Morning Joe - Morning Joe 10/18/23

Episode Date: October 18, 2023

Biden meets with Netanyahu; Gaza hospital blast fuels protests

The forces of civilization will prevail for our sake, for your sake, for peace and security in our region and in the world. Mr. President, for the people of Israel, there's only one thing better than having a true friend like you standing with Israel, and that is having you standing in Israel. Your visit here is the first visit of an American president in Israel at a time of war. It is deeply, deeply moving. It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to Israel. It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to the future of the Jewish people and the one and only Jewish state. So I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow,

and always. That happened in the past hour, and a lot has happened in the past 24 hours. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing appreciation for President Biden's visit amid the country's war with Hamas. That meeting happening just moments ago, kicking off an extremely busy day for the president in Israel, navigating a lot of moving parts and questions this morning. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Wednesday, October 18th. With us, we have the host of Way Too Early, White House Beer Chief at Politico, Jonathan Lemire, and U.S. Special Correspondent for BBC News, Katty Kaye. We'll dive right in. Less than two weeks after Hamas terror attacks sent Israel into a new war,

President Biden is in the country today to show support for America's Middle Eastern ally. The president is meeting, as you saw, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu right now after arriving in Tel Aviv about two hours ago. In brief remarks to reporters before going behind closed doors, Netanyahu thanked Biden profusely for his steadfast support for Israel. Biden then reaffirmed his commitment to Israel's safety while also stressing the need to address the growing humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. The situation there worsened last night when a deadly blast at a Gaza City hospital killed more than 200 people. Israel and Palestinian officials are both blaming each other for the violence,

which spurred pro-Palestinian protests in parts of the West Bank, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan last night. That blast also forced changes to Biden's schedule. Just as he was departing for Israel yesterday, the King of Jordan canceled a planned summit between himself, Biden, and the Palestinian president and the president of Egypt. In a statement, Jordan's foreign minister wrote, quote, a summit would not be able to stop the war now. More now on the explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of people. It happened in Gaza City in the northern part of the territory placed under an evacuation order by Israel last week. Hamas, which launched terrorist attacks that set off the war, immediately blamed Israel

for the attack. Israel says the explosion was caused by a misfired rocket launched by another terrorist group known as Islamic Jihad. Prior to departing for Israel, President Biden directed his national security team to continue gathering evidence about what exactly happened. Biden then addressed the deadly blast shortly after arriving this morning. Listen. I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. And based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there's a lot of people out there who are not sure.

So we've got to overcome a lot of things. Navigating a lot of things. Meanwhile, Israel's defense forces overnight shared video on social media claiming it was proof that the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad. Jonathan Lemire, let's talk about what the White House is doing right now and how they responded to this hospital attack and how it impacted the trip. Was there a moment where they thought perhaps it wouldn't be wheels up? And what do you make of how the president is navigating this right in front of Benjamin Netanyahu, not being completely sure exactly what happened. Yeah, this explosion, of course, is now shadowing this entire trip, changed its trajectory remarkably.

The president was in the motorcade just a few minutes from Joint Base Andrews yesterday afternoon, about to go wheels up when word came from Jordan that this summit was canceled. The summit, the White House had really wanted to make a key part of this trip to talk to these Arab leaders about the need to help with the situation in Gaza, perhaps to accept refugees, create that corridor with Egypt to let people get out. And suddenly it was off. And White House aides I speak to say that they never wavered on going with this trip, but certainly a trip that was sort of fraught from the beginning. The president heading into a war zone, real security concerns there. One who has already showed such support for Israel. There was a sense that maybe he was being pushed into this visit by the prime minister Netanyahu. But we heard from him there since touching down, the president firmly standing with Israel, but cautioning, doing it subtly, but suggesting that Israel's response needed to be keep humanitarian mission in mind,

to be not target civilians. And they're relaying the latest from intelligence, the idea that they do believe that the hospital was destroyed by a rocket fired from within Gaza, as opposed to an Israeli strike, but cautioning that it's still under investigation. And we have seen a number of social media posts, video, some proved to not be true, circulate in the last couple of hours. The Israeli government is proceeding with their investigation. But it is complicated, Mika, because, of course, they have no access to the site, which is in Gaza itself. But they are piecing it together with their with their team, their expert team. And at least for now, the U.S. president says, Mika, they do believe this was not an Israeli missile that landed on that hospital.

We're going to go to Tel Aviv in just a moment. But I want to focus in on your contacts with the White House and in the national security community, Jonathan Lemire, because talk a little bit, if you could explain to our viewers, what exactly was the purpose of the trip beyond showing support for Israel, which he could do from home? Secondly, is it to lead by example, as you see other Arab countries pulling back right now? Yeah, no question here. First and foremost, this was to show support for Israel, but it had a wider purpose and it's to prevent this war from escalating. There's a sense that President Biden in Israel would deliver these messages to Prime Minister Netanyahu about the appropriateness of the Israeli response. No doubt, understands Israel

needs to strike and he will strike hard, but to do so in a way that wouldn't further inflame the region. He also wanted to deliver a message to these Arab leaders to get them to step up with the situation in Gaza. And there was a real hope here that by trying to sort of contain this now, that it wouldn't require further American involvement either. We've already seen these aircraft carrier groups go to the region, troops being put on alert. They may need to be deployed.

The last thing this administration wants as it focuses on China, aircraft carrier groups go to the region, troops being put on alert. They may need to be deployed. The last thing this administration wants as it focuses on China, as it focuses on Ukraine, the last thing this administration wants is to its foreign policy be dominated by the Middle East again. That's part of this mission, too. And everything is more complicated now, Mika, because of that hospital explosion. Yeah. I mean, it's it's hot. It's dangerous. It's complicated. Joe Biden has tried to achieve the impossible before. But this might be truly that the ultimate. And I'm not I mean, this is the Middle East and this is in the middle of a hot war. His second trip to a war zone in his presidency. Joining us now from Tel Aviv is NBC News foreign correspondent Josh Letterman and in Washington, NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba.

Monica, just to build on Lamir's point, the purpose of the trip and has it changed since some countries are now pulling away from having an actual summit. It's been so fluid, Mika, that even as the president was heading to Tel Aviv overnight, the schedule was constantly changing. And that just signals to you how volatile a trip like this is. But because the situation on the ground is so tense and the events are unfolding in real time, the White House has been very frank and they have wanted to be clear to say things could still continue to change. And they haven't wanted to share very many details about the schedule specifically because they are trying to add some things.

And again, in these moments, they have to be nimble as they're continuing to assess intelligence. But I am told that in the early days after the October 7th massacre, White House officials were already planning to see what could be feasible in terms of a trip to the region. But it wasn't clear until the prime minister continued to extend that invitation more formally that the president would even been able to go. And according to my reporting, there was a consensus in the White House that there would have to be a window if the president was going to do this before any kind of a ground invasion by Israel was going to take place. And that that was important, even though White House officials have

said they didn't put any kind of conditions on the trip. They're not saying publicly that in any of those conversations with Israeli counterparts that they said this is what you should or should not do if the president is going to come. But we know, of course, that's a critical piece and backdrop to all of this. And so the president is going to be spending a couple of hours right now. He is with the prime minister and they will be meeting with the Israeli war cabinet to try to talk about what happens next, because that's the other important piece of this. What happens the day after a potential ground invasion or where this goes from here? The U.S. wants some answers on that because they want to continue to protect civilian lives. And they, of course, are also very invested in this group of hundreds of Americans who are in Gaza, who are trying to get out,

who so far have not been successfully able to do so. Mika. Josh, one of perhaps the most important components of this trip would have been Biden's chance to meet with the Egyptian President al-Sisi in Jordan. Of course, that's been cancelled as well. Americans would really like the Egyptians to allow aid in or even potentially allow refugees from Gaza out into Egypt and house them in Egypt temporarily. If that's now a part of the trip that can't take place, what would constitute success for Biden? What does Biden think he can get out of it, given that he's only meeting with one side in this now increasingly broad conflict? I think success at this point, would look like if President Biden can return from this short war zone trip with Israel's

conflict with Gaza still limited to Hamas and not additional fronts in this war opening up with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has promised an unprecedented day of rage against Israel and against President Biden's visit today, and whether he is able to really contain the fire that is raging across the Arab world right now, because this is creating a real split screen moment that is exactly the opposite of what the White House wanted to see. At the same time that President Biden is hugging Netanyahu on the tarmac, meeting with his National Security Council, his war cabinet, and publicly siding with Israel's version of events about what happened at that hospital last night in the Gaza Strip, you have protests erupting around the Arab world. In Jordan, they are burning Israeli flags.

In Iran, they are chanting death to Israel. And even in the West Bank, not far from Tel Aviv, where President Biden is today, you have Palestinians hurling stones, protesting against both the U.S. and Israel. One of the key problems for President Biden right now is the fact that within just a couple hours of that strike last night, that explosion at that hospital caddy, you had America's regional allies like Jordan and like Egypt and also Turkey come out and publicly side with the Palestinian version of events. They said this was an Israeli strike. In the hours since, Israel has come out with what its military says is evidence

indicating that, in fact, it was not an Israeli strike, but a failed rocket by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group. And now you have President Biden backing that up, saying that based on what he's seen, which is presumably U.S. intelligence, the U.S. currently believes that it was not Israel, that it was the Palestinian side. But it's going to be very difficult, maybe impossible, for those Arab leaders here in the broader region, like King Abdullah of Jordan, like President Sisi of Egypt, to walk back what they have already said about this strike, given the fact that their publics are now enraged by this. And they are seeing this public embrace of Israel by the president of the United States, making, as Netanyahu said, the first wartime U.S. presidential visit to

Israel ever. Now, President Biden will continue doing what he can to try to tamp down tensions. As he was on his way here, he was able to speak by phone with King Abdullah of Jordan. And the White House says he should connect with Sisi of Egypt on the way home. But have no doubt about it. This is a precarious mission for President Biden to try to keep this situation from spiraling even further, Katty. All right. NBC News foreign correspondent Josh Letterman and NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba, thank you both very much. And there's another pressing, intense layer to this escalating situation. Hamas says it is ready to release all civilian hostages, foreign and Israeli, immediately. If Israel stops bombing Gaza, that's according to a senior Hamas official who says the release

could happen within the hour as long as Israel meets its terms. And in exchange for the Israeli soldiers held captive, the Hamas officials said Israel must release all Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Hamas is believed to hold at least 199 people in Gaza. Joining us now with new reporting on the hostage situation is NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Delaney. And Ken, I understand there's been some video of some of the hostages. Where are they? Are they being held by Hamas? What are you learning?

Yeah, good morning, Mika. We did see a proof of life video of one hostage 24 hours or so ago. Look, Keir Simmons and I in London were able to speak to a number of people briefed on these tense negotiations that really have been happening since day one between the U.S., Israel and Hamas, mediated by the government of Qatar, which styles itself as the Switzerland of the Middle East. And what we learned was that what that Hamas official told Richard Engel yesterday is confirmed by the U.S. and the Israeli and the Qatari side, that Hamas had come around to the idea that they were going to have to release at least women and children, civilian hostages,

without getting anything in exchange, because Israel has been steadfast that they're not going to trade anything for those civilian hostages. But now we're told this morning that this hospital bombing really has changed everything, has complicated the hostage situation as it complicates the entire picture here. Hamas could not release these hostages, we're told now, even if they wanted to, even if there was a deal, at least for some time, while passions are running so high over this hospital bombing. And I also spoke to a couple of veterans of the U.S. hostage recovery effort, including Christopher O'Leary, a retired FBI agent who until recently was running the hostage recovery

cell. And he told me that this was the most complicated hostage situation in modern history and that the nature of this really makes a military rescue very remote here. These hostages are spread out in the war zone that is Gaza, which is filled with warrens of tunnels and bunkers. And the other complicating factor is Hamas doesn't hold all the hostages. There's a group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has some of them, and others are held by what one official told me was opportunistic Gazan citizens who grabbed them for their own reasons. Hamas is trying to get custody of all the hostages, but they don't have that yet.

So it's a devilishly complicated situation. And the families of these people are in agony as they await the fates of their loved one. My God. NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Delaney. And thank you very much. We have a lot of other news to get to, including the fact that there's no speaker of the House. There's going to be another vote today at 11 a.m. But first, today is President Biden's second trip into an active war zone this year. In one minute, we're going to bring in historian John Meacham on that. We're back in 60 seconds. All right, we're just standing by as we have a lot of moving parts this morning.

We may be jumping into a meeting between President Biden and the Israeli war cabinet. If that happens, we'll jump in. But let's bring in right now Roger's chair and the American presidency at Vanderbilt University historian John Meacham. Meacham, first of all, just talk about overall President Biden's trip into this hot war zone. I mean, truly, so soon after the war has broken out, it is still raging and with many questions and mysteries as to who has done what. What do you make of the trip? How does it stand in history? But also, what are some of the severe challenges he is facing? Well, the president's now done this twice. He went to Kiev, remember. He went to Ukraine.

He this is a remarkable moment in the history of the American presidency for a president to go this soon into this kind of climate. I think it suggests the tactile and intimate nature of Biden's sense of how important this is of the president's personal diplomacy. He's been doing this a very long time and he knows the players. He understands that, yes, there are broad structural forces that shape the world, but there are moments when a personal word, a tactile encounter can nudge the arc of events in a good direction. And one of the things the president has, one of the most precious things in presidential capital, if you will, is his time. And the president is choosing to invest this time in what he understands to be, I shouldn't speak for him, but what I believe he thinks is a global struggle of, in fact, decency and dignity and order against these elemental forces of chaos

and terror. And yes, there are extraordinary complications. And yes, all of that is stipulated. He believes, as he has said and said in those powerful remarks last week, he believes that we have to stand with Israel against terror. That doesn't mean we condone indiscriminate violence by any means. But it does mean that in a complicated and difficult time, when American interests, when the broad historical interests of liberalism in the pure sense of human rights, of self-determination, when those rights are under assault. You stand with those who are most closely stand with you. So I'm just curious about the players and the dynamics involved. You know, when when President Biden went to Kiev, he was dealing with Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine has its problems. There's no question. But would you consider Zelensky to be a trusting partner? Let me add to that question. He's going to now to Israel. He's there right now.

We're about to watch him meet with Israel's war cabinet. He's met with Benjamin Netanyahu. Talk about the dynamics in that relationship. Is Benjamin Netanyahu a trusting partner, given the fact that he's facing a lot of criticism in Israel right now for creating many distractions that may have led to this? And I just wonder how the president navigates that dynamic. Is it similar? Is it a parallel? Or are there some differences with Benjamin Netanyahu? I think there are differences. I think you've laid it out quite clearly. And I don't think anyone should believe that this is like Mary Poppins, where an American president flies into something and brings immediate order to it. I think we should be grown up about our expectations. I think that this is vitally important. That does not mean it is simple. It means that this is a perennial

issue of life and death, as we're seeing again and again and again. And here's an American president who has been doing this again a very long time, both in the Senate as vice president, as president. Every once in a while, you end up with an American president who has extraordinary experience in these spheres. You know this. George Herbert Walker Bush, when it came time to put together a global coalition to oppose Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, he knew everyone. President Biden has a long time, I think it's been described as long time, but not entirely warm a relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. One of the things about history, one of the things about reality, I should say, which is just history as it unfolds, is that you deal with

the world as you find it. And President Biden clearly thinks that his being there has a better chance of producing a better result than if he stayed away. And we will find out. Yeah. I mean, you have the leader of the members of the summit pulling out and canceling the most important part of the trip, one would argue, as it pertains to the lives of potentially thousands of people. And yet Arab countries pull away. Biden goes in. Very Joe Biden, obviously. But is the purpose to lead by example? I think so. I think it's to say, let me put it this way, and I don't know, I'm not in the room, but it seems to me that if he is there, he is showing a level of care and concern that, as we've just said, is without precedent. And one of the ways politics works is your interlocutor has to believe that you, in fact, share their interests and that you're not simply in it for yourself.

And so here's one of the things that can happen. President Biden will be able to look at the war cabinet, will be able to look at Benjamin Netanyahu. And as President Biden probably would say, hey, man, I'm here now. Let's work this out. Right. I promise you the word man is going to be used. And I don't mean to make make light of it. But this happened with Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Right. It mattered that they were in the room together. It matters to political beings that you pay the respect, that you signal that you are in fact you understand where they are. James Baker, one of the great secretaries of state in American history, his entire memoir was called The Politics of Diplomacy.

And his thesis was you cannot conduct diplomacy if you do not understand that the people on the other side are political beings. And so you have this politician of more than a half century standing in the American context who's going into the most fraught, one of the most fraught regions in the world at a time when there are clear issues to deal with. And he's there. And he's not in a lordly way sending in instructions from Washington. He's there. Yeah. And as you say, it's very Biden-esque. It's personal. It's hand to hand. And we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens, obviously. But again, a president's capital is his time. The president cares about this. He thinks it's important.

And American interests, I believe, and hope will be served. So, John, I suspect you're right about the presidential vocabulary that's going to be used. And we know that President Biden is going to deliver some messages here, perhaps sternly, behind closed doors to Prime Minister Netanyahu about what happens next in this war. But to your point about how he's there, he's showing up, that matters, he's in the room. Well, he's not now in the room with the other side because the Arab world pulled down that summit. And you just hinted at it. This is one of the most fraught regions in the world with a long history of sprawling, widening conflicts, something that President Biden wants desperately to avoid. What's the risk, though, of this situation being inflamed now because of the backdrop of that hospital explosion and because,

fair or not, it looks like President Biden is picking sides. Yeah, all of this is risky. I mean, there's there's nothing you know, this isn't an afternoon at the Council on Foreign Relations where you run through a PowerPoint. Right. I mean, this is a serious time, but he's a serious man. And American policy, American interests are at stake. Lives, human lives are at stake. Do I think it's optimal that he's not having the other summit? Of course not. But you can't pick your reality.

That's really my fundamental point here, is that we have an American president who is serious about these issues. He's trying his best to see if he can bend the arc of events toward a better result. And I'll take that, you know, and I think that diplomacy is difficult. If it were easy, we wouldn't call it diplomacy. And so I think that we have to watch and I think we have to hope. And if you're inclined that way, I think we have to pray for a kind of resolution to what is a mind numbingly complicated, historical, fraught, bloody, and in the purest sense of the word, tragic unfolding story. Historian John Meacham, thank you. We'll be watching President Biden's movements in Israel. We have meetings taking place right now. We're going to bring you those updates and also go live if they come to a podium and speak or let the cameras in.

Also, obviously, ongoing coverage on the plight of the hostages and the plight of civilians that are in harm's way. Also, back here at home, round two in the latest battle for the Speaker's gavel with another vote set for later today. We will examine Congressman Jim Jordan's pressure campaign to win the House Speaker's gavel. That's just ahead on Morning Joe. How much are you willing to go for? Until we get a speaker. We've got to have a speaker, and it can't be some deal with the Democrats. I mean, American people don't want that.

They elect Republicans in a majority, small majority. I get it. But we got 200 votes in the first ballot. I think that maybe even is more than what Kevin got back in January. Right about where Kevin was. Gus Villarocas is a vote for us. That's 201. We've had good conversations.

We're going to keep working. Can't be a deal with the Democrats. The American people don't want bipartisanship. No, no, no. Congressman Jim Jordan vowing to continue his pursuit of the speakership despite losing the first vote yesterday after 20 fellow Republicans voted against him. The next vote is scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning. And joining us now, senior writer for The Dispatch, David Drucker, co-host of Showtime's The Circus, NBC

News national affairs analyst John Heilman, and special correspondent at Vanity Fair and host of the Fast Politics podcast, Molly Jong Fast. Her latest piece is entitled The GOP is Burning Down the House. And actually, let's read from your piece, Molly. We have it here. Yes. Let's see. It's Jim Jordan loses his first round as House speaker. Can we put Molly's piece up? Thanks. In your piece, you write the burn it all down caucus has set itself on fire, a hazard of playing with matches. Now, area arsonist Jim Jordan is revving up the GOP media outrage machine to try and bully his fellow House Republicans to vote for him. But the problem with being a pyromaniac is that fire is exceedingly hard to control. The election denying Jordan unsurprisingly got the endorsement of Trump, who questioned the health of Steve Scalise the same day he beat Jordan for the GOP speaker nomination.

And shortly before he withdrew from the race, Republicans who are put up as potential challengers are immediately attacked by pro-Trump accounts like Elon Musk's favorite at-end wokeness. The thinking here is that Jordan, his allies and supporters, can do kind of a French Revolution style shtick to get him the gavel. Can Jordan steamroll reluctant Republicans into becoming speaker? Could voting for a right-wing bomb thrower like Jordan scare off potential GOP voters in swing districts and risk the House in 2024? It's hard to see a Jordan speakership not leading to a more Fox friendly stunts and impeachment hearings. And my guess is Republicans would be better off politically in 2024 by not getting what they want here. But then again, pyromaniacs like to watch the world burn. Molly, I'll just finish off your point by saying, you know, this is a really bad time not

to have a speaker, not that there's ever a good time. It's just completely self-destructive behavior. And I'll go go where Joe always goes. Republicans seem to love losing in the long run. Yeah. Well, I also think this Republican Party has been so burn it all down, right? The caucus is the burn it all down caucus. They were trying to prove that government doesn't work. But the problem is you work in government. And so we see Jim Jordan desperately trying to whip these votes. And I think it's important to remember, like the job of speaker is both to whip votes and then it's also to raise money and help win more seats in 24. And Jim Jordan seems uniquely unqualified to do both these things. So if let's say Jordan were to get it, what would he have to do in order to keep it? What's the

payback? Right. Because he would get it on sufferance. He he have to do in order to keep it? What's the payback, right? Because he would get it on sufferance. He'd have to give something. What specifically would he have to give? And how would that affect the, what, 18 Republicans who have been elected in districts that Joe Biden won? Well, Katty, I mean, look, for Jim Jordan, the concessions aren't really concessions to the right. I mean, he's sort of already with those people. So the kinds of things that McCarthy had to give up in order to placate the MAGA caucus are things that Jim Jordan wants to give up willingly. He's more in the business of having the need to try to placate those in the center because they're worried about having a speaker who comes into the job pledging to shut down the government. It's a it's a you know, it's a as Molly suggests,

I think she put a bunch of question marks behind things like could a Jim Jordan speakership lead to Republicans losing control of the House? I think you don't even put a question mark there. Say more something like a Jim Jordan speakership would obviously jeopardize the seats of every of every Republican who is in a vulnerable seat, every Republican who is one in a Biden district, the bunch of them up here in New York state that gave control of the House to Republicans in 2022. They're all terrified about the notion of a Jim Jordan speakership. And there are a handful of even people in the Freedom Caucus, the people like Ken Buck, who, you know, are very conservative, but look at Jordan as politically toxic and almost certain to guarantee Democrats taking back control of the chamber in 2022. So, you know, it's the question now is it kind of gives you almost sympathy for,

pity for Kevin McCarthy. It kind of makes you realize just how difficult McCarthy's position was. You know, he was the problem with the Republican Party is the Republican Party. It's that the reality is that, you know, to stitch together this coalition, to hold the gavel with this narrow majority requires somehow an almost impossible straddle. And McCarthy was able to maintain it for a few months. I don't know that Jim Jordan will be able to maintain it for much longer if he somehow gets it. I'm not sure anybody could. This is an internal conflict in the politics of this party that is very, very hard to figure out with this narrow majority. There was a wire photo making the rounds yesterday that showed a very concerned-looking Jim Jordan sitting in the House chamber with Kevin McCarthy two rows behind him laughing his head off. David Drucker, usually it's a truism that you don't bring votes to the floor if you can't win. Well, Jim Jordan did that yesterday. He lost. 11 a.m. is scheduled to be the next one. Whip count suggests he's not there and he's not that close.

So we'll see if he brings the vote to the floor. We'll see if he does a McCarthy style multiple votes. But the chatter among Republicans, if he were to do that, he probably starts bleeding support. So give us your sense as to who might step into the breach, but also just your analysis of a Republican Party that continues to fight and eat itself. Right. So, you know, my sources tell me that that Jim Jordan is likely to lose members on the second ballot that he had on the first, even though some who voted against him on the first ballot have announced they will be with him on the second ballot. So I don't know that he's in any better position this morning than he was yesterday. And it's clear that he called off the 6 p.m. vote yesterday, Eastern Time, because he didn't have the votes. And you lose a second ballot. And I think this thing is all but dead. But he's been encouraged by Kevin McCarthy to plug ahead, push ahead and persevere. And the thinking by the former speaker is that Jim Jordan can get there just like he did.

I don't think the conference is in a place like that any longer. So I think we're already seeing discussions about empowering Patrick McHenry, the North Carolina congressman who is now the speaker pro tem, to have all of the powers, at least on the floor of the House of Representatives, that an actual Speaker of the House has so that the chamber can get back to work and do its job. Right now, I don't think this is a conference that knows where to turn for a speaker because they are so divided. There is so much ill will. And I think a key dynamic here, guys, is that, you know, normally it's the pragmatic conservatives in the conference. There really aren't that many moderates. It's really

a useless term. It's the pragmatic conservatives who want to govern and understand that in divided government, you have no choice but to cut deals with Democrats that they also get to claim victory for in order to do your job. And normally they would throw up their hands and say, even though it's a minority of our conference that wants to head in this direction, it looks like we have no other choice but to do it even though we don't want to. And I think after going through what they did with Kevin McCarthy, after seeing members of their own conference ignore their own conference rules and ignore the results of a conference election last week when Steve Scalise was elevated. I think a lot of them had finally had enough and said, we are not going to be

patsies anymore. I think this is the viewpoint. And so this goes now deeper than Jim Jordan wouldn't be good for, you know, defending and growing our majority or Jim Jordan may want to shut the government down. And I have policy disagreements with him. I think this has become a case of I'm tired of being pushed around. I'm tired of a minority of our conference ignoring our own rules. And so now I'm going to play the same game of hardball that they are. So what could be the outcome of that, John Hammond? What are you watching for? Because I mean, it really looking like a crazy minority, a small group of people have total control over the party. Sounds very Trumpy. And at the same time, there could be political ramifications, which we've discussed. And can we just talk about who Jim Jordan is,

what he stands for? He's an election denier. Everything pertaining to January 6th. Does it truly benefit the Republicans to elect him as speaker? Or is there another way forward? I mean, isn't Congress about making deals? Isn't that what they do? Oh, Mika, what a quaint notion. Compromise governance.

I don't know what what what generation last adhere to those views. I don't know what generation last adhered to those views. I can't really recall. I mean, look, you know, as David just said, I think, you know, there are now these kind of primal forces in play. It's not even about rational calculation anymore from what you can see. You know, we can talk about Jim Jordan, but I think he is increasingly looking like yesterday's news. If he brings this vote to the floor at all, which he seems determined to, but if he does bring the vote to the floor and it does go down, I don't think that he has the McCarthy, first of all, I don't think he actually has the McCarthy's relentless, unquenchable desire to be speaker and is probably unwilling to make any deal to get himself the

speakership. But, you know, there is a there's a we could be done with Jim Jordan as a prospective speaker within a few hours here today. And then there is this McHenry possibility. And Molly, here's one of the things that I wonder about. You raise this in your column is, you know, one of the things that among the many cross currents and pressures that are on these Republicans right now is obviously the situation in Israel, where the inability to have a functional House of Representatives means that we heard Joe Biden this morning. There's some discussion of the reporting that suggests Biden's going to come forward with a hundred billion dollar aid package for Israel and Ukraine. There is going to be, among other forces here, there is the Republican donor class, which desperately wants to be able to

be on board, at least for Israel aid and in many cases for Ukraine aid. As long as the House is paralyzed like this, that can't happen. And I can't help but think that part of what's going on here is not about either politics or about governance, but is merely about being able to make sure the Republican donor base doesn't finally just throw up its hands and say, we're done with you people if you can't get it together and help Israel in particular. Yeah, I think the Republican donor base is a huge concern. And I also think it's worth remembering that Jim Jordan is not the right person to make a case that the Republican Party has gone so far right it is no longer electable in swing districts. Right. You're going to have

that guy shopping a sort of roadshow that we are electable. It seems very unlikely. So I do think that's right. I also think it's not it's really worth thinking about how alienated the Republican donor base is, the money they're giving to Trump. They're worried is going to his legal bills. You know, I think Nikki Haley has become this last minute Hail Mary. But I think they're pretty alienated at this point. So, David Drucker, let's talk about Israel in 2024. Obviously, Donald Trump received a lot of criticism for his rebuke of Benjamin Netanyahu and his praise of Hezbollah, which remains a stunning sentence to say. You know, you've noticed that you've been following this, that this is a rare moment where some of his Republican rivals are taking an opportunity to take a swipe at Trump, to really criticize how he's handled this.

Give us your sense if this matters at all now, or perhaps is it something that could take a toll that will pay off next year in the general election? Yeah, it's hard to say. I mean, look, you know, Trump has a history of we need to look at this in two frames. Right. In a Republican primary, I don't really think this hurts him. Trump has a long history of saying things that are heterodox to most Republicans to, you know, he has a history of lashing out and criticizing policy or individuals that Republicans hold dear. But he doesn't really pay for it. I think it was smart for his primary opponents to jump on him for his his his petty comments regarding Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel

as it relates to the crisis that they are in. It's not the kind of thing you say to a friend about a friend at a moment like this, even if you have concerns, you communicate them privately. But voters have given Donald Trump, Republican voters, wide berth to do these things, and they tend not to punish him. And one thing, look, one thing that he has in his back pocket in regard to something like this is that he was president for four years, and his Israel was was good. It was good for Israel and people that are concerned about Israel in the United States, even people that didn't vote for Donald Trump, acknowledged often that his he was a rather pro-Israel president and was good for Israel and good for the region, having negotiated the Abraham Accords and had Israel's back through a number of issues. So I don't think this ends up hurting him at the end of the day in a Republican primary, not one bit. And the general election, especially against an incumbent Democrat now, Joe Biden, who is

steadfastly with Israel, even in the face of the expected criticism from our Arab allies in the region who has stuck with the Jewish state so far, who was about to propose a massive military aid package, who has already said he understands that Israel really needs to decapitate Hamas and he's going to be there with them. It's not a bad contrast for him as a matter of domestic political foreign policy. And so we'll just have to see how it plays out. David Drucker and Molly Jung-Fass, thank you both. Molly, what will you be looking for today? I mean, I'm going to watch this. I think that we could see this compromise speakership, which would be ultimately a real sort of win for democracy and bipartisanship. Yeah. Let's hope. Still ahead, we continue to monitor the president's busy schedule in Israel. We'll bring you new updates

as they happen. We'll get a live report in just a moment. Plus, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is our guest next hour. Morning Joe is coming right back. More news to report from around the world. Russia is reportedly suffering heavy losses on the battlefield. We're learning Russian troops launched a large scale assault last week on a small eastern city in Ukraine, and it didn't go well. Ukraine's military said it destroyed dozens of Russian tanks and other armored vehicles and killed hundreds of Russian troops while losing little territory. A Ukrainian spokesman said the Russian assault was every bit as disastrous as the one in February. Meanwhile, Ukraine also claimed a major strike on Russian airfields, thanks to the United States, which supplied the longer range missiles

used secretly. The secret delivery now providing Kiev's forces with the ability to strike Russian targets far behind the front lines. So far, the missiles were able to hit nine Russian helicopters, an air defense system and ammunition warehouses in eastern Ukraine. Let's go live to Israel, where President Biden is meeting with our united war cabinet, united and resolved to lead Israel to victory. This will be a different kind of war because Hamas is a different kind of enemy. While Israel seeks to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas seeks to maximize civilian casualties. Hamas wants to kill as many Israelis as possible and has no regard whatsoever to Palestinian lives. Every day, they perpetrate a double war crime,

targeting our civilians while hiding behind their civilians, embedding themselves in the civilian population and using them as human shields. We've seen the cost of this terrible double war crime against humanity that Hamas is perpetrating in the last 11 days. As Israel legitimately targets terrorists, civilians are unfortunately harmed. Hamas is responsible and should be held accountable for all civilian casualties. We saw the cost of this terrible war crime yesterday, when a rocket fired by a Palestinian terrorist misfired and landed on a Palestinian hospital. The entire world was rightfully

outraged, but this outrage should be directed not in Israel, but at the terrorists. As we proceed in this war, Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm's way. We have asked them and will continue to ask them to move to safer areas. We'll continue to work with you, Mr. President, to assure that the minimal requirements are met. And we'll continue to work together to get our hostages out. Mr. President, the road to victory will be long and hard, but united in purpose and with a deep sense of justice and the unbreakable spirit of our soldiers and our people, Israel will prevail.

Thank you, Mr. President. PRESIDENT OBAMA, PRESIDENT BIDEN, Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. In the wake of Hamas's appalling terrorist assault, it was brutal and humane, almost beyond belief, what they did. This cabinet came together. And standing strong, standing united, and I want you to know you're not alone. You are not alone. As I emphasized earlier, we will continue to have Israel's back as you work to defend your people.

We'll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians. Seventy-five years ago, your founders declared that this nation would be one based on freedom, justice, and peace. Based on freedom, justice, and peace. The United States stands with you in defense of that freedom, in pursuit of that justice and in support of that peace. Today, tomorrow and always, we promise you. All right. We are watching what was two short statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden in front of the Israeli war cabinet, which is meeting right now. Live

cameras are allowed in. I am not sure if reporters are giving questions, but if they start to answer anything, we'll go back. Very interesting. Netanyahu made very, very strong statements about the rocket fired by a Palestinian terrorist, which misfired hitting the hospital. That was the recent events of the past 24 hours where the hospital in Gaza, up to 300, possibly more, are dead. He talked about Hamas, Netanyahu did, wanting to kill Israelis with no regard to any lives and committing a double war crime because he says that they go after anybody and everybody with no regard to life and, again, use civilians as human shields. And then President Biden spoke, basically said that the United States stands with Israel in its pursuit for freedom, justice and peace. And it was a very quick

statement to Katty Kay. What do you make of it? Yeah, it was a quick statement just now is also a quick statement earlier. But gosh, this is tightrope diplomacy for Joe Biden. I mean, trying to, you know, thread a lot of needles here. When he made his comment about the attack on the hospital yesterday, he said, you know, it sounded like the Americans tend to agree with the Israeli position that this was not caused by Israel, but was caused by the other team, as Joe Biden described it. But then he went on to say, but a lot of other people have questions about it. And I think that is the key

comment, really, in Joe Biden's assessment, because whatever is the truth, and there will have to be some kind of investigation into what happened in that hospital, it's a turning point in this conflict and has incited violence in Arab capitals right around the Middle East that makes this an even more precarious situation. And Joe Biden is there seeing one side, those images of Joe Biden hugging Benjamin Netanyahu will be played in Arab capitals. It is so unfortunate that he was not able to meet with Sisi from Egypt, with the Jordanian king, with Mahm not just to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and show support for Israelis, but also to meet with other Arab nations. And that summit after the hospital bombing

was called off. So now you have President Biden and again meeting with Netanyahu and his war cabinet, but standing alone in the middle of this fire that is possibly raging across the Middle East.