionist. he believes about the importance of the state of israel, the importance of security by the state of israel, the importance of making sure that the security is unbreakable and the united states is with them all the way through. this is a very, very dark time for the state of israel. do not underestimate the jewish people to rally to do what needs to be done. the president has the back of israel. he said it over and over again. the vice president i talked to yesterday also reiterated again that america has

tom nides has stepped down in july, his ten years over. biden has nominated jack lieu, former treasury secretary, white house chief of staff, et cetera, to be the next ambassador to israel. now, members of the senate, senate democrats, they told me this morning they're gonna move to confirm liu as soon as possible. i think this will be a little bit easier given the war, what looks to be a prolonged warning israel. the administration just sent his paper days ago. the senate has not been able to move on that. listen, i think any aid to gaza is going to be an extremely, i don't think could come up in the house of representatives period. hard stop, to be honest with you, especially right now. >> jake sherman, jon allen, gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us so early this morning, we appreciate it. we're back on the ground in israel after very quick break. this is msnbc. this is msnbc. and year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. but even after all this time your thyroid eye disease c

joining me now is the form united states ambassador to israel, tom nides.t is great to see, you ambassador. i know that you are the former ambassador, and you will spend time working around the world, but it is still incredibly hard to hear. and i should, here and listen to it. what people are going through it in gaza. so how do you digest that, your standpoint? >> how can you not? you hear the voices of human beings, kids, palestinian lives or any other life without question. none of us should in anyway question that. i think it's important people understand how we got there, and i think, how can i disagree with the idea of the tragedy is gonna happen in gaza. hamas knows exactly what they're doing. they want this to happen. think about this for a minute. the actions of hamas basically were situation where every is really, committed 50 million americans lost someone in the twin towers. that is what israel is going through. it is a grieving, they haven't buried their dead yet. this is what they are going through. the idea that hamas really cares about the p