anthony tony blinken, who is not only unqualified, but in fact, in my view, one of the worst selectionsvery bad lot that this president has chosen.. >> mark: mccain said it was not veryoppo often that he oppod as he believed that it had consequences but a danger to the nation and service members. and that i s a quote. he said, "in this case, thisdang individual has been dangerous to america and to the young men ane women fighting in serbia. these are the two men right nowr destroying our foreign policy in destroying our security and if they have their way, will destroy the entire state of israel and leaking like.n sometimes they are on the record, sometimes off the record to destroy the sitting government, the elected government in israel focused on specifically on the prime minister benjamin netanyahu. this is a constant now.mi you see itni s to know the americann media. e american media are stenographers for this. you see it in the israeli media too, just as left-wing as the media and the united states. but they don't have other independent media out here that is not enough anyways. w

secretary of state tony blinken is back in the middle east to meet with leaders across the region. during a stop in qatar, blinken warned the war in gaza could "easily metastasize into a regional war." while blinken is publicly calling for de-escalation, the biden administration continues to face criticism for sending more weapons to israel while carrying out its own attacks in iraq and syria as well as targeting houthi forces from yemen. on friday, the prime minister of iraq threatened to kick out u.s. troops after a u.s. drone strike in baghdad killed a leader of an iranian-backed militia. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is facing growing questions about why he did not inform president biden or top pentagon officials after he was admitted into the intensive care unit of walter reed national military medical center. austin had been hospitalized monday but biden didn't find out until thursday. austin's top deputy also did not know, even though she had assumed some of his duties. the pentagon said austin was first hospitalized on december 22 for an elective surgery. after being d

tony blinken is arriving in istanbul for a multi nation trip to middle east. the fourth trip to region since the october 7th hamas terror attack on israel and it is coming at a drit cal time amid concerns of a widening conflict in the region. overnight, the military says it struck, the israeli military says it struck 100 targets across gaza, and they say they were targeting command centers and military sites, but reports of the civilian casualties of course. alex marquardt is joining us, and what can blinken hope to accomplish? he has been in the region more than we have seen officials in a long time, and so many times, and what will he try to accomplish? >> yes, sara, the fourth trip to the region since the war proek out after the horrific attacks on october 7th, and making nine stops. the centerpiece is the meetings with the israeli officials next week, but there are two main buckets of things to accomplish, and that is to prevent the war from spreading rapidly, and in past few days and months, and ratcheting areas of significant concern and conversation, an

and the united states needs to, or tony blinken will want to make that clear in the near term there istime he will want to emphasise his tokyo principles, which as far as the us is concerned... i wonder if i could jump in quickly. of course. what you are describing is a scenario of possible compromise, how long do you think it will take for us to get to that point? not for months, i don't think, unless there is a truly lucky break on the hostage question. i think in the meantime, the united states isjust about laying down markers for both parties, so in other words, there is no way it will accept, the united states will accept gaza being once again a platform for terrorist activity, but at the same time, they will want to make clear to the israelis it is really reoccupation of gaza, is not in the united states interest and the united states will oppose it. the united states will also oppose the expulsion, movement of palestinians, gazan palestinians, from the gaza strip. here in the uk rishi sunak says his government is looking at legal options to clear the sub—postmasters wrongly conv

this is at the state department where any moment secretary of state tony blinken is going to be -- he's already meeting with, but coming out before cameras while he is meeting with the qatari prime minister at the state department. now the two are trying to find some path forward to get the remaining hostages out of gaza, all still in the hands of hamas, and also they are seeking some path forward toward ending the war altogether between israel and hamas. yesterday the cia director bill burns, he met with his israeli counterpart in paris to try and push forward there. you can see on how many fronts the united states is trying to work this to get some forward motion. that meeting was described as constructive which is exactly how john kirby described those talks this morning on cnn, you. the word from paris is that significant gaps remain. joining us right now is a former ambassador, ryan crocker. he served as ambassador to, well everywhere that is critical right now. ambassador lebanon, kuwait, pakistan, afghanistan, and he's now a nonresident senior fellow. ambassador, let's jump right

but to tony blinken's point, he is trying to say that if you want to ease tensions and move towards afuture, there has to be a two-state solution. that is where everyone who he has spoken to on this trip is demanding more political rights for palestinians. how is it possible that israel can be moved on that by the u.s.? >> the security guarantees by the u.s. would have to be that, if gaza attacks again, we will come to your eight. because that is the hard -- on the israeli side. the israeli side says, how do we prevent october 7th from happening again? how do we know we're not going to have a third infinite up? a fourth? a fifth? there has to be some sort of solution so we don't have to go through another october 7th every year. >> okay, great to have your perspective on this. it is such a critical time. thank you so much. >> and severe weather hitting florida, we're keeping an eye on this. the governor there declaring a state of emergency as suspected tornadoes touched down in the panhandle in the states -- of the state. there are cities like tampa and orlando that are under tornado

secretary of state tony blinken is in israel today meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahuand other top officials as israel's bombardment of gaza continues for a 95th day. blinken is on a multi-nation trip across the police. on monday come he met with mohammed bin salman on. health officials in gaza say it has been another devastating 24 hour period. the bodies of 57 palestinians killed in israeli strikes have been taken to al-aqsa hospital, the only remaining hospital in central gaza. the hospital also took in 65 injured palestinians as the hospital's few remaining doctors struggled to treat the wounded. over the weekend, doctors without borders and other ngo's pulled staff from the hospital due to concern for their safety amid heavy israeli attacks. meanwhile, the israeli human rights group b'tselem has accused israel of purposely starving the people of gaza. in a new report, the group said starvation is "not a byproduct of war but a direct result of israel's declared policy." in rafah, displaced palestinians denounced blinken and the united states for supporting israel's

both president biden and secretary of state tony blinken also were not told. criticism of the secretary has been swift. >> the handling of this by the secretary of defense is totally unacceptable. i think it was a dereliction of duty and the secretary and the administration, frankly, need to step forward and give the american people the facts. >> pretty shocking on this because when you're the secretary of defense, you need to make everyone aware that you're going to be out of pocket. apparently the national security didn't know it, white house didn't know it, congress didn't know it. >> cnn's natasha bertrand is here with more. natasha, lloyd austin is still in the hospital, is that right? how long has this been? what more do we know? >> he entered the hospital on new year's day. it's been six days, going on a week. we don't know exactly what the complications were from this elective surgery that he had or just how serious it was. now according to the pentagon, he did delegate some of his responsibilities to his deputy secretary of defense who was on vacation

perpetrators to justice, b withe loss of women and children, gaza's humanitarian situation, i know tony blinkent are working on saving civilian lives. i encourage people to come to the. think about the choice we face. i guarantee you when the choice is joe biden or donald trump that president biden is going to do a lot more to safeguard civilian lives in gaza, to create a palestinian state than donald trump, so i think the effective way for folks who care about this, and i respect that, is to advocate on the hill, advocate with others, but don't hurt president biden and inadvertently elect donald trump, who would be much worse for the region. thank you. i enjoyed the conversation. >> frankly everyone elected in new hampshire right now has a big role. representative khanna: the biggest thing we could do. >> our median income is over $100,000. the biggest barrier we have is -- [indiscernible chatter] ■ relief for individuals on their childcare costs, that helps them afford housing. if we can provide relief in any other area, because our housing costs are so high, they can afford other things in l

. >> tony blinken said it's the most dangerous time since 1973.isagree with him, i think it's the most dangerous time for the word world since 1938. just three short years ago a, we were working toward the peaceful settlement of afghanistan, the russians were deterred, we were putting the chinese in a box, taiwan was safe, and now everything's -- the world is aflame, and it's because president biden moved away from a piece through -- peace through strength posture to an appeasement posture. elizabeth: lieutenant general, your response to that? >> yeah, i served with robert in the white house. he nailed it. he's right on the money. you've got to have strength. you've got to use strength to bring it back into the box. we haven't done it. the thing that scares me more than any that robert said, this isn't 1973 which tony blinken talked about, that's how dangerous the middle east is. when robert o'brien is talking 1938, that's when chamberlain went the munich and said peace in our time, and within one year the world was at war. that is a big conversat

so, this afternoon, secretary of state tony blinken visiting the middle east. s fourth tour of the region in three months. earlier today, blinken met with turkish president erdogan, discussing a wide range of topics. including the warren, gaza the release of hostages. and the future of the palestinian people, caught in the cross fire. it's happening and shelling between israel and lebanese militant groups hezbollah intensified, as blistering the strikes were a, quote, preliminary response to the assassination of a top hamas leader in beirut this week. i want to bring it out to talk more about this. msnbc foreign affairs analyst dennis ross. ambassador, thanks for joining us on this, appreciate it. a couple things i want to talk through. a short time ago, secretary blinken speaking at length about the efforts to bring peace to the region. i want you to take a listen to what he had to say. >> all, right we don't have that sound. i want to read it for. you i do have it in front of me. here's what he said. there is clearly a strong desire in the majority of people i

secretary of state tony blinken met with turkish president or-to-one instead will, as part of his latestst tour. according to nbc news, the two leaders spoke about the ongoing conflict in gaza, where blinken emphasized the need to prevent it from spreading. efforts to release hostages expansion of humanitarian assistance, and working towards broader, lasting peace in the region. blinken now on his way to jordan. i want to bring in our nbc news current foreign force -- who is in tel aviv for us. matt if you will, talk to us about what blinken faces, once he reaches israel, and the battle, the uphill battle he has there. >> yeah i mean, the biggest issue is exactly what you just described, yasmin. he just arrived in turkey, just as we saw has below over the past day announced that it had launched 62 projectiles into northern israel. now the israelis said that they had launched about 40, has blood launched about 40, and some 90 sirens went off in northern israel, announcing the arrival of these projectiles. now it has blood said that these missiles, these rockets, that these were all part o

remember that meeting in alaskaa now headlined in "the new york times," wal tony blinken talks a grand vision for the this but hits a wall in israel. strikes expand battleground for the west for the war in the v middle east. >> it is not surprising.d me there's been a muddled vision and mixed messages about what our role is with israel. it is not surprising. >> laura: all right, ladies, hold 'em peered back with me colonel lieutenant davis, nathan sayles, former ambassador at large countered terror coordinator under president trump.ndnel, colonel, how do we ensure and how would you advise if we avoid the prospect of what even "the new york times" this morning about tonigh t a widening for in a presidential election year where a commander-in-chief is widely considered too old, too frail, and not up to the job.>> what a devastating outcome that can be pro-or the world. >> i was actually cheering over here when molly was talking a second ago how the president and did number to get authorizationo because they attack in anothert country, and the american people have to be o dn board so the

the definition of insanity, keep doing it over and over, keep bringing up the same ideas, send tony blinken and over again, but they haven't gotten very far with him. i know they are frustrated, but they don't feel like they have a lot of alternatives. he is the manager arjun israel in a sense, given his many political issues and all of the various interests he is trying to please. he is the prime minister, so they have no choice but to keep trying to talk to him and go along with what they are suggesting. >> they are clearly pressing ahead with a perspective peace plan. they sent to the middle east coordinator to the region today. he is in cairo. axios is reporting in the last few minutes that israel is proposing a two month pause in the fighting in gaza for the release of all hostages. where do you see the difficulties in these discussions at the moment? >> look, i think the question is do you go along with the demands of ham or not? some of the proposed plans that have been reported are the basically hamas said we will give you these hostages if you basically pull out and leave us in cha

i know tony blinken and the president are working on saving civilian lives. i encourage people to come to the capital. think about the choice we face. i guarantee you when the choice is joe biden or donald trump that president biden is going to do a lot more to safeguard civilian lives in gaza, to create a palestinian state than donald trump, so i think the effective >> we will take you live to new hampshire where 2024 presidential hopeful dean phillips talks with voters in the city of nashua. live coverage you're on c-span. >> we are probably long-lost relatives. i've got a whole set of friends and they rent out a spot for the dogs to go play. you get a lot done. [applause] >> i'm just happy to be here. i've had a lot of issues with family and they have health issues i've been dealing with work. days like this, we can have candidates come in and speak to us and inform us and get a good choice of the candidate we want to lead in the future. it's a process and it's great you support them. you can live the american dream and make that possible, thank you. [appl

. >> secretary of state and tony blinken was in tell arrive where he reiterated u.s. support for israel and talked about the importance of the creation of a palestinian state. he said accusations of genocide against israel are galling considering those attacking israel including hamas and hezbollah for calling for the, quote, anielings of israel and the mass murder of jews. this was secretary blinken's fourth trip to israel since the attack by hamas on october 7 last year. secretary time it feels different for families in gaza, hundreds of thousands of whom are experiencing food insecurity. trying to feed a hungry child, the passage of another day is excruciating. time feels different for israelis and palestinians whose innocent blood ones have been killed. for him, tom often falls into before and after. the after filled with a loss that most of us will never know and cannot fully imagine. and those are just a few examples of how heavy these 95 days have felt and continue to feel for the people most affected by this conflict. this immense human toll is one of the many

just ask his secretary of state, tony blinken. >> this is and, incredibly, volatile time in the middle i would argue, we have not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we are facing right now, across the region, since at least 1973, and, arguably, even before them. >> a danger unrivaled in at least half a century. a half century that featured three american wars, fought in the middle east. so, if the past is a powderkeg, here is the reminder of what that anxiety, of 1973, felt like, for world living on the edge. >> it is an all out war. >>> a band of five palestinian guerrillas begin this murderous rampage, and it is going into kuwait, and known dead, and to be known with the americans. >> joining me now, veteran correspondent, author, an award winning documentarian, sebastian younger. sebastian, thank you for being here with us. how does president biden throughout this line here. he is so concerned about this expanding into a broader war. this is a president who, really, wanted to get the country out of afghanistan. now, this is at his doorstep. >> i do not envy you. he has to do f

in november, ccr sued president biden, tony blinken, accusing them of failing to prevent genocide.or those who missed yesterday's show it was just after south africa made its case at the international court of justice, we wanted to bring you south africa lawyer who hopes to lay out the case at the hague. >> for the past 96 days, israel has subjected gaza to what has been described as one of the heaviest conventional bombing campaigns in the history of modern warfare. palestinians in gaza are being killed by israeli weaponry and bombs from air, land, and see. they are also at immediate risk of death by starvation, dehydration, and disease as a result of the ongoing siege by israel, the destruction of palestinian towns, the insufficient aid being allowed through to the palestinian population, and the impossibility of just riveting this limited aid while bombs fall. this conduct renders essentials to life unattainable. and because is south african lawyer -- amy: that is a south african lawyer yesterday speaking before the international court of justice, laying out south africa's case

amy: that was tony blinken speaking in tel aviv after meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahulinken met with mahmoud abbas today in ramallah in the occupied west bank. during tuesday's press conference, he went on to say israel must not press palestinians to leave gaza and that the region needs to find a pathway to a palestinian state. >> we continue to discuss how to build a more durable peace and security for israel within the region. as i told the prime minister, every partner that i met on the strip said they are ready to support a lasting solution that ends the cycle of violence and ensures israel's security. they underscored this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a palestinian state. amy: blinken's trip to israel and the middle east comes as the biden administration faces mounting criticism for supporting and arming israel's assault on gaza. we begin today's show with tariq habash. last week he became the first biden appointee and just the second administration official overall to publicly resign from the biden administration to protest

operation and they're very cognizant of these poll numbers, which i think combined with what you heard tony blinken say yesterday about what this moment is, and i want to play it again. we played it earlier. i want to play it again. i think people need to grab onto this. listen. >> this is an incredibly volatile time in the middle east. i would argue we have not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we're facing now across the region since at least 1973. >> it is happening in an election year, they are cognizant of the electoral dynamics, to hear the secretary of state say that, do you agree? is it that tenuous of a moment? >> i agree it is that tenuous of a moment in the middle east. i would also say that if you look at it in the world, i mean, if you look at the threat we're facing from russia's invasion of ukraine, china, artificial intelligence, we are at a really scary time in general when it comes to international peace and security, including the middle east. for the middle east specifically, one of the scariest times, yes, i agree with him. >> in terms of -- go ahead. >> no, no. >> for t

things that you didn't see despite all you'd been doing before, what's going to be the title of tony blinken's book? >> the best laid plans? i don't know. [laughter] >> look, i think, tom, to your point and i've been doing this for 30 years, and i can't think of a time when there's been both a greater multiplicity and greater complexity of the challenges that we're dealing with, so it's real and again, the spread of sources of power, the democratization of information technology, technology more broadly as we were saying at the very outset of this conversation, empowered groups and empowered individual in ways that was not the case a few generations ago and has made life a lot more challenging for the nation state. but having said that, even as we're in moments where it just seems like you've got some darkness, there are powerful, powerful beams of light that you can see for the way things can, should, and i believe will be better, different, and we talked about one of them. you can see a very different future for the middle east, that finally answers challenges that afflicted it, and as a res

we talked to tony blinken yesterday about china and the relationship that the u.s. of them effectively taking over taiwan in the next call it several years. what do you think the prospect of that is and how do you think multinational businesses are supposed to react or think about that risk? >> yeah, so we met with the chinese premier yesterday, and, look, i'm going to defer to tony blinken. china may one day have to take sides. they haven't done that we shouldn't force them to we can't tell other nations that how they should behave or how they should act. but i would look at china wholistically. the western alliance, democracy, should stay together, keep it free, but we have to do trade, diplomacy, development, finance. we are not all over africa and latin america like we should be. tony blinken sat with me, janet yellen and a bunch of big financial companies about how to help generate more development, finance, with the world bank but here you need private capital. private capital dwarf what the multinational constinstitutionsn do it is a wholistic war. if we do i

anthony tony blinken who is not only unqualified but in fact in my view one of the worst selections of very bad lot that this president has chosen. >> mccain noted it's not often that he opposed the presidential nominee on the senate floor as he believed elections have consequences. he warned the anthony blanca was a danger to the nomination in the service members. that is a quote. in this case this individual has actually been dangerous to america and to the young men and women who are fighting and serving it. these are the two men right now you are destroying our foreign policy, destroying our security and if they have our way, will destroy the entire state of israel in there leaking like hell, sometimes on the record sometimes off the record to try to destroy the sitting government, the elected government in israel, focus specifically on the prime minister benjamin netanyahu, this is a constant. you see it all and the american media and obviously of stenographers for this. you see it in the israeli media it's just as left wing as a media in the united states, they don't have other i

this weekend secretary of state tony blinken is in the middle east trying to de-escalate tensions after hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets from southern lebanon nice rail. >> this is a conflict that could easily metastasize causing even more insecurity and even more suffering. so from day one, among other priorities, we have been intensely focused on working to prevent the conflict from spreading. >> meantime, it's believed 130 people, including eight american citizens, are still being held hostage in gaza. the families of those americans have released a tv ad to press for action on getting their loved ones home. >> these same terrorists are holding americans hostage, sons, brothers, fathers, americans, brutalized, murdered. act now or more will die. every s every second counts. >> let's discuss with leon panetta. great to see you again always, secretary panetta. really appreciate it. what more needs to be done, do you think, to get these hostages home safe and sound? are we locked in a situation here where it might be a while? >> well, i hope secretary blinken is able to work with th

i hope president biden and vice presidt harris in secretary austin and the whole team, tony blinken, j, they change their views and adopt the ronald reagan version to the middle east because that would be od for the country. it's good for america to go back to what was talked about helping ronald reagan with his policies. it will save american lives in the lives of r war fighter but also the lives oinnocent american citizens. >> out keep it with yo on the middleast, israel has designs to take out hamas, how successful they will be remains to be seen. we can suspectbased on its history, that they will go after hamas leaders for years to come. that will be either in gaza or in qatar or in syria or lebanon or wherever they are living. this is a separate issue from the palestinians in the west bank. the united states, how far should we be in assisting israel at a time when many have already predicted that the terror will -- will be here in the u.s., if it's not here already? >> we know that there is hezbollah in america and iranian operators in america. the border has been wide open. it'

when tony blinken says what he says, he doesn't say it without the blessing and guidance of the united states. they aren't going rogue. these are the official positions of the u.s. government. that said there is a lot of people involved in hashing out the details. tactical level with the israeli level and stuff leaks out. the strategic priorities and objectives i think they are synced up and don't want that playing out in public. >> thank you as always. >> thank you. >>> now president biden is set to begin his '24 campaign push from several historic locations. we will break down his strategy with barack obama's former campaign manager next. >>> this morning we are learning president biden will valve to valley forge to deliver a campaign speech on state as the santa monica begins to level sharp political attacks against his likely gop opponent donald trump. it this saturday will mark three years since the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol and that's the backdrop for a moment biden's advisors see as critical to laying out the stakes for a bareknuckle political battle ahead. a turnin

they got expressions of support from tony blinken, the secretary of state.president of the united states said. that was a statement at the wrong time. it showed that we were actually actuallyafraid of china, we didt to anger china. xi jinping hears that and becomes more belligerent. this was counter productive. cheryl: they've been flying multiple balloons over taiwan. obviously there's been a lot of pushback here in this country. i want to bring in liz peek into this, gordon, because obviously, liz, our role in this is now probably greater. >> yeah. gordon, a couple of questions. one, what could joe biden have said that would sort of express america's admiration for taiwan's bravery in voting in an anti-china candidate? and secondly, what role do you think that china is going to play in our election? there's a lot of talk that they interfered in our election last time around. do you think that will happen again? and who will they be supporting? >> yeah. on your first question, liz, i just would have said the united states of america supports the free people

. >> i sat down with secretary of state tony blinken in israel exclusively, and talked to him after heanyahu and the war cabinet about his hopes that israel will wind down the war and do more to protect palestinians, 23,000 of whom have died, according to the palestinian health ministry and do more to get food and other aid into the palestinians. to do that, he said israel has to start cooperating more with the united nations, despite suspicions and criticisms of the u.n. for past votes against israel, but the u.n., he said, is the only agency that has the experience and the people on the ground who can get desperately needed aid into gaza. here's what he had to say. >> does israel have to work with the united nations with whom it has had decades of an adversarial relationship, because of u.n. resolutions and hostile criticism, and the u.s. has supported israel on almost all of these. isn't it critical for this stuff to get in? >> it is. it is imperative that israel work with the united nations. it's imperative that this assistance get in, more get in, and once it's in it get effective

arsenals, the threshold of civilian casualties i think really needs to be lowered which is what tony blinkenout and continue to impress upon them but there needs to be a reduction in civilians, men, women and children in gaza who are unfortunately bearing the brunt of this rather ruthless israeli pummeling of gaza in effort to destroy hamas' military capabilities. >> and also pressuring for less aggressive actions by settlers in the west bank where tensions are rising as well. john brennan, thank you very much. >> thanks, andrea. >>> and rescuers in japan are searching for survivors from earthquakes that rocked the country this week. the powerful tremors and a tsunami as well have killed at least 84 people and dozen more are still missing. nbc's jackie mayer fraher is there. >> reporter: andrea, you see the tarm put down here, the road just ends, it's broken and collapsed. the road has disintegrated. look at the house. and before that, the cars have been tossed around, showing how powerful the earthquake was that hit on new year's day. across this prefecture and the peninsula, the areas hard

tony blinken has said for months now, he would like to we would like to see israel kill furious civilianse the u.s. has not actually inattention will weigh changed support for israel. in the absence of that kind of change, you are seeing israeli government that, frankly, speaks out about sides of its mouth. so prime minister netanyahu did say israel respect international law, we will abide by this, but on the other hand you have inquire ben-gvir, at the very members of his cabinet, and there is tragically especially if you look at the icj ruling given the situation in gaza there's no hint from israel today that they have taken this to heart and they are fearing okay starting tomorrow this -- which is why we are taking calls for action that you, and building on this ruling. >> if this goes to the security council, and the u.s. is required to decide whether to abstain or accept the ruling, because europe is very much feels bound by international law it is going to be very uncomfortable if there's going to be a vote on whether to order israel to abide by this ruling. do you have an indicatio

very tenuous position right now for everybody to be in, that's what we have continued to send tony blinkenhe secretary of state over. he has been over multiple times, and we are sending delegation after delegation -- and defense department to the middle east, to make sure that we are addressing this, and keeping our coalition together. >> the u.s. early this morning conducted another strike against those iranian-backed houthis, who say that they are targeting commercial ships in the red sea, in solidarity with the palestinians. here is president biden on thursday. >> what are the airstrikes in yemen working? >> well, but when you say working, are they stopping the houthis? no. are they going to continue? yes. >> i mean the big concern, congressman, is that chipping -- in the red sea could reignite inflation. if the strikes aren't working, are there other options the u.s. has, and should congress have a say in what the next steps should be? >> yeah, so what's going on here is we are conducting what are called defensive strikes, under article two of the constitution. so the president has aut

meanwhile, secretary of state tony blinken set to leave for his fourth trip to the region since the israel-hamasegan. joining us now is nbc's raf sanchez from tel aviv. if you will, walk us through this rescue operation. >> reporter: so, this played out on new year's eve. we're still getting the details, but here is what we know. there is a 24-year-old palestinian-american u.s. military service member whose mother and his uncle, the uncle is also an american citizen, were trapped inside of gaza, fighting raging all around them, unable to get out, unable to get to safety and u.s. officials say they played a coordinating role between the israeli military and the egyptians to try to get the mother and the uncle out of this war zone and eventually into safety. now, as you said, the u.s. military is stressing there were no american boots on the ground this is not a case of american special forces operating inside of gaza, but they did play a role getting these two people out of harm's way. that is a little bit of good news, yasmin, in what is a very, very tense moment in the region. secretary of stat

secretary of state tony blinken continuing his diplomatic trip abroad with stops and qatar and jordantop the conflict from spreading. that and more, coming up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ that cold water can't clean. cold water, on those stains? ♪♪ cold water can't clean tough stains? i'd say that myth is busted. (music) turn to cold, with tide. have heart failure with unresolved symptoms? it may be time to see the bigger picture. heart failure and seemingly unrelated symptoms, like carpal tunnel syndrome, shortness of breath, and irregular heartbeat could be something more serious called attr-cm, a rare, underdiagnosed disease that worsens over time. sound like you? call your cardiologist, and ask about attr-cm. ♪♪ here's to... one year bolder. ♪♪ ♪boost♪ nutrition for now. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire want luxury hair repair that doesn't cost $50? pantene's pro-vitamin formula repairs hair. as well as the le

. >> laura: we have a cabinet of firsts and then we have tony blinken who started his tenure as secretarystate, certainly getting lectured by china. that meeting in alaska. and now headline in the "new york times" blinken talks a grand vision for middle east peace but hits a wall in israel. strikes expand battleground for the west for the war in the middle east. >> it's not surprising. there has been a very muddled vision there. there have been mixed messages about what our role is with israel and it's not surprising. >> laura: all right. ladies, hold on. back with me now lieutenant colonel daniel davis, senior fellow for defense priorities. nathan sails, former ambassador at large and terror coordinator under president trump. colonel, how do we ensure and how would you advise that we avoid the prospect of what even the "new york times" is warning about tonight a widening war in a presidential election widely tomorrow too old, too frail and not up to the job? what a devastating outcome that could be for the world. >> i was actually cheering over here when mollie was talking just a second

what was your take on that ad lib moment from the president and what we heard from tony blinken today that is also encouraging israel to kind of curtail these operations in gaza? >> well, i think it underlies within this administration the fact that they have never really supported israel. the fact tweet that came out of antony blinken moments after 1,400 people were murdered by hamas is calling for a cease fire before they walked that back. you've seen president biden sort of try to waiver between su supporting israel and then apologizing for the death totals that they put out. so in trying to make everyone happy, he's making no one happy. the important part there is that israel has been the most important strategic military and morale ally that we have in the most volatile region in the world. they earned our support. so the statements like yesterday really sort of underscore that even when he's supporting israel, he's not really giving them unqualified support. there's been pressure on them throughout this, you know, throughout this campaign. >> martha: indeed. director, hang on if

secretary of state tony blinken continued his diplomatic tour of the middle east with crucial stops in a pair of key countries. in meetings with jordan's foreign minister and king abdullah, the leaders urged the u.s. to push israel to a greater cease-fire. blinken also visited the world food programme warehouse where he stressed the importance of food aid in the region before heading to qatar. the trip by america's top diplomat is an effort to de-escalate rising regional tensions and grapple with the growing pressure on israel to ease the assault in gaza. i want to bring in msnbc national security analyst and -- it's a pleasure. thank you for joining us on this. you have a top israeli officials saying the idf is ready to defend israel, quote, through the force of arms against hezbollah. they add that the potential for a diplomatic resolution is still open. what do you make of these varying degrees of response? >> well, so many challenges for secretary blinken on a trip in which the israeli minister of defense talked about israel fighting a six or seven front war. he has been, where do