seconds. should we take all of this to broadly put us in a thaw from what we saw in november? that came obviously after all the balloon episode, and now are we in a better place overall in your view? >> reporter: it is in a better place because it couldn't have been in a worse place. relations have stabilized, but the two sides are far apart on a range of issues. coming out of that meeting in november, president biden and president xi said that they agree to pick up the phone more often, and that's what they did today. so, in that way, it marks another milestone. >> we'll take it. janis mackey frayer, thank you for that reporting. that will do it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." andrea will be back tomorrow. follow the show on social media on mitchell reports. follow me on x and instagram at garrett haake. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day. i'm chris janng live at msnbc headquarters in new york city.

donald trump launching new unfounded attacks on the judge in his hush money trial, even as the judge rips into his legal team. but with a newly expanded gag order now in place, has judge juan merchan run out of options to try to keep trump quiet? and how does all of this set the stage for that landmark trial now less than two weeks away. plus, a team of innocent humanitarian workers killed by an israeli strike. the stunning claims now from the world central kitchen insisting the strike was no accident. and the fallout for millions of palestinians as other aid organizations followed wck and paused operations in gaza. and could today's recall vote mark the final chapter of a councilor in oklahoma. his opponents hoping to correct what they call a grievance error. we'll get the latest from our reporter in enid, oklahoma, a

few minutes from now. we start with the legal walls closing in around donald trump. the former president facing new restrictions about what he can say about his hush money trial, just 13 days from now. late last night, judge juan merchan expanded the gag order against trump, making family members including his and the d.a.'s off limits. in a blistering order, the judge rejected trump's arguments that attacks on merchan's daughter including posting her photo amount to core political speech, calling them baseless and farcical. he wrote that trump's pattern of going after family members serves no legitimate purpose. quote, it merely injects fears in those called to participate in proceedings that not only they, but their family members as well are fair game for defendant's vitriol. also trump posted a $175 million bond just days before the deadline. but that allows him only to keep

his assets while he appeals. if he loses, he is still on the hook for the $454 million judgment, plus interest. nbc's garrett haake is in washington. joyce vance is a former u.s. attorney, law professor at the university of alabama and msnbc legal analyst. and msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin joins me now on set. anybody who read this, the judge didn't mince words, even just rejecting trump's legal team's argument, i think he pretty much made mince meat of it, saying it is obvious to anyone who listens to trump's remarks that they pose a threat. so, i wonder what you make of not just the judge's order, but the way he framed it. >> first of all, to your point, he's not mincing words. i've never seen or rarely have i seen a judge do so much in so few pages. this is only a five-page order, but the words chosen are careful and precise and when i read it, i went, whoa, last night.

but, the other thing that i think is important to see here is that judge merchan is drawing a connection between the attacks on his daughter and, for example, attacks on d.a. bragg's family, and what that signals to anybody else who could find themselves a participant in that proceeding. and that's why he says that future violations will be met with sanctions including criminal contempt, which can mean up to 30 days in prison. it doesn't just affect the people you're terrorizing, it affects anybody else that can be a participant here. i want to read you a quote from the order that really made an impact on me. he said all citizens called upon to participate in the proceedings, whether as a juror, a witness or in some other capacity must concern themselves not only with their own personal safety, but with the safety and the potential for personal attacks upon their loved ones. that reality cannot be overstated. and so, again, what he's saying is the threat environment here, even if directed right now at his own daughter, it affects

anybody who could touch this case, it affects me, it affects potential jurors, it affects people throughout our news organization and other news organizations, all throughout the country, it impacts all of us and therefore should be taken seriously. >> joyce, you heard about this. you called it the most serious investment we have seen yet from a judge in terms of taking steps toward punishing trump for threatening behavior. and lisa just laid out why he felt so strongly. but can you explain this to people, because maybe from the outside it can be tough to see how trump is being impacted at all, let alone punished. >> yes, so, if trump was a toddler and i think we all often have suggested he behaves like one, this would be the sort of progressive discipline you would use to try to contain a toddler's misbehavior. at the outset of the case, the judge declined to impose any gag order at all. he admonished trump to behave. when that didn't work, the judge imposed the initial gag order in this case, which was billed as a very limited gag order. and now as trump has proven it

necessary, the judge hasn't just expanded the gag order, but as lisa mentioned, the judge was very specific in telling trump what the consequences for violating it were. and talking about new york criminal contempt, which would permit the judge, if he made a finding, that trump, for instance, made social media posts about potential witnesses. with an intent to influence the proceedings. the judge could impose fines or could even impose custodial time. i know this is frustrating for viewers who think that trump is getting better treatment than any other defendant, but this slow, measured series of progressive steps is important to showing both the fairness of the process and ensuring that trump has no legitimate appeal argument when this happens, if it does happen. many folks believe trump won't be able to heed even this very serious warning. >> so, garrett, when trump goes after people, as he has in this case, he could argue it is a

two-for. on one hand, you have what lisa said, if you're somebody who is called to jury duty, do you worry about whether you should serve on a jury, because might he go after you or your family? then you have trump's former attorney, ty cobb, who said this is strategic in another way, that the goal is to delegitimize the proceedings. i wonder if you heard anything from anyone involved in the campaign, expressing concern that he's going too far. maybe there is the possibility that trump's words actually do spur someone to act beyond, you know, trying to cause havoc in the lives of a judge or his family. >> short answer to your question is no. it is not the kind of thing that members of the campaign typically deal with. though the evidence for that kind of thing is all around them, going back to 2018, a lot of us remember covering those pipe bombs that were sent to political figures around the country, by someone who essentially was inspired by going after donald trump's enemies. to all the people who testified

in court related to january 6th related cases about the way in which they felt the former president's influence on their behavior. but i think the ty cobb comment is spot on, in a sense that donald trump's attacks on a judge, on a judge's family member are in some cases one of the oldest tricks in his book. it goes back, you know, years and years before he was even a political figure. as a way to make all the cases against him, whatever they may be, be about him, and be politics and not about their own legal merits. and to the degree there is a campaign related strategy here, i think that's it, the trumpian core principle, when someone is attacking you, whoever that someone might be, you attack them twice as hard and if you lash out at everything and make everything political, it makes it hard for disinterested people to see through the smoke and see what's what. those are the strategic imperative to the degree that there is any here.

>> there is no indication he would listen. we know judges have faced persistent threats to their safety. they have been swatted, for example. we know the son of judge salas was killed in new jersey by a man who was coming after her. >> yesterday was easter. i had to celebrate it without my son. you know, and so i say, you know, i can't imagine what goes through any parent's head when you think that something you did, the job that you chose, cost the life of my only child and that's a reality i have to live with. and i'm, you know, i do my best to remember that daniel was so proud of his mom. and i do my best to remember that i am doing my son justice by continuing to advocate for

better security. >> so, when you hear that donald trump sees this as a political strategy, and then you hear a judge salas who has to live with the reality that her son died because of the job she has, not her fault, but she has talked about that connection, what goes through your mind? >> yes, so, you know, i think judge salas and other judges, judge reggie walton in the district of columbia who has spoken out, we need to hear their voices. because no one who chooses to serve the public as a judge should pay for it with the life of their child or threats to their family members. you know, to some extent judges and prosecutors assume that risk when they take on the honor, but also the responsibilities of public service. but trump, by refusing to back down from the violence, which, he could do so easily, he could speak to his followers and say,

look, i am critical of these judges, but you must never attack the judges or their families or anyone associated with the case, i'm not calling for violence, i'm condemning violence, that would be such an easy thing for trump to do. and the fact that he won't and that he hasn't tells us that he in some sense thinks it is okay and what judge salas has gone through is a desirable result. that is just an utterly despicable sort of a view, a callous view from the former president, a would be future president, and what i think is appalling here is that political figures have failed to stand up and counter trump, that means that individual judges are now in the position of having to speak in public, something that they do very infrequently to condemn this behavior. >> lisa, talk about the position this puts judge juan merchan in. he wrote about how this does absolutely threaten the integrity of judicial proceedings. he made clear why he feels this

is important. on the other hand, he's a human being. and he has to go into a courtroom, and he has to be a judge. he has to be impartial. some people, particularly on perhaps the trump leaning side, might suggest he can't possibly be, and in fact already is not impartial. it is difficult for any judge, i would imagine, to impose a penalty on a defendant for something he said. especially if he's a former president and current candidate for president of the united states. where does that leave juan merchan? >> it leaves juan merchan in a very difficult situation because essentially right now he has to not only be a judge for what is going on in his courtroom, but there are expectations of him, nationwide. what i said to nicole yesterday, this is a massive collective action problem, where you have a problem that everyone can see, and it is happening from coast to coast or at least state to state. we have seen this happen, in

georgia, in new york, in d.c. >> by the way, much of the rest of the world is watching as well. >> correct. and yet he is the one person right now who is in a position to do something about it. what is really tricky here is to the extent that he does do something about it, he then lends credence to the motion that trump wants to make now and said yesterday, he's going to try to make, to recuse judge merchan from the case, thereby postponing and indefinitely delaying this trial. i have confidence that if trump i have lat violates this order, there will be consequences. but it doesn't make it any easier to know that people are going to accuse you of bias, simply for trying to uphold the rule of law and walk into your courtroom every day and do justice. those are the comments he made to the associated press essentially he's going to try to do this job with integrity and even that was a bridge too far for the trump people who said on the basis of his comments to the ap, that in and of itself

warrants a recusal here. he can't win. >> such an important conversation, thank you, all. in 60 seconds, the devastating new details on the recovery of the bodies of seven aid workers killed in gaza, and the shocking accusation from the ceo of world central kitchen. ceo of world central kitchen that's why my go to is nurtec odt. it's the only migraine medication that can treat and prevent my attacks all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion and stomach pain. now i'm in control. with nurtec odt i can treat a migraine attack and prevent one. talk to your doctor about nurtec today.

the truly tragic deaths of seven workers from world kitchen, netanyahu aknowledged there was a tragic and unintentional incident hitting people in gaza. but they say workers were targeted by the idf, despite having coordinated their movements and clearly marking their convoy with logos. you can see here the impact for yourself. this wck vehicle destroyed by

what appears to be a direct strike. among the victims, a dual american canadian citizen and zoe frankem who i interviewed previously and who spoke with deep conviction about the program. >> we're laser focused on overcoming every obstacle, every challenge to be able to serve hope and dignity in the form of fresh meals and fresh drinking water. >> she is now gone and world central kitchen is now pausing operations in gaza. to be clear, the work wck was doing there was nearly six months into this war no less than trying to keep civilians including children from starving to death. nbc's josh lederman is following this story for us. also with us, ben rhodes, former deputy national security adviser and msnbc political contributor.

ben, we heard from secretary blinken today that israel needs to do more to protect civilians, now this tragedy. will the deaths of seven human itarian workers change anything? >> this is really tragic and not normal. i think we have to say that. i heard prime minister netanyahu in his statement said these things happen, no, they don't. this was a marked convoy of humanitarian workers who had gone through deconfliction procedures. i can't think of anything happening like this since the russian and syrian regime were targeting aid workers in syria, in aleppo. we don't know exactly what happened here, and there is going to have to be an investigation. i'm not suggesting we know the intent yet, but clearly something is wrong with the military strategy that israel is pursuing if something like this can happen even when these convoys were marked as

humanitarian, even when they go through deconfliction procedures. the question for the white house is, we keep hearing the statements they object to the way in which israel is carrying out its military strategy, they object to the idea of israel going into rafah, which is the next step, and that military strategy, and if there are no substantive consequences for those actions, if the u.s. weapons and support just continu continues accompanied by the statements, i don't know that's working. i do think there is some serious decisions ahead for the white house about whether to start the condition military assistance on whether or not the israeli government listens to what it is hearing from the united states and frankly from other countries around the world when they see things like this happening. >> so, josh, what do we know? and, again, this is very early, but what do we know about what went wrong here? what are we hearing from israel? >> well, israel says that the investigation that they are now pursuing is what will get to the bottom of exactly what transpired here. but, according to world central

kitchen, chris, they had a convoy of three vehicles that had just left a depo, a warehouse, where it loaded up food that had been brought into gaza by that maritime route and they say that not only did the roofs of these vehicles have the world central kitchen logo, which is consistent with the video that nbc has seen, but they also said as ben was referencing the deconfliction measures that they had been in direct touch with the israeli government to coordinate with them the route that this convoy would take, precisely to avoid any kind of misunderstanding or miscalculation that could lead to an incident like this. now, prime minister netanyahu of israel as he was leaving the hospital earlier today after undergoing hernia surgery appeared to take responsibility for this incident. he said, in a statement, in part, unfortunately this was a tragic incident of an unintended strike of our forces on innocent people in the gaza strip. netanyahu went on to say, this

happens in war. we are checking this thoroughly, in touch with the governments, we'll do everything to make sure this doesn't happen again. and as israel tries to prevent this from happening again, the military announced today that they're going to set up a joint situation room alongside these aid organizations that are working in the gaza strip. so essentially everyone is in one place and can coordinate the movements in the future. that's raising real questions, six months into this war, why hasn't that been done already, why are the deconfliction channels open with these aid groups not sufficient to prevent israel from apparently striking a convoy of an aid group that has a lot of credibility in israel. one thing that israel pointed out is that world central kitchen not only did really good work in gaza, they also did really good work inside israel in the immediate aftermath of the october 7th hamas terror attacks. so, the fact that a group that had trust on both sides has been hit, and now has to cease

operations at least temporarily within gaza is really raising some profound questions about how this is going to hamper future humanitarian efforts in the gaza strip as a number of other aid organizations that are active on the ground in gaza are also saying they're going to pause their operations because it is just not safe right now. >> and, ben, the prime minister saying that this is going to be checked thoroughly. i mean, can israel be trusted to investigate what happened here. i mean, you have the ceo, again, of world central kitchen, calling this a targeted attack. the prime minister of australia, australia lost a citizen, called the tragedy beyond any reasonable circumstances. you point out this is not normal, this was in a deconflicted area. we can all see how well marked. how does this happen. are there serious questions? first of all, about whether israel is going to get to the bottom of this, how do we get to the bottom of this? >> well, first of all, a lot of aid groups have been saying this for months. they have been complaining about

the lack of clear deconfliction procedures, you had the irc was hit, doctors without borders suffered a hit in one of its facilities, and now this. and part of the complaints are also that there is such difficulty just getting aid into the gaza strip that it would be a lot easier if you opened up the aid crossing the rafah border crossing that has been sealed. so, it is very hard to get aid in and very hard for these organizations to operate at a time when you have near famine conditions approaching in gaza. the world central kitchen was going to be a delivery vehicle for this pier, this floating delivery system that president biden announced athe state of the union. this is paused. it is not clear how that gets in. so this clearly has to be dealt with. and the easiest way is to open up the floodgates for more assistance to get in. if not, the deconfliction has to be clearer. i don't think you can rely entirely on what the israeli government does here. there is an american citizen, an

australian citizen, that were killed in the strike, the u.s. provides a lot of military assistance to israel. that military assistance is conditioned on the government that receives it, abiding by the rules of -- and laws of war. so i think the u.s. and other governments have a right to see the underlying information involved in any finding that is made about what happened here. because it is important both for accountability and also to make sure that aid organizations can operate. if they can't, an already catastrophic humanitarian situation will get a lot worse. >> world central kitchen's founder chef jose andres was on this show a month ago. he gets it. totally. but i asked him about the danger and here's what he told me, ben. >> obviously that many, many, many members of u.n. has lost their lives. it is a war zone. shootings and bombs randomly falling.

and everybody, civilians in wars, they are the ones that always suffer the most. and being anywhere in israel or in palestine should be -- more important food and water should be a universal right. >> so beyond what you mentioned, there have been discussions in congress about whether conditions should be put on aid to israel, in the immediate gap, can the u.s. help fill the void? we should note that the biden administration had started to build this pier on the gaza coast to get aid in, but it was the world central kitchen that was working on the ground to actually ferry that food, right? so is there anything the u.s. could do in the interim, ben? >> i mean, you know, the last thing that hasn't been tried is to impose some consequences in the form of holding -- withholding military assistance to the israeli government.

other than that, you know, we have now seen a u.n. security council resolution calling for immediate cease-fire to go through, that hasn't changed things on the ground. i think the two things that the united states continues to come back to, chris, are one, there has to be more aid getting into civilians in gaza. the near famine conditions. and that requires more aid crossings, more things getting in from sea and also from land. there should be trucks driving across the border in much vier volumes than there are. and the second thing is this rafah operation that in this already chaotic and violent circumstance if a ground invasion goes forward into a city where a million people are crowded, you could have a rapid deterioration of an already deteriorated situation in terms of the palestinian lives there. so, i just think that we're in a point where if the u.s. isn't willing to put on the table conditioning of assistance, withholding of assistance, it is not clear what is going to impact the israeli decision-making because they have ignored u.s. statements of

concern, u.s. statements calling for a different kind of approach. >> ben, rhodes, good to have you on the program. josh lederman, thank you for your reporting. up next, battleground florida? why the biden campaign now thinks it could actually be up for grabs. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc bladder leak underwear has one job. i just want to feel protected! especially for those sudden gush moments. always discreet protects like no other. with a rapid dry core that locks in your heaviest gush quickly for up to zero leaks. always discreet- the protection we deserve! wealth-changing question --

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get real deal speed, reliability and power with xfinity. she shoots from here? that's kinda my thing. it may be time to rethink what we thought we knew about the states that will determine who wins the race for president. the ground might be shifting because team biden is increasingly optimistic that florida, yes, florida, may be in play, and polls moving in other battleground states in their direction. that includes michigan, where trump is about to hold a rally and wisconsin, where voters are going to the polls to consider two important ballot measures that could change how elections there are run. nbc's yasmin vossoughian is with us here in studio. what happened in florida that makes the biden campaign so at

least mildly optimistic this is in play? >> florida's supreme court deciding 6-1 in favor of keeping the 15-week abortion ban in place. that means in four weeks time, chris, 30 days or so, the six-week ban will also be put into place, that was signed into law by florida governor ron desantis. however, 4-3 the florida supreme court also deciding in favor of putting abortion on the ballot. we well know 7 states that have all seen abortion rights on the ballot have decided in favor of abortion rights. it just so happens the house, congress actually held a hearing on reproductive freedoms down fort lauderdale today. i want to listen to what we heard on the ground there and then i'll talk on the other side. >> after my doctors told me i could not get induced, they said it was because the laws in their hands were tied. we have all struggled with our

mental health. even my 4-year-old has had to see a therapist to understand, you know why his brother died. >> it is about power and control. and controlling people's bodies. >> we actually know that we are doing harm to our patients by banning and restricting abortion. >> they're hoping the biden camp is hoping this is going to motivate voters to turn out come november to vote in favor of reproductive rights on the ballot and vote in favor of the president for re-election. >> yasmin vossoughian, thank you for that. coming up, the new fight over florida, the last state campaign director to win a democratic presidential campaign will join me in our next hour. but now we want to turn to wisconsin because voters there are weighing in on two low profile republican-backed constitutional amendments that could have major implications on the future of elections. one measure would ban the use of

private funds to run elections. the other would require only election workers designated by law to administer elections. joining me now, former present congressman david jolly of florida and msnbc political analyst symone sanders townsend, co-host of msnbc's "the weekend" and former chief spokesperson for vice president kamala harris is here with me. so, david, opponents of these measures argue that they're the result of unfounded conspiracy theories, following joe biden's 2020 election. is that how you see it? >> well, certainly, yes. they are part of the reaction by republicans to these conspiracy theories and, look, some of them are justifiable, i guess in traditional electioneering speak, but they're designed to be a reaction that soothes donald trump's ego and those of wisconsin republicans who believe the election was stolen. that was the takeaway here. so, the ballot initiatives would say we're not going to allow outside money to come in to

provide for volunteers and other resources to administer the election. in that case, then it is going to cost the government more to do so, and they want to tweak who is designated an election official. i think ultimately it would all get worked out whether it gets passed or not. the takeaway it is doctrine among republicans, two-thirds in most polls, that believe the election was stolen and believe part of their patriotism and their partisan loyalty is a requirement is to believe that the election was stolen and to act on that, that, to me, is the greater threat in this than the actual amendments themselves. >> let's talk about the amendments and i'll go back to that point, but if it is correct that the whole point here among republicans to soothe donald trump, is there a real world impact on the actual elections? >> yeah, i think so. you can ask local election workers, the folks who are currently in charge of administering the elections in wisconsin, the clerks themselves have had lots of questions.

there is lots of reporting over the last couple of weeks where they seek clarity on what these amendments would actually mean if in fact they are passed. does it mean -- when it says no one else can -- no private use of private funds, that means private companies, a lot of -- i don't think people understand there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars that are printed in states all over this country. who do you think prints those ballots? sometimes they use private companies to print the ballots. now is this a cost that the local municipality has to incur to print those ballots? if no one else can set up an election site, and only actual officials, administration officials can, does that mean we can't have volunteers, does that mean other people that work in other parts of the local government can't do it, what about miss susie who is helping out with elections since she was old enough to vote herself. is miss susie no longer to participate? what is this about? i think that the conspiracy theories, again, for -- ever

since the big lie, right, which is the lie that joe biden and kamala harris and not the duly elected president and vice president of the country because somehow they lost the election to donald trump, even though all the numbers tell us otherwise, the big lie manifested itself in many ways since the 2020 election into actual policy and practices. we will see if the pattern continues in wisconsin. >> well, wisconsin obviously is where donald trump is holding an event today. there are states in the midwest that have democrats very nervous, slight movement toward president biden now. there is a new op-ed in the hill asking whether a biden comeback is quietly under way. is there a feeling among the folks you talk to on the campaign, nobody takes anything for granted, but is it moving in that direction? >> yeah, i think, look, i talked to a lot of voters, i was just in las vegas and before that i was in memphis, and talking to people about how they're feeling

about the election, and they do see -- they liked watching president biden in the state of the union, they thought he did well, they feel like they're seeing him and vice president harris more, i also think this is just a reality of now this is a two-person race, it is donald trump versus joe biden, and the choice cannot be more stark and clear. and today, president biden and democrats are out there talking about reproductive freedom and the attack and the assault on women and you got donald trump in grand rapids fearmongering and lord knows what he's going to do in wisconsin. >> symone sanders townsend, david jolly, thank you. be sure to check out "the weekend," which features alicea menendez and michael steele saturdays and sundays at 8:00 a.m. here on msnbc. coffee with you every weekend. coming up, controversy in oklahoma, one small city votes on whether to remove a lawmaker with ties to white nationalist groups. will he get the boot? first, severe weather

including potential tornadoes and large hail now threatening 57 million people across the u.s. as authorities assess damage from twisters in northeast oklahoma overnight. >> they were going to stay there at the house. i was, like, i can't, you guys are my rock, i can't lose you, you got to go with me. e you, you got to go with me. retirey realized we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.

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right now, 57 million people from pittsburgh to tallahassee are under severe weather threats. that same system tore through

oklahoma, with several tornadoes touching down, flattening homes and leaving entire communities in the dark. and just look at this wild video from outside oklahoma city. an otherwise picturesque scene of cows grazing in a field, while ominous twisters form behind them. in kentucky, torrential rain and whipping winds blew a tractor trailer off the road and overturned sheds in the state capital. and tornado warnings are in effect in west virginia, where residents already are talking about power outages and downed trees. you see them there. this unfortunately is just the beginning. this system expected to bring possible blizzard conditions to the great lakes and upstate new york. nbc's morgan chesky joins us with more. morgan. >> reporter: we're in barnsdall, oklahoma, one of the hard hit communities from this massive storm system, part of a multiday event. but this storm hit this community in earnest late last night. we do know a reported tornado

touched down. you see some of the damage behind me. but in true tornado fashion, homes across the street barely touched at all. there were several reported funnels reported across the state of oklahoma, as part of this storm system. and significant hail in north texas. the good news to report right now there are no reports of any serious injuries or of any deaths at this time. that said, the threat from this system is still far from over. we know it is continuing to barrel into the northeast, putting vast portions of states under tornado watches as we speak. one of the big concerns in addition to the tornadoes is the hail. in north texas, there were reports of tennis ball-sized hail, that can be significantly damaging, whether it comes in contact with the person or property. and right now, the alerts going out to people in this system's path to be very mindful of the forecast, because if there is

anything that rings true, with this weather, it is that these residents in oklahoma stay we thought we were okay, until we weren't. and that's why early warnings are absolutely critical. morgan chesky, nbc news, barnsdall, oklahoma. today, voters in enid, oklahoma, will try to decide whether to recall a city council member who has ties to white supremacist groups. judd blevins is under fire for his participation in the unite the right rally and his form er affiliation with a white national group. what's the latest there? >> reporter: hi, chris. i'm in enid, oklahoma, standing in front of a polling place here and today voters inside are deciding whether to unseat judd blevins. as you noted, judd blevins was

photographed at unite the right, he was a lot of his private communications were outed by a group called the enid social justice committee. this morning i've been talking to all kinds of people. i spoke with judd blevins who expressed some confidence in today's vote, in the voters, i spoke to his -- his challenger, cheryl patterson, who said she believes that enid will make the right decision, but i've been talking to a lot of voters. and what i've heard is a couple of things. first and foremost, a lot of people say they had no idea about judd blevins' white nationalist ties before the vote in 2023. now they say they're aware and many of them are making a different choice. until we figure out the results today at around 8:30, we'll just have to wait and see what that decision is. but the mayor did tell me a couple of weeks ago that this decision will either bring the community of enid together and rally them or it will be a lasting stain on the community. >> brandy, thank you for that. and still to come, a

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made public and that there is appropriate accountability held. but i'm sorry, more than 200 aid workers have been killed in this conflict making it one of the worst in recent history. this is emblemmatic of a larger problem. evidence of why distribution of aid in gaza is challenging. the idf must do, must do much more to improve decon fliks processes so civilians and aid workers are protected. the u.s. will continue to press israel to do more as well, to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and we'll continue to do everything we can to deliver assistance to palestinians in gaza. thank you. >> thanks. do you have any worries regarding israel and gaza about the dock and how can aid workers be protected? >> what do you mean by worries?

>> status, viability? >> obviously the temporary pier. joint logistics over the shore. it's on its way to the eastern mediterranean right now. hasn't arrived yet and it will take time to assemble and achieve interim operating capability. expect that will happen in coming weeks. there's no concern in terms of our ability and the skills taken to, needed to build it and to get it up and running. what we are working with partners in the region are two things. one is the logistics of getting the maritime materials to the pier and then working with the israelis in particular about how that pier is protected and secured and how the aid, the materials, gets from the pier into gaza and further distributed. those modalities are still being worked out. >> do recent events like the

strike raise additional -- >> believe me, we're under no, no illusion about the fact that gaza's a war zone. and force protection of our troops, which will not be entering gaza, will be first and foremost in the president's mind as well as our military leaders to make sure they can operate the pier. believe me. we're well aware. gaza is a war zone. and frankly, that it is a war zone, is again what makes it so challenging to get the humanitarian aid to people in need. >> you said the white house is outraged by the strike that killed these world central kitchen workers. has the white house already conveyed that outrage to anyone in the israeli government and what was their response? >> i won't speak for the israelis. we've been very clear about our feelings over this particular strike and our expectations of the israelis. >> have they provided or has the pentagon been able to gain any

understanding of what happened here yet? i know it's early, but it sounds based on what jose andres has said that these workers were doing everything right. their vehicle was marked. they were in a safe zone. what more could they have done? >> it's devastating to see these images and hear these early reports about the steps they tried to take to protect themselves. but the israelis, look, they've already said this was on them and they're doing this investigation. we obviously want to make sure the investigation gets completed and is as transparent as possible. as i said, there's accountability to be held here. >> the question on china. what was the president's message to the president when it comes to chinese misinformation campaigns or any effort by the chinese government or people associated with the chinese government to interfere with the 2024 election? >> i will just say we've been

clear even going back to the november meeting in california about concerns over our own election security and efforts by certain actors, including some by the prc, to affect that. >> there's a new message? >> i don't have a new message to read out to you today. >> thanks. on the death of those aid workers which includes one american who was killed, netanyahu's reaction was quote, it happens in war. what is your reaction to that comment from netanyahu? >> i don't think it would be useful for me to get into a tit for tat with the prime minister of netanyahu from the podium. we've been very clear about our expectations for the investigation. the prime minister said there would be an investigation. we look forward to that being thorough and swiftly done. and that will it will be transparent. the results. and if there's accountability, it will be had.

>> how can you take netanyahu for his word? they coordinated their movements with idf. >> as i said in my opening statement, obviously setting aside this incident because this isn't the first one, there are issues of decon fliks that need to be fleshed out and proved. >> how can the u.s. continue to send aid to israel without conditions? >> we're not sending aid into israel. we're sending it to gaza. >> how can the u.s. continue to send military aid to israel without any conditions? is there no red line? >> you know, we've had this, we've had this discussion, you and me, from up here. they're still under threat of hamas. we're still going to make sure they can defend themselves and that the 7th of october doesn't happen again. that doesn't mean it's a free pass, that we look the other way when something like this happens or that we aren't and haven't since the beginning of the conflict, urged the israelis to be more precise, to be more

careful. and quite frankly, to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance that gets in. haven't been asked about it yet, but there was a discussion yesterday with our israeli counterparts about rafah. this was virtually, we expect one in person in a week's time. the whole reason to have that meeting was to talk about our concerns over a major ground operation in rafah and to present viable alternatives for them to be more precise and targeted. so the idea we're past the graveyard here, we're not paying attention to the civilian casualties or suffering is just not true. >> right. but these are verbal urgings. verbal commitments. there's no other incentive besides -- >> you want us to hang some sort of condition over their neck and what i'm telling you is that we continue to work with the israelis to make sure that they are as precise as they can be and that more aid is getting in and we're going to continue to

take that approach. >> john, i just wanted to follow up. do you guys have confirmation of the nationalities of the victims who were killed in the strike? and one was a u.s. -- >> i can confirm one was a dual national american citizen but i couldn't speak with authority about the nationalities of all those. as i understand it, there could be additional casualties coming in terms of the count. i just don't know. >> do you know if there's been outreach to the family of that dual national citizen from the white house? >> state department has done some initial outreach and i would fully expect you'll see outreach from us at the appropriate time. >> thanks. does the white house accept prime minister netanyahu's explanation that this incident was unintentional as he put it? >> i think the investigation will bear that out. >> sir, do you think that given these circumstances, is there a

rule for some kind of a protective force for aid workers given the threat of widespread famine and concerns about, we've already discussed the jala and so forth. is there a role that could be considered to try to protect aid workers with a neutral party security force? >> protective force ought to be the idf, kelly. as we've said. and as they conduct operations in an urban, highly populated environment, they have an obligation to take care of the civilians living there. and the civilians quite frankly that are being moved about by the combat operations being conducted in a very confined space. they have that obligation. >> are you concerned aid will be cut off for some period of time because jose andres said they're extending operations for a period? the world food program is having difficulties. it seems like this incident is exacerbating the crisis. >> it