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Conditions apply. Offer includes 1% loyalty rate reduction for qualifying customers. Visit HyundaiCanada.com or your local dealer for details. If it's Thursday, an uncertain state for the remaining hostages, as more are released and the truth enters its final hour.
While Secretary of State Anthony Blinken delivers a warning to top Israeli officials while in Israel. Plus, Representative George Santos attacks his colleagues in what may have been his final press conference as a United States Congressman. With a vote to expel him from office, quickly approaching. And chaos and the candidates.
Nikki Haley's presidential campaign starts spending with a new ad, knocking the chaos of Washington politics. As she tries to gain ground on Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington.
We are once again potentially just moments away from the end of a seven-day ceasefire in Gaza. And potentially just moments away from where hostage is being released. The Secretary of State Blinken is in the region and held a press conference a short time ago where he highlighted the administration's focus on freeing hostages and providing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Blinken also reiterated U.S.
support for Israel but delivered his strongest words yet on Israel's obligation when fighting resumes. Commissioner Netanyahu also made clear that Israel intends to resume its military operations against Hamas, when Hamas stops releasing hostages. As we've said from the outset, Israel has the right to do everything it can to ensure that the slaughter Hamas carried out on October 7th can never be repeated. The way Israel defends itself matters.
It's imperative that Israel act in accordance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war. And I underscore the imperative of the United States that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement of the scale that we saw in northern Gaza not be repeated in the South. As I told the Prime Minister, intent matters, but so does the result. Now that comes after Secretary Blinken met earlier today with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank to discuss the urgent need for the safety and security of Palestinians.
Meanwhile, two more Israeli hostages are back in Israel at this hour, including 21-year-old Mia Shem. This was the emotional moment when she was reunited with her family. Well, a total of 10 hostages still expected to be released today in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners. Amid negotiations on extending the truth, Blinken acknowledged it wasn't just up to the U.S.
and Israel. We want to see this process continue, move forward. We want an eighth day and beyond so that people can be returned to their families, and that applies to all hostages, whatever category they may happen to be in. But it's also up to Hamas, and again, I can't speak to their intentions.
Now, roughly 140 hostages remaining Gaza so far 99 have been freed, including 75 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals, amid it all growing concerns about spreading violence. This morning, Hamas claiming credit for an attack at a Jerusalem bus stop that killed three Israelis and injured several others, including several Americans. Now, this comes a day after Palestinian authorities say two boys were killed in an Israeli raid in the West Bank. Joining me now is NBC's David Nurega and Tel Aviv and senior White House correspondent, Helio Donald, who is at the White House.
David, let me start with you. Yesterday, there was a last-minute agreement to extend the truce. What are you watching for today? How likely do you think it is that we will see that happen again?
Kristen, hi. The way that this truce has worked so far is that prior to Friday, when the ceasefire began, the Israeli Cabinet approved a framework for an agreement that lasted initially for four days, but could be extended day by day up until 10 days. We're now in day seven, and as long as we're in that 10-day period for which there's an already existing framework for an agreement, then I think it's reasonably likely that it could get extended. However, it's still up to day to day, hour by hour, minute by minute negotiations.
And last night, it wasn't until several hours past midnight local time that we actually saw a final agreement allowing for that extension into today. So nothing is guaranteed. It may well be that the ceasefire collapses tonight, or it may well be that it gets extended for another one day or two days. We know there are diplomatic efforts to extend it for at least another two days, but we won't know until we see that confirmation.
Kristen, it's an incredibly tense moment, David. As we wait to see what happens next, we are watching these emotional scenes unfold. These families being reunited. We just showed one there.
What can you tell us about the hostages who were released today? We've seen two hostages released so far today. That includes 21-year-old Mia Shem. She, we remember her as the person who was in the first hostage video released by Hamas in those early weeks after October 7th.
That's not it, though. We were expecting an additional group of hostages to be released later in the evening. The first time that this happened where they were released in two separate groups was last night. It was a little bit alarming last night because it was a deviation from the course of what we've been seeing during the week of the ceasefire.
The fact that we've seen it happen once before and are seeing it happen again tonight means that we've seen this before. It's a little bit less of a cause for concern. However, as you just said, this is all extremely fluid, extremely delicate, extremely fragile. We won't know for sure that that next group of hostages is being released until we see those pictures of them being handed over to the Red Cross to then be handed over to Israeli authorities.
It's such an important point, David, because you're absolutely right. Secretary of State has said this over and over again. We cannot be certain that they are released until we actually see those reunions. Before I get to Kelly O'Donnell, I just want to ask you, obviously, there was this attack at a bus stop in Jerusalem that killed at least three people.
What more can you tell us about that, David? Yeah, so Israeli police have said that there were two assailants who opened fire on, this was a crowded bus stop early in the morning rush hour in Jerusalem. We were actually there today and stopped by the bus stop and everything had gone back to normal. It was once again a crowded bus stop.
But there were signs up everywhere saying signs in opposition to the ceasefire agreement, saying essentially, for example, releasing more terrorists will lead to more bloodshed in reference to the Palestinian prisoners that are released on the other side of this agreement. So even though that attack has so far seemingly not jeopardized the ceasefire agreement, what it is doing is creating more pressure domestically from certain sectors of the Israeli public on the Netanyahu government to not extend the deal or at least not make a new deal past those 10 days I mentioned earlier. All right, David, thank you so much for your fantastic reporting from the region. We really appreciate it.
Please do keep us posted on any developments that may occur. Kelly O'Donnell, let me turn to you. We started by talking about Secretary Blinken, who is back in the region. We talked about his tone today really taking on what appears to be a somewhat stronger tone as it relates to what the United States expects to see in terms of next steps when Israel does if it does resume its military operations.
What are your key takeaways at this point, Kelly? Well, certainly Secretary Blinken spoke in formal language, but there was a certain fire behind that, a certain intensity that we have not seen as publicly in the past. And maybe that is lifting the veil back a bit from some of the direct communications the president and the secretary and other senior officials have had directly with Israeli officials. But the result of it is, is making more plain the US view that how Israel conducts what they believe to be a legitimate military operation really does matter and that civilian casualties, the degree to which civilians are displaced, all of those things are a part of this.
The US certainly embraces Israel's right to defend itself and to deal with Hamas so that it cannot be able to carry out these kinds of attacks in the future. But perhaps it is the reality of the scale of deaths and destruction and harm to civilians in Gaza. Perhaps it is in some ways a measure of the national and global response to this that the way the United States is talking to Israel in a public setting has evolved some during the weeks of this crisis and still friendly, still supportive. But there is a stern, formal quality to the expectations the US is setting.
Kristen, really great analysis. Kelly, let me ask you about the fact that Secretary Blinken is meeting with the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. Of course, when President Biden was there, he did not, he was intending to meet with those meetings, got canceled because of some last minute developments in the region. How significant is it that Secretary Blinken is holding that meeting today, Kelly?
Very much so. And it ties into what we were just saying. As you recall, there was at first thought to be an Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza. There had been additional analysis of the incident there where there was civilian damage and so forth.
And there were questions about whether Israel had actually been responsible for that or if it was an errant rocket. The result in that moment was that President Abbas and others did not want to meet with the President of the United States, concerned about the impact on the people of Gaza. Well, here we are, weeks later, and the Secretary of State is trying to make sure that those communications and those abilities to talk about these issues are front-end center as well. So that the US has an interest not only in defending and protecting Israel, but maintaining relationships with key partners in the region.
Kristen? Kelly O'Donnell at the White House. Thank you so much for starting us off. Kelly, really appreciate it.
I now want to bring in Aaron David Miller, former State Department Middle East Analyst and negotiator and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. So I do want to get to you on the hostage negotiations, but I want to start by asking you about these, what appeared to be growing tensions elsewhere in the region.
We talk about some of them at the top of the show. The attack in Jerusalem, in uptick and violence in the West Bank. There's also reporting on an exchange of fire on the Lebanese border. Just taking a step back.
How much concern is there? Do you think about this potentially becoming a wider war? When we talk about a wider war, we're really talking about two things. We're talking about a major escalation along the Israeli Lebanese border between Israel and Hezbollah.
Similar to the confrontation in the summer of 6, where for 34 days Hezbollah shut down the northern half of the Middle East and was preeminent military power, State of Israel. Both Israel and Hezbollah over the last 55 days, when you think about it, it's extraordinary. Have engaged in a level of confrontation we haven't seen since the summer of 6. But by and large, they are behaving and essentially operating within the so-called rules of the game.
If that breaks, you're going to, this entire conflict will be refrained. Because with two carrier strike groups sitting in Eastern Men, a couple under strike aircraft, it's very likely the United States will get involved. Iran may get involved. And then you could see a true regional war, which will make Gaza look small by comparison.
Punching financial markets, rising oil prices, tax on US interests and the Gulfs, it could get way out of hand. But almost two months in, things are in the North Sea to be holding, which I think is a relatively good sign. Well, it's a really fascinating point because, of course, there was so much concern in those early days about this situation boiling over. And on that point, the UN Envoy called the situation in the West Bank at a boiling point.
Do you think that's an accurate assessment of where things stand there? Where do you think things will go in West Bank? I mean, in the last 55 days, you've seen 240, maybe more Palestinians killed a number by settlers in sort of rampant vigilantism. These are other defense forces are operating, looking for Hamas operatives in the West Bank.
I mean, the West Bank has been boiling now for quite some time. If you're talking about a massive uprising, I don't see that as likely. The Jerusalem attacks are worse. Hamas termed this operation on October 7 as the Al-Aqsa flood, wanting to symbolize the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
I'm surprised, frankly, that there hasn't been more attention in Jerusalem, but it's worse. And no one ever lost money betting against a major upsurge in Middle East violence. I wonder what you make of Secretary Blinken's visit today. I was just discussing with Kelly O'Donnell.
He is meeting with the leader of the Palestinian Authority. He is taking what seems to be a somewhat tougher tone in terms of the next steps that they would like to see if Israel does, in fact, resume its military operations. What are the key takeaways for you? You know, since October 7, President of the United States has essentially, because of Joe Biden's persona, because of the politics has really been in Israel's corner.
In fact, we asked in any number of things the Israelis have done, I think that the administration has privately said to the Israelis what Secretary Blinken is not saying publicly. How long do you anticipate this operation to last? We're not talking about months. And I think that, in fact, was conveyed to the Prime Minister.
It's not just an advisory. It's a sort of a warning. The Americans have said nothing about the timing of this ground campaign. They haven't put a limit on it.
They haven't told the Israelis enough is enough. I suspect it's a warning that Israel needs to respect the sort of red lines that the administration has drawn. They're not unreasonable. Safe zones where Palestinian civilians in the South cannot and will not be attacked.
Don't attack infrastructure, sewage, water, water treatment plants, electricity grids. And finally, find a way to permit humanitarian assistance to get into Gaza at levels that we haven't yet seen. Those are whether the red lines that will turn pink if the Israelis essentially do the opposite of what the United States is saying. But you could be reaching a point where these tensions really will affect both sides' calculations about how to proceed in the weeks ahead.
All right, Aaron, David Miller, thank you. We have many more questions. We will have to bring you back to continue this conversation. Thank you so much for your great information and insights.
Appreciate it. Thank you. Well, we just got some breaking news. According to the IDF based on information that was received from the Red Cross, six Israeli hostages are on their way toward Israeli territory.
Joining me now is my next guest, Chris O'Leary, former director of hostage recovery for the United States government. Thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. It's going to be with your question.
So you just heard that breaking news there, six more Israeli hostages on their way out, according to the IDF. Big picture here. What is your assessment of how this entire truce and hostage release process has played out so far? Well, I think it's gone further than skeptics thought it would.
So that's terrific news. I think there's going to be a limit to how far it goes. You know, it's day by day. I think the attack by Hamas at the bus stop was a really severe test on how far we could take this.
I do think the pressure that Secretary Blake and Director Burns are putting on Israel and also the partnership with the Qataris is what's keeping this going. But Hamas being one of the principles in this negotiation is a terrorist organization, unpredictable, unreliable, and they unfortunately hold all the power and leverage. Well, let me follow up with you on that point, because so far, four Americans have been released. I've questioned the administration about what, if anything, they know about the remaining Americans who may be being held as many as seven people and they have acknowledged they do not know their whereabouts.
Their condition. Do you have concern that Americans are being used as bargaining chips in this process? Absolutely. Hamas is based on my experience, which I'm a career counterterrorism practitioner.
That's all I've done my adult life. Hamas is using the Americans as additional, you know, an additional commodity that's worth more. And, you know, they're probably worth slightly less than the IDF soldiers, but it keeps America at bay and forces the administration to erode some of its support to Israel, you know, to keep the negotiations going as well. If the negotiations going as long as possible, I do not think it's realistic to think that Hamas will keep the negotiations going to let all of the hostages out that's just not pragmatic on their side.
It's not traditionally what they've done. And, you know, Israel has to have parallel lines of effort to continue the negotiations, but also plan for different tactics to move forward and dismantle Hamas, but also build towards rescuing the hostages. Those things are compatible with each other. Let me follow up with you on that, because if the ceasefire were to end, we don't know if it will, but this current pause in the fighting, I should say.
What if any process would restart those negotiations? And, again, they focus so much on women and children and seniors, the men that are being held. If you are their families, how much hope do you have that they will be released as a part of some future negotiation? So I think, you know, to manage expectations, but also give the families hope.
Hamas is treating these hostages, all of them, as currency. They will traditionally keep them in good health, relatively speaking, so they can trade them at market later on, so they will try to safeguard them. They will work something. Listen, ultimately, Hamas wants to survive this, and they want 7,000 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.
They will grow in stature, popularity. That's why the concern about the West Bank should be real. Hamas has already been the broker for the release of all the Palestinian prisoners that are now reoccupying the West Bank. They are growing in popularity in the West Bank.
All right. Well, Chris O'Leary, thank you so much for joining us on another very big news day out of the Middle East. We really appreciate it. And we are going to continue to follow this breaking news about the just released hostages who are on their way to Israel right now.
And we'll talk to a family member about the rollercoaster of emotions and anxiety as some of her family is free from Gaza, but not all. Also ahead, we're live on the Hill where it's been a contentious and busy day as Congressman George Santos lashes out ahead of tomorrow's expulsion vote. You are watching Meet the Press Now. Welcome back.
It's been a drama-filled day on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debated whether the house should vote to expel Congressman George Santos tomorrow. Santos has been accused of taking campaign funds for personal use and a host of other ethics issues. Santos has repeatedly refused to resign, including while speaking on the House floor just this past hour. Why rush this to deliver a predetermined outcome sought out by some members of our conference or some members of this body?
This is what it looks like to me. It is a predetermined necessity for some members in this body to engage in this smear campaign to destroy me. I will not stand by quietly. They want me out of this body.
The people of the Third District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, they're going to have to go silence those people and take the hard vote. Well, this afternoon, NBC's Garrett Hake pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson how he'll vote tomorrow on Santos's expulsion. Have you made any decisions on the Santos vote for tomorrow?
How you personally will vote? I don't even consider that the message. I haven't said any more than that. Everybody knows they're conscious.
What is your conscious? It's all again. Just wait. Right.
So we will have to wait. NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitale joins me now. So Ali, while we are waiting to see House Speaker Johnson and others vote tomorrow, the debate over the Santos expulsion vote took place this afternoon. Take us through how a vote like this works.
How do you expect this all to play out tomorrow? What are you going to be watching for? Well, look, Santos has really been his own defender so far, Kristen, but today on the floor just in the last hour or so, we watched him get a little bit of support from a handful of other Republicans. People like Congressman Clay Higgins, Congressman rap Matt Gates, not defending Santos himself, but defending the precedent that this would set, which is to say they're concerned that expelling Santos before the full legal process has played out sets a precedent that this could happen to any other member who has allegations put against them.
Now, the allegations against Santos are very numerous. We know he's facing 23 counts of criminal indictments, but he is still going to defend himself in court. That's the argument that people are making not to expel him, but of course, there's a large chorus on both the right and left sides of the aisle who are saying that he's done enough to be expelled. We'll see that play out tomorrow there.
We'll see if my Johnson, the speaker of the house, has reservations on which side he lands on this. But really what we need to see in order to expel Santos is a two-thirds majority of this chamber voting to expel him, and Santos for his part has said that he's ready to stand for that vote and that he thinks that he's going to be expelled. It's sure it's going to be a fascinating day. Another fascinating thing that happened today, though, Ali, is that Santos filed his own resolution to expel Jamal Bowman, a Democrat.
Of course, Bowman pulled a fire alarm last month. Is anyone taking that seriously? Could this actually come to pass? They're not taking it seriously, especially because it's made a sort of a last-ditch effort on Santos's part to point the finger across the aisle and try to show some kind of hypocrisy on the part of his colleagues.
People here are largely focused on the realities of the Santos scandals and what the ethics committee has said about him. The allegations made in the ethics report, for instance, everything ranging from using campaign finances for Botox to designer clothing and shoes, all of that sort of part and parcel to the Santos scandals, and that's what members are going to be focused on tomorrow. All right, well, let me ask you about something else that has been looming large over the Hill and over Republicans, Tommy Tuberville signaling that he may be willing to back down from his blockade of confirming nominees to the military. What are you hearing about that?
What are the politics around this, Ali? This is a live ball that we're tracking really closely, Kristen, especially because over the course of the last few weeks, we've seen Republican Angler at their colleague, Tommy Tuberville, seem to boil over on the Senate floor. We watched some of his colleagues, including Senator Sullivan, Senator Ernst, go to the floor and speak about each of the military promotions that Tuberville's blockade was holding up, continuously trying to get him to defend him. In the full view of the public, now those Tuberville has seemed to signal to his colleagues that he recognizes that he's put them in this mess and that he has some kind of a plan to get them out.
It's not clear how many holds he will release, but it's sort of him speaking to the reality that he knows that Democrats and Schumer, along with a handful of Republicans who are deeply displeased and concerned about the national security implications of continuing to hold up these military promotions, that those people now outweigh the leverage that Tuberville may have at one point had. He's now trying to find the off-ramp, but frankly, as someone who's been following this for the last year or so, just under a year, it seems like Tuberville has been looking for the off-ramp the whole time. It just has not been able to find it. It seems like now with the end of the year, he might be coming close or at least restoration is pushing him to this point.
All right, Ali Vitale, something tells me we'll be talking again tomorrow, my friend. Thank you. And we are continuing to follow breaking news that six more hostages have just been released from Gaza. You were looking at new footage of the Red Cross trucks coming across the border with Egypt.
We will bring you more on what we're learning about these hostages in just a moment. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Turning to the 2024 campaign trail, armed with a little bit of momentum in the polls and some new financial backers, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley's campaign is out with its first ad of the primary.
Take a look. A president must have moral clarity and know the difference between good and evil. It's time for a new generation of conservative leadership. We have to leave behind the chaos and drama of the past and strengthen our country, our pride, and our purpose.
Joining me now is Mariana Sotomayor, congressional reporter for The Washington Post, former New York Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley and Republican strategist Matt Gorman. Thanks so much to all of you for being here. Really appreciate it. So, Mariana, let me start with you.
You see that ad there from Nikki Haley. She is gaining momentum, but we ask this question every time we have one of these conversations. Can she overtake Trump or is this still a race for second place? It's still a race for second place.
I mean, look at how much time these other candidates have been on the ground in Iowa. Trump hasn't needed to do that. And he's still winning so much. He just has this space that you absolutely can't penetrate in any way.
And it's been interesting to see her rise. It's been interesting to see that there are Republican voters who are looking elsewhere, who like what she's saying, but it very much still is just second place between her and DeSantis. When you look at the polls, it really is staggering. You obviously are coming off of having worked for Tim Scott's campaign.
You experience part of what Mariana is detailing firsthand. Is there based on your experience, based on what you saw out there on the campaign trail, a way to break the Trump base away from him? There was a chunk of people. I think that are open to being wooed, right?
DeSantis, if you look about 10 months ago, here's within 10 points of Trump, right? He was leading a new answer. I think there is somewhat of an unhappy marriage between the base and Trump for a lot of them, but no one has stepped up and kind of gotten their stuff together. So that's what we can get behind, especially now with DeSantis and Nikki, essentially locked it even both in Iowa and also nationally.
The debates where Nikki has gotten this momentum is at one point where people can kind of use this as a focal point, and that's been the one driver momentum day to day. You don't see that as much. The coverage doesn't break through. Joe, what do you say?
And again, there's another debate before the Iowa caucuses. So she could presumably get a little bit more momentum. What if people started to drop out? What if some of the other candidates started to drop out?
Could that make a difference? Or would they just go to Trump? I think it certainly could make a difference. Of course, how big a difference it could make.
I think she said she's not running for a second place. If you're not running for a second place, you've got to go after the big guy. She didn't mention it in the ad. You have to go after him.
There's no way you can really get voters from him unless you go after him. That's the only way I know we can. So as far as I'm concerned, yeah, she's still running for a second place. Matt, what do you make of that?
I mean, we didn't even hear her mention Trump in that ad. It's tough because the best and most effective argument I heard out there, but you also see it in polling is like the ability. Now, you've seen the consistent drumbeat of patterns where Trump is actually beating Biden in the polls. So I like the ability argument if you're Nikki Iran is a lot harder to make than it was a month ago.
You know, you can't go head on on St. January 6th, like that just doesn't work the same way. Electability will see that helps convene a month or two. Right now, it's hard argument to make.
It's a great point. Speaking of the current president, one of his biggest challenges, obviously questions about his age. The vice president was asked about this and made some of our most extensive comments yet. Let's take a look and we'll get to reaction on the other side.
Is a vote for Biden? A vote for President Harris? A vote for President Biden as a vote for President Biden and Vice President Harris. I would say that age is more than a chronological fact.
I spent a whole lot of time with our president, be it in the Oval Office or the Situation Room and in other places. And I can tell you, as I just mentioned, not only, is he absolutely authoritative in rooms around the globe, but in the Oval Office meeting with members of Congress. And that was, of course, the deal book summit with our Andrew Ross, Morgan Mariana. What do you make of her answer?
And it was a great question. Is a vote for President Biden, a vote for President Harris? Yeah, no, it's one that voters are absolutely thinking about. I mean, it's interesting to see, not just her, but also other Biden circuits, just being open about it before, you know, you would hear Biden often saying, just watch me, watch me how I do, essentially.
The campaign and the White House trying to skirt those questions, not make it the focus. But it is top of mind. And now we've seen, you know, Dean Phillips, other Democrats, trying to draw that generational difference and difference in age. So, you know, her comments are, it's a little bit of what else is she going to say.
But the fact that they're not trying to brush it off, being a little bit more forth coming about it, is good. They need to be addressing that issue. And it's definitely a notable shift. Joe, one of the other notable shifts that we are tracking is the way in which the President is talking about the economy.
New economic data out, which shows inflation is getting better yet again. But voters continue to say they don't feel it. And so we're actually reporting in our White House meetings, reporting that they are noticing President Biden actually using the term by economics less when he's out on the trail. He was in Colorado yesterday.
Was that smart? Should he peel back the Biden? I think absolutely. You have a year to go before the election day itself.
The real poll that matters. There's a lot of time here to adjust your messaging. And right now we've seen that that wasn't polling. You know, people weren't feeling the effects of by dynamics.
So, yeah, it's an opportunity to change that messaging. And it's also, I think, important to note that Democrats, as I've been saying over and over again, own Joe Biden, because Joe Biden's going to be our candidate. Stop speaking ill will at him. You know, Reagan don't speak ill will of fellow Republicans.
Democrats have to stop that as well. And I think you'll see Biden's numbers go up. And Democrats stop questioning his age or his abilities. And I think that's a real big factor.
Matt, take us inside conversations in Republican circles. What are they saying about the economy as an issue, as inflation, for example, does start to go down? Do they continue to see this as a weakness, or some saying, hey, in another six months, this might not be as potent as it is today. I think you hit it on the head, though.
It is not, it is gone from Clinton's, I feel like you're paying true Biden's, your pain isn't real, right? And I think in a lot of respects that people still aren't feeling it. No matter what the data says, right? Or wrong, you can't convince them of something they feel and they know firsthand.
I was talking to a Democrat the other day who worked for Clinton and Obama, and he says this is a common sentiment among presidents. They say if only people knew how great I was doing, they knew my accomplishments. I went to these states, right? So I think you cannot just talk about your accomplishments, you need to show them.
So as long as people don't feel it, Republicans are going to press that advantage. The other thing the president started to talk about is Obama care, with former President Trump saying, if he's reelected, he's going to try to get rid of it. He tried to do that in his first term. He didn't do it, Mariana.
Yeah, let's remember, in 2018, of course, Trump was in office. He was president. But the fact that Democrats are running on, not just hate Trump as president, but they're going to come after your health care. We saw what happened with the House.
It will take that fight. We need the battle scars. A lot of battle stories. Yeah, a lot of battle stories.
If you're from 2018, but that was a good aspect. Yeah. All right. Well, we will see what happens.
Thank you for a great conversation. Really appreciate it, Mariana, Joe, and Matt. Great stuff. Still to come.
One family story of relief and tardic amid growing uncertainty about the fate of the remaining hostages in Gaza. You are watching me the press now and do stay with us. Welcome back. We've been following the breaking news this hour of six additional hostages who have just been released from Gaza.
That brings the total number of Israeli citizens released today to eight. Those released today include 17 and 18-year-old sisters whose father and older brother are still being held. These are the images of Egyptian TV. Just this hour of those Red Cross trucks arriving on the Egypt side of the border where they were greeted by waiting ambulances.
If the sea fire is not extended, these could be the final hostages released under the truce. Approximately 140 people still being held inside Gaza. Turn me now. As Shira Havron, six of her relatives were among the hostages returned to Israel, including her eight and three-year-old cousins.
But the children's father still remains captive inside Gaza. Thank you so much for joining us. We are so sorry for everything that your family has been through. We are heartened to know that some of them have been returned, but we know that it is not everyone.
So we continue to hold you in our thoughts. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Absolutely.
Thank you for being here, Shira. I want to start off by just asking you how your family members are doing who were just released. Have you been able to speak with them? What have they been able to tell you?
So all of them are doing relatively okay. They came out physically, you know, pretty much fine. No severe injuries or anything like that, fortunately, because we know it's not the case for everyone. I had a chance to meet my aunt a couple of days ago.
I'm going to meet the kids and my cousin on the weekend. But everyone seemed, you know, exhausted. And obviously, I'm sure that psychologically it's really hard to return to reality after 50 days of hell. But they seem, you know, these are strong people that I know.
And these are still the same people, including the children. Yeah, hell, the little girl, she came back whispering like a lot of other kids that came back from there. But, you know, hopefully they'll be able to adjust to reality, get comfortable. Obviously, they have to deal with a lot of sad news when they came back.
As we know, the husband of my aunt, Shoshan, the grandfather of those kids, you see on the screen was murdered on the 7th of October. And they had to hear those news. And obviously, their father thought he's still missing, kidnapped in Gaza among more than 150 hostages, approximately. And the numbers are changing.
I want to ask you about the children. You say that Yael is whispering. Talk a little bit about that. And how are they coping?
What sort of support are they getting to help them adjust? Well, the good thing, you know, is that they were together with their mom and their grandmother and aunt. So they weren't alone like many other kids were not hearing. Now they're all among family.
It will take a while to lend and to, they just, just a bit of what happened. And then they're going to get their psychological help. And their mother is actually a psychologist. So they know the importance of it.
But obviously, what they need most right now is their father who is still in there. And life can't really move on. And they can't really recover until he's here with the family. Tell us about him.
He is still being held hostage by Hamas. What is anything do you know about his condition currently? And what do you want people to know about him? Unfortunately, we don't know anything about this condition.
Just like it was with the rest of my family for 50 days. We didn't know anything. They're alive. If they're dead.
If they're injured, they're together. So we don't know anything about him at the moment. He was also kidnapped separately. They were separated on the side of October.
And you know, this person, he's just an amazing father. It's an amazing addition to our family when my cousin got married to him. And we all have him very dearly. That is taking care of people.
He's also a therapist. And you know, these people, they don't deserve to be there. No one deserves to be there in these conditions. In the hands of terrorists, I mean, it's just too much.
And we don't want to lose another person. And we know the time is ticking. And it's not on his side. It's not on our side.
I know that you have described waiting for your family members to be released as a nightmare. How are you getting through each day? And what is your message to the Prime Minister? Each day, as you said, has been really just hell on earth.
There's no other, you know, words for this situation. Imagine your family was suddenly taken from their safe house and just, you know, this appears and not only disappears but held in violent tents. And we're talking about kids or any kind of innocent civilian that don't deserve to be there. We are, every day, we are working.
We're doing interviews. We're important to us. We're having meetings. We're campaigning.
We're going to demonstrations. We're continually acting and doing to bring them home. We don't just sit and wait. And my message for my Prime Minister and actually for anyone in the world that has the power to get involved in it.
And we obviously know that you have a very powerful part in this situation. Hostages has to remain top priority. We have to save the lives that we can save. The war is horrific and we're not interested in seeing more the death tolls rising.
We just want to keep the people that we can save on top priority. And as the goal of this operation, of this war, they should all come home. There is no victory image for our family. We already lost, you know, so the only picture of victory that can happen is all the hostages back with their families.
And we, as a family, were lucky enough to receive some of our family back. But a lot of families remained in the same situation for 55 days. And it's just insane. It's too much.
It's way, way, too much. And this humanitarian pause, we wanted to continue because we wanted to exchange deals to go on until everyone's out. This is the most important thing. It has to be.
And there is no price for these lives. Share how wrong we will leave it there. Thank you for your powerful words. Thank you for your courage in speaking out.
Our thoughts are with you and your family. Thank you. Thank you for having me. And after the break, remembering the life and legacy of one of this country's most recognizable diplomats, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away yesterday at the age of 100.
He shaped decades of U.S. policy, often controversially, and he appeared on Meet the Press 15 times. Here he is in 1978, speaking about U.S. foreign policy under former President Jimmy Carter one week after the Camp David Peace Accords were signed.
I have always argued when I was in office and I've tried to practice it out of office. That foreign policy is an un-partisan issue. And I have supported the President of a number of issues, such as Panama, Turkey, Jade. And I feel that when the administration acts in a manner that I think is in the national interest, it must be supported.
On the other hand, when one disagrees, one should state it, especially if it's on a philosophical level. I think there are areas of disagreement that can be mentioned. I hope they won't be mentioned on a partisan level. Welcome back.
Reaction is pouring in after the death of one of the country's most influential in controversial diplomats. Henry Kissinger passed away late yesterday at the age of 100. He served as Secretary of State for two presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and perhaps his best known for his role in expanding and winding down the Vietnam War. He was also instrumental in normalizing U.S.
relations with China, as well as using tensions with the Soviet Union and setting U.S. policy in South America. Kissinger was also a frequent guest on Meet the Press, including this appearance in 1992, where he discussed the United States role in the world and the many foreign policy challenges awaiting then-President-elect, Bill Clinton. The United States cannot by itself solve every crisis that exists in the world.
Painful as these crises may be. And one of the philosophical questions that has to be answered is where we engage ourselves beyond moral condemnation. And to what effect? Well, the current Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about his interest lasting legacy today while traveling in Israel.
The Secretary has been really set the standard for everyone who followed in this job. I was very privileged to get his counsel many times, including his recently about a month ago. He was extraordinarily generous with his wisdom and his advice. Few people were better students of history.
Even fewer people did more to shape history than Henry Kissinger. Joining me now is someone who covered Kissinger on BC News' Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent and Chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell. Andrea, thank you so much for being here today. My pleasure.
To help us remember former Secretary of State, what do you think his legacy will be? We just talked about so many of the different moments in which he played a pivotal role. I think the largest legacy is China. Opening into China.
We think of it now, as well as we have relations with China, but he did it himself in secret negotiations. Brought Nixon to China was part of all of the larger foreign policy. It was a play against Russia, certainly. He was also trying to get the Cold War neutralized a bit of a thought with the Soviets.
That was very much setting the stage for what then happened with Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev later on. But China was the biggest play, because now we talk about the two superpowers. It's not Russia. It's China, economic, technological, military, and the United States.
What was so remarkable was that when he was already 100 years old, this past July, he went to China red carpet from Xi Jinping before setting the stage, really, for President Biden's November meeting. It's just extraordinary, and he advised presidents of both parties throughout his life. Even after he left office, we just heard from the Secretary of State who made extensive comments about the life and legacy of Secretary Kissinger. We haven't heard from the president yet, though.
There hasn't been an official White House statement. We anticipate there will be one. We don't know why yet. We don't.
It was just interesting. I was talking to our colleague, Kelly O'Donnell over there, and she was told this morning it would be a statement. He died yesterday that was statements pouring in, you know, as you pointed out, George W. Bush showed a painting that he has made of Henry Kissinger, a portrait of one of those paintings that he has made, and nothing from the White House.
And I don't know whether there is something personal between Joe Biden and Henry Kissinger, or just he's very busy with Israel, but it would seem unusual because, in fact, in Xi Jinping's statement of condolence, he sent that condolence message to President Biden on behalf of China for the breakthrough back in 1972. So that was a message to the president of the United States from President Xi Jinping about Henry Kissinger, but we haven't heard from the president of the United States himself. It is remarkable. We will continue to point out that his legacy, I want to say, is very mixed because he extended the Vietnam War long past when it could have ended into Cambodia, into Laos, got the Nobel Peace Prize, certainly prematurely, and was called a war criminal.
So this is a man of many contradictions. You, again, as I said at the top of this discussion, covered him. You got to question him, including on Meet the Press. What were some of your memorable takeaways?
One that we're going to show tonight on Night News is in 1986, we were asking about things don't change. The Nicholas Donald of the US News and World Report journalist was being held by Russia inexplicably, and I was asking Secretary Kissinger, how has this administration, the Reagan administration handled the crisis, and should they have another meeting with the Soviet leader? While this journalist is being held, he said, well, I think that after a little confusion at the beginning, you know, when they were probably spread out in Santa Barbara, I don't know whether they were on holiday, but he said it was a little confusing, but they were getting it right now, and that it would be very difficult for secretaries to have these meetings, Secretary of State, with the Soviets. Which is a very blunt answer.
Yes. And he was pretty clear about these things. And just also think that he came as a teenager, a 15-year-old from Nazi Germany, the first Jewish Secretary of State, eventually, and went back to Germany. They were fleeing the Holocaust in 1938, which is right after Christall now, and eventually went back as the US Army in World War II to Germany.
Just extraordinary. Andrea, thank you so much for being here. We will look for your piece on Nightly News. We appreciate your making time.
Appreciate it. And thank you for being with us this hour. I'm back tomorrow with more of the press now. NBC News now coverage continues with Tom Costello, who's in for Hallie Jackson right now.
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