National

There was a bit of laughter but also a lot of seriousness, when NBC's Luke Russert asked Rep. Nancy Pelosi if her decision to seek the House minority leadership again prevents a younger leadership from taking her place.

Pelosi was flanked by the Democratic female members of House and as soon as the question flew out of Russert's mouth, groans filled the room. "Age discrimination," one person was heard screaming.

According to a new survey by the Asia Foundation, 52 percent of the 6,300 Afghans it surveyed in June feel the country is heading in the right direction. It's the first time in eight years of conducting this survey that the foundation found a majority of Afghans held a positive view.

The frustration with the response by New York power companies to Superstorm Sandy claimed a senior official yesterday. Michael Hervey, the acting chief officer of Long Island Power Authority, known as LIPA, says he'll resign at the end of this year.

Update at 3 p.m. ET. At Least 10 Dead; Israel Issues More Warnings:

As we've been reporting, Israel hit targets in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip today with multiple airstrikes. The Associated Press says at least 10 people were killed. Among them was Ahmed Jabari, the commander of Hamas' military wing.

Update at 10:25 a.m. ET. Pelosi Confirms:

Saying that she wants to work on "empowering women .... growing the economy ... [and] a healthy political climate," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California just confirmed that she intends to remain as leader of the Democratic caucus in the House.

Pelosi, who was first elected to Congress in 1987, is the only woman to have served as speaker of the House (from 2007 to 2011).