If it's Friday, Israeli forces enter day three of ground operations at Al-Shifa Hospital. They say they're close to dismantling Hamas's military system in the north amid new warnings the people of Gaza are on the brink of starvation. Plus, the White House reacts as TikTok moves to halt the spread of videos and discussions that promote Osama bin Laden's post-9/11 Letter to America as extremist content spreads across other social media platforms. And a moment of reckoning as the chairman of the House Ethics Committee officially files a resolution to expel embattled Republican Congressman George Santos from office following the release of that damning report describing a litany of alleged misconduct and criminal behavior.
Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington. Israel's raid inside Gaza's main hospital is now in its third day. Amid increased signs, the IDF's operations may soon be expanding as questions continue to swirl about Israel's endgame in Gaza and the limits of U.S.
support. New videos released yesterday show what Israeli officials say is the entrance to one of Hamas's tunnels near Al-Shifa Hospital, as well as a weapons cache found inside a booby-trapped truck on hospital grounds. NBC News has not been able to verify any of those claims. Israel's military continues to release photos and videos of what they are allegedly finding inside the hospital, but they have yet to provide definitive evidence that Al-Shifa was being used as a Hamas command and control center, as U.S.
and Israeli officials have asserted. My colleague Lester Holt spoke to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about those claims. Exactly why there should be assault rifles located next to an MRI machine escapes me. And this is compelling evidence of the fact that Hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure of one kind or another.
What's going on now are ground operations, not bombardments. And as I've said before, we have seen far too many Palestinian civilians killed. And we have been urging Israel all along to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties. Meanwhile, the chief of staff of Israel's military says the IDF is close to, quote, dismantling Hamas's military system in northern Gaza, adding the Israeli military will continue its operations in the Gaza Strip and will also be targeting additional regions.
You can see images of some of the leaflets being dropped in several neighborhoods in communities, which is south of Israel's initial evacuation zone, telling people to leave. That, of course, comes after Israeli forces have for weeks been urging residents in the north to move south. These new satellite photos from earlier today show a large crowd of people gathered along the evacuation corridor trying to flee south. Here's what an IDF spokesperson told NBC's Keir Simmons on the urgent question facing innocent civilians.
Where should they go? We're instructing people to get out of harm's way. Wherever we're announcing them to get out of harm's way, they need to move precisely to save lives. You know, Hamas are not just operating in the north.
They're a hub of operations. They're a base of governance, obviously, is in the north. But they have, they're continuing to launch rockets from the south. They're continuing to collude against us from the south.
Those military operations are happening all while hundreds of hostages remain inside Gaza. According to the White House, President Biden today spoke with the Emir of Qatar to discuss the need to secure the release of those hostages without further delay. All this comes against the backdrop of a dire humanitarian situation inside Gaza that humanitarian workers say is getting worse by the day. The United Nations World Food Program saying food and water are practically non-existent inside Gaza and warning civilians there face a real and immediate threat of starvation.
Joining me now is Raf Sanchez in Tel Aviv. And Andrea Mitchell will join us in just a moment. Raf, let's break down the very latest that you are seeing, that you are hearing. The IDF continues its operations, obviously, inside Al-Shifa Hospital.
And so far, there's been no definitive evidence that the hospital is being used by Hamas. However, Israeli and U.S. officials say that that is what the intelligence shows them. What is Israel saying about how long this operation will last?
What should people be expecting? Well, it looks like it could go on for a long time, Kristen. They are warning that it could take weeks to fully explore what they say is this tunnel network underneath Al-Shifa. And the argument that they're making is every day they're going to have more evidence.
They initially raided the hospital on Wednesday. On Thursday, they rushed out this video that was met with a lot of skepticism worldwide. The evidence that they were showing was pretty sparse. It was some assault rifles, some grenades, ammunition, some literature belonging to Hamas.
But as you said, no evidence that this was a command center. The next day, they had a little more. They said that they had video of a Hamas tunnel opening that runs underneath the hospital. Now, NBC News not independently able to verify that that is indeed a Hamas tunnel, but whatever it is, we can say with confidence it is on the grounds of Shifa Hospital.
And the Israelis say that they will have more evidence and they're confident that they will eventually be able to prove this claim by both Israel and the United States that there is indeed a Hamas command center underneath. The argument from humanitarian organizations is even if Hamas was using this hospital, the military advantage that Israel gains from denying Hamas's use has to be balanced out against the humanitarian suffering of those patients, first of all, inside the hospital, including dozens of prematurely born babies who are out of their incubators because there's no power now, as well as those hundreds of displaced families who were seeking shelter there. There has been so much concern for the people inside that hospital, for the babies, as you say, those images, Raf. The IDF saying that they are close to, quote, dismantling Hamas's military capabilities in northern Gaza.
What does that mean? And do we have any indication of what that might mean in terms of a timeline there? So the Israeli military has Gaza City in circles. They now say that they are in control of the heart of the city also.
One metric we can use, Kristen, in terms of, quote, unquote, dismantling Hamas's military setup is rockets over Tel Aviv, rockets over other Israeli cities. Increasingly rare now. There were sirens earlier on today here in central Israel, but it's becoming not unusual, but it's only happening every couple of days. And Israel is pointing to that as evidence that they are destroying Hamas's infrastructure.
They are destroying Hamas's ability to fire rockets towards civilian areas. They're giving no timeline. And as you heard directly from Prime Minister Netanyahu when you spoke to him on Meet the Press, the Israelis say that they expect to have security control over the northern half of Gaza for a long, long time to come. That doesn't mean that they may not try to install some kind of Palestinian civilian government there, but they are expecting Israeli boots to be on the ground inside northern Gaza for the foreseeable future.
Kristen. Rob Sanchez, as always, we appreciate your reporting. Please do continue to stay safe. We really appreciate it.
I want to turn now to Andrea Mitchell, who is here, chief Washington correspondent, chief foreign affairs correspondent. Andrea, thank you so much for being here. Let's talk about the hostages. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said to Lester Holt yesterday, the less said, the better on the hostages.
We also heard President Biden express measured optimism at the Apex summit that there could potentially be some type of a deal coming to fruition. What are you hearing? What are your sources telling you? There has been some hope all week.
First, Keir Simmons, our colleague, reported that there was a discussion by all sides, especially through Qatar, for 10 to 20 hostages to be released, Kristen. And then there has been reporting in The Washington Post, The New York Times and other agencies. And I've confirmed the accuracy of this, that there are discussions, but it is very fluid. Proposals are being going back and forth.
This involves Qatar, the United States, Israel and Egypt. You know that Bill Burns, William Burns, the CIA director, was in the region just last week. Other officials have been there on hand, U.S. officials from the White House and elsewhere.
So they are very deeply involved. And it would be 50 hostages released in return for 50 Palestinian would be women and children hostages. And none of them would be IDF women in the IDF that they are not releasing the military in exchange for 50 Palestinian women and any children holding held in Israel as well as the demand would be a three to five day pause. And Israel has not agreed to that.
So that's a very important. They see that as a ceasefire, that they see that as interfering with their objectives to really eliminate Hamas. And as you can see what they've done in North Gaza now, they say they're moving into the south, which raises the questions you've been addressing as to where would people go. And the other problem, really overriding problem is the last two days, there's been no cell service that the telecom company ran out of fuel.
And Secretary of State Blinken, while he was in San Francisco attending the summit with China, got on with Israel and personally pressed for the fuel deliveries. That fuel was supposed to be delivered today. For some reason, it didn't get delivered to the fuel depots at the Roffa Gate. So they still don't have the fuel and with no cell service, people are in a panic.
They have to move south. But where do they tell people they're going? They have no communications with family members. There has been so much focus and so much concern about the fuel at that hospital.
Andrea, I want to turn to what's happening in the West Bank because there has been an uptick in the violence there. There's been so much concern. What is the very latest there? The administration very force underneath which Hamas is operating.
This system can take weeks to months to do. It took us nine months to clear the western half of the city of Mosul when we were assisting the Iraqi security forces. And so it gives you an idea that this is very slow-going and it is very, very deliberate in terms of how you have to move through this. Israel, as you know, is telling people in southern Gaza to evacuate.
And, of course, the question is where are they supposed to go? They don't necessarily even feel safe being in southern Gaza. But what does it tell you about the strategy and what we might see in the coming days? Should people there be bracing for a bombardment?
What it tells me is that we're missing the important collaboration between military planners and military operations and the humanitarian community. And again, this is something we've learned over time that there has to be a level of collaboration between military forces and governments that are conducting and supporting these operations and the humanitarian community to make sure that we establish corridors, that we have assembly locations, that we have supplies, that we have ways that we're communicating to the civilian population the things that we want them to do. I mean, this really makes the situation, I think, extraordinarily complex. I mean, these are panicked groups of people that are trying to comply, but there's not much information out there for them to use.
So I think it adds to the, adds to the uncertainty and the difficulty of this situation. And to me, this idea of this collaboration is just so important. It's important for Israel to accomplish their missions, but it's also important because they will have to live in this area afterwards. Well, and you take me to my next question, actually, because what do you think we will see happen to this area once this war is over?
Israel has been very clear. They believe they will have a security presence there. And of course, some people have said that that amounts to effectively occupying Gaza, which the United States does not want to see. Do you think, though, that Israel will have to have some type of a presence, a security presence in Gaza once the war is over?
Well, I think it's likely they will. And certainly after they clear through these areas, they probably will have to account for the security situation and providing that until others can get in there. But I think this highlights, I think, the third leg. We've been talking about military planning, we've been talking about humanitarian planning, and it is this political governing planning that has to take place.
I mean, what we want to do, what we've learned about this is you have to get local people in control of these areas after military operations take place. So they are responsible. So you don't have military forces that aren't set up, aren't organized, aren't designed for this doing that. You have people that have a link to people.
And then you have to make sure you're bringing in the immediate resources that people need to resume their lives. Water, power, sewer, food, medical care. You have to provide for removing the explosive hazards that are left behind from the fighting in these areas. So these are the types of things that I hope others are thinking about as we step into this, because this will be absolutely critical.
I mean, these people that have been displaced will want to get back into their homes soon, and it's to Israel's benefit, it's to the region's benefit for them to do that. But they're going to need a lot of help, and we have to plan for that in advance. There's no doubt about that. General Joseph Hotel, thank you so much for your time and for your perspective.
We really do appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up, the fallout and the national security implications after videos and discussions about Osama bin Laden's message to America suddenly explode on social media this week. That story is next.
Plus, Nikki Haley gaining momentum in the Republican presidential primary. What it means for the field and the frontrunner. You're watching Meet the Press Now. Stay with us.
Welcome back. Reaction to a decades-old letter written by Osama bin Laden, leader of the terrorist group behind the September 11th attacks, spread on social media this week, prompting concern from government officials. Now, TikTok users shared videos agreeing with bin Laden's 2002 letter to America, suggesting it provides an alternative perspective about U.S. involvement in the Middle East.
Users also shared a link to a transcript of the letter, which was posted on The Guardian. Bin Laden's letter contains anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric while asking citizens of the U.S. to reconsider the motivations behind 9-11. In the wake of the videos, The Guardian pulled their link to the letter, saying that the page lacked its original context.
The White House also expressed concerns about the virality of the letter, writing in a statement, quote, There is never a justification for spreading the repugnant evil and anti-Semitic lies that the leader of al-Qaeda issued just after committing the worst terrorist attack in American history, highlighting them as his direct motivation for murdering 2,977 innocent Americans. And no one should ever insult the 2,977 American families still mourning loved ones by associating themselves with the vile words of Osama bin Laden. For more, I'm joined by NBC News technology correspondent Jake Ward and NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Delanian. Jake, I want to start with you.
Give us the reality check here. How far has this reached been on TikTok? Because TikTok is downplaying how much attention it's gotten on their platform. Well, that's right, Kristen.
TikTok is pointing out that the video reactions we've seen here and the mention of this letter are all across social media. But it is true that it does seem to have in part started on TikTok when a handful of videos there were featured then in a post by a prominent journalist, Yashar Ali, on X, formerly known as Twitter. His post got an extraordinary amount of engagement and that set off then an enormous amount of viewing on TikTok. That, as a result, led to a huge increase in both searches for letter to America and bin Laden.
We saw a 4,300% increase in references to bin Laden on X, references to letter to America with more than a thousand percent. And that same trend followed across other social media platforms. YouTube alone saw an increase of more than 400% in searches for bin Laden. And so we have just seen it take off in this moment when young people are trying to come to grips with what is happening in the Middle East and searching for the best possible way to achieve the most attention they can on a platform like TikTok.
This thing just has taken on a life of its own, Kristen. So, Jake, how are social media companies responding to this? And has it gone outside of TikTok? Well, once upon a time, right, you would have had the major social media companies hewing to their original founding principles, these sort of libertarian ideas that we live in this open marketplace of ideas and the best ideas will always rise to the top.
We don't live in that world anymore. It's become clear that that is not how we are to run a railroad. And so all of the major platforms have very firm policies about not putting content up that in any way supports or glorifies terrorism. This falls squarely in the center of that.
And so it is in contravention of both TikTok's policies, Instagram's policies, YouTube's policies. And that's why all of them are taking action to try to take this down. TikTok at this hour says it is pulling down the hashtag letter to America. But here's the problem.
Once that conversation starts going, even people who are trying to criticize people who originally posted their positive characterizations of bin Laden's letter, they in a way are keeping the conversation going. So at this point, they just don't seem to be able to slow it down. Wow. All right, Jake Ward, you always help us understand these moments and these phenomenon online better.
Really appreciate your reporting. Ken, I want to turn to you now. Let's talk about this in the context of a national security issue. The White House has put out some very strong statements about that.
How concerned is the White House about this potentially being a security threat? Kristen, it's not just the White House. Anybody you talk to who worked or works in the national security community, who was involved in the 20 year struggle to defeat al-Qaeda, is bewildered, sickened and angry about this. They view it as like a failure of the American educational system.
A friend of mine, former CIA officer Mark Polymeropoulos, NBC News contributor, sort of captured that on Twitter. He said, look, al-Qaeda are hardened terrorists who would relish killing every one of these dopey TikTok generation idiots who think Osama bin Laden is now Che Guevara. And the White House, you read their statement, they said that this is a horrific thing to be parroting Osama bin Laden. And they added that, you know, particularly at a time of rising anti-Semitic violence around the world with the war going on in the Middle East, it's really alarming.
And even though it started with a handful of TikTok accounts, as you just described with Jake, it blew up. And part of the irony here is it blew up because people were trying to highlight how outrageous it was, particularly Yashar Ali. That's where I first saw it in his tweet. But that resulted in it getting many, many more views than it ordinarily would have, which is one of the dilemmas of the social media age.
Well, yeah, it sure is. And speaking about this dilemma, what are the conversations going on about potentially trying to crack down on TikTok and these other social media sites where this letter is appearing? So here's the deep irony, Kristen. Right at the time when social media is at its most more to vet our candidates as they move forward in the election process.
Let me ask you about a line in your report that really got our attention. You say the committee also identified additional errors and omissions in his, Congressman Santos, his 2020 and 2022 statements as well as violations on federal law and House rules related to his unfiled 2021 and 2023 financial disclosure statements, which were not charged in the indictment. It raises the question, Congressman, did you uncover more potential crimes than have already been revealed? We did, and you know, the issue I think is going to be whether the Department of Justice wants to add those charges.
It may be that they already were aware of these and decided not to include them in their superseding indictment. They already have a 23-count indictment that, you know, I think lays out a lot of these charges. But again, we have an outstanding staff that uncovered additional information that they might find useful if they decide to really flesh out their case and add these additional charges. Because I think they go further in showing his awareness of what was going on with respect to these campaign finance accounts and bank accounts, to the extent the defense is going to be something along the lines of, I didn't know that this was going on, or, you know, I left that to my treasurer or other campaign assistants or volunteers.
I think a lot of this information helps to dispel that. So we'll see what the Department of Justice does, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are additional charges that come out. Is there any specific example you can give us? Well, there's a bunch of them.
A lot of them go to the documents that were, you know, filed. And, you know, the campaign, the ethics committee staff approached it from the opposite angle because they started with the ethics violations and started working backwards from there. I don't know that the Department of Justice would have done that. They probably looked more at the original criminal charges.
But a lot of the omissions, the falsified reports that were submitted to the FEC and the like, I think are part of that, you know, lead to false statement charges potentially, but also I think show the misconduct that was involved and also his attempt to hide that. And at the same time, his awareness of what was going on with respect to him receiving the funds that were not, you know, used for campaign finance and also him trying to hide the fact that he was getting in his personal accounts and using it for personal purposes only. So I think there's a range of those that we'll see what the Department of Justice does, but we've given them, I think, sufficient information for them to sit through and decide if they want to add more charges or not. Well, we will track it quite closely.
Congressman, thank you. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. Appreciate you joining us. You do the same.
Thanks, Congressman. After the break, we're digging deeper into the state of President Biden's political health as the administration faces a deepening Democratic divide over the handling of the Israel-Hamas war and persistent concerns over the president's re-election hopes. The panel's next. You're watching Meet the Press Now.
Welcome back. While former President Trump continues to dominate the Republican primary polls, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is having arguably her strongest moment of the campaign so far. Haley is in second place in a pair of New Hampshire polls out yesterday, trailing Trump but ahead of the pack as the field continues to narrow closer and closer to primary day. Additionally, polls suggest Haley would outperform her Republican rivals in a head-to-head with President Biden.
Haley is up 11 points on the president in a hypothetical matchup. That's according to a new Fox News poll. Joining me now on set, our great panel, Meredith McGraw, National Political Correspondent for Politico, Navin Nayak, President and Executive Director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Republican strategist Brad Todd. Thanks to all of you for being here on this Friday before you enter Thanksgiving week.
Meredith, let me start with you. We're seeing this surge by Nikki Haley. Do you think she can actually catch up or is it too late? We still have about two months to go.
Well, there's no doubt Nikki Haley's stock is on the rise. I think the big question here, though, is whether or not she can get to the point where she can prove that this is not Trump versus a whole field of Republicans, but it's Trump versus Nikki Haley. And we've seen how Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has really tried to position himself as a Trump policies without Trump. And Nikki Haley's taken a different tact on things like Ukraine and abortion that have really given her a second look from a lot of Republicans and a lot of big donors who are looking at her as the best alternative to Trump.
But there's still a lot that can happen and it's going to be a pretty narrow pathway, I think, for her, even though she is doing so well. That's a great point. I want to play a little bit of sound from Nikki Haley on her strategy and get everyone's reaction on the other side. So going into Iowa, we're going to see three to four people fight for Iowa.
A couple people are going to drop and then we're going to go on to New Hampshire and then we're going to fight for Granite Staters. Then more people are going to drop and then I go head-to-head with Trump in my home state of South Carolina and we take it. Well, Brad, what do you think? She laid out her strategy.
We take it, she says, in South Carolina. Well, I think she's done well in this campaign because she's a good campaigner. And you can look back to the first years of the Trump administration. She was the most popular Republican in America among Republicans.
And so you've seen that skill come back to the fore here. The debates that everybody said would be unwatched and didn't matter. Well, it turned out they did matter because she did very well in them and she's been rewarded by Republican primary voters. I think she has her best chance in Iowa.
I think she needs Ron DeSantis in the race. A lot of Ron DeSantis voters, if he were out, would go to President Trump, more President Trump. And so I think it's in her interest to try to win a three-way race. I think it gets harder with a two-way race.
However, momentum is a pretty powerful thing in politics and she's starting to get it. She sure is. Nivin, what are Democrats, what's the Biden world saying about all of this? Because if you look at the head-to-head matchups, Nikki Haley does better against President Biden, frankly, than Donald Trump does.
Yeah, I mean, I think no one knows her yet in the country, so I think that's a really hard thing to judge. I do think she laid out a timeline and a process, but not an argument. And I think that is going to come to her very quickly, which is, why should people pick her and not Donald Trump? And I think that is where all of them are genuinely struggling.
Unless you have an answer to that, why aren't the majority of Republicans going to stick with Donald Trump when they've been with him for the last seven years? And I think that's where this falls apart. Well, and when you look at his huge lead, it just raises so many questions about how she actually catches up. Ron DeSantis still in the hunt.
I want to play a little bit of his sound and then get everyone's reaction. Take a look. Everybody's attacking me. That should show you who they care about.
The minute that Donald Trump spends $30 million on another candidate is the time when you guys can say that they're somehow, no, but that's not happened because they know that you look at this, they see that I appeal to conservatives in a way that none of the other candidates do. And when you're in a Republican primary, you know, that's 80% of the vote. And so you've got to be able to go win, win those types of voters. I've proven an ability to do that, obviously in Florida, but I have the record to show.
He basically was asked about, is there a three-way race in Iowa? And that was his response saying, look, I'm getting attacked all at the time. So really this is a two-way race between me and Trump. What do you make of that?
I mean, the Trump campaign has been relentlessly going after Ron DeSantis in Iowa, putting up ads against him, you know, just going after him nonstop. If it's Nikki Haley versus DeSantis for Trump, all of his support supporters would probably vote for DeSantis over Nikki Haley. So of course, they're going to be attacking him. Yeah.
I mean, DeSantis did just tout the fact that he was able to win over some of Tim Scott's donors, which is not insignificant, Brad. It's not, but Nikki Haley is currently well-funded. And momentum has a way of bringing money to you. And, you know, a lot of people who had wide open primaries with a lot of candidates, the catnip is thinking you attack other people who are down.
And in reality, in a presidential race, it's an audition. And we have an incumbent president. If we're outrunning one of their campaigns, I would not attack Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis. I would be attacking Joe Biden because you have to audition to beat the candidates that's in office.
And that gets lost a lot of times, especially as we get closer to Iowa, it'll probably get lost some more. Yeah. I think you're probably right about that. I want to turn to the Democrats now.
And NBC News is one of the special counsel investigating President Biden has interviewed Hunter Biden. Not clear exactly what the focus of the interview is. Not exactly clear how close this investigation is to wrapping up. But Naveen, this powerful to hear from that mother.
I sat down with Zinhle to talk more about what she learned in her reporting. Joining me now is NBC News correspondent Zinhle Essamwa. Zinhle, thank you for joining me. And this is such an important topic.
I'm so glad that you are covering it. So take us through your reporting and the women with whom you spoke and who you interviewed. What are the key contributors to the disparities for black expectant mothers when it comes to their health? Yeah, Kristen, and thank you so much for having me.
I know this is important to you personally as well. So first, if we look at the numbers, right, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women in the United States. And that is not some predisposition, right? This is something I have known for many years.
And so at the start of this year, we wanted to get a firsthand look at the experience of Black mothers in the U.S. We talked to Kani King in St. Louis, April Valentine in California. And what we really learned was Black women are scared, but they're also doing the work to advocate for themselves, many of them using doulas, which I'm sure we'll talk about, right?
They're not midwives. They are individuals who are meant to support you, not just during the delivery process, but really from conception to the time that child is young. And so many Black women in this country are taking matters into their own hands, trying to inform themselves. However, they're still facing roadblocks.
You asked me why that's happening? The CDC cites many reasons, including implicit bias, including inequalities in health care. So it's sort of a confluence of factors, but the reality is, as a result, Black women in this country are dying, Kristen. You're right.
And it is a crisis. A lot of the women doctors who I've spoken with say one of the key issues within those broader issues that you just talked about is that Black women feel like they aren't being heard when they raise the alarm about a health issue that they are experienced. It speaks to what you talked about, the implicit bias. How many of the women with whom you spoke talked about that?
Is that part of their concern? Yeah, absolutely, Kristen. All of them did. And I think what was most striking is, you know, for this special report, we chronicle two women with very different endings.
But both of them, and I'll say it's not a spoiler. One of them does not survive, but both of them, even the one who did survive, says, I wasn't sure I was going to make it because doctors were not listening to me. And it seems like a uniquely American problem because when we look at other industrialized countries, the CDC found just in 2021 that the U.S. had about 32 out of 100,000 births resulted in maternal mortality.
That's about 10 times higher than other comparable economies. We're talking Australia, Japan. So it doesn't make sense when you look at our health care system. But all of these women, Kristen, were telling me, I did not feel heard.
I felt scared. That's where the presence of a doula truly can be transformational because it's someone who can advocate for you, as you know, in one of your most vulnerable positions and places, right, during the time you are in delivery. And so some of those resources can be really critical. So Zinhle, follow up, if you will, on that point.
You talk about some of these women working with doulas. What else are black women doing to take charge of their own birth experiences? Yeah, so doulas are definitely prevalent increasingly. Of course, there are national conversations happening around whether or not they're covered by health care.
As we know, insurance can be very expensive. Getting that health care support can be very expensive. There are a lot of nonprofits now that are providing doulas free of charge. There are also midwives who tend to be more medically trained, so they might be able to aid in a home birth.
But really, so much of this is reflective, not just of the health of the woman while she's pregnant, but throughout her life. And so I think part of what women are also trying to do is say, am I being supported from the time, right, I hit puberty and I have my first experience with menstruation, to say that on air, because we don't talk about that a lot, right? To the time of menopause. All of that matters.
And so really, I think what it is, is women are bringing supports into the room with them to say, hey, I have a feeling I might not get listened to, and this is a person who will help me ensure that happens, Kristen. Well, Zinhle, this is an issue that does not get enough attention. Thank you for shining a light on it. Thank you for your great reporting, Zinhle Essamwa.
We really appreciate it. You can catch more of Zinhle's reporting on the latest episode of Meet the Press reports. Pregnant and Black is available to stream right now on Peacock and YouTube. We're back Monday with more Meet the Press now.
And if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. I'll have exclusive interviews with Senator Richard Blumenthal and 2024 presidential candidate Chris Christie, plus a brand new NBC News national poll with Steve Kornacki. The news continues with Hallie Jackson right now. Everyone, I'm Dylan Dreyer, co-host of the third hour of Today and mom to three wild boys.
I've learned a lot in my years as a parent, mostly that I don't have it all figured out yet. And I'm not the only one. This is my new podcast, The Parent Chat. Each week, I sit down with someone new for honest conversation and real world advice about parenting.
I'm over here just like winging it. Hey, I'm trying not to screw my own kids up. I'm not giving you advice on how not to screw yours up. Search The Parent Chat on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.